[Covenant]

Well, finally the Sydney Head-Fi'ers have banded together and organised our first meet. I hope its the beginning of a tradition, as i believe we all benefited a great deal by being able to audition so much great equippment and discuss which best suited our personal tastes.

Let me start by saying blackreplica (Kevin) was the ideal host, and made everyone feel very at home and at ease at his place. All up, six people attended, including blackreplica, myself, chungsoi, iGory, andrewpc, and a schoolmate of blackreplica's. All up, we had the chance to demo the following equippment:

Sources:
iRiver x2
Phillips DVD/CD player
iPod x2

Amps:
V.A.L tube amp
RSA Raptor
Supermacro v3

Headphones:
HD650
RS-1
RS-2
SA5K
CD3000
SR-60
Beyer DT770-80
HD590
Westone UM2
Shure E4C
Koss KSC-35

I've probably forgotten a couple of items, but that was the majority, anyway. I'll let others take over in posting personal impressions of the 'phones we auditioned, save to say that i was most impressed with chungsoi's RS-1's with the Senn 414 pads, but overall i remain happy with my SA5K, especially so now that i've compared it against some of the best competitors.

Amen to chungsoi's doughnuts, he was a real life saver. And major kudos to iGory and his very thoughtful notion to bring beer - all i can say is, apologies to those of you who had to drive

I think everyone there had a great time, and hope the second sydney meet isn't too far away on the horizon

 

[Kenny12]

hot dang, i missed out on a chance to hear the sa5k

i hope by the time theres gonna be another meet i've finished my maxxed dynahi

.

theres so many headphones and so little amps

anyone up for a non weekend meet ??

and bring on the pics

 

[Covenant]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenny12 anyone up for a non weekend meet ?? and bring on the pics

Unfortunately i work monday-friday, so i wouldn't be able to make any non-weekend meet.

And even more unfortunately, no one brought a camera! Neither i nor Kevin owns one, and it seems everyone else simply forgot.

 

[mneuwiueyagaobcf]

I had a big Friday night and woke up mid-afternoon so I couldn't make it

. I will next time though. Did you guys take pictures?

 

[blackreplica]

Hi all, i took a couple of minutes off my work to post here

I had a great time, and it was nice to have so many friendly people together exchanging views and opinions about all the wonderful hardware available Shame on all of you who couldnt make it

. As a relative newbie to headphones, it was a real eye-opening experience for me because i got to listen to so many different sound signatures and now more than ever i am confident about the kind of sound signature that suits me best and thus know where to channel my (paltry) sums of money in future as far as hardware upgrades go

No pics unfortunately, no one brought a cam and i didnt have one

It was very much like any other meet i suppose, with headphones/amps/sources/cables everywhere, a huge mess! I think we spent more time trying to plug things into the right places than actually listening to stuff

I have to say that my pick of the bunch is definitely the Grado RS-1s and the Sony CD3000. They suit my preferences very nicely and i looking forward to joining team grado soon. I wish i had money for the PS-1

It would be silly to say that 'this headphone was better that this' because some sound signatures are just so different that comparison just doesnt make sense, but FWIW my rankings of what i like best are as follows:

1 Grado RS-1 (ooooh so smooth and yet lively at the same time. very coloured, but i love it. Midrange is to die for. Bass slam is "dayum thats tha shiznit!!": Grado style.A little more finesse and bass than the rs-2. IMO, Best bass/mids of any can i have heard, sheer treble detail loses out to SA5K though)
2 Sony CD3000 (very close behind. Well balanced phone that does everything well. No obvious faults. With bass boost on the supermacro, playing michael buble, its pretty damn amazing! The rest can attest to that

, ultra comfy too!)
3 Grado RS-2 (close behind the CD3000. A little less bass than the RS-1, and midrange is a little less forward. This may actually be a good thing depending on your tastes. I would say the RS-2 is a little more neutral, for a grado that is)
4 Sennheiser 650 (overall technically accurate, smooth, but also laid back and sometimes uninvolving. midrange stands out more compared to the treble and bass but not in a "look at me, look at me!" kinda way. Bass to me is fuller and more extended than the SA5000 but treble detail is not nearly as good as the sony. Not my kind of headphone. Technically, its accurate, but the sound signature is definitely not for me)
5 Sony SA5000 (not my kind of headphone as well, but like the senn, i can definitely appreciate it's strengths. Very in-your-face, extended treble with no harshness. Fast and lively. Bass was it's weak point however. Probably the most revealing phone of the lot, but also the most touchy when it comes to recording quality and the requirements in terms of amps/sources)

I should mention that my comments about all the grados involve the use of the flats pads. I like them the best but it's a matter of taste really. I am a basshead

Others:

Grado SR-60 - Blooooooody AMAZING for the price. At first i was struggling to hear differences between this and the RS-2 which was speaking volumes for its quality, either that or i have crap ears. I think they are incredible value and anyone who wants to try grados should buy these first if you havent heard the grado sound before and don't have an oppurtunity to audition them first, only because they are so damn good and cost too little considering their performance. Their selling price of 60 bucks is the deal of the century IMO.Anyway on more extended listening the differences between it and the RS series became more apparent. The SR-60 is a little harsher and loses out on the finesse. Tends to strain a little at high volume levels and the bass doesnt have the definition or impact of the RS. The midrange is also less 'audiophile' in quality compared to the RS. Its a bit of a silly way to put it, but thats the best i can think of

Shure E4 - Very very balanced IEM which IMO loses nothing to the Westone UM2s i have which cost 100 US more. Great treble, great mids, great bass. Everything in great balance with nothing standing out, but no faults either. I am very impressed with the treble extension on these compared to the UM2. The UM2 has massive amounts of bass compared to the E4 but rolls off on the treble more too. Isolation on the UM2 is also slightly better but its not a large difference. E4s seem a little harder to drive than the UM2s though. I needed to jack the volume close to max on my iriver to get the kind of output i used to get on my UM2 at only 1/2 volume.

Well i think that summarises it i guess. I wont review my beyers cos thats just biased

 

[renesis_au]

Nice impression Kevin!

No mention of any amps? So far no one has mentioned Convenant's Raptor yet

 

[Jahn]

RATS! My Tushi didn't get there in time (actually it got there with 20 min to spare but Chungsoi just missed checking the post, oh well!) Next meet down under, make sure to hear the 3960 in action!

 

[fr4c]

what was the VAL tube amp at the meet?

 

[3lusiv3]

Great stuff guys! I'm glad the meet went well.

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

Congatulations on your first meet! Please, keep it up, I'm desparate for a trip down under and if you guys keep things hoppin I'm sure I can swing it in a couple of years. Isn't it grand to be a part of a world-wide swell of enthusiasm for fine audio! She's right, mates.

 

[overlunge]

Fantastic effort guys. Even I felt excited about this meet from across the Tasman! It's great to see people turned up and some wonderful gears there too!

Keep going and as I as said before, I will be more than happy to join you guys next time! (especially if Tyll turns up...)


Overlunge

 

[AML]

Congratulations on the first Sydney meet guys.

I'd also like to hear some impressions on the Raptor.

 

[iGory]

I showed up very late for the meet (err, three hours late) having not got home till after the sun went up on Sat morning. I can say it was highly worthwhile making the effort to get there.

I'm totally new to the quality headphone scene and I wasn't there long enough to get more than a basic feel for the equipment on offer. I got to listen to top of the line Grados and a set of Sonys for the first time. All good, especially the Grados.

As a comparison to my first investment, the E4Cs, blackreplica's UM2s blew me away. Tight, fast bass and ridiculously easy to drive from my iPod. Might have to twist his arm for an extended listen some time

 

[andrewpc]

Just to add to what the others already said it was definitely an enjoyable day, and to correct Covenant

, it wasn't a Philips DVD/CD player but Jahn's 'Tushi' (Toshiba 3960) that we heard. Trust me, I saw the box that chungsoi had picked up from the post office that morning, he'll be in soon to clarify I'm sure.

Overall, as a CD3000 owner the SA5K really impressed me, the sound was good, and they were a lot lighter to wear than the 3000s. I think the reason the Raptor has not had more mention is that we were a bit source shy, but definitely for me, the best sound of the day came from the modified DVD player and Covenant's raptor, mind you the supermacro and my CD3k were not far away in my mind

What am I taking away from this from a purchasing perspective? First up, a pair of Senn 414 pads. At the price they are, they make grados heaven compared to the bowls, followed closely by the supermacro v3. At the moment the hornet has piqued my interest also, but I have a feeling the SMv3 is where Im headed.

All in all, well worth it, and thanks to blackreplica for co-ordinating/hosting the event.

Cheers

Andrew

 

[Covenant]

My Raptor wasn't really reviewed very much, mostly because we were so source-lacking. Had we more sources and more amps available, there would have been more source and amp comparisons, using the same cans. As it turned out, it was more of a cans comparison than anything else.

I did get the oppertunity to compare the Raptor against the Supermacro and V.A.L., though. The Supermacro, on my SA5K, compressed the soundstage somewhat, added some bass impact, but loosened/blunted the attacks overall slightly. The V.A.L. was more competetive with the Raptor, despite the big difference in price, but ultimately lost out to the Raptor in terms of resolution and dynamics.

Of the three, the Raptor made the SA5K shine the most. chungsoi demo'ed the SA5K first through the macro i believe, and he immediately judged it to be too "tinny and harsh" for him. Then he tried it out of the Raptor, and his tune changed

I don't want to rave about it too much, being mine, but i could easily notice it being spades above the supermacro in every regard, and considerably bettering the V.A.L., though by a lesser margin.

Edit: and sorry about the Phillips/"Tushi" confusion, my memory often fails me