[kelly]

Someone offered to let me drive his 911 once, but it was a sissy color and not a turbo so I passed.

If you don't mind, I'd rather you guys take the rest of the personal stuff to private.

Flashbak has been kind enough to start a seperate thread on the Sugden and its bass response.

I'd rather us use the rest of this thread's life for anything else anyone wants to discuss about what came out of the Dallas meet.

 

[daycart1]

Quote:

Originally posted by grinch we DEFINITELY "hang out in different circles." i live where there are roads and buildings as oppose to sticks and rodents. and how many offers have you gotten so far for people to loan you a max? as many as i've gotten to loan me a carrera? ZERO!

"Sticks and rodents" Harharharharharhar!!!!!

But, actually, there is a very nice racetrack in Nazareth...good for Porches!

 

[taoster]

Quote:

Originally posted by kelly They weren't there at the same time. I missed meeting LarryS and his gear and he me and mine. How do you feel they compare in terms of high frequency detail and extension? Notice any difference? I only got to hear the CD72 once and I have such little respect for the store I almost wonder if they sabotaged it to sell more Linn players.

on my setup.. the Arcam had the better extension and frequency. The ART DIO was actually smoother, warmer and more musical! quite opposite to some other ppls foundings.. I like the extension of Arcam, the neutrality and its nice highs but the ART has a very musical sound, easy on the ear..

 

[Tweertinelle]

Quote:

Originally posted by kelly If you don't mind, I'd rather you guys take the rest of the personal stuff to private . . . I'd rather us use the rest of this thread's life for anything else anyone wants to discuss about what came out of the Dallas meet.

No problem. See Scrypt's question above about the use of the word reverb to describe the effect of the w100 and R10 at the Dallas meeting. You're not the only person to have used reverb in that context (in fact it seems to be a common term, with Hirsch writing about "chamber effects" on the Ti100 thread), so the question isn't personal.

 

[Matt]

...if anyone read this in a long ago and far away post, but I was able to directly compare W100's and Ety 4S's. An effect was, in fact, in place on the W100's which gave it a birrova "cupped" sound, similar to the sound modification that takes place if I cup my hands near (not directly on) the backs of my Stax transducer housings. This effect, though, was only really noticeable in direct comparison.

If anyone is doing some fence-sitting with regard to their W100's, compare them with Etys. There is very nearly no sonic contest. Wishing to improve further upon the Etys, I ended up with a Stax system and have barely been here since, if that says anything.

- Matt

 

[kelly]

Matt
He-he.

Glad to hear you're diggin your Stax.

scrypt, tweetertinelle
As I've said, I'm not a sound engineer and won't pretend to be. I'm not even an audiophile. I'm just a consumer with a bit of an obsession at the moment--so think of me as the same guy who buys Sony V600s only with a bit more research thanks to HeadFi and HeadWize.

So here's my amateurish observation and theory on it:
When I hear a similar sound in each (every) recording on a certain component that I do not hear on any other component, I usually will call that sound a coloration or signature. The idea there is that something is being added to the sound in addition to the original recording. No component I have heard is completely free of this. Some people like these colorations because they feel (whether they say so or not) that this coloration is adding something the recordings and other equipment *should* have had, but didn't. Which way does it sound "more realistic"? Which way does it sound "better"?

When I talk about the W100 virtues, in this case the signature is a big distraction for me. It's prevailing compared to its other characteristics. Remember, this is not to say the HD600 is free of coloration--only to say that its signature is less distracting from the music to me. When I ask those questions, to me, the coloration does NOT make the recordings more realistic and does NOT make the recordings better. I fully expect some people to disagree with me in the same way that many people prefer "warm" cables and "tubie" amplifiers.

I've tried to imagine what the W100 might be like without this coloration. Here, I feel the headphone is mediocre--average. Some will probably like its frequency response curve--it's not flat, but it's flaws are in different spots from the HD600. Some will think it is of a low resolution and transient speed like the HD600 (I have to disagree with Matt and say that it is not as quick and resolving as the Etymotic or Stax). One would probably also notice that it's a little too polite on the higher frequencies--causing a somewhat homogenous sound in the uppoermost frequencies that tames some of the harshness from bad sources and bad recordings--many people would like this aspect of the headphone.

It's really too bad that the W100 is so diffuclt to audition. I realize that my tastes are not a one size fits all and that many of you who have heard lots of other headphones still love the W100. I can ultimately only represent my own opinion however, and my warnings are intended more for the new user trying to decide on his first major headphone purchase, not at insulting those of you who already own the W100. To them, I can only offer this: The W100 can be had for about $330+shipping from Japan. The HD600 can be had for $220 with shipping included from Germany. And for my taste, I like the HD600 a hell of a lot better.

 

[scrypt]

Not to be all up in your business, Raccoon, but the tone of your last response has the kind of authority modulated by humility that I sometimes strive for myself (though I probably fail to achieve it).

Whether you consider yourself an audiophile or "mere consumer," what the writer in me respects about your best posts is the clarity of the arguments and the specificity of the points. Hortatory rhetoric is an art, not an empty form.

Which is why I was hoping you'd be able to unpack what headphone fetishists mean by reverb since, in that context, the term still gives my dictionary a nosebleed.

(What's that? You've explained enough already? Oh hell. Oh well.)

One last thing:

I appreciate your having qualified what you said about AT w100s earlier. It might seem petty to be asked to clarify impressions you've described twice before. But people who love the phones you dislike publicly might count your disclaimer as one less reason to distrust their own ears. Good of you to validate them. Good karma, for what that's worth.

Now I'm off to lean and dream (as Hubert Selby used to say). Night night. I hope you're all in the thick of your favorite soundworld by the time sleep's visor slides down.

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by scrypt Which is why I was hoping you'd be able to unpack what headphone fetishists mean by reverb since, in that context, the term still gives my dictionary a nosebleed.

I'm not kelly, but I'll take a shot at the question. I'm also a layman, and technical experts are welcome to correct any misinformation I provide.

The driver in a headphone emits sound both toward the ear and away from it. An open headphone simply lets the sound coming from the rear of the driver out (although Grado's chambers do a bit more than that). A closed headphone doesn't have that escape route. The chamber behind the driver can either absorb sound, or reflect it back at the listener, or some combo thereof. Since this reflected sound is travelling a minutely larger distance before getting to the ear, it's going to arrive slightly later. In addition the reflected sound is also going to impact the driver, and may affect subsequent information coming from the driver. This lag between direct and reflected sound may be what we call chamber reverberation in closed headphones.

The chamber effect does not have to be bad. I'm convinced that the magic of the Sony R10 is due in large part to the chamber design. I think that part of what the R10 does is to use the reflected sound within the chambers to create the illusion of a real acoustical space, better than any other headphone I've heard. Less successful designs, although they may be great headphones in their own rights, don't deal with reflected sound by the chamber as well, creating "reverb" in the closed environment.

 

[kelly]

scrypt
Having recently gotten to hear the R10, I concur with what Hirsch is saying in that comparison. As for how the "reverb" sounds--my best description was really "Imagine a bad venue." In Dallas, there are very few places to hear good live music. Even by the reduced expectations we have of amplified live music, most of our venues around here are sub par. "Echoey" is a word most people would describe it as. Some are so much as just concrete square rooms and stages set up in the corners. It's terrible.

For me, the W2002 had the feeling of (if you could imagine) a large classy wooden amphitheater. The W100 to me sounds more like... a garage with a lot of lumber in it. I dunno. I'm probably the wrong person to attempt to describe this.

I'm sure some of this IS system dependent, too. If you have a source less capable of resolving ambient details, you may be less likely to notice the echoey effects. Getting some of them may even seem like its giving you more of reality if your system was devoid of them to begin with. This is probably one reason people like pairing the W100 with solid state amps--the cheaper solid state amps don't do such a good job with ambient detail. (This is changing, though: witness META42.) The Headroom family sound (via OPA627) tends to, in my opinion, be a little lacking in this area too.

With the R10, I had no complaints--even with SACDs on the XA777ES and even on the Headmaster (which I think excels at texture and ambient detail).

Anyway--thanks for the kind words; sorry I don't have better answers.

 

[scrypt]

You're welcome, Kelly. I'll probably want to respond to Hirsch and your description of reverb tomorrow, after I've switched to a daytime shed-yule for the weekend.

And just to recap: I disapprove vociferously of that gentleman-sinner who suggested dicing your lower intestine over a Tempeh steamer and offering the charred contents to Shiites in Outer Mung. After all, you're a living huffing headphone coveter and I feel your reverb and, what's more, bounty hunting is terribly, terribly wrong -- and so is ORIENTAL COOKING (though it's not that bad unless you mind the taste of my parents' eyes).

 

[Nick Dangerous]

I found some stuff left over after cleaning up a bit. Kelly, since you never answer your email... perhaps some of this is yours?

FOUND:

1 Sony CD remote... brought by Flumpus or Kelly.

1 pair short blue interconnects... can't remember the brand but I'll check.

1 small AC adaptor (for a Meta42? PDAC?)

1 Roger Waters CD

I'm sure there was something else. I'll check when I get home.

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by Nick Dangerous I found some stuff left over after cleaning up a bit. Kelly, since you never answer your email... perhaps some of this is yours?

Are you emailing rtype@fastmail.fm or some old out of date email account? I meant to email you, anyway.

Quote:

FOUND: 1 Sony CD remote... brought by Flumpus or Kelly.

Mine.

Quote:

1 pair short blue interconnects... can't remember the brand but I'll check.

Might belong to jerikyl?

Quote:

1 small AC adaptor (for a Meta42? PDAC?)

Mine.

Quote:

1 Roger Waters CD

I think that is Flumpus'.

Quote:

I'm sure there was something else. I'll check when I get home.

I'm also missing a gold plated 1/4" adapter.

Thanks - no rush, we'll get together sometime. Email rtype@fastmail.fm.

 

[Toddathan]

Just got back into town. The short blue Kimber KC1 Interconnects are mine. I just realized that I didn't have them. I'll get with Nick about picking them up.

 

[timoteus]

Nick-

If you can still remember, what is the full tube compliment of the Twin Head? There's nothing on the ASL site yet and Divergent only has this pic:

http://www.divertech.com/aqtwinhead.html

2A3s and the E88CCs you mentioned, what else is in there?

 

[LarryS]

timoteus,

Look on the second page of posts in this thread, posted by Joe Lau.