wow. a day not at work (i have no computer with internet at home in taipei) and look at the blood-stained battlefields that have become my thread. makes me proud, in some sort of perverse way...
well, an update on my headphone hunting. i went to the hi-fi exhibit that's in taipei, will be going back again today, and i gotta say... my mind is now officially blown. after listening to a few headphones and such, i saw an exhibit that had my promedia 5.1's and as i listened to them, i asked myself, "how was i ever content with THIS??"... *sigh*... ignorance
was truly bliss...
so, results from touring the exhibit... i am now determined to buy a home listening rig first, then worry about my portable later. i am torn between grado rs-2 with grado amp (offer is about $700 and includes cables), AT W100 and meta42 (for some reason, AT sells for hella expensive in taipei, so for this i'll have to wait till i get back to the states), and STAX SRS-2020 ($370). i dunno, the senn distributor was playing some really lame music for demoing, no bass, no treble, just some ****ty whiny elevator music...
so call it bad marketing if u will, but i've been turned off to the senn sound. i am actually in love with the w100 sound (the only AT's i liked out of the many that were demoed)... engaging overall, relaxed mid-range, a soundstage that places u not right in the middle of the band, but more like in the first two rows of an unplugged session, and that distinctly woody feel & resonance... i dunno, i grew up playing the violin for 8 years, so i guess it really struck a nostalgic chord in me
... and talk about soundstage, the STAX gave me goosebumps
. i don't think i need to say more about them. STAX=amazing. the STAX 001 in-the-ear ones were only about $220, but i dunno, i'd rather not have ear-pluggy gear for home usage.
given that all these combos are amazing, i'm leaning towards the stax cuz they're cheap here, plus i think if i game or play my classical dvds with them, i will simply die of repeated eargasms
. however, i still want the w100's... but there's no guarantee that i'd be able to get them when i return to the states, plus i'd have to worry about an amp. the grados are great phones all-around, but the price here isn't too cheap, plus i don't think i'd get them over a set of stax or a good offer for used w100+meta42 when i get back to the states.
sorry about my wallet, eh? well, u better be.
okay, it's about time i get outta this net cafe and head back to the exhibit...
wish me luck bargaining!
~taipeileviathan
ps, thanks for all the input guys... really do appreciate it. in terms of a portable source (which i won't be getting anytime soon... gotta save up for ER4P as well to go with the port source), i'm prolly gonna get the SlimX. with the ability to play cd's as well as mp3's and a line-out, it's prolly my best option...