[rmx]

these were the anti theft deterrent. If anyone was going to make off with some of the gear, I was ready to throw these monsters at them and break a femur.

 

[Anarchris]

Sorry I couldn't come out guys. My dad had a heart attack last week, and headphones were the last thing I was thinking about.

But it sounds like everyone had a blast. I will be there for the next one.

 

[purk]

Please keep impressions coming. I own the W2002 and HA2002 combo, and they are fantastic interms of midrange presentaton. The w2002 is very difficult to mate with amp. The HA2002 really is superb in female vocals. I love listening to Diana Krall and Particia through this combo. The 2002 combo even best my L3000 and SDS combo in the midrange department. The vocals on the W2002 becomes thick and not as involving when paired with my SDS and Maxed PPA.

 

[applebook]

Quote:

Originally Posted by purk Please keep impressions coming. I own the W2002 and HA2002 combo, and they are fantastic interms of midrange presentaton. The w2002 is very difficult to mate with amp. The HA2002 really is superb in female vocals. I love listening to Diana Krall and Particia through this combo. The 2002 combo even best my L3000 and SDS combo in the midrange department. The vocals on the W2002 becomes thick and not as involving when paired with my SDS and Maxed PPA.

I never got a chance to listen to the W2002 out of the Dynahi because I was too busy auditioning that amp for my 650, but even out of the XLR output, the W2002's midrange is extremely detailed and transparent.

Anarchris, I'm really sorry to hear about your tragedy and hope that your dad is doing better.

 

[iamsmrt]

Hey kids! I had great fun at the meet and yet again, shout out to Raj (rmx) for throwing together a great meet. It always takes someone to organize everything and that person usually isn't me!

POTENTIAL MINI-MEET!

My vote is totally with Enricht about a boatload of pizza over going with an admission charge but this was a good way for everyone to meet at first! I'm totally down for a mini-meet at someone's house, my vote is sooner than later to just hang out with some other people who appreciate music and good gear.

My place is a super small basement suite and between my queen sized bed and 7.1 Home theater setup, there's really only room for 2-3 guests comfortably though more could fit, it'd just be cozy. And it's messy as hell. Oh well, another reason to clean (the reasons as well as the mess seem to keep compiling). But my home theater setup is pretty fun! I even have ass shakers in my Walmart futon that get a direct feed from the sub channel for those bassy moments like T-Rex in Jurassic Park! It sounds like rmx's place or for that matter almost anyone else's house might be better suited, but I'm down if no one else is.

PEEPS!

Anyways, back to the meet, everybody was super crazy friendly and very warm and open. Rmx (Raj) was a superb host and made sure everybody was welcome. Shion (Gabriel) had his permasmile going on and his goofy demeanor kept the mood fun and light-hearted. Enright (ok, seriously, I can't remember everybody's name! people gotta post their real names for me!) and his gf were a blast... your camera is totally sick dude! Looks more expensive than a lot of people's complete setups! You guys had great chemistry and kept it real just being your goofy 'selves... I loved the Karaoke, your gf is hilarious! Roastpuff (Diondi... sp?) was super enthusiastic about all the gear and a great guy... Aliacha (Matt) was kinda the wise sage of the group, keeping to himself but very insightful on all sorts of gear, esp. grados... Applebook (derek i believe?) was super cool, it was cool to find another w2002 fan... I had the senn 600's before the w2002, so I can totally see how you'd like them. And I'm totally spacing on this dude's name, Tim was it? Anyways, dressed in black vest and blue collared shirt was super crazy nice and had a really good knowledge of DIY stuff... totally beyond my current comprehension. Knew all about this Millett hyprid i keep hearing about...

NO SHOWS!

Speaking of Millett Hybrids... there were supposed to be 3 of them and all of them no-showed! Not to mention any beyer's, no RS-1 etc. etc... You guys gotta show up next time! I need to hear your cans! heehee...

GEAR!

Now on to the fun stuff!

Alessandro MS2i: Rmx's (Raj) blacksilver-recabled ms2i's with Beyer C-pads were my absolute favourite cans of the meet! I'd never heard a Grado or Alessandro before this meet so it was great to finally try them out. These were totally fun cans... weren't super bright like the other Grado cans I listened to (esp. the HP2) and to me sounded like they had a subtle "V" equalization to them... (ie. a lil emphasis on bass and treble and a lil suckout maybe on the mids, but didn't really get a good chance to give them a listen with so much gear at the meet) but remember, I usually listen to the w2002 which are pretty well known to have an upside down "V" equalization to them (emphasis on mids, suckout on sub-40Hz bass and rolled-off treble). I didn't get a super long chance to listen to them, but I might like the sound signature of these cans better than the w2002! But I didn't feel they had the details of the w2002... maybe ms-pro is that can? Who knows...

Grado HP2: Wow, do these things feel over-hyped... I realized this meet that I don't like overly bright cans and WOW these things are super bright. Totally not my cup of tea... and I heard MSRP was in the 300-400ish range or so? Wow, I really don't see the appeal except if you want a really bright can.

Grado SR60 and Alessandro MS1: Holy crap these things are amazing! No wonder people rave about them! I had a VERY brief listen to them, but they are in NO way over-hyped as being an amazing value... the over-riding lesson at this meet was that there wasn't a huge jump from high-end to low-end... the prices might be huge differences but the sound quality is actually relatively close.

Koss KSC-35: OMG value cans again!!! I might even prefer the sound signature over my ew9 and em9d! Yet again, not overhyped at all and will have to A/B vs. ew9 and em9d... obviously the ew9/em9d win on detail, but the ksc-35 are just tons of FUN!

K1000: Fun to actually try these out, for me personally sounded they had an emphasis on the treble and upper midrange. They were very good, but somehow not my cup of tea, but revealed a lot of details and can see the appeal for an upgrade over a lot of 2 or 3 hundred dollar cans.

Random Stanton's: Wow these things are horrible! Out of the DAC1/Dynahi combo they make songs I've heard a thousand times before practically unrecognizable! Amazing!!!

Senn 650: Used to own the 600's which I bought before I heard of head-fi and realize their a lil too reserved for my tastes, though they're solid overall cans.

Audio-Technica A900: Could hear the sound signature of the w2002 but obviously didn't have the magic. I think I'd take an MS1 over the A900 at this price range personally, but might've been the novelty of a new fun, agressive sound signature vs. hearing a downgraded version of a sound signature you're used to.

AKG 271: Wow, at first I listen to them out of the Lil Dot tube amp and I really hated these things... thought they were insanely mediocre. But then tried 'em out of Rmx (raj's) laptop and Xin insanely small amp (can't member name) and they sounded golden! Might've been the bass boost in the amp, but all of a sudden these things were crystal clear and super transparent... maybe just need a lil bass boostage in your source or amp and these things really are a steal! Probably my second favourite can at the meet after the ms2i.

Grado HF-1: Yet again, not seeing the hype... are they grado's? yep. Are they totally mind-blowing? Not for me. Write another one off to flavour of the month, though they are good, they're just not "OMG you have to try this"

DYNAHI!

BTW, the Dynahi wasn't the limiting factor on the volume for K1000... it's just cuz I'm using the w2002 with the Dynahi at home so i've turned down the calibrated sound on my DAC1 as low as it can freaking go... otherwise with stepped attenuator, it gets way too loud after like 2 clicks. So I'm sure it could get a lot louder, but I listen low compared to most I believe. It's crappy that the poor lil Dynahi has a grounding issue (random buzz in right ear... not to mention EXTRA random buzz when holding the stepped attenuator...) gotta get that fixed in the future, but I'm a lil apprehensive leaving it at Trevor's considering his reputation for getting around to making people's Dynahi's and the whole fiasco with the Porta Corda II's for western Canada. So if anybody knows anybody, maybe I'll consider. Maybe just PM headphile or Larocco cuz I go down to Seattle fairly often with Moniki_123 (monique) my gf...

But buzzing aside I freaking love this amp, it's even better than I remembered from my very first meet a year ago and hopefully we can do up a mini-review of sorts at a mini-meet cuz there is still very very little dynahi reviews out there... especially maxed out dynahi's like mine cuz I think the MSRP was a lil over $1500 initially for this one. I'm pretty sure Trevor back in the day said his Dynahi's have over $500 in parts alone in them.

CONCLUSION

Anyways, rockin' meet.... great to finally try the Grado/Alessandro sound and meet a lot of wicked people to hopefully meet up with again soon! Keep in touch kids! And if you Van people could post your real names that'd be awesome! It's hard to remember everybody's name... too many people for my lil brain! Keep in touch kids!

Dylan (iamsmrt)

P.S. I gotta run to work so I didn't proofread this... might have some mistakes (i know on valentine's day... but i'm working with my gf!).

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamsmrt Grado HP2: Wow, do these things feel over-hyped... I realized this meet that I don't like overly bright cans and WOW these things are super bright. Totally not my cup of tea... and I heard MSRP was in the 300-400ish range or so? Wow, I really don't see the appeal except if you want a really bright can. K1000: Fun to actually try these out, for me personally sounded they had an emphasis on the treble and upper midrange. They were very good, but somehow not my cup of tea, but revealed a lot of details and can see the appeal for an upgrade over a lot of 2 or 3 hundred dollar cans.

Sounds like a fun meet!

Man...I WISH HP2's could be bought for "300-400ish"!! Not even close these days. I also don't understand how HP2's could have been so bright out of Dynahi. The combo should have sounded close to ruler-flat with effortless detail.

Also in the pictures, it looks like stock K1000 cable (bright, grainy, bass-shy devil) was being used with the Dynahi!! You guys are brave, very brave.

 

[roastpuff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamsmrt AKG 271: Wow, at first I listen to them out of the Lil Dot tube amp and I really hated these things... thought they were insanely mediocre. But then tried 'em out of Rmx (raj's) laptop and Xin insanely small amp (can't member name) and they sounded golden! Might've been the bass boost in the amp, but all of a sudden these things were crystal clear and super transparent... maybe just need a lil bass boostage in your source or amp and these things really are a steal! Probably my second favourite can at the meet after the ms2i.

Thanks for the compliments, Dylan! If you want to trade that W2002 for a 271, you know who to turn to

!

Good job on getting my name right! It takes people some time, usually, to remember it and the way it's spelled. And Tim was the crazy DIY guru at the meet ^^.

Mini-meet? I'm game.

 

[Shion]

I'd definitely be up for another meet

Although to be sincere, it'd be cool if at least one of my on order devices got to me before that happened... One is a z-audio lambda and then the k701 (ok, so I took the plunge blind, but hey, there's nowhere to try them around....) On the latter, it seems I'm unlucky enough that I won't get it out of the first shipment. The former, I check my mailbox everyday and hope there's a notice for me....

I live in rez at the moment, so I don't know if I can even fit 3 people in this room comfortably. I could try to work something out on a weekend though, and use some room in rez while no one is looking

Raj (rmx), as you can see, I know nothing. But I'm glad you clarified your ms2i's have beta pads. Boy, I want me a pair of those... perhaps when I upgrade further up the grado line. Already went deep into my pockets with the stuff I'm waiting for.

Dylan (iamsmrt), thanks again for bringing all that gear.. it was sweet! I'll try to keep smiling even if I don't get my gear soon, but it's getting hard >_<

Hey Dondi (roastpuff) (is it just my dislexia or did I think I read your name as Donni?) thanks a lot for letting me hog your amp for so long.... it made my experience of trying out stuff much better out of my IMP 350. I finally figured it was a bad idea to not listen to stuff from the line out instead of the headphone socket, which caused me to hear the motor.

I guess we're still wondering where Tim is to (eVITAREC, was it?), and whether something will happen in Surrey this weekend. You alive man?

I too apologize for not remembering everyone's name... as you'll soon find out, I'm much worse than Dylan at that department.

As for those Stantons, yep, I thought they went something brrrrm brrrm on the bass.

cheers,

Gabriel

 

[rmx]

Dylan, the amp was a supermini-3 with the bass boost turned off and set to low impedance and no crossfeed.

How does saturday, March 4th sound for a meet at my place? I've got a decent sized living room that will accomodate atleast 10 people, and a dining room that will allow for more gear. The problem with my place is power - I'm in a 65 year old house with funny wiring. I think I have 3 outlets in the living room but they're all 2 prong only. The dining room will handle more of course. Should be fine, as long as you all dont show up with K1000's. Living room pic:

 

[rmx]

here's a funny thought. This meet actually made me save money! I wanted the HP2's so bad before hearing them from all the written testimonials. Now, I'm so satisfied with my modded MS2i's that I'm just going to stop looking for HP2's and get more music instead!

[size=xx-small]and maybe a dynahi...[/size]

 

[iamsmrt]

I work Saturday nights at 5pm, so it would have to be Saturday afternoon for me, but as always, my vote's on any time Sunday personally.

Nice place Raj! Got your candles raring for Valentine's day! Gonna try and seduce us all with your MS2i's... Haha, too late, we're already sucked in.

 

[applebook]

Hey, guys:

Jon L: Do you have a review or impressions of your cable upgrade for your K1000? I'm very keen on getting a stock pair. I didn't find the K1000 too bright out of the XLRs of the DAC1...perhaps mega detailed but not too bright.

Shion, I'd be surprised if you dislike the K701. I've yet to hear it and am dying to, but pretty much no one has said anything negative about these cans.

Anyway, I'm definitely in for another mini-meet. Maybe I'll be bringing a K1000 next time and ask akwok to hang with us (along with his Baby O and Stax amp

My 650 Silver Dragon cable came in today, and it sounds brilliant so far. Some of you might want to give the 650/ 600 another try if you've not heard it with a good cable replacement.

 

[eVITAERC]

Hey guys, sorry for not showing up for a while, I've been having too much fun on the reading break, haha~

You guys are wayyyyy too much fun to be around! Everyone at the meet was super nice and it was really an awsome time. I can't believe how much gear exists in Vancouver (especially the AT woodies!) and how alive the local scene is now that you've all come out of the woodwork

Wicked cafe is an awsome place ran by an awsome owner and we're all very lucky that Raj happens to know him. Big round of applause! Oh and the Leige waffles are out of this world. They're a steal too at less than 3 bucks, with the authentic pearl sugars and everything. It's as surprising as finding really good sushi in Ethiopia or something. You guys should all give it a try next time

Speaking of Raj, I want to thank you again for graciously giving me and Shion a ride. You're really a life saver! And not to mention a great chap for taking the inititive to organize this. Your MS-2i's showed me a whole new world of sorts, and now I see more Grados in my future.

And kudos for everyone for being great people to hang out with. And to everyone who brought their gear~ Diondi's SR-225, Dylan's crapload of stuff but ESPECIALLY the Dynahi and the woodies (damn you gots me diy bugs goin' again), Shion's SR-80, Matt's K1000s, HF-1, chinese amps, Apogee, and the nazi medical experiment(tm) SR-60, Enricht's 20D (nice to see another fan, haha), and rmx's MS-2i and wicked blue wrecking-balls. Too many to name, I'm sure some more will come back to me tomorrow

Oh and sorry guys for not bringing my Millet Hybrid. Right now it's got its faceplate ripped off cuz i"m in the middle of installing a better volume control and making space for a diamond buffer that's going to eliminate the OP-AMPs. Should be sweet and ready by March, so I'll bring it to show everyone by then.

Diondi, I can build another Millet Hybrid for around ~ $130 including casework and power supply. Just PM me if you're insterested. Or maybe you would perfer to wait till you've listened to one. I'll bring it at the next meet.



now, for you guys who are interested in speaker stuff
RAW Acoustics is having a gathering/showcase for the DIY crowds in the Lower Mainland. It'll be at its Surrey location on Feb 25th. Look here for more information:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...threadid=72588

 

[Enricht]

hehe.. the permasmile comment about Shion is right..

Does anyone have those Cd's, that tells you what to listen for?

I use to read headfi quite a bit, but still do not understand anything about sound. Could be my ears of course.. but....

I'd like to know a bit more what to hear for, or rather what I'm missing before I bow out altogether. I've found a new hobby, but I would hate to know that all my reading on headfi was for nothing.

(I will of course try to make the march 4th meet : )

 

[AdamWill]

just in case anyone missed it in the main thread, i'm totally sorry I was a no show, I just totally forgot about the meet on the day (that makes three in a row I've done that, sigh). mini-meet sounds good, i'll try not to make it FOUR in a row :O

glad there was an hf-1 there at least, but sorry to anyone who wanted to try the d77s or the firestone stack