barleyguy
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2009
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Greetings,
People started showing up around 10:30 and setting up gear. The meet was in an oversized conference room with a big “U” shaped table. The space turned out to be about the perfect size for the number that showed up, which was about a dozen, not counting the 3 from Westone. Those were Rachelle, Kate, and Dan. The cleaning crew was also in the building, and I think we were the bane of their day, but they were gracious nonetheless. Dan's wife was 36 weeks pregnant and she had baby feet kicking her from the inside, so needless to say he was holding his cell phone. It was gracious of everyone at Westone to come spend a Sunday with us.
The mix of gear was eclectic but everything there was high quality. Most people seemed to choose the computer → DAC → Headphone Amp → Headphones route, though most everyone had a pocket sized source as well. The amplifiers were mixed about evenly between tubes and solid state.
Things I remember seeing, in random order:
Westone had the UM1, UM2, UM3, UM3X, W1, W2, W3, W4, ES2, ES3X, and ES5 demos there. The ES series and UM series looked much more popular the W series for listening, though I think most people tried the W4 as well. Larry also sent the Triple Fi Pro and a Monster IEM to compare, and several people took the opportunity to make the comparison.
I did try the W4 for the first time at the meet. It was the only Westone IEM I hadn't tried yet. The one word summary would be “balanced”. (In a sound signature sense, not in an electrical sense). As many people have stated before, it seems much less hyped than the W3, having a presentation that's a bit more mellow on the high and low end, but still with decent extension. I also compared the W4 against the RE0 (which I carry everywhere), and felt that the W4 was definitely a step up, but that the RE0 held its own. The RE0 also has an easy in-out fit, whereas the W4 is more of a “twist it in your ear and spend some time with it” type of IEM, much like a custom. My way of using universals is more of the former. So ultimately I'm going to end up with the ES5 and RE0 and my custom and universal.
Larry sent along the Ray Samuels SR-71B balanced amp and a balanced Twag IEM cable. A few people actually tried it with their Westone custom IEMs. I think the consensus was that it sounded very good, but were questioning whether running balanced on a portable amp was overkill or not. (But the definition of “overkill” is a personal thing that's at a different level for everyone.)
Also courtesy of Larry via lmswjm was a Denon D7000 modded to be open backed. As luck would have it, someone also brought a stock D7000, so people were able to do a direct comparison. The consensus I believe was that the difference was primarily in the bass. Many people really liked the open back version.
I brought along my computer like most people there, along with a Tango 24 studio DAC running to my CTH amp and a pair of Grado SR225s. CraigLester also had some woodied open back Grado MS1s, so people were able to compare those as well. A few people also tried the CTH with their own headphones.
Another interesting rig (Bixby's I think) was a Blue Circle DAC going to a vintage Kenwood receiver. That was a great sounding rig. It showed that old receivers can make impressive amps, and will shine if given a great source.
I've missed a lot of stuff that was there, so hopefully other people will fill in with their impressions as well. The rest of my memories were the events of the day and the conversations. Topics included the usual like headphones. amps, and DACs, as well as hi resolution music, speakers, home theaters, the weather, food, and other random things.
Westone capped off the day with a raffle and a tour. They raffled off enough hats and t-shirts that everyone got one, and then had a pair of W4s as the grand prize. I was 2nd to last, so had a 50% chance on it, but ended up with a t-shirt, which is actually rather cool. I believe it was Clausgut that won the W4. I should have taken notes. And pictures. Rachelle and Kate did take pictures that I'll post when they send them.
The tour was fun and fascinating. We heard a step by step explanation of building custom IEMs while looking at each station. Being a Sunday, nobody was actually working, but we got to see the tools they use and imagine the process. It is impressive that custom IEMs are completely hand made. They go so far as to arrange each person's drivers based on their ear anatomy and solder the wires in by hand. There is more to “custom” than just the shell. Overall, I think we were all impressed with the Westone factory and their process.
I'm pretty sure the head of the cleaning crew was wearing SkullCandies though. He should probably know better considering where he works.
Overall, it was a great meet. We think it would have been a little larger if we weren't so close to RMAF. I think anyone who would have traveled from greater distance is choosing that meet over this one, which is completely logical. So we may shoot for closer to May next year.
Anyone else who attended, if you took pictures or want to talk about the meet please do so here. And I will get Westone's pictures posted when I have them.
Cheers,
Harley.
People started showing up around 10:30 and setting up gear. The meet was in an oversized conference room with a big “U” shaped table. The space turned out to be about the perfect size for the number that showed up, which was about a dozen, not counting the 3 from Westone. Those were Rachelle, Kate, and Dan. The cleaning crew was also in the building, and I think we were the bane of their day, but they were gracious nonetheless. Dan's wife was 36 weeks pregnant and she had baby feet kicking her from the inside, so needless to say he was holding his cell phone. It was gracious of everyone at Westone to come spend a Sunday with us.
The mix of gear was eclectic but everything there was high quality. Most people seemed to choose the computer → DAC → Headphone Amp → Headphones route, though most everyone had a pocket sized source as well. The amplifiers were mixed about evenly between tubes and solid state.
Things I remember seeing, in random order:
Westone had the UM1, UM2, UM3, UM3X, W1, W2, W3, W4, ES2, ES3X, and ES5 demos there. The ES series and UM series looked much more popular the W series for listening, though I think most people tried the W4 as well. Larry also sent the Triple Fi Pro and a Monster IEM to compare, and several people took the opportunity to make the comparison.
I did try the W4 for the first time at the meet. It was the only Westone IEM I hadn't tried yet. The one word summary would be “balanced”. (In a sound signature sense, not in an electrical sense). As many people have stated before, it seems much less hyped than the W3, having a presentation that's a bit more mellow on the high and low end, but still with decent extension. I also compared the W4 against the RE0 (which I carry everywhere), and felt that the W4 was definitely a step up, but that the RE0 held its own. The RE0 also has an easy in-out fit, whereas the W4 is more of a “twist it in your ear and spend some time with it” type of IEM, much like a custom. My way of using universals is more of the former. So ultimately I'm going to end up with the ES5 and RE0 and my custom and universal.
Larry sent along the Ray Samuels SR-71B balanced amp and a balanced Twag IEM cable. A few people actually tried it with their Westone custom IEMs. I think the consensus was that it sounded very good, but were questioning whether running balanced on a portable amp was overkill or not. (But the definition of “overkill” is a personal thing that's at a different level for everyone.)
Also courtesy of Larry via lmswjm was a Denon D7000 modded to be open backed. As luck would have it, someone also brought a stock D7000, so people were able to do a direct comparison. The consensus I believe was that the difference was primarily in the bass. Many people really liked the open back version.
I brought along my computer like most people there, along with a Tango 24 studio DAC running to my CTH amp and a pair of Grado SR225s. CraigLester also had some woodied open back Grado MS1s, so people were able to compare those as well. A few people also tried the CTH with their own headphones.
Another interesting rig (Bixby's I think) was a Blue Circle DAC going to a vintage Kenwood receiver. That was a great sounding rig. It showed that old receivers can make impressive amps, and will shine if given a great source.
I've missed a lot of stuff that was there, so hopefully other people will fill in with their impressions as well. The rest of my memories were the events of the day and the conversations. Topics included the usual like headphones. amps, and DACs, as well as hi resolution music, speakers, home theaters, the weather, food, and other random things.
Westone capped off the day with a raffle and a tour. They raffled off enough hats and t-shirts that everyone got one, and then had a pair of W4s as the grand prize. I was 2nd to last, so had a 50% chance on it, but ended up with a t-shirt, which is actually rather cool. I believe it was Clausgut that won the W4. I should have taken notes. And pictures. Rachelle and Kate did take pictures that I'll post when they send them.
The tour was fun and fascinating. We heard a step by step explanation of building custom IEMs while looking at each station. Being a Sunday, nobody was actually working, but we got to see the tools they use and imagine the process. It is impressive that custom IEMs are completely hand made. They go so far as to arrange each person's drivers based on their ear anatomy and solder the wires in by hand. There is more to “custom” than just the shell. Overall, I think we were all impressed with the Westone factory and their process.
I'm pretty sure the head of the cleaning crew was wearing SkullCandies though. He should probably know better considering where he works.
Overall, it was a great meet. We think it would have been a little larger if we weren't so close to RMAF. I think anyone who would have traveled from greater distance is choosing that meet over this one, which is completely logical. So we may shoot for closer to May next year.
Anyone else who attended, if you took pictures or want to talk about the meet please do so here. And I will get Westone's pictures posted when I have them.
Cheers,
Harley.
