RMAF 2017 Impressions

Discussion in 'The Meeting Place' started by Scott Kramer, Oct 6, 2017.

  1. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,268
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Lame excuse. You're Asian, your body doesn't age until you're at least 70!
     
  2. bengo

    bengo Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,370
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Divisive Kingdom
    Home Page:
    There is some truth to this for instance if you are Japanese and eat a traditional fish diet, not so much if you live in the USA and eat a traditional American diet.
     
  3. 9suns

    9suns [insert unearned title here]

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,754
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    EU
    From Dekoni's Facebook, zoom to see the HD800 with the new pads more clearly.

    [​IMG]
     
  4. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

    Pyrate Banned
    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,455
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I must be blind, where the hell are they? Yes, I suck at "where'd Waldo."
     
  5. luximal

    luximal Made things right

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2015
    Likes Received:
    234
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Markham ontario
    cropped and sharpened if that helps
    [​IMG]
     
  6. 9suns

    9suns [insert unearned title here]

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,754
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    EU
    It took me a while to see it too, they're in the middle of the table, next to the head with the blue headphones. I had to open the image in a new tab and zoom it 200% to see it better.
     
  7. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophile™

    Pyrate MZR
    Joined:
    Sep 12, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,831
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    East Coast


    Did anybody see or try this at rmaf? It looks very interesting.

    http://mysphere.at/
    Their homepage said that it's developed by ex AKG engineers who deeply got involved in developments of k240df and k1000.

    Price sounds too stiff though.
     
  8. Galm

    Galm Still looking for Little Red Riding Hood

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2017
    Likes Received:
    372
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    East U.S.
    Oh yeah, I did.

    I spoke with the creator about them for a good 15 minutes too. He was a very friendly guy and was very happy with them. They worked very well out of the WA8s in there.

    They were actually pretty cool. Easily the best "on ear" headphones I've ever heard. The first time I tried them I hated them because I didn't realize you were supposed to move them lol. But when you do they're pretty cool. The clarity sharpened right up. So you can somewhat tweak how they sound based on preferences. Closer to your ear would have a little more bass but gets a little bloated while more of an angle was more clear. They were very adjustable, but I don't think everyone could get a great fit. Probably fine for the majority though.

    The only real downside was the price... I think it was either 3 or 5 thousand...? Way way too much. But like if they were a grand I could see a lot of people liking them. It was one of the headphones I genuinely enjoyed, and considering I was disappointed by a lot of flagships I'd say that's pretty solid.

    They had stiff competition in the room too. It was in the Woo Audio room which was full of Stax SR-009 set ups and a Utopia on a WA33.

    Some better pics of them from my album:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2017
  9. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2017
    Likes Received:
    384
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Poland
    Nice work with the pictures! And headphones look great as well, defo something to look forward to!
     
  10. AllanMarcus

    AllanMarcus Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,969
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Los Alamos, NM
    Home Page:
    The pioneer folks gave me a free voucher for music at Onkyo Music. I'm not sure how much it's for; the guy said $40. If anyone wants it, let me know. They have a nice selection of Hi Res and MQA music, if you want some MQA in your library to try out. I just need to send you the code.
     
  11. Brad Tombaugh

    Brad Tombaugh Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2016
    Likes Received:
    178
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Location:
    Denver, CO
    Home Page:
    Allan, I got a voucher as well... Seems to only be good toward a single album, but I didn’t try different prices. Most seemed to be in the $15-20 range.

    They do seem to have a pretty decent representative sample of MQA, although it still seems like snake oil to me... I was tempted to buy an MQA version of an album I already have in 24/96 to compare, but I don’t have access to an MQA decoder. In the end, I decided that I didn’t want to contribute to appearance that MQA might be catching on in popularity, so I stuck with a standard FLAC album, Donald Fagen’s “The Nightfly” in 24/48, so “Hi-Rez” but barely...
     
  12. AllanMarcus

    AllanMarcus Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,969
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Los Alamos, NM
    Home Page:
    There are a few software MQD decoders. You might even have one. If anything, having one album in red book and also in MQA with a software decoder might be useful. I think I will do that with the coupon.

    I did listen to some stuff with MQA at the show, but there was really no good way to compare there.

    Note, I'm not a fanboy of MQA, but I'm not gonna knock it until I try it.

    Edit: I ended up getting Grateful Dead: Go To Heaven (FLAC 24-bit 192kHz MQA)
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2017
  13. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    14,129
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    India
    Why? Even if it gave some benefit, it is still obviously a scam. This is not a pair of headphones or a turntable, it is an utterly unnecessary audio format that someone threw together to make money.

    It's a game there is no need to play.
     
  14. AllanMarcus

    AllanMarcus Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,969
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Los Alamos, NM
    Home Page:
    If that is your approach to audio, then you might as well get out of the hobby now. There is so much in this hoppy that adds a tiny improvement and cost little to a shit-load. If MQA has a benefit, then it has a benefit. If it doesn't, then it doesn't. 98% of the people in the audio world are in it because they want to make money. Some of them actually enjoy what they do too. In order to make money (you know, so you can eat), you need to innovate. MQA and every other innovation by a for profit company has the goal of making the company money, and of being beneficial to their customers. That combination, profitable and beneficial is golden.

    There is a lot of voodoo and snakeoil in audio, no doubt. The deciding factor to me (and possible to others) is "is there a benefit". If the answer is yes, it's not a scam. If the answer is no (like Rocks) then it's a scam.

    I'm happy that Onkyo gave me the opportunity to get a free album so I can try it. I was planning on trying Audirvana Plus anyways, and it can decode MQA. Not a good a solution for tis as hardware, but good enough.

    I also haven't been sold that there is any significant difference between cables, but I'm building some solid core, 99.99% silver RCA cables to try too. Many people, even here, think cables matter. Many people don't think cables matter. I'm gonna try for myself.
     
  15. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2016
    Likes Received:
    12,568
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Portland, OR
    MQA adds no benefit.
     
  16. winders

    winders boomer

    Banned
    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,596
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    San Martin, CA
    That's a little over the top, don't you think?

    What benefit does MQA add? MQA uses lossy compression. That's a negative. It requires special software, a negative, and special hardware, a negative.
     
  17. HitmanFluffy

    HitmanFluffy Hoping to see real genitals someday!

    Anti-SBAF PSYOPS Banned
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,532
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Austin, Texas
    MQA isn't even bad value, its literally rent seeking via the introduction of a new format. It's way worse than a scam.
     
  18. Lasollor

    Lasollor Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2016
    Likes Received:
    367
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Japan
    I think MQA is just slightly better sounding (or just different) remasters wrapped up in bullshit marketing.

    Better remasters could be a benefit, but you shouldn’t need special hardware or software to play it. It could be released in good old PCM, but of course there is no money in that.
     
  19. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jan 10, 2017
    Likes Received:
    8,973
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Denver CO
    Home Page:
    Let's take a step back for a moment. Mqa is a solution to a problem that's already fixing itself.

    What is the problem? Uncompressed PCM data for the average music file takes up too much space. The issue is fixing itself in that mobile devices are providing larger, cheaper, replaceable storage options and capacities.

    Mqa isn't going to go extinct because of lossy compression, or hardware requirements, or stupid licensing tactics. It's going to go away because no one cares that their favorite song is in a file that is 400mb instead of 40mb.

    Imo.
     
  20. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,771
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    Wouldn't the standard no-MQA FLAC 24-bit 192kHz be better than the FLAC 24-bit 192kHz MQA? Or am I missing something?
     

Share This Page