2015 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest Impressions

Discussion in 'The Meeting Place' started by velvetx, Sep 28, 2015.

  1. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Well, you saw my thoughts...HEX has a smoother, more neutral tone than HE1K (i.e. no rough treble spot). I think jexby heard the same?

    Personally, I think I preferred the T50RP MK3 tone over the HEX (again, QUICK LISTEN, SHOW CONDITIONS, HEX from PHONE), but I'm guessing the HEX has a more capable driver.

    T50RP MK3 shit all over the Ether Closed I heard.
     
  2. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    Agreed for the value it is a big step up from the originals. I wouldn't say it was the star of the show but it was definitely a diamond in the ruff.
     
  3. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    Personally I would think of the HE1K as a reference headphone as for me it didn't hit the bass as much as I like but it's ability to pull details out of music was really solid as was it's sound stage. The tones and instruments in say the jazz music I listened to sounded great. In regards to the HEX it definitely had more of a bass signature I enjoy (tight, punchy, and a little slam). The HEX was far what I would call funner than the HE1K the sound stage was similar and the details it pulled out of the music was also similar.

    The big decider though is since there is no price point will there be value here?
     
  4. YtseJammer

    YtseJammer Almost "Made"

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    It's funny because I have posted on HF that some people think that the new T50RP MK3 sounds better than the Ether C and my message has been deleted by the admin.
     
  5. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    yah, smoother with a bit of the fun-but-not-fake as Velvet eluded to in his post.

    in the tracks I heard, mids seemed to be a bit forward in the presentation, rich yet not offensive. for vocal lovers this could be a good thing?
    could be mix, device, source dependent tho. told Dr Fang about the mids, the reply was tuning 90% complete but a few tweaks still remained.

    my HEX listening chain was =
    iPhone 5S (Onkyo HF Player) > Lightning USB adapter + Cable > GoV2+Infinity *balanced* > YFS custom bal silver-coated copper cable > HEX.
    was expecting something much warmer than HE1K, but didn't find it much warmer overall. not like these are HiFiMan Audeze in any way.
    :rolleyes:

    hard to comment on direct comparison of HEX to HE1K as HE1K were driven by a Vi DAC/SS Amp and that combo was just jaw dropping!
    (despite the HiFiMan source material not being too musically diverse or recognizable. hurm.)

    as far as sensitivity- yah, Hands drove HEX out of his phone. (hm, maybe this is why Hands always hears some treble etch?? I kid I kid.)
    cranked GOV2+Inf balanced to High Gain and it did not overpower HEX at all.
    (meaning, still had to move iPhone slider to 70% volume to get it loud but not deafening).

    hard to know how well HEX scales with power, tube amps, etc. just wasn't the opportunity to move their only HEX to another vendor's table?
    except, I vaguely recall some writer (audiohead?) might have moved HEX to the Cavalli table for a few minutes before noon on Friday....

    a new HE1K owner as of Monday, my initial lust for HEX has passed but hopefully some Colorado SBAF has a loaner pair for our eventual next mini meet.
    HEX bears watching for sure, if not for price point alone. ($1500-$1999).
     
  6. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    Well I guess this means welcome and rest assured your opinions are valued here (no thread deletes we like the straight talk).
     
  7. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Seriously? I wonder if this is them just scrubbing away dissenting opinion for their whiny butt buddies...I mean sponsors...or if it's because someone over here said that. They already cracking down on anything that might refer to SuperBAF?

    So they still have time to give it rough treble like the HE1K, eh? ;)

    And, yes, you found out my secret. I have all this pricey gear and the real problem is that I secretly use my phone for everything. :)
     
  8. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    Yes, the Hifiman HE1K paired with the Vi Dac was spectacular to say the least. I too didn't care for most of the music but I did find a special track that I really know and it was "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye. His vocals sounded great the tone was excellent you could hear the slight beat of the what I believe to be congo drums (drums played by hand I refer to them as congo drums). It really was a great experience.
     
    Last edited: Oct 6, 2015
  9. Judeus

    Judeus Facebook Friend

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    Seems like Dan has also [redacted] Jude's tight Lil [redacted] [redacted]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 6, 2015
  10. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    Someone on HF posted about how Mike Mercer loved the LCD-4 on his twitter (of course he did) then on HF in his RMAF impressions thread said it wasn't good. Then the almighty Currawong moderated that thread quick.
     
  11. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    LOL, what? Did anyone grab a copy of that before moderation?
     
  12. kapanak

    kapanak Canucklehead - Friend

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    He deleted like two pages.

    It was like two pages of posts, some of which involved moderate criticism of Mike Mercer. I unfortunately closed my browser before I realized it was deleted. All of it.
     
  13. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    The Judeus post? Or the Mike Mercer thing?
     
  14. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    The funny thing was it wasn't even an attack. It was just an upset post about what his twitter said versus what he said in the RMAF impression thread. Then I posted about his twitter picture and story with the LCD-4s on about how he probably made Audeze and everyone around him uncomfortable with his "rocking out."
     
  15. kapanak

    kapanak Canucklehead - Friend

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    It happens all the time. Don't take it personally :) It happened a lot on the EL-8 page too. Also involving Mike Mercer.
     
  16. YtseJammer

    YtseJammer Almost "Made"

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    Yes, and now I just got a warning from Amos (Currawong) because I have said that the price of the LCD-4 is stupid.

    My comment that they have deleted in the LCD-4 thread : "Sorry guys but the price of the LCD-4 is just a joke and you have to be stupid to pay $4000 for a pair of headphones."

    Well I guess that I'm now on their black list.
     
  17. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    Oh it's definitely not personal for me but why would HF protect gear reviewers? And of all gear reviewers Mike Mercer? Like everything about him screams Audeze fanboy just look at his twitter account.
     
  18. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    BTW - because of Hands I just purchased the HD-650 because all meet that is literally the only headphone he spoke about liking except of course the Fostex T50RP MKIII which seems like we are all getting haha :) .
     
  19. Maxvla

    Maxvla Friend

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    LCD-4s should come with lifetime free shipping. You know they will be back and forth a few times.
     
  20. Eric_C

    Eric_C Friend

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    As opposed to just once, when they get returned?
     

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