Feb 21 New York meet impressions

Discussion in 'The Meeting Place' started by thegunner100, Feb 21, 2016.

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  1. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

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    Definitely! At the start of the meet, we were all saying how we've never met any of the guys from the West Coast before.
     
  2. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Fixed.
     
  3. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

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    How much has it traditionally cost to go to the NY head-fi meets as a vendor? Just come as an enthusiast :p
     
  4. Colgin

    Colgin Friend

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    I want to reiterate my post from the other thread and thank once again @speedracer1 (and his entire family) for being such a generous host and providing a wonderful lunch to boot and @thegunner100, @sphinxvc and @bozebuttons for their organizational efforts in bringing this together. Due to the relatively late start and the fact that I had to get back to NYC by end of afternoon, I unfortunately was unable to stay as long as I would have liked. My list of things I missed hearing (e.g., HD 800s; all of the UERMs) was probably longer than the gear I did hear. Still, it was great meeting up with everyone and socializing, and I did get to hear some great stuff. So, part 1 of my impressions in no particular order:

    Audio Tecnica AD2000 (@bozebuttons). I think I may have heard these before at a HF meet, but in any event, really liked this setup (don’t recall the Bluray player and amp being used). A lot of mid-range magic going on and nice soundstaging. Seemed to have some of the ethereal qualities that I generally associate with Stax, perhaps due to speed of the drivers.

    Asgard 2. (@take). Finally got to hear this and they are a great all-rounder for the price. Did pretty well with the AKG K712 (which sounds very much like my K7xx, to the extent I didn’t bother trying to discern subtle differences), the Senn HD 600 and my Oppo PM-2. If I didn’t already have the Liquid Carbon I would probably grab this as a great value proposition. Frankly, I think the Asgard 2 was better than the LC with the SE out for the HD 600, but was surpassed by the LC when using the balanced out.

    Valhalla 2/Yggdrasil (@thegunner100). Great setup. Really enjoyed this with the HD 600. Better than the Asgard 2 setup for the HD 600 (which used the Modi I believe), but hard to know how much this was the Valhalla 2 versus the Yggdrasil. Tried this setup with my PM-2 planars not expecting it to be a great pairing and they were not really a great pairing. It certainly drives the planars but just not the best pairing, probably to nobody’s surprise.

    LCD-3F/Liquid Carbon/Gungnir Multibit (@Boops). Was great to finally try on an Audeze with the vegan pads. If I ever buy an Audeze, which I am constantly threatening to do, I will go vegan pads. They don’t look as nice (IMHO) but I do try to reduce leather consumption to the extent possible and moreover they are much more comfortable to me than the leather pads. I have always liked the LCD-3. In general, I like the fazor versions less than the pre-fazor ones (at least the good ones), but this had that great Audeze mid-range and bass thing going on. I did think the combination of LCD-3, liquid carbon and Gungnir Multibit may have been just a tad too warm overall, but still very nice and was doing the Audeze thing that I personally like.

    Oppo HA-2 (@Ziva). Very nice unit, particularly for iDevices. I thought it brought a lot more clarity and punch to my PM-2 as compared to my Iphone without any additional amp/DAC. I had been considering moving the LC to my bedside and getting a more full-sized amp for the living room. I may still “upgrade” the LC to something else for the living room, but for my bedroom I think the HA-2 attached to my phone is just a simpler and better solution. Very glad I was able to try these out.

    Modded HD 800/DNA Sonnet (@Maxx134; @Ziva). I am not an HD 800 person, but this modded pair had the virtues of the HD 800 without the fatigue. Incredible vocal separation between Ryan Adams and Catherine Popper’s vocals on “Sweet Illusions” off of Cold Roses, which often get mushed together. Still, a little diffuse for me (it is an HD 800), but not fatiguing at all. I could get used to this setup. The HD 800 though seemed to lack a little punch on tracks that I know to have it and I was wondering if this was more the HD 800’s inherent qualities or the DNA amp. I seem to recall having a similar issue at the last HF meetup with a Sonnet paired with both a HD 650 and HD 800 so it may be that while this amp is very smooth that it is a tiny bit soft. Not sure. But overall I like this pairing a lot.

    Will try to finish off my impressions later tonight.
     
  5. SteelCannon

    SteelCannon Friend

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    I don't think the sonett 2 can push the hd800. It sounded fantastic with the hd600s but a bit anemic and flat with the hd800 and modded hd 800 I tried.
     
  6. bozebuttons

    bozebuttons Friend

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    0 $ for vendor table space, we pay for the venue with donations which are not mandatory to attend for the not so silent auction
     
  7. bozebuttons

    bozebuttons Friend

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    Player was a VSE level 5 modded Sony DVP9000es dvd player,Amp was a Carlos Modded Melos Referance Gold preamp/headphone amp Known as the Maestrobater.
    Audioquest amazon silver interconnects
     
  8. sphinxvc

    sphinxvc Gear Master (retired)

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    Kind of late to this, but let me echo all the thanks going around. @speedracer1, you and your family are wonderful hosts, can't thank you enough for putting us up. @thegunner100, thanks man for organizing all this. It was really good to chat and joke around with all of you. @Colgin, hope to catch up with you more next meet.

    To continue the string of impressions coming in:

    HD800S
    Tried this off the Rag/Yggdrasil combo; a bit warmer/more sub-bass now. A bit less dry/German. Still has tizzy, splashy treble like its predecessor, but slightly less than before. I've been saying that word since Sunday, I have no idea if it's a real word - tizzy.

    Fostex THX00s
    These do sound good, you crazies on the other coast were right. What a great deal.

    Sonnett 2 + Bifrost Multibit + modded HD650 (coin, foam, dyna)
    A laid back and very slightly wet sound. Moving. I enjoyed this.

    Valhalla 2 + Yggdrasil + modded HD650
    This is the first time I've heard the Valhalla 2, works damn well with the HD650 and can actually do justice to the driver, this amp may be untouchable for its price.

    My favorite quote from Sunday came from @SteelCannon:
    "On some set ups the headphones just disappear, but then on some other set ups the music just disappears" LOL.

    Liquid Carbon + Gungnir Multibit + modded HD650
    I can't decide if this was my favorite 650 set up at the meet or a close 2nd, it was so engaging, long decay, good resolution, control. Every genre I threw at it did well (nice collection of music, @Boops). Not as immediately impressive as the Torpedo, but I could live with this and that's something.

    Torpedo III with alternative tubes and Cinemags + DS Gungnir + modded HD650
    The Torpedo III is a great 650 driver, more below...

    Torpedo III with stock tubes and Cinemags + Yggdrasil + modded HD650
    Okay, the amp is scary good now. Easily bested the Rag sitting there (specifically for the 650s). Would need more time to determine its 'can I live with it' factor.

    My favorite moment from Sunday:
    The @thegunner100 and I pulling up to a house and wondering whether we should ask the guy standing there if he was 'speedracer.' Lol.

    Lampi next level shit
    So much happening on this set up, those power cables looked like hot wheels tracks.

    On to CIEM demos, I had these for three days, so I was able to take my time and go through all of them.

    UERR
    I liked it, but let me put that into context: I am not a UERM owner, and my Noble 4S rolls off the top and low-end. The UERR isn't rolled off and has a pretty smooth response top to bottom, whereas practically every other $1K CIEM demo we had suffered peakiness issues. I can't remember who now, but one of you were saying how close the UE-4 was to the UERM (minus some weaknesses), so I gave the UE-4 demo a spin at home that night. Indeed, it did have its weakness: a rather sharply rolled off low-end, but it also had astonishing attack and resolving speed mid to top. If the UERM pulled off the same thing but with good bass extension, then it truly is the sad end of an era. The UE-4 is also quite smooth besides the roll-off.

    The JH line up besides the Siren series
    This was disappointing all around. The JH-5 was better balanced than the UE-4 but you could sense a peak or valley in the treble. I can't stand non-smooth responses, especially in IEMs. The JH-7 and JH-11 suffered from the same problem, but added a bit of resolution. The JH-13 Pro Freqphase also disappointed, very compacted sound, small dynamics, tizziness. Kind of rushed through JH-16 & 18 due to the disappointment, so no comment there.

    The JH Siren series
    A bit better. I feel like all the heft and weight talk Average_Joe was on about in his original Spiral Ears SE-5 review was revealed to me. The Roxanne and Layla had this sense of weight. I mean let's be real though, these are CIEMs, not a (good) LCD-2 resolving the ragged drag of bow on a cello low-note, the sense of weight is modest in the bigger scheme of things. Still, I did appreciate it. The bass tuning is a nice touch, it lets you find your version of bass neutral. The response seemed pretty smooth to me which brings me to the price. Is the smooth response why JH finds these things worth $2K to almost $3K? Let's get this out of the way: F that. I didn't find the Angie worth commenting on.

    It's rare to have an entire weekend with this many demo CIEMs so I basically have this to say: I found optimal price/performance to be around the $1K mark, returns were distinctly more 'different' than 'better' above that. With that in mind, if you apply the criteria of a smooth response + good extension on both ends, the UERR is still the best bet among these options. Being a Noble 4S owner, I would say the UERR is better all around. It's too bad about the UERM.

    @speedracer1, by the way, @Ziva got his bag back today.
     
  9. sphinxvc

    sphinxvc Gear Master (retired)

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    [​IMG]
     
  10. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

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    LOOOOOOOL!!! Another one of my favorite quotes was also from @SteelCannon via Stereo Exchange rep: "Can you afford it?"

    It would have pretty hilarious if we had actually asked him if he was speedracer.

    And yes, I think I was the one who said that the UE-4s were very similar to the UERMs but less refined. They're still pretty amazing at less than half the price of the UERMs though, and I'd say the starting point for those looking to get into CIEMs.

    For those of you still thinking about doing the hd650s mod: Just do it!! At the very least, do the dynamat if you're worried about the quarter mod/back foam removal being too bright. I don't find it bright on my setup at all, so YMMV.
     
  11. speedracer1

    speedracer1 New

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    It was wonderful meeting you and I really appreciate both you and thegunner100 coming to the house early to help me with the set-up. Being it was my very first hosting event you guys coming to the front door was a real classic moment! Great post!
    Sincerely,
    -Speed
     
  12. SteelCannon

    SteelCannon Friend

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    Speed, you and your family have some serious hosting chops and a warm home. I hope you invite us over again XD.
     
  13. speedracer1

    speedracer1 New

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    Thank you for your kind words SteelCannon. Yes we will do it again soon.
    Sincerely,
    -Speed
     
  14. take

    take Friend

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    The Asgard 2 was actually hooked up to the Yggdrasil, so the comparison was just amp versus amp.
     
  15. Colgin

    Colgin Friend

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    Thanks for the clarification. That also makes sense as I would have expected an even larger difference between what I heard otherwise.
     
  16. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

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    Did anyone sell Craig's Solv-X 4-pin XLR to 1/4 adapter at the meet? Or @speedracer might it be in your house? I know we had an extra adapter lying around at the end of the meet.
     
  17. bozebuttons

    bozebuttons Friend

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    I stopped by speeds house today to pickup my gear I left for him to listen to.
    No adapter left at his house.
     
  18. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

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    Thanks Tom, I'll let him know. Hopefully it'll turn up somewhere.
     
  19. Dr. Higgs

    Dr. Higgs Boson - Member

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