What a freaking awesome weekend, I can't believe I almost didn't go. My comfort level was much higher this year, and I really really enjoyed hanging with old friends and getting to know new ones. My one regret is that I didn't have enough time to have real conversations with everyone. Two nights and a day just isn't enough time for a group of guys + two girls who are just such out of this world awesome people. It was nice to hug most everyone and tell them I loved them though, even if time was limited.
Got in Friday around 9pm, caught the shuttle from LAX to the Hilton. It was really nice staying at an airport hotel for this reason, much less stress involved with riding to and fro the airport. Ran into NWT and met blessingx up on the 11th floor, then proceeded downstairs where I wandered into the HR room. Greeted Tyll who introduced me to the HD800. First listened single ended on an Ultra stack. These are easily the most comfortable cans I've ever strapped to my cranium, and that in and of itself goes a long way for me. Since the previous comfort winner was the HD650, I had a feeling Senn wouldn't let me down. The sound was awesome and glorious. I was exhausted and full of caffeine and emotionally vulnerable, which made for a fantastic first headphone listening experience. Not bass shy, anyone who says that is incorrect. Incredibly fast can, but still somehow distinctly Sennheiser in a way I can't really put my finger on. One of those cans you just have to hear to decide if it is for you. It is definitely for me.
It was getting late and Tyll came in and told me it was time to shut it down. But not before he put me in front of the balanced HR ultra stack with and HD800. You the man, Tyll. Undoubtedly the HD800 improved with balancing, most noticeably in the bass.
Met Matt Fury shortly thereafter, HFer who is a cool dude. Didn't see him much Saturday, I think maybe he bailed? Soon was intercepted by Vicki and Jacob, yay! who dragged me to the high end room / scotch bar and made me listen to R10s, which are still the best headphone I have ever heard. In an odd way this listen reminded me, at least tonally, of my Quad speaker setup, but with greater resolution. Might explain a thing or two about my sonic preferences. Ran into Al who gave me a sweet Quad lanyard, thanks man! Gave my first listen to an SR-Omega, which was the fracking heat. I preferred it to the 02, though it certainly seemed fragile it was far more comfortable on my head. Pretty much everybody was here sans Nate and Dan. Met blubliss and some others, at least point things are a little fuzzy, but eventually I ended up in the TTVJ room where I saw Dan, yay! and he gave me a TTVJ t-shirt, which I assume he had the authority to give out.
The rest of the night was spent over cigars poolside, where we woke up Shelley whose room was nearby, but instead of bitching she hung out with us for the rest of the night and let us use her bathroom. Finally met thrice which was awesome. Folks were starting to peel off around 1am and I ended up bailing at 2am.
Only slept about 5 hours that night, definitely had a christmas morning type feeling when my eyes popped up, couldn't get back to sleep. Went downstairs and enjoyed the breakfast buffet, which was dank.
At some point I listened to 909's L3000's ever so briefly, wasn't immediately gripped by them. Like a more resolving W11JPN but with better bass, which is cool but I don't think thousands of dollars cool. I might change my mind if I spent more time with them.
The HF-2 unveiling! Todd gave a speech about the history of the HF-1 and HF-2 before showing us the cans, which you've all seen pictures of by this point. I still wasn't sure if I was going to attempt to get one of the first twenty pairs, or wait to hear them and either cancel my order or wait until June for shipping. He held out the pair to whoever wanted to listen, and I think most of us turned towards Vicki expectantly, who gladly obliged. After less then a minute of listening, Vicki exclaimed, "They're good!" which was enough praise for me to step up and plead my case to Todd, who was just handing out pairs on the freaking honor system, "Hey you ordered right? Cool." whilst Dan scribbled down serial numbers and names. My first listen to the HF-2 was the first emotional listening experience I had at the meet. It was Naaman's pair (pronounced Nah-man, not Nay-man like I kept saying, but who by the way is every bit the kick ass dude in person that he is online), powered by a Bijou. Lo and behold, what was playing but the MFSL of Ryan Adam's "Heartbreaker", my favorite track, "Oh My Sweet Carolina". What the hell are the chances? Arguably my favorite album, and my favorite song off that album? Hearing that midrange come through so clearly and beautifully got me a little lumpy in the postjack throat. I was very, very glad at that point to own these cans.
Well that takes you through Saturday morning, I'm due back at work so will complete the story later.
