boomana

Lupus, sorry for the frontal attack. It was a bit overboard, even if I meant it at the time. I'm tired of people misreading simple posts about gear, interpreting them as something personal when it's not, and then jumping in with backhanded shit that is both personal and false. My style may not be the most sensitive when saying things, but it's just gear, guys. If something is a stupid combo, I'm going to say it. If you think I'm wrong, tell me, but don't throw crap my way for no reason. If it makes you feel any better, I consider myself a fool and an idiot as well for even responding. I should know better by now. As to your request for Xin impressions, I happened to listen to the Reference with my PK1s and an ipod, and although I wasn't critically listening at the time, I do recall thinking that it gave those earbuds a nice warm fullness they otherwise lack. You should be very happy. I've never heard RS-2s, so I can't comment there. Here's a genuine question, not an sideways-swipe one (meaning don't get all defensive; it's not personal): if you're auditioning amp that you may want to buy, why would "making due with what you have" be good if it isn't good enough? How can you learn anything if you're using using the wrong stuff? It's like trying to pick a paint color in a dimly lit room.

Just because you don't tell people doesn't mean I won't. Happy Birthday! I hope it's wonderful.

I doubt that will happen here. I don't think it's wrong to respond to someone looking for something by saying I've never heard x, but you might want to check into it based on what I've read and who is recommending it. I also appreciate it when people say whether they heard x during a meet, and in what conditions, or at home with their own gear. In fact, as long as there is some form of disclosure, I appreciate what most folks have to say.

Thanks for the impressions and the pics. I remain most jealous.

Thought you were going to post impressions?

Some make sure to bring a camera. Have fun, guys!

Right, which is why I take issue with much of what I've seen on head-fi recently. I think you should be happy. I'd never heard one until the last FL meet, and was pretty impressed. Of all the portable amps I've heard (and there's a boatload I haven't) that are also available (the LaRoccos don't count as available) it was my fav. If I were looking for a portable, the three on my short list would be the AE2, the Pico and the Mini^3, depending on budget and need.

There's nothing to be done, son. They're sprouting up all over this forum. Dusty and Nate, too.

Oh lordy, here we go again....wtf is wrong with you? Your interpretation of my post tells me that you either can't read and/or enjoy slanting someone else's words to fit your distorted perceptions. I like DennyL. Looking at the headphones he owns and the new amp I hope he receives soon, it looks like he's a smart guy interested in good sound. It also seems that he is somewhat new to this hobby and is trying out a whole bunch of stuff, which I also think is pretty wonderful. I have zero problems him posting his impressions, because he's stated the situation in which he heard things, seems truthful about what he likes, and is wiling to frame things in that context. I also like Denny because he asks questions: My response was to his questions only, and had he not asked them, I would have left this thread with my simple answer to the op's request for about impressions of the Xins. You, on the other hand, are showing you're a fool for jumping into a thread about amps and trying to turn it into something personal about me, and skewing your language to imply I hold opinions never held, except for one: If you don't have a problem with K340s being used to test a portable amp for sq, you've either never owned them (in which case you should just shut up), or are an idiot along with being a fool.

Happy Birthday, Pretty! I hope the meet's a big success.

Pretty, are you already drunk on your birthday?

Then buy some better headphones

How much of a discount?

Which is better? A) To be shunned by Nick To be banned by Grawk Hmmm.

Nick, I highly doubt Jude is calling Kevin right now to give him the scoop. EDIT: Let me rephrase that. There is no way in hell Jude would be telling Kevin anything about this right now. If Kevin has other sources, that's a different matter.

Do the same as you, but also get (buy/borrow/steal) some other headphones if I were really testing an amp I was thinking of purchasing. I'd also bring along my own sources and music. If it weren't an amp I was interested in, I'd probably bring lunch or maybe a light dessert along with some tea. Okay, good for you. One my my most enjoyable moments in headphoneland was while half-asleep on a sofa at a meet while listening to baseball and bad Creole radio on a Clix2 with an unamped L3000. Perfect enjoyment. That says nothing about the L3000 or the Clix2 and everything about me. I'm sure not going to post about either. I enjoy lots of things (probably too many things), but my enjoyment is often and happily irrelevant. All I'm saying is that with those specific headphones, you probably learned little about the amp, and even less about the headphones, and there is absolutely no way you learned anything meaningful at all about what either amp or headphone could do with the K340s plugged in. There's nothing wrong in that, but if you respect his artistry and craftsmanship so much, get some headphones that can show it off. I have no aggression towards head-fi, and like it very much, but I am frustrated by the overwhelming influx of poor choices that are passed off as recommendations by people who either don't bother to do research about what they're buying and what it requires and/or know how to listen to gear and not just music, and then they think they're doing a service by passing their ignorance on to others, when it's really just enthusiasm and a desire to join in with something to say. It's one thing to like something; it's another to know what you're talking about. Enjoyment is personal, but if there's no frame of reference (read lots of experience), it's egotistical and potentially damaging to to think your opinions matter when stated as fact. That's my beef with head-fi, and btw, I'm totally ignorant when it comes to many things, but I certainly am not posting about how great something is when I know I don't have the background to make such claims. There were actually a couple threads I think, but they may have been about the micro not the Reference. I don't really remember. So what if it's a good amp if it can't drive the headphones you own well! How will you even know since you won't be able to hear it right. That's stupid.

Right. I know Miguel (mrarroyo) personally, and right down to headphones and the music he likes, we have very different opinions on what sounds good. Both he and Skylab use headphones I'm not even fond of to test gear. How can we possibly come to the same conclusions? The Xin Reference is a good example. Those who don't yet have their own frames of reference will look to them for answers, though. It's just the way it is.

Suffice it to say that I'm not a big fan of matching portable amps with certain headphones except in a pinch. The 701s are one of those headphones in that they can easily sound thin and dry when driven by even some home amps. I have not heard them sound remotely decent through any portable, and just for kicks, I recently tried at the FL meet mentioned earlier. The best I've heard the K340s is through a friggin' power amp! There's no reason, unless for kicks, to even try to attempt them with a portable. What's the point of getting headphones for a particular sound (I assume), then deliberately under driving them so that there's no way to actually achieve that sound? And again, what's the point of buying an amp that won't do what you need it to (thinking drive the headphones you already have)? That's like buying a hand drill when you need a power one to get the job done. I don't get it. I like portable amps, own four, and just ordered a Pico. I'm listening to full-sized headphones right now with a portable CDP and amp. They serve a useful purpose and are fun, but they have very real limitations that, at least over on head-fi, people tend to ignore. Someone goes and says the Reference is great, sounds better than some home amps, and everyone just reads what they want into it. If someone raises a logical objection, people then point to all the idiots who said otherwise. It's bullshit.

Shouldn't folks worry more about Santa's pedophiliac tendencies in shopping malls across America? Maybe Home Depot and the like should start a renaming campaign for this handy gardening tool. No telling what types of family discord could potentially result through miscommunication: - Honey, could you hand that hoe to me? - Sure. Thought you'd never ask.

Hi, DennyL. Welcome. No offense, but what made you guys think that those headphones would be good for evaluating a portable amp? Did you not have any others available, or did you think that by throwing really hard-to-drive headphones at them, it would be one kind of test? Just curious. What headphones do you plan on using when you get it?

Yes, though it will be hard to beat tkam's recent PrettyPrincess appellation for Billy if and when the mood strikes you again.

Down, boy. Juan is a true newbie, yet managed on his first meet to withstand the onslaught of the Florida crew for not one, but two nights. He's highly teachable.

At the recent Florida meet I listened to four Xin amps, all current (the Reference, the micro, the mini) except for a Macro III I think (least fav so I didn't really pay attention to what it was). When connected to an ipod, they sounded fine, but when hooked up to a dang decent cdp (Lector .06T), their flaws, especially in comparison to other amps really stood out. I spent much of my time going back and forth between the LaRocco Diablo and the Xin Reference, mostly because Al typed a shootout between the two in the title thread, and I am sometimes easily led. Anyway, we were using the sampler K2 HD cd, which is superb for testing gear. The Reference fared the best of the Xins, but showed a lack of definition, most notably in the bottom end. The memory which stood out was on a particular passage with heavy tympani. The Diablo was able to not only present each strike, but the subtle tonal shifts of each. On the Reference, it sounded like one fat, punctuated roll. The Xins reminded me of the amp equivalent of the Shure SE530s: full, warm(ish) sound, lots of ooomph, decent detail, and some depth. The better Xins sound good, especially with a portable source, which is really the only reason for getting a portable amp that makes sense to me. I understand why folks like them, but they ended up not being for me. I preferred the PRII, SR-71, Diablo, and AE2 over all of them, but then, I'm also an Ety girl, even if I like Shures for a short periods of time.