GPH

Quite an impulsive buy...

Happy birthday Jack.

Agreed, I listened to the new track this morning and I've never heard so much clipping in a single song.

Nasonex works great for hay fever, I used to take that, but it really raped my nose so I stopped and came back to Allegra.

That's French man, not Spanish! It means "Eyes without a face".

Doh! I believe the Peche Mortel is just an imperial stout though, not a Russian imperial Stout. They had another imperial stout at some point which was labeled as a Russian imperial stout, don't remember the name though.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I already know about them. They started bottling some of their beers a year ago, so you can also buy them at a couple of spots. Did you try the [url=http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1141/10325]P

Khanate, Finaxe, pompon, Nicolas2305, papomaster, Mike_TNT: stiffpeter (guy on vacation from NYC), Khanate: DanT: Finaxe, me, Killercrush, Nicolas2305, Khanate

Welcome to Head-case Hugo, sorry about your thin skin.

Happy birthday!

Yes, that's with stock cable. I didn't bother trying another cable because they were very uncomfortable.

Clamping force on these is even more than on HD600/650, but otherwise I thought they were pretty good for the price. Not very refined, no soundstage to talk of and their signature is pretty much "in your face", but it's a fun headphone and the isolation is enough to block unwanted noises in public transportation or at work.

When I had the Lambda Signature, it was definitely a crinkle and not a fart. On the OII, it's really a fart sound. Not the kind of deep fart that you produce after eating a big meal at a fast-food lebanese restaurant, more like a small fart you wish nobody has heard.

I had fun at the meet this weekend when one guy who tried my Stax thought he did break something while it was in fact only the famous OII fart.

Happy birthday!

I took most of the pictures, but pompon took a few also so we'll have to wait for him to upload them on H-F. I briefed a couple of guys about Head-case though so we'll probably see some new visitors in the next few days.

Thanks again to Philippe (papomaster) for hosting this excellent meet. I had a great time listening to all of the headphone setups and sharing knowledge and opinions with the other guys. The atmosphere was even friendlier than our last meet and I think we have a good future as a headphone community here in Montreal. I'm not too good at "speaking audio", but I'll do my best writing some short impressions from the setups with which I had the chance to spend quality time. These were based on short-term listening in a crowded room with people talking so take it with a grain of salt. Laptop -> Nuforce Icon -> Stax SRD-6 -> Stax SR-Gamma I thought this was a nice setup and something that I could totally live with if I was on a tight budget. It sounded very musical with an overall balanced presentation. The highs were slightly rolled off and a little bit too aggressive sometimes and the bass was bloomy and not as focused and extended as I'd like. The subpar source surely played a part in that, but I didn't have a chance to swap with anything else to compare. Still, the setup did very little wrong for the price as long as you're not looking for a super-detailed be-all-end-all headphone. At the end of the meet, we plugged briefly the Gammas in my SRM-T1S and there was quite an improvement in dynamics and punch compared to the Nuforce/SRD-6 setup. Audio Research CD3 -> Singlepower MPX3 Slam -> Sennheiser HD650 This was a killer setup, in fact one of the two best setups I have heard. It handled jazz with such finesse and strength at the same time and there were very little flaws that I could hear. The first thing that striked me is how life-like the bass presentation was. Tight, fast, pitch black between notes. Compared to my short audition with the Apache at the beginning of the meet, the SP amp really bringed the HD650 to another level. There was certainly no veil, muddiness, boominess or any characteristic that people sometime associate with HD650 powered by cheap amplification. Sure, it lacked the last ounce of speed that I get with electrostatics, but at the same time, it brings the slight punch or slam that my OII lacks. Shanling CD-T100 -> Antique SoundLabs HB1 -> Audio-Technica ATH-AD2000 I enjoyed the short time that I spent with these, but it's not a headphone that I'd like to own myself, at least with the amplification that I heard. The sound was very fast, detailed, quite aggressive, but also quite thin and cold. My ears are probably flawed by the OII warmer presentation, but the AD2000 sounded a little bit too harsh for me, particularly in the treble region. Also, the bass lacked some roundness, it was too "in-your-face" for my tastes. With that said, I think these headphones have a good potential and could be excellent when paired with a very warm amp. RSA Predator -> Modded Denon D5000 I didn't like this setup at all. First and foremost, I couldn't get past the bass presentation. Call it club bass, car subwoofer bass or whatever you want, but this is definitely not audiophile-quality bass. At the price they sell these phones and considering the fact that some people think they are R10 killers, I was expecting way more. No matter what kind of music I put on them, there was some sort of punchy attack on every bass note even when it's not supposed to be. Also, the treble was a little bit too aggressive and piercing for my tastes and the midrange was nothing special. I also tried plugging the D5000 in the X-Meridian and I thought it sounded better than with the Predator. The bass was tamed a little bit and sounded more natural and everything was smoothed out. Overall, it was much more enjoyable, but it's still not my flavor of headphones. I didn't have time to compare to the non-modded D5000 though, but I think a couple of people did that so maybe they'll share some impressions. Apogee Duet -> Grado SR-100 w/HP1000 drivers This setup was surprising to say the least. I don't know how good the amp section is in the Duet because I usually use it only as a DAC, but the results were good with the SR-100. I had tried these during the meet in Julien's SOHA setup with the Shanling source, but I was not happy with what I heard. I decided to plug them in the Duet just for fun and it happened to be a very decent setup. The presentation was balanced with the typical roll-off of the extremes characteristic of the HP1000. One complaint though is that the bass was slightly too thick and blended with the midrange so it lacked some cleanness, but it was really enjoyable. Audio Research CD3 -> HeadAmp KGSS DX -> Stax Omega II Holy shit, this is the new sound I'll be seeking in the future. Now I see why people say that the OII scale well with good sources. The Duet, compared to this, makes the OII sound relax, lifeless and almost sloppy. With the CD3, the bass was tight, punchy, and extremely fast. The mids and the highs were very smooth, but with plenty of life and drive. This setup IMO, was the best thing we tried at the meet and the best sound that I've ever heard from headphones. If only I found 6000$ on the street.

Would go if the tickets weren't always 100+$

I saw Judas Priest live this week at the Bell Centre. It was a pretty good show, but you can see they're getting older and more tired. Halford voice is far from what it used to be and the guy barely moves on stage anymore. Still, the visual effects were neat and the choice of tracks was good. The sound quality sucked hard, but it's always the same with arena shows. Overall, I enjoyed the night, and I'm happy to have seen them live for the first time, but I have to say the Metal Gods are approaching their end as far as I'm concerned.

Happy birthday!

Keep us updated, I loved reading the Menace diaries.

dvse, I'll keep in mind the comments about the source. I have to let my wallet recover for a while before investing anything though. I'm bringing my setup at a meet next week so we'll see how it goes. Sorry, I wasn't clear, I meant compared to the T1. It's still the SR-007, and the overall "wet" sound is still there.

I've had the KGSS for a couple of days now and I think it's time for a short report. First thing I noticed when I listened to the OII plugged in the KGSS is the big difference in bass presentation compared to the SRM-T1S. With the Stax amp, the bass is there, but it sounds cloudy and unfocused. With the KGSS, the OII bass suddently becomes punchy and has a lot more body. It's much closer to what I expect to hear from an electric bass or a double bass in a live setting. As for the midrange, I really liked the T1S presentation and I really can't say if the KGSS is better or worse. It does things differently and presents perhaps a dryer midrange, but slightly more accurate and tight. The midrange on the T1S is a lot more lush and seducing, but sacrifices some micro-details that I hear on the KGSS. With that said, the KGSS really destroys bad recordings as it's incredibly revealing. For the treble, I'd say the KGSS has slightly more extension than the T1S, but like for the midrange, it's dryer and has no mercy for harsh and sibilant recordings. It's very precise and all the details are there. I've done some comparisons with my Etys which are still my reference for extracting the last small details in a recording and I have to say the Stax did pretty well. It still misses some very small details, but the experience is way more satisfying than the Etymotics as a whole. One thing that surprised on the KGSS is the soundstage. It sounds more compact than on the Stax amp, but I'd say the instrument placement is slightly more accurate. I was expecting a wider soundstage though from some reviews that I read, but it's not what I experience. In the end, soundstage on headphones is all artificial so it doesn't really matter, but I have to say I was a little bit diappointed at the beginning. Soundstaging on the Lambda series is still the best I've heard on headphones. One final observation. It's been too years since I've started my headphone journey and I pretty much invested the maximum budget that I can afford in my actual setup. There are still many upgrades possible, but I doubt it gets *a lot* better than what I have now (correct me if I'm wrong). While it sounds great and it's a really satisfying experience, there are some days where I feel I should downgrade to something more minimalist (say ESP-950 or HD580 setup) and start a small bookshelves rig on the side. Headphones are great, but there are some qualities I'm looking for that they just can't provide (lifelike bass thump and soundstage). Anyway, I plan to enjoy this setup for a little while, but I'm not sure what avenue to take next.