catscratch

Those pupils ought to be a lot bigger than that if it's really kicking in.

Definitely go for Don Julio, and Anejo is the way to go, though other varieties of Don Julio aren't bad either. The Bianco has a nice mild flavor. My favorite widely-available commercial hard liquor.

Shawn Lane on "Time is the Enemy" Buddy Guy on "Stone Crazy" Devin Townsend on "Terria" But all-time favorite has to be Steven Wilson on "Up the Downstair" and "Voyage 34." NOT the shitty remasters - the originals. Don't get the remastered - which is actually re-recorded - Up the Downstair. It's a travesty. Most of it is re-recorded and all of the original emotion is gone. Get the original instead even though the production sucks.

Right, time to revive the dead. Ghoulish, I know. I have been messing around with the W3 some more, and experimenting with fit, and I finally found something that works: large clear silicone tips, which are too big to go into the ear canal and make a pretty good seal just outside the ear canal. Not very comfortable, but driver distance from the ear seems to be about right. The sound improved massively. Mids aren't quite as distant and not veiled. Treble is no longer harsh and sibilant. Bass isn't overblown, though upper bass is still exaggerated. But, on the whole, what was originally a mess of a canalphone is sounding very nice now, and I never thought I'd say that! It doesn't have the finesse of the ES2 but it's getting closer. I actually kinda like it! Too bad the fit sucks. I think that Westone made the stems, sound tubes, whatever you want to call them, too short. When the W3 is worn as any other canalphone - i.e. shoved in as far as it will go - the sound seriously sucks. So you have to come up with stupid fitting techniques to get the driver-ear distance just right. So from another mediocre canalphone I will upgrade this to a rather good canalphone actually with some major design flaws. The comfort [is bad] and makes me stick with the ES2 just for that alone, but the sonics are definitely something I could live with. Still going to get the UE11 though.

Used to be into the Soul Calibur series quite a bit. My friend was very much into local tournaments and did reasonably well, and I was his practice partner, though I never bothered with tourneys myself. Don't have the time for it now, though I still like SC4 quite a bit.

Flawed but interesting is exactly how I'd describe the H2 when it was in a Rega Planet 2000 --> Dared VP-20 --> TR2 --> H2 rig. Now that I have a source that doesn't suck balls though it will be interesting to swap it back in and see what's what. The bass was bloated in the old rig, the treble could sometimes be bright to the point of being unlistenable, though with positioning it could be scaled down to manageable levels (whoever thought that a tweeter that fired as a ray in the middle of a massive and essentially supra-aural driver was a good idea?), and the midrange was rather recessed and dull. But, at the same time, you had unbelievable speed and detail, together with serious impact - sort of like the best qualities of dynamics and electrostatics put together. But, unfortunately, with a whacked-out frequency response...

Pics or it didn't happen.

I've seen those mentioned before. They've always looked like style over substance to me. The layman is starting to accept the idea of expensive luxury headphones, which is theoretically great, but in practice lots of mediocre stuff dressed up in pretty wood and leather and chrome overalls is going to pollute the market, and high-end publications, being the sellout pigs that they are, will drool all over them and lavish endless praise. In the end, it's the audiophile that will suffer, as usual. But don't let my pessimism distract you from taking one for the team and getting a pair. I swear, I will read your impressions very attentively!

Sure, it may have serviceable Mk1 pads now, but they won't last forever. Personally I'm stocking up on Mk1 pads next week. They shouldn't degrade if they're properly sealed and stored, and I plan to keep the O2 until something better comes along (or I'm forced to sell it for other reasons), so it's time to start thinking long-term.

(Jeremy Clarkson voice) All we know is: he's not Birgir, but he's Birgir's Egmont-building cousin!!

I have to caution against buying an 010 blindly because of how critical the fit is. If the fit is only slightly off, then all bets are off sonically, and you'll get the echoey, cavernous sound that has been described in many negative comments. So, I'd say actually get your hands on a few pairs at a meet and listen firsthand. Then, you can see what size you'll need. It's an awful lot of money to gamble with in hopes that the size will be right (but then again maybe not so much money for you). It sure is a nice headphone when everything is right, though.

No, we don't want Sovshiller here, thank you very much. Though it may be fun to sit back and watch the ripping he'd receive if he ever decided to grace us with his presence.

Thanks, those are some great impressions! Regards to the Mk1 being potentially sibilant/etched - I think this is more due to the rest of the system. I've heard it sound dull, bright, dark, sibilant, thin, congested, airy, grainy, fluid, just about anything you can think of really, and all with the meager assortment of components I have at home. Something as simple as the right interconnect can really make or break the system. So, IMO it can definitely be tuned not to sound bright, or to sound just about every which way you want, with some strenuous component matching. There was certainly lots of digital glare in the highs and elevated highs in general with the 840c, but with the Opus 21 I had to roll in some of the brightest cables I had in order to offset the massive difference in tonal balance. You're also spot on about it being absolutely ruthless when it comes to showing up recording imperfections, to the point that some really bad recordings are unlistenable. I would like to hear the Mk2 with Stax's current lineup of amps, especially the 727. If it's voiced more for the Mk2, then it could make for a good system.

And? Come on, you can't just leave us hanging like that!

You definitely hit the nail on the head there. The O2 is a very subtle headphone and it never beats you over the head with its technical excellence. This is what makes it so stellar for long-term listening. It's not fatiguing in any way, and it focuses on the whole of the presentation while at the same time giving you the ability to zoom in on any individual aspect of the presentation, while a lot of other headphones will emphasize one thing or another and not really give you a choice in the matter.

Eh... I didn't think that IQ related hearing post was serious. I think that he simply felt insulted and decided to post a jab back. As far as questioning someone's integrity by assuming that their gear is broken when their listening impressions disagree - sure, that's a bit insulting, but reading between the lines I don't think that insult was the intent. Besides, the difference between eartips with the W3 is big enough that you could easily make that kind of assumption without thinking about what it will mean to the person on the other end. I don't have anything against him personally.

Malazan was on and off for me, some books were rubbish and some were quite good. I did like the beginning of book 4 and pretty much all of book 5, book 2 had its momens as well, but 1 and 3 were pretty much "disposable." Erikson has no idea how to create a realistic character and uses archetypes instead, which is fine. Better than trying to create characters when you have no idea what you're doing and Jordaning it all up. He also has a pretty vivid visual imagination, and is a good storyteller despite being less than stellar as a writer. The density of the backstory I see as more of an anthropological curiosity... I'm not annoyed with it since it's interesting at least some of the time, but there certainly is a lot that could be cut out without any sacrifice in quality. He really does need a good editor. The biggest plus though, and what keeps me reading, is his sense of humor. It's sporadic, and you don't see it all the time, but it's magical when it happens. Absolutely surreal absurdist humour that combines elegance, wit, and Monty-Python-esque insanity. Brilliant. Minus the fat fetish, but he's gotten over that (I think). What turns me off, at the same time, is that he got into a "grandness" race with himself. Every book has to be more climactic, every ending has to be bigger, more tense, more surprising, and more densely plotted than what came before. That is a trap, and when an author gets into it, he tends to snowball and end up in firmly ridiculous territory just trying to outdo himself. Granted, so far he seems to *just* be steering clear of these waters, but signs of possible doom are everywhere. I'd rate the series as "not bad." Several levels below Martin, though, at least if you only consider the first three books of Martin's series. 4 was decidedly mediocre and I don't think anything better is to come. Try Greg Bear's "Songs of Earth and Power" for a very different take on fantasy. Not a series, but a good novel in two parts. Oh, and the HBO rendition of Martin... I'll wait until I see it. I don't bother watching series usually since I rarely have the time. But it would be nice it if worked out.

Eh, Surfing with the Alien was basically Satch showing off. I didn't find anything interesting musically on it either. But, he's done better musically since then. Crystal Planet has some very nice rock tunes on it. I'm not too sure about the whole singing bit since I've yet to hear it. Malmsteen is a wanker. But I wouldn't put Satriani in the same category. Some of his music is just instrumental masturbation, but not all. He has some good material.

I just discovered something incredibly important with the Westone 3... - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio Hmmm... he's onto something here. This kind of fit makes a difference. I'm using oversized tips now to seat the phones further away from the eardrum, and the highs have settled down, while the mids have - partially - come out. The sound is a lot more coherent, and without the steely highs I can now crank it to bring the midrange further out. Still, it's hardly perfect. The mids are still a bit veiled, the tone is wrong, and the bass is still somewhat boomy and is now even louder than it was before in relation to everything else since I'm cranking it more. At least they don't sound like utter crap now. They're already quite a bit better than the E500 and UM2. Still no match for the ES2 and still not a high-end headphone by a mile, but they're better than they were before.

I have perfect pitch. It was trained into me when I was really young and learning to compose and improvise. The only time it interferes with music enjoyment is when I hear a vocalist that's unintentionally off-key, which, unfortunately, happens all too often, or other instruments whose pitch is variable and up to the performer. It doesn't bother me when the vocals are intentionally off-key (i.e. Happy Mondays). The vast majority of musicians have relative pitch as opposed to perfect pitch, and need to "tune" themselves by hearing a note before they are able to play in key. Relative pitch is a requirement for being a good musician. Perfect pitch isn't, though it sure does help.

Has someone measured the O2 Mk2 against the O2 Mk1? I would wager that there will be some interesting things there.

I heard that whole "I emailed and got an email back" line back in high-school. I don't buy that for one second as anything more than attention-whoring and rumor-mongering. Now, the HD800 or whatever it's called may very well be coming out. I won't deny anything since I don't know anything about it. But that post just sounds like trolling to me.

I actually don't have a good dynamic amp at the moment, just the MG Head (which sucks) and some portables, but I'll listen with the Opus and whatever I can find. All my money is in 'stats right now, which is just the way I like it I know the Kenwood for what it is though. I've listened to it with the ES2 and everything else I have that's any good. The ES2 tells the truth, and the Kenwood, while not being up to par with high-end or even good mid-fi sources, is on a different level from most DAPs. The IA7 of course, is just a DAP, but it's above average. The ES2 is nowhere near the level of the O2 or any other world-class headphone, but it is a high-end headphone nevertheless, and I do like it more than the HD600 out of most simple rigs. The HD600 balanced and on a serious rig will kill it, but then that's not the ES2's intended use. I'll post back with how listening goes.

Uh, before we bring personal issues into this, let me just say that I've talked with Flavio and he also thinks that there is an issue with my headphones. I will send them to Westone to double check, just in case. I don't exactly want to bash these headphones since I also had very high hopes for them. Still, I don't think there's anything wrong with them personally. If I am allowed to be brutally honest - so far all universal-fit IEMs have sucked, at least the ones that I've heard thus far. All, without exception. There isn't a single one that sounds like a proper high-end headphone. Every one has major sonic problems that you wouldn't accept in a full-size headphone. Why should I be surprised that the W3 isn't any different? I was hoping that it would be, but hopes and reality aren't the same thing. In my experience, if you want really good sound on the move, you get a high-end custom IEM. End of story. Pricewise, this isn't that unfair of a comparison. Jumping up from $400 for the W3 to $650 for the ES2 isn't that big of a deal considering the amounts we spend on headphones constantly. Toss out the amp, which you don't need for the ES2 to sound acceptable in the first place, and you're financially on even footing. I won't blame the source either. I could use my Opus 21 and a good amp with the W3, but who will ever use their IEMs from a similar system? I'm using them like they were intended - on the move. The IA7 is better than average for an mp3 player, and the Kenwood is one of the best sonically. All my music is in FLAC or Wave.

Bah. I'm not in a position right now to buy a BHSE without serious regrets (i.e. dipping into credit cards), but someday, sometime, I'll definitely own one. I'm giving myself about a year, maybe two at most. That, and an EMM labs source... Yup, I'm in deep. Very, very deep.