Asr

Having heard both seriously under-amped (the HD800 by my portable AE-2 and the OII by the SRM-1 MKII), I would recommend neither, they were both disappointing! Or, to be serious, you should hear both for yourself - the HD800 ideally amped by some solid-state type (B22, BUDA, GS-X?) and the OII by the BHSE, WES, KGBH, KGSS, or SRM-717. I would also recommend that if you're serious about headphones at this level, you should get a Serious Source first, if you don't have one already. Crap in, crap out!

Hey stop stealing mah photoz!!!

The Gilmore Lite can drive a wide variety of headphones pretty easily including the K701, even if it was originally designed for low-impedance headphones. It's not the last word in driving the K701 but it can do the job pretty handily and you'd have to spend at least a few hundred more to get an amp that will really show you what the K701 can do.

Seeing as I sold my HD800 specifically because I didn't think it was that great, I'm not sure how relevant my opinion would be to you, but fwiw, I've really been enjoying my JH13 since I got it, and so far I've been listening only off my iAudio X5 DAP with lossy MP3s. I wouldn't say it blows me away but it's certainly the best I've heard so far from an IEM, but I haven't heard many IEMs (most recently the UE triple.fi 10 Pro which I owned for a while last year).

I've never used the ignore list feature before (on Head-Fi, that is) but right now I'm considering adding both Les and parhelictriangle to my list here on HC.

No the only reason I'd sell the HF-2 would be if I didn't like it with either bowl or HD414 pads as I mentioned. I don't know yet but you never know when a Head-Fi/Case spin-off site might come in handy....

An HF-2 and a round of beers!

Is there a high-end discontinued headphone that you don't have?

What if I said I'll buy a round of beers for everyone here who comes?

Head-F1 (er, head-f1.net) is up and operational! Hrmm I foresee future uses for this domain....

^ It does if you go balanced.

#26 was the last one with the correct engraving?! Aw nuts, I could've had a "Fi" model if I hadn't contemplated for like an hour before putting in my order back on 5/15. Next time I will have to be quicker and far more impulsive. I just applied for that domain.

What, you've gotta be kidding me, no fix to the engraving?! Only chaos will ensue from this. I can't imagine many will be pleased about this development. I don't really buy that no one noticed the error before either. I mean, it's right there on the earcups, how does one not see that? I could understand Todd not noticing, but no one at Grado noticed? The packing of the headphone inside the pizza box was so deliberate and careful, it's totally just right there in plain sight and there's obviously a "1" not an "i". In any case, I can't really blame Grado for the action that's being taken, even if it's not the one that most people would've wanted.

Got mine today - serial #30, "F1" edition (not that I mind though). Sounds great and it fits even better into the flight case I bought from 1saleaday.com. I may or may not keep these depending on how HD414 pads affect the sound...

From July 4th 2009. #1 taken @ dusk, waiting for the oncoming show; 2 seconds at f/8. #2-#5 taken of the fireworks show. All at varying exposures (ranging from 2 to 8 secs) at f/8. #6 taken straight into the moon; 30 seconds at f/8. Focal length on all at 50mm (maxed out my Tamron 17-50). Next time I'll have to either get closer to the action or have a zoom lens by then. Shooting location in Chautauqua Park overlooking Boulder, CO. Fireworks coming from Folsom Stadium at the local university CU-Boulder.

Head-Fi/Can Jam @ Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2009 (CJ@RMAF 2009): It's Official! - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio Awesome news! As if I weren't already excited enough about this year's RMAF, a huge Head-Fi meet to go with it at the same time!!! Hey jp, if there's anything I can do to help out, let me know. And for the uninitiated: http://www.audiofest.net (Oct 2-4 @ Marriott Denver Tech Center & Hilton Garden Inn)

I got mine today! I've attached a pic. I didn't get to hear these at CanJam plus I've never had customs before so I had no idea what to expect. Fits like a glove and while the isolation isn't really 100%, I'm still blown away at how much is passively attenuated. I'm not really happy how short the cord is though. Well it's long enough for portable applications of course, but it would've been nice to get like another foot (seems to be about 3' long). The y-split is also way too short - if it were like 2" shorter it'd choke my neck. I'll follow up with a full review at some point to do my part, since I did win these at CanJam.

Closed or open? The Audio-Technica ES7 is a nice one if you don't mind closed. It's not the most rugged headphone though and the "mirror" finish mars easily.

Get the Pico USB DAC and pair it with your amp of choice. I suspect either the Gilmore Lite or EC/SS might be good amps for the HF2 - just a guess though, haven't heard the pairing, it's just that both of those amps were designed for Grados. A Millett Hybrid MiniMax might also work.

for myself: - Antennas Direct DB2 (HDTV antenna), damn this thing really works! Getting much better reception now over UHF. - Stax SR-404 Limited (pre-order). I got twitchy. for my mom: - HP G60t laptop PC (Core 2 Duo @ 2 GHz and 2 GB RAM), to replace an old Pentium-4 1.4 GHz laptop with a litany of technical problems for my dad: - APC Back-UPS ES 8 550VA (a previous APC UPS had fizzed out)

Sweet, sounds like I might be in the 1st batch too then. Think I'm going to also order some HD414 pads soon to find out how they work with the HF-2. There's a thread in a certain place on HC that has the info you want to know.

My ranking is only my opinion you know. I simply found that I preferred the K701 more than the HD800 when I compared them. I should add that the AD2K is like the headphone that can only be pried from the death grip of my cold dead hands! X10 is more like yeah I like it, not bad, but I could do without it too if I had to (well, the essential functional purpose of an IEM aside).

ZOMG that is the nastiest, freakiest monster bug I've ever seen! I've never seen one in Colorado and if I do, I'll run screaming like a little girl! /covers eyes and plans to immediately move to Antarctica I'm sure you'll be packing a shotgun at all times now just in case one of those ever flies at you...

I don't have my final headphones yet but will list anyway since I'm almost there. Order will likely change at some point too, but as of now: - Audio-Technica AD2000 - Sony Qualia 010 - Stax SR-X MKIII - Stax OII MKI - AKG K701 - Sennheiser HD800 (if I had to rank it) - Audio-Technica ES7 - Klipsch X10