HeadphoneAddict

Spent some quality time with my 16 yr old daughter today and took her to lunch, then bought her a nice haircut, and stopped by the rocky mountain chocolate factory before coming home.

Well, based on what I posted and what KG has recently posted, it wouldn't be unreasonable for me to expect an apology here. Even without KG posting I should have been offered an apology. Of course nobody actually expects that to ever happen. I made reasonable posts and impressions, and I just read all of them again to be sure - and in the context that they were posted I still would NOT change anything that I wrote. It's a shame that any useful impressions of LCD-3, 009, or Cavalli amp that I made are lost in the turmoil of the alligators fighting over their prey. It seems to be more fun here to ridicule and reduce "lesser folk" to ashes than to accept anything useful they have to offer, old or new members. I know - thick skin and all. But, for Christ's sake you guys are like playing with wild animals that look nice and pretty when you're petting them, but will rip your head off when you're not looking. Every time I start to feel welcome here I get a clear reminder than I am not one of you. And I'm hoping that if I start to become like some of you that someone will call me on my bullshit and tell me to straighten up and stop being an asshole. And the next person who posts a photo of a Whaaambulance can be that asshole.

I gave Tyll my Sennheiser HE-60 at RMAF, to take with him and measure for the database since they are Stax terminated. I also gave him a pair of Smeggy SFI pucks (120 ohm orthos) to measure, which were one of his earliest pairs of custom SFI orthos (before he turned pro).

Happy Birthday!

With 007 about as loud as a live jazz performance, for 20 seconds, and that was enough. I enjoyed the bass impact and dynamics that I don't normally experience with them, even at more normal/safe listening levels. The LCD-3 on the Liquid Fire was also superb, with even better impact and visceral punch, although I thought the 007 had more finesse. Neither of these was particularly fatiguing at these volumes, and it was without grain or harshness.

No, I've been off my Paxil since 10/9 due to a drug interaction, and I'm feeling really irritable right now. It chaps my ass when I say (write) something and instead of staying on topic "someone" feels the need to jump in and dissect something trivial and re-direct the conversation elsewhere. I was talking about how I felt the Cavalli and BHSE drive the 007 better than any other amps I've heard, and how Cavalli says it does 1300v P2P but that I thought it was more. Next thing I know I'm getting a lecture on power, telling me it's voltage not power that matters with stats, and that any stat amp can achieve ear splitting levels with the 007. I don't care if it's got more power or more voltage, but said it's got more of whatever it needs to drive the 007 than any other amp I've tried, except the BHSE. And I commented that in my experience that none of those other amps that I listed could achieve ear splitting levels without severe distortion, unlike these two. I didn't use the word "clipping" once, but then I'm told I don't even know what clipping is, or gain, or power, and I don't need that shit right now. So, a whole bunch of crap is being made up about me based on my use of the word power instead of voltage, when in context I was talking about voltage swing. I'd really like the conversation to get back on topic. I initially made a very brief comparison between 009 and LCD-3 in relation to the 007, HE-60, HE-6 and LCD-2; and I made my preference for LCD-3 over 009 known, so I'm sticking with that topic in this thread from this point on if we can.

No, you are wrong about me, but feel free to make guesses. I know when I'm overdriving an amp or not, and I know gain won't add more power than the amp is capable of offering. Nice straw man argument.

You KNOW what I meant - sorry that I fucking said "power" instead of "volume". Geez, don't you have anything better to do than pick apart what I said based on one wrong word? Most laymen will correlate more volume with more power, and while that may not apply to stats it's more understandable to many readers (okay, maybe only in other forums). I think I understand the basics of how voltage and current work, which might correlate to water pressure vs pipe diameter. But if I recall correctly power (watts) is basically volts x amps, so you increase either one and you get more power. So, why am I so wrong to say that I thought the Cavalli had more power than my KGSS and WES? Regardless, if voltage swing means more volume in stats then the Cavalli amp had more than any other stat amp I've tried except maybe the BHSE. Tyler's SRM-1 Mk2 Pro that I tried with both the O2 Mk1 and Mk2 at a Colorado meet gave me very low volume levels, yet drove the SR-Lambda Signature very well. I've also tried the HEV70, SRM-T1, eXStatA, GES, SRM-717, my WES, and an A-10 with the O2 Mk1, and I didn't think any of them gave "ear-splitting volumes" without distortion at very high levels. All of them had distortion at volume levels that are well below the levels that I can achieve with my ZDT and any good dynamic headphone. My KGSS drives my O2 Mk1 louder than those other stat amps, but it was still eclipsed by the Cavalli amp and BHSE. With those two amps I could go louder and louder and louder, and they never seemed to run out of juice until I got very uncomfortable with the volumes. Sorry I called it power and not volume - are you happy? Also, I believe what Alex told me was that when the amp is ready for sale that it will put out about 1400v peak to peak on 400v rails (but he claims it's a little over 1300 now), and that he could tweak the "current" output a little bit in order to better drive two pairs of stats at one time. The discussion about current was specifically in regard to my questions about driving two stats together, not in regards to getting more volume.

happy birthday!

Well, I think that in most cases the O2 Mk1 on a transformer box will be more dynamic with better impact than when under-driven by most stat amps, based on my listening.

I think Alex said it will be more than that when the design is finished, but he's still making tweaks to the voltage swing and current output. It did sound like it had more than that, because it had noticeably more power than my luvdunhill KGSS or the revised WES, and was closer to the BHSE. Both the BHSE and Cavalli amp would play louder than I could listen, so I didn't max out either one out during testing. How does the eXStatA V2 (KG edition) sound, and will any of those ever be produced?

happy birthday!

I was telling people at RMAF that I thought the LCD-3 combined the best features of the LCD-2 and HE-6 into one phone, and that the SR-009 combined the sound signature of the 007 and the HE-60 into one phone. If someone bought these two new phones they might not need to consider the other four. I was happy that the LCD-3 didn't clamp my head like a vise, but thought the pads may be a tad too soft and thick, and the phones were not as stable on my head as a result (kept wanting to swivel to the front or rear as I moved my head around). I did think the LCD-3 and SR-009 sounded a bit different, with the LCD-3 being a bit more organic and warm and punchy, but with added ambience, air and space over my LCD-2. The SR-009 were like a fulller and weightier sounding HE-60 to me, which means that they bordered on being fatiguing with poor recordings and high volumes when I tried them. The BHSE seemed just a little bright with the 009 and was better suited for the 007 in my opinion, but I liked the mids on the Cavalli amp a little better (regardless of phone). It had more than enough power to drive the 007 to high volumes without breakup, distortion or fatigue (claimed 1300-1400v peak to peak on 400v rails). Anyway, back on topic I'd say that I'm most likely to sell the LCD-2 and HD800 at some point to buy the LCD-3, and then after that sell the WES for a Cavalli amp but keep the 007 and HE-60. I just thought the 009 was a little too close to my pair of HE-60 to justify buying them sooner than later.

I left the order as the walnut finish, because that's what I liked most. I only considered the piano gloss black because they offered the demos to me at the same price as the walnut, even though they cost $70 more. I thought that maybe it would help raise the resale value in case I ever have to sell them later. I'm also restoring my iPhone backup to the new 4S right now. Looking forward to trying it out soon. I didn't have time to do this before leaving for RMAF on Friday.

Happy birthday! I had no idea or i would have said something in person, sorry.

Happy Birthday!

For 2K you could consider the Harbeth Compact P3, which I really enjoyed here at RMAF this weekend. I also really enjoyed the PSB Imagine Mini for 1/3 the price, enough that I bought the demo pair. The imaging, detail and texture with both of these is astounding for the price, and they both had surprising bass for the size.

I bought the demo pair of PSB Imagine Mini here at RMAF at a nice discount. I have till tomorrow to decide if I want to change the walnut finish for piano gloss. What do you guys think?

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black? It must be the 9-10 day delay that makes it okay.

I must have missed that. But I appreciate the pointer. I first tried to hook up up Tyll, Justin, Jude and John P at seperate times but they were all busy, and so I was worried we miss all the fun if I couldn't find anyone else to hang out with. I couldn't find Peter or Steve after the organizers were closing the CanJam room, and I lost Bixby as well. I didn't see Tyler at all today. Before I checked back here for an answer I was able to track down Ray Samuels through his cell phone number that I got in a couple of years ago. Doug was going to be my next victim, but Ray answered and was on his way to Famous Dave's Barbeque with his wife, Uncle Wilson from Jaben, Jerry and Brittany Harvey and crew from JHA, plus Doug Leavy (p0wderh0und23) and his peeps from Westone, and Warp08 (Lazlo). So they asked my son and I to join them for dinner, and then Ray generously picked up the tab for all 16 of us when we were done eating! I did bring the ATV and Nuforce CDP-8 > Apogee mini-DAC > KGSS > with LNS, SR-007 and HE-60. But also the DACmini with HE-500, LCD-2, and HD800 (all re-cabled). The extra stuff really didn't add up to much more space or weight at all, so it was 4 medium boxes and a bunch of small flight cases - not TWO trollies worth of gear like the previous 2 years. Even through this mild mannered rig all the phones are sounding wonderful to me. I could be perfectly fine without my PWD, WES or ZDT if I had to make due. I didn't get to try much new gear today, as I wasn't done setting up until about 4PM, then I walked around to say hi to everyone first. After I made the rounds I did try the UM Miracle demo custom IEM. I thought it sounded very good, with a little better air and ambience and highs than my W4, and still strong mids and bass - reminding me a little more of the ES5 than of the W4 universal (which really need my UM56 custom tips to shine). It actually sounded a lot like the ES5 demo IEM. I'm sure this UM custom will be an enjoyable IEM for most people. I'll try the Merlin tomorrow, along with the JHA and UE booth as well. I also heard the new CEntrance desktop coax-speakers from with their DACmini PX amp, and I liked them a whole lot more than my AE A2. I'm not how they'd compare with my A5, since my son took over those and I don't get to hear them often enough to recall how they sound (I hear the A2 every day). I ended up loaning my HD800 to the Michael at CEntrance, who showed up again with the thin sounding DT880, which can't possibly show off what the DACmini can do with a good phone. In 2009 I loaned them my RS-1 for the weekend, and last year my son loaned them an HF-2. I'm putting listening to the SR-009 and LCD-3 as my top priority for Saturday, and then I need to try the EF-6 amp, the updated WES, the Cavalli Audio Liquid Fire and Schitt Lyr, Eddie Current Super 7 or 2A3 amps (he didn't bring the stat amp), and Headamp BHSE. I want to spend some time listening to some Moon Audio cables for HE-6/HE-500 as well. Fang has some second batch HE-300 here that I need to try, with a new manufacture process to ensure more consistency among batches. I also want to give the HD-650 another try, and see if I still don't like them as much as the HD-600. It looked like TTVJ had some nice gear to listen to as well. I'm sure I'm missing something in my list, but I'm fading. I'll try to take pics tomorrow with my son's cheap Canon (left my Leica in the trunk with the valet parking). Almost all the photos from dinner tonight with iPhone are blurry.

I missed the opportunity earlier to find out where all the cool people are going tonight, so I guess it's just my son and I watching movies in our room... Also, I'm a bit disappointed that I'm the only local "hobbyist" that brought and set up a rig at the CanJam today. I'm hoping a few more show up with gear tomorrow.

I haven't coughed up any fresh blood since Wednesday morning (just old stuff now), so things are looking up. And I rented a small portable O2 concentrator that I can wheel around during the day if needed, and still plug it into my CPAP for continuous flow when I sleep at night. I've packed 4 lightweight boxes of gear - a small box with a Nuforce CDP-8, then a 19" HDTV, another with KGSS amp and all my cables, and the 3rd with the KGSS PSU, Apogee, 160Gb Apple TV, and some CD's. The Stat headphones are in three flight cases and ready to go. Having the ATV and CDP as optical and coax transports will free up my Macbook Pro if I need to use it during the day. Still debating bringing a couple of dynamic phones - the LCD-2 and HE-500 sound great driven balanced out of the SR-71b...

Paging Dr. Wood - What is this thing the camera is focusing on? http://thenextweb.com/apple/2011/10/12/tnw-review-a-complete-guide-to-apples-ios-5-with-icloud-an-os-14-years-in-the-making/8/

Thanks Wayne, but I didn't feel snubbed at all - it would bog everything down if everyone felt they just had to respond to every single sad post with well wishes!

BTW, I did some reading in advance of iCloud to see how things would go with families that had old .Mac or MobileMe acounts with multiple email address for the family pack. It's nice because each member of the family still gets their own iCloud address (their old MobileMe) while still being able to share a single iTunes store account for the music/apps, etc, but without having to pay $149/yr to get the 5 MobileMe accounts like before. I've used my personal .Mac email address as our family's Apple ID for iTunes and other purchases since 2003, so I didn't get stuck with one ID for iTunes store and then a separate one as my .Mac address. But because they were one and the same ID, if I were to share the iTune store password with the kids so they could update their apps, then they'd also have access to my email, contacts, calendar, bookmark and everything else if they wanted it. At the time I set up my iTunes store and .Mac account the kids were only 5, 8 and 10 years old, but I anticipated that someday I would want a separate ID and I bought two $10/yr .Mac email addresses for myself, before they discontinued giving those out. I gave one of them to my wife 2 years ago since we have the same first name initial and last name. But I can now convert the other address to an iCloud address, then move everything that I want to sync between devices to that email, and then remove my personal data from the ID that we share for the iTunes and App Store. I could still leave some shared contacts, or calendar appointments on that account. We didn't buy the .Mac family pack until the kids and wife got iPhones in Feb 2009, so that they'd all have their own MobileMe adress to sync contacts, calendars and bookmarks to their iPhone. But when we do convert them all to iCloud ID's we can still use my old Apple ID for the shared "store" account purchases (so we can all still share the same music, TV, movies, apps and books through iCloud). And, as each child moves out on their own and starts their own family, if we want to we can keep my iTunes store account authorized on their computer for playback, but they can use their own iCloud ID to buy and play their own private content. Apple has been letting us authorize one computer to play protected content from up to 5 different store accounts at the same time, such as your account and a couple of family members and friends. So, I can go to each of their computers and authorize them to play content without sharing my password, and they can still use their own ID for the store for everything new. I suspect the kids will want access to our legacy movies and TV and music, but wont be as keen to share. Here is the biggest issue that I see with the iCloud transition. With iCloud we can have 10 devices on an account, which means with our 5 computers on iCloud we only have 5 slots left for iDevices, but we have 7 of those using iOS. I got the impression but am not 100% that we can still manually sync an unlimited amount of iOS devices by cable and iTunes, just not by iCloud which has a limit of 10.