July 14 MD/VA/DC/PA Area Meet at the Marriott University Center in College Park

[grawk]

Thrice threw a party, and it turns out it was mostly a head-case meet. I had a blast, and got to hear HE90s from a shuffle. My life is complete.

[grawk]

Team Source First

[justin]

i liked denon d5000

[grawk]

i liked denon d5000

Especially the way the cup kept falling off.

[grawk]

Btw justin,

That mini amp/dac was awesome, I still can't believe you did that by hand. And the aristaeus is beautiful. Really allows the shuffle to shine as a source.

[Dusty Chalk]

Highlight of the meet: Justin's tiny little thingy. That's USB thingy, you perverts. I don't think it sounded as good at Dave levels as it did at Dusty levels, but it sounded surprisingly good at Dusty levels. And it even drove K1000's pretty nice. I'll definitely be getting myself one of these. Justin, did you really populate that board yourself? That's inconceivable. Do you work under a magnifying glass?

I totally forgot to listen to the EMM Labs player -- did anyone else? How was it?

I got to meet Todd and Alex. I got to hang out with Dan and Brian (canman), as well as the usual DC crew.

I don't hardly know anyone from head-fi any more. The few people that I actually did meet were pretty nice.

That Consonance player is pretty much the ugliest player in all of audiophile-dom. I had to keep looking carefully to make sure I was pressing buttons, and the right ones, rather than just pushing my finger over one of the decorative squares.

Alex will be posting pics later, I'm sure.

I will be inviting myself over Juan's to hear his Qualia player, I forgot to listen to that, too. He's been on a small buying rampage, I didn't hardly recognize half his gear.

[Nanoha]

I was in DC for the day just about 10 minutes away by metro. I was stuck with my parents at their friend's house. It really sucked. I went through all the trouble of preparing for nothing. *shoots self* Wow, it would have been awesome to meet ya guys.

[Salt Peanuts]

That Consonance player is pretty much the ugliest player in all of audiophile-dom. I had to keep looking carefully to make sure I was pressing buttons, and the right ones, rather than just pushing my finger over one of the decorative squares.

Red version is even worse.

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/fcity/fcity.html

[KenW]

What "USB thingy"?? I must have missed the announcement. Someone fill me in. Pics? Details? Available?

[PFKMan23]

http://www.head-case.org/index.php/topic,1663.0.html

[n_maher]

Any impressions of the balanced beta22? Future builders need to know.

[KenW]

http://www.head-case.org/index.php/topic,1663.0.html

Thanks. Missed that one entirely. Sounds like a fantastic option for an office setup/portable all rolled into one. Have their been any pics of this gem floating around? I'd love to get a peek at it.

[n_maher]

Thanks. Missed that one entirely. Sounds like a fantastic option for an office setup/portable all rolled into one. Have their been any pics of this gem floating around? I'd love to get a peek at it.

It's in the early stages as far as we've been told, even the prototype that Justin showed at the meet didn't have a case. But from the pics on the "other site" it looks like a pretty genius piece of design. I love the stacked boards.

[Salt Peanuts]

Thanks. Missed that one entirely. Sounds like a fantastic option for an office setup/portable all rolled into one. Have their been any pics of this gem floating around? I'd love to get a peek at it.

Ken, there're couple pics of it on the MD meet impression thread on HF. As it's a prototype, it's not in a case, though.

EDIT - Nate beat me to it! Here's hoping I'll get to hear it myself at some point.

[CD44hi]

I had a blast. Great meet.

I am very impressed by Justin's DAC prototype. Dead quiet with the UE IEMs, great sound, great imaging. I am looking forward to the release version.

I think Thrice deserves public recognition for coordinating the location/keeping the thread with participants, gear etc, organized. The time and effort is appreciated! Specially in the midst of a hectic time for him.

I enjoyed the Aristeus/HE90, that was referred to as the "lawnmower set-up" .

I admit that I spent much of the 5hrs I spent there chatting with people.

Did manage to snipe the modded iGrato from Hirsch... hee, hee. Compared to the stock version, there is an improvement. So the mods are worth. I should compare them to the Koss Ksc-35, those IME are hard to beat for the price...

[Dusty Chalk]

I also learned that I need to recable my L3000, as his sounded pretty good out of Todd's custom Singlepower amp -- better than mine, although mine sounded quite possibly the best it's ever sounded out of the same amp. What did you say it was wired with? I know you said silver, but you said something else that I don't remember. High gauge, low gauge?

And I also want to echo everyone else's comments: thanks, Stephen! For organizing, etc. in what must be a very busy time for you.

Oh, and I think I ended up in someone's wedding video.

Red version is even worse.

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/fcity/fcity.html

OMG, that is worse.

[PFKMan23]

Ask GE what he used, he has his recabled with whatever the Oracle cable is.

[PFKMan23]

It does? Been thinking about getting an oracle senn cable for some time now for my 580s.

[PFKMan23]

Where's your Oracle cable?

[postjack]

It does? Been thinking about getting an oracle senn cable for some time now for my 580s.

I just got my Oracle cable last week. Been using it with my 650, its great. I got the furutech plug. it makes all my other girlie plugs afraid.

[deepak]

I also learned that I need to recable my L3000, as his sounded pretty good out of Todd's custom Singlepower amp -- better than mine, although mine sounded quite possibly the best it's ever sounded out of the same amp. What did you say it was wired with? I know you said silver, but you said something else that I don't remember. High gauge, low gauge?

And I also want to echo everyone else's comments: thanks, Stephen! For organizing, etc. in what must be a very busy time for you.

Oh, and I think I ended up in someone's wedding video.OMG, that is worse.

Any further detailed impressions on the recabled vs stock L3000?

Any other amps there that the L3000 mated really well with?

[909]

x2--curious about the sonic differences between stock and this after market cable. also how much does it cost for the same length.

can't wait to hear Justin new portable amp/DAC--the positive impressions have really sparked my interest.

[Dusty Chalk]

I think I was the only one doing a comparison -- most people were pretty much spent by the time I got there, and were just gabbing.

Todd's modded L3000 with his custom Singlepower -- perfection.

My unmodded L3000 with his custom Singlepower -- still not quite perfect, it still had that little midrange swale, but it was more gone on that amp than on any other amp I've heard save the EarMax Pro, bizarrely enough. I didn't think to check the room to see if anyone had brought an EarMax Pro, so that's a comparison by memory, rather than a rapid-switching comparison.

So yeah, I'm keeping my L3000's -- knowing what a difference a recabling makes -- and recabling them.

[Dusty Chalk]

can't wait to hear Justin new portable amp/DAC--the positive impressions have really sparked my interest.

As well they should -- the thing was unbelievable.

[Salt Peanuts]

i wish i could have gone

Same here, especially now that Boston meet seems to have lost its location.

Stupid car needing get major service/parts replacement.