August 25th NorCal Regional Meet

[postjack]

D I Y = M O T

[909]

ASR ran a fantastic meet. Craig, Justin, and Ray were amazing doing the trip thing to get there, very cool. Glad Mikhail made it safe, though, I wish he arrived during the meet.

Overall meets offer gear buffet satisfaction and gobbling audio goodness. Impression is the optimum word since these are pretty immediate ideas, feelings, opinions formed under quick, dirty, and loud listening conditions coupled with the usual unfamiliarity with one or possibly more things. As in life sometimes things take time to appreciate or understand and ultimately come into focus. When I listen to recorded music I usually desire a litany of things, but if I had to concentrate it I want to feel and believe. I listen because I seriously enjoy music and not necessarily so to dissect it. With that said, here's my listening impressions...

Singlepower room (great A/C nice and cool):

I walked in having very high expectations for the SP top line stuff. Yet to my disappointment most, if not all, had some sort of technical difficulty or issue. What I did hear didn't wow me over, but still offered a very musical experience. Though, in all fairness I would have liked to hear it after Mikhail worked on them, possibly more familiar components in the chain would have been nice, and tracks I liked or at least knew.

K-1000 / Eddie Current room (hot as hell--no A/C):

foo_me's rig (zanden,emm labs, exposed K-1000 drivers) really surprised me. I've heard the K-1000s many times before and I usually have a cold response to them. However, I believe his rig takes the K-1000s to a level I've not experienced before. It seems as if the zanden breathed life and feeling into them and the glorious 300Bs offers a warm touch of character. The emm labs source flooded my ear with details and nuances I've never imagined possible on such an open can especially under meet conditions, though, the K-1000/EC room had been relatively quiet. I suppose I am so use to physically feeling vibrations from the way most headphones rest over the ear that the K-1000s still feel detached or more like speakers, but this rig got me feeling and believing in a relatively short time; the first meet wow.

I didn't spend much time with the new Lunch Box II, only a bit more with the Red Top and the HD-2, mainly because I had been chatting away with John and Craig.

Lunch Box II

Moth DAC / L3000s:

The Lunch Box II really has a nice musical no fuss sound quality. I liked with the flick of a switch I could listen to my low impedance headphones on the fly. It just had a great effortlessly sonic unpretentious presences, but still biting with great attack and decay. Based on memory, I'd say it's a good improvement over the first Lunch Box.

Red Top

Moth DAC / L3000s:

The Red Top circuit board propped upon the chassis as a visual demo was just very cool and a neat touch. The amp had precision detail while still sounding organic and certainly not at all saturating, but provided a humanistic warmth and wonderful textures. It seems to improve upon the last EC/SS verison I heard, primarily more air around the instruments or simply put better separation also the soundstage extended further in all perceivable directions (up, down, left to right).

HD-2

iMac / PS-1s & L3000s:

It's a rare occurrence I listen to a computer based source and say that sounds good and even rarer to say great. I would say this falls on the latter. I believe it had a lot to do with the recording quality and the amp. The HD-2 just flat out holds no punches. It's organic, but still extremely precise. It has the ZD sonic signature and soundstage, but does it in a bit more natural and effortless way; really nice sound.

The Main Room (A/C only by Ray and Justin's table nice and cool, but elsewhere mild to warm):

Technics RS-1500 reel-to-reel

Zana Deux / L3000s & AD2000s:

one word--WOW. This had to be the most musical and emotionally moving listening experience I've encountered. It's extremely rare I can listen to unfamiliar music and feel so moved and hang on every note, wishing it not end. The master tape had an utter breathtaking realism that everything else just melted away. It doesn't do it justice to use audiophile terms, which usually best describe an artificial attempt at replicating sound. Dare I say it, the closest to the real deal--like being in the studio on the musicians side of the glass. While listening I had goosebumps, walking away I had goosebumps, a bit later talking about it I got goosebumps or even thinking about it right now I am relishing the moment and sighing long and hard because I don't know when something so emotionally intense can happen again.

AMB's B22

Computer source / L3000s & HD600s:

There are only a handful of solid state amps I could potentially even think about buying and wanting to own long term and this just got added to my short list. This amp easily ranks up there with the likes of the dynahi possibly even bettering it, yet I would need more time to make such a bold claim. The B22 walks an extremely fine line offering an analytical, technical and albeit precise presentation, but never losing the emotional feel and beautiful musical splendor with an ever so slight organic and warm undercurrent. Overall an amazing sounding amp.

Ray's Table (RS AUDIO):

As usual Ray's table is near perfection. He had the B-52, Apache, Raptor, and what looked like every color Hornet and Tomahawk he offers. His 508.24 source pumping the beautiful music and so many excellent headphones like the HD600, R10s, and Qualia 010. Then you have Ray inviting everyone and anyone to enjoy his offerings.

Apache

508.24 / Ayre CX-7e / L3000s & HD600s:

I think the Apache is a very appealing looking amp. I am not a fan of the bright gold accents, but overall it's a very beautiful and clean looking chassis design and can't forget the very cool name. I also liked the tactile experience when I plugged in and adjusted the volume dial. When it came to my first listen I had the L3000s and didn't spend much time listening primarily because I heard/felt an uncomfortable pitch/frequency or hotness in the higher register. Previously with the Raptor I had a similar experience I thought it might be the source or possibly a combination, but now I've experienced this same phenomenon with the Apache and the 508.24 and CX-7e. I won't say the Apache is not a good sounding amp, but ultimately the sound does little to impress me or makes me feel or believe. I had a better experience on my third brief session with the HD600s, probably because those cans are a bit laidback, veiled and don't reach as high or as revealing as the L3000s.

B-52

508.24 / L3000s:

I had a somewhat similar listening experience with the B-52 though I preferred it over the Apache, yet it still left me uninspired.

Justin's table (HEADAMP):

KGSS DX

Arcam / O2s:

During my brief listen, I thought it sounded very good. I just couldn't get a good handled over it because the noises at the time seemed a feverous pitch when I tried listening to it.

Pico with built in DAC

MacBook USD / L3000s, HD650s, & K701s:

Before I heard Justin's new portable amp with built in DAC I pretty much wrote off portable amps. Point blank, the Pico knocked my socks off and won me over. Much like the sound coming from foo_me's K-1000, the Pico is the new gold standard all portable amp should be judged by and additionally has taken portable headphone amps to a level I've never imagined possible. The Pico is the most state of the art portable I've seen and an absolute engineering marvel. As previously mentioned I am not a fan of computer based sources, but the Pico with it's built in DAC off the MacBook USB engaged me and drew me into the music unlike any portable before. Amazingly, I never felt like it made much of any compromises because of it's diminutive size. Every headphone I threw at it just worked with the flip of a small gain switch. It clearly articulated details without that usual loss that most, if not all, of the other portable amps can't achieve. The Pico is something that really wowed not even primarily because of it's size and features, but most importantly its superb sound and factor in the tiny integrated package--it's unbelievable.

Headphones

Sony Qualia 010:

Even with two pairs on hand neither provided a good seal. I even gingerly tried to compensate by applying my hands to improve the seal, but to no avail. Overall, I walked away thinking why did Sony design such finicky fitting headphone. I hope one day to hear the 010 with a proper fit, but at this point I am not terribly impressed with them.

Edition 9s:

There are some things that just don't fit right or feel uncomfortable or don't sound right, the E9s were like that for me. The small amount of padding or lack there of on the headband and the way it pressed on my head wasn't initially painful, though not pleasurable. I suspect I couldn't wear them for long, but didn't try to find out either. The leather earcups were supple, but the clamping action had to be the most pressure I've ever felt from a headphone. My initial reaction, I prefer the L3000s not only because they are far more comfortable, but most importantly they sound superior with a more balanced and realistic presentation.

[Dusty Chalk]

D I Y = P E T E R G A B R I E L S O N G A B O U T M A S T U R B A T I O N

[n_maher]

D I Y = M O T

[me=nate]adds post jack to shit list[/me]

[PFKMan23]

[me=PFKMan23]adds postjack to kefka list[/me]

[aerius]

*aerius is lost, so he'll say something about boobs*

[Nanoha]

D I Y = M O T

Kill!

[n_maher]

Kill!

Nah, we'll all just charge him like we're MOT's if he ever asks for help!

[postjack]

Nah, we'll all just charge him like we're MOT's if he ever asks for help!

wait, I made a mistake, and the damn edit window messed me up! mods and their edit window, sheesh. what I meant to say was:

D I Y = A B U N C H O F D O R K S

so either I made a typo or, more likely, reks edited my post.

[Nanoha]

wait, I made a mistake, and the damn edit window messed me up! mods and their edit window, sheesh. what I meant to say was:

D I Y = A B U N C H O F D O R K S

so either I made a typo or, more likely, reks edited my post.

HAHAHAHAHA, edited, beeatch.

Common typo. The keys are right next to each other.

[deepak]

He's probably using tabbed browsing (watch out postjack)

[postjack]

He's probably using tabbed browsing (watch out postjack)

the mods are closing in! and all this postjack h8 on my birthday. :'(

seriously though, do it yourselfers are members of the trade since they make their own gear, ERGO they are suppliers of gear to themselves, which takes money away from head-case sponsors. so their free speech should be restricted so they can't be mean.

[aerius]

seriously though, do it yourselfers are members of the trade since they make their own gear, ERGO they are suppliers of gear to themselves, which takes money away from head-case sponsors.

The last time I checked, which admittedly was about 5 minutes ago, Head-case doesn't have any sponsors.

[postjack]

The last time I checked, which admittedly was about 5 minutes ago, Head-case doesn't have any sponsors.

sure it does!