NY meet impressions

[Smeggy]

So, anyone with more thoughts on the O2? References to well known cans may be helpful (K1000 fer instance) so I can persuade myself I still don't need them

[jinp6301]

I would have to say that I would prefer the k1000 mostly over the O2. The O2 is really nice but the K1000 does something else for me. I think the really nice imaging and visceral bass that the k1000 has that no other headphone really does well.

(Disclaimer: I am deaf)

[VPI]

The meet was alot smaller than I expected. I went to listen to the Cary 303/O2 setup, but could only get sound out of one channel, so I just put it back down and moved on.

You must have been listening to input one which at one time was connected to the Cary via single-ended Nordost Quatro-fil Reference just to show another Omega II owner the difference between single-ended and balanced inputs. Unfortunately someone managed to rip the cable right out of the RCA on one of my Nordosts, walking by I guess. That room was way too cramped and there were way too many people that didn't seem to care about laying headphones down on top of tube amps and wandering off with people's headphones. I had to go find two sets of headphones to pack up at the end of the meet and found one on the floor under the Woo table.

[laxx]

Yea, I didn't want to touch anything to see why it was only playing on one channel, so I left it as is and just walked away.

And damn, that really sucks. Is the cable toast? Was there any damage to your headphones?

[Smeggy]

That's just not right. I hope nothing was damaged. Luckily everyone was very well behaved in Seattle and no problems. Plus, my Pink hair won best in show!

[Voltron]

You must have been listening to input one which at one time was connected to the Cary via single-ended Nordost Quatro-fil Reference just to show another Omega II owner the difference between single-ended and balanced inputs. Unfortunately someone managed to rip the cable right out of the RCA on one of my Nordosts, walking by I guess. That room was way too cramped and there were way too many people that didn't seem to care about laying headphones down on top of tube amps and wandering off with people's headphones. I had to go find two sets of headphones to pack up at the end of the meet and found one on the floor under the Woo table.

Hey Jeff, glad to see you on Head-Case! I was going to ping you on the other site when I saw you were at the NYC meet. Cool that you are in the headphone game again.

Are you going to CanJam? Our nutty Florida friends are setting up a pretty amazing show down there... Hope you can make the trip.

Oh, and by the way, none of those fuckers from the NYC meet who trashed your gear will be allowed in Florida...

[Fing]

You must have been listening to input one which at one time was connected to the Cary via single-ended Nordost Quatro-fil Reference just to show another Omega II owner the difference between single-ended and balanced inputs. Unfortunately someone managed to rip the cable right out of the RCA on one of my Nordosts, walking by I guess. That room was way too cramped and there were way too many people that didn't seem to care about laying headphones down on top of tube amps and wandering off with people's headphones. I had to go find two sets of headphones to pack up at the end of the meet and found one on the floor under the Woo table.

At least it didn't go walkies but sorry to hear that such a careless attitude was shown to your equipment.

[The Monkey]

So, anyone with more thoughts on the O2? References to well known cans may be helpful (K1000 fer instance) so I can persuade myself I still don't need them

I listened to the O2 out of the McAlister with the MSB Platinum as the source. That setup was good. Damn good to my ears. And the O2 just melted away like it usually does for me when I hear it. Smooth and sweet. But I wanted to also hear some rock as I have always just heard jazz and classical. The only (sort of) rock the owner had was Joe Satriani, and while I'm not a huge fan, it was definitely engaging. But I still would like to try just to see if they can rock out. Can they?

I tried to answer that question myself by listening to the O2 out of the Cary (and I think it was a SRM-007t amp) and it sounded dreadful; the worst I have heard it sound. Now mind you, I was listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn on a really poorly recorded CD, but it was the worst experience I have had with the O2. Maybe the Cary was spooked or something, though, because I just didn't like a lot of what I heard through it. Could be the old tin ears as well.

Overall assessment, I very much want the O2, but I hope to put some rock through them at CanJam.

[Smeggy]

I'll be interested in your findings as rock/metal/etc is 90% of my listening.

[Voltron]

I have the O2s with the 007t and rock is not their best medium. I will listen some more and post up some thoughts because this evening I was planning to listen to that rig with the Onix CD-1 feeding it balanced. I'll put some rock on the menu tonight.

[Smeggy]

[humanflyz]

O2+007II is not that great for rock, but the O2+KGSS is: I'm listening to "Tommy" right now, and it is pretty awesome.

[Smeggy]

O2+007II is not that great for rock, but the O2+KGSS is: I'm listening to "Tommy" right now, and it is pretty awesome.

KGSS way out of my (wifes) price bracket

[The Monkey]

O2+007II is not that great for rock, but the O2+KGSS is: I'm listening to "Tommy" right now, and it is pretty awesome.

That's what I was anticipating. I think I may have been reacting more to the source/amp combo than to the O2.

[spritzer]

I'll be interested in your findings as rock/metal/etc is 90% of my listening.

It's about 95% rock/metal for me and I love the SR-007 but it's the amp that makes or breaks them along with proper fit. Since the current draw is highest at the lowest bass and highest treble in ES drivers this is no surprise. Stax designed the Sr-007 to have a lot of parasitic capacitance so the part of the diaphragm that makes sound can move more then other phones but that also calls for much more power to move them properly. Get the power right and no other headphone can beat the effortless control of the SR-007 even at extreme volume levels when the SR-? has long since turned into a mush of bass overhang.