2010 RMAF/CJ@RMAF

[dcpoor]

any jh13/16 owners get a chance to try the UE reference monitors? just wondering how they compare to the JHA offerings.

[Dusty Chalk]

Did any of you guys hear the big new Sony speakers? I have seen one report that says they blew away the Magico Q5s and most everything else.

[HeadphoneAddict]

I will have more to say later. The Rethm amp with the LCD-2's was about as good as headphone listening gets. I was talking about with Aman George about the amp and kept telling him that I don't want to get sucked into headphones again. However, at the price they are looking to sell that amp it is a bargain. For $2,000 you will have one hell of a headphone rig with the LCD-2.

I thought it sounded good, but I was not as impressed with it as others. I felt it was much better than the prototype hybrid amp, but it seemed to lack in transparency to me. I'd likely pick my Woo WA6 over the Rethm amp. However, I was very impressed with the Rethm speakers upstairs, as were a few others.

[jp11801]

Did any of you guys hear the big new Sony speakers? I have seen one report that says they blew away the Magico Q5s and most everything else. Curious if they were good and what they were playing with.

Sadly no I passed by the room twice and nver made it in, this is why we need you at the show

any jh13/16 owners get a chance to try the UE reference monitors? just wondering how they compare to the JHA offerings.

Yes they are very good but different in overall presentation than any of the UE or JH products. Very transparent and neutral and maybe more spacious than the JH13s even. They lacked slightly in the bass region but were very good. I still prefer the 13s but I could see them as a nice change of pace.

I thought it sounded good, but I was not as impressed with it as others. I felt it was much better than the prototype hybrid amp, but it seemed to lack in transparency to me. I'd likely pick my Woo WA6 over the Rethm amp. However, I was very impressed with the Rethm speakers upstairs, as were a few others.

you and Dusty are just plain wrong please go to your rooms and rethink your answer

[Asr]

Wow I ended up deleting more than half my pics last night for one reason or another. 101 left, and some more will be deleted too but not too many. I'm guessing I'll have the pics ready to post in about 2-3 days along with gear/show impressions. Btw, could a moderator move this entire thread to the Meet Impressions forum now that the event's over?

Oh and before I forget, this was being advertised at the show: HDTracks 20% off discount code "rmaf20" (one-time use per HDTracks account, expires 10/30). Axpona 2011 (Atlanta GA, April 14-17) was also being advertised in a big way and I heard that a bunch of new vendors signed up for it, so that should be a good show next year.

any jh13/16 owners get a chance to try the UE reference monitors? just wondering how they compare to the JHA offerings.

Did not try those, but I could (and would) have if I'd brought my MP3 player.

[Augsburger]

Did any of you guys hear the big new Sony speakers? I have seen one report that says they blew away the Magico Q5s and most everything else. Curious if they were good and what they were playing with.

I would like to demo the Sonys sometime because I have found the Magico M5s to be very very good.

[HeadphoneAddict]

Yes they are very good but different in overall presentation than any of the UE or JH products. Very transparent and neutral and maybe more spacious than the JH13s even. They lacked slightly in the bass region but were very good. I still prefer the 13s but I could see them as a nice change of pace.

I agree with your UE In-Ear Reference Monitor impressions. I get a similar neutral/spacious feeling with my ES5 except the Westone have more bass than the UE demos.

[Dusty Chalk]

you and Dusty are just plain wrong please go to your rooms and rethink your answer

Hey, I did allow for the possibility of magic...

EDIT: And I didn't think of this until later, but source might also have been an issue.

Edited October 21, 2010 by Dusty Chalk

[deepak]

Any links to RMAF coverage by websites? I am only seeing enjoythemusic's up right now. Mostly interested in pretty pictures

edit: I see Steve Dobbins had a room setup, any of you analog fellows get to hear his Garrard? Truly a wonderful TT IMO.

Edited October 21, 2010 by deepak

[ironbut]

The Audio Circles forum has some excellent coverage of the show. Of course these are member pictures and impressions so the impressions should be taken with a grain of salt (other members generally know the preferences of the folks writing the impressions so their mental filters are running accordingly). The stickied ",.. Member ,.. Show Coverage has tons of excellent pictures.

Rocky Mountain Audio Fest

[M3NTAL]

I'd be interested in hearing more about the UE-Reference / ES-5 / JH-13. I've only had a chance to hear the JH-13 and JH-16 universals and thought both had a little too much bass around 50hz for the large amount of electronic music I listen to. The UM3X and no.34 customs have made me wary of dealing with Westone again, but I've never had bad service, so they aren't completely off the list yet.

[deepak]

The Audio Circles forum has some excellent coverage of the show. Of course these are member pictures and impressions so the impressions should be taken with a grain of salt (other members generally know the preferences of the folks writing the impressions so their mental filters are running accordingly). The stickied ",.. Member ,.. Show Coverage has tons of excellent pictures.

Rocky Mountain Audio Fest

Cool, thanks!

[Asr]

Any links to RMAF coverage by websites? I am only seeing enjoythemusic's up right now. Mostly interested in pretty pictures

Stereophile just had a lot of updates to their blog this morning: Stereophile: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2010

Dagogo: http://www.dagogo.com/View-Event.asp?hEvent=32

Stereomojo: Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2010 pt1

Still working on my pics btw, going to be at least 2 more days. Downside to taking a lot of pics is the amount of time spent post-processing them - and inevitably annotating them (not really looking forward to that part).

I'd be interested in hearing more about the UE-Reference / ES-5 / JH-13. I've only had a chance to hear the JH-13 and JH-16 universals and thought both had a little too much bass around 50hz for the large amount of electronic music I listen to. The UM3X and no.34 customs have made me wary of dealing with Westone again, but I've never had bad service, so they aren't completely off the list yet.

Um even if someone did hear all 3 of those, I don't think you're going to get anything useful out of quick impressions in a show environment and from universal-fit versions. And if I were you I wouldn't bother with more than one custom IEM, especially at the prices that the ES5 and UE-R fetch for. Though I've heard the ES5 universals before they didn't totally blow me away and I wasn't really compelled to buy them in addition to my JH13 (and I didn't even pay for my JH13 either). If you were that interested in either the UE-R or the ES5, you should have traveled out to RMAF to hear them for yourself. I don't know of the next opportunity when UE and Westone will be at a meet/show simultaneously, next year's RMAF aside. (CanJam '11 is still up in the air last I heard, and I talked directly to Jude about it.)

[manaox2]

I've been reading about Nordost's newest claim of measuring the difference in time domain errors in relation to aftermarket tweaks effects on sound released at RMAF.

http://www.nordost.com/downloads/New%20Approaches%20To%20Audio%20Measurement.pdf

Would be nice if their graphs were actually of a quality to read the scale and such. Anyone hear anything about this there? I know its a sore topic, but AFAIK the measurements don't prove that ears care about a time domain difference either.

[Dusty Chalk]

It's probably an attempt to assuage the "immeasurable" argument.

[Sinocelt]

Um even if someone did hear all 3 of those, I don't think you're going to get anything useful out of quick impressions in a show environment and from universal-fit versions. And if I were you I wouldn't bother with more than one custom IEM, especially at the prices that the ES5 and UE-R fetch for. Though I've heard the ES5 universals before they didn't totally blow me away and I wasn't really compelled to buy them in addition to my JH13 (and I didn't even pay for my JH13 either). If you were that interested in either the UE-R or the ES5, you should have traveled out to RMAF to hear them for yourself. I don't know of the next opportunity when UE and Westone will be at a meet/show simultaneously, next year's RMAF aside. (CanJam '11 is still up in the air last I heard, and I talked directly to Jude about it.)

Traveling can be just as expensive as buying a pair of high-end custom monitors -- or more, for those who, like me, don't even live in the States. I also have my eyes (but not my ears, alas) on the ES5 and the IERM. At least, HeadphoneAddict will be able to compare the ES5 and the JH13, though we already know his favorite.

Aside from the sound, I'm also curious as to the difference in comfort and isolation between soft silicone and Westone's clever vinyl tips.

[luvdunhill]

At least, HeadphoneAddict will be able to compare the ES5 and the JH13, though we already know his favorite

I didn't realize HPA's reputation preceded himself so!

[Dusty Chalk]

Playback report (1st of 4, so far)

[Voltron]

Playback report (1st of 4, so far)

All four parts are available

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, I meant 4 parts, so far...didn't read it, so don't know whether or not he's done...

[Asr]

Pics for HC first. Pics for HF will follow later over there.

(Dinner @ Great Northern Tavern) Left to right: Marc Lavry, Jude, Drew, Steve (forgot from which company)

(Dinner @ Great Northern Tavern) Left to right: Fang, NewGuy, HPA's son, HPA, Tyler's wife, Tyler, Peter, Aman

Drinking @ Falling Rock Tap House

Signage

namesake burger @ Larkburger

JP w/ an IPA @ Larkburger

Late Sunday, looks like folks are tired

Lamb shanks ordered @ Sahara

[ironbut]

Nice pic's Steve. The lamb shanks look yummy!

BTW, isn't that Dan Lavry on the right in the first pic (the fellow you think is named Steve)?

[Asr]

Uh not sure, not really good with names and my memory is hazy on that. Maybe someone else could confirm.

[Sinocelt]

I didn't realize HPA's reputation preceded himself so!

His reviews are the best available. I really wish the big players sent him review samples, instead of sending them to editors who, very often, just drop five short paragraphs about it on their website. Above all when four paragraphs out of five just tell people what a custom IEM is, and the last one how great the one they were sent is (without comparing it to any other).

[jvlgato]

Nice pics, Steve! Thanks!