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Author Topic: March 2014 OC Meet Pirate Impressions  (Read 10753 times)

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Marvey

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Re: March 2014 OC Meet Pirate Impressions
« Reply #10 on: March 23, 2014, 10:27:06 PM »
The only time I've heard it at headphone meets was several years ago at Frank Cooter's stat amp setup with the blue glowies. He happened to have the CD in there. Since then, I've never heard it used at any meet. Just surprised so many people were suddenly using it at this meet. I've also never heard it at the speaker shows, because this track would seriously fvck up many of the speaker setups, or at least reveal the setups with the overbloated bass or serious treble issues or bad rooms, which would be 85% of the speakers at these shows.

Anax is using the xrd version which is mastered better. I've stopped using it because I'm so sick of it.
« Last Edit: March 23, 2014, 11:04:32 PM by marvey »
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OJneg

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Re: March 2014 OC Meet Pirate Impressions
« Reply #11 on: March 23, 2014, 10:42:14 PM »
On the AGD DACs:

When Clem (you here brotha?) lugged that other monster up and everyone started listening, I was very skeptical I would be able to pick apart any differences. I had just got through comparing all those loaner DACs and I felt the differences were small then. But by golly, you guys weren't kidding when you were saying one sounded better than the other. Not sidegrade-y, plain better. I went in not knowing which was which, but I knew what to listen for and that made a lot of difference I think. To my ears, it seemed #1 (which turned out to be the M7) was better at representing the recording's spatial properties. More reverberant is what I told Marv on my first listen. And once you hear it, #2 seems kinda lacking in comparison. It was also interesting to me that the differences were concrete on both the HD800 and the Abyss. It still kinda hurts my brain thinking about how different the two DACs sounded.

Also interesting to note that most folks who walked by seemed to prefer #1. Although there were a few who liked #2 more.
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Thujone

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Re: March 2014 OC Meet Pirate Impressions
« Reply #12 on: March 23, 2014, 10:50:18 PM »
This infamous Eagles track, is it on Hell Freezes Over or Eagles Live?
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Marvey

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Re: March 2014 OC Meet Pirate Impressions
« Reply #13 on: March 23, 2014, 10:53:38 PM »
Hell Freezes Over. The original CD has overbloated bass and Glenn Fry's vocals are sibilant. Brings non-neutralish systems over the edge. So a good recording for such uses.

The xrcd version Anax currently uses is for resolution / plankton evaluation.


Another good one is Talking Heads This Must Be The Place / Naive Melody. The original CD version is really really really out of whack. The remaster is what I currently use. It's better balanced, but still remains a good test for bloated bass (higher up than HFO Hotel CA), and treble issues (snare drums, percussion, vocal sibilance). The AKG K812 failed the Naive Melody / Remastered test.
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Maxvla

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Re: March 2014 OC Meet Pirate Impressions
« Reply #14 on: March 23, 2014, 10:58:39 PM »
Any chance of getting a copy of that track? I've used that song forever, but would enjoy taking an 'improved' copy for a spin.
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Marvey

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Re: March 2014 OC Meet Pirate Impressions
« Reply #15 on: March 23, 2014, 11:03:34 PM »
Quote from: OJneg on March 23, 2014, 10:42:14 PM
On the AGD DACs:

When Clem (you here brotha?) lugged that other monster up and everyone started listening, I was very skeptical I would be able to pick apart any differences. I had just got through comparing all those loaner DACs and I felt the differences were small then. But by golly, you guys weren't kidding when you were saying one sounded better than the other. Not sidegrade-y, plain better. I went in not knowing which was which, but I knew what to listen for and that made a lot of difference I think. To my ears, it seemed #1 (which turned out to be the M7) was better at representing the recording's spatial properties. More reverberant is what I told Marv on my first listen. And once you hear it, #2 seems kinda lacking in comparison. It was also interesting to me that the differences were concrete on both the HD800 and the Abyss. It still kinda hurts my brain thinking about how different the two DACs sounded.

Also interesting to note that most folks who walked by seemed to prefer #1. Although there were a few who liked #2 more.

Yes, and the funny thing is that I would consider the SA-2 and M7 to be much more similar than different, at least compared to the other DACs in the comparo.
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OJneg

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Re: March 2014 OC Meet Pirate Impressions
« Reply #16 on: March 23, 2014, 11:08:37 PM »
Other notes:

  • uzi (from Head-Fi) was kind enough to drop his BH Crack (w/ Speedball) at my table. Pretty much everyone who came by wanted a listen. And yes, probably 80% of them were listening to Get Lucky. I also noted that more than a few people preferred the DT880 over the HD600 on the Crack, although I feel the HD600 is a clear cut above, especially on the Crack. I need to build a Crack soon
  • All the Cavalli amps sounded good
  • JH13 was meh, unfortunately. I was expecting better I suppose. And the UE booth was packed every time I walked into that room, so I didn't get to listen to any of theirs.
  • LCD-X and LCD-XC were surprisingly good. I need to do a direct comparison between them and the LCD-2/3
  • Many laughs were had listening to the Rag and talking to the Schiit guys. Not sure if Marv wants to divulge but I was amused
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thegunner100

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Re: March 2014 OC Meet Pirate Impressions
« Reply #17 on: March 23, 2014, 11:25:13 PM »
Could anyone comment on that new demoing thing that UE has? Could the UE18 possibly emulate how their other IEMs sound?
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Marvey

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Re: March 2014 OC Meet Pirate Impressions
« Reply #18 on: March 23, 2014, 11:35:14 PM »
JH13FP
Downsides were overly smoothed bass, although the slight bass emphasis / warmth compared to the UERM was a nice tough. Treble too hot. That is too strident, even with decent recordings. I know some people think the UERM is too hot in the treble, and I can agree somewhat that the upper mids are a bit pronounced. In comparison, the JH13 behavior has ringy/peaky treble in the siblance region, otherwise known as "no-no land" to me. Possibly the most resolving IEM out there, but Anax told to me take another listen if I get chance to make doubly sure. Perhaps the emphasized treble is making me think it sounds more detailed.

I didn't have a problem with treble of the JH13FP out of their AK120 loaded with BS audiophile music, but once I got my iPhone using my own test recordings, it was not listenable. Granted the iPhone does sound on the brittle side. I should have brought my other players, i.e. Sony X, Leckerton, etc. but I'm pretty sure the stridency issue is still going to be there with the other sources.

Mad Dog Pros
A fun listen with bass characteristics of the Audeze, but also with a little treble emphasis resulting in a "fun" u-curve, but still very well with my tolerance levels (I even tried some marginal recordings). My favorite so far from Dan. I had a laugh when Dan said I had extraordinary high standards. I came away very surprised by this headphone powered by the Mjolnir. From the Burson HA160... ugh, no.
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Kunlun

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Re: March 2014 OC Meet Pirate Impressions
« Reply #19 on: March 23, 2014, 11:57:44 PM »
Any other must-have recordings or tracks for using to see how audio gear performs?

What recordings do you use to gauge upper treble? Thinking more about extension.

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