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Author Topic: 2014 Woodland Hills Meet - Stream of Consciousness  (Read 4978 times)

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Hands

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Re: 2014 Woodland Hills Meet - Stream of Consciousness
« Reply #20 on: August 11, 2014, 06:27:44 AM »

At this point I'm comfortable saying:

1) Filters actually do work and contribute significantly to the overall sound.
2) Minimal Filters > Linear Filters

I feel comfortable saying the same, though I've found I go even further and prefer the NOS + R2R (or close to that) sound. It's something about the way the NOS DACs I've tried produce bass, especially bass guitar, and vocals. And these aspects similarly change when going from filters with lots of ringing to filters that try to minimize ringing as much as possible, at least based on my potentially flawed subjective tests (testing DACs with selectable filters, experimenting with upsampling filters on NOS DACs, etc.), so I have to assume filtering plays a noticeable role in what we hear. I think minimum phase, especially with low amounts of post-ringing, is the way to go otherwise.

I've read many sources claiming filters, ringing (mostly this), etc. shouldn't be audible, but I do hear a clear difference with different filter implementations. Not sure what it is that ultimately causes the differences I hear, but it is what it is.
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LFF

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Re: 2014 Woodland Hills Meet - Stream of Consciousness
« Reply #21 on: August 11, 2014, 06:29:43 AM »

Always fun seeing you guys.


Warren, I don't know if it was you who texted me about the location, but my phone died during the meet and I didn't get any texts until this morning.  :(


Sorry to the rest of you who texted me as well. I didn't mean to ignore anyone.  :-[


I also didn't get a chance to say my good-byes to a lot you folks but as you all know...I love you all.  :)p2


EDIT: Did any of you guys get a chance to visit Gizzard's room and listen to the TranSIT proto?
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ohhgourami

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Re: 2014 Woodland Hills Meet - Stream of Consciousness
« Reply #22 on: August 11, 2014, 06:36:05 AM »

Just to be clear, are you suggesting that members and exhibitors should be placed together?  Or alternatively that exhibitors should have been placed in those rooms instead?   :-S  Please let me know as it would help us to improve and refine things over time.  Here's a specific question that you guys could help with... would you say that it would have been better if we put all member tables together in the Ventura (big) room?

As far as groupings go, that wasn't really our call.  I mean, it was if we wanted to be arbitrarily dictatorial about it.  But there were multiple requests made in other threads and via PMs for people to be situated next to each other.  In trying to facilitate that, it became what it was.

Actually, at one point, there were multiple requests to be near a specific piece of gear (a Master 7 I believe), which had me thinking about organizing tables in a star pattern instead of linearly around the room.  Ultimately, we realized that while that would have been logistically clever, it would have been practically stupid.   :))

I think you did a great job of organizing the meet! When we shove everyone into one big room, it gets really LOUD. I like having multiple small rooms for meets as we get certain groups together and isolate others out.

I think the reason people did not bother walking down the hallway is because it didn't seem like it was part of the meet. Notice the registration area had floor banners while our part of the hallway had nothing?

We much as we like staying together as a group, we are also there to share (and flaunt).

Overall, great job Warren! We really appreciate the effort you put in to organize something like this. And happy belated birthday!
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OJneg

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Re: 2014 Woodland Hills Meet - Stream of Consciousness
« Reply #23 on: August 11, 2014, 06:45:26 AM »

Since no one has brought it up, here's my 2 cents on the Levi and Anax's system:

Very controlled was the first thing I noted. Has the transformer-coupled iron grip thing going on. More controlled than I remember the 4-45 being with the HD800 for whatever reason. I also feel comfortable saying it was VERY revealing of different DACs.
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LFF

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Re: 2014 Woodland Hills Meet - Stream of Consciousness
« Reply #24 on: August 11, 2014, 06:52:03 AM »

The Levi is amazeballs isn't it?  :)p1
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warrenpchi

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Re: 2014 Woodland Hills Meet - Stream of Consciousness
« Reply #25 on: August 11, 2014, 06:54:11 AM »

Not multi-quoting the following in case shipsupt comes by...

@Anax, yeah I hear ya.  I've actually been thinking about a huge member cave myself, hence the question, and I'm totally willing to give it a try.  Of course, this depends on the location of the meet itself.  If the next hotel doesn't have a large-enough contiguous space (the South Coast Westin didn't), then we might have to rework that plan as best we can.  Maybe a desktop room and a portable room, or some other meaningful distinction.

And yeah, I was way back in room no. 6 in '13, but hey we had fun anyway.  The only thing I wasn't crazy about at that meet was that Brian (BTG) couldn't make it.  I had wanted to talk to him about some recabling or light modding (because can you believe that replacement D600 cables are $350 each???).  Not only could he not make it, but I had to stare at his empty ass table all day long as a constant reminder.   ::)  Whatevs, not bitter, just sayin'.

Still, you did make it over to our room before the day was out - because bladder control trumps location - where you discovered that the SE-A1000 wasn't poo.   ;)  I haven't trotted that thing out to a meet lately... wondering if maybe I should because it's still street-pricing around the $50 mark and has lots of modding possibility.

I can tell you one thing... I'm not keen mixing members and exhibitors to a large degree.  Exhibitors' tables tend to have a lot more chatter.  It has to do with the nature of the desired transaction.  I'm not saying that us members don't have some big ass mouths, but we aren't as driven or intent on exercising them in general.  That's not to say that I'm unyielding there, just that I'm definitely not inclined to pursue that kind of a layout.

@OJNeg, glad you had fun man!  Still, if you've got ideas or suggestions, I'm happy to hear them.   :)

If there is going to be another large exhibitor-laden meet this year, it won't be by us.  I just don't think we can sustain another meet like that this year.  There is too much of a good thing after all.  Plus, the fact is, things aren't what they used to be where meets were the only game in town.  Audio shows are starting to add personal audio components left and right, which is both a boon and a curse (particularly in terms of timing).  All these events put a lot of pressure on manufacturers, some of which are doing there best to finalize and release product that we have been clamoring for.  Anyway, that's a long-winded way of saying that, yes, doing another meet this year would necessitate it being very exhibitor-light.

That said, there has been interest on the part of a very few exhibitors to get together and do a smaller, member-oriented, invitation-only meet.  That's certainly very possible, and would probably take place during the winter if we decided to do it.

Lol, no worries, I didn't take it in a bad way.  Plus, I'm pretty open to making changes, adjustments and tweaks to improve over time.  It's all good.   :)
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Anaxilus

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Re: 2014 Woodland Hills Meet - Stream of Consciousness
« Reply #26 on: August 11, 2014, 07:00:28 AM »

I actually think that large room at the LA meet purrin organized was quite well done.  It was massive and very well spaced, the noise was surprisingly low as a result compared to normal expectations.

On the plus side, pretty much everyone at the far end in both rooms knew each other from multiple meets and it was GREAT having a nice intimate space for everyone to relax, critically listen in peace, shoot the BS and knock back a couple of shots of scotch or whiskey.  This is the type of atmosphere we usually like to have at meets in the past so that was a plus in that respect.

From a community member perspective, the far two rooms were fantastic in my view.  From a consumer viewpoint, not good at all.  Which is good or bad depending on how you look at it.

Like I said, never a perfect answer for such things.  Good job Warren.  :)p5
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Anaxilus

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Re: 2014 Woodland Hills Meet - Stream of Consciousness
« Reply #27 on: August 11, 2014, 07:04:34 AM »

I can tell you one thing... I'm not keen mixing members and exhibitors to a large degree. 

Agreed.  Never a good idea.
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Greed

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Re: 2014 Woodland Hills Meet - Stream of Consciousness
« Reply #28 on: August 11, 2014, 07:19:42 AM »

I'll bite..

Levi - HD800 - M7/Wyrd/OR5

Listened to a few songs, mainly Dreams, Hotel Cali, and Touch (RAM Album)

First of all, Anax's mods > SAA mods. The difference is uncanny and this was just another reminder for me to stop being lazy and cut the damn mod. Who knows? Maybe the SAA mods + Anax's mods will spawn some magical unicorn shit. I say this because immediately when I pressed play listening to my HD800, the sound was too glaring. Not as bad as an O2 or GS-X mk2 but the sound was definitely somewhat bright and fatiguing. Enough with that nonsense. With Anax's HD800, the sound was killer.

The Levi is the real deal. First impressions were this thing kicked hard. Dynamics were in full effect. I want to say the Levi is the best 2A3 amp I've heard. Extremely resolving but with the right amount of body to give you a natural presentation. The Stratus was a good 2A3 amp, but still suffered from a rosey, sometimes overly smooth characteristic that glossed over details. Compared to the 445 that I heard at the OC meet, this thing is on another level in terms of technicalities but more importantly more natural in terms of tone and timbre. When I heard the 445 it was somewhat bright and I want to say too edgy. Marv and Mike both said this is the 45 tubes in the flesh, which I can only take as the truth as I hadn't heard the 45 tubes before than.

Few things that I wish would be improved:
1) A more ergonomic chassis design. It just looks awkward. Talking with Anax, it seems Craig has a tendency to forget that [enter creation here] needs to be suitable for a multitude of rack/mounting options.
2) Regarding sound, maybe a slightly more resolving top end. I'd much rather have it sound as is than like the 445 but something in between would be even more amazing. This could be the result of tube options though.

I agree that with this amp, the sky is the limit in terms of DAC choice. At this point, if it sounds like shit.. it isn't the amp's fault. This amp will definitely keep up those that are hungry for the "best" because it seems that every tweak, no matter how small will be revealed.   



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OJneg

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Re: 2014 Woodland Hills Meet - Stream of Consciousness
« Reply #29 on: August 11, 2014, 07:25:14 AM »

I definitely agree with Greed. I'll let Anax explain the input valve troubles. That might be the culprit behind the slightly off treble quality.
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