.........
Sony MDRZ7:
Distorted low bass, no sub-bass itself but lots of chuff. The rest of the bass is satisfyingly full without being big. Otherwise, it has a pleasant balance with enough presence and treble to keep it exciting. However, it ends up sounding a bit gritty and blatty. Except for the unsatisfying low-bass situation, this is what a normal person would think a $200 headphone should sound like.
......

One never knows, the unit may have been abused by a previous visitor. Enough of crazy people out there. Some guy may have wanted to give the cans an "instant burn-in"  say.

Talking about that, I wonder how many thousands of speakers and cans are "burnt out" by fanatical audiophiles each year. The seems to be no limits to audio-fanaticism: I recently read about a hifiman loaner unit, about which the first guy on the list said he had burnt it in for five days. A borrowed unit! Of course this could have been a moderate guy, but in normal life a wife will always come the third day and wipe dust off the volume knob, or smth.

In any case I liked your style. Will stay thuned. Olaf

History has shown me that ASR is indeed deaf. He's also always attending his last ever meet, every time.

"Micro-rasp" on HE560's treble. That's the first time I've heard the description.

It pleases me that I could find a relatable description. My actual note for the best HE560 system: "a bit fttht-sy".

I'd love to hear if their new upper tier IEM is what the TE-05 originally sounded like.

Based on your glowing descriptions of the TE-05 last Canjam, I dropped by the Fostex booth with the idea of listening, but there wasn't a dish of tips, just one baggie with a set. Seemed like a 'bring your own tips' affair, and also I don't like deflecting my eardrums with plastic tip insertion...speaking of which ---hey Comply: sell sets of tips for all bores at a nominal cost ($5-$10) at the show, get people hooked--- So I didn't listen to the TE-05 or the single balanced-armature TE-07. Ultimately, I had plenty of other things to listen to; and I haven't yet delved into IEMs at Canjam, maybe next year.

What headphone was used with the Schiit stack?

This question feels like a trap. But it was the LCD-X, with all its own flaws.
[I'm sensitive to and have some bad associations with the HD800so to be fair, I didn't audition with that.]

I also played some heavy electronic tracks with low/sub bass on the Z7s and they had plenty, and it wasn't distorted.

One never knows, the unit may have been abused by a previous visitor. Enough of crazy people out there. Some guy may have wanted to give the cans an "instant burn-in"  say.

I could be wrong: but I really think t he Z7 has a roll-off on the low-end that runs counter to a severe rise in distortion. It gives the impression of that region being there, but the character of the driver comes-in and takes over the lower you go. I'll stand by this.

Thune
Oppo had 3 prototypes at the meet and they sounded differant then each other ...
I hope oppo voices the production unit the same as the one I liked.

The response of the PM-3 I heard was smooth enough and the distortion was low enough that I'm not writing it off. Seems fixable, and your comments support that.

Finally managed to transcribe my notes to the computer and add commentary here and there. Had a great time hanging out with Nick Dangerous all weekend and meeting Warren finally and so many others. Anaxilus recommended we try the Cherry Cricket burger joint about 15 mins from the hotel and it was FANTASTIC. Best burger I've ever had, and great onion rings. Nick wanted to go again Saturday, but it didn't work out. We also went to 1Up which had a lot of great pinball machines as well as video games and way-too-loud music. By the end of the weekend I was totally exhausted. I'm surprised I didn't fall asleep on the plane home.

Here we go:

Cantata – Liquid Crimson – HD800 > Clean, soundstage is nice. Vocals are very slightly sharp, pushed back a bit. Bass is full but needs more impact. Midbass blurring male vocals somewhat.

New amp from Cavalli is an evolution of the Liquid Fire. It sounded the part, too. A more polished sound than before, though has similar traits that I didn't care for from the Fire including the lack of bass impact. The smaller chassis and lower price is certainly welcome.

Cantata – Liquid Glass (stock tubes) – HD800 > Treble too sharp. More detailed though. Stage pushed more L/R and more separation. Need to hear with ideal tubes.

Heard a Glass (also stock tubes) before in Austin 2013 and thought it sounded alright, but still didn't like the treble. One of these days I'll get Alex to set me up with proper tubes in a demo.

Cantata – Liquid Gold – HD800 > Firmer bass. Treble in between Crimson + Glass. Sounds more effortless, but has grain in the vocals. Certainly the best of the three, but not perfect.

I'd heard the Gold before at Austin 2014, but I wasn't able to directly compare rigs like this. I wasn't sure where it stood against the rest of Cavalli's line. Nice amp, but I can't afford it.

Cantata – Liquid Lightning (tube) – SR009 > A very good SR-009 setup. I recognize the amazing things SR-009s are capable of, but there are showstopping flaws that keep me from enjoying them. This rig sounded about as good as any I've heard with SR-009s.

iPhone/iPod Touch – ifi DSD – Abyss > Fit still uncomfortable, rep says supposed to have broken seal. Odd. Highs grainy, vocals sound like from a tube. I can really feel the physical weight. Dynamics are decent for a transportable setup. Cymbals sound like glass breaking.

Portable setup for Abyss sounded as bad as the idea of using a huge $5000 headphone on the go does.

Mytek Stereo 192 – Eddie Current 4-45 – Abyss > Aggressive tracks make them seem slow. Treble can't keep up. Vocals too smooth, not enough texture. Tunnel effect again, but not as bad.

Notes don't mention it, but this was a much better rig than the 'portable' setup before. Still, the Mytek would not be my choice for DACs. Won't put too much faith in this audition.

ifi stack – Alclair Dual > Highs very smeared. Voices and cymbals sound almost indistinguishable. Too much SSHH. I'd hate to hear the 4 subwoofer version. These are pretty bad. Sounds like constant SSHH.

ifi stack – Alclair Quad > Treble very much reduced. Too much bass. Mids seem to be alright, but with everything else out of balance it doesn't matter. Impact is good, but overdone bass spoils it. This is certainly cleaner than the dual. Guitars are thick. Lacks detail, vocals flat. No texture.

ifi stack – Alclair Dual (“brighter” version) > Weird sound. Midbass going crazy, mids blooming. Upper mids seem to valley then a treble spike. Air is alright and treble seem sto give decent texture but the rest is so disjointed. Big bass imp act on these as well. Too much bass.

So the Alclairs were brand new to me. I knew nothing about them. I tried the 3 most likely to please me, asking the reps for neutral or treble tilted monitors. None of these were neutral or even treble tilted. I managed to get away without talking about the sound, and I'm glad because I wouldn't know where to start with constructive criticism.

Fostex HPA8C – Fostex TH500RP > Comfortable but ear openings are small. These will get hot. Midrange headphone. Bass is a bit soft, lacks impact. Treble is smooth yet has good detail. Doesn't do anything wrong. Nicely balanced. Physical weight is ok, but would be tiring on long sessions. Needs more bite in the treble.

The new toy from Fostex was pleasant, but ultimately forgettable. Perhaps it will spawn a new wave of mods. I think $700 for this headphone (I think that was the price) is too much.

Bryston stack @ Moon Audio table – HD800 > Bright, but clean. Very open, nice sound. Bass just a little soft. Impact ok. Vocals have some sizzle. Reminds of my old X-Sabre/BHA-1/HD800 rig.

Not perfect, but really good. Having had a very similar rig before, this was like slipping on a pair of old shoes. They still fit, but you remember why you moved on to a new pair.

BMC PureDAC (?) - Kingsound stats on tube amp > Weight is good. Comfort good except tips of ears touch inside. Treble is tapered, but present. Ultra smooth. Great mids. Throws surprising stage. Center is ok-ish, still have some side issues. Pretty good overall. Relaxing phones, not technically great though. Bass is soft and lacks impact, but those mids are so rich.

I'd wanted to hear these for a long time and while they didn't blow me away, I was impressed by this third (or fourth?) try at phones from Kingsound. The headphones were artfully crafted and light. If ever there was a perfect mids headphone, it is this one.

Sennheiser HDVD800 – HD800 > Highs piercing. Not a lot of texture. Vocals in particular. Bass is nice. Mids slightly recessed. Stage is smallish for HD800s. Not bad though. DAC/Amp is small form factor and looks great.

This is more or less what I expected from this pairing. Could find better DAC/Amp combos for the price, but for the form factor and looks I can't fault anyone for staying on the company line, if that's their thing.

Auralic Vega – Cavalli Liquid Glass – Alpha Prime Dogs, or is it Dogs Prime? > Most open Mr. Speakers headphone yet. Still a bit thick, but good texture in mids/bass. Vocals are nice, just a hint of grain. Top to bottom is very well integrated, seamless. Slight midbass hump in good taste.

Another good phone from Dan. I'm not one who usually likes closed headphones, and these still sound closed despite being the most open yet. Not on my purchase radar because of this. Later at the show I heard the Sony Z7, which is semi-closed that doesn't sound closed at all and is being considered for purchase. I asked Dan for a little more treble (as I have before) and he said the Prime was tunable. Eh... still won't be quite right I don't think.

Pendulumic Bluetooth Headphones > Quite nice. Not the most detailed, but clean and balanced. Nice stage size for closed. Somewhat thick in treble, but not bad at all. Vocals can be sharp. Midbass elevated, but doesn't bleed or cover. Upper mids recessed. Does a good job on front arc imaging, even without angled drivers. Bass rolls off some and impact could be cleaner.

Fantastic headphones given the price ($199) and flexibility (bluetooth up to 30hrs or wired) and reasonable comfort. Is it a world beater? No, but it doesn't have to be. This thing eats Beats for breakfast. Make a model with a microphone and take over the gaming scene!

Acer Win 8 tablet (JRiver) – CTM WLS-5 > Treble missing some. Reminds of UERM but more bass. Clean. Stage not as convincing as UERM. Missing some definition in vocals. Guitars aren't crisp. Nice sound overall.

Acer tablet – CTM CT400Pro > Treble fuzzy and dampened. Weird etch to it. Alright if you after a very warm sound and low volume levels.

Acer tablet – CTM CT500 > Better balance than CT400. Treble feels distant, strange. WLS-5 is better.

I'd never heard of CTM. Listened to their top 3 models and wasn't impressed, but they didn't sound all that bad. I could see them matching someone's needs.

Acer tablet – oBravo AMT base model > Lots of bass. Lots of bass. Lots of bass. Treble and midrange is there, buried somewhere. EQ'd bass and midbass down about 10-12dB in JRiver and it resembles a balanced presentation. Once balanced correctly, it's not bad really. Effortless delivery and the bass is clean and impactful. Soundstage is small-ish. Feels hot and heavy on my ears after just a few minutes.

Acer tablet – oBravo AMT top model > No EQ necessary on this model, but sounds are completely unrealistic. Very strange. This sounds awful. The base model sounds worlds better, especially once EQ'd. I don't even know where to begin with this.

The oBravo phones were interesting. I much preferred the $1000 model to the $2000 model, though I wouldn't pay over $300 for the base model without a proper tuning, and that's only if I'm in a particularly bass happy mood. Long term comfort doesn't look good with the heat showing up in just a few minutes of demo. Back to the drawing board, IMO.

Acer tablet - B & O H6 > Decent sound. Little grainy up top. Mids good, bass needs more extension and impact, doesn't overpower. Vocals somehow alright despite grain. Isolation is better than expected. Center not well defined. Bass texture is good. Soundstage small to medium. Things flow together well, not disjointed. Some ringing in upper mids.

Not my choice for $399, but they aren't awful. I'd go Pendulumic for half the price and more flexibility.

Acer tablet – B & O H3 > Smeary highs. Don't like these at all. Crunchy. Hard to get a good fit. Bass overwhelms.

Geek Out 450 – Focal Sprit One Pro S > Bass a little strong. Nice for what it is. First time hearing both items. Midbass bloom overpowers. Impact isn't precise, but there is a lot of it. Sloppy.

Comply foam tips > Decent isolation, could still hear talking readily with no music playing. Very comfortable. Fit is secure, doesn't budge when moving my head or gently tugging on wires. I don't do universals much these days, but these are definitely the best tips I've used.

Acer tablet – JH13 FP > More balanced than my memory of the original JH13. Upper mids slightly diminished. Really nice sound. Treble is more extended and smooth than before. Female vocal is warm and intimate. Bass is lowered to proper levels compared to JH13. Violin somewhat shrill, lacks realistic tone. Group vocals sound ethereal.

Acer tablet – JH Roxanne > Treble shelved greatly, but it sounds like there's a spike somewhere up there. Getting a metallic sheen. Bass adjustment is very gradual giving good control over the boost. After a few tracks I'm getting used to the Roxannes. Treble is still a problem. Bass sounds best between 25% and 50% boost depending on the track.

Last time I visited RMAF in 2011 I heard the JH13 and JH16 and wondered how anyone could want that much bass. I'm glad to hear the new models are more balanced. The JH13 FP is very nice. I didn't care for the Roxanne. The Roxanne with bass at full tilt still has nothing on the old JH16 for bass quantity.

Acer tablet – Mofi Blue Headphones >  Amp mode: Bass is nice, but lacks control. Sustain is good. Mids are strong and treble is smoothed. Guitars are thick. Lacking detail all around. Bass boost doesn't do much. Impact is still soft, just more volume on sustain. Passive Mode: Life sucked out of the music. Treble is a mess. Recommend only use amp mode.

Acer tablet – Beyer T5P > Still like this headphone. Vocals aren't perfect, but acceptable. Guitars are crisp. Soundstage is medium to large as I remember from RMAF 2011. Bass a little soft, but impact is decent. Treble is nice, clear and extended. Just the right balance with mids.

Unknown source – Koss ESP90 with energizer > Mids are nice. Treble has a little shh to it. Detail could be better. Guitars are fantastic. Bass is too weak. Almost no impact at all. Snare drums need more bite. Sounds distant.

I'd never heard these stats, though I've read about them for a long time. I was glad to see Koss attending. I was really impressed with the featherweight headphones. They nearly disappeared on my head. Unfortunately I didn't like the sound all that much, too bad.

Acer tablet – Sony MDR-Z7 > similar to MA900s. Very good center and off-center. Bass is strong and impactful but not overbearing. Treble is somewhat rolled tastefully like MA900s. Smoother but more detailed. Female vocals are excellent. Stage is medium in size. Midbass can occasionally boom a little much. Texture across the spectrum is very nice. No harshness anywhere.

I'm glad I hadn't gone to the Sony booth until after Friday, as these weren't around til Saturday. I really like these, but don't really need another headphone, especially not a somewhat expensive one. I get a somewhat similar sound from the MA900s and I think that might be good enough for my collection. HD800s still rule the roost for high end. This was one of only two headphones I considered purchasing while auditioning.

Sony Z1ES music server - Vinnie Rossi LIO multi function sound system – Hifiman HE560 > Really smooth. Highs are clear. Best I've heard the 560s. Bass is rich, vocals have depth to them. Texture is great all around. Impact is good and sound overall is crisp.

While this was a great sounding rig, I still have problems with planar phones' soundstage. There were no other phones at the booth to try, but this system would probably sound great with anything.

Ayre QB9 DSD – Headamp Blue Hawaii SE – Stax SR-009 > Effortless delivery. Vocals just a hint of harshness. Tough call between this Ayre/BHSE and the Cantata/LL.

Sony walkman – Concert Fidelity XHP-4 – AKG K612 > Bright, grainy. Bass soft. Probably fault of headphone (I've never heard before).

Sony walkman – Concert Fidelity XHP-4 – Audeze LCD-3 > Treble as I remember from LCD-3. Sounds a little underpowered. Bass is weak. Sony walkman has a good output?

Another new company eager to get input on physical design. As I'd never heard the walkman or the K612 before I couldn't be confident with sonic impressions, but I didn't like either rig very much.

Unknown TT – ALO Phono Stage – ALO StudioSix – HD800 > Nice texture in vocals. Rich sound overall. Detailed but not harsh. Bass impact is just about perfect. Guitars sound a little small, may be recording. Very clean for vinyl. Impressive.

I'd heard the prototype of the StudioSix at RMAF2011 when it was cased in a cage equipped steel chassis with LCD-2s and recall it being extremely relaxing. This time with the HD800s it wasn't nearly as relaxing, but it felt better controlled and lent itself well to the HD800s.

Acer tablet – RHA T10i > Crazy bass volume but clean. EQ'd down 7-10dB in bass and midbass.  Pretty nice once EQ'd. Treble soft but detailed. Open soundstage. Excellent texture in mids.

Acer tabet – Oppo PM-3 > Impact seems cleaner than PM-1 I demo'd. Comfort is better despite smaller ear openings. Lighter, less clamp. Highs are well extended, smooth and clear all the way up. Vocals are great. Center is wider than most. Odd. Center depth is too distant as well. Can get congested when really pushed.

Geek LPS – Geek Pulse (top model) – Alpha Dogs > Good bite, crisp. Good control and clean. Alpha Dogs are good but limited.

Geek LPS – Geek Pulse (top model) – Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor > Clear, large soundstage. Drives well. DAC seems clean. Light hiss on low gain at listening volume. Shouldn't distract from music.

I'd mostly stayed away from LH's Geek stuff due to the myriad of options and constant revisions. After hearing the Geek Out 450 and LPS/Pulse, I'd say they are decent, but not for me. The Pulse was a prototype and was really touchy with the controls. Sometimes a single 'notch' would adjust .5dB, sometimes it was 10dB. Scary when you have sensitive IEMs in your ears. LH has too many irons in the fire, IMO.

Acer tablet – Ultimate Ears 18 > Same crunch up top as UERM. More bass. Nice sound overall. Voice have a little too much mids.

Acer tablet – Ultimate Ears 11 > Bass is a lot, but it's clean. Good for lower level listening. Still like the UERM more.

Acer tablet – Westone ES60 > Treble extends further and is cleaner than UERM. More bass too, but tasteful. Soundstage just as good. Really nice.

I last heard a Westone product at RMAF 2011, the ES5, and I really didn't like it. It was harsh and disjointed. The ES60 is completely better and I think a little better than my UERM. I considered buying a pair, but ended up not wanting to spend $1k+ on another custom when the sonic difference wasn't that much. If I was choosing from scratch, though, ES60s no doubt.

Acer tablet – Schiit Yggdrasil – Schiit Ragnarok – HD800 > Wow. This detail and smooth delivery is impressive. Sounds like stats, but with real soundstage. Impact is excellent, like a truck slamming into a building. Never heard vocals like this from headphones, so real. Balance is perfect. Highs bite, but aren't harsh.

This was my main attraction and it didn't disappoint. I don't know which unit was responsible for the quality of sound I was hearing (or maybe both), but this rig was amazing. I'll be first in line to get a Yggdrasil. My Ragnarok arrives tomorrow and I'll be comparing it to my GS-X2 and Black Diamond. On a purely superficial note, I hope the Ragnarok does well so I can FINALLY own a complete Schiit stack. I have a feeling a great deal of the magic I found with this rig was courtesy of Mr. Moffat. I've never heard anything but Delta Sigma DACs, so I was expecting a different sound, but this rig had a directness to it I wasn't prepared for.

Acer tablet – Schiit Yggdrasil – Schiit Ragnarok – Balanced UERM > With no music playing, full volume on low gain, no hiss, no noise, no anything. Crazy this thing runs speakers too. Didn't mask UERMs flaws. Easily drives these.

Jason claimed IEMs to speakers, so I had to put him to the test. I brought my 4 pin XLR balanced cable for my UERMs just to do this test and it passed with flying colors. It doesn't get much more demanding than a balanced very low ohm, high sensitivity IEM when testing for noise.

Speakers -

I ended up listening to almost every speaker room, albeit briefly. I returned to a couple rooms, but most were 2-3 minutes then on to the next. I'm amazed at the groun d I was able to cover this RMAF. When I finally finished the headphone room about an hour before the end of the show on Sunday I was totally aurally exhausted. I just sat at the Head-fi booth chatting with Warren and others for the remaining time.

I didn't take notes on the speaker rooms really and most were awful so I'd rather not go room by room like above. Here are some highlights:

Salk Songtower RT > Really nice, open sound. Loved their implementation of ribbons. Needs subwoofer reinforcement (at least in that room), but I went back to listen to them 3 times. I'll keep them on the radar. Within budget at $2700 a pair.

Raidho D1 > Holy schiit. These were incredible. Tiny bookshelves putting out bass that I swear was from a hidden subwoofer. It didn't stop there, though. Highs were effortless and well blended with mids. Best speaker I heard at the show, though well out of my price range. Pedestrian priced compared to the 1/4 mil Focal Grand Utopias upstairs though.

Linkwitz LX521 > Loved the sound from these. Highs were a little soft, but the sense of space was great. It really separated the music from the speakers. Room could have been better as the bass was somewhat boomy. Bass felt like HD800 bass, it came from nowhere, impossible to localize. DIY kit for $3k is probably worth it considering all the other trash I heard for the same or much higher cost. More than I'd like to spend on something I still have to put work into.

Linkwitz LXmini > Also loved the sound from these. Not quite as seamless as the LX521, the $400 price tag more than makes up for it. These are also smaller and more easily placed in a room. I didn't detect any room resonance issues with these. Bass was firm and similarly impossible to localize. Highs were good enough, with great mids. I need to see the details on these as I might build a set. Apparently the DSP and amping requirements are a little unusual.

Emerald Physics EP 4.3 > Not a speaker I would buy myself, but as a large driver open baffle, the bass was mindblowing. It had the same localizing as the Linkwitz stuff, but much more punch and it felt like the room came alive with it. A really interesting experience. The highs were really etched and rough and mids sucked out.

KEF LS50 > Spent a lot of time in here. Only speakers I bothered using my own music on. These were impressive for finished speakers at $1500 a pair. The sense of space was amazingly nearly as good as the open baffles I was hearing. My only issue is that (at least in that room) there seemed to be a slight honk to the signature. Somewhere in the mids, I guess. They weren't as effortless as I'd prefer, either, they still sounded like speakers.

EngimaAcoustics SuperTweeter speakers > The bass and mids were alright, but the highs were the show. Detailed and ultra smooth. Felt like they extended forever. Just as good as the plasma tweeters I heard from other speakers in other rooms.

Zu Audio Druid > A speaker company I'd been looking forward to hearing. These were flat and boring. Basically no depth even in a huge room. Disappointing. The little Peachtree Deep Blue 2 sounded better in some ways in the same huge room.

Peachtree Deep Blue 2 > I'm a first backer ($250) and was curious to hear how it was coming along. Played via bluetooth in a very oversized room, yet the sound was filling, surprisingly even the bass kept up. There's not really a sweetspot with this unit (at least in that huge room), so I walked around while it was playing, as if at a party, and I was able to make out vocals easily from anywhere in the room and the signature didn't change much as I walked around. Really nice for a small-ish boombox, essentially.

The ES5 was run from an RSA Apache balanced sourced by a CD player I forget.

Regarding the amp/dac speak. I mostly did that to keep amp comments to a minimum ahead of my review (mostly for the benefit of HF, used same post there). There's no doubt the amp does its fair share, and I told Jason this in person.

I made eye contact with Todd a few times, he broke it instantly. I ignored his table. Remember Pinnacle?

Mytek was at the Abyss table right next to the Cantata/Liquid Gold/Abyss setup which was so much better.