Topic: SF Bay Area Meet Impressions Thead Wikia SQ 2015 (Read 9082 times)

Chartwell85 · « **Reply #50 on:** May 04, 2015, 04:15:49 PM »

I had a BLAST meeting many of you for the first time as well as catching up with those of you that I've had the pleasure of meeting previously. Overall, the meet was fantastic. A huge shoutout to Bill & Steph for making this happen. You two are simply amazing!

Mas props to Ravi for the sa-weeeet t-shirts as well. I owe you an Aperklypse Now shirt next time I see you, I haven't forgotten

The feedback so far on the Geek Out V2 has been incredible! I reiterated to Larry & Gavin how well it was received by all who demoed it and they were over the moon with excitement. A special thanks to those of you that let me record your impressions.

We're looking forward to finalizing everything and getting this bad boy out the door into your hot little hands starting July 1. There's still a few pre-sale V2's left so get em while you can folks!

If you liked the Geek Out V2, there's something new that we're going to be releasing this Wednesday so be sure to check out the www.lhlabs.com/415 page at Noon PST.

Once again, thanks to everybody for coming and for making it an incredible event. You guys rock!!

altrunox · « **Reply #51 on:** May 04, 2015, 04:24:53 PM »

Should've been a nice meet!

But ey, there's something wrong in this pic!
Maybe the dude don't have an arm, but...nope, something is soooo wrong, what was is his back?

ttp://cdn.head-fi.org/1/13/1344a4bf_IMG_0089.jpeg

AustinValentine · « **Reply #52 on:** May 04, 2015, 04:42:53 PM »

Quote from: altrunox on May 04, 2015, 04:24:53 PM

Should've been a nice meet!

But ey, there's something wrong in this pic!
Maybe the dude don't have an arm, but...nope, something is soooo wrong, what was is his back?

ttp://cdn.head-fi.org/1/13/1344a4bf_IMG_0089.jpeg

No joke, that is some beautiful photo editing there.

Anaxilus · « **Reply #53 on:** May 04, 2015, 06:37:55 PM »

Quote from: zerodeefex on May 04, 2015, 04:20:27 AM

I will say it, I think I like the ether better than the he-560. They trade blows but I enjoyed it on the Yggy/rag stack Adam brought.

I've told people this as well. However, it is still unit dependent and that comment only applies to those units that do actually sound better than the 560, not the tunits that sound worse or equal to the 560.

Marvey · « **Reply #54 on:** May 04, 2015, 10:09:42 PM »

At CJ, Dan did explain to me that those initial units there had some diaphragm tensioning inconsistencies. I know at CJ he took one out of circulation that sounded not too good. Perhaps Dan has finally ironed down the production / QA processes?

Bill-p · « **Reply #55 on:** May 04, 2015, 10:12:21 PM »

Alright, and now I'm going to write negative stuffs here. Short version: nothing is amazball except for my own gears.

My own LCD-2: tonal balance is slightly bright in the upper midrange/lower treble for me. Most other folks except for the discerning ears (Ravi, Luis, Mike) thought it was awesome. To me, it sounded slow as hell. Bass was muddy, blurry, and kinda boomy, though impact was good. Luis and Marv suggested re-tensioning diaphragm. I will be trying that.
Wait... why am I giving impressions of my own gears?

Craig Uthus's LCD-2: simply... godly. Bass and low frequency tight as heck. In fact, it was disproportionate because the top end is a bit too rolled, while the bottom end is clear as a bell. Whatever "clear as a bell" means for bass. If you'd believe me, this LCD-2 makes bass sound "sharp". As crazy as it is. I actually prefer this pair to mine... by a huge margin. Marv was right, this one is grade A. It sounds very unlike any LCD-2 I have heard. In fact, I think it's better than some LCD-3s I have heard as well. Now if only we could have this for every LCD-2.

Audeze LCD-X: hmm... honestly, I think the tonal balance is about the same as my modded pair (still a tad too much upper midrange/lower treble for me). Bass is slightly tighter, but has no balls. The balance is a bit off, and sounds weird to me. Granted, it's not inoffensive, so I guess that's a plus. It still carries a bit of the Audeze house sound... smooth, relaxed, boomy, warm, etc... too, so it's hard to call this one "neutral" or "accurate". I have read comments about how it's such a good studio monitor, and all... and I guess that is true to some capacity. They do sound fairly even. More so than the HD800 and other such headphones IMO. But now I think they'll face stiff competition from the Ether.

Mr. Speakers' Ether: north of neutral in the treble for me. A bit too bright. More bearable out of my setup than some others, since my amp is a bit rolled, and bass is a bit boosted. But still kinda whimpy/tappy. Overall sound signature is more balanced than I am letting on. I think the brightness is partially due to weaksauce bass. But other than that, I think these are nice. Pricing aside, they make good competition for the HE-560 and LCD-2F. Certainly Dan's best headphone. Again, sound sig is not to my liking, so they are not amazball for me, but I can say with certainty that they are Dan's best headphone yet. For those who are wondering, don't bother comparing this one to the HE-1000. HE-1000 is another league above. An argument can be made regarding these and the LCD-X, depending on the target audience.

HiFiMAN HE-1000: so... it's no secret I didn't like this one at CanJam. I thought it sucked. And especially for the money, that was a bit too much. This time, though, I thought it sounded amazing. Granted... not Stax-like. Even my SR-002 beats it easily at speed, but the tonal balance of the HE-1000 is nicer. It's linear, then slightly relaxed in the upper mids before swinging back up again ever so slightly. So upper treble is a bit peaky, but nothing offending, and the speed of the headphone allows for that area to be non-fatiguing. Down low, it has that ortho bass control and authority, but with extra speed. Abyss sounded slow compared to HE-1000, although I've been told Abyss' diaphragm also loosens itself over time, so that may have been the reason why. The HE-1000 actually sounds just about right for me. If the top end was tamed a bi t, it would be perfect. I think I'll just throw it on a smoothly rolled off tube amp and call it a day. This one is very well-tuned. Good job, HFM! There isn't a lot of higher-end headphones I would be able to take in stock form. This one... I can most definitely live with its stock form. Styling is still a bit too flamboyant to me, though. If only they had gone for a more... traditional design, a la HE-6... Ah well. Will be waiting for the HE-6 successor then. HE-7?

Eddie Current Studio: true to the name: a studio-level amplifier. Accuracy, resolution, textures, this one has got it all. It sounded like the purest amplifier I have ever heard. And by that, I mean like this:

Left is original source and how an "accurate" solid-state amp would present it.
Middle is how a tube amp would present it.
Right is how I hear the Studio present it.

It's absolutely superb. I don't think amping can get any nicer than that.

Eddie Current Zana Deux S: euphony at its best. Cleaner and clearer than I can remember from the last iteration, but still with that same liquidity. I personally prefer this one to the Studio, due to my taste in sound and music. But that's just me. I feel like the Studio will be the superior amp overall. Personally, I just love to kick back, relax, sip a cold one, and enjoy my music rather than picking it apart. This amp is just perfect for that. I didn't try it, but I'd think HE-1000 + Zana Deux S combo would have me saving up for one in the near future.

Eddie Current Black Widow: whoa, space, and smoothness! This amp is unexpectedly good! Zerodeefex was right. This little thing punches way above its pay grade. Craig just did a hat-trick. Too bad I didn't have time to compare the Black Widow against Liquid Carbon, but I wouldn't be surprised if Black Widow is on par with or better than Liquid Carbon.

LHLabs Geek Out V2: it kicks arse. Seriously! Rarely has there been a single gadget that all pyrates with differing tastes (me, zerodeefex, Anax, Marv, etc...) can agree to, so... here we go. The DAC that can probably satisfy everyone. Anyone who knows me would know I'm purely a tone and balance guy rather than a resolution guy, but I think I can turn into a plankton whore with the GOV2. It's a massive upgrade over the last GO. My GO450 sounds bland, flat, one-note, and low-res/radio after listening to the GOV2. It's that good. And you won't know me for sensationalizing any piece of gear I have yet to own or purchase, so... there it is. This is the real deal, guys! Planktons jumped out and swarmed me as soon as I plug anything into this DAC. In fact, even the built-in amp is nice enough! That's crazy!

I have moar notes, but these are all of the highlights for me.

TMRaven · « **Reply #56 on:** May 04, 2015, 10:27:55 PM »

My LCD-X had no upper midrange at all and more bass than my LCD3.. shoutout to Audeze quality control.

LFF · « **Reply #57 on:** May 04, 2015, 10:30:00 PM »

Quote from: TMRaven on May 04, 2015, 10:27:55 PM

My LCD-X had no upper midrange at all and more bass than my LCD3.. shoutout to Audeze quality control.

LOL

Ringingears · « **Reply #58 on:** May 05, 2015, 02:56:36 AM »

Bill,

If it will make you feel better I'll agree with Marv, Ravi, Mike and Luis.

Actually, I think you have it about where my RMA ones sound, before RMA. But keep going. Pretty sure the diaphragm tension on mine went slack over several months of use. New they sounded much much better. But not as good as Craig's. Some one put magic dust on those headphones.

jexby · « **Reply #59 on:** May 05, 2015, 03:02:22 PM »

dearest pyrates,
Keep the impressions coming here if at all possible.

the small dick mods at head-fi have locked me out of the SF Meet Impressions thread for a (deleted) posted stating:
"(more pictures) I want to see what people were wearing. headphones I mean."

(can we start a head-fi censorship thread on chang so rants have a place to breathe then die?)

Author Topic: SF Bay Area Meet Impressions Thead Wikia SQ 2015 (Read 9082 times)

Chartwell85

Re: SF Bay Area Meet Impressions Thead

altrunox

Re: SF Bay Area Meet Impressions Thead

AustinValentine

Re: SF Bay Area Meet Impressions Thead

Anaxilus

Re: SF Bay Area Meet Impressions Thead

Marvey

Re: SF Bay Area Meet Impressions Thead

Bill-p

Re: SF Bay Area Meet Impressions Thead

TMRaven

Re: SF Bay Area Meet Impressions Thead

LFF

Re: SF Bay Area Meet Impressions Thead

Ringingears

Re: SF Bay Area Meet Impressions Thead

jexby

Re: SF Bay Area Meet Impressions Thead

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Author Topic: SF Bay Area Meet Impressions Thead Wikia SQ 2015 (Read 9082 times)