en480c4

Wuhoo, belated impressions. I hit the road around 7 AM, Nate and I were eating lunch in Babylon by noon and we were back on the road by 7:15 PM. Quite the way to get to know the car I just picked up Monday! It was a great meet, though I didn't listen to much in the way of amps or sources... Most of my time was spent listening to headphones. I was really trying to get a feel for what my HF-1s do well and what other headphones do better or worse. Unless otherwise noted, the following impressions are based on my admittedly (very) modest rig of a Denon DCD-815 CD Player -> Denon DA-500 DAC (via Outlaw Audio Pure Silver Coax) -> Millett Hybrid with diamond buffers, STEPS & Tung Sol 12FK6 tubes (via Outlaw Audio PCA Interconnects). Ari (aka Nikongod) had a great collection of vintage Grados, and this seemed like the perfect place to start my listening. A pair of original (brown headband pre-serial number) RS-1s were my first listen, and these are going to make me take back everything bad I've ever said about the RS-1. Smooth highs with great detail and resolution, great in-your-face mids that sounded excellent with cello-based music and female vocals, and bass that extends just deep enough, with great speed and impact and most importantly, great low-end detail, all with a great pair of very comfortable beat up bowls. I think my modded HF-1s go a little lower, but without the resolution. But even with the pleasant surprise that this RS-1 was, I'd have to say that the improvements are definitely in that last 5% range, and not something I feel compelled to upgrade to right away. Of course, given how hard the old RS-1s are to find, it's not like it's something I could do on a whim anyway. So at this point I definitely thought I was losing my mind, so I tracked down someone's later RS-1. I could not keep them on my head for more than 10 seconds... Everything I've ever hated about them was there. Harsh, sibilant highs, peaky mids, and an overall sound signature that, even on my warm-ish rig, sounded was so grating that I was worried I was going to break them trying to get them off my head so quickly!HP-1000 (with flats) are as good as everyone says they are. I found them to be very well balanced, a very detailed treble presentation that has great resolution but never comes across as harsh or bright, with slightly more mild mids than the usual Grados, and again, great bass that has the impact, speed and detail to convey everything you throw at it. And I was pleasantly surprised by the comfort... They just disappeared on my head, which is no small feat.Black 325 (with flats) are the best 325 in my experience, and they were the first, which makes you wonder why they were changed (twice) since. I thought these were a great headphone, and did everything I always hear people rave about the 225 doing.Headphiled SR-200 (with the 200 drivers and flats) were a fun little can. I can't say it was particularly balanced or refined, but it had a presentation, and especially a bass slam that was just grooving!I should also note that Ari's toaster Supra was amazing with my HF-1. I would've liked to have spent more time with it, but once I heard it I knew if I listened too much I would've been left wanting. I was really looking forward to some of the ATs I saw there. There were both a W5000 and an L3000, and I hate to say it, but neither really impressed me that much. I'm guessing some if it had to do with the Millett not being the best amp for them. But I definitely felt that something was just off about them. I thought the treble presentation was great on the W5000... Smooth, detailed, great air and separation. Mid-mids (is this even a term?) and lower mids were pleasant enough, but struck me as a bit recessed. Bass response was only adequate, with great low-level detail but no real impact or slam. But the real problem were the upper mids. They were very peaky and seemed almost honky, especially with female vocals. And because they are soooooo forward, the whole rest of the sound seemed pushed back. I definitely heard this out of Nate's balanced amp, too. I liked the L3000s a lot more. They didn't have any glaring faults, though I didn't come away that impressed with them, either. Even out of my modest rig, I expected a lot more given the comination of reviews and going price these have seen. These would have to sound considerably better on a higher-end system for me to really get excited about these. I finally had a chance to hear the Denon D5000 and came away pleasantly surprised. They strike me as a fairly well-balanced headphone, with a pretty even response across the board. They seem to have a little trouble with faster, more complex music, but they sounded quite good accurately reproducing texture and atmosphere in darker, moodier pieces that had lots of layers of distorted and acoustic guitars, effects, vocals and drums. I'd almost consider these a poor-man's L3000, with a similar presentation, but not as technically proficient. If I ever need closed headphones for home use I'd consider these, knowing I'd still be relying on the HF-1 for faster, more complex music. I also finally listened to the Edition 9s and that was an interesting experience. When I first put them on, I was thinking they didn't sound too bad. Of course, that was on an unfamiliar system (Boozebutton's Theta, Ack! DAC and Krell amp) with a CD I didn't know. Once I put in a CD I know and love, everything that people who don't like the E9s have said started to sound true. I found the treble to be forward and grainy, the mids to be recessed, and the bass, while kind of fun at first, to get really old, really fast. The more I listened, the more I got used to the weird voicing and soundstage, but once I went back and listened to a more traditional headphone, it was almost impossible to go back to the E9s. One other note... I was less than impressed with the build quality and aesthetic aspects of the E9, despite what I had read. I thought the headband was awkward and while not flimsy, it didn't inspire much confidence. And the chrome-plated plastic looked good from about 3 feet away, but up close it looked and felt cheap. I also got to listen to Nate's Herstens again, which is always a pleasure. The balanced mini32 is quite the little package, and it gives a good taste for what balanced can do for the HD-650s. And to think that it didn't exist this time last week. Nicely done, Nate... You're a mad man! Other than that, I did a little listening here and there. I came away from the Apache/Meridian thinking it sounded pretty good, but not necessarily $3000 good. Other than the toaster, I didn't listen to any of the Singlepower stuff. I wanted to swing by the corner with all of the Woo gear all day, but never made it. And every effort to hear the O2 or HE90 was thwarted by them both being occupied. Oh well, maybe next time. But it was an excellent opportunity to talk gear, put faces to the names and meet some great people. The drive was definitely worthwhile, and I'm glad we made the run.

Well said... Thanks for saying it more clearly than I could have!

:police: MOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOT Oh wait... Damn it!

IIRC, the local Woodcraft had some nice pieces of Ebony ready to be turned last time I was there... A bit spendy for my tastes, but beautiful to be sure.

Different strokes, I guess. I have yet to hear an RS-1 with any rig that I've liked, and I love my HF-1. :shrug:

It's soooooo good. Glad to hear you're enjoying it!

That was an odd little movie... Really slow, but in a good way.

It took me forever to find the screen cap, otherwise it would've been in the first few posts!

Banky: I just want to put you through this little exercise. (finishes drawing) Okay, now see this? This is a four-way road, okay? And dead in the center, is a crisp, new, hundred dollar bill. Now at the end of each of the streets, are four people, okay? You following? Up here, we got a male-affectionate, easy-to-get-along-with, no political agenda lesbian. Okay? Now down here, we have a man-hating, angry-as-fuck, agenda-of-rage, bitter dyke. To this side, we got Santa Claus, right? And over to this side - the Easter Bunny. Which one's going to get to the hundred dollar bill first?... I'm serious. This is a serious exercise. It's like an S.A.T. question. Which one's going to get to the hundred dollar bill first - the male-friendly lesbian, the man-hating dyke, Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny? Holden: The man-hating dyke. Banky: Good. Why?... BECAUSE THESE OTHER THREE ARE FIGMENTS OF YOUR FUCKING IMAGINATION! So, in the race to the $100 bill, I say Ray wins

I use my 85 all day, every day at work. I <3 my TI, and will be sad when it finally dies.

Takes one to know one?

Excellent disc!

The Sox absolutely hammer the Rockies.

Much, much too early. My 5G is doing fine, fortunately enough.

I kinda like the brown ones.

x2

Mose FTW!!!

Not to mention the triumphant return of Garbage! Too many great moments this week to count. A few of my favorites... The whoever/whomever debate, Kelly & Daryl, the Irrigation Room, "Tablemaking never seemed so possible." Great episode. I think the 1/2 hour or supersized format suits The Office a little better, but I'll be more than a little sad to see the hour-longs go.

The search has ended... From the site: http://www.tristania.com/ I'm really looking forward to hearing how this works out. I know there was a lot of hoopla about Nightwish and Annette, but I could never get into Nightwish with Tarja, so being "Meh" about Dark Passion Play wasn't surprising, despite finding Annette's voice pleasant enough. But Tristania is a completely different story. They've obviously changed a lot over the years, and if anything that will help them with a new singer. I'm not familiar with any of Mary's other bands, and probably won't bother checking them out so I can go into the next Tristania album with a completely open mind.

Happy Birthday!

ERS (wall) Paper???

Bwahahahahaha!

I'm changing my mind on colors every day. Not good considering I have 2 weeks to wrap things up!

Thanks everyone. Still can't believe I'm moving to Maine, but it's just over the river and less than a mile from where I am in NH now, so I it shouldn't be too big of a change And yeah, I'll actually have a place big enough to host a mini meet! Nice!

Just signed the P&S for a condo... Closing isn't for 6 weeks or so, but that's still 2 to 3 years + 6 weeks sooner than I thought something like this might happen, so I'm pretty excited.