DIYerStraits 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2004 I'm curious, guys. You tend to fall into the same well albeit a smaller one, that pigeonholes a pair of headphones sonic quality. Did any of you try out ALL the headphones in the SAME equipment throughout the day? Was there any hp amp that allows for exact impedance matching? Were all the cabling the same? Was the source equipment good enough to deliver the goods? Whats your reference point/s? Dedicated "high end" hp amps? Anyone used them? Forgive me for being such a wet blanket (and giving grounds for flaming ) but this seem to sound like the same arguments used by those who listen to "normal" loudspeakers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
headphonecrazy 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2004 In fact someone did try out all the headphones at the meet on the Emmeline XP-7 + Sony PCDP - Lengcm. Still waiting for him to post his impressions. Please define "dedicated high end" hp amps, all hp amps are dedicated amps IMO. ???High end = high price??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barradio 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2004 (edited) those who listen to "normal" loudspeakers Hi Diyer, I am curious too what you guys use for the loudspeakers reference too. (BBC Roger, Sonus,Linn LP 12 ........) And what is the "reference". As for me the refernce is " System Synergy" Edited January 20, 2004 by Barradio Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N@Z 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2004 Sorry it took so long. Here's the photos. Sadly some of them were blurry (shaky hands). I shoulda brought my tripod. We also didn't get a chance to take a group photos as some who arrived in the morning left early & then there's those who arrived late. I'll post some of the photos on this page & the rest on the preceding pages so that it won't take too long to load. First up, photos of the gear. Counter clockwise from the top of the table. My description below the respective photos. Most of av98m's stuff with someone's DT931 & HPC's groovy Leica! Some of my stuff next to mackie's which I forgot to take photos off, DOH!!! Note Ablaze's ex-CD3K making an appearance, so he was at the meet in spirt! Scriberex's Shure e3c. Thanks for allowing me first go at it! Ety ER4 owners need not worry too much about the e3c. However for it's intended purpose it is quite good. Microphonics is near unnoticeable with music playing while walking (looped over the ear). Fairly easy to put in & seemed fairly comfortable. Blue's MF A3 (which I didn't get a chance to sample) next to... cmk's nice sounding Melos. Sounded good with the L3000 & CD3K. Closed phones never sounded so expansive. Fantastic Diana Krall recording. I think some of mychew's stuff plus someone elses & tropicalrips nude CMOY! Sounded pertty good to me. The gain seemed low for high impedance headphones like the DT250 (250 ohm - still one of my favourites). It had it all the way up to 12 o'clock. lekguan's stuff. His precious D777 & the much maligned DT431! The Boss! (Rameish's) stuff. Corda HA-1 stock vs modded. Next to... Barradio's stuff. Pesudo Cyrus player Modded Naim Headline next to... HPC's Consonance Cyber30 (which I missed out on) next to (I saved the best for last, IMO) lengcm's Consonance CDP, Modded Sugden & Firefox's wonderful sounding "Big Ben" amp! I liked it best with the L3000 (W2002 & CD3K sounded good on these too). Fab vocals man! I also prefer the modded Sugden over the Melos. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ablaze 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2004 hehe. Its nice to know I "contributed" in this little way wah..brings back nice memories of the last meets I attended. aw shucks, no group pics? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cmk 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2004 I'm curious, guys. You tend to fall into the same well albeit a smaller one, that pigeonholes a pair of headphones sonic quality. Did any of you try out ALL the headphones in the SAME equipment throughout the day? Was there any hp amp that allows for exact impedance matching? Were all the cabling the same? Was the source equipment good enough to deliver the goods? Whats your reference point/s? Dedicated "high end" hp amps? Anyone used them? Forgive me for being such a wet blanket (and giving grounds for flaming ) but this seem to sound like the same arguments used by those who listen to "normal" loudspeakers. DIYer, most of the switching around was done with the cans, ie we rotated cans but the source and amp remained through the day. Comparisons were done by the amps ability to drive various cans and their respective tonal qualities. There wasn't a proper comparison of amps, cos' nobody switched the amps around - they were tied to their sources. It would be an interesting exercise to try this out during the next meet. There are amps which allow for different impedence matching, but most don't. Corda is an example. There are also impedence plugs, which allow one to add loading to the cans, thereby allowing for better impedence matching. Cabling was a mixed bunch, as were source equipment. There were portable sources and hifi sources. IMO the hifi sources were capable of delivering the goods. I think the dedicated hiend headamps that I listened to were the Consonance, Firefox BB, Sudgen Headmaster, and the Melos. There were others around which I didn't listen to, Emmerline, Corda, Grado, etc... sorry if I missed any, still not familar with all the gear. So to answer your question, the opinions expressed were in the context of the source>amp combination driving different cans. It was more a question of amp>can combination sounded good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N@Z 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2004 Bump! I have one more set of photos showing the headphone geeks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blues 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2004 Post it post it!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N@Z 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2004 Waiting for the next page, I'm having a little trouble waiting for this page to load as it is. The final set I think has only 8 shots. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kenshinz 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2004 Hmm.... hehe then I shall help to speed up the process of moving it to the next page Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rameish 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2004 DIYerstraits, Meet Conditions do not allow for such fine tuning. However, one thing is much easier. Trying out different headphones with different amps. The same can't be said for speaker setups as each speaker require different placement - that alone can take several hours. Headphone placement over the ears is much easier. As for source switching and IC switching well that is usually done in private mini-meets. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rameish 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2004 BTW, my reference is Burmeister. 250K at last look if u much know LOL. Not mine sadly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rameish 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2004 DIYerStraits, Oh BTW output impedence and headphone impedence do not need be the same. For example the Senn HD-600 is a 300ohm hp but the lower the output impedence of any given amp the better control the amp has over the transducers. The Beyer DT-931 is a 250 ohm hp but requires a higher output impedence from an amp not to sound bright. Likewise for Grado headphones which are 32 ohms. Somehow I think you do know all this and your wicked sense of humour posted to rub people the wrong way ;-). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cmk 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2004 Oh BTW output impedence and headphone impedence do not need be the same. For example the Senn HD-600 is a 300ohm hp but the lower the output impedence of any given amp the better control the amp has over the transducers. The Beyer DT-931 is a 250 ohm hp but requires a higher output impedence from an amp not to sound bright. Likewise for Grado headphones which are 32 ohms. Somehow I think you do know all this and your wicked sense of humour posted to rub people the wrong way ;-). You sort of confirmed my suspicion that hp impedence is not so critical an issue, as compared to spk impedences for hifi. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
headphonecrazy 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2004 must have more pictures! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites