NSFW: SuperBAF Best of 2015 Golden Schlong Awards

Discussion in 'Leaderboard, Overboard, and Deals' started by purr1n, Dec 8, 2015.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    SuperBAF’s 2015 Products of the Year

    I don’t know where to start other than that I feel completely exhausted reading other sites’ recommended gear, buying guides, and best of awards for 2015. (I wish you guys wouldn't send links to me.) It seems like every other personal audio website or forum has slapped a “SUPA AWAD” for every other fricking product that has been released this year. I mean, I want to puke. This blatant shilling has got to stop! I work in the movie business, and even people in the business understand that only one film can be Best Picture. Sure there’s a Best Animated Feature and Best Documentary, but those do truly warrant their own category.

    For 2015, there are three SuperBAF “Best Of” products:

    Massdrop/Fostex TH-X00
    fostex_award.jpg

    The X00 is easily the best headphone of the year. It’s a lot of money, but still affordable at $400. It’s also not another fricking ortho (traditional dynamic fans can rejoice!) It’s a closed headphone with decent seal that sounds quite open. It lies somewhere between the TH-900 and the TH-600 in terms of clarity and transient response (closer to the TH-900 for the latter). And it un-fucks the frequency response aberrations of the TH-900 (the TH-600 is unlistenable, so let's not even think about that one). The X00 is not a neutral headphone – it has a slightly downward sloping W curve. However, the tuning of these headphones is absolutely masterful. When was the last time a really good traditional dynamic headphone or any good headphone for that matter was released for less than $1500? Yeah, and for this reason, the X00 deserves one of the three SuperBAF Best of 2015 Awards.

    Schiit Gungnir Multibit
    schiit_award.jpg

    Yep, I bet you didn’t see this happening. The Gungnir’s bigger sister, the Yggdrasil is a $2300 world class DAC that competes against $8000 and up DACs. Those who have owned the Yggdrasil know all too well how much information is actually stored in those 16-bits. However, the real wonder is the Gungnir Multibit, where Schiit was able to cram the DSP and all the other junk into a smaller chassis and maintain 90% (or more with Wyrd) of the Yggdrasil’s sound. The Gungnir MB is a much more sensible recommendation given its more sensible price, form-factor, and heat-dissipation. It’s also slightly warmer and more forgiving sounding than the Yggdrasil which fits most peoples’ tastes and systems. Never mind that the Gungnir MB is less resolving than the Yggdrasil: most people don’t own amps or headphones resolving enough to make the most of Yggdrasil anyway. For these reasons, the Gungnir Multibit deserves one of the three SuperBAF best of 2015 awards.

    Sennheiser HD6X0
    sennheiser_award.jpg
    Why does something have to be fricking new to win a fricking award or get noted? The HD6X0 loses in clarity and transient response compared to some new offerings. However, anyone with a good tube amp will tell you how mofo’ing resolving and slamming this headphone can be with good recordings from top notch source. And none of the new stuff, repeat none of it, matches the smoothness of the HD6X0’s treble and offers a midrange as cohesive with the rest of the audio band. Comes in two flavors: mid-bassy and neutral.



    And here is the rest of it:
    (in no particular order)


    *Needs mods or tweaks
    **Some variability noted
    ***With Sennheiser HD6X0/800 only


    Class E


    Schiit Yggdrasil

    Class VG

    Campfire Jupiter
    DNA Stratus 2A3
    Fostex TH-X00
    Koss ESP950
    LH Labs Geek Out V2 (balanced out only)
    Noble 4
    Schiit Gungnir Multibit
    Schiit Mjolnir 2
    Schiit Raganrok
    Schiit Valhalla 2***
    Sennheiser HD600
    Sennheiser HD650
    Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor

    Cavalli Liquid Crimson | somewhat overpriced
    Cavalli Liquid Glass | somewhat overpriced
    Noble K10 | somewhat overpriced
    Questyle QP1R | somewhat overpriced
    ZMF Omni | somewhat overpriced

    AZ PMx2 | overpriced
    MrSpeakers Ether | overpriced
    HiFiMan HEK | severely overpriced
    Abyss AD-1266 | severely overpriced

    HiFiMan HE-560*
    HiFiMan HE-6*
    Sennheiser HD800*
    Audio-GD Master 7* | somewhat overpriced

    Class G (or G+, you decide)

    AKG K712
    AKG K7XX
    Astell & Kern AK Junior
    Cavalli Liquid Carbon
    HiFiMan HE400S
    Lavry DA11
    Oppo PM-3
    Schiit Bifrost MB
    Schiit Lyr 2
    Schiit Magnu 2U
    Schiit Vali 2
    Sennheiser HD5X8
    Sony MDR-MA900

    Fostex TH-900 | somewhat overpriced
    Grace m9XX | somewhat overpriced
    Oppo PM-2 | somewhat overpriced
    Sony PHA-3 | somewhat overpriced

    Woo WA7 + WA7tp | overpriced
    ALO Studio Six | severely overpriced
    Audeze LCD-X | severely overpriced
    Vioelectric HPA V281 | severely overpriced
    Chord Hugo TT | offensively overpriced

    Class M

    AudioQuest Nighthawk | somewhat overpriced
    Cypher Labs AlgoRhythm Solo | somewhat overpriced
    Objective 2 | somewhat overpriced (unless Massdrop)
    Woo WA7 | somewhat overpriced
    Audeze LCD-2 Fazor | overpriced
    Chord Hugo | severely overpriced
    MrSpeakers Ether-C | overpriced
    Sony MDR-Z7 | overpriced
    Astell & Kern AK240 | severely overpriced
    Audeze LCD-3 Fazor | severely overpriced
    Questyle CMA800i | severely overpriced

    Class S (Special)

    AKG K812**
    Audeze EL-8
    Audeze LCD-XC
    AudioQuest Dragonfly
    Beyerdynamic T1 Gen 2
    Burson (anything)
    Fostex TH-600
    HiFiMan EF-6
    iFi Nano iDSD
    JH Audio Layla
    MrSpeakers Alpha Dog Prime**
    Mytek Stereo192DSD
    Sennheiser HD700
    Yulong DA8


     
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2015
  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    @zerodeefex: Please proceed to add golden schlong medals to the winners.
     
  3. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    What about the Grace m9xx?

    I wouldn't call the HD 600 more neutral than the HD 650. To me it's more pick your poison depending on the recording, chain synergy, or paint job tolerance.
     
  4. Chris F

    Chris F Boyz 4 Now Fanatic - Friend

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    I assume no "UERM E" cause it's discontinued and nobody has heard the UERR yet?
     
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Added the Grace buried somewhere.
     
  6. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Yes. I went back and removed a few other discontinued items.
     
  7. PoochZag

    PoochZag The Shadow knows - Friend

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    Very succinct and a fun, short read. I assume based on context that S is worse than Mediocre?
     
  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    This me with input from Ravi. I rarely read other sites. Unfortunately someone sent me links and I clicked on them. I got pissed off at the blatant shilling and wrote everything in the past half hour. There needs to be balance in the force.
     
  9. thegunner100

    thegunner100 Hentai Master Chief

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    A refreshing and succinct read. For those who've heard both the Yggdrasil and Gungnir Multibit extensively: at what points (amp wise) would you say that the Yggdrasil is worth it over the Gungnir Multibit with the hd650s?

    The Gungnir Multibit is really an achievement. I thought that it wouldn't be available til the end of the year or even next year but they managed to crank it out only a few months after releasing Yggdrasil.
     
  10. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    Exit stage left....
    Observations:

    - superb and succinct!
    - in this hobby there is never anything even mildly "underpriced" is there? Only over.
    - this sort of no BS list (and SBAF sane viewpoints) needs to be taken to social media to make an impact on the shills.
    A tweet reply with all the parties included basically wakes up ANYONE reading/following to see that alternative viewpoints exist.

    Darko got bent at me on Twitter after my initial reply to his Audioquest rave included terms like: muddyHawk and Dragoncrap.
    Hope it woke his followers up a bit.
     
  11. SSL

    SSL Friend

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    Hm. Might as well call this forum -
    [​IMG]

    Also, no Bifrost Multibit?
     
  12. DrForBin

    DrForBin Friend

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    hello,

    wondering the same thing.
     
  13. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Consider the context of which it was written and its main point.

    As for Bifrost Multibit, I'm not a big fan of the Bifrost Multibit, although I know many of you guys are smitten with it, and I understand why. No, I don't love everything from Schiit contrary to what people may believe or wish to believe.
     
  14. SSL

    SSL Friend

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    Fair enough. Just wondered if it got left out of the list at the bottom.
     
  15. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Added in there somewhere.
     
  16. Griffon

    Griffon 2nd biggest asshole on SBAF

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    - TH900 might be hailed in some minorities as G-VG
    - What's S?
     
  17. Claritas

    Claritas Friend

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  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Limitations of the grading system. I'd say VG with EQ.
     
  19. FlySweep

    FlySweep Friend

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    Marv.. did you finish the Torpedo III? Wonder where that lands (or a review, at least).. also, for anal completists among us, what's your take on the Bifrost AKM4490?
     
  20. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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    Great. Another post I'll read many, many times.

    With the Noble 4, does that VG apply to universal or only custom?
     

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