Mini Meet - PDX OCTOBER 15th

Discussion in 'The Meeting Place' started by gbeast, Sep 19, 2016.

  1. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    PDX Members...

    And anyone nearby or planning to visit!


    [​IMG]
    Where are you?


    Checking to see who is interested in a mini meet. Better sooner than later.

    It Doesn't have to be a big meet. I have spoken to a few of you already. Anymore interest?
     
  2. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    I'm in!
     
  3. SoupRKnowva

    SoupRKnowva Official SBAF South Korean Ambassador

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    Let's do this guys!
     
  4. SoupRKnowva

    SoupRKnowva Official SBAF South Korean Ambassador

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    Hey gbeast, you should throw the planned date into the title
     
  5. SoupRKnowva

    SoupRKnowva Official SBAF South Korean Ambassador

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    this is still happening right? Just wanted to check in since its been a few weeks
     
  6. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Had the same thought, thanks for bumping! I'm still in.
     
  7. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    Oh shoot I forgot to post an update. I went and secured the spot and filled out all the paper work so we are straight to go. The spot is small though.
     
  8. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    sending pm
     
  9. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    I had a great time today! Thanks to @gbeast for making the arrangements and both him and @SoupRKnowva for bringing such great gear!

    Some thoughts on the headphones there:

    HD650 modded vs unmodded: I had heard a modded HD650 before with the Valhalla 2 and at the time I preferred the 600. I've been loving the unmodded 650 with the Joti but hearing the bass quantity, slam, and control on the modded one blew the unmodded one away. Soup had a fully modded one and gbeast had one with less Dynamat and no back foam but with the back spider intact. The semi-modded one sounded very close to unmodded, so I think a combo of Dynamat and rear/foam spider is important for getting that quality of bass. Both 650s were coin modded but I don't think I will do that unless the rear mods aren't giving me the sound I want.

    CodeX: An incredibly deft headphone, with almost impeccable technicalities and tonality. This is essentially a studio monitor in headphone form. Unfortunately for all its positive qualities, it failed to make the music connect on an emotional level. It didn't make me want to keep listening. It would be a terrific reference if you do recording or mastering though.

    Kennerton Odin: My second favorite headphone at the meet, after the fully modded HD650. I can see this being a love it or hate it headphone, but I fell in the love it camp. It has a rich timbre and palpable texture that made me feel like I was enveloped by the music. This feeling of being enveloped was likely aided by one of the smallest soundstages I've ever encountered in a headphone, easily the biggest weakness of this model. However, these headphones also had some of the most seductive vocal reproduction I've ever heard, capturing nuances of tone and intonation like no other. Sadly, these headphones are severely overpriced at over $2K. If these were under $1K new they'd be priced right for what they offer. At that price I would consider a pair as a supplement to my 6x0s. At the $2K+ price I might as well just go whole hog and get a Utopia and get a headphone with almost no compromises.

    Ether Flows: Also overpriced and I felt they lacked body in the presentation but I understand why people like them.

    ZMF Eikon/Atticus: Per the Eikon/Atticus thread, these may not be final tunings, so take these impressions with a grain of salt. I thought the Eikon was a very capable, mostly linear headphone with stunning sub-bass. Soundstage was good for a closed back, as was instrument separation and detail. The technicalities of the biocellulose driver were on display, although some might hear it as showy. I think if a few hundred bucks were shaved off the asking price, these would fly off the shelves. I can see why Zach is pricing these the way he is though.

    The Atticus is another story. The mid-bass hump is way overdone and bleeds into the mids. Within moments I could tell this headphone was not for me. I kept listening anyway and it did not grow on me. If this was an attempt at making a closed 650, I cannot say it succeeded. Perhaps some of the issues stem from the TPE driver but I don't have enough experience with them to say if that's the case. Probably the most disappointing headphone of the meet for me, and I hope the final production models are tuned differently.

    I left thinking that the 650s really are such an excellent deal, given that every single other headphone there had some caveat that stopped it from being an insta-purchase. I absolutely appreciate getting to hear other headphones and rigs and hope we can do it again soon!
     
  10. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    awesome impressions @Merrick! modded 650s FTW. btw, what amps/dacs were you guys using to drive the phones? curious what worked best with them. also did you feel the Code-X was less engaging than, say, paradox/slants? or maybe being under-driven? anyway, i'll stop it with the questions and give you guys a chance to post more impressions :) keep em comin guys, hopefully i'll be up in PDX sometime for one of these.
     
  11. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Soup and I both had Jotis with Mimbys. gbeast had the Pavane and I cannot remember the name of his amp, but it was a tube amp. We also had an HF guy there with a ton of gear and the only component of his I immediately recognized was an MHDT Labs DAC.

    For the Code-X, perhaps the ALO Rx would have been a better match, but I didn't bring it. The Joti does pretty well with most planars though.
     
  12. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    Yeah definitely, I'm sure Joti can drive the Code-X no problem. Thanks for the gear update, very helpful! Also @gbeast 's amp is a trafomatic head 2 i think.
     
  13. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    That was a good way to word that. Nice impressions.

    I was unique in thinking the 650 was outclassed by some of the big boys. Yet and still I totally understand that when it comes to nailing a total package, it does it better than pretty much all of the above. To hit that nail is a small strike zone and the 650 does it. New release after release only one has actually matched that total package and that is the Utopia. Funny how neither have huge sound stages.

    Edit: listening at home again and directly ABing the Eikon and 650 I actually feel the Eikon hits that small strike zone. Subjectively speaking of course. I really do. I think to really get a grip of how the Eikon performs in that total package aspect its necessary to AB so all biases can be checked. There is that aspect where we have a memory of something and it gets a bit skewed when comparing things from memory. I am swapping back and forth now and I was remembering the 650 a bit incorrectly.

    Edit: ABing at home back and forth and the Eikon is nailing it.


    I would still(money no object) have walked away with an Odin and Eikon over the 650 if they all costed the same. BUT THEY DONT. However, if I don't buy an amp with funds from selling the Code-X then the Odin will be under consideration.

    I need to mod my 650 to sound as good as @SoupRKnowva's pair.
     
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2016
  14. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Buy an Odin and later sell it off to me at a steep discount please. ;)
     
  15. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    funny how some people can wear the Odin effortlessly and not be weighed down by its epiqqqness and others have a harder time, succumbing to its might:

    download.jpeg VS. 200x200px-ZC-1092d5c0_938566DSCN2502.jpeg
     
  16. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    hahahaha lol

    that odin is a beast by all accounts
     

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