2022 Texas Audio Roundup

Discussion in 'The Meeting Place' started by purr1n, Jul 21, 2022.

  1. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

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    I do have a Freya+ but all the outputs are in use already for speakers and subs. Also made a switch box for the Yggdrasil A2 xlr outputs, i have one free set of outputs there.
    Also the tube switching without janking them out is awesome.
     
  2. ColdsnapBry

    ColdsnapBry Almost "Made"

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    Anyone know which op amps were in the modded Modi Multibit, was it the 2156 or 1656? Thanks.
     
  3. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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  4. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    These were the Zampotech SW51 amps. It was good to see folks tube rolling to tailor the sound. Generally, the Zampo is neutralish sounding, but it's possible to roll tubes to a warmer sound. The SW51 was paired with a variety of DACs at the show (Rockna Wavedream, Abbas 2.3, MMB, etc.) highlighting its ability for listeners to discern the differences among the DACs. This little amp is nothing like tube amps which are overly soft, bloomy, syrupy, smoothed over. If you want a small high value transformer coupled tube amp, then the SW51 is it. Subjectively, it's more transparent than anything Topping has ever made regardless of AmirNAD.

    PXL_20220723_205318135.jpg
    PXL_20220722_225818619 (1).jpg

    There is a long thread of the SW51 here which was started years ago. I am going to bump it to the homepage since the homepage highlights did not exist back then: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...way-sw51-amp-impressions-simple-set-amp.8042/

    The Abbas 2.3 here actually sounded pretty good in a low-fi (this is the DAC's fault) kind of way with the SW51 and HD580. Dynamics, macro and micro (expressiveness) were excellent. There is some simplification going with lack of microdetail, decays, and ambient cues, but this did not necessarily hurt the listening experience. The most positive aspect of the Abbas 2.3 was how smooth and liquid it sounded. This is perhaps the only DAC which had that liquid and driving quality associated with vinyl and conical stylii.
     
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    Last edited: Jul 26, 2022
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    OPA2156 in IV. All MMBs were this way at the meet, at least the ones in the Zampo and Nistch rooms. One unit in the Nitsch room had OPA1656 in the servo. Evidently @CEE TEE was able to pick this up from the others, but this could have been confirmation bias because I wrote magical runes and hieroglyphics on the bottom of the chassis.

    The MMB at the Schiit table in the Travis Boardroom was the Modi Multibit 2.
     
  6. Grattle

    Grattle Friend

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    Most people have been using the 2156 I think.
     
  7. Grattle

    Grattle Friend

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    Speaking of Zampo - any news from them on getting amps to those of us who have paid but haven't gotten them out from behind the Iron Curtain?
     
  8. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    This was the stock MMB with v2 firmware, and not a new upgraded MMB, right?
     
  9. Mdkaler

    Mdkaler Friend

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    It's the upcoming Modi MB 2, not OG with new firmware.
     
  10. Grattle

    Grattle Friend

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    Was there any discussion of the price of the new Modi MB2? Anyone allowed to share impressions/details of it?
     
  11. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I don't think anyone realized there was a MMB 2. Generally, more resolving, easily as good as similar sized modern ESS or AKM chips. Neutralish tonal signature - but still R2R. The modern R2R sound. Less dark than LIM or MMBv1.x. I didn't get much time on it, so take with a grain of salt.
    PXL_20220723_195833710.jpg
     
  12. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Thanks @tommytakis: that is an epic and gracious post. BTW, I gave @CEE TEE some of those "advanced" Korean Hi-Chews. Kids fight over the specific flavors, so something is working.
     
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  13. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    It's easy...the 2156 servo sounds a bit more "lively" and dynamic.

    Did Jason even get to hear the modded Bifrost Mutibit with the 1656's?
     
  14. animus

    animus Almost "Made"

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    I figured out that it was a Modi Multibit 2 in that Schiit room on the second day and specifically went out of my way to ask Schiit employees to unplug the Vali 2+ so I could hear it with my own Vali 1 while Tommy and Tom bombarded them with business questions. I didn't dislike it but I think I'd already been spoilt by other DACs at the same show. Definitely preferred it to the Magni 3+/Modi 3E setup though, if that counts for anything.
     
  15. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Pretty sure it's the magical runes.

    Nobody did. Nobody expected the Bifrost 64 with NOS either, but I think that took the steam out of it. I didn't even know until a night or two before! Big meets are generally harder than small meets to get to all the small stuff. The DAC-off on Friday night took several hours. Having the expectation that Jason hear it is unreasonable. He's very popular and in demand. Whenever I hear people in the hallway mutter "oh, is that Jason Stoddard down here?", I run up to Jason and them him know fans are out there. Jason always makes time and is personable, but imagine being in his situation. I used to live in Calabasas where I saw all sorts of famous people. I never hound them. If Adam Sandler sits next to my kids at a frozen yogurt place in Malibu and strikes up a conversation, then so it be. I don't ask for autographs. That's being a bad neighbor (even though I lived in the cheap seats).

    Heck, it's even unreasonable to ask if I had a chance to hear it because everybody wants me to hear something. Running meets is stressful. It's not uncommon for me to need to be at three different places at once.

    For big meets, I generally bring one set of tubes if tube amp and optimize components in one way. Whether you are a vendor or hobbyist, we don't want to get people to come in with whatever short time they have and switch tubes, cables, sources, mods, etc. Switching around headphones is already bad enough.

    Small meets are better for comparisons. Speaking of which, SBAF should organize a medium sized meet in Austin.
     
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    Last edited: Jul 26, 2022
  16. Gazny

    Gazny MOT: ETA Audio

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    A few times I had seen Jason I simply said Hi or gave him a thumbs up.

    What was really cool was meeting the rest of the Schiit team, they all are awesome. I am super grateful they hosted this event with Emotiva.
     
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  17. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    I never had an expectation, I was just curious. I know he was kind of following the modded Modi Mulibit stuff and I was not there at the meet, so thank you for answering my question.

    And yes, the BF2/64 is unexpected. My first thought when LiM came out was "why didn't they do this with BF2 with the 16-bit TI chips?" So glad to see that move in that direction. Always tricky stuff up their sleeve those dudes.

    And side note, you are talking to a guy who lives in Nashville with celebrities also everywhere where we don't bother them. I think Reese Witherspoon was at our soccer fields where my son plays soccer right down the street from my house. Regular sightings of Nicole Kidman around town. Big deal. (Although there is a rumor that Henry Rollins has moved into my part of town and have had a few sightings at our grocery store and local nearby coffee place...and this I am super curious about).
     
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  18. Climber

    Climber Facebook Friend

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    I worry those days are over in The New Nashville, @Azimuth , but nice to hear that vibe might be living on a bit. Years back I used to run into Robert Plant at the Green Hills Whole Foods -- I guess he had a place in Nashville for a minute. One of those times we ate next to each other at that in-store burger grill they have (had? Been a long long while since I was there.) Never saw anyone bother him.

    Different stature, but can't tell you how many times I saw John Prine in the neighborhood growing up. At Brown's a lot.
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2022
  19. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    If you live in LA long enough you get numb to celebrities. I worked at a movie theater in Hollywood eons ago and not only would we go out of our way to ignore the celebs that came in (Sandler, DiCaprio, Dunst, Stiller, pretty much any big name you can think of), we'd actively give them shit. Once Rob Schneider came in asking if they played the trailer for his new movie (you can tell how old this is), and I told him the audience hated it.... just to see if I could get a reaction out of him. We didn't hate celebs but we liked knocking them down a peg or two and I think most of them appreciated it because it made them feel normal.

    The only exception is when Halle Berry came in at the height of her "IT" factor, and all the guys suddenly became stalkers, me included.
     
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  20. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Yup, and now you know why we shouldn't even be curious if Jason's heard someone's modded Schiit gear. Not only should we not have any expectation, we shouldn't even be curious. Do any of us think Reese Witherspoon is going to spend even one micro-second watching someone's re-cut version Election on their cell phone as they walk up to her on your son's soccer field? The chance of Jason ever hearing someone's mods is zero. Yes, sucks to be you, sucks to be me, sucks to be every modder.

    Or if someone did manage to corner Jason, to get him to listen to their mod, that Jason would actually commit to saying anything?

    That sucks: butthurt fan
    Oh that's awesome: why didn't Jason do that first? (the reality is that he probably did already do it first)
    Most likely we would get: cool, that's different.

    So there, there's your answer.
     
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    Last edited: Jul 26, 2022

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