Bay Area Meet July 29th, 2023

Hi everybody! We are at it again in the Bay (reference
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/bay-area-meet-january-29-2023.12979/
). If you are interested in bringing your gear and getting a table spot, please join the discord (link below) and fill out the sign up sheet. I will follow up with you in the coming weeks to give you details on the event, etc. That being said, if you have headphones or IEMs (or even DAPs) that are portable, feel free to bring those with you and carry those around to test out all the cool stuff that will be there. So here are the details:

Important notes:

1. You will need to present your ticket at the table and receive a name tag (and raffle ticket for a giveaway). This ensures that we are keeping within the capacity limitations of the venue.
2. If you are selected to bring your own setup, please arrive 1.5 hours before the event to set up. There will also be 1.5 hours after the event is over to break down and pack up.
3. Gear list to come.

We are sponsored by Schiit Audio!!! Please thank them for helping us put together this meet and be able to enjoy this bigger venue and the space needed to bring more of us together! Also for sending us awesome gear.

Jason from Schiit will be in attendance so come by and say hi!

Note: Please be conscious of your manners and hygiene. If there’s a line growing behind you or for the table, limit your listening time and come back when the table isn’t as packed. Let’s let everyone listen. Also keep in mind you will be demoing other people’s gear. Please be clean, wash up, don’t put products in your hair, clean your ears, etc. Be respectful. There’s a lot of cool gear here.

List of contributing manufacturers/companies (gear to be announced):

1. Schitt Audio: Sponsor and sending SchiitKit
2. Campfire
3. Geshelli & Sparkos
4. Bottlehead
5. STAX
6. HIFI FOR ALL
7. ETA Headphones
8. NITSCH
9. ZMF

Location and Date/Time:
Saturday July 29, 2023
11:30 – 4:30 PM PST
Guildhouse
420 S 1st St
San Jose, CA 95113

Discord link for our Bay Area community:
https://discord.gg/kc7BGQEKWZ

Eventbrite Link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hificon-july-2023-tickets-661317908667

Gear List (work in progress):
Geshelli (with Sparkos):
Socketed JNOG2 (with Sparkos)
Archel 3

NITSCH:
Piety
DSHA
JAR600/6XX
Utopia
Clear
Yggdrasil LiM
Bifrost 2
Modded MMB1
PS Audio PWD

ETA:
Prototypes
Production Models
Piety
Modded Valhalla 2

STAX:
SR-003MK2 + D10 (Portable Headphones System)
SR-L500MK2 + SRM-400S
SR-X9000 + SRM-T8000


Campfire:
Supermoon
Solaris ‘Stellar Horizon’
Andromeda ‘Emerald Sea’
Trifecta ‘Astral Plane’
Orbit

HIFI FOR ALL:
Their new modular cables! TBD

Bottlehead:
Crack
S.E.X.
Stat Electrostatic Headphone Energizer
Nectar Estat

Schiit:
Yggdrasil+ and Ragnarok
Bifrost 2/64 and Lyr+
Jot with the true multibit module
Syn
First Article Mjolnir 3

ZMF:
Atrium Closed
Caldera

From the community:
Chord Qutest Vioiletric V280 HD800 Shure 1840 T1 3rd Gen
RGPC1200S, Denafrips Pontus II, Woo Audio WA-22, ZMF Auteur Classic
IEMs & Portable/Dongle Dac/Amps. List TBA
Bryston, RME, STAX, Audeze (exact items TBA)
RME ADI-2 DAC FS, Lake People G108, Schiit Valhalla 2, LCD-X, HD800S, Aeon 2 Noire, HD650, Solid Sound VX
DNA Starlett, L0rdGwyn Aegis, Mhdt Orchid, ZMF Verite Closed
Gustard U18, Aya 5, Gustard R26, Get-set-go Amp, Sapphire v4, 6SL7/6SN7 OTL, PS500, HE6se, HD650, HD580
Centrance Dacport HD, Quad ERA-1, Meze 99 Noir
XI Audio Formula S+ Powerman, Schiit Yggdrasil A2, Abyss Diana Phi, Mutec MC3+usb
Lambda Pro, SR-009
AüR Audio Aurora, AüR Audio Neon Pro, AüR Audio Alita, Penon Serial 3DD, Penon 10th Anniversary Edition, ISN Audio Neo 5, Sound Rhyme SR7, Sound Rhyme SR8, Sound Rhyme SR5, Penon Impact

More to come.....

Giveaway:
Geshelli (with Sparkos) and HIFI FOR ALL have graciously decided to give us some units to give away at the end of the meet. Geshelli (along with Sparkos) will be giving away the demo socketed J2 (with the Sparkos upgrade) and the Archel 3 (https://www.instagram.com/p/Cu7E29zOI89/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==). HIFI FOR ALL will be giving away a few of their cables. Giveaway will be at 3:30 PM so stick around to the end to have a chance to win!

Photos from the prior event:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3vWJe6tNMhfXryaP8

 

Thanks for throwing this event again!!

The last one was awesome and in a very fun place. Great that we are able to be in the same location. Looking forward to it!

 

It looks pretty sick. I want to hear it as well.

 

Updated the gear list, will format it better later.

 

I'm seeing if I can make it up for this one. I'm in CA for a while, and it's a short flight from Burbank.

 

That would be awesome!

 

Updated the list further.

 

I'll be there. Maybe not exactly at 10, but definitely by 12 (planes cooperating, of course).

 

Updated the gear list with the latest.

 

Wow, I almost missed this. Registered. I had thought this might garner more attention, but I guess not.

Won't be exhibiting my gears this time, but I'll go around, take more photos, listen to more gears and talk to more folks.

 

For sure! I haven't seen you in too long. Come by!

 

Added some new gear and some details about the event and giveaway!

 

Updated gear list! One day to go! Very excited.

 

Packing up and testing stuff…I’m excited too!

Thank you for all of your work organizing and getting the Bay Area out again!!

 

Here are my impression notes on what I could demo in depth:

Campfire Audio table: (please note I used Fiio KA5 as source here)

Andromeda Emerald Sea: warm, thick, bassy but still very airy. Hm... super guilty pleasure for me here since my preference is slightly darker than neutral. I think it's a solid update over stock Andromeda since vocals are now smoother, though still recessed. I'm not sure $1450 is the right asking price for people since original Andromeda can now be found for less than half that price on the used market, but personally, I would do it. Highly considering this pair.

Solaris Stellar Horizon: very balanced, kinda slightly thin for my taste. There's a lot of texture and it's very airy. Details are obviously one notch above Andromeda, although vocals can be a bit on the harsher side. I guess it's just a matter of getting the right tips and fit to smooth out vocals. However, $2670 is a very steep asking price for this, and I honestly would not consider it although it's right up my alley. If this was $1600 or even $2000, I could have justified it, but it's a bit too high right now.

Trifecta: very much like grown-up Atlas. Similar sound too: big warm and boomy bass with massive treble spike. I'm not sure this sound is for me. Especially not for me for $3375.

Supermoon: uhh... what is this? I guess it needs a different amp or DAC or something but it's just a weird listen. It's smoother and the tonality is more agreeable than Solaris but it's lacking the textures and air of Solaris by a very significant margin. Also bass is kind of boomy and muddy here. It's a weird combination of "good enough" clarity with decent smoothness and with boomy bass. I guess... saving grace is it does sound similar to Solaris, except a bit thicker. But anyway, for $1500, hmm... I think I'd rather go for 2nd-hand Solaris still.

Didn't get to try the TWS earphones.

---------------

Stax SR-X9000: out of head, massive soundstage, super airy, very good and pinpoint accurate imaging. Severely anemic and lacking bass or thump but... curiously, FR didn't sound disagreeable to me. This suggests that despite the lack of body and bass here is due to bass having a massive rolloff or the amp is likely the culprit here. T8000 was used to drive them. Overall, I'm quite impressed with the soundstage and I'd like to hear this headphone again on a different setup to form better thoughts.

Audeze CRBN: very nice and even tonality. Upper midrange a bit tipped up, not unlike what I can hear from HD600, but it's definitely a bit north of neutral to me. Bass is surprisingly nice and solid for e-stat. They highly remind of Sennheiser HE-1 in how they reproduce bass. The only drawback here is the closed-in soundstage and lack of breathing room to push any sound out of my head. These sound basically like "super HD600" but not necessarily in a good way. It's almost as if the sound was a wee bit muffled even. I would like to listen to this headphone again on a different system to form better thoughts. As it was, I think... LCD-5 may be a better flagship than CRBN.

Basically, in my honest opinions, if SR-X9000 could have the bass of CRBN, that would the perfect headphone and then... I would not hesitate to pay Stax a high premium for that combination. As it is, both do certain things well, but neither is truly super impressive for a ToTL headphone.

---------------

xMEMS IEM out of iFi Diablo X: sorry... I keep forgetting the name of this IEM here. From my photos, I think these look like the Montara? But please don't take my words for it. I thought... these IEMs were not bad. With foam tips, the IEMs sounded agreeable and I could not nitpick any major frequency response or tone issues, unlike the previous efforts. Of note is that bass seems to lay it on thick and may be a bit too thick here. There's no bass pitch differentiation for me, and I have heard BA drivers doing bass better than this by quite a lot. There's a balance to strike, and I think the current balance may fit me well, but can also be a turn-off for those looking for a bit more clarity and details. Overall, I did not think this IEM was ToTL material. Certainly not up to Andromeda or Solaris level of technicality. But I did think this was promising, and I would like to hear more now.

---------------

Music used to demo:
Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven from the live Unplugged album, good test for upper mid harshness, also if ambience can be heard then that's a good test for detail level
Daft Punk's Get Lucky... I'm sure everyone knows: this is a good test for bass control, directionality, soundstage, and the cymbals can spotlight lower treble harshness
Daft Punk's Doin It Right... for bass pitch differentiation and extension

---------------

Bonus: brief impression of ETA's new prototype headphone: I really really really really like this one. Probably my favorite ETA headphone so far. It's nice, small, compact, and the sound quality punches well above its class. It's a bit V-shaped but nothing stood out as being too egregious. I'd bet that the measurement for this one is quite even actually, and that most of that bass impact comes from very good extension for a dynamic driver or something like that. Would love to see measurements of this one whenever @tommytakis and the gang are ready to share. Super good stuff here. Fit was quite painful for me due to glasses, but I'm nitpicking.

 

Photos part 1...

 

Photos part 2...