International Head-Fi Meeting

by Alberto F. Gómez, Kanamaster Group.

They met for the first time in an international-magnitude meeting designers and manufacturers of headphones and amplifiers for headphones in general, belonging to the HEAD-FI online community, with the only aim, as usual in these events, of exchanging personal and professional experiences, and to listening to the different possible combinations between headphones and amplifiers, some of them discontinued, some newer ones and of course the future proposals were in no way absent, where the most demanding head-fier could find his ideal sound.

It was an interesting meeting in which important companies were present such as Grado Labs, Head Room, Singlepower Audio, Ultimate Ears, Ray Samuels Audio, Shure, Rudistor Sound Systems (Rudi in person flew from Italy to NY for this meeting), Westone, Audio Technica, Beyerdynamic, AKG and Sennheiser. In the same way were also present there DIY ( Do It Yourself) projects or personal designs that in some occasions, become commercial models and could even turn into a quality rival because of the high level they can reach, both in a constructive and auditive aspects, compared to the most models known in the market.

Among the most interesting things I found was of course, the well known but not frequently found in this events Orpheus electrostatic system, that in spite of its long time in the market, shows that it is still a reference for musical reproduction, (not only in the head-fi world) and it is something you most listen to. An other piece which draw my attention again because of its musical, seductiove, and surrounding sound, was the legendary SONY MDR-R10, (unfortunately discontinued a few years ago), and in spite of having listened to it previously in several and very good setups, this time running across two big titans of the audio, which besides, were a big surprise for all, the preamplifier prototype B-52 of Ray Samuels. Of course we most menction the extraordinary RP1000 that Rudi brought us from Italy as an exclusive of this last hybrid amplifier, whose topology goes beyond of what a head-fier could expect: two $800.00 USD potentiometers, 4 class-A hybrid amplifiers (with two cryogenically treated valves) working in opposite phase for balanced topology, or in phase, for "single ended" -- simply an extraordinary sound! -- , digital meters for bias setup and finally the use of a DC generator. In my personal opinion, was the closest I have been to a live event through a recording.

We also enjoyed the Edition 7 from Ultrasone that Rudi brought us, and in general all the Ultrasone headphone line, in which a new concept of auditive presentation called S-Logic was developed, to get a more natural sound event and not with the usual channels separation. Dr. Florian, the man behind Ultrasone who flew from Germany to this event, has been developing throughout his carrier a series of researches he spoke about. For a second time I gave the relatively new AKG-K701 the chance to captivate me, with no success, I got the same opinion compared to the first audition: a very flaccid sound, with little external isolation, and in few words, it was nothing great listening to it again, in spite of its popularity in the market.

Honestly I have never been interested in IEMs (In Ears Monitors), so I ask myself, why not giving them a chance. I tried different models, but in spite of the great variety ranging among Shure, UE, Westone, etc... and the classical series of Etymotics E4 who were my favourites (in particular the E4S) the experiece was simply incredible and extraordinary. How is it possible that inside a tiny capsule you can hide such a great and extraordinary sound!

For a spectacular close the event offered a succulent banquet, a conference in which all the headphone brands representatives were present, answering questions and talking about interesting topics such as how they create their designs as well as about marketing strategies.

The event was broadcasted through video streaming for those forum members that couldn't be here.

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