[gc335]

I had a great time! Thanks everyone for coming out. A huge thanks to Schiit Audio for making this happen. They sent a ton of gear and covered the bill for the food and space. It would not have been possible without their generosity. Also, thanks to @Jason Stoddard for spending some time with us via Zoom to answer questions.

Please post pictures, impressions and any other thoughts that you had about the meet here!

 

[cangle]

Yesterday was a lot of fun, have a couple of things that I'll be looking to buy this year after hearing them yesterday.

The standout systems and headphones that I heard yesterday were the following:
Aueteur Classic on HA-3A with Soekris 2541
Utopia OG on my Folkvanger and Wizzerman121's GSX-Mini
Sennheiser HD540 and Stax (not sure the model) on Connor's vintage setup
Schiit Lyr+, awesome build and nice clicky knob. Super flexbile and good sound.
T60 Argon and Ryan's planar prototype.

Some more in depth notes:
OG Utopia was great, build was super impressive and was a lot heavier then I had expected. It was fast and punchy and the treble was great. Was amazing on this Max Cooper track called Spike. Trying it on my Folkvanger added some nice body to it and made it easier to listen to by softening the treble a bit. I'd like to own one but will wait for CanJam NYC to try the new 2022 version.

Really enjoyed the Auteur Classic on the HA-3A, was just a very inviting sound. Coming straight from the Utopia which was setup next to it, the treble was a bit smeared and bass was muddy at times but the tuning was fun. Listening to the Unplugged Alice in Chains album was a highlight of the show. Might try and get a stabilized one of these at some point.

Connor's vintage stuff was cool although I have no idea what any of it is called. The HD540 was nice, looked like a toy but sound was really good. There was some harshness in upper mids and treble but otherwise I liked it. Bass was super blammy and fun too. Listened to the Reid Willis Dog baits man track and it was impressive. At the end of the meet we plugged Susvara into Connor's setup and that was good too, think it was the Technics SE-A7 amp driving them. Just a balanced sound and without any of the harshness of some of the other headphones so it was good to hear that.

To my surprise, one of the most interesting parts of the meet was talking to people trying the headphones that I brought and hearing my setup to see what they thought. My table had a MacBook Pro w/ Audirvana Studio -> Bricasti MC1 via USB -> Folkvanger w/ Phillips 7062 (rca) and Flux FA-12 (xlr). Headphones were 800S, Borealis, Expanse, LCD-24, and Caldera. The LCD-24 and Caldera seemed to be getting the most unanimously positive reviews and I have to agree there. Ryan from Mod House Audio was super impressed with 800S on the Folkvanger and I was glad to hear that as it's a special combination for more acoustic genres. The expanse had mixed opinions. Some people couldn't put it down whereas others preferred other options. I find it needs a good bit of power so much prefer it on my Tyrs at home. The Borealis was good but was clearly not on the same level as the other headphones.

Coming home and plugging back into my main system which is the Bricasti MC1 -> Schiit Freya + -> Schiit Tyrs and I found that I still really am happy with what I have but am definitely interested in picking up the Auteur's and a Utopia soon. Was somewhat of a relief to not feel that I was really missing out on a certain piece of gear or another level of performance. However the Susvara on the Technics amp was giving me a level of sub bass that I hadn't quite experienced before.

I'm attaching a bunch of pictures from yesterday too.

 

[DeweyCH]

I was surprised how much of a surprise my Rognirs were. Hard to beat as Closed back Planars go.

 

[OhHeyItsLou]

Can’t believe I missed this! Right around the corner here in Rhode Island. I’ll have to keep my eyes open for the next one.

 

[alxw0w]

Dartzeel clone for headphones nice

 

[omega1990]

To my surprise, one of the most interesting parts of the meet was talking to people trying the headphones that I brought and hearing my setup to see what they thought. My table had a MacBook Pro w/ Audirvana Studio -> Bricasti MC1 via USB -> Folkvanger w/ Phillips 7062 (rca) and Flux FA-12 (xlr). Headphones were 800S, Borealis, Expanse, LCD-24, and Caldera. The LCD-24 and Caldera seemed to be getting the most unanimously positive reviews and I have to agree there.

Glad to read others are enjoying the lcd 24 on the folkvangr. Its an awesome combo. I still gotta get a caldera.

 

[rlawry]

Love those Aurorus Audio Australis headphones with the gorgeous faceted green metallic earcups. They kind of remind me of the RAAL CA-1a without the ribbon drivers.

 

[552609]

Yesterday was a lot of fun, have a couple of things that I'll be looking to buy this year after hearing them yesterday.

The standout systems and headphones that I heard yesterday were the following:
Aueteur Classic on HA-3A with Soekris 2541
Utopia OG on my Folkvanger and Wizzerman121's GSX-Mini
Sennheiser HD540 and Stax (not sure the model) on Connor's vintage setup
Schiit Lyr+, awesome build and nice clicky knob. Super flexbile and good sound.
T60 Argon and Ryan's planar prototype.

Some more in depth notes:
OG Utopia was great, build was super impressive and was a lot heavier then I had expected. It was fast and punchy and the treble was great. Was amazing on this Max Cooper track called Spike. Trying it on my Folkvanger added some nice body to it and made it easier to listen to by softening the treble a bit. I'd like to own one but will wait for CanJam NYC to try the new 2022 version.

Really enjoyed the Auteur Classic on the HA-3A, was just a very inviting sound. Coming straight from the Utopia which was setup next to it, the treble was a bit smeared and bass was muddy at times but the tuning was fun. Listening to the Unplugged Alice in Chains album was a highlight of the show. Might try and get a stabilized one of these at some point.

Connor's vintage stuff was cool although I have no idea what any of it is called. The HD540 was nice, looked like a toy but sound was really good. There was some harshness in upper mids and treble but otherwise I liked it. Bass was super blammy and fun too. Listened to the Reid Willis Dog baits man track and it was impressive. At the end of the meet we plugged Susvara into Connor's setup and that was good too, think it was the Technics SE-A7 amp driving them. Just a balanced sound and without any of the harshness of some of the other headphones so it was good to hear that.

To my surprise, one of the most interesting parts of the meet was talking to people trying the headphones that I brought and hearing my setup to see what they thought. My table had a MacBook Pro w/ Audirvana Studio -> Bricasti MC1 via USB -> Folkvanger w/ Phillips 7062 (rca) and Flux FA-12 (xlr). Headphones were 800S, Borealis, Expanse, LCD-24, and Caldera. The LCD-24 and Caldera seemed to be getting the most unanimously positive reviews and I have to agree there. Ryan from Mod House Audio was super impressed with 800S on the Folkvanger and I was glad to hear that as it's a special combination for more acoustic genres. The expanse had mixed opinions. Some people couldn't put it down whereas others preferred other options. I find it needs a good bit of power so much prefer it on my Tyrs at home. The Borealis was good but was clearly not on the same level as the other headphones.

Coming home and plugging back into my main system which is the Bricasti MC1 -> Schiit Freya + -> Schiit Tyrs and I found that I still really am happy with what I have but am definitely interested in picking up the Auteur's and a Utopia soon. Was somewhat of a relief to not feel that I was really missing out on a certain piece of gear or another level of performance. However the Susvara on the Technics amp was giving me a level of sub bass that I hadn't quite experienced before.

I'm attaching a bunch of pictures from yesterday too.

Man, there is some cool looking headphones in those photos!

 

[DeweyCH]

I enjoyed getting a chance to hear some HD820s. Don't know why they get the hate they do. They're pretty good, other than pretty narrow staging even for closed-backs.

 

[gc335]

I enjoyed getting a chance to hear some HD820s. Don't know why they get the hate they do. They're pretty good, other than pretty narrow staging even for closed-backs.

I had the same thought! I really enjoyed the HD820!

 

[dleblanc343]

Cool meet, wish I could have been there!

I recognize that dart clone, belongs to an OG


Glad to see some Auteur Classic appreciation, definitely love my pair since pick-up!

 

[DeweyCH]

Cool meet, wish I could have been there!

I recognize that dart clone, belongs to an OG


Glad to see some Auteur Classic appreciation, definitely love my pair since pick-up!

I had a few conversations about whether or not to get the upgrade to my OG Auteurs. I still don't know what to do.

 

[dleblanc343]

I had a few conversations about whether or not to get the upgrade to my OG Auteurs. I still don't know what to do.

I'm assuming you got to compare side-by-side, which is the best option to have in making a decision

But from my memory of my Auteur OG and my current Classics, they're actually quite a bit more different than I was expecting.

I feel technicals have improved significantly and tuning has gotten more neutral/ less warm & organic.

I remember Auteur OG's upper mids being a lot more tame and midbass being more prominent (with less sub extension), but perhaps it's just my audio memory playing tricks on me

 

[Dawgfish]

I'm assuming you got to compare side-by-side, which is the best option to have in making a decision

But from my memory of my Auteur OG and my current Classics, they're actually quite a bit more different than I was expecting.

I feel technicals have improved significantly and tuning has gotten more neutral/ less warm & organic.

I remember Auteur OG's upper mids being a lot more tame and midbass being more prominent (with less sub extension), but perhaps it's just my audio memory playing tricks on me

Your audio memory is not playing tricks on you. I have both the Auteur OG and Classic and your description of the differences is spot on with what I hear.

 

[haasaaroni]

I had a few conversations about whether or not to get the upgrade to my OG Auteurs. I still don't know what to do.

Personally, if I already had the Atrium, I would keep the OG Auteur. They seem like better complements that way. Doing the upgrade feels like going from that Auteur lushness and cohesion to a halfway point between that and the Atrium’s precision, impact, and spaciousness. It’s a big improvement, but the signature changes a good bit in the process.

Then again, maybe you want that the sound to come a little closer to the Atrium while still retaining some good warmth and vocal isolation (that I don’t hear as much in the Atrium). In that case, upgrade away!