Beauty of Wood

ATH-W1000X

ATH-W5000

ATH-W11JPN

Happy Friday

23rd of July, Friday, the first day of KLAV which located at Jw Marriott Hotel. Yeah! I have no specific title for this post so I name it Happy Friday. Haha, it was meant to be a happy day. This week is the 10th week of this semester and I accidentally skipped the whole week's classes.

First I went to Julia's house to fetch Julia and Ella. After that we headed to LowYat Plaza's Sushi Zanmai to have our lunch.

  

After lunch we went to the KLAV. There were so many companies and brand distributors. They did their demo in hotel rooms and it was a bit too packed and crowded because the rooms are too small to fit in the setups and people. Below are some ultimate setups which out of my affordability.
 

  

Below are my targets... I wish I could have...

1. Ortofon EQ7

  
2. Sonus Faber Toy

 
3. Yamamoto HA-05

The D Ultimatum

Denon D7000 & Darkvoice 336 Classic
The colourful combination

Why D Ultimatum?
Just a simple naming because both of the brands start with D.

The D7000 and 336 pair up to be a very colourful combination. D7000 is a fun can which already add colours in the output and the 336 is defenitely a colour amp as vacuum tubes act as colour agent. Different vacuum tubes have their own characteristic and colouration. The vacuum tubes used on 336 are 6AS7/6080 and 6SN7.

What is colouration in audio? It adds mood to your listening by shifting or changing the power or amplitude of signal. Colouration has its good and bad. It's nice to listen, fun and even can bring out your mood. It's hard to explain in words and the best way is to experience it by yourself. Example, I like to listen to Madonna's with this setup because it makes you feel the beats and feel like wanna dance with the music.

For those who loves neutral sound mostly do not like colour~ It's simple, colouration adds flavours and the output is not original. But still it is depending on each preference and the genres of music. You will not want to listen to orchetra with colourful amplification because it sounds not right and you will not want to listen to dance or techno with flat amplification because it sounds boring.

Denon D7000

This is my first woody can.

When you are into wood there is no turning back.

D7000 is the highest end of Denon headphones line-up.

It is also called as the Granddaddy of Bass.

I am not a basshead but why I pick this?Comparing to Sony's headphones extra bass series like the XB700, and D7000 has the honor to be called as Granddaddy of Bass.
Let's put aside the price and do a small comparison.

I did try out the XB700, it has good build quality with very thick and comfortable cushion.But when comes to sound quality, it is a mess.Really extra bass and it lost its details and clarity. Its bass is too much, not punchy and not well-controlled. It just boom here boom there and boom everywhere.
I think the XB700 is made for the real basshead who seek for neck shaking bass~

The D7000 is excel in bass with quality and suitable quantity.
Its bass is not too much but it controls its every punch.
D7000 is a fun can, colourful enough and play well with almost every genres.You no need to be analytical and judge its sounding and performance.It might not be the most musical but just put it on, relax and enjoy.

The D7000 is nicely built.
I like its piano finished Mahogany housing. That is the beauty of wood.
Now I am in love with it... And I have made a silly decision, it is stupid~

Show encrypted text

But I have the intention to let it go...

The Tube Magic

This is my May's refreshment, the last refreshment that I got for myself during the 3 months internship.
But I ordered it in the middle of April. So, it reached me in the early of May.

This is the Tube Magic D1 from Maverick Audio.
It is not available in Malaysia yet. I met someone who was willing to bulk for it and I have decided to join the bulk. Thus, I have to wait for weeks for Maverick Audio to produce those D1 and send them from Singapore.

The Tube Magic D1 is a combination of DAC and amp.
What is a DAC? Basically the DAC is what we called "soundcard". Our source files are in digital format but all audio play back ends up at an analog device such as speakers and headphones. Therefore, no matter how high your digital music file’s bit rate is, it will have to be converted to an analog audio signal before you can hear it. The device that does the converting is called a "Digital-to-Analog Converter", in short, "DAC"

D1 has another feature which caught my attention - the tube preamp output.
The preamp output is powered by the Vintage 5670 vacuum tube, which will add some warmth and smoothness. It plays well with vocal and Jazz genres.

Below are the D1's specifications :

Audio inputs

• Optical audio input x 1 (Digital)
• Coaxial audio input x 1 (Digital)
• USB connector x 1 (Digital)
• Analog audio input x 1 (Analog)
• Line-in audio input x 1 (Analog)
• Optical connector: TOSLINK 660nm
• Coax connector: RCA, 500mVpp into 75 ohms
• Analog connector: RCA, 1000k ohms
• Accepted sample rates: 32khz, 44.1Khz, 48Khz, 88.2Khz, 96Khz
• Accepted audio format: linear PCM, 16, 20 or 24 bits per sample

Audio outputs:

• All RCA connectors are gold-plated
• Volume control is provided for all outputs
• Two dedicated linear power regulators for DAC and line-out stages
• Dedicated linear power regulators for Tube stage
• Analog RCA outputs signal-to-noise ratio: >96dB
• Tube pre-out outputs signal-to-noise ration: >90dB
• Total harmonic distortion: less than 0.001% (RCA outputs), less than 0.1% (Tube pre-out outputs)
• Maximum output power: 1000mW x 2 (32 ohms), 500mW x 2 (300 ohms), 300mW x 2 (600 ohms)

Headphone outputs:

• Standard 1/4″ jack
• Minimum headphone impedance: 16 ohms
• Maximum headphone impedance: 600 ohms
• Headphone output power: 300mW ~ 1000mW

Power:

• R-core Linear 110/220 manual switch

Physical:

• Dimensions: 10″W x 2.1″H x 6.5″D (260mm x 55mm x 167mm)
• Finish: brushed aluminum in black color

Mountain Top

17th of April - Saturday.
That night, there was a gathering on top of Genting.

The night before at Old Town, I told Yunn Horng about it and he is interested and wanted to go with me. I didnt expect that he will join me. Haha, I believe that this trip let him experience a lot.

Well, that day was tiring because I didnt sleep well and enough on Friday night and went to exam in the morning then went to KLCC after that. I am exhausted and took a nap...Who knows when I woke up already 8 something...Damn, I was late and we quickly started our journey to the mountain. The weather that night was not good, rain the whole night.

When we reached there already 11, but they waited for us.Let me introduce them.
The Mr. in red cola is Micky, the Darthmaus.
The Mr. in black is the Daemon.
The Mr. in pink is the Kenzo, Akabane the Taiko.

Actually this gathering is just about Woody.
So, let me introduce the woodies that involved.

Headphones,
W10VTG from Audio Technica,
W1000X from Audio Technica,
D7000 from Denon,
MS1 from Alessandro,

Well, actually that MS1 is not a woody, but it is modded into MS1000 woody cup.

IEMs,
Woody 2 from Crossroads.

PMPs,
Sansa Clip+ 4Gb,
Sansa Fuse 8Gb,
iPod Photo 30Gb.

Amps,
The Secret,
Linearossa W1,
Ibasso D3 Phyton.

Haha, actually they called that TT session, means Teh Tarik. But they changed to BB when they had beer, means BeerBeer. Well, for this gathering with a good mood and nice enviroment, sure I brought something better - The "Ajinomoto", the 12 years old Macallan single malt Scotch whisky.
Well, we enjoyed the night ,the drinks and the music.

Cheeeeerrsssssssssss~~~~~~~~

Haha, I looked like an alien when the MS1 was on my head...