Headfonics as an idea started last year with some musings on article writing from the old hacks out of www.headphiles.org and how we could reach out to our audience past, present and new with our passion about audio as well as bring the guys and gals who made the products we love so dearly. Headfonics as an actual entity kicked off in 2011 and after much blood sweat and tears we got Headfonics v1 out the door in April 2011.
So yes we are new in the market but our guys have been doing this thing for quite sometime on forums and other sites so it really is great we are now under one brand talking about the things they love the most – headphones!!
By quirk of fate we got the call from Jaben just as we launched the site and built up a few sponsors already and with interest from Singapore from an established and reputable brand as Jaben we decided we wanted to bring the great man himself, Wilson to our shores to see how we do it Filipino style for headphones and mobile audio.
Yup – we called one of our famous meets and we did it biggie style with our sponsors and Wilson and over 80 members under one roof on June 11th 2011. Attending from our sponsors were Weemall sporting Audio Technica, FiiO, Unique Melody, Comply and Hifiman with new product lines including the Pro700mk2, Merlin Customs, E11 Amp and a very exciting top secret project from Jaben which we cannot even mention here – sadly.
Honorable mention must go to TDK, AKG and JBL who though not being official sponsors came along and gave a great show of their latest product offerings for the local market. I was particularly impressed by the new TDK re-jig of the boombox and was even poisoned by the new WR700 as did many there on the day. The always beautiful AKG K701 was on display also and I am pretty sure most of the guys there had at least one side glance to the AKG table.
Finally a big cheer went up for Eric, Abby, Lester & Mico of progressive rock band Fuseboxx when they arrived sporting their latest album, Animated. Luckily June 11th was their album launch date so everything was hot on the day including the interest from the members in grabbing the brilliant second CD for themselves.
Big thanks to the Ortigas Foundation Library for allowing us to host the event.
Here are just some of the pictures and comments that captured the day and the spirit of headfonics.com
Kalikot
Very fun event, glad to see that an old friend actually carries the AKG products LOL
Funny that I was able to audition all the customs, they all fit me for some reason The reshells were good but if I were to go customs it would definitely go for the JH13, that thing was quite epic I honestly do not think that the reshells are worth it for me after top tier universals
Congratulations to the prize winners and Uncle Wilson was a really nice person Lots of great things happening around and it was almost impossible to audition everything!
The E11 was very impressive and I honestly want one now after that quick roll with it. Cheers to this successful event; I’m sure the next one will be even better. Glad to see both new and old faces around the venue!
Aizen
Now I want a custom for myself. Dang this meet, I am on track in saving up yet lost my focus again.
The Merlins were really something. Custom IEM with that instrumentality and intimacy yet it brings what my BA’s were unable to give me, the FUN factor. The bass dynamic driver really made a catch in this hybrid, and the universal demo were far from unsatisfying as it gave me enough seal to enjoy them. 2011 is my “hearing aid year” definitely.
I remembered Uncle Wilson, Franz and I were chatting, Wilson said if he just knew that the number of attendees will be that great, he should had brought the universal demos for JH customs. He underestimated the power of headphiles I think. Hehe. Hope I can meet him again soon. Such great discount he gives on the spot. Lucky Ehlysalds he can get his Silver Dragon for such low price haha!
Jcruiz
I won the raffle even! how cool is that. learned a lot about iems. met new cool people. auditioned loads of headphones and iems.There are items there that is still on my mind. i just can’t take them off my mind.
Roy’s XO2- the bass gain and the soundstage.
Ken’s Beyerdynamic T1 – the clarity, the details, and especially the voice
Doc_RJ’s 6 driver custom iem – i don’t know how to descirbe it but it’s really sounds good. there’s enough bass and you won’t miss the mids and the highs.
Marcus’ Ultrazone Zino – this beats the kpp and the px for me. i surely would like to have one for my portables
Mochan
I’ve been awake about 36 hours now. Before I sleep, I want to thank Headfonics for the awesome job they did putting this entire event together. I also would like to share some of my greatest poisons from the meet:
TDK Wireless W700– wow this was unbelievably good for a wireless headset. A little sharp on the highs but good clarity and nice low end all in all. I can’t believe this is wireless! And at 4k… not. I was supposed to get one, then I thought “Merlins! Focus!” and remembered that my PX Ultra and Beats are also “wireless” hehe. So I can live without these for awhile longer.
AKG K390 – awesome awesome IEM. Much better than I thought. Shows that NC can be done! Very intimate, smooth and warm IEM that has good isolation, but turn on the NC and everything but the music fades away! The most amazing NC powers I have seen, ever, far better than my Denons and even better than the Bose QC3. And the SQ even with NC on was still very good! I almost bought these, too, for 8k. But Merlins, Merlins….
Merlins – hot dang. Amazing. The liquidity of these IEMs was unparalleled anywhere. I have never heard anything that felt like the music was water rushing right through my ears. Highs were beautifully smooth and never missing, and the bass was full, fun and deep, just like I like it. I can’t wait to get my customs.
Earsonics SM2 – was caught off guard by these. Really beautiful, smooth IEM with low key, laidback treble and firm, supple bass. I liked it very, very much.
T1s – finally got to hear them! I liked them most out of the PS1000, HD800 and T1 triad. By far, actually. Smooth treble, bright but never sibilant, lush midrange and full bass. Very solid, all-around sound.
GS1000 w/ modded cables — amazing sounding headphone. It’s like the K701 and HD650 rolled into one!
On the other hand I actually like the HE4!!! At these prices often it’s not upgrade but more side grade, I honestly liked the He4 better than it’s two bigger brothers. It had that bass fun slam and immediate highs that make for a fun, engaging sound.
amievil
Thank you Headphiles and Headfonics for making this possible! I tried a lot of gears and its nice to see new faces and of course the regular meet attendees. i’d like to thank our guests:
AKG/JBL group- i was able to try the mios and k242, my curiosity for them is cured. Hoping to hear from JBL soon regarding the velour pads inquiry
TDK – their flagship can is a fun can to tweak, im not an eq guy but its fun nonetheless hearing the can shelling out different sound signatures too bad i haven’t auditioned their wireless can
Finally saw and hear the E11, im guessing its gonna be a staple here for awhile as a bang-for-buck amp recommendation, too bad it didnt fit my needs
Thank you to Jaben, i won a hippo box+ as souvenir
Enjoyed Fuseboxxx album, got to grab one someday! thanks guys!
Huge thanks to sir Ken for letting me try the K240M on his DIY Mosfet, boy i never heard the k240 sing that good..thats one helluva amp! i am truly jealous! He also injected additional poison thru my vein describing his dual entry K240m and pad rolling on it. I got to visit his shop one of these days
Blackwing
Merlins – i was the first to try them out on the venue and i did enjoy it with any genre i throw at it, it sounds so dang smooth, bass is awesome with my x02 it’s not as forward as the um3x in terms of mids but not as recessed as my re shelled tf10, IT would definitely sound better if it was fully customed to my ears
Kalikot’s es10 – man i love it! highs are very good but never sibilant! mids are good as well (like other ES series are known for) and the bass was very nice and ample, never overpowering. I did go and try it again for several times, i just can’t get enough! I want this!lol
marcusd
1. From the brief impression I had of the HE4 the mid-bass was a bit more prominent than the HE6 giving an impression of more suitability to dance, R&B etc but this was just too brief. The synergy with the ef5 amp was perfect though and the new cables are far improved over the stock cables on the HE6.
2. The TDK WR700 wireless was excellent on functionality and above average on sq. A little squished or compressed in my mind but the range and low profile of the dongle was superb and very comfy to boot. It does need amping or a high quality DAP headphone or line out to get some sense of sound stage and fullness. Tried it when I got home with the fiio e7/9 setup and though it was very good indeed considering the technology and lack of wires. Will be very useful for travel.
3. Many thanks to Marco and the team from TDK – the redesigned boombox was pure poison for me hehe.. many memories of my original Sony boombox from 1991 – worth a second look later in the year.
4. So glad Jenny, Marvin and the team from JBL/AKG could make it. The guys just loved the K range on display and bro Dink’s poison hit him in Digital Hub later with a sneaky purchase of an AKG set of buds hehe.. great display and thanks again guys.
6. Big thanks to Harvey, Ariel and the team from Weemall – lots of poison for the guys and more than a few bags of cans went out the door in member’s hands for sure
7. Huge thanks to Fuseboxx – Abby, Eric, Miko and Lester for kindly taking the time out of their busy launch day to introduce us to their second album, meet our members and try the gears. I am pretty sure they were heavily poisoned by the customs so I expect they will keep their ears close to our forum from now on – well done on that second album – a really great effort and personally a fav of mine right now. Prog on!!!!
8. Lastly a massive thanks to Wilson and Jaben for coming in from Singapore and meeting our family of crazy can-fans he was such a gentlemen and a real pleasure for me to entertain and play host for the weekend. Look forward to your return in December
Azathoth
This was an awesomely successful meet/event – got to see the guys who I hand’t seen in a long time, like Arvin, Mondi and Doc RJ (epic new camera, IMBA) as well as some new faces. It was great testing out all the gear in the AKG, TDK and Audio-Technica booths. I’d want to them to start exploring more possibilities of bringing in the high-end gear more. Also, hats off to Uncle Wilson who flew in here from Singapore and managed to squeeze in my ordered gear, and for all the raffle prizes! I’m now enjoying the Beyer DT1350 and VSONIC GR07 immensely. A swell guy really and a real pleasure to talk to about headphones. The best part of all? He gave me a FREE Final Audio Piano Forte II! Quorthon salutes you from Valhalla!
Sandmoose
An EPIC meet! I really had fun! I didn’t get the chance to audition a lot of gears… but had the chance to try HE6, HE4, HD800, T1, ESW9 and T1
ESW9 is a nice closed cans. Nice punchy lows, good mids and highs… and it really got my attention. A possible upgrade for my ES7 Ultra.
HD800 and T1 — I like them both. Details and sound stage is the whole story on these cans. I find the HD to have more sibilance than the T1, but has a better sound stage.
HE4 and HE6 — I like the HE6 more than the HE4. HE6 has more details, but HE4 has the slight edge on the lows department – it is somewhat punchy.
Racio
We certainly made history again for this meet takes the cake for the biggest get together ever! My hats off to the guys here for making everything fall into their right place and guaranteeing its success! And I must say that it was such a delight to see ole’ faces again, as well as new ones.
Crashcourse
Thanks for organizing the meet last saturday. i really had fun meeting new faces and auditioning some gears. lots of gears that i can’t choose what to try. I was able to try the merlins. its highs, lows and especially the mids are really something else. smooth and clear and flowing like melting butter on a hot pancake. and yes sweet like the maple syrup. I was also able to try the vulcan but spent only a little time with it. great amp though! Thanks to the mistress, boym for their p4 (first gen) and p4v2 amps now i know what they sound like. for me the p4 first gen is the best for my preference. Kudos to uncle wilson for bringing in the items at a discount within a discounted price. he also gave me a hippocase so it’s like i also won the raffle draw.The fuseboxx guys are really nice people and their album really rockxx!
What an epic meet so say the least!
