Cans! (Headphone thread inspired by Dolly Parton)

Guldbamsen wrote: I wish I could blast my speakers ..but alas it’s headphones for the time being..and I listen to music all the time..so yeah why not get the finest I can possibly get (afford)? I’m totally with you regarding a woofer. I’m not sure most folks understand how few speakers there are that can pull off anything below 45 hertz..and if they do it’ll sound like mush half the time. In the end it’s sheer physics and letting the air flow to the lowest of bass registers. Even a cheap woofer will completely transform one’s stereo. Just sounds so much fuller and alive. If you haven’t yet noticed, I’m very jealous Heck when you listen to A LOT of modern albums or just are watching movies, there is a load of information down low. I think many old school hi-fi enthusiasts snark at the idea of introducing a woofer into their system simply because they think it will overpower the other frequencies and give them Beats-bass that rattles their teeth. Thing is some music is supposed to rattle your teeth! The new Blade Runner soundtrack has those type of sections...or if you sit down to watch an old classic like ‘Das Boot’ you’ll be missing large portions of the soundtrack without a woofer. Also why I tend to go for cans that reaches looooow...though never in a booming manner. Planars fx are almost always perfectly neutral in the bass..but compared to just about any other openback dynamic driver, planars stay neutral all the way down to 10 hertz ie 10 more than the human ear can pick up. Sort of funny now that I think of it; I borrowed my Sundara to my uncle a little while back and watching his face listening to it was like looking at a man that suddenly had discovered fire! There were sooo many tracks of his that had information in the lower bass registers...that he’d never ever heard over his beloved HD600. Long story short? He now owns a Sundara Btw the Shures I was on about are professional iems. They usually cost 99$ or in many cases a little less. Just if you need something with great sound quality on the go that a) doesn’t warm your ears and b) beats most NC cans’ NC function

The most expensive pair I've bought are the Sennheisser HD 598's. They're amazingly sharp and clear paired with a quality soundcard (but underperform with non-high-end hardware like my DAP). I'd say they're almost TOO sharp and clear in that they sometimes neutralize some of the albums' original sound, but the level of detail you can pick up is amazing (especially on fade-outs!)

I'm still enjoying my HE400s although I recently had to replace the cable. The original cable was very fragile and the official replacement was very expensive so I bought one on Amazon and it's even better than the original. I keep having problems with the pads though, they right one comes out from time to time 

‘Eeebony aand Eiiivory lived together!’ ahem...yeah alright then

Cream and hot stuff - caramel and sultry chili - those are some of the connotations immediately popping into poppa’s old basket. I am talking about the Audeze LCD-2 Classic as well as the Hifiman Sundara.
The Audeze sounds warm, laid-back, engaging and yet rather detailed as well. Sort of like a less extreme Nighthawk without the belly in the bass. The upper mids are subdued so the deep end feels more elevated because of it - ultimately what makes this dark piece of chocolate taste the way it does..and I am absolutely smitten by it.
It is constantly refered to as being a headphone ‘that likes POWER!!!’ - most of the time supposedly because it is planar magnetic and is of a rather hefty weight (something like 500 grams). That is however complete and utter nonsense. The specs say 70 ohms and 101 dB sensitivity, which is a very easy headphone to drive properly. You could use your phone.
I do prefer it out of my Valhalla 2 and Vali 2 - both with slightly alternating presentations (one is more holographic (Valhalla) and the other is more detailed (Vali)).
Is it 810 something dollars worth? For me yes, but to others I’d strongly suggest a test-drive before purchasing - maybe do one of those, where you have 30 days to decide. Both Amazon and Thomann offer this service.

And then at the very least I’d recommend people check out the Hifiman Sundara before doing anything. Compared to the Audeze, it’s like having been down in the deep sapphire blue oceans and then the Hifiman takes you airborn in a jiffy. A ‘veil’ is lifted from the music and you get air and enormous amounts of detail - almost to the point of sounding like an electrostatic headphone. I absolutely adore this can!! It is the more correct sounding of the two and probably also what I’d keep if I had a tiger shark fronting my genitals...but luckily I get to keep the Audeze as well because I’m nice like that.
It’s harder to drive than the LCD-2 yet sounds surprisingly magical out of my Valhalla...that then again is preamped by the XDuoo player I am feeding it. Again, the vast majority of headphone enthusiasts out there overwhelmingly overestimate how much juice X headphone needs in order to function properly. It’s not even funny. People are throwing balanced amplifiers at cans that never in your wildest of dreams ever will need more power than what an iPod can put out...cleanly I might add...or else you’re listening at volume levels that are literally harmful fo your hearing (100 dB is very LOUD fx and will very quickly damage one’s ears. Give it a good 2 albums at those levels and your head will be ringing for hours afterwards).

The Sundara is quite an easy headphone to recommend. Not only because it is cheaper and ever so slightly more comfy to wear than the Audeze, but also because I feel it has a similar level of sound quality (slightly better in fact). It doesn’t feel as ‘premium’ in the build, but if you handle it like you paid money for it ie use it at home and store it somewhere safe when not using it, then it will last as long as the Audeze I’m sure.
It’s around 350$ and rather a steal in my book. Highest praise from your’s truly.

Edited by Guldbamsen - August 25 2019 at 09:03

Nice one Andrew - let me know what you think of it when it lands...and then how it sounds when you’ve listened to it for a couple of days.
If this is your first planar you’ll probably need a bit of time before your ears wrap themselves around the new presentation.


Edited by Guldbamsen - August 26 2019 at 03:38

Just saw these gorgeous headphone amps.......Man if I was into HP more I would be in trouble. This Manley amp is slick!

Have any of you guys looked at Campfire Audio IEM’s??

Ken Ball is an amazing designer. Looking at getting the Atlas’s due to their extremely nice bass kick and that they’ve got dynamic drivers built in them. I just find that bass gets better replicated from dynamic drivers instead of balanced armature design.

José: How’s it going my man? Those look positively stunning and no I wouldn’t mind owning one myself...but I have this thing for food, so they’re basically out of my pricerange..just like the equally if not even more stunning VIVA amps
http://vivaaudio.com/en/products/egoista-845/

Nick: I’ve never tried that Audeze but have mostly heard good to great things about it. Seems a tad on the heavy side though, but then again if one is lying on a sofa or merely sitting in a comfy chair with a headrest, my point is moot
I have read a lot about Campfire IEMs but I have never tried them either. Ever since getting the Audiofly AF1120 I have stopped caring about other IEMs. They’re just that brilliant.

Now for a little madness, be warned.
It’s actually funny you mentioned your 800, because I decided to trade my LCD-2C for a mint one. I thought and still think the Sundara is a better headphone and couldn’t quite justify owning both - even if they sound completely different. Just something about the way the Audeze almost falls off a cliff in the mids that rob guitars and vocals of their natural bite.
Anyway I’d only ever listened to the 800 in testing conditions as well as a few sessions on the side and thought I’d give it a whirl now that’d gotten myself a tube amp. I was pleasantly surprised..very much so in fact! So much so that I completely neglected to listen to any other can for about a week or two
Then I popped on the 600 (I’d sold the HD58X because I’m mad and wanted something with a little higher ohms for ze tubes) and found myself completely in love...and ended up selling it’s upgrade brother.
Then I bought the R70x and the HD660s yet again just because I got a lot of dough for the 800 and well that was already intended for headphones and yaddayaddayadda
Truth of the matter is that I have gone through quite a few cans since I last posted here (the above mentioned plus K240, K245 and the HE400 (again!))..and then I came across an HE500 up for sale in Romania of all places and ended up buying it. Oh boy am I ever glad I did! How I ever managed to part with it in the first place is beyond me. The only other headphone I’ve heard that I like more is the HE6
Right there and then I decided that I’d rather listen to the Hifiman than any other of my cans...and then sold off all my Sennheisers, the Sundara (what is this madness?!?!!), HE400 as well as the AKGs.
So right this minute I only own the HE500?

Nahh not exactly
I soon realised the error of my ways..and indeed also why it was that I sold the Hifiman the first time around. It’s not exactly a light can. Sure it’s very comfy when you’re sitting or lying down...but I’m a dancer and an arsemover of the more silly kind, which can present some problems when you’re wearing half a kilo of planar goodness. It’s also a hot experience during the summer..so long story short, I “needed” something cooler and lighter for warm weather and general music aerobics and remembered that the only real headphones I’ve ever been able to wear comfortably in the summer, well those are AKGs. The first time owning the HE500 I also had the Q701 and a Sennie. I almost exclusively wore the AKG that summer.
So yeah I got the K712 first. Wowza!!! ‘Damn this is one brilliant headphone!!!....have I just forgotten how good these AKGs sound or what is going on here?!?’
He then proceeds to buy the K7XX on sale off of the EU branching of Drop. Same thing happens and he wonders why that is?
‘Well...errr..just to be completely scientific about this conundrum, I’d better get some more of these AKGs in order to get to the bottom of...err yeah why they indeed are this brilliant!...and perhaps even moreso, and of course just to be a little rational about all of this, to get them side by side in order to find out which one I dig the most and just hang onto it.’
He buys the K612 as well as the K702 half-expecting at least one of them to be too bright.
‘What is happening?! I really dig these as well!!! How on earth am I supposed to chose between these? They all sound different..like in different tunings...not because one is blue and another one is orangy..nahh they genuinely all have their own tuning...hmmmm well why not keep em all then?’

So yup, Nil Novi Sub Sole
My inventory:
Hifiman HE500 (Katjing machine)
AKG K702 (Brightest of the AKG bunch but wonderful with great recordings)
AKG K612 (Neutral with an ethereal touch to the highs. Deep bass is impressive for an (any!) openback)
AKG K712 (Warmish and highly enticing signature with lots of detail. More bass than the above two)
AKG K7XX (Mr warm aka Funkadelic swag and Ivan Basso collides)
AKG K371 (Sole closedback I own, but it’s a real humdinger! Harman response curve is really quite delicious when done right)

My Audio Technica ATH-R70x is up for sale at the moment, but I am seriously pondering not letting it go Why would I? (Hmmm maybe because you own 6 other cans??)

What more? Sure I ordered a Schiit Magni Heresy in late November of last year and have still to receive it. Hell it’s not even in the mail yet. That’s what I get for preordering
Anyways that little powerhouse will effectively power all and anything I care to throw at it, which is neat considering the price tag. And to think that most other amps out there, including ones that cost 20-30 times as much, measure considerably worse...and well I end up with yet another vague justification for buying somethiny that I originally ordered because I needed some power for my HE500. I had no confidence in the Valhalla pushing the Hifiman to satisfactory listening levels..yet when the headphone arrived and I for the 4th time had gotten a delay on the amp, my only choice was to go with the tubes...and it went unlike anything I’d imagined. In high gain ca 12 o clock I am rocking out! Even for quiet albums I am never past 1:30.
Oh well I am sort of looking forward to the little Schiit anyways. It’ll be nice to have a solid state option for the HE500 as well

Edited by Guldbamsen - January 11 2020 at 06:08

Though now that I think of it...it’s been a while since we last saw Dolly in a great movie role
She’s the obvious pick for the HE-500 methinks.

Btw I recently sold my (second) HE-400. I actually thought about you Simon but I had an old friend pop by for New Year’s and he basically fell in love with it. Too bad there’s a big ocean in between the two of us. I would’ve loved dropping them off at your doorstep at a hefty discount (perhaps with a few Danish brewskis a la Mikkeler to shoot the breeze with).
Oh well. At least I get a weekly phonecall from my friend thanking me so much for letting him buy my headphone. Just before I logged in I was actually on the phone with him...and wouldn’t you know..he ended by telling me just how fecking awesome Needlepoint’s Aimless Mary sounded over his new cans

Oh and Simon? I gather you’re still rocking your Sennheisers. I am curious. Do you use a headphone amp?