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The Official Headphone Thread 2.5: We're Making WAVs and Catching FLAC

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sirap

Member
What's better than a HD800/800s? Looking to upgrade from my old HD600, but I'm unfamiliar with brands other than Sennheiser.
 
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Strafebogey

Member
Limit said:
Gorgeous headphones. What are they? They look super expensive.
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LCD-2 and LCD-XC. I held on to my LCd-2 as my reference headphone to be compared to all potential headphones purchase and has yet to find one that I can be happy to replace it with......until XC came. For that closed-can config, it sound pretty airy and wide to me. Signature Audeze controlled bass and treble. I can safely relegate the LCD-2 into sale status or even the downstair-stereo casual listening.

That DAC is a Chord Hugo, and it's not really 5000 dollars, that the Hugo TT model. This is the portable Hugo, but dont be fooled by its diminutive stature, it hits like a ton of bricks and punch waaaaay above its weight, right up with its big boy peers. Source fed from a Mac running Fidelia with USB.
 
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SolarMystic

Member
Rimshot said:
I might very well be doing so, since I'm not that familiar in the field.

If you google/youtube 600 vs 650 you pretty much seem to get a consensus on the 600 being the better option, as far as I have seen. So I am just basing my thoughts on that information, and that they've actually upped the price of 600.

This review also sold me on the ATH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itwDQeZ_8Pg :)
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Most of the 600>650 crowd are coming from the days of the old black driver 650s and before Sennheiser started using stiffer earpads. The 650 on the right system can resolve better than the 600, but they are both so close these days that it doesn't really even matter.

Also for future reference. Never base a purchasing decision on the merits of a Z review. Some find him entertaining but he does not know what he is talking about half the time. You got lucky in that the MSR7 is legitimately a good headphone. (though a step down from the 600/650)
 
R

Rimshot

Member
SolarMystic said:
Most of the 600>650 crowd are coming from the days of the old black driver 650s and before Sennheiser started using stiffer earpads. The 650 on the right system can resolve better than the 600, but they are both so close these days that it doesn't really even matter.

Also for future reference. Never base a purchasing decision on the merits of a Z review. Some find him entertaining but he does not know what he is talking about half the time. You got lucky in that the MSR7 is legitimately a good headphone. (though a step down from the 600/650)
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Oh I'm glad I didn't completely screw up there :X He seemed to have been doing the reviews for a long time so I thought he knew stuff. I also found this thread which I guess also helped me move towards the MSR7: http://www.head-fi.org/t/796980/audio-technica-ath-msr7-sennheiser-hd600-a-comparison

But I really should have tried both at some store. I guess I was too eager.
 
Xander51

Xander51

Member
Rimshot said:
Oh I'm glad I didn't completely screw up there :X He seemed to have been doing the reviews for a long time so I thought he knew stuff. I also found this thread which I guess also helped me move towards the MSR7: http://www.head-fi.org/t/796980/audio-technica-ath-msr7-sennheiser-hd600-a-comparison

But I really should have tried both at some store. I guess I was too eager.
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Zeos has a very particular set of tastes, and frequently those don't line up with the consensus. I find his videos quite entertaining. If you watch several of them, you should be able to get a good idea of what he likes, and whether or not you'd agree with him. But he's very hard to take at face value in a single, isolated review.
 
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HiResDes

Member
I think trusting one headfi thread with like five replies is worse, though this is moot because he made a good pick, but damn does that review sound off to me never heard an Audio Technica headphone with a fuller and more satisfying midrange than the HD600.
 
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shacklesmcgee

Member
Hey everyone!

I lost my headphones the other week and I'm currently using Apple Earpods and....yikes, I definitely need a new pair of IEMs. I'm looking to spend less than $100, and I've jumped all over. I mainly listen to electronic, rock and some rap/pop here and there. I have no idea what sound signature I like, but I did used to own a pair of Shure 115s ( I think they were 115s, but not 100%) and loved the sound. I'm currently looking at :


  • Ostry Kc06a (Thanks to this thread)
  • Shozy Zero. (Thanks to this thread)
  • Mee Audio M-Duo
  • Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear ( if it's worth the jump in Price)
Thanks for your help!
 
A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Shozy zero I'd say. I'll have it within next week if you want me to do some impressions.

M-duo is nice but for the price you probably could do better nowadays.
 
T

Tommy DJ

Member
Zeos' doesn't know what anything should sound like. His speaker recommendations are just about pure trash. Not in a "I can see where you're coming from but I still think you're wrong" sort of way but "either you get huge Amazon kickbacks from poor students or you're deaf" sort of way.
 
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shacklesmcgee

Member
A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
So anyone here with experience with the noble 4?

Kinda confusing the Noble savanna, which is pretty highly regarded, and the savanna is apparently that with peaks in the treble removed.
 
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SolarMystic

Member
Decided to stick with my Vali2 and Modi2 for the time being after buying the Valhalla 2 and Bifrost. It was an upgrade, but I figured I could put the price difference into a nice 2 channel setup, especially with Schiit getting into the speaker game in a big way later this year.

Already sold the black Valhalla 2 but I still have the less than 1 month old Bifrost in black if anyone is interested.
 
M

my6765490

Member
For those looking for entry into planars, would highly recommend the Cascadia Audio Talos ($250 T50RP Mod). Comfortable, decently isolating, and tuned in a very fun, musical way, holds its own with the other T50RP mods out there.

IMG_7524-Edit-Edit.jpg
 
S

SuperSah

Banned
I just saw MKBHD's video on the Bose QC35 noise cancelling.

He got me thinking why I never invested in any noise cancelling cans. I travel a lot, always in loud environments and want the absolute silentest working environment possible.

What has stopped me? Well, I'm really skeptical. If I put these on, all of a sudden I go deaf to the outside world? Sounds ideal, but it's hard to believe. Can anyone enlighten me on this since I can't go to a store to try any, and recommend any good noise cancelling cans? MKBHD stated the QC35 and QC25 should definitely be on my shortlist.
 
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Robobandit

Member
I believe Bose is generally regarded as having the best noise cancelling headphones.

That is pretty much the only thing they are praised for, so I figure there's some merit to that.
 
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Dynamite Ringo Matsuri

Member
Ive been dickin around with the TFZ Series 5 for the last few hours and I think these are genuinely awesome for the price provided that you do a very, very, very simple mod (pierce the diaphragm in the bass port with a needle) . Color me very surprised as I came in totally skeptical. I got mine for $79 shipped and the unboxing experience and accessories punch way above the asking price. Build quality is really great on the shells but the cable is the usual, sticky, gummy shit that plagues cheaper IEMs. Anyway, these are great if you're into a more energetic and boosted sound over neutral. Also, I think these totally thrash the Shozy Zero.

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...-preferences-imho-ymmv.2298/page-4#post-60745
 
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Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Hmmm, that definitely looks interesting. I've got the shozy zero coming in to play around with. Looking at the graphs would you say it's noticeably more V vs the shozy warmth? Sub-bass slam and emphasis definitely is more my cup of tea though.

Also have you had experience with the noble 4 btw?
 
H

HiResDes

Member
Antiwhippy said:
Hmmm, that definitely looks interesting. I've got the shozy zero coming in to play around with. Looking at the graphs would you say it's noticeably more V vs the shozy warmth? Sub-bass slam and emphasis definitely is more my cup of tea though.

Also have you had experience with the noble 4 btw?
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Headphone list who really seems to have similar albeit better ears than me reviewed them extensively - http://theheadphonelist.com/headphone_review/noble-4s/


More neutral than the UERM is pretty damn high praise.
 
D

Dynamite Ringo Matsuri

Member
Antiwhippy said:
Hmmm, that definitely looks interesting. I've got the shozy zero coming in to play around with. Looking at the graphs would you say it's noticeably more V vs the shozy warmth? Sub-bass slam and emphasis definitely is more my cup of tea though.

Also have you had experience with the noble 4 btw?
Click to expand...

Yeah, the clarity definitely stems from the upper mid boost and the peaks at 7-9 kHz. It's night and day on A/B vs. Shozy Zero.

I'll tell you this, this track here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApB_Xcywanw

at about 1:50 in, the modded Series 5 is one of the only IEMs I've heard PERIOD that can replicate that head exploding/vibrating sensation. The vast majority of IEMs are simply incapable of that deep bass energy due to roll off, so all you get is the mid bass punch but with none of the actual queasy inducing vibration.

The only other IEM in recent memory that I can recall doing that on a similar level is the JVC FX500. Not even the FX850 does it like this. I no longer have any of the ASGs to test on, but stuff like the P1 and Andro can only dream of this sort of shit. Anyway, if that sounds awesome to you, the Series 5 will rock your fuckin face off. As someone who generally prefers neutralish gear, these are way too good and fun not to have a pair of. I don't want people inferring that these are one trick ponies, cause they most certainly are not. It's been a very long time since I've heard the ASG series, but I reckon I'd probably take these over any of the ASGs or Nobles I've heard.

There's a sort of armature like quality to how tight the Series 5 feels. Bass amplitude when modded is still pretty much bass monster-ish to me, (about where the unmodded FX850 is subjectively), but it feels tighter and more incisive to me from the ground up. I'd like to be able to reign in the bass even more, but I'm not sure exactly as to how. If I could just get that deep bass amplitude lowered more, these would be fuckin awesome as I feel like the deep bass does get fatiguing and can sort of crowd certain recordings. I'm guessing one of the drivers handles the midrange through treble or something cause as big as the bass is, it doesn't seem to warm over the sound to the extent that I've heard on stuff like, I dunno... that piece of shit the Adel A12. What the fuck man. That was single handedly probably the most overrated piece of shit phone I've heard since the Sony Z5. Just super fucking colored garbage sold at a princely sum.

No experience with the Noble 4 unfortunately. That one I've always wanted to hear. I've heard the Savant though, and I think it's a pretty good phone for the money but too mellow for my tastes. I prefer the Ortofon EQ-8 for something like that. SGS seems to like the Savannah, but I think he only heard it for a few minutes at most.
 
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Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Hah, i was wondering about the a12s too. I like my stuff warm and bassy but probably not at that price.

Still, the tfz seems like it's pretty good for the price, but i have my universal bass monster of choice for now so i might get it for fun down the road, but I'm kinda hankering for the savannas more for a different kind of signature. Plus right now it kind of hits the sweet spot of what i would pay for top tier gear. Was pretty hot on the fitear mh334 for awhile but cooled down because it is a lot of money.

Might go up to something like the fitear or k10 one day, but not anytime soon.
 
A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Still interested in the andro too, but with the wizard birthday sale I could get the custom savannas for half the price of an andro.
 
D

Dynamite Ringo Matsuri

Member
Okay after some more listening to the Series 5, I've determined that the bass isn't quite as monstrous as I originally thought. That's what I get for listening to Grimes and Crystal Castles I guess. It's definitely boosted over my reference (UERM), but not crazily so, thankfully. Upper bass through midbass feels pretty linear to me, boosted over UERM by maybe, I dunno, 3 dBs or so? I'm not sure if enlarging the hole I pricked in the vents would further attentuate the bass, but what's there is tastefully elevated IMO, so maybe I'll just leave it alone. I may experiment with removing the metal grill to see if I can't experiment with layers of alcohol swab to improve treble linearity.

Anyway, the bass boost is mostly situated in deep bass so as long as your music doesn't have a lot of content below 60 hz, its not an issue. The deep bass can actually get fatiguing with electronic music at higher volumes. Real impressive yes, but it's a bit too powerful for my taste. Upper and mid bass is real tight and quick to me. It's not quite armature quick, but feels decisively more fleet footed than your average DD based IEM. It still maintains the solidity and decay of a DD based driver of course.

The upper mids are more forward than lower mids so this can result in some vocals feeling a bit thin and lacking in body. That's my only hang up regarding overall timbre so far. Also would've preferred stronger amplitude after 10 kHz to induce more air out of these but treble extension isn't bad at all. Other than that, I remain really impressed by these for the price. Detailing and separation are quite impressive IMO and they hold up really well with chaotic/busy tracks with only a hint of congestion.

People wanting a taste of the high end for a stupidly reasonable price ($79 shipped!) should definitely consider these. They get my stamp of approval for sure. I'll get some pics up of the packaging and phones tomorrow.
 
O

Oynox

Member
Goodness gracious! The Bose QuiteComfort 35 look amazing! I just ordered one out of reflex and will test it... but 380 bucks is quite a steep amount. And I honestly do not know if I will like the around ear design. I used a QC3 until some weeks ago and loved the smart on ear design. They are broken now unfortunately, I hope a new cable may fix it, then I do not need to invest the 380 bucks in new ones lol
 
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ThoughtsOfSpeaking

Banned
This a long shot, but does anyone know an alternative to the Sony nwz-w505s? They were the perfect gym headphones, but I lost my pair and it seems you can only get the w303s now, which aren't ideal.

I know I can't get the 3 way speaker anywhere else, but a decent pair of mp3 headphones would be enough.
 
A

Arex

Member
After a few days with the ATH MSR7, I'm satisfied. Sounds great and comfortable on my head, only the middle part of the headband is slightly pressing my head, but nothing bad. :)
 
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