General Headphone Chat

[Odyssey]

4 minutes ago, Ray H said:

Thanks,

 

So are you getting the HPA-4 or just the smsl version ??

 

Hahaha... was just pulling everyone's legs. I'm not getting the HPA-4. Got the SMSL SP200 to get a taste of it first because I've not heard any of these THX AAA stuff before.

[Odyssey]

Seller even sold me a pair of the gadget to tame HD800 high frequencies peak. Not that I have the need for it but as it's only $30, why not give it a try. Looks like a pair of contact lens. 

 

[Bengineer]

Those are the "DuPont" mod.

[Odyssey]

So I was using Hekse, LCD-X and HD800 with Questyle CMA 12 dac > SMSL SP200. Now I switch to v280 still with HD800.

 

I am very surprised that the v280 is playing ball with the SP200 in the details and clarity stakes. The most obvious difference is that the v280 has that organic and natural tone with quite a bloom in the bass department. Bloom in a nice tube amp way. SP200 just feel more fleet footed, tighter and brighter but what details ! You hear everything from the SP200 ! but the v280 mids is to die for.

 

Going to have to switch back to SP200 again to get a better impression. I will keep going back and forth... you won't get a definitive answer from me until Sunday !

[Odyssey]

7 minutes ago, Bengineer said:

Those are the "DuPont" mod.

 

Yup that's the name. Just can't remember at that point in time.

[Odyssey]

Still using HD800 because I feel this headphone will pick up all nuances of the 2 amps. Just switch back to SMSL SP200 again and I was shocked at much I like it. If just going by this 1st night comparison, I've to give the nod to the SMSL SP200 but it's almost a tie.

 

With the SP200, emphasis is shifted from mid upwards but bass is tight and has impact. v280 emphasis is more from mid downwards but the top end is very revealing and the bottom has more bloom ! I may have stumbled across 2 very polar opposite sounding amp that both appeal to me.

 

However I suspect... suspect very strongly that in the long term listening my ears might get tired from the very revealing tone of the SP200. So... perhaps alternate both amps hahaha. 

[Odyssey]

Ok HD800 is too much with SP200. Just too bright. Might have to mod the HD800 first. Hekse pairs better. In fact Hekse sounds very good out of the SP200 but the gain's too much. Even at low gain, it doesn't take much of the volume knob to make it loud. That and the volume knob are about my only complaints of the SP200.

[Bengineer]

6 minutes ago, Odyssey said:

Ok HD800 is too much with SP200. Just too bright. Might have to mod the HD800 first. Hekse pairs better. In fact Hekse sounds very good out of the SP200 but the gain's too much. Even at low gain, it doesn't take much of the volume knob to make it loud. That and the volume knob are about my only complaints of the SP200.

Give it time, you'll have more

 

[Odyssey]

In between the 2 amps, I plug Hekse back into CMA 12 again and I'm starting to see how these 3 amps differs. 

 

From a tube amp guy, I'm gone full throttle onto solid states and find some appeal there. I might need 3 tube amps and 3 solid states now. 

[Odyssey]

I'm fighting a losing battle trying to love SP200 and to a lesser extend, as I plug Hekse into v280 again and it feels like coming home. My ears don't feel so assaulted anymore. Then I plug Hekse into WA22 and it's like going into a love nest. 

 

I'm back to being a tube amp guy again with the possible exception of v280. 

 

So I've pre-empted the outcome even before Sunday but I'll persevere in my quest.

[virtua]

My AD2000's came from Japan They're unlike anything else I've heard, and kinda hard to explain how they sound but I'll give it a crack !

I think as a baseline, the closest thing I current own sound wise to these would be the HD6xx/650's with both being midfocused and having a slight veil, as well as having a bass roll-off.

 

I think the first thing that I noticed is the relative lack of treble, but whats there is incredibly smooth, dare I say smoother than the HD6xx/650's, I would say the treble is probably at the same level as the HD6xx/650 maybe slightly less. There is less bass than the HD6xx/650 as well, but what is there punches hard, and has incredible extension (for the real deep bass, you can hear it, but not so much feel it). Now to explain the mids, I think the HD6xx/650 has more natural mids, if you've ever heard a Focal (such as a Elegia or Clear) they tend to have this sort of airy more sparkly mid which has more energy in the upper range, where Sennheisers have more of a smoother, more natural, balanced mid. I think the AD2000's have more of a lower mid focus, having what I feel is a lack of upper midrange (opposite to Focals presentation of this range) - which is quite strange as I was under the impression the opposite was true, it does work well for female vocals well but it's not quite as airy and sparkly as people seem to accentuate online, I think both male and female vocals have a focus on this headphone and have good body.

 

One thing that differs quite a bit between the HD650 and the AD2000's, are that the AD2000's are actually really fast, amongst the fastest dynamics I've heard and approaching planar levels of speed, if not, it might even keep up with the Sundara I own, I'll have to test it more to see. But an interesting thing about this, and something that I don't see mentioned in many reviews of this headphone, is that actually makes for a great can for people who like listening to more speedy, technical music like Drum and Bass for example, listening to layered breakbeats you can really hear the strong offbeat grooves - and you can hear each individual drum hit in the loop so clearly. And while it might be a common idea that people who listen to electronic music might rather prefer to have something of the Foster OEM nature (Denon D2000/5000/7000, Fostex etc), due to it's deep bass, I feel the AD2000 does a good job of bass as well, definitely not so much in level, but in the speed, punch and extension.

 

In terms of resolution, this most certainly isn't a critical listening headphone, attempting to not let treble level influence my perception of detail, I honestly feel as if this headphone is only at the level of the HD650, but honestly, the HD650 might give the impression of being more detailed, outside of details resolved by speed, due to the HD650's more overall agreeable tonality - not something that I really expected of a 2000-level Audio Technica.

 

Finally, imaging/soundstage - this has quite a small soundstage, I would say it's smaller than the HD6xx/650 soundstage and comparable to HD58x and possibly even Grado levels of soundstage. Imaging however is quite impressive, which is a typical Audio Technica characteristic. What is there of the small soundstage is quite airy despite the midrange being full-bodied. I don't find the headphones to sound particularly open, sounding less open than even the HD650 and much less than something like a Grado or my Sundaras.

 

Overall, what this headphone does provide is a very easy listening experience, I feel due to a combination of being vocal focused (slightly more than the HD650), and having everything else sit back - with the curious addition of being very fast. Keywords would be: Smooth, fast, vocal forward. This definitely isn't the headphone for critical listening or micro-details, more something you'll put on, kick back and listen to music (particularly more electronic and vocal focused songs). The tonality is quite interesting and something I'm still letting sit in for me, but the easy listening experience has been very welcome so far.

[franky995]

Liquid Platinum warming up. Just picked it up today from our friend Passion for Sound. Looking forward to the review on his channel. Anyone tried one?

Edited January 8, 2021 by franky995

[Odyssey]

No Frank but I would like to try the LP because I'm into amps 

 

[bruc3]

9 minutes ago, virtua said:

My AD2000's came from Japan They're unlike anything else I've heard, and kinda hard to explain how they sound but I'll give it a crack !

 

Thanks for the impressions, definitely not what I was expecting when reading reviews about the AD2000 and also my own experiences with the other AT models.

 

I was expecting you to say it was a very bright headphone with forward upper mid range.  Either way, it sounds like something special.

[franky995]

5 minutes ago, Odyssey said:

No Frank but I would like to try the LP because I'm into amps 

 

Haha that’s a good enough reason Matt! 

[virtua]

4 minutes ago, bruc3 said:

 

Thanks for the impressions, definitely not what I was expecting when reading reviews about the AD2000 and also my own experiences with the other AT models.

 

I was expecting you to say it was a very bright headphone with forward upper mid range.  Either way, it sounds like something special.

 

I can definitely see where you're coming from, I own the A900X as well and I believe it's more of a typical Audio Technica signature where it's very airy, is on the slightly brighter side of things and has more of an upper midrange focus which brings out the air of a vocal. The AD2000 is almost opposite to this which is really interesting. I'll have an AD900X coming through shortly which I should also be able to compare to the AD2000, but I believe the difference will be even more accentuated.

[Odyssey]

Hmmm I'm still loving the SMSL SP200. Can I borrow that AD2000 to try with it?

[Ehrmantraut]

HPA4 is one of the most detailed,  linear and powerful HP/Preamps I've tried. One of the best volume controls ever. So easy to do A-B input changes, makes comparing DACs/HPs seamless. When I had it with X Sabre Pro, so hard to differentiate between that and HMS/TT2. 

[Odyssey]

14 minutes ago, BlueOceanBoy said:

HPA4 is one of the most detailed,  linear and powerful HP/Preamps I've tried. One of the best volume controls ever. So easy to do A-B input changes, makes comparing DACs/HPs seamless. When I had it with X Sabre Pro, so hard to differentiate between that and HMS/TT2. 

 

Thanks and no thanks Neil. I'm trying not to like the HPA4 but I'm listening to another THX 888 amp that is 1/10 the price of the HPA4 but probably 8/10 of it's goodness. Using the AK4490 dac chip of the CMA 12 into SP200 with Hekse is quite a listening experience. I think I will keep it because it's dirt cheap and highly entertaining.

 

Reviews

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/s-m-s-l-sp200-thx-888-amp.24028/reviews#:~:text=SMSL SP200 is built well,RCA and XLR inputs each.

Edited January 8, 2021 by Odyssey

[Odyssey]

There's no doubt the Benchmark HPA4 is highly desirable. That volume knob is legendary and the power this amp produce will drive Susvara no doubt. Tempting.

 

[franky995]

2 minutes ago, Odyssey said:

There's no doubt the Benchmark HPA4 is highly desirable. That volume knob is legendary and the power this amp produce will drive Susvara no doubt. Tempting.

 

You have got a nice knob too (on the V280)!

[Odyssey]

Indeed the v280 volume control is nice and solid but not as good as that on the HPA4.

 

v280 potentiometer is one of the better ones amongst amps.

[Ehrmantraut]

256 relay stepped attenuator on HPA4 - 0.5db increments. Transparent and neutral. 

[Odyssey]

There's just too many nice amps to buy.

 

[Bengineer]

2 hours ago, virtua said:

My AD2000's came from Japan They're unlike anything else I've heard, and kinda hard to explain how they sound but I'll give it a crack !

I think as a baseline, the closest thing I current own sound wise to these would be the HD6xx/650's with both being midfocused and having a slight veil, as well as having a bass roll-off.

 

I think the first thing that I noticed is the relative lack of treble, but whats there is incredibly smooth, dare I say smoother than the HD6xx/650's, I would say the treble is probably at the same level as the HD6xx/650 maybe slightly less. There is less bass than the HD6xx/650 as well, but what is there punches hard, and has incredible extension (for the real deep bass, you can hear it, but not so much feel it). Now to explain the mids, I think the HD6xx/650 has more natural mids, if you've ever heard a Focal (such as a Elegia or Clear) they tend to have this sort of airy more sparkly mid which has more energy in the upper range, where Sennheisers have more of a smoother, more natural, balanced mid. I think the AD2000's have more of a lower mid focus, having what I feel is a lack of upper midrange (opposite to Focals presentation of this range) - which is quite strange as I was under the impression the opposite was true, it does work well for female vocals well but it's not quite as airy and sparkly as people seem to accentuate online, I think both male and female vocals have a focus on this headphone and have good body.

 

One thing that differs quite a bit between the HD650 and the AD2000's, are that the AD2000's are actually really fast, amongst the fastest dynamics I've heard and approaching planar levels of speed, if not, it might even keep up with the Sundara I own, I'll have to test it more to see. But an interesting thing about this, and something that I don't see mentioned in many reviews of this headphone, is that actually makes for a great can for people who like listening to more speedy, technical music like Drum and Bass for example, listening to layered breakbeats you can really hear the strong offbeat grooves - and you can hear each individual drum hit in the loop so clearly. And while it might be a common idea that people who listen to electronic music might rather prefer to have something of the Foster OEM nature (Denon D2000/5000/7000, Fostex etc), due to it's deep bass, I feel the AD2000 does a good job of bass as well, definitely not so much in level, but in the speed, punch and extension.

 

In terms of resolution, this most certainly isn't a critical listening headphone, attempting to not let treble level influence my perception of detail, I honestly feel as if this headphone is only at the level of the HD650, but honestly, the HD650 might give the impression of being more detailed, outside of details resolved by speed, due to the HD650's more overall agreeable tonality - not something that I really expected of a 2000-level Audio Technica.

 

Finally, imaging/soundstage - this has quite a small soundstage, I would say it's smaller than the HD6xx/650 soundstage and comparable to HD58x and possibly even Grado levels of soundstage. Imaging however is quite impressive, which is a typical Audio Technica characteristic. What is there of the small soundstage is quite airy despite the midrange being full-bodied. I don't find the headphones to sound particularly open, sounding less open than even the HD650 and much less than something like a Grado or my Sundaras.

 

Overall, what this headphone does provide is a very easy listening experience, I feel due to a combination of being vocal focused (slightly more than the HD650), and having everything else sit back - with the curious addition of being very fast. Keywords would be: Smooth, fast, vocal forward. This definitely isn't the headphone for critical listening or micro-details, more something you'll put on, kick back and listen to music (particularly more electronic and vocal focused songs). The tonality is quite interesting and something I'm still letting sit in for me, but the easy listening experience has been very welcome so far.

Dude, photos!