General Headphone Chat

[Bengineer]

58 minutes ago, Metal-Fan said:

 

A little background is in order to support my comment I suppose.

 

My preferred genre is metal and the Meze for me (demoed for an hour) is too slow, a little muddy and too smooth. It struggles to keep up. My DT1990's and TRX-00 Ebony's sound better to me for my musical tastes. I would go as far as saying that the Ebony's are just perfect for metal. They knock it out of the ball park. They cost 600.

 

In addition I don't think any headphone is worth 5 grand.

I cannot get around this comment

 

I think to comment on the Empyrean you need to try it for longer. There isn't a single quality of the DT1990 or Ebony that is better than the Emprean, apart from price. Bass quality, resolution, speed, refinement, timbre, tonal balance. All far better on the Empy than either of those ying and yang options.

 

I'm happy youre happy with the Ebony though, thats doing better than most of us down the rabbithole. I should have stopped at the 6XX and Bottlehead Crack.

 

I listen to a lot of metal and heavy too, Empy does just fine. The D8000 Pro with EQ was better, but didn't have the comfort of the Empyrean and *needed* EQ. Emprean does ok without.

[sakabatou]

5 hours ago, Metal-Fan said:

A little background is in order to support my comment I suppose.

 

My preferred genre is metal and the Meze for me (demoed for an hour) is too slow, a little muddy and too smooth. It struggles to keep up.

 

<snip>

 

3 hours ago, Bengineer said:

I cannot get around this comment

 

I think to comment on the Empyrean you need to try it for longer. There isn't a single quality of the DT1990 or Ebony that is better than the Emprean, apart from price. Bass quality, resolution, speed, refinement, timbre, tonal balance. All far better on the Empy than either of those ying and yang options.

 

<snip>

I wonder whether the amp used to drive the Empyreans for your demo contributed to your impression?

Edited April 15, 2021 by sakabatou

[Bengineer]

I think when you get so used to your own headphones for so long, it takes more than an hour to realise what it is.

 

Like people rave about the Argon MK2 or MK3 models, the T50p mod. It has impressive bass impact, but damn its hard to enjoy past that

[Metal-Fan]

On 15/04/2021 at 3:22 PM, Bengineer said:

thats doing better than most of us down the rabbithole.

Mate, I very nearly went down that hole, got to the precipice, was going to jump wallet first, then I found myself!!

Edited April 16, 2021 by Metal-Fan

[Bengineer]

6 minutes ago, Metal-Fan said:

Mate, I very nearly went down that hole, got to the precipice, was going to jump wallet first, then I found myself!!

 

That's no criticism of you great people, it was then I found that I was a pragmatist and that nobody was reinventing the wheel.

If Audeze was trying to reinvent the wheel it would weight 200kg.

[Kevy]

On 06/04/2021 at 7:12 AM, Bengineer said:

Alright alright. Once all the crap comes, will make myself the following;

 

1.3m to 1.4m 4-wire silver plated litz braided cable (have copper litz coming too)

Furutech or Rean 4pin Mini XLR (Empyrean) - Furutech looks nicer, but ultimately they sound the same for a large difference in price

Heatshrink splitter to keep as light as possible

4.4mm Pentaconn @ amp end (copmact balanced, but not near impossible to solder like the 2.5mm trrs ones)

 

Then a 4.4mm female socket to 4pin XLR adapter, 20-30cm long

And a 4.4mm female socket to 6.35mm stereo adapter, either straight or right angled plug depending on what tube amp I get

And then maybe a 3.5mm version of the main cable for the Z1R, but thats less important

 

Then you end up with a shorter cable with 4.4mm for running off a DAP on holiday or on the lounge, and the two adapters to leave plugged into your main amps, without the bulk of the 4pin XLR to 4pin Female XLR setup

 

I had figured out how to do the above using Lemo (or Hirose) connectors, keeping it balanced and lightweight and compact, but then figured whats the point, just use 4.4mm then you have a working cable from the get go.

 

Yes please! I have the shorter Meze cable with the 3.5mm termination. But for some reason, their silver cable (which is 4 pin XLR) is just super long it hangs on the floor. Shorter cables are cheaper too. How do you find the sound going to Silver plated Litz braided vs copper vs Meze's OEM cable?

 

I've said it before but the Empy's scale and (like all TOTL headphones) can be source / DAC dependent. It's about the entire chain, not just the headphone at the end. No, you're not going to get Utopian clarity and wide, detailed soundstage of the HD800S. But as an all rounder, the Empy's do remarkably well. My preferred pairing for the Empyrean is currently the Hugo2/2Go setup with ROON. They sounded amazing from the 430HAD also, warmer and more musical. The latter pairing would go better with rock/heavier music styles.

Edited April 15, 2021 by Dr_Kevy

[Bengineer]

I have thought about giving the 2.5m upgrade cable the snip snip. Make a shorter cable and several adapter ends.

[Bengineer]

Being in the construction industry, it is important for me to protect my hearing onsite. That is why, the incoming products are NOT hifi, but are ear protection. Make sense @rand129678 ?

[rand129678]

19 minutes ago, Bengineer said:

Being in the construction industry, it is important for me to protect my hearing onsite. That is why, the incoming products are NOT hifi, but are ear protection. Make sense @rand129678 ?

 

Expense Claim APPROVED.

 

(A bit of a dodgy approval since all your 'hearing protection' appear to be open-back but these are just details... we won't tell HSE hey !)

Edited April 16, 2021 by rand129678

[Bengineer]

18 minutes ago, rand129678 said:

 

Expense Claim APPROVED.

 

(A bit of a dodgy approval since all your 'hearing protection' appear to be open-back but these are just details... we won't tell HSE hey !)

Ah, didn't you read the purchase order.

 

64 Audio U12T and UM Mest Mk2. Going to A/B them to find out which one offers the most hearing protection.

Edited April 16, 2021 by Bengineer

[rand129678]

2 minutes ago, Bengineer said:

64 Audio U12T and UM Mest Mk2

 

Looks legit to me.

[Bengineer]

The 64 Audio offer a M15 (residential construction) and M20 (heavy industry) hearing protection modules.

[seadog]

I made the mistake of listening to the Hifiman Susvara yesterday. The best sound I’ve yet heard from headphones.

 

Now trying to work out how to get a pair. The amp they run it off for the demo. was a SPL Phonitor Xe and they adjusted a dip switch under it to , I assume, give it more grunt/headroom.

I’m running a GSX-Mini, enough amp for a Susvara or am I looking at the GSX big brother - the GSX - as a minimum for these ? I’ll eventually get the Chord Hugo TT2 and if the 6.3mm output won’t drive them , the XLR amp. output surely would ?

Edited April 21, 2021 by seadog

[Ehrmantraut]

11 minutes ago, seadog said:

I made the mistake of listening to the Hifiman Susvara yesterday. The best sound I’ve yet heard from headphones.

 

Now trying to work out how to get a pair. The amp they run it off for the demo. was a SPL Phonitor Xe and they adjusted a dip switch under it to , I assume, give it more grunt/headroom.

I’m running a GSX-Mini, enough amp for a Susvara or am I looking at the GSX big brother - the GSX - as a minimum for these ? I’ll eventually get the Chord Hugo TT2 and if the 6.3mm output won’t drive them , the XLR amp. output surely would ?

Hey Seadog,

There's some great info on Headphone community  https://forum.headphones.com/t/hifiman-susvara-over-ear-planar-headphone-official-thread/2293 and Head-Fi.org on amp pairings for Susvara. Plenty of amps will drive them but only a few will drive them well. YMMV.

 

[seadog]

Ah, cheers for that, I shall reserve a spare few hours to read up.

[Ehrmantraut]

17 minutes ago, seadog said:

Ah, cheers for that, I shall reserve a spare few hours to read up.

Let us know what you're thinking of settling on - lots of views here!

[Bengineer]

2 hours ago, seadog said:

I made the mistake of listening to the Hifiman Susvara yesterday. The best sound I’ve yet heard from headphones.

 

Now trying to work out how to get a pair. The amp they run it off for the demo. was a SPL Phonitor Xe and they adjusted a dip switch under it to , I assume, give it more grunt/headroom.

I’m running a GSX-Mini, enough amp for a Susvara or am I looking at the GSX big brother - the GSX - as a minimum for these ? I’ll eventually get the Chord Hugo TT2 and if the 6.3mm output won’t drive them , the XLR amp. output surely would ?

Silly man. 

 

@kior22 - Any input on Susvara pairings?

[Kevy]

Did you listen to them out of the 430HAD? The 230 didn’t drive them well enough. The phonitor I thought wasn’t as clean and warmer than I like (that said, I was listening to Utopia also) and think you can get a much better amp. 
 

Driven well, susvara are the best headphone I’ve auditioned. Driven badly, even from a $3000 amp without enough grunt, they are “hmm I can do better” GSX mini will probably drive them but I don’t know how well ... 

 

Chord TT2 is a serious investment! 
 

Sorry for encouraging you to listen to the Susvara. I’m also contemplating a pair. I was going to bring my WA11 and Hugo2 in and see how badly they sound out of them. But I see a Naim or Simaudio amp in my Future.  Has anyone even tried the Susvara in a transportable setup. 

Edited April 21, 2021 by Dr_Kevy

[Bengineer]

8 minutes ago, Dr_Kevy said:

.  Has anyone even tried the Susvara in a transportable setup. 

Not yet, I tend to take my 1266 on the train, and my HE-1 to the beach.

[Ccollins]

5 hours ago, seadog said:

I made the mistake of listening to the Hifiman Susvara yesterday. The best sound I’ve yet heard from headphones.

 

Now trying to work out how to get a pair. The amp they run it off for the demo. was a SPL Phonitor Xe and they adjusted a dip switch under it to , I assume, give it more grunt/headroom.

I’m running a GSX-Mini, enough amp for a Susvara or am I looking at the GSX big brother - the GSX - as a minimum for these ? I’ll eventually get the Chord Hugo TT2 and if the 6.3mm output won’t drive them , the XLR amp. output surely would ?

I have read that (generally) the gsx mini runs the susvara fine. Not fantastic or superb but fine/well. 
i am guessing the bigger brother would better as it has more power. But is it maybe due for a makeover?

 

the bakoon 13r gets some very favourable mentions on headfi. 
 

i found the v280 lacking in power for it. 
 

my niimbus us4 has me very happy with my susvara and i am not in search of another amp. Though that it the money expensive amp that i have ever heard so my comparisons are minimal. 
 

project86 (john granberg) on headfi , when reviewing the niimbus says that that is the best amp that he has heard with the susvara - that causes me to eventually buy it. 

[Bengineer]

How many people have the Susvara!

 

Haven't even seen one in real life

[seadog]

7 hours ago, Bengineer said:

Silly man. 

Hahahaha, yep.

 

One of those “so much to love and absolutely nothing to dislike”moment with them. And that was with the SPL and the built in SPL DAC, so not exactly a mega buck system driving it either. 

[Kevy]

A2A had a Susvara on demo. That had seen a lot of use. Whilst build quality doesn’t seem up there for the price (it’s kind of like retro) my initial impressions were “there is nothing wrong with it”. it just did everything well. 
 

if it wasn’t the fact I didn’t have anything to drive it with, I’d have bought them on the spot. 
 

oh, and CFO approval. 
 

Empyreans out of SP2000 with a balanced 4.4mm adapter ... reminds me how underpowering planars can be disappointing. Volume is fine. But the extra power just opens them up magnificently which the SP2000 can’t do. Unless you had heard better, you wouldn’t realise. The same analogy probably applies to Susvara. 

Only took me 5 minutes to unplug everything and switch the Hugo2 on with the Empy’s. It’s an instant step up in clarity, detail, separation, control. Well everything. Whilst not LCD4 or Susvara level, it’s 80-90% of the way there. 

edit: Hotel California on 192khz is magnificent. 

 

edit 2: Plug the SP2000 4.4mm analogue output (as a DAC/AMP headphone signal) into the WA11 and it's sublime in driving the Empyreans. They really do scale with a good amp, despite their on paper easy drivability.

Edited April 25, 2021 by Dr_Kevy

[ColdsnapBry]

Will this 220v headphone amplifier work in NZ? Options are 110V or 220V..

[Ccollins]

5 minutes ago, ColdsnapBry said:

Will this 220v headphone amplifier work in NZ? Options are 110V or 220V..

Should be good to go

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AS/NZS_3112