General Headphone Audio

Angst said:
K13 by a lot
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Ah, nevermind. Found a pic

lhdEsn9.jpg


Also, did you see this? What is it?

6QLnIYQ.jpg
 
Starvald said:
I'm interested in the k13 r2r, likely won't buy it, but hopefully I can convince a mate who loves his k11 r2r to upgrade, so I can have a listen. How did you find the k15 and k17 sound?

I've never been sure on the Hifiman stuff, too many people having quality control issues doesn't help. Still that sort of stuff is prone to selection bias, as we're tuned to negative reports more, and people who have negative experiences are way more vocal.

As for DCA, I wanted to try the Stealth when they first came out, as I was interested in the technology, but that price! I'd heard about the Stealth/Expanse being a marmite thing. Also heard your observation on the E3 as well, although I think I'd get along with it. I've had my pair of Noire XO for a week now, and your thought on it being a bit more aggressive than the closed back version, might fit into DMS from the headphone show review of it, as he thought there was a slightly spicy treble. I'm really liking this headphone though.
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Glad I'm not wildly off from others opinions then, I was very tempted to walk out with a pair of noir x with the 20% show discount.

K15/17 sounded fine, nothing obviously out of place but in that kind of show you can't notice any subtle details really.
 
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Ayahuasca said:
It's good to hear that you preferred the HE600 out of their entire range. I’ll be very tempted to buy them, provided the price isn't too high over here. It might have to be an AliExpress purchase!
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Build quality wasn't incredible though, the cups could be flexed inwards with a gentle push and the new headband isn't amazing.
 
Angst said:
Sat eating lunch after leaving canjam, I managed to try everything I wanted to and most things matched with my expectations.

Fiio:
K15/k17 - not as physically large as expected but very beautiful design and great screen, the touch interface works well. 5 gain modes seems excessive though. When running the ft1 pro on the top gain setting the k15 was at 60%, when advertising 3w of power something seemsoff.
K13 r2r - fixes all issues i had with the k11 r2r sound, soundstage is now how it should be etc, I compared them side by side for a while. It's physically much larger aswell.
Ft1 pro - bought these and returned them despite liking them previously, listening at the show with everything else there just reinforced how good they are.

Their little retro snowsky dap is just ewaste nostalgia bait, control are fiddly, it feels cheap and tatty and the display is crap. Worse than just using my phone in ever way possible.


Hifiman
Listened to the entire range they had, really confirmed for me that their current sound signature is just slightly too harsh, I don't find vocals sound natural. The arya organic were less harsh than the standard arya but it was only slight.
The new he600 and edition xv were both very good and I think more natural sounding, my preference out of their entire modern range was the he600 however the round ear cups were too small for my ears and not overly comfortable.


Dan clark

Expanse - feels like the pair there must have been broken, for a 4k price tag they were just crap, really bloomy bass and overly harsh treble. Very track dependent, some sounded great on them others awful.

E3 - not bad, a bit boring and nothing really stood out about them.

Noire x - tonally a perfect match fornmj preferences, just vey well balanced and open sounding for a closed back.

Noire x open - a bit more aggressive than the noire x but that could just be because they are open and its not the quietest environment.

Aeon 2 - tonally very similar to my original aeons, probably not worth it as an upgrade.

Topping
Dx5 2 - absolutely tiny unit, sounded fine, screens not amazing.


Caveat here that its obviously not the best environment for open backs and only short auditions.
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Very interesting musings, I'm very interested in the HE600, was that pre-production model you tried or final product do you know?
 
I've seen the CanJam photos posted of the new HiFiman headphone designs, have to say they look cheap with that new earcup design, it looks very un-HiFiman if that makes sense. They've pulled a BMW with modern styling.

Raymond Lin said:
@mrk I just got shipping notification for the i5!!!
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Same, Looks like EVRI will be getting it shortly, and as I predicted, delivery will take place when I am away on holiday lol.

At least I have all next week off to listen to it.
 
Bought the Capra strap for my Edition XS as people rave about them a lot.

It's good but for it to fit on my head I need to MAX out the headphone and then I feel like it is putting pressure on top of my head. Going to return it. At least I tried and it's not for me.
 
Angst said:
Could try a full headband replacement if you're feeling adventurous.
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I will probably live with it because the i5 is on the way now and I forsee those will be my main pair I leave on my desk. Plus I don't find it uncomfortable without it, it's just very slippery on my head and thought more surface area would help.
 
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I think I want to go back to Sony's XMs, tried the XM6s at an airport and they were great - plus the call quality was far better than my XM4s and current Bose QCs.

That damn price though.
 
I don't think the XM6 is worth twice the amount over the XM4, and I would ignore the XM5 completely, pretend that doesn't exist.

The XM6 is better....but not £200 better.
 
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