thanks very much, that is a big help to know
General Headphone Audio
- Thread starter garyfl
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thanks very much, that is a big help to know
Did see that the Moondrop Old Fashioned were 10% off and ordered a pair which turned up today. Only £22.49 so had limited expectations which they have blown past. Have been eying up Porta Pros for a while so these were on my radar. My hope with a super lightweight pair like this is that they might be nicer in the summer and quite useful on the portables; Steam Deck, Switch etc.
Sound wise they are relative neutral, some warmth, very little bass, but with some a nice balance in the mids and treble. Not particularly bright. I weighed them at 71g on the scales so super lightweight which is great. Extremely comfortable. With the 0.78 2pin connectors, ear pads and removable drivers/headband there's room to mod and customise. With a quick go at gaming on the PS5 via the Dualsense and they worked well. Solid soundstage, details, imaging etc.
Sound wise they are relative neutral, some warmth, very little bass, but with some a nice balance in the mids and treble. Not particularly bright. I weighed them at 71g on the scales so super lightweight which is great. Extremely comfortable. With the 0.78 2pin connectors, ear pads and removable drivers/headband there's room to mod and customise. With a quick go at gaming on the PS5 via the Dualsense and they worked well. Solid soundstage, details, imaging etc.
Yea, sounds like it. I think the Porta Pro probably have a better FR. That said these might be better from a comfort pov because they don't have that sliding headband that can catch your hair. Probably same as the Koss KPH40's in that regards.
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Lmao the Egret's case is more butt in person than in photos but here have a look 
As for the headphones, will listen when I sit down in an hour but the build quality shames any HifiMan at any price. This has the heft and visual aesthetic of the LCD-5 but without the creaky joints the LCD-5 has, and whilst the wood grain isn't polished like the LCD-5, the wood feels thicker. The pads are memory foam with what feels like actual leather (probably vegan leather) sidewalls and really soft micromesh contact surface.The headband suspension strap padding and material is SUPER soft and supple, it again puts the Hifiman and Audeze straps to shame.
If I was handed both HE1000se and Egret and asked which looks and feels more expensive I would say Egret.
The cable is stock 4.4mm with 3.5mm cup ends but note that the plugs are single poled and multi-poled cables will not work, my Fosi and Tripowin etc cables do not work which is exactly what I found with the other Sivga lower models. The Egret cable works on my other headphones though. Thankfully the cable is amazing quality too and basically identical build quality to the LCD-5 cable but with better quality terminations.
How is something like this selling at £700 odd and comes with this level of craftsmanship and accessories whilst Sennheiser/HifiMan etc will demand £1500+ and offer a lower package??
I hope the sound matches the build....
Will get close-up pics of the wood and grille etc later on.
As for the headphones, will listen when I sit down in an hour but the build quality shames any HifiMan at any price. This has the heft and visual aesthetic of the LCD-5 but without the creaky joints the LCD-5 has, and whilst the wood grain isn't polished like the LCD-5, the wood feels thicker. The pads are memory foam with what feels like actual leather (probably vegan leather) sidewalls and really soft micromesh contact surface.The headband suspension strap padding and material is SUPER soft and supple, it again puts the Hifiman and Audeze straps to shame.
If I was handed both HE1000se and Egret and asked which looks and feels more expensive I would say Egret.
The cable is stock 4.4mm with 3.5mm cup ends but note that the plugs are single poled and multi-poled cables will not work, my Fosi and Tripowin etc cables do not work which is exactly what I found with the other Sivga lower models. The Egret cable works on my other headphones though. Thankfully the cable is amazing quality too and basically identical build quality to the LCD-5 cable but with better quality terminations.
How is something like this selling at £700 odd and comes with this level of craftsmanship and accessories whilst Sennheiser/HifiMan etc will demand £1500+ and offer a lower package??
I hope the sound matches the build....
Will get close-up pics of the wood and grille etc later on.
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Caporegime
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OOOh, I want! I love a bit of wood on my head.
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This was a fun evening actually with the X8's AI PEQ because what I found was the Egret shared quite a bit of sonic traits with the LCD-5. Out of the box in NOS/bypass mode it sounds better than the LCD-5 but has a very similar presentation of mids and upper end range, the soundstage is brought closer to my head as well whilst still imaging wide.
In music (any genre really), hi-hats for example have a veiled presentation instead of being sparkly and intricately detailed with natural decay like they are even on my old Arya Stealth. Female vocals sound good but male vocals seem to lose organic timbre because of the veil and there is also loss of sparkle. I don't get the sense of air between mids and upper mids.
In many songs the HD600 actually sounds more musical and the bass is not as impactful as I was expecting on the Egret either given they are planars, the FiiO JT7 costs £100-ish and has better sub-bass tuning... The HD600 does a better job at resolving sub-bass extension vs the Egret as a result, though the Egret has better mid-bass although only when other instruments are not occupying the same mid-range zone otherwise I feel like things are a little congested. Layering and placement isn't as articulate as any of the other headphones already mentioned.
I read plenty of reviews of the Egret already and all of them praise the sonic character claiming it to be laid back and even organic/neutral, I am not seeing (hearing) that here and I'm pairing with transparent headphone amps and highly resolving (but smooth/warm and spacious) DACs.
Music just feels too spacially compressed as a result of these observations.
I then thought why not check out PEQing them using the X8's AI:
This helped a noticeable amount, but the sparkle wasn't quite where I wanted it to be, so updated the AI:
Which gave:
This was now much better, but still not perfect, and just like with the LCD-5, there is no escaping the factory tuning, this seems to be the house-sound for Sivga/Sendy as the SV021 Pro closed backs (dynamic) I had sent recently also shared some characteristics of this tuning. Though the bass of those is way more impactful than the Egret!
So whilst these look, feel and come presented like £700 headphones should, they don't sound as natural and musical as even the £550 Arya Stealth which I am hugely fond of. I won't even bother mentioning how they compare to the HE1000se as it's night and day. Maybe I am expecting too much from £700? The cost is obviously going on the handmade wood craftsmanship and overall package, but at £700+ I expect the sound to match the price tag since cheaper headphones are beating it on sound, even if they are not built to the same standard. Maybe the Arya Stealth and above have spoiled me.
Some detail pics:
As much as we all poke fun at Hifiman's quality control/build quality/aesthetics/lack of accessories for the price (oh yeah the HE600 is the closest competitor to the Egret) they get one thing right at least, factory tuning, at least the previous models anyway as I've not heard the new ones yet
I rated the SV021 Pro a 4/10, I feel the Egret does a better job, but for its price it should be much better still. I think a 6/10 is fair here.
I think whoever is in charge of signing off on the factory tuning needs to have a rethink
In music (any genre really), hi-hats for example have a veiled presentation instead of being sparkly and intricately detailed with natural decay like they are even on my old Arya Stealth. Female vocals sound good but male vocals seem to lose organic timbre because of the veil and there is also loss of sparkle. I don't get the sense of air between mids and upper mids.
In many songs the HD600 actually sounds more musical and the bass is not as impactful as I was expecting on the Egret either given they are planars, the FiiO JT7 costs £100-ish and has better sub-bass tuning... The HD600 does a better job at resolving sub-bass extension vs the Egret as a result, though the Egret has better mid-bass although only when other instruments are not occupying the same mid-range zone otherwise I feel like things are a little congested. Layering and placement isn't as articulate as any of the other headphones already mentioned.
I read plenty of reviews of the Egret already and all of them praise the sonic character claiming it to be laid back and even organic/neutral, I am not seeing (hearing) that here and I'm pairing with transparent headphone amps and highly resolving (but smooth/warm and spacious) DACs.
Music just feels too spacially compressed as a result of these observations.
I then thought why not check out PEQing them using the X8's AI:
This helped a noticeable amount, but the sparkle wasn't quite where I wanted it to be, so updated the AI:
Which gave:
This was now much better, but still not perfect, and just like with the LCD-5, there is no escaping the factory tuning, this seems to be the house-sound for Sivga/Sendy as the SV021 Pro closed backs (dynamic) I had sent recently also shared some characteristics of this tuning. Though the bass of those is way more impactful than the Egret!
So whilst these look, feel and come presented like £700 headphones should, they don't sound as natural and musical as even the £550 Arya Stealth which I am hugely fond of. I won't even bother mentioning how they compare to the HE1000se as it's night and day. Maybe I am expecting too much from £700? The cost is obviously going on the handmade wood craftsmanship and overall package, but at £700+ I expect the sound to match the price tag since cheaper headphones are beating it on sound, even if they are not built to the same standard. Maybe the Arya Stealth and above have spoiled me.
Some detail pics:
As much as we all poke fun at Hifiman's quality control/build quality/aesthetics/lack of accessories for the price (oh yeah the HE600 is the closest competitor to the Egret) they get one thing right at least, factory tuning, at least the previous models anyway as I've not heard the new ones yet
I rated the SV021 Pro a 4/10, I feel the Egret does a better job, but for its price it should be much better still. I think a 6/10 is fair here.
I think whoever is in charge of signing off on the factory tuning needs to have a rethink
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As much as we all poke fun at Hifiman's quality control/build quality/aesthetics/lack of accessories for the price (oh yeah the HE600 is the closest competitor to the Egret) they get one thing right at least, factory tuning, at least the previous models anyway as I've not heard the new ones yet
I rated the SV021 Pro a 4/10, I feel the Egret does a better job, but for its price it should be much better still. I think a 6/10 is fair here.
I think whoever is in charge of signing off on the factory tuning needs to have a rethink
"they get one thing right at least, factory tuning,"
Now there's a subjective claim about Hifiman if ever I've heard one.
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Caporegime
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Sticking with my i5 I guess!
For me, they make my ears bleed, far too much treble with the stock tuning. The arya's for example, sound kind of metallic and artificial. Makes female vocals sound all wrong to me. From the descriptions and measurements of the egrets, my ears would probably love them.
Hmm what amp/DAC combo do you have again out of interest? I suspect it's the pairing at play because the only time I experienced this was when I had the DX5 II (ESS) and the Fiio K7 (THX-AAA) - All the rest have been less geared toward analytical and more smoothness and warmth which the Hifimans have been great with in relation to my sound taste.
Though going by all reviews I don't think I would like the newer models that have gone a different sound signature direction and lost some of that upper end elevation as well as soundstaging :/
Though going by all reviews I don't think I would like the newer models that have gone a different sound signature direction and lost some of that upper end elevation as well as soundstaging :/
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Its not the amp/dac its just my ears and preferences. I heard most of their current range at canjam across the full range of their DACs. Currently I own the HE6SEv2 and its far too bright at stock for me but with eq pulling down the treble they are up there with best things I've ever heard. I used to own the he-500's and he-400i's and it was a similar story with the 400i's , although the he-500's weren't as bad for it.
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Caporegime
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Sounds like you will love the ZMF. I didn't use headphones for about a week since that day I had a play with the AI PEQ and 2 nights ago I used it again and the sudden realisation of how lucky I am to have such good gear and take stock of the fact that I can't be chasing "better". This is peak on so many levels, one of them is comfort.
The sound out of both i5 and Bokeh are smooth enough that I can fall asleep listening to them.
But sounds like these Sendy would be worth a listen at least, providing they fit my large head.
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Yeah, I would love a pair of ZMF's, I'm just too cheap.
I don't think I've ever spent more than 350 on a pair.I feel the same with the HE1000se and DAC/amp combo, ok the headphone amps are transparent so they are not adding or taking anything away but they still matter to be able to efficiently drive headphones without clipping at high volume etc leaving the DAC to apply colour accordingly to my own preference thankfully using just factory tuning alone without EQ needed.
It's nice getting these other headphones in to be able to sample them and compare though, it has certainly highlighted the massive chasm that exists in pricing vs sound vs material quality regardless of brand name. I also think going to HE1000se in such a short space of time has spoiled me somewhat because a lot of other headphones just don't compare on a combo of sound quality and comfort it would seem regardless of price or popularity. For example those with deep pockets praise the Susvara OG, yet I found them to be not that comfortable due to the round ear cups and thin pads compared to the eggs, and the sound isn't 4 figures better than the HE1000se either lol. At least the price difference between say Arya Stealth and HE1000se is more justifiable vs the thousands more the Susvara costs vs the HE1000se. And although the HD800S are price-aligned with HE1000se, I didn't find them to sound that great due to a harsh high end and cheap feeling construction at this price.
The AI PEQ has added a new dimension in fine tuning to see if headphones or speakers can be tweaked to suit my preference as well or if EQing doesn't help the factory tuning completely which is what I've discovered both here with the Egret, SV021 Pro and LCD-5. I'm not too versed in manually tweaking PEQs either so being shown and told exactly what's what via the normal language prompts and results is really handy to then go in after an tweak bands based on what is then understood - A step in the right direction for sure.
I also suspect ZMFs feel as good as the Egret, though no idea on how they sound, I will keep an eye out for a pair one day to check out I guess.
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Caporegime
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I hope they have some stock to sell at CanJam in London, I plan to go this year. A new pair of Atrium is definitely on the cards!
Caporegime
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Sure, I need to get a ticket too. I am going to a friend's birthday party who lives in west London the night before so I will be in the area, unless something that I need to head home in the morning, I plan to go to CanJam first before heading home.
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I've not heard Hifiman's, ZMF's, or more expensive headphone models. Although I think part of that is me being very budget conscious and a gamer first and foremost before categorising myself as an audiophile. That said @mrk sentence stood out in that I can quite imagine the above. I also imagine that margin's and what you actually get as you spend 4-figure sums can sometimes take the mickey. But interesting conversation because I've been thinking of whether there is a need to buy anything next, or actually put money towards a better tube set-up (given that I love the 6x0 line).
One thing the Old Fashioned cemented last night is that you don't need to spend a lot when it comes to gaming. These £23 headphones plugged into the Dualsense are really solid for gaming. You just don't need to spend a lot and also comfort is really underrated and my own suspicion is weight is a major contribution for me. Something a lot or these more expensive audio headphones are guilty off, i.e. being chonkers. Although I can quite imagine I'd probably love those ZMF's too particularly as they pair well with tubes.
I did read CanJam is end of June so maybe I should also go.
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