what headphones do you own thread - i own dt150's :)

I tested the HiFiMan Arya's briefly, the first thing I noticed is that they are brighter than the Sundara, though I think that is mostly because I swapped the Sundara pads for suede ZMF Auteurs. Soundstage is also noticeably wider.

Comfort out of the box is excellent, loads of room for my ears and they don't get close to touching the drivers. Clamping force feels just right and as it's spread over a larger area with the huge earcups you feel less pressure. In contrast the Sundara was very poor out of the box, too much clamping force and the stock pads were too small and shallow so I had to pad swap and bend the metal headband.

The only negative is that the mesh material on the pads isn't very nice, but it might get softer as they wear in. I'll probably upgrade them if I find something better that doesn't change the sound much.
 
Voarmaks Memory Foam velour pads (in my first pic above) on Amazon, under £20 and wipes the floor with hifiman pads in every single area, also tunes out the brightness.
 
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mrk said:
Voarmaks Memory Foam velour pads (in my first pic above) on Amazon, under £20 and wipes the floor with hifiman pads in every single area, also tunes out the brightness.
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They look a bit cheap and use fake leather like the stock pads. Dekoni make a hybrid pad with sheepskin leather sides and a velour face, but it looks like they change the sound a lot in the measurements, and I wasn't impressed with their Sundara pad. ZMF make a hybrid pad but it uses mesh on the face and I don't know if it will be a better material than stock, hopefully they'll release a version with suede on the face.
 
I've had Dekoni pads before, they are not worth the money given they compromise the sound, especially the leather ones vs just the pure velour ones. The Voarmaks are cheap, but they do not look or feel cheap, the stock hifiman ones are the ones that both look and feel cheap.

You can try the Dekoni if you want, but I've had multiple Dekoni pads and am telling you what I and others have found.
 
mrk said:
I've had Dekoni pads before, they are not worth the money given they compromise the sound, especially the leather ones vs just the pure velour ones. The Voarmaks are cheap, but they do not look or feel cheap, the stock hifiman ones are the ones that both look and feel cheap.

You can try the Dekoni if you want, but I've had multiple Dekoni pads and am telling you what I and others have found.
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I ordered the Voarmaks but delivery is slow so they're probably shipping from China.
 
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Probably, mine took a week to arrive, seems most things are made in China now anyway so is what it is.

So the Arya Stealth definitely sounds warmer through the Topping MX3S than with the XL1, and I suspect the M15I too but I've returned that given both XL1 and M15i sound so identical. amazing how going from 14 ohms to 32 ohms changes the sound characteristics. I've now games and watched a movie on them and for these the Arya Stealth is the same as the Ananda Nano, nice cinematic audio for movies, ad wide spatial imaging for gaming. No issues at all.

I've also ordered a storage box since the zip up shell case on the Nanos will be going with the sale of those. Found a Geekria case on Amazon which looks rather swanky and fitting for the Stealth:


Certainly beats the flimsy travel case that comes with other Hifimans.
 
Just had a pair Of Fostex 610's turn up today. They are definitely more neutral than the Dan clark Aeons that I've had for the last 4 years. They have fairly forward mids compared to the Aeons, good flat bass extension, a small eq brings the sub bass up nicely. Overall they are a really nice non-fatiguing listening experience with a more dominant vocal presentation but overall for me they dont do anything better than the Aeons IMO.
 
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maj said:
Placed an order for HiFiMan HE400se which are on offer at the moment. Never had Planar before but looking forward to seeing how they sound.
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These arrived today. Need to wait till my one year old has gone to bed before I can try them, but does anyone have some recommended media to test them on?
 
maj said:
These arrived today. Need to wait till my one year old has gone to bed before I can try them, but does anyone have some recommended media to test them on?
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Just listen to songs you like first. Don’t fall into the trap of listen to pick out noises you never heard before. Rather listen to music you know and how you feel about them after a period of time.
 
The cable I was using with the Sundara is slightly microphonic with the Arya, I think it's because of the plastic earcups. I ordered this 8 core Openheart cable which is one of the best selling replacements on Aliexpress. I got the 16 core version for the HD 650 which was good, and since there's an 8 core version for HiFiMan I thought I should go for that over the 16 core as it'll be lighter.
 
I bought the mission 778x stereo amp yesterday and the headphone stage sounds pretty fantastic to my ears with my hd650. Was using a stx essence card before this so I think I can pull that the from the pc now.
 
Honestly I’ve really struggled to find better daily’s than the Sennheiser Momentum 4 for me.


I’ve tried the B&O H95, B&W PX8, Bose Quiet Comfort, Sony XM4 and others.



The Momentum 4s just nail the sound for me in a pair of daily’s. Dark, non fatiguing and excellent bass clarity.



I welcome all and any suggestions :)
 
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So a day of having the HE400SE and I'm impressed. I'm left wondering what the difference betwen the two of them on Amazon is though. The one I got is £69 on offer, yet a model that looks exactly the same is £129. The info for the cheaper one states 25 Ohm but the packaging on mine says 32 Ohm like the more expensive one. V1 and a V2? Mine has came with the black cable rather than flimsy white one which makes me think this is a V2. The box also had Chinese writing so maybe the more expensive one is a EU version? Who knows. It also only has 3rd party sellers.
 
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MrRockliffe said:
Honestly I’ve really struggled to find better daily’s than the Sennheiser Momentum 4 for me.


I’ve tried the B&O H95, B&W PX8, Bose Quiet Comfort, Sony XM4 and others.



The Momentum 4s just nail the sound for me in a pair of daily’s. Dark, non fatiguing and excellent bass clarity.



I welcome all and any suggestions :)
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If you like them then might as well stop looking and enjoy them
 
MrRockliffe said:
Yes but what if there’s something better :D
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If the H95 or Px8 don't sound better which I agree on the H95 at least... Not heard the Px8... I would just stop looking. I have the Momentum 3 and they're just excellent vs other anc/wireless HP I've heard.

I believe there are no big gains to be had currently.
 
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