Just came here to update my original review in this thread. I wont edit that one as those impressions were true at the time.
Now I have heard quite a bit more gear and compared them to other closed backs.
I wanna point out for what I paid they’re excellent, and there’s a lot of them on the used market between 400 and 500 dollars, usally in mint condition, for which they are also a great buy.
The good:
Nice wood
Great speed for a dynamic
Nice dynamics and soundstage size
Amazing sub bass rumble
Delightful piano tone
Visceral treble
The bad:
Detail/inst. Separation doesnt match the $650 msrp
Not the cleanest bass tbh
Some instruments/voices sound thin/wonky/artifical or a combination of those
Portability hindered by their build
Good/bad depending on who you ask:
5-7k peak
A little bit of a wall of sound
Recessed lower mids
Shiny but rolled of upper treble
Not gonna lie, the tuning is a bit marcian and I like that, because they are not balanced sounding they do better for unnatural recordings. This is between a w and v shaped tuning, a combination of both.
I have some nightcore recordings were the viscerality of the treble region is just unmatched, also these go really well with edm inspired jpop, the tuning works flawlessly with those mixes.
For all the other genres… Not really: pop, rock, metal, bossa nova, electronic its great but not perfect. Jazz, classical, r&b, vocal, hip hop, it will probably sound wonky in a way or another.
Apart from the electronic japanese stuff, pet shop boys - and the like - is also really good on these. For the rest, not the best, but still a solid product specially when bought used.