đź”· ESS Laboratories 422H

This is the official thread for the ESS 422H

This thread is for discussion and reviews.

  • Type: Over Ear
  • Amp Recommended: Yes
  • Closed Back

:red_circle: Hifiguides Amazon Link

[Reviews]

Z Reviews

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These are on sale at Drop for 125$ right now. On Zeos patreon chat someone has them and says they sound great. It has a AMT tweeter. Let me say that again: IT HAS A AMT TWEETER! Also a dynamic driver. so a 2 driver headphone. on sale at drop. Thing is if you watch Zeos video you need to get some pads for it and the ones he suggests are not cheap. about 40$.

So what do you guys think? does anyone have these? Are they worth it? cause i’m on the verge of buying them.

What exactly is an AMT driver anyway?

Air Motion Transformer, similar to a ribbon or planar driver kinda (sometime amt is referred to folded ribbon but it’s not exactly the same). Typically used for tweeters or midrange

Ahhh okay. Any other headphone use this tech?

The HEDD Heddphone is a big one, it’s typically more in speakers though because it’s harder to implement in headphones.

Yeah I was talking to zeos about this ESS set a month or so ago before I got the 280 pros and I asked how they are for a treble sensitive person like myself and he said the highs can get up there, so that for me is a no go.

Zeos left it kind of vague in his review. He was praising the Triple’s imaging and highs against the 422, but at the end said “if you have $250 and want closed backs, these are a great way to go”. I already have the Triples, and am curious about the 422s. They’re $125 right now on Drop, the same price Drop gets the Triples for, but considering they also need new pads, I don’t want to invest more in a new headphone to try out, if it’s gonna be a disappointment. If the sound signatures are completely different, though, and both are worth owning I’m open to that

They’re on drop again for $125. Worth it?

I already have an extra set of Shure 1540’s, and I’ve been interested in these for a long time - took the plunge today.

There’s very little discussion on these here, but I’m hopeful they’re a good platform for modding with good potential. I have a pair of old AKG K340 I’m a fan of — so I’m hoping for a glimmer of that magic, and not afraid of the downsides.

Has anyone had successes with these cans?

Burning in. 1540’s put on immediately, original pads have tiny opening - a joke.
Beautiful with these on. Quite clampy, trying to absolve some of that. The cable is not as woody wonderful as the initial run seemed to be. The headphone-side jack does have a small wood adorned plug on it. There is an inline mic as well.

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I got mine a couple of days ago, decided to try them stock for about 2 days to see if I’d actually like them - it’s true that they’re muddy, but I heard the potential like many others. got the 1540’s today and there was a huge difference. super happy with everything so far, and surprisingly more bass than I thought it would have

I spent some time with these about a week and a half ago. Took some rough notes, but now not as fresh in mind. Highly recommended. I did subtly EQ these, which I think they respond well to. Listening was done predominantly with Modi3/Magni3 and some ddHifi dongle. Provided plenty of burn-in ahead of time.

Pros:
Good level of detail retrieval, instrument separation.
These are “fast”, well-resolving.
Easy-to-power.
STRONG low-end, likely the most potent extension and punch of cans I have.
Wasn’t expecting this, I am not a bass-head, but I can’t imagine wanting much more.
Drums, bass guitar perform well.
Horns generally sound great as well.
Vocal tonality is solid in a vacuum, before comparing I felt they weren’t particularly recessed.
Has shimmer and sparkle, but never hard to me.
Good vertical staging.
The amount of pivot/adjustment let’s you really dial in the angle/fit of ear cups.
Feeling of quality of built is high, zero issues. Look fantastic with Shure 1540 pads.
Works particularly well for complicated passages. A closed-back for orchestra?
Portability, comes with a shortish mic-cable, extremely isolating.

Cons:
YOU MUST CHANGE ITS EARPADS.
Clampy and heavy. Some time on a block definitely wore them in well.
I’m impervious to top-head discomfort that seems to afflict others in many cans:
I can imagine this heft and no tension-band bothering some, but that’s simply a guess.
The imaging across its stage comes across a bit “three-blob” familiar to Senn 6-series users.
However, the separation within your blobs is impressive!
I don’t use a lot of closed-backs, so the horizontal sound stage felt fairly tight, but not distressingly.
I have not ID’d what it is, but guitars are my least favorite individual instrument on these.
Coming from a lot of mid-centric open-back cans, a preference for me, the vocal range is definitely recessed if tonally satisfactory.
Can really use subtle EQ. Guessing on how FR would present, I’d say the upper-bass bleeds a bit into the lower mid-range. The mid-bass punch seems a touch much for me.
I VERY GENTLY EQ, and this like always is a work in-progress, but is unmistakably an improvement for me.

Transitioning to Shure 1540 (headphones, not pads) directly after the first thing I noticed was how mellow it those are. They’re slow by comparison, and seem a bit flatter and less dynamic.
ESS 422H - EQ

Looking at all the multi-driver devices in IEMs, and experiencing these and my vintage AKG K340 — I feel like there is a good future for implementing multi-way headphones. Surprising there is not more. I kind of love these cans, unique - a pity that ~1% of users will ever mod the pads. This terrible choice by manufacturer will ensure a small user base. I’m sure additional mods could continue to improve the platform.

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