Ha well the smallest variation in hole size or depth of pads will make a pretty significant difference. Just look at zmf. He has the universe. The the verite which is basically a flatter universe with more neutral tone, then he even made the be-2 verite which is basically in the middle of the two. I bet looking at them it would be easily to confuse them, but they make pretty dramatic changes. You may be surprised. You may like them more with any one of the other pads. 
Waiting for everyone to praise them then m0n to get a pair and drop a big meh on everybody lol
Yeah i think the leather pads will give them more bass. The pads they came with might reduce the shouty mids but i would like to have more bass
That being said, Iād obviously give time with the stock ones while the drivers burn in. But itāll be interesting to see how the sound changes with the others.
I would be curious to hear one eventually
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Yeah leather will likely be for you them. The bigger hole ones could have an impact as well. Giving the sound more room to play.
Same. Iāll keep an eye out. I think theyād at the very least be a fun pair to mod and take apart even. Low risk if theyāre purchased at 130 or less.
Alright. Sit rep.
I thought I would have to burn the Helios for 50 hours before it corrected itself. Failing that, I got a dud pair. Thankfully none of that applies. There was a marked change in sound signature even after 3-4 hours of playtime, I still left it to burn for 12 hours.
So sound post burn-in. The richness is still there, but the veil is somehow lifted and the mids and highs come in clearly now. The muted detail I experienced before has been replaced with micro details I enjoy when picking out those little things in songs. I still feel that vocals are a bit recessed, especially since the highs can be sharp.
I really like that itās got a good separation and soundstage. Imaging is alright, but itās not terrible. There is a decent amount of low end that hits you when need and adds to the richness, however Iām not a bass head and Iām coming off using planars as my mains so this opinion is probably biased.
If there was a choice of pads, I would go between Yaxi TH900 pads and ZMF Ori suedes. The Yaxi ones bring the highs up to a level I like, while the ZMF Ori smooths everything especially if youāre sensitive to highs. I feel as though a perforated hybrid would be great if people want the highs without making things sibilant.
There is a certain clamp around the temple region that increases with time, especially when youāre wearing the Ori pads. I suspect this will go away with time, but for now itās a little annoyance I have to put up with.
Iām liking the Helios better, especially when I bought it for $130. It can easily pass off as something in the $200-300 range. More so given how it looks. Iām not writing this off as a bad purchase like I did the Vokyls, so yeah Iām definitely keeping these in my collection.
Addendum: I finally got what the Helios sounds like, the dynamic drive version of the Hifiman HE5SE, with a touch more on the highs
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Wow. interesting. didnt think burn in could make them change that much! Glad it worked out for you
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My guess is that it just needed a little movement to flex the drivers. When I got it, it smelled strongly of factory glue and all that, so it probably was fresh off the factory line with the bare minimum of QC before it was packed and shipped.
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oh wow lol. do you think it was glued down or something and the burn in shaked it loose?
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Itās more like the driver is really new without any use at all. I donāt know. What matters is, itās exactly as was intended and if people find that their Helios feels muted, do a burn-in and hopefully that loosens up the drivers.
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Now iām starting to wonder if i should have done that with my M570 lol
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I always have a habit of doing burn-ins for headphones. More often than not, the sound settles down after 50+ hours, especially planar or custom built headphones. I mean ZMF VCās apparently need 150 hours of burn in time while Aryaās need like 100 hours.
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Ditto. Whether burn-in is real or placebo, the debate rages on, but Iāve heard differences in speakers and headphones after burn-in or āsettle-inā in the past. So now my standard practice for any newly-received headphone is to set it on a 48-72 hour infinite loop at moderate volume before doing any listening whatsoever, lest I be negatively biased from the outset.
The one argument against the validity of burn-in that I believe is possible is that of acclimation, that over time our perceptions and preferences adjust to what we are currently hearing, thus making it the norm or expectation. So taking that factor into consideration, is it burn-in, acclimation, or some combination of the two?
That also explains the recency bias that we frequently see in Zās and othersā reviews, especially with comparisons to cans that are no longer present for immediate A-B testing and the reviewer is relying on sound memory for assessment.
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No, nothing odd in the sound to meā¦clean sound from the get go.
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Hard to compare IEMs and over-ear to me. I love everything about the Tin T2s from the build quality and durability to the sound (was my first āinvestmentā into something other than plastic skull candy-ish things). That being said they are for walks/bikes/train and occasionally cleaning. The build and the tips provide good isolation and the sound is good but itās not the experience I get with over-ear. Good tunes on the move.
The over-ear/open back of the Helios sort of engulfs me more in the music. Phillips SHP9500 were my first experience where I could tell the difference from the 20 euro Sonys I had before. I loved how opening the back really changed the sound and made me moreā¦thereā¦like a concertā¦ with some detail.
I got the 80 ohm 770ās after the Phillips as part of a package mostly for Fulla Schiit 2 as didnāt have a amp/dac for computer and was running off onboard chipā¦I figured I liked how the Phillips really upped the sound quality and the during a my late night youtube spiral (thank you Google algorithms) found people like Z review and DMS and John Darko. Which resulted in T4ās, Grace DAC/SMSL 200, and ultimately the Drop Pandas (ordered, RIP paycheck)
Ultimately Iām not a huge fan of the 770"s. I got a new set of stock pads but the closed back and sound isnāt as nice to my ear. They are actually in their box in my closet now if anyone is interested iāll let em go for a cool 70 euros shipped anywhere in EU.
Anyway back to the Helios, being able to hear distinct instruments and their location is brilliant and a totally different animal, itās like I took a step up from the Phillips. The feel a bit lighter, musicallyā¦if that makes senseā¦maybe more emphasis and cleaner treble.
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Interesting, gotcha. thnx for the comparison and impressions. nice to hear that they seem solid
niceeee, sounds pretty good. could be a great competitor to the hifiman 4xx based on the sound similarities. but probably would win for me if it has an ok timbre.
Well there is both mental and mechanical burn in for a headphone imo, the mental is typically the most important and impactful, but sometimes the mechanical burn in is more noticeable, just depends on the headphone. I donāt think itās worthwhile to debate if burn in exists, but instead debate how important and impactful it actually is to the listener
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