Bright is treble focused, bass light, leaning towards treble from neutral. It doesnāt have to be sharp. The KSC75 are bright with a bit of a veil too imo.
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Thatās part of the reason I wanted to swap to the Ether, to see how much the elevated treble might give the impression of higher details vs actually having more. Not sure Iām ready to make a call yet.
Starting to get a better feel for these, though they are still likely burning in a bit and my opinions are still burning in as well. Iāll start with a disclaimer by saying Iām not a reviewer, and relative to many of you, have a somewhat inexperienced ear, and these are my opinions only. Your mileage may varyā¦
Overall, do I think theyāre worth the $130 paid? In short, yes. Will hang onto them, if for nothing else for the looks and to pull off the shelf for a bit of fun here and there when the mood strikes.
For context and some degree of control, all listening was done entirely stock using a Hiby R5 as the source through the stock unbalanced cable, and using Tidal. Playlists varied through Bob Marley Essentials, 2010s Pop Hits, 50 Essential Classical Guitar Masterpieces, Interstellar OST, Alex Clare Artist Radio, Yo-Yo Ma Artist Radio, Brandi Carlile Artist Radio, Queen Essentials, and Bluegrass Legends.
Build/Comfort:
This is a mixed bag. Some parts look and feel a little cheap if you look a little close, but no deal breaker complaints for the price. The headband cushion, while plenty cushy for my head, also feels a little cheap and rubbery. The headband wood grain accent, though, is actually real wood, though a very thin piece of veneer that iām not sure will age very well. It likely will need to be conditioned early and often to keep it from cracking and peeling. I do find the exterior grille very well done, and my version does not seem to have the same sharp exterior edges Iāve seen mentioned elsewhere overall, though there are a couple of spots my fingers have found. The bi-directional swivel is nice and smooth with minimal grit. Headband adjustments are secure, if not a little awkward. The yokeās connection to the main headband feels a touch sketchy long term, and likely the most vulnerable from a durability perspective. Stock ear pads are a suede/velour, nicely padded, and might be the biggest surprise in a good way. Overall comfort is solid, especially the ear pads, with moderate clamp. They only started to become somewhat uncomfortable enough to require slight adjustment after wearing for about 2 hours.
Sound:
Overall, a pretty intimate and aggressive V, maybe U shaped presentation. They do seem to be somewhat sensitive to recording quality, fairly revealing and detailed, enhanced by the elevated treble. They handle various genres as a pretty decent all rounder, but are at their best with rock with a fair amount of instrument distortion and genres that beg for more bass quantity. Presentation of vocals and natural instruments (guitar, violin, cello, mandolin, etc) is slightly stepped back with a touch of grain/veil, sometimes causing them to sound a little like the sound is coming from the other side of a blanket.
Bass - Extension into sub bass is good, and overall bass quantity is elevated. Can be a little loose at times on busy tracks, and can overwhelm some tracks where mid bass becomes boomy. Overall makes the headphones sound pretty fun
Mids - As mentioned, just a step back in general, but when the mix pushes them forward, the Helios responds pretty well and can put vocals in your face, as the overall signature is fairly aggressive.
Highs - Elevated highs add a bit of air and sharpness at times to pretty decent detail retrieval at this price point. I was able to pick out reflections/echo off of what sounded like an untreated wall resulting from a sharply struck piano key, piano key movement and rebound, breathing, fret noise, sounds around speaking (like hearing someones mouth move without hearing their voice). At times, whether it was in the recording or not, there was a sound Iāve not heard in other headphones where there was a slight grain in the silent spaces, like the recording was ripped from vinyl. I did find that treble tended to get a touch sibilant in the Sss region in some tracks (especially on the Queen Essentials playlist) and in some cymbal crashes and mandolin riffs.
Soundstage/Imaging:
The Helios images pretty well on one level, easily being able to distinguish the directional sound, but does not offer much by way of vertical imaging. The stage is close, and fairly confined, not giving the best representation of distance. Most sounds seemed to come from within about a 5 foot radius.
Comparisons:
The closest comparison I can give, and I did not A/B the Helios with anything, is the X2HR. The Helios is more aggressive with a narrower stage, but a relatively similar overall signature.
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Thanks for you impressions. their pretty spot on. i love this headphone too for the exciting sound sig and detail and closer soundstage. imaging too is awesome. I glad these exist. if i have a fire or loose all my headphones in a theft i always have these i can get for a cheap 200$
What do you think of their price point? do you think they can trade blows with higher priced headphones like i do? lol
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Made an account for you :^)
Iāve got the 250ohm DT 990 Pros, running off the original Schiit Fulla (upgrade recommendations appreciated). Compared to the 990s, I find these to be a lot more intimate, but the imaging and accuracy is really great. I primarily do a 70/30 gaming/music and I play competitively so I was worried about less soundstage but itās been a non issue.
I need to give it another serious listen again, but first impressions after a few days of usage is that bass is definitely light on these. Thereās a specific range that punches well, but Iām not qualified to say exactly where that happens, and other than that theyāre audible but not as much as the 990s. I prefer the vocals on the Helios, and for extended listening, the treble is more pleasant.
Fitment, I have always found the DT 990s to be too tight. Iāve had them for about 2 years now as my daily drivers and their clamp never really loosened up for me. I find the Helios to be far more comfortable.
Honestly Iād put them at a pretty even level, and with the helios being easier to drive and less fatiguing, theyāre my new daily drivers.
If you have anything you specifically want me to compare them with Iād be happy to, to the best of my ability.
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First off thats sweet thanks for chiming in and welcome to Hifiguides.
hmm, first off fitment wise you can actually stretch the band a little bit to release that clamping pressure. If you didnāt stretch them out of the box they can be fairly snug and in some cases like mine cause clamping force on the jaw line I would definitely look into ways of doing this to make it more comfortable for you. Havenāt been able to buy the helios juuust yet. Personally, I didnāt have that issue with the dt 990 pros as far as bass, while it definitely was very airy and light sounding on all spectrums of sound. The DT 990 naturally have a very large sound stage and due to the V signature makes them ideal in competitives. Honestly, after I switched to 600 ohms it definitely tightened up the V signature especially on the treble and tonality. treble became a lot better and it had a much more present bass now that I think about it so you could try there however, I did have some harsh clamp force in the premiums(though I have a larger head and large ears others have reported premiums are much more comfortable). After I switched to the Liquid Spark and 600 ohms the headphone really did come to life for me so your amp could also play an important part here, if possible I would say try alternative amps even if you can maybe go to some audio stores and try them for yourself.
Lastly, I did want to say thank you for the comparison. It was really nice to hear the difference between these two and I do look forward, now more so, to trying this headphone for myself later this year. I will say I am slightly shocked you find another headphone more comfortable than these as they are easily my top favorite pick for comfort right now so itās piqued my interest quite a bit and I was already sold on itās overall design.
honestly thats about what I expected but narrower kinda putting me off but the rear imaging improvement is nice do you have a 58x or a 4xx I fid the centre imaging on them to be quite nice. and would love some sort of comparison in purely imaging .
Yeah the Beyerdynamic are great for comfort. i have the 880 and its the most comfortable headphone i have in my collection. You say the 990 sound light and airy. does that also translate into thin sounding? thats one of the things i dont like about the 880ās and the reason iāll probably sell them. Sounded like they lack body. The Helios doesnt have that and has a very nice bass slam.
Well the thing about the soundstage is it can sound close and it can sound big too. it tends to get that from the music i think. very nice the way it does that
yes that would translate to thin. DT 990s has the worst thinning of the sound of the 3. Itās definitely noticeable as soon as you turn them on. Not to say their bad but its an acquired taste. Personally adore the 1990s over it cause it fixes that issue. 880s were niceā¦ but at the time I was looking form something involving competitive gaming and those definitely were not it though I will give it to that headphone for being a great all rounder despite also sounding thin. I think the best between those 3 if you want a general headphone is the 770s while being U shaped it didnt sound as thin as the other two did and the 177x just made it a hell of a lot better same with the 1990s. Though to be fair i never tried the T1 or i think it as the T5 being the other closed back heard treble issues were involved on those though. Good to hear it sounds like the helios is a strong alternative to a dt 990
I think theyāre worth the $130 I paid, and maybe up to around $200 max. Soā¦fairly priced, I guess. I donāt really have anything like them in the treble region, so the detail is a bit more in your face and easier to pick out than something equal or superior in technicality, but smoother or more laid back in the treble.
You know I recognize your name when I see it since Iāve seen you in a few threads but I never actually read your name in my head. Hahaha awesome
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My attempt at getting clever with an audio themed screen nameā¦Iām not the most creative
what constitutes as thin to you @flankor like what is a thin sound to you?
too much treble/harsh high mids causing it to sound incredibly bright and slightly tin sounding in some cases borderline sibilant or flat out sibilant comes into play here as well due to excessive treble. Wasnāt as thin sounding after I fixed up the dt 990s and the 600 ohm is definitely a hefty improvement on itās trebleā¦ like I have said several timesā¦ 600 ohm dt 990 with its liquid spark amp definitely tweaks it to be very manageable and makes it sound imo correctly as it should.
I thought they said it was going to sell for 145 or something lower lol. Funny how they jacked up the price. 
The other way around. they where supposed to sell for 200$ Probably will someday soon
Cool beans.
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