Alright, I think I have the gist of these headphones now.
Letās get into it. As usual when I write my thoughts out this is my opinion, as such itās subjectiveā¦ your more than welcome to disagree or agree.
So, letās get into a small little entry hereā¦ I had my doubts on this headphoneā¦ like big timeā¦ I had hoped like hell this would be the fix I needed to the helios. To let you guys know if you seen my last review on harmonics headphones from heliosā¦ it was a bit all over unrefined, and just relatively lacking at the time I really didnāt see it anything more than a cheap chi-fi headphone that was decent and looked pretty.
Well, to put it simplyā¦ itās still build like a cheap chi-fi piece of junk but the sound? well I will get into that oneā¦ no, this will not be negativeā¦ it will be a mixed bag this time around and a contemplation to go on the wall because these are extremely enjoyable. For context, I am wearing them now listening to them and just got done with a multi hour gaming session with them spanning multiple titles
Build Quality: same as helios but hey least it now comes in a fancy case. Honestly, Harmonicdyne could do well to change the design of their headphone if there going to jump the price like this. I know in my last review I asked for a case but likeā¦ come on. Zeus has a bit of heft to it, the top band padding needs more, and theres a bit too much force on my upper jaw line only on the right telling me theres some issues with weight distribution . They really need to go back to the drawing board and design a higher quality headphoneā¦ if this is real wood then it definitely is some extremely cheap wood and the overall design is a hardened plastic mixed with the thin metal grills and band over the top, of which still are huge fingerprint and dust collectors btw. I am not going to pull my punches on this oneā¦ people have already found a headphone thats astonishingly similar in build to the helios but dirt cheapā¦ come up with your own stuff there HD, donāt flea market my build quality thanks
Pads: why is it you cut corners on build quality and yet you can have these kind of pads? Why is it your not offering to sell these??? The pads on the zeus are fantasticā¦ some of the best suede pads I have had on my head bar none and I would argue are massively more comfortable than the beyerdynamics even on the higher brand models. The only other suede that came close would be something like dekoni or focal when it comes to comfort. Absolutely recommended if they offer a separate purchase on the padsā¦ to buy the pads, I sure as hell will order them
Cables: Very happy to see a high quality, what appears to be more custom, balanced cable for these with adapters alongside it to make use of whatever port you haveā¦ Cables donāt feel very cheap but not quite too expensive. I wouldnāt say they are better than my Hart or Periapt though. Still though, more companies need cables like these.
Sound Signature:
This particular sound signature is similar to the heliosā¦ brightness is still there, lows are slightly bumped still, but now the mids are more presentā¦ cleaner, more detailedā¦ everything sounds better and more refinedā¦ the signature is there itās present and itās very relaxing. This is -not- a headphone for timbre, analytical uses, reference, or monitoringā¦ no, this headphone is absolutely for those who appreciate this signature and want to enjoy the music while maintaining an admittedly very stylish looking headphone.
Lows: Raised further than helios, quite present in the mix and very deep and impactful, the bass resonates with the drum strikes and you can hear the snares and kick drum quite well with this one. Music and movies alike the bass is more explosive but not extremely rumblyā¦ itās at that point that someone like me who isnāt a basshead can truly enjoy which is just enough and bordering too muchā¦ at the same time I donāt hear this being boomy or muddy and it sounds rather controlledā¦ kudos to this. I personally like the low end here quite a lot.
Mids: not as present as the other two frequencies but around neutral, upper mid frequencies sound a bit more emphasized which is a nice touch, overall quite clean, there is some texture to the vocals but nothing amazing, I honestly have no complaints hereā¦ no itās not the level of sennheiser of 880 but perfectly respectable more so if your like me who really isnāt a big fan when it comes to midrangeā¦ to me as long as its present and doesnāt sound muffled, veiled, distorted, compressed, hollowed, etc I am fine with it. These are not however, the best representation of the mids I feel that still would go to a sennheiser in this regard due to the senn having more texture, more presentation, more center forward, more intimacy, among other things when it comes to vocal presentation
Highs: Hit or Miss: bright and for me personally, just right. This has close to the same level of brightness as my T1.2 but itās smooth and relaxing enough to not pose problems for me which is excellent. However, to some, this may be an issueā¦ those cymbals sizzle a lot, vocals can have very sharp tendencies, there is a lot of sparkle going on and itās easy to see in this case the treble has some of the most emphasis in the 3 frequencies. I would say the higher treble adds alot of what some would call āfakeā detail but not on the level of a beyerā¦ I think the more relaxive presentation to this one kind of takes away alot of the more serious levels of detail to this headphone which is fineā¦ as were not going for a very serious approach when it comes to studio related listening.
Sound Signature Overall: This is absolutely a more V shape or if anything a more Harman Like tuningā¦ the mids are perfectly present with this one and I donāt hear much recession at all. There is a very good balance going on here
Soundstage: This is something I was not surprised by not at all considering just how large Helios soundsā¦ now I am not sure how they achieve this much stage but itās quite niceā¦ there is a lot of width and depth hereā¦ more than my beyers just like the helios and may have something to do with the design and that metal grill. The entire signature has this deep resonating tone to it, which probably explains the name. Overall, I really enjoy the soundstageā¦ but I wonāt say itās as big and airy as something such as a Sundara as it definitely isnāt. It does have more air qualityā¦ if anything I would say aboutā¦ I want to say a 20% increase of stage over something such as a DT 990/Tygr 300r but add some air quality and depth
Imaging: Not laser accurate but accurate enough, I can pick things out easily enough but in terms of the competition the imaging here really doesnāt hold up. itās not bad just not greatā¦ I wasnāt expecting a lot from the imaging to begin with.
Gaming
Casual: these are quite enjoyable casuallyā¦ the treble is a bit much but if your okay with that or EQ it back a little these perform remarkably wellā¦ the weight is a bit much but overtime I grew used to it. The issue with the headband slightly digging into my head was annoying and disturbed my laid back listening and playing. RPGs do very wellā¦ this is a very good casual gaming headphoneā¦ honestly I can highly recommend this one in this use case.
Competitive: Varies by game but I know a few here wondering about Tarkovā¦ It performs well enough, the issue here is the bass is too much and the imaging isnāt completely on point. It is due to this I wonāt wager it better than tygr 300r in performance but it is a very close alternative and potential upgrade
VS Tygr: This headphone is more expensive than the tygr, yet doesnāt perform as good in gaming as the tygr can primarily in the competitive area. You can EQ the bass back on the zeus but its still the issue with the imaging where the tygr excelsā¦ however, if you need that extra clarity from a raised treble, since tygr is eq picky as hell, than this is a very solid alternative if your okay with the added costā¦ overall I would still take a Sundara over this use case if I wanted to go more competitive vibe or just stick with Tygrs.
Does it go on the wall? No, it goes on my head because this headphone is chill as hell listening and I quite enjoy it. Yes, this one will remain in my collection over the tygr 300r as I make use of the T1 2nd gen for my competitive needsā¦ This headphones very well rounded for just chill use and I really appreciate that
Notes to the company if they read this: change your build qualityā¦ seriously donāt sit there and rehash a headphone it makes you look like idiotsā¦ add more padding to your headband or change the headband to something more plush, donāt spend so much on a caseā¦ seriously we donāt need some crazy case like thisā¦ something cheap is fine. If your going to make a nother headphoneā¦ dial that bass back a bit and make something a bit more mid centric to go along with these bright tones I think that will agree with more people instead of something more niche like this
how to fix this headphone? Donāt really need any adjustmentsā¦ if anything add some dekoni nuggetsā¦ about it
Would I recommend this headphone? Sure why not, but not anything more than $350 as no offenseā¦ itās niche as hell despite my liking it and above that price pointā¦ I feel theres better options
