Ok, as rmsanger mentioned and as I play around with another amp. These are by far the weirdest headphones I own for so many reasons I canât begin to understand. They take forever to break in (literally an over priced kph30) to breaking them in and sounding better. Then discovering this gooy and fun sound with the Dragonfly Cobalt that makes me say (and still stand) that this could be many peopleâs endgame. Now I got an entry level hybrid (Vali 2+) and the minute I start swapping tubes, they sound amazing after being a bit disappointing on the the GS-X Mini.
WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!!! These are by far the weirdest headphones I own. Theyâre proof that:
Signal chains matter
Proper amping doesnât always mean power
Scaling up doesnât always necessarily mean linear scaling up
Synergy with signal chains canât be predicted all the times
break in periods are a real thing and sometimes take over 150 hours for comfort.
As these headphones have been on the market I can say firmly that these are a gimmick. Theyâre designed for non-audiophiles to have a respectable brand and hook into non-audiophile gear. BUT⊠occasionally some audiophile gear gets the synergy and they sound magical. I can 100% say these headphones compared to others just this odd duck of everything that doesnât make sense. You canât pad roll without going DIY. And if you havenât thought about selling them after a week or two after owning them⊠you havenât compared them to much. BUT for now, I really like them for tube rolling on the Vali 2+.
I can say once I got the sound chain right these are my favorite go to âfunâ cans. I donât listen to the LCDX or LCD3 hardly ever. I pull out the clears when I want something more resolving and neutral but the HP3s are just my happy V.
They were terrible for me with the wrong amps I tried but very pleasant once I got it. I will say I am saving for a dedicated eq to fix the LCDX base shelf as well as the 3-5k depression in frequency response so this take may always change later.
Brainwavz pads arrived. XL leather and XL perforated leather. The regular leather are great. Calms down the treble a bit which is what I was wanting, but I also get a little more bass as well. Very happy with them.
Nice! Ive also tried brainwavz xl velour and the medium hybrid. So far xl artificial leather has been the best. Really opens up the stage and reduces the highs. Kinda want to try some of the dekoni leather pads but so damn expensive
Hi everyone, i recently joined the HP-3 family! I enjoy them so much i sold my Z1R, they really are my definition of a fun headphone. Loving the way the black sheepskin pads look with the walnut cups.
After the stupidly long and hard break in period, they are a fun and surprising headphone. My biggest issue is that power specs say the headphone is easy to drive, but tonally the headphone has proven to be the biggest PIA to amp.
When your chain works with it, itâs VERY enjoyable. Glad youâre liking the headphones! Rumor has it that it uses an odd sized fostex driver so if you like that headphone, fostexâs biodynamicâs might be your taste.
A wild Klipsch HP-3 appeared on a website locally for around 900$. They have a fun sound as far as Iâve read. But a lot of things have fun sound including Meze 99 which I own. Do you think it is overpriced or it is technically capable and a fair value?
I have neither. Always thought DFC is overpriced and Schiit products are hard/expensive to get in this part of the world.
Anyway they raised the price by 100$, then I found a Clear MG on discount (also around 900$) and got them. I still havenât given up on HP-3s though. So thanks.
Edit: I donât know what happened but after I wrote here in a few minutes they reduced the price and I bought the last unit (ebony btw) I think I covered all the bases for now.
