True story!
They’re definitely getting better as I get used to them.
Looking forward to pairing them with a proper stack still though.
I may forego the MQA version of the D90. I really don’t see myself as someone who’s going to buy a subscription – I buy my music to own, and it sounds like DRM nonsense to me.
In fact they sound amazing with music.
It’s the fact that most of what I do isn’t music that affects it I think.
I dunno, I know I don’t have the better equipment yet, but I feel like the mids are pulled-back more than I’m used to and the upper-mids & highs are “colored” I suppose.
I’d liken it to… FXAA when it comes to graphics, I suppose. Like it’s trying to get rid of edginess/sharpness by blurring the whole image a little.
It’s the coloration I’m not into though, and I feel like it’s what they call more “intimate” as well.
I’m looking for ultra-wide soundstage and that edgy analytical signature I do believe. Also I think I actually find that I don’t like bass to be too fast or it lacks that “reverb” feeling I expect of bass. Bass is something I expect to be “slower” than treble and also have rumble, but also maintaining tightness and punch all the while (not being “loose” or distorted).
So I kinda feel like they’re blurring the highs and there’s not enough quantity of bass and it’s actually too fast. I honestly want a headphone with forward mids, rumbly bass, and piercing highs all while maintaining detail and a massive soundstage, I’d call that what I really want but I know that’s a lot to ask for.
I’m honestly curious to try entirely different driver designs like Planar Magnetic and Electrostatic to see if they might offer what I seek. The STAX SR-L700MKII is suddenly on my list to try. Audeze sounds like it’ll be too warm for me so I may pass over that. I know I need to try the HD800S and SRH1840 before I go looking into entirely different driver techs too.
I’ll get the RNHP and give them a spin with the Clears to see if it fixes the issue… but I kinda get this “It’s just not the sound flavor I’m looking for” feeling about it. I can tell they’re a good headphone for someone who wants “natural” rather than “neutral” sound. I’m the kind of guy that prefers the HD600 to the HD650, if you understand that comparison a bit – I heard the “veil” people used to bitch about a lot.
To me, bass is supposed to be rumbly and trebles is supposed to be sharp and edgy. Some headphones seem to want to flatten or smooth or average them out more so that they’re less fatiguing for long listening or whatever, and that’s great for some people I’m sure, some complain about treble having sibilance, but I’m looking for the headphone that takes all the limiters and safety restrictions like that off for maximum transparency (although I still understand the mod to the HD800 was surely necessitated).
I’m gonna wait till I get the RNHP to say anything decisive… but I do feel like I’m hearing a coloration I’m just not into. Velvet feeling. Sorta like the difference between the HD600 and HD650 but more obvious. I concede it’s a better headphone than anything I’ve had so far, I can tell that much, I’m hearing detail I didn’t before, but at the same time I can also tell it’s more closed-in and less dynamic than what I’m used to. The highs are colored and the lows aren’t punching hard enough and the soundstage isn’t as big as what I’m used to with the likes of the K7XX or HD6XX… If the RNHP doesn’t work magic on it then I can tell that I’m gonna need to trade to try something else.
Headphones are truly subjective, I suppose.
I’ll need to make a new thread soon too, since we’ve well exited the $500 realm I was originally looking at.
The magni and modi are really holding you back here imo, you really want to get those upgraded to actually take advantage of the headphone you have imo. It will increase stage, sharpness, detail, bass performance, midrange presence, and pretty much everything all. I think I have already discussed the larger shortcomings of the schiit stack by now.
Fair enough, I’ll try the RNHP – hope it’s fine without the DAC for now.
Kinda kills one of the advantages of the Focal over others though, the low impedence, if it turns out it’s really not good without amps.
This is the case for most higher end headphones, they are expected to be used with higher quality electronics, vary little are meant to still be used with a phone. It’s expected that you move up in electronics as you move up in headphones
I would really urge you to at least pick up something like the enog 2 pro or something
Fair enough I suppose.
I really am considering giving a try to the STAX L700 though (https://youtu.be/YB48jsRxpTY?t=861)
I think I get what Zeos means by just not liking something even though it’s regarded as amazing. I mean I listened to the Abyss Phi before hooked-up to some crazy amp/dac, and while I conceded it was definitely better than what I had at the time, I actually wasn’t into it.
I figure if I can shoot down the Phi then all bets are off about finding what I’m actually into. It’s gonna be a lot of trial and error I figure.
But I’ll give it a shot with a different amp/dac I suppose before passing final judgement.
If you didn’t like the phi chances are you won’t like the stax either, but if you have a way to try it, it is worth a listen
I only take out my phi tc when I want to really listen critically for example, it’s not something I would use on a daily basis.
I just think I have some sort of odd palette that’s difficult to find exactly the right thing for. What I end up liking might be something surprising, like HD800S on a solid state amp or something.
I always want to listen critically, if I had the Phis I’d probably wear them daily. But it was lacking what I “expected” of it’s pricepoint which was basically to be introduced to something totally different. I don’t recall what I said to the sales rep or engineer or whatever at that time, but I remember him being the one to tell me that maybe I need to look into electrostats.
Either that or I’ve just already found what I want and maybe my ears just aren’t good enough to really distinguish between a $300 headphone and a $1000+ one too well. I can definitely tell between $20 and $300 but I do find it difficult when you’re dealing with true audiophile equipment – I definitely have hearing damage (went clubbing too often in China) and I’m sure that effects the results. So I may even end-up finding out that there’s little sense in buying anything more expensive than a 6XX because my hearing is too blown to enjoy them anyway, hah.
This is the coolest off-handed comment I’ve heard in a long time.
then you dont want a hd 800s (which isn’t neutral it’s bright) or neutrality it looks like you want something more W shaped
also I would really wait untli you get the rest of your gear before you start judging the headphones case the schiit stack is kinda sucky
I think you might be right about the “W” signature. Maybe flat isn’t what I want, maybe “W” is more what I expect.
Mids should be clear, very deep lows and very high highs should be emphasized. Things that in-between are what I’m okay letting be more pushed-back. So something that’s revealing of the mids and the extremes.
I have no idea though. It could be that I’m just not someone that high-dollar headphones makes a big difference with. I think part of it is just buyer’s remorse about putting down so much money for incremental improvements once you’ve had an HD650 or equal. Buying really expensive cans has made me appreciate just how much bang for buck you’re really getting with the HD6XX actually.
Yes the 887 monolith is much better than the drop 789 with the elex. I have both amps. Elex doesn’t pair well with the 789.