Nuggets are on their way, will post once they arrive.
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Hello friends. Today I went to audiophile disneyland (The Source AV in Torrance, CA). I went there to do some scouting for my next purchase. I brought my own ndh 20 and xd05+ amp/dac combo I was familiar with to compare with the other cans and front end. I tried out literally everything from the $500 to the LCD-3 range.
What is the purpose of this writing you ask? Well obviously the usual suspects like the LCD3 with insane sound stage and focal elegia with itās ear-shattering laser drill all have their own mastery over their element. What I can say after REALLY comparing the NDH 20 to basically the top end of headphones is that, while the neumanns may not have the sound stage that even other closed backs like lcd2 and MDR-Z1 have, but goddamn do our cans have fucking mid range presence.
Every pair of cans I tried there, I felt like I was chasing some fucking recessed midrange even on lcd2 closed and open (obviously I am not insinuating that somehow the lcd2 and the other cans are not exceptional pairs of cans and do not have midrange and subbass). Iām just trying to say for $500, the ndh 20 is some pretty fucking great audiophile cans EXCEPT the comfort (no comment on audio engineering and studio use). For once zeosā hype walked the walk.
Also some titans of the headphone industry were tragically underwhelming to my ears (hd660, mdr-z1, focal elex, and surprisingly the LCD2 closed with its REALLY WEIRD sound come to mind)
PS: here I really saw how deep the rabbit hole goes and how THICC the snake oil drips.
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honestly, alongside impressive imaging, my absolute favorite thing about headphones is when they deliver the mids. I wanna feel like the instruments and voices are performing for me personally, if that makes sense
now Iām glad I bought them yesterday if what youāve written stands. Canāt seem to get my hands on the Elex, but I have a feeling these will blow me away 
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Probably like @MONās vestibule along with a hat and coat stand? lol.
I was thoroughly impressed with the neumanns after comparing it to higher end of headphones. When I first opened up and listened to the neumanns, I just said. Okay, these are pretty good for $500, since there are other options like refurb elegia or used lcd2c/fostex 610 at that price point. But after doing a/b comparisons with $1000-3000 headphones, I looked at the neumanns in a new light. Delevered every cent of the $500 on sound, but sadly comfort issues remain. Another owner said that dekoni nuggets will solve the ever so progressing bald spot at the very top of our skulls caused by shitty padding. Mine are on their way. I have used ath m-50x headband cushion thingy from amazon with limited success. Hopefully the nuggets will change this.
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As promised. Balding spot on top of head has been saved. Cup extension increased from 4->5. Comfort increased from 6->8/10. Good stuff.
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Yep I actually took off the hd600 headband pad and got some nuggets. The hd600 headband pad over time actually didnāt solve the comfort issue I was having.
Holy crap, these nuggets are a game changer. Wore them for 6 hours today, didnāt feel anything (whereas I can feel a certain spot going bald after 2 hours normally).
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anyone try earpad swapping on this thing?
At least Z thinks swapping destroys the whole sound e.g. also bass. I am curious if someone ever tried but to me these sound perfect. The head likes to hurt every few days.
Have you ever found a wire for this eventually?
Bought the NDH 20 from a guy on headfi (heās in Washington), shipped it 7/29ā¦ It got to Croatia last week and is held up on customs, this is ridiculous. I know itās COVID and all but goddamn.
Somehow I never learn not to order anything from the US.
Youāre not having to wait much longer than us in the US receiving shipments from within the US, honestly. Iāve had several things take 2+ weeks to be shipped from only a few hundred miles away lately.
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Poor USPSā¦ Seriously. Hope you (and all your ballots) survive Novemberā¦
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DONT BUY the HartAudio Cables. THESE donāt fit at all. I am currently fighting with the fact āI should push as hard as possibleā because it is a tight fit. (Insert swear word) insulting my German standard. I hope I get help from 1 redditor who also owns a cable from them for the NDH. BTW if anyone also has a hart ndh cable please describe the fit.
So you are just gonna put hart on blast without fully understanding if you even picked the right cable or using it properly? Have you contacted hart?
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Can you post a picture of the connector that goes into the headphone?
I am very sad about the fact the connector is so stiff I can only get 2 pins of length into the NDH20 with shorting out the pins. It is a push-click-and-turn-90Ā° connection system. The original connector / cable is much looser from Neumann / Sennheiser.
Just be aware that forcing a plug into a headphone is not a sign of quality. Making adjustments by myself is not right too for paying more.
Just thinking out loud:
If I have not use for the cable, which will change probably with Sony CD900ST or M1ST, I seem to be able to get the money back from the CEO of the HartAudio. Instead of it, just to be transparent, I will just get an other cable end which is btw 1.3 meters with 3.5mm or an different connector, not sure which headphone Iāll order.
The cable quality is a C+, hand-made, copper cables inside the sleeve are feelable and even Logitech USB cables are more solid and still extremely flexable.
edit: pictures 2 and 3 mean I was not sure how precise I can be without adding extensions like a ruler.
This is an other person who has the same issue but did force it. I do not. It is against my German standards. Other cables can be different. It is a 3D printed design if my guess is right and sand it down / cut marks are visible. The cable itself is good, the NDH connector which is not manufactured by other companies (others are bigger so sanding it down is needed, I think Audio Technica do use that turn mechanism too)
I directly talked to customer support so they chose the right cables through 3 emails comfirming my setup. They also said they like a tight fit AFTER I got the NDH 20 - 1.3meter to mini xlr + extention 2 meters + mini xlr to 3.5mm for audio device. A tight fit that needs the cable to forced in harder than my hands can cause I slip off the metal part of the cable is Wrong. This is officially out of spec by choice :-/ .
Support screenshots wonāt be posted it you want but I need to censor the standard parts and I would violate the privacy too much imo.