Until a driver dies lol
Edit: definitely better headband durability though, but I still think the older design is more comfortable
The Sundara’s are a more intimate headphone, the mids and trebles are more analytical than the Phantom’s where as the Phantoms are slightly less focused, the Phantoms have a wider sound stage for sure and the bass is more extended too (with the pad mod)
I love both headphones 
tbh they have different sound signatures, the Sundara’s are ‘more’ like my 660s’s and the Phantom’s deliver a wider sound stage, with better separation, slightly less detail and intimacy but with a deeper bass response.
So horses for courses I guess.
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Okay, I’ve been listening to these after switching to the Brainwavz XL Perforated pads, and I’d echo that they really do make a big difference, and the pads definitely need to be changed from the stock. Also, I’d like to say, I fucking love them . I had been looking at the ZMF Aeolus as a possible buy, but after jumping on these based on BGGA’s emphatic urging and taking Ohmboy’s advice on pads… I couldn’t ever justify getting an Aeolus now. I think I’m done with my quest for an ‘endgame’ headphone, I can totally live with these.
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Wow!!! Big comparison… and “done with endgame quest” are even bigger words! Especially for a $350 headphone. 11 days and counting for my pair.
Of Phantoms, that is. Not Aeolus.
I had ordered them on the 11th, tracking finally showed something on the 23rd and I got them on the 25th. So, I think that’s about the amount of time to expect these to show up for you. So you shouldn’t have much longer of a wait 
.
Good to know on ETA . I ordered mine on the 23rd and it still says confirmed .
I guess I can go ahead and order pads.
From the consensus that’s a must .
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Did you take the glued patch off?
I haven’t done it, was waiting for someone else to give their opinion on that, maybe Zeos will test it. I don’t find myself wanting anything else from the sound after switching pads, so I don’t think I would even want to take the foam off.
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The purchase page of the website says that “the new batch will be ready the 10th”
Received mine a week ago and enjoying them quite a bit. Can’t add much else other than finding the furry (as opposed to hairy?) pads less comfortable than the thicker hairy ones. Ears definitely brush up against that padding on the drivers. The sound is detailed enough for me and like others have said, they are very enjoyable to sit back and relax with. I listen to mainly Metal and Soundtracks with a heavy splash of 80s Pop and 90s Rap. All the talk about Brainwavz has me flirting with Amazon again. Will likely also get longer cables so I can really recline with them.
Case looks better in pictures than in person but still nice to have. Wasn’t planning on keeping them locked away anyway. Definitely nicer than a cardboard box, so to me, that’s a bonus.
Comparing them to my Aiva’s, I still stick with the Sendy’s. To my ears, they have a slightly more pleasing sound signature and fit and finish is much better imo. Phantoms are a little rough (and sharp) around the edges. Mine had what looked like a bit of excess glue around the outside ear cups. Doesn’t bother me but should mention in case others have experienced the same.
Someone asked about duties from customs earlier and I’m from Paraguay like Paastah and it was an extra $20 Paraguayan dollars. Not bad.
For the price point, I don’t see many being disappointed with these. Definitely keepers and very happy with them!
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Alright, I have been extensively modding my Phantoms for the past week. I have found a couple of simple mods that COMPLETELY transform these headphones. First of all, There is a LOT of talk about the lack of bass, especially considering that these are planarmagnetic drivers, which are known well for good bass response. This threw a lot of people off, including me.
One of the first things I did to these headphones was swap the pads from the long hair over to the short hair pads they supplied. Bass response improved significantly, but still wasn’t great.
After changing over to the supplied short hair pads, I then took them off and installed a set of Audeze Microsuede Vegan pads. The bass response seemed to improve even more.
I then took the inner foam out (The foam glued to the drivers under the earpads)
I noted improvement in overall clarity and also soundstage, which seemed to widen a small amount.
One of the next things I did was remove the rear grilles on the headphones, to see if there was foam under the grilles that I could remove. While removing the grille, I noticed that it was extremely attracted to the driver magnetically. That threw a red flag in my mind, as I suspected that it could be interfering with the magnetic field of the planar drivers. I found 2 foam discs under each grille, and removed them. I reinstalled both grilles, without the foam, and noticed some more improvement in bass. After several hours of listening and burning in, I started to grow more suspicious of the steel grilles on the headphones.
I carefully removed both grilles again, leaving nothing behind the drivers. I gave another listen, and immediately noticed an extreme boost in bass presence and control. The headphones completely transformed! Not only was the bass 10 times better without the grilles, but midrange and vocals seemed to improve tremendously too! I was (and still am) extremely shocked at how much the bass has improved after removing the grilles.
I have a pair of M1060’s that I have modded, which were my daily drivers until I got these headphones.
As some of you know, one of the worst parts of the Thieaudio Phantoms is the dismal headband that they come with. I measured the distance between each mounting point where the bracket attaches to each earcup, and realized that I could easily swap headbands with the M1060’s.
I did just that, and improved the clamp and comfort of the headphones tremendously.
I also took the foam discs from the M1060’s that was located behind the grilles, and installed it to the Phantoms, where the grilles were originally. This improved the aesthetics of the headphones IMO, and made it so the driver is a little bit more protected.
The last thing I did to the phantoms was the fuzzor mod, which was very popular with the M1060’s. I haven’t done any A/B testing with the fuzzor mod, nor can I comment on any sound improvement, but I think it smooths out the highs, as it was proven to do with the M1060’s
(The driver assemblies of the M1060’s and the Phantoms are extremely similar)
Here is a short video I posted to YouTube, to raise awareness of the improvements of just removing the rear grilles alone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwgCzjWy-Ns&lc=z22zztrxzzatwvo1facdp431mlzprbw345rv4hdtpclw03c010c.1564617097434591
Side note:
The long hair pads that are supplied with these headphones are the most comfortable pads that I have ever come in contact with. Point blank. Nothing even comes close. Too bad they don’t do the phantoms justice when it comes to sound quality…
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I’ve just tried the grill removal mod and removed the two circles of foam below and i absolutely hated the results… tried it with the foam in place sans grills, grills no foam but still the same…personally it totally messed up the whole sound signature, bass was no deeper (maybe faster?) but sounded less refined and controlled, mids were a tad more forward (not needed imho) but they seemed on their own and defiantly not more focused leading to a random sounding sound stage plus didn’t integrate well with the treble which was brighter and not so rolled off (a good thing?)
It made the whole listening experience lumpy, blocky and less refined…needless to say phones back as stock.
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Interesting, as I’ve had about 5 others try them without the grille, and all of them agreed on all of my points. Maybe a QC issue with yours.
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What pads are you using?
Did you try removing the glued pads inside the cups? That’s the only mod I’m keen on hearing more opinions on…
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Brainwavz xl Perforated memory foam.
No mate I didn’t …it was .the magnetic thing with the grills that intrigued me.
Listening to
On Tidal and it sounds fecking awesome as my phones stand with the pad swop…how much can you ask of a $350 set of phones that already punch well above their weight?
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Listening now… I have a group that will blow your mind, when using the Phantoms.
Here’s a track from them, live: https://tidal.com/browse/track/2206462
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