Gotta collect em all lol
1 Like
Thanks for the input. Something I’m actually pretty curious about as I’ve recently gotten the 880s and am very surprised how much I enjoy them. Had put the 1990s on my radar for sure but wasn’t sure if that’s just a pure upgrade or they’re different enough I’d want both.
Cool collection. Which one’s your favorite, the 1990?
the 1990 (analytical) and T5P (balanced) hands down at the moment. That’ll probably change when I eventually pick up the T1 & 880
Dan Clark aeon 2 closed
Zmf eikon
Kinda interested in the beyer 177x go
Or the focal elegia but I dunno how I feel about focal. They seem iffy.
I could buy em all now if I wanted but I wanna be smart. Plus it’s better to get one and enjoy for a while. Give them one on one time.
2 Likes
Really want to try ZMFs entire dynamic lineup
3 Likes
Agreed. I think I’m just gonna cut down my 2-3 4-500 dollar headphone buying a year and just buy 1 Zmf a year for 2-3 years. After getting the Aeolus I Can tell that I dog zachs tuning. And I appreciate the service he offers over most companies.
1 Like
That is a really cool collection. Have you tried other headphone brands? Or just stick with Beyer?
Yeah, I have other brands as well. Audeze, Sennheiser, Neumann, Fostex. I had some Hifiman and Stax but ended up selling them off.
Yeah, sometimes i think i should sell off all my headphones and stick to Focal
Pretty much any of the zmf line. Which I’m about to pull the trigger on a Eikon tomorrow so that is happening currently. Want to get a aeolus sometime this year too.
In the more distant future (next 6 months) I want to pick up a nighthawk carbon before they become scarce and also because of all the people who praise them on this forum. I also want to get a fostex TH/TR x00 line headphone and maybe mess with Lawton mods as well.
Sometime in the next year I want buy a LCD X because I really want to give audeze a try and I think it would be a good can from them that would work very well on my RNHP.
5 Likes
I agree that even amongst the somewhat hamoginouse Chi-fi Harman tunings there are differences. My point is that ALL Harman target tunings will have relatively recessed mids followed by a large jump to ~3k (another way to word that would be the difference between ~1k and ~2-3k). This is just an inherent quality of the Harman target. The severity will change, the peak of the hill will shift, the depth of the valley will vary, but the valley and hill will always be there and that will sound shouty to some people (like me) no matter what.
Right, I see your point about the similarities between them and how that could warrant having a preference over the overall sound or not. Not sure if we’re just splitting hairs at this point but I just wanted to point out that that the peak around 3k is done more tastefully in some models then others, to the point where I wouldn’t consider the Starfield to be shouty compared to the Tapes. I can only speak for myself though.
There’s also other factors that aren’t captured by the graph such as timbre, dynamics, etc. that could be looked over when someone just focuses over the Harman label. I’m not accusing you of that, just making an observation. I think that it’s perfectly fine and well if you have your preferences and know what to look for in a product. You seem to be very knowledgeable so more power to you.
Ya, probably just splitting hairs. I would like to clarify though, this is the region that I think turns me off, as both the Tapes and T4s are not to my liking, despite the T4 having a more crop top Harman tuning.
The 3k peak does not help, but if the mids were not so much lower then I probably wouldn’t have such a problem. Also as for timbre and dynamic and what not, I actually really like the Tapes timbre and tonality. That’s why I was disappointed when the Singers were even worse in that 1-3k Harman hill tuning.
Fair enough, friend. They don’t seem to be your cup of tea. Though who knows, maybe one day you’ll find one to your liking. Good thing the iem market is so competitive so there’s something for everyone.
1 Like
The drop Fostex are pretty much gone. Your best cheapest option for Lawton modding would probably be a teak. I’m about to buy a second pair of teaks (wired one on Massdrop) and modding those.
1 Like
Used market still going strong, I’ll probably get a mahogany soonish and enjoy it for a while and then start modding it at some point.
Ahhhhhh that’s true. I would only worry more about the gymbals with used but I’m sure it’d be fine. I’ve had my teaks 2 years with no issues.
The AKG K371 follow the HRTC almost exactly. Closest headphone that I’m aware of. For IEMS, there are about 5 to 10 that do.
1 Like
Also, one of the reason the HRTC has a much higher peak at 3 KHz is because 1 to 2 KHz is the most audible frequency band to human hearing. If the peak stopped at 2 KHz instead of 3, vocals would sound hollow (Vokyl Erupts). The compensation for this is continuing the peak to 3 or 4 KHz…but I personally dont like peaks in that area myself.
That being said, I actually prefer flat or recessed response from 1 to 3 khz because I don’t like shouty vocals. It’s just a preference thing. Best thing about IEMS is that if you find the right tips, you can completely change that area of the frequency response. Symbio tips and Final Audio e series tips both actually trim that area of frequency response.
2 Likes