What cable did you go with for you Atrium? I think I am going to order a Forza Audioworks Noir Hybrid…I have read a lot of good things about them and I have had a few people recommend them.
can’t speak personally for that pairing but IMO at best you might get another 1-5% performance from balanced (like slightly better soundstage/imaging) but YMMV
(speaking from FIIO BTR7 experience)
They definitely do amazing work…I was looking at Norne audio also…I had someone who has helped me out a few times recommend the Forza’s…He has never lead me down the wrong path yet…I am leaning towards the Forza’s, although I do like the Viking weave with the transparent black cover…
Definitely go with what you like. I like Sebastian’s work and his customer service even if it’s spendy he’s gone the distance with a few cables for me and to make sure I’m satisfied.
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The hardware on these Viking Weave cables is truly stunning. I have yet to hear about this company somehow so thank you, gentleman. I am now initiated. I also really enjoy HAKUGEI cables and the hardware they put on their cables. I have two coming in hopefully sometime in Jan. so I’m pretty hyped!
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Thanks for all the feedback!
I might buy a cable from Hartaudio as they got really nice and lots and lots of colour options to choose from (toooo fucking much even, it´s so hard 
)
Quality seems to be pretty good for that price. (~75$ shipped)
Quality is pretty great with hart cables as well. I have a few for changing jacks on the fly and I love that system.
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I got to listen to the RAAL SR1b headphones today and, while the tuning and presentation weren’t my thing, I was blown away at the level of detail retrieval on these things. They are some seriously detailed headphones that seem to catch, resolve, and audibly reproduce every little sound and nuance pretty effortlessly. Listening to them was intense!
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What was that thing like to wear? I don’t think I would get on with those.
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Honestly, it took a little getting used to, but the fit and ergonomics were pretty good once I did.
Edit: I should add that they weren’t luxuriously comfortable, but they weren’t uncomfortable and after wearing them for nearly an hour I didn’t have any hotspots, discomfort, or fatigue and would have felt fine continuing to wear them had I had the time.
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I hadn’t known you’d gone through the Harmonicdyne line (Helios, Zeus, Poseidon) at some point and had the Helios. What were your thoughts on the trio as a whole?
I own Poseidon and it is my favorite full-sized can, by a significant margin, but not many people ever seem to have heard them
Did you mean to direct the question/statement to me?
I haven’t done them yet but it’ll come at some point I’m sure.
I’ve been more of an iem guy since i started the hobby. But I picked up a few full-sized headphones along the way and love the clarity and inceeased soundstage. I still prefer the intimate presentation of my iems, but these just blow me away:
-HiFiMan he1000v2
-Focal Clear OG
-Dan Clark Aeon 2 Noire
-Drop × Sennheiser 6XX
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I can count only 2 headphones that blew me away:
- the beyer dt770 80 ohms is the 1st “serious” headphone I bought. Paired with the radsone es100, the jump in details, resolution and imaging was huge compared to the other solutions I had
- the hifiman he400i, with its planar precision, was my first “audiophile” headphone. It still my main headphone to this day.
In comparison, the hd6xx I got a few month afterwards was a let down.
Since then, I haven’t heard any headphone that blew me away. I tried hd660s, sendy ayva,. Focal clear mg, but none of these gave me the feeling of entering a new world of audio heaven. I reckon the listening conditions weren’t perfect though (standing up in a store) and my mind could change with a home listening.
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Audeze CRBN
Abyss 1266
Mest Mk2
Raptgo Hook-X
Moondrop SSR + Blessing 2
Sundara for the first ever audio hobby listen wow factor. Destroyed all mass consumer headphones for me.
HD6XX for those golden mids.
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In terms of blown me away right off the bat:
Hifiman Shangri La SR
Sennheiser HE90
Raal SR1a (love/hate though)
Stax SR 009
Abyss AB1266 Phi/TC (soured over time though)
OG Hifiman HE6 4/6S
Audeze LCD R
Fostex TH900
Audio Technica ATH-W11JPN
Audioquest Nighthawk
Sony MDR7506
In terms of blown me away over time:
Mysphere 3.1/3.2
Final D8000 Pro
OG Focal Utopia
OG Audeze LCD 2 PF
OG Early HD600
Koss KSC75
Things that didn’t blow me away when they really should have lol:
Sennheiser HE1
Sony MDR-R10 Bass Heavy
In terms of blown me away in a really bad way:
ZMF Aeolus
Mrspeakers Ether C Flow
Flare Audio R1
Sennheiser HD500 (or a lot of the similar headphones from senn in this time)
Fostex T50RP (and the others, but I do think they get a decent bit better with mods)
Koss Pro4AA
Hifiman HE350
Sony MDR-V150
And some other things that I don’t really remember the name of lol
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@M0N Indicative of your wealth of experience and knowledge! Very interesting.
For me it’s the first time I plugged a Grado SR 225 into my old LG 5 phone some years ago. Then the KSC 75 and more recently the Olina iem with various chain combinations. First experience with a decent iem. Also the BF2 dac made the DT 880/600 sound like a very different, better headphone!
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For me it was the:
Audioquest Nighthawk Carbon:
as my first foray into the audiophile world from consumer products.
Moondrop Leibesleid: godly vocals
Tgxear Tantalus: superb earbuds, probably my best transducers. Slightly behind the Moondrop vocals due to actually having subbass and a more balanced profile across the spectrum
Of more recent note, the
AAW Nightingale planar iems blew me away with their separartion of instruments.
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