The newly released LTD African Blackwood looks fab!
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Iāve Universe Lamb, Verite Lamb, BE2 Lamb, Universe Hybrid and BE2 Hybridā¦ and my preferred ones are the BE2 Lamb.
You should give them a try!!!
What would be the closest planar to VO, as I continue to plan ordering an Arya and something else to compete with it? Ether 2? LCD-3? HE6? Iām having slight worries about dynamic bass, but not really sure until I hear them. I think VO will have stronger bass than Arya, at least.
Maybe aā¦Nectar Hive?
The Verite definitely has stronger bass than the Arya.
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It seems VO is significantly better than Arya as an all-arounder, as well. Do you feel Arya is the clear weak one, between it and VO & HE6se, letās say?
Well, I can always try Arya first, and return it if I donāt fall in love. Re-strategize from there.
The Verite is just a phenomenal headphone for those that want detail without harshness in the upper mids and/or treble. To my ears, itās just magical because it has this uncanny ability to be, simultaneously, detailed and smooth. That seems to be a difficult balance for manufacturers. Amongst those 3, I feel that the Verite is the much better headphone, and for sure, a better all-a rounder. It also has a wide and holographic soundstage and makes vocals sound fantastic.
Between the Arya and He6, itās a toss up based on personal preference. If you want more soundstage and a brighter tuning, then the Arya is your choice. If you want a smoother treble but a more visceral and impactful sound, then the HE6 is your choice.
If you are sensitive to upper mids and/or treble, the Arya could be painful for you.
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How do you feel about VO bass? No real complaints? Itās giving you everything youād want?
Itās fantastic! Itās not flat. Itās clearly north of neutral but not basshead level. It doesnāt have the impact of the LCD 4, but itās not soft or weak. It definitely has more quantity than the Arya.
The Verite may not be the best at any one thing, but as a whole, it does everything right. Of course this is just one manās opinion, but I donāt think it has any weaknesses. That doesnāt mean there arenāt those that prefer basshead level bass or those that prefer Beyerdynamic bright treble (yuck), but it does so much right and so little wrong. Itās beautiful, comfortable, built well, scales well, well-balanced, tastefully tuned, has a wide soundstage, great clarity, smooth, detailed, and warrantied for life. And Zach and Bevin are great people to boot!
It doesnāt wow you with quirky frequency response tricks. Those types of tunings are like ice cream. It tastes great in small quantitties but becomes too rich and makes you nauseous after a while. The Verite is a filet mignon. It will satisfy your hunger because it not only tastes good, itās good for you. The longer you own it, the more you will appreciate it. Thereās a reason they donāt last long on the used market.
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+1 lol. One of my worst enemies, for sureā¦
The rare treble smoothness you mentioned earlier has me sold(as well as the bass, it seems). I havenāt heard LCD-4, but LCD-3 and HE-6 are my #1ās Iāve heard so far. Maybe I will just get VO and a bunch of pads for now.
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Iād describe the VOās bass as neutral, but punchy. It never feels like itās lacking, unless itās lacking in the source. Favorite pads were the verite lambskin perforated. Those just felt the most balanced to me.
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You sold yours? What for? HE1000se? Sundara? =p
I ended up giving my Verite to my SO. The Verite is a non-offensive all-rounder that does nothing wrong, but also doesnāt excel in anything. So although I didnāt have the intention of parting with it, when I got the ADX5000 I found that it actually stepped on the Veriteās role for me as a neutral/natural headphone, but particularly excelled in vocals and strings, also was higher performing and scaled better with higher end equipment. The Verite is far less picky on source equipment, so Iād still rec the Verite for people who want to spend far less $ on the dac/amp side of things.
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Ooo, interestingā¦ I had not even considered ADX5000. I own AD700X & 900X, and I know how uniquely wide open of a presentation those little guys have. What DAC & amp do you feel they need to sound good? I will have BF2+G111 in a few weeks.
SS-wise, I did use a bifrost 2 with an rnhp, and that sounds really sweet with the adx5k, so Iād consider that a good combination. I havenāt heard the g111, so I canāt really say for that, but the bf2 is indeed a really nice dac. Both headphones benefit from a tube amp, but I still prefer the adx5k even off a pendant. Scaling doesnāt become an issue until you get into like $$$$ source gear and thatās when I could tell that my other headphones were capable of way more than the verite.
Well for one the adx5000 has an even higher impedance of 420 ohms, so itās naturally going to require more power than the Verite and almost every other headphone ever made besides the Beyerdynamic T1. I used to own the adx5000 headphone, too. The problem with that headphone is that itās very forward in the upper mids. I found it very bright and harsh. Again, if someone knows that they like bright headphones, then all is good. But for those that are sensitive to that type of tuningā¦tread carefully.
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Iāve never used it on a setup where it made it sound harsh at least with what Iāve used, but yeah, mids stand out on it. I have used it on setups that made it sound rather boring and way too flat, however. Both the amps in question would also power them fine.
You would think that, but itās actually rather similar power requirements. The adx5k has a sensitivity of 100db/mw, where the verite has 97db/mw, and in practice, from a volume perspective both can get rather loud off most things. That being said the 5k will spike to higher impedances yes which can stress the amp more depending on the design, but disregarding volume the 5k is much much more sensitive to how itās being driven
To me that sounds like a poor source match, as with the right synergy I personally donāt get that at all, but it depends on the amp and dac, I have heard it get bright and sharp on the wrong setup
I donāt know if Iād call it all that similar to a verite though, but I could see it taking the role of a verite
Both you and the above poster keep mentioning that it is picky with amps or needs a specific source to sound right. Thatās exactly how everyone talks about the hd800. That means itās bright and can sound harsh, unless you use tubes to mellow it out. My Verite sounds great from almost anything.
The adx5000 sounds awful with the THX 789. My Verite sounds great from it. I donāt think they sound anything alike.
Everyone knows that Audio Technica likes to tune their headphones with some mid-forwardness. Some people will love that and some will be sensitive to that due to ear shape/concha gain, etc. Look at the frequency response on them. To my ears they sound exactly how they measure. They have a lot of energy in the upper mids.
Yep, as the mass majority of high end headphones do
Yep, itās also the case there
Iāve liked the adx5k on many solid states even more neutral leaning ones. But yes it can get bright if itās on a bright source. On some setups it can get mainly just dull and boring but not bright, all depends on the setup at hand
I bet, thatās way to low preforming of an amp for the 5k to really sound all that great tbh, and also itās more analytical nature will absolutely tilt the 5k that way
Somewhat surprised there, I bet it wouldnāt sound harsh or anything but I would expect technical performance to be fairly weak on that setup
I would agree
In the past yes, although I wouldnāt consider the 5k mid forward, moreso just fairly neutral
Tuning isnāt the only thing being discussed either, I wouldnāt want to ignore other aspects of the headphones
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Actually, I favor warm sounding headphones, and am not particularly a fan of bright headphones. I mention source because itās the most transparent headphone I have where the chain influences how it sounds greatly. The verite doesnāt really exhibit that trait. If your source made it sound bright and harsh like that, I wouldnāt be surprised to see you dislike it.
And speaking of tubes, the worst amp I tried with it was a tube amp. Specifically the tuba, and it was just so damn neutral and boring it could bring you to tears. It really just depends.
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