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Head Direct Magnetic Planar Cans Rock!

post #1 of 48
10/4/09 at 11:23pm
Thread Starter 
I am going to have to buy these. Glorious sound at RMAF. One of my highlights for the whole show.

I played orchestral; my own celtic recording; and some pop/rock. Just tremendous high quality sound. I was with Peter McGrath, a famous classical engineer, and Alan Sircom, editor of UK high end journal HiFi+. They also were very impressed.

Now I am a Maggie owner at home so I may be predisposed to that ole magnetic planer magic but oh boy there is something special going on here.

Fang Bian told me there will be a can/amp bundle when they come out. They even look cool with nice leather & stitching and wood grain parts.

Was also impressed by the Beyerdynamic DT-770, DT-880 and DT-990 (and also the iMetals I bought). I also liked the JH-13s and not just because they had girls with a better top and tight bottoms, a clever ad slogan they used.

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post #2 of 48
10/4/09 at 11:48pm
HE5?
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post #3 of 48
10/4/09 at 11:57pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tongson View Post
HE5?
Yes. Different amp though, black box on the left.
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post #4 of 48
10/5/09 at 12:02am
Price projections?
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post #5 of 48
10/5/09 at 12:23am
Considering what they look like it would be really disappointing if they didn't sound amazing.
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post #6 of 48
10/5/09 at 12:27am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZoNtO View Post
Price projections?
I think Fang said somewhere around $1,200 with the headphone amp.

They look as good as they sound.
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post #7 of 48
10/5/09 at 12:32am
Oh good hell, never mind then.
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post #8 of 48
10/5/09 at 12:38am
Are they going with a different ear pads? The exposed foam looks to be fragile and deteriorate over time like all foam.
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post #9 of 48
10/5/09 at 12:43am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Edwood View Post
Are they going with a different ear pads? The exposed foam looks to be fragile and deteriorate over time like all foam.
The ones I tried did not have exposed foam-some fine black cloth. They seemed a very finished product. They were quite comfortable.
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post #10 of 48
10/5/09 at 1:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TwoTrack View Post
The ones I tried did not have exposed foam-some fine black cloth. They seemed a very finished product. They were quite comfortable.
hooray for that! at the NJ meet, the #1 reason I didn't like those cans was due to the almost sharp feeling that the hard foam caused against my head
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post #11 of 48
10/5/09 at 3:54am
There are more impressions of these at CanJam at RMAF Denver CO October 2,3,4 - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

I would not be surprised if Fang's wife talks him down to selling the HE-5 with EF1 amp as a package for $1000. They have great synergy together, and I liked them a lot - good detail, speed, tone and bass impact. The Audeze sounded a little better with the Eddie Current ZDT than the HE-5, but the HE-5 kicked butt with the EF1 tube hybrid amp ($299).
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post #12 of 48
10/5/09 at 10:28am
Hmmmmm...sounds promising! I was also a Maggie guy for a long time. I take it these can be used with standard headphone amps, since you mentioned a bundle with the EF-1, Larry...

Does anyone know when these will be available?
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post #13 of 48
10/5/09 at 11:52am
IMO, the last thing we need, in this economy (and the last thing I need, being a student) is more statement headphones. Orthos and vintage gear have never been more appealing.
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post #14 of 48
10/5/09 at 12:05pm
They look like transformed Grado's.
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post #15 of 48
10/5/09 at 1:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skylab View Post
Hmmmmm...sounds promising! I was also a Maggie guy for a long time. I take it these can be used with standard headphone amps, since you mentioned a bundle with the EF-1, Larry...

Does anyone know when these will be available?
Actually, unless they change something about the design between now and the release, it's important to point out that while they can be driven with standard headphone amps (given their performance with the EF1), they are extremely demanding and probably won't work at all out of most standard tube amps. I think Larry and I both tried the cans plugged into our own tube amps (both powerful enough to drive low-impedance 'phones) with poor results. In Larry's case, he said they sounded noticeably better out of the EF1 than his ZDT - in my case, I would say the same, and in addition when I really cranked the volume up, the sound got distorted.
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