thomasfdo said:

  there is a first test of the Master 1 in the german hifi magazine Test:
 
http://www.audio.de/testbericht/pioneer-se-master-1-test-klang-3079163.html
 
it did get the highest score of 97 points within the headphone section; from remembering: also some other headphones have been scored with 97 points; Stax 009 has not been tested yet
 
I know, it is only a test, but it is close to my own impressions
 
I'm wondering why Pioneer did not label this headphone under the High end label TAD (Technical Audio Devices); maybe it is still not expansive enough
 
to me, the sound/cost relation is excellent!

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https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.audio.de%2Ftestbericht%2Fpioneer-se-master-1-test-klang-3079163.html&edit-text=
 
 
Excellently strident review lol

gurus said:

I agree. Totally different animals.

But I disagree with the Fostex remark. There is no comparison. This is like literally 5 min of Pioneer on my head.

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that's a shame coz i was kinda looking forward to one

up late said:

that's a shame coz i was kinda looking forward to one

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I meant it the other way. The Pioneer wipes the floor with the Fostex. The Master-1 betters the TH900 in every aspect.

figured that. hope you're saving up some more of those cliches like "the difference is night and day", "there's no contest" and "it stomps all over it" for when you've spent more than five minutes with the master 1.

alpha80 said:

  https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.audio.de%2Ftestbericht%2Fpioneer-se-master-1-test-klang-3079163.html&edit-text=
 
 
Excellently strident review lol

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Thanks for the link. Fortunately I don't need to translate it
 
Yes, sounds very positive... unfortunately they only give some words of comparison to the LCD XC, which I've never heard.
 
P.S.: the original article link in german:
http://www.audio.de/testbericht/pioneer-se-master-1-test-klang-3079163.html

I have listened to some rather bad sounding music yesterday and no surprise, the Master 1 shows you this poor sound (but still listenable)
 
I have also listened to the cd layer of the MFSL sacd Bill Withers - Live at Carnegie Hall, and this was a great enjoyment; I felt like being in the Carnegie Hall myself; and again: what a natural sound!
 
from me: strong recommendation for the Master 1!

up late said:

figured that. hope you're saving up some of those cliches like "the difference is night and day", "there's no contest" and "it stomps all over it" for when you've spent more than five minutes with the master 1.

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It ain't going to happen. No reviews from my side. I will leave that to others. I will just try to enjoy it like I did the TH900 for the last few months. I am no longer an "audiophile".
 
All I can say that it is making me consider getting my BMC Pre1/DAC and Wadia Transport out of retirement (storage) and give it a listen with the SE1. The Master deserves it.

guess i'll have to settle for "wipes the floor" then. enjoy your new toy.

hoping that plakat will chime in with his considered comparison at some point

Hi arnaud,
 

arnaud said:

That's why I am confused we're even talking about stax gear in this thread. I don't recall making any comparison myself, and I honestly feel we're such on a different plane (except retail price as the pioneer is over 2/3rd the price of sr009 / more expensive than sr007a).

From what I listened, the pioneer is comparable to other dynamic phones like the fostex, it sounds like a sub 1kUSD phone to me. The hifiman he1000 is same price and sounded so much better to me on short listen.

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so are implying that the Master 1 should be placed anywhere below 1000 $, should be compared to the Fostex headphones and that the Hifiman HE1000 sounds to much better, not even speaking of Stax, which shouln't be even compared to the Master 1. Well for someone who didn't have the product discussed here at home for a deeper evaluation, you already seem to have a strong opinion on it and bringing it to the final judgement here. At the same time you always repeat "time will tell", but doesn't seem to give it the time it needs.
 
Why you are trying so deperately to convince everyone that the Master 1 can't be compared to any of the Stax TOTL models. For me all your previous comments feel like the same behaviour people tend to fall for, when something turns up on the market, which is also placed in a higher price region and makes some people happy. They always try starting to prevent comparisons and sometimes even to lower the public opinion on the new contender.
 
I mean I agree with you that the Master 1 might not be worth the full price tag of 2500 € (I would maybe place it around 1800 €), but that's the same for all those other headphones and amplifiers in the high price region as well. I recently had a chance to listen to the Stax 009 (amped with a BHSE) and the Abyss (amped with the Moon Neo). It became clear to me why so many people call those headphones the best headphones that exist at the moment, but considering that you have to spent almost 5K or 6K (or even more if you count in the amps), they didn't deliver so much more compared to to the phones in the 2K or 3K region that make them worth that huge price difference. However I fully understand that there are enthusiasts out there, who are willing to spent that amount to get the best there is at the moment, which is perfectly OK, since it's some kind of a hobby for them and we all know how much you tend to spend for a hobby
 
For me it is not only the price tag which makes the difference in what should be considered the best for someone, but also what kind of sound you prefer. Sunday for example I spent the whole time listening to rock on my T1 (which is "just" 950 €). I didn't even try to compare it to the Master 1 at that day, since in that moment I enjoyed it so much that I almost forgot that I have more expensive headphones and I didn't even wish I would have an Abyss for example which is also considered great for rock and might be clearly better than the T1. Sometimes you just need to enjoy the characteristics of a headphone instead of always hunting down the ultimate solution. Well on the other hand...that's just my personal opinion.
 
In the end every comparison should be allowed here, even if it's apples and oranges (which was clearly stated).

 
Quote:

arnaud said:

As I said, I either heard a dud or some of you guys are blinded by the price / unobtainum status. Time will tell.

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My suggestion is: Give it some time, before judging on people's blindness  

up late said:

guess i'll have to settle for "wipes the floor" then.

enjoy your new toy.

hoping that plakat will chime in with his considered comparison at some point

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Did not want you to form a 'misconception' based on my remarks so I had to to be a bit forceful with my words!

Fair enough about me lacking time to properly evaluate the pioneer. The good news is that it seems readily available at the local electronics stores here so I will get more chances.

About my reaction to the price, it's all relative to one's perspective. A few weeks back, I received an HD600 for 250USD , new. I could not believe how good it sounded for the price straight out of my dac with variable line out. Coming from there, the pioneer experience was underwhelming. The other bad luck is I happened to listen to the HE1k right after and felt much more at home with the later.

Great if some feel it's totally justified to pay this money for the pioneer. It makes everyone happy, from the manufacturer to the consumer passing through the distributor and what have you salesman .

Back to the topic...I recently purchased the Pioneer U-05-S, since a lot of the positive impressions on the shows were based on the Master 1 being coupled with that amp. Furthermore I searched for a second amp for my living room anyway.
 
My personal impression is that the Master 1 really benefits from that combination and I tend to say that it's even a better pairing than with the Oppo HA-1. Only thing I miss at the moment is that the volume control doesn't work if the line-out is selected (not sure if that's a bug or a feature) and the remote control's look and feel is a little bit crappy compared to the great built quality of the device itself. But I am used to that already, since my AV receiver is from Pioneer and the remote of that device is even worse From the eyecandy site I also miss the the black colored version (why the heck they are not offering that in black as well as all it's their standard color for the rest of their equipment?) and Oppo's front screen.
 
What I really like about the U-05-S is all the switches you have at hand, e.g. to fine-tune the volume, switch between outputs, select one of the digital filters you can apply (or disable them completely) and the nice retro look of the device. And of course how it sounds paired with the Pioneer Master 1. I will try to go back and fourth between the two amps to see where the difference is. Right after I tried it for the first time, I didn't try to go back to the HA-1, but this will be the case in the next days, when I play one of them in my living room and the other one in my office room. However the first impression is that the U-05 is a better match for the pioneer, although I still need to fire out what the exact difference in the sound. Once I know I will let you know.
 
Regarding the overall impression of the Master 1 after three weeks...there is nothing I can add on the positive side which hasn't been mentioned already. One thing I also noticed and which has been mentioned here already is that bad recordings will sound like bad recordings. It's not that it will hide much there, like other not as much resolving headphones do, which is a good thing, but of course makes you select more carefully

gurus said:

Did not want you to form a 'misconception' based on my remarks so I had to to be a bit forceful with my words!

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no chance of that happening

I did compare the Master 1 last weekend at a headphone store with Audeze LCD-3, Audeze LCD-X and the new Hifiman HE-1000; unfortunately, I only had 2 hours, but I did get quite a few impressions
 
compared to the Audezes and the Hifiman 1000 the Master 1 is much more analytical and cooler sounding; I would describe the sound of the Audezes and the Hifiman 1000 rather sweet and very pleasing; to me the Master 1 does not sound pleasing at all
 
most fun was the Audeze LCD-X, but it is not as clear and resolving as the other three; if you wouldn't know the other three, one probably would not complain about it; but when you know ...; and it has lots of bass
 
the Audeze LCD-3 sounds very clear and is very resolving; compared to the LCD-X and the Master 1 it has less bass; and (to me) it emphasizes the upper mids
 
the Hifiman 1000 sounds kind of velvety, is very resolving, (to me) it emphasizes the upper mids and I missed quite a bit on bass; I tried it on a tube amp, which added some bass (what was good), but also made it sound worse; so (to me) the amp should add some bass and be very neutral; and it needs an amp for sure; the build quality is very good, but not as good as the Master 1; and it also does not wear as comfortable as the Master 1
 
the Master 1 has lots of bass and when using an amp, it should not add any bass (the tube amp I tried the Master 1 with was adding bass and this was not enjoyable anymore); a warm/sweet sounding amp could fit the Master 1 best; but this (as always) is all a matter of taste
 
before I left the headphone story the owner insisted that I had to listen to the Stax SR-507 + SRM 727 II and I was very surprised about the sound, which was very good
 
the result of this listening session to me was: there is not the one perfect headphone, but all have their advantages and disadvantages and it very much depends on your personnel taste, which one you prefer for what kind of music
 
although I like the Audezes and the Hifiman 1000 very much, I will stick to my Master 1 (which sounds very different to them) as this is the sound I prefer and it works very well with my AK 120 II
 
and I might get the Hifiman 1000 any time in the future

thomasfdo said:

  I did compare the Master 1 last weekend at a headphone store with Audeze LCD-3, Audeze LCD-X and the new Hifiman HE-1000; unfortunately, I only had 2 hours, but I did get quite a few impressions
 
compared to the Audezes and the Hifiman 1000 the Master 1 is much more analytical and cooler sounding; I would describe the sound of the Audezes and the Hifiman 1000 rather sweet and very pleasing; to me the Master 1 does not sound pleasing at all
 
most fun was the Audeze LCD-X, but it is not as clear and resolving as the other three; if you wouldn't know the other three, one probably would not complain about it; but when you know ...; and it has lots of bass
 
the Audeze LCD-3 sounds very clear and is very resolving; compared to the LCD-X and the Master 1 it has less bass; and (to me) it emphasizes the upper mids
 
the Hifiman 1000 sounds kind of velvety, is very resolving, (to me) it emphasizes the upper mids and I missed quite a bit on bass; I tried it on a tube amp, which added some bass (what was good), but also made it sound worse; so (to me) the amp should add some bass and be very neutral; and it needs an amp for sure; the build quality is very good, but not as good as the Master 1; and it also does not wear as comfortable as the Master 1
 
the Master 1 has lots of bass and when using an amp, it should not add any bass (the tube amp I tried the Master 1 with was adding bass and this was not enjoyable anymore); a warm/sweet sounding amp could fit the Master 1 best; but this (as always) is all a matter of taste
 
before I left the headphone story the owner insisted that I had to listen to the Stax SR-507 + SRM 727 II and I was very surprised about the sound, which was very good
 
the result of this listening session to me was: there is not the one perfect headphone, but all have their advantages and disadvantages and it very much depends on your personnel taste, which one you prefer for what kind of music
 
although I like the Audezes and the Hifiman 1000 very much, I will stick to my Master 1 (which sounds very different to them) as this is the sound I prefer and it works very well with my AK 120 II
 
and I might get the Hifiman 1000 any time in the future

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Interesting report.  Now I must return to e-earphone and compare the SE-1 to the Audeze LCD-X and LCD-3.  I want something open, airy, detailed and not tiring so that I can listen to a whole opera if need be.  I already have a Woo WA6SE, so I prefer not to go with Stax.