[Liu Junyuan]

Perfectly fine.
I sold my X12 to try some vintage R2R flavour instead.
Though the X12 was excellent IMO, especially given the price

You could have stayed with both your NFB-27 and your X12 though. Something, some thing, some doubt?, told you to sell that Schiit.

Whether this may be attributable to your restlessness as an early 20 year old or your discovery of new DACs is highly essential.

As a 21 year old, you possess a considerable level of experience.

 

[Lohb]

But the hole reemerges with my o2, which is solid state.

Maybe it will pair excellently with TH-600 when messing with gain to bring up the mids....

 

[Liu Junyuan]

Maybe it will pair excellently with TH-600 when messing with gain to bring up the mids....

Never heard that awesome phone, but perhaps.

 

[Lohb]

Never heard that awesome phone, but perhaps.

v-shaped dynamic can.....so extrapolating your discovery, it might fill out the mids...

 

[Liu Junyuan]

v-shaped dynamic can.....so extrapolating your discovery, it might fill out the mids...

I hope so, but dont be enchanted too much by my comments on AKGs; these headphones are an anomaly.

 

[conquerator2]

Well, I received the K7XX yesterday and for the price I think they are formidable phones.

 

[Liu Junyuan]

Well, I received the K7XX yesterday and for the price I think they are formidable phones.

Well no Schiit. They are more than formidable.

 

[conquerator2]

Well no Schiit. They are more than formidable.

Well, they don't beat my HE-560. But for 200$ they get uncomfortably close in most aspects...

 

[Arnotts]

I'm interested in reading your thoughts on the R2R dac that you get, conquerator.

 

[conquerator2]

I'm interested in reading your thoughts on the R2R dac that you get, conquerator.

Will do. Should get it Mon/Tue

 

[BassDigger]

 12/3/14
  ... I've noticed that it's easy to tell when planar magnetic headphones are not being driven enough. You lose a lot of body, and the bass seems very loose and weak. The mids also seemed a little recessed and did not have the lush mids that you generally associate with planar magnetic headphones....
 
Hope this helps. I know I'm not great with descriptions.

 
Well, your above description certainly 'rang a bell' with me.
 
I would have very much appreciated your input in a discussion about the HE400 http://www.head-fi.org/t/741024/he-400-bass-not-as-present-as-i-expected 
 
I've now sold my he400s, because both bass and mids lacked body and I also found the upper mids often to be a little too 'screechy' or 'ringy'. Actually they weren't that bad; I just decided that the LCD 2 should be a worthwhile improvement; they'll (hopefully) arrive soon.
 
So, that leaves the question of the amp; your description seems to suggest that maybe my current amp hasn't got enough steam for planars.
That wouldn't be too surprising; it's a Beyer A1 clone, which has about 0.5 watt (??? impedance). It's designed for the T-1, not planars.
But I wasn't sure; it has plenty enough power to get the he400 very loud, without distorting or losing any impact. In fact, the only time that I ever heard any 'weakness' was when listening to the treble shy and bass heavy Peter Gabriel 'Us' album; cranking the volume up to nearly 4 O'clock (for a few seconds) produced some tell-tale break-up. But only then, and that's hardly surprising; my normal he400 listening was at the 11-12 o'clock position. (I always wanted to turn it up, to fill out the bass, but the screechy mids and sibilant treble would soon have me turning the knob back).
As I'm currently living somewhere where it's very easy for me to get hold of Chinese domestic products, reading how so many are so impressed by the H10 (particularly with planar hps), then once I've burnt the LCD2s in a little, I know for sure what my next 'wife exasperating' purchase will be! 

 

[Hibuckhobby]

As one who has recently purchased an H10, I think you would be pleased.  Be aware however, the stories of significant
change during "burn in" have been my experience as well.  What's more, it is a revealing amplifier, which means that
music that sounded "good" on previous setups may or may not sound good here.  The H10 will reveal poor recordings
and thin music will sound thin.  I'm very sensitive to as you put it "screeching mids and highs" as well and while this is
not an amp that will emphasize sibilance, it will reveal a threadbare midrange.
 
I'm very pleased with how it's driving my HE500's and am hearing details I haven't heard in past years of ownership.
At this price point, it was, for me a no-brainer.
regards,
Hibuck....

 

[BassDigger]

Thanks Hibuck,
 
I think (hope) that my 'old skool, new tech' hybrid source will portray the quality of the recordings that it's fed, without emphasising the thin stuff, too much.
 
You're right; some recordings, particularly a lot of the 90's rock/grunge that I like, is mixed to sound 'exciting' on the radio, or less than transparent hifi. But when played on revealing equipment it can have you gritting your teeth, cringing or wishing that you'd kept your old system, with those tone controls (to filter out half of the music).
 
At least, with the combination of LCD-2F and H10, it seems I'll have a good idea of true north (once they've both had a good few hours of burn-in!).

 

[bavinck]

Please try +12 as well, but turn the volume down appropriately. Tell us what you hear. I am terribly interested.

OK friend. I did some more testing on gain settings. I am indeed hearing a very small amount of rounded out (increased?) bass with +6 relative to 0. I am not noticing anymore increase in bass to +12,but my h10 has less than than 10 hrs on it and bass is said to change with burn in.

I am definitely noticing the hole at 0 that you have described. This does indeed completely disappear with +6 and +12 is the same as +6.

It's not exactly a hole. Imagining a surround sound setup as analogy, at 0 gain I am getting voices through the centre, but all the other instruments are coming through right and left speakers that are placed right next to my ear (surround l and r, not front l and r) . In my test song, a piano in panning from right to left, but it completely skips the front l, r and centre channels, going directly front surround r to l. Drums are the same, pounding at me from surround l and r, completely bypassing the front l and r speakers. It's like the front l and r speakers are not included in the mix. With +6 gain the front l and r speakers are well used, and the piano pan indeed crosses right across my face, r to l. The drums are now coming out of the surround l and r and the front l and r. Everything is completely filled it. Front l and r speakers are being well used. +12 gain is the same to my ears as the +6 gain.

No idea what is going on with this lol...

 

[Liu Junyuan]

OK friend. I did some more testing on gain settings. I am indeed hearing a very small amount of rounded out (increased?) bass with +6 relative to 0. I am not noticing anymore increase in bass to +12,but my h10 has less than than 10 hrs on it and bass is said to change with burn in.

I am definitely noticing the hole at 0 that you have described. This does indeed completely disappear with +6 and +12 is the same as +6.

It's not exactly a hole. Imagining a surround sound setup as analogy, at 0 gain I am getting voices through the centre, but all the other instruments are coming through right and left speakers that are placed right next to my ear (surround l and r, not front l and r) . In my test song, a piano in panning from right to left, but it completely skips the front l, r and centre channels, going directly front surround r to l. Drums are the same, pounding at me from surround l and r, completely bypassing the front l and r speakers. It's like the front l and r speakers are not included in the mix. With +6 gain the front l and r speakers are well used, and the piano pan indeed crosses right across my face, r to l. The drums are now coming out of the surround l and r and the front l and r. Everything is completely filled it. Front l and r speakers are being well used. +12 gain is the same to my ears as the +6 gain.

No idea what is going on with this lol...

Thank you. Very interesting indeed. So you are getting this from the HE-500, not the K7XX?