[NoisyNarrowBandDevice]

It manages to do one of the most important things in the headphone landscape: present a meaningfully different sound. While I won’t go so far as to guarantee you’ll love the HEDDPhone TWO, I’m positive it’s one you won’t easily forget.

Compelling conclusion! And that's what this high in the game everything is about "meaningful difference." Trialed the original HEDD as a complement to my Beyer 1990D and Sennheiser 650 and really liked how it presented microdynamics and detail. Very useful also for mixing going back and forth with the 650 meaningful difference is exactly what was happening there.

I had very good offer at the time but ultimately hesitated too long.

Glad now I waited and will try the HEDD 2 asap.

 

[plumpudding2]

• Macrodynamic impact and slam is lacking. This just isn't a Focal headphone. More like on the level of the MM-500 I'd say and better than HD800S or Arya.

I saw no mention of source pairing in the (great!) article you wrote, what did you run it off? I'm not trying to be like the Susvara folks ("wait till you hear it on 2000 watt class A monoblocks") but in my experience the macrodynamics and slam of the Heddphone one are quite dependent on the amp pairing, similar to my DCA Stealth and the Susvara.

 

[JacquesCustodian]

I saw no mention of source pairing in the (great!) article you wrote, what did you run it off? I'm not trying to be like the Susvara folks ("wait till you hear it on 2000 watt class A monoblocks") but in my experience the macrodynamics and slam of the Heddphone one are quite dependent on the amp pairing, similar to my DCA Stealth and the Susvara.

Says up top in the article that he used the Ferrum Audio ERCO Balanced DAC/amp :- )

 

[plumpudding2]

Says up top in the article that he used the Ferrum Audio ERCO Balanced DAC/amp :- )

Ah thanks for pointing that out, my mistake, apologies!

 

[Beagle]

My written review of the HEDDPhone TWO just went up.
Probably the longest and most comprehensive one I've written so far at 3.5k words. There was a lot to talk about and I re-wrote this about 3 times.
I tell myself I won't write something this long again in the future but realistically if I review something like the Modhouse Tungsten I'll fall into this trap again.

tl;dr for those who don't have time but seriously, please read it because those 3.5k words are meant to answer all the questions that I myself would have had if I wasn't reviewing it. I only haven't heard the HEDDPhone 1 enough to comment for comparison. Also there's a bonus EQ in the end if you want to try.

Pros:

• Excellent ergonomics and build. Really goes to show how much care and attention HEDD Audio puts into the feedback they've gotten. The ability to control both clamp force and height at once is genius. And they didn't skimp on the headband surface area or padding. I usually don't wear headphones for like 2-3 hours at a time but I could with these despite it still being a hefty headphone. Oh and a 5-year warranty is nothing to sneeze at.
• The two standout features of the HEDDPhone TWO features are microdynamics and what I call "timbral resolution". Microdynamics is the subtle gradations between notes and within passages that capture the performer's emotional expression. Timbral resolution is all the little microdetails of a note that comes together to create the full character of an individual instrument you can hear. For example, when a cello is bowed, all the tiny little individual resonances in the strings that make up its timbre. It’s like suddenly realizing that there can be so many different shades of the same type of note and the HEDDPhone TWO is telling you exactly what shade it is. HEDDPhone TWO is the only headphone that I can remember where I've noticed these qualities so strongly.
• Stringed instruments and synths perform exceptionally well thanks to the above points. Vocal layering is also top notch.
• Despite the subbass roll-off, these AMT drivers do push air quite effectively. Notes can sometimes sound bigger and boomier than expected.

Cons:

• The tuning is an odd combination of warm and bright. It's honestly not reallllly a con but just something to know. Its more like a shotgun scatter of mini-peaks rather than a hard peak here and there. And yes, there is sibilance in the vocals.
• Macrodynamic impact and slam is lacking. This just isn't a Focal headphone. More like on the level of the MM-500 I'd say and better than HD800S or Arya.
• Along those lines, there's some poofiness in the midbass for drums - kicks and toms. Of course, this is highly dependent on the recording of your track. But with my library consisting of a lot of alt-rock tracks with less-than-stellar productions, it does show up. For better recordings this isn't much of a problem. For this reason, it took me a couple of days listening across my wider library to really start to appreciate what these AMT drivers can do.
• Staging is nothing to write home about. Just does not have the openness or size of the HD800S or Arya. It's more along the lines of the MM-500 but with less precise imaging.

I was extremely excited for the HEDDPhone TWO but ended up with some mixed thoughts. No headphone (or HEDDPHONE) is perfect. At the end of the day though I do think it's a very competitive offering. It manages to do one of the most important things in the headphone landscape: present a meaningfully different sound. While I won’t go so far as to guarantee you’ll love the HEDDPhone TWO, I’m positive it’s one you won’t easily forget.

Happy to answer any questions.

A different sound or different presentation are what provide audio thrills and part of the reason why we retain enthusiasm. I mean, you can’t put, say, a Utopia beside, say, the new Yamaha and claim that if one of them is “right”, the other must be “wrong”. Or tubes vs. ss. It’s whatever keeps the music playing for us. Or refreshes it. And I better stop before the “off-topic” comes along.

 

[FcConstruct]

I saw no mention of source pairing in the (great!) article you wrote, what did you run it off? I'm not trying to be like the Susvara folks ("wait till you hear it on 2000 watt class A monoblocks") but in my experience the macrodynamics and slam of the Heddphone one are quite dependent on the amp pairing, similar to my DCA Stealth and the Susvara.

As Jacques nicely pointed out, I did use the Ferrum ERCO. I'm not a big source person either so take my words with a grain of salt but I think the HEDDPhone 2 might see some benefits from a beefier amp. Even though the sensitivity of the HEDDPhone 2 is around that of a HD600/650, I found myself pushing it a little louder than quieter.

I had very good offer at the time but ultimately hesitated too long.

Glad now I waited and will try the HEDD 2 asap.

If anything, the improvements in comfort would definitely have been worth it!

 

[DarginMahkum]

At CanJam on the second day, HEDDv2 was connected to the unbalanced output of ADI-2 Pro SE, and "I think" it was connected to an ADI-2 DAC on the first day (I might be wrong, it might again be Pro SE unbalanced). So, what is powerful enough for the developer should be powerful enough for the others.

 

[lafeuill]

As Jacques nicely pointed out, I did use the Ferrum ERCO. I'm not a big source person either so take my words with a grain of salt but I think the HEDDPhone 2 might see some benefits from a beefier amp. Even though the sensitivity of the HEDDPhone 2 is around that of a HD600/650, I found myself pushing it a little louder than quieter.


If anything, the improvements in comfort would definitely have been worth it!

For the record, I tried my D8000 Pro on the Ferrum stack and was horrified at the acidity I received. Litterally. Bad matching in that case, maybe in the Hedd Two case also.

 

[SolarCetacean]

Seems odd to me that the HEDDv2 has lackluster macrodynamics on the Erco, as I find that the Erco boosts macrodynamics on every headphone that I own, like the dynamically-challenged Aeon 2 Noire, and even the electrostatics when using the line-out into my estat amps. But perhaps it might actually be one of those bad pairings, particularly because the Erco has a certain sound to it (the dynamics boost) which may not mix well with some headphones.

 

[Reputator]

Cameron's review for Headphones.com mentioned good impact and slam, but it doesn't list what his source chain was, and we know he has access to some of the best amplification in the world, particularly the Zahl HM1. I have to assume he tried it on other gear though.

But in my experience, while v1 always had good punch, it never had much in the way of slam unless the recording had a crazy amount of it. It might be something inherent with AMT drivers and how they move air that limits their excursion force. Either that or it needs god level Susvara-tier amps to show that characteristic really well, which would be a little silly for a $2k headphone.

 

[ThanatosVI]

At CanJam on the second day, HEDDv2 was connected to the unbalanced output of ADI-2 Pro SE, and "I think" it was connected to an ADI-2 DAC on the first day (I might be wrong, it might again be Pro SE unbalanced). So, what is powerful enough for the developer should be powerful enough for the others.

Also to add.
It was powerful enough for the Devs under Show conditions.
Who listens that loud at home?

 

[plumpudding2]

But in my experience, while v1 always had good punch, it never had much in the way of slam unless the recording had a crazy amount of it. It might be something inherent with AMT drivers and how they move air that limits their excursion force. Either that or it needs god level Susvara-tier amps to show that characteristic really well, which would be a little silly for a $2k headphone.

I guess I got my audiophile terminology mixed up because I always thought slam and punch were the same thing haha. It's also a subjective quality that is not measurable and thus highly personal, I've never found the Utopia to be the slam cannon people make it out to be.

Ferrum Erco has plenty of juice and be well engineered knowing Ferrum so I don't think that is the reason.

 

[SolarCetacean]

I guess I got my audiophile terminology mixed up because I always thought slam and punch were the same thing haha. It's also a subjective quality that is not measurable.

I actually think it should be measurable, because I've found that the sense of punch or macro-dynamics relates to how large a transient is, and in the case of headphones, how much a headphone overshoots the level of a transient. If I use dynamic EQ to dynamically boost a part of the signal during transients (effectively being an expander), I can reproduce and tune the sense of slam on basically any headphone by overdriving the transients in the signal. Though people are also more or less sensitive to that sensation, and it seems to be somewhat linked to tympanic response or auditory flinch. I like to call it "throat punch", analogous to the "chest punch" that I get from two-channel speakers but felt in the upper throat and nasal passages rather than the chest.

Dan Clark has said similar things about slam in that he uses impulse response measurements to see how much a headphone overshoots the target level of an impulse. His headphones are tuned to not overshoot transients, and people often think they sound compressed. But if you give them a large-enough transient, you can still make them have punch, it just needs to be done in the signal.

Coming back to the HEDD TWO, it might just have less overshoot, and hence less intrinsic slam, similar to the DCA headphones, which I would characterize as having strong micro-dynamics but weak macro-dynamics. But still having mediocre slam with the Erco seems unusual unless they were as strongly damped as a DCA headphone or some electrostatics. The Noire has weak punch with Topping/FiiO amps in my experience, and just ok punch on the Erco, and if the HEDD v2 has just ok punch on the Erco, then I predict that it has weak dynamics on Topping/FiiO amps.
But on the other hand, Resolve thought that the v2 had a lot of punchiness, which I normally associate with strong macro-dynamics. Different reviewers and reference points, of course. And without actually hearing it myself, I'm in no place to judge. But from what I remember from the v1, it didn't noticeably suffer in the macro-dynamics department.

Regarding punch vs slam, I usually use those terms interchangeably as well, but I suppose punch refers to macro-dynamics in the bass while slam is macro-dynamics in the treble. Like how striking a drum produces both that low-end kick as well as the sharp snap of the drumstick's strike, punch concerns that visceral kick while slam concerns the intensity of the snap.

 

[Reputator]

Regarding punch vs slam, I usually use those terms interchangeably as well, but I suppose punch refers to macro-dynamics in the bass while slam is macro-dynamics in the treble. Like how striking a drum produces both that low-end kick as well as the sharp snap of the drumstick's strike, punch concerns that visceral kick while slam concerns the intensity of the snap.

Nah, slam isn't to do with treble. Punch can occur at any frequency, however, and actually the HEDDphone is kinda cool in that it exemplifies this. There's a tactile "pop" to transient attack, which is more common on speakers but less in headphones. Almost like you can feel it as much as hear it in your eardrums.

Slam is more like that dynamic swing you mentioned, although pertaining specifically to bass. I think it has a lot to do with bass volume, and sub bass extension as well. So yeah it would definitely be measurable, but it's also possible for a bassy measuring headphone to sound soft and spongey in the lower frequencies (Shure SRH1540, for example). Tight response is also important to slam.

 

[tubelvr1]

Unfortunately I just bought the Hedd v1 little over a month ago. Wanted to get a true assessment of the sound quality difference between the v2 and V1 if any. Anyone here have both units doing an A/B comparison between them? If sound signatures are similar then I won’t have an issue with the weight of the V1 and be content with my purchase.