[2deadeyes]

Of all the cans I've heard, L3000 is the can for rock. I can't say if it's the definitive can for rock as I've never heard a PS1, but compared with the UE9 and O2, it has sweeter midrange/more bass texture than the former and more slam/musicality than the latter.

 

[Audiofiler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer /img/forum/go_quote.gif The L3000 is certainly the king of rock in my book. A quick overview of the possible candidates: PS1 - slightly too bassy and forward. Ed9 - significantly too bassy, somewhat odd midrange. HE90 - too polite, romantic, and diffuse. SR007 - leans too far to the analytical side. 4070 - ditto. Qualia - a bit too brutally revealing and demanding of recordings. R10 - ditto, and lacking sufficient bass volume. K1000 - ditto, and that bass roll-off to boot. The L3000 strikes a nice balance between the "excitement at all costs" crowd and the "track the recording precisely, or be damned" crowed. The former are just too over the top in their colorations for me to tolerate. The latter simply aren't as suited to having fun listening to rock and metal. Not to say I haven't enjoyed doing so on even an EXTREMELY analytical phone, like the 4070, but the L3000 is just more fun. The Qualia also somewhat strikes a balance between being fun and analytical, yet is just too tough on too many recordings to be a real rock king (unless perhaps hooked up to the ultimate limp noodle of tube amps). I'm not sure that I'd want to "improve" the L3000 in areas I find it lacking, because that could cause it to loose the synergy it displays with the music in question. I'd much rather just add an SR007 or 4070, and appreciate each for what they are, than "fix" the L3000's "flaws," comparatively speaking.

I firmly echo the information in this post, in fact should be a sticky for high-end headphone would be purchases.
Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it overrated : YES! I couldn't stand the L3000, sounded like crap compared to the HD600 / HD650 I had with me. Bass sounded muddied and completely off, overall it was like everything was coated in slimy syrup..

Not my findings at all,

 

[purk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it overrated : YES! I couldn't stand the L3000, sounded like crap compared to the HD600 / HD650 I had with me. Bass sounded muddied and completely off, overall it was like everything was coated in slimy syrup. I tried them with my maxed PPAv2, definitely tried them off the Pico (can you say underpowered!), PPAS and a Millet MAX. Sure, lots of people like them, but at the FairFax meet where I tried them, I saw almost as many people who said they didn't sound too good.

Sounded like crap? That isn't true

. If you get to live with the L3000 for awhile and pair them up with high quality source and amp, it will really grow on you. When I first heard the L3000, I didn't think to highly of it either but they really grew on me and it will be very difficult for me to part with them.

 

[FallenAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by purk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sounded like crap? That isn't true . If you get to live with the L3000 for awhile and pair them up with high quality source and amp, it will really grow on you. When I first heard the L3000, I didn't think to highly of it either but they really grew on me and it will be very difficult for me to part with them.

Completely understandable, I really didn't like the Deep Darth Beyers at first as well, but after proper burn in and spending a few multi-hour sessions with them, they're certainly a force to trifle with

I only spent about an hour with the L3000, source was a diyMod 5G iPod with BlackGate output caps (I know, it's not great, but I didn't finish the Sonicap dock until later), amp was my PPAv2 (OPA627/OPA637, BD139/BD140 buffers at 35mA on each channel). I can easily say that I love this setup, but was just unimpressed with the L3000, everything simply sounded "off", like not what I expected or liked in my music.

 

[slwiser]

Looks like a case of being under-amped to me, but what do I know?

 

[nc8000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it overrated : YES! I couldn't stand the L3000, sounded like crap compared to the HD600 / HD650 I had with me.

When I got my L3000 I came straight from a HD650 that I couldn't use because it was an open phone and to me the L3000 was a huge improvement in just about all areas. I now have it paired with a GS-1000 and will admit that for a number of genres the GS-1000 has it beat but again that is an open phone that I can only rarely use. For a closed phone I have not found anything that beats or approaches the L3000 for my taste not even the R10.

 

[Elephas]

You say this:

Quote:

Is it overrated : YES! I couldn't stand the L3000, sounded like crap compared to the HD600 / HD650 I had with me.

Based on this?!

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif I only spent about an hour with the L3000, source was a diyMod 5G iPod with BlackGate output caps (I know, it's not great, but I didn't finish the Sonicap dock until later), amp was my PPAv2 (OPA627/OPA637, BD139/BD140 buffers at 35mA on each channel).

 

[Fing]

Another vote for the L3000 being a great headphone. It's a headphone that to me, sounds good in general and improves if you find the amp / source it works well with.

I've been playing with the output voltage selector on my Extreme and tube rolling. I find it works best with the voltage set one notch above normal (325V?) and with Bendix 6385 input tube. I did enjoy the Bendix 2C51 almost as much (more even) when the output voltage was set to 300V, but it sounded strained with the higher voltage.

The impact, texture and tone are really first rate and makes any variations from the tube/output setting basically not sound as good as it just loses coherence.

Bass is a little emphasised but not overly so, unlike the Darth Beyers I used to have, that were fun but not really what I was looking for in a headphone.

The thing that brings me back to the L3000 though is definitely its sweetness of tone, which can be a colouration, but I prefer to think of as an interpretation.

Getting the right match of components to allow the L3000 character to show, brings out the refinement, enjoyment and fun factor, regardless of musical genre.

The R10 and HE90 are technically superior, even amped with a Yamamoto HA-02 and Stax SRM-T1 respectively. But as enjoyable? Only about 5 to 10% more, which is remarkable given the relative cost.

 

[purk]

Nice post fing. I agree with you that the L3000 is probably the most "fun" headphone in my collection too. What I like the most about the L3000 is its ability to remain musical when the recordings are not up to par. There are many occasions when I have trouble listen to the R10 and the HE90 due to bad recordings. The L3000 is much more forgiving than the other two headphones.

 

[HiWire]

Rock often means distortion - maybe the other cans don't get down and dirty enough.

 

[iamoneagain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by purk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice post fing. I agree with you that the L3000 is probably the most "fun" headphone in my collection too. What I like the most about the L3000 is its ability to remain musical when the recordings are not up to par. There are many occasions when I have trouble listen to the R10 and the HE90 due to bad recordings. The L3000 is much more forgiving than the other two headphones.

This is exactly what I like about it. I really like the headphones that still maintain the fun. The first to really catch my attention was the RS-1. It still holds fond memories. The PS-1 took the RS-1 to another level technically while still maintaining most of the fun. This is also how I feel about the L3000. It may not be as exciting at first listen but it draws you in and you're enjoying the music just as much if not more.

 

[vcoheda]

do people do a lot of low-level listening on their L3000s. the sound seems as good, if not better, at lower volumes and the headphone doesn't seem to require much to really open up as well. when switching to my 650 or even 600, i can't believe how much more volume i need to give it.

 

[FallenAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elephas /img/forum/go_quote.gif You say this: Based on this?!

Uhm... are you picking on the fact that I only had an hour with the headphones, 320kbps MP3s, the iMod, the Cardas interconnect or my PPAv2?

I simply didn't like the headphones, I was A LOT more impressed with RS-1 and PS-1, now those were a lot of fun

 

[Fing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif do people do a lot of low-level listening on their L3000s. the sound seems as good, if not better, at lower volumes and the headphone doesn't seem to require much to really open up as well. when switching to my 650 or even 600, i can't believe how much more volume i need to give it.

I'm definitely a low level listener and finding the threshold where they're loud enough to 'open up' and yet not too loud to distort is a problem I find with these cans.

Concerning the HD-650/600, I get the same thing with the K1000 which need a lot more welly to sound good. Seems the 'tipping point' for open headphones seems a little broader than closed headphones as I find that the HE90 also have a bit more flexibility between 'loud enough' and 'too loud'.

 

[slwiser]

After noting a couple of different frequency curves for the same headphones on the two Japan web sites, He Bi and Careless Headphones I checked out their graphs again carefully.

I noted something that may be of interest. One tested the frequency at a loudness of -20 dB while the other seems to test their headphones at -40 dB. When seeing these different loudness levels as standards for frequency testing one can note how linear the driver can play over a wider range of sound levels. There are few that succeed in having similar curves on both charts. It seems that the Sennheiser HD650 has one of the most linear drivers around. The Ultrasone HFI-780 is another that both sites have and their frequency curves are very different. Maybe the L3000 is also one of them but for this headphone only one site has a frequency curve.

When we review a unit what level we listen too should be noted. Especially when hearing recessed mids and other things I think. But I don't do this enough myself, it is added work for any review.