[Stillhart]

  That's a very well-written review, and makes these sound VERY nice!  Someday once I actually have the budget for something like these, I might just have to make them my Summit-Fi of Choice

When will Tyll be getting his sample?  I wanna see measurements, guys!

 

 
This is the graph that MrSpeakers brought to the Schiit show.  It shows the measurements of all the units they had with them (5 or 6, I believe) overlaid.  This is intended to be the final tuning.  The variance in the 100-200Hz range will get ironed out for production.
 
EDIT - Posted with Dan's permission.

 

[goodyfresh]

   

 
This is the graph that MrSpeakers brought to the Schiit show.  It shows the measurements of all the units they had with them (5 or 6, I believe) overlaid.  This is intended to be the final tuning.  The variance in the 100-200Hz range will get ironed out for production.
 
EDIT - Posted with Dan's permission.

That's a great looking graph!  But as with any frequency-response plot, one has to ask. . .what are they using as the compensatino-curve?  This looks very, very similar to the graphs for the various Mr. Speakers headphones already released in the past and measured by Tyll over on Innerfidelity. . .does that mean they're using the same compensation curve (or about the same) as Tyll?

All of Mr. Speakers headphones always seem to measure very, very well.  One fo the big reasons I reallyyyy want to get some someday!  Right now I'm focused on upgrading my portables and my IEM's, but after that, saving up for some Alpha Dogs or something will probably be my next step   Or maybe just skipping all the lwoer level stuff, saving up for a WHILE, and getting these new Ether-C's

 

[greenkiwi]

   Or maybe just skipping all the lwoer level stuff, saving up for a WHILE, and getting these new Ether-C's

 
That would be my advice... skip the middle steps and save money in the long run.

 

[money4me247]

   

 
This is the graph that MrSpeakers brought to the Schiit show.  It shows the measurements of all the units they had with them (5 or 6, I believe) overlaid.  This is intended to be the final tuning.  The variance in the 100-200Hz range will get ironed out for production.
 
EDIT - Posted with Dan's permission.

 
with the scaling of the graph, it looks to be a general 4dB difference between the prototypes. quite a large variation in in the 100-200Hz region with 8 dB difference and also a ~6dB variation in the upper midrange.
 
looking forward to seeing the variation in FR being tightened up for the production units and what the final FR tuning will look like.

 

[jfoxvol]

Audio-Head just published a review here.

Yup.  I'm sold.  Saving now.  I might be waving bibi to my LCD3.  That sounds quite intriguing.

 

[goodyfresh]

  Yup.  I'm sold.  Saving now.  I might be waving bibi to my LCD3.  That sounds quite intriguing.

RIGHT????  It's going to be a while (a WHILE, seriously) before I have enough cash to buy this thing, but I've already decided that when it comes to planar-magnetic cans for non-portable use, I'm going to skip right past all the baby-stuff and anything under $1000, and just go straight for the Ether-C

  From what everyone is saying, this looks to be possibly the best thing ever in the history of closed-back cans.  I was previously thinking that I'd save up for the Audeze LCD-XC someday as my stay-at-home cans, but with the announcement of this new model from Mr. Speakers, I think we all know what choice I should make.

 

[Mark Up]

That graph is amazing. True extension flat to 20 hz, way better above 10 khz. Folks like me who still to 16 khz (at age 50), and as well below 20 hz appreciate it. Also, Goodyfresh, keep in mind (from my experience) ANYTHING closed from Audeze is really bad. Rolled off lows, very disappointing. Overcompensated for low end resonance in closed cans I think.

 

[goodyfresh]

  That graph is amazing. True extension flat to 20 hz, way better above 10 khz. Folks like me who still to 16 khz (at age 50), and as well below 20 hz appreciate it. Also, Goodyfresh, keep in mind (from my experience) ANYTHING closed from Audeze is really bad. Rolled off lows, very disappointing. Overcompensated for low end resonance in closed cans I think.

Hmmm, good to know.

Yes, these seem to have truly excellent sub-bass extension.  Also, while they are heavy cans, they aren't nearly as heavy as what you would expect from planars in this class, which should be able to do a lot for comfort!

As someone who seems to have experience with Planars (I myself don't) what's your take on the Oppo PM-3 as a portable headphone for use with DAP's?  I have the Fiio X3ii, and am considering getting either the Sony MDR-1A or the Oppo PM-3 as my portable.  My biggest concern is that many folks say the PM-3 has a very, very closed-in soundstage.

 

[Mark Up]

I'd heard the Audeze line and HiFiMan HE400S, so far. I'm intrigued by Oppo PM-3, but stop short of buying as while some praise the bass its bass seems noticeably lower than the mids and high mids in graphs, and Tyll's review tells me they'll lack bass I like. Audeze LCD 2.2 were a very close second to the LCD-3. The LCD-X was in a distant third place. The EL 8 was disappointing but also beat its closed counterpart as all the open versions did. My only concern on these cans is that between 100-200 hz they should start a gentle slope to be 1-2 db quieter about 1 khz to really have an ideal curve. That much low mids / mids (between 200 and 1 khz) may make them a bit midrange focused beyond what I'd want.

 

[mrspeakers]

We know why the 100-200hz variation exists. We will both reduce the absolute variation and channel match so balance and imaging is stable on each headphone. I shared this graph along with a specific explanation about this at the Schiit Show, we just didn't have time to get every unit totally dialed in before the event.

 

[goodyfresh]

We know why the 100-200hz variation exists. We will both reduce the absolute variation and channel match so balance and imaging is stable on each headphone. I shared this graph along with a specific explanation about this at the Schiit Show, we just didn't have time to get every unit totally dialed in before the event.

Awesome, thanks for the info man!

Would it be possible to share, engineering-wise, the reason for that mentioned variation, or is that still a "trade secret" at this point?  Just thought I'd ask, since I'm a big math/physics/engineering nerd

 

[greenkiwi]

^^^ what he said!  Very cool.  

 

[mrspeakers]

Yeah, exactly what it is and what to do about it is a trade secret. We may not be able to eliminate it totally but we should get it close to as tight as the rest of the spectrum. I don't know if can get it exactly that close but we will try.

 

[jfoxvol]

 
RIGHT????  It's going to be a while (a WHILE, seriously) before I have enough cash to buy this thing, but I've already decided that when it comes to planar-magnetic cans for non-portable use, I'm going to skip right past all the baby-stuff and anything under $1000, and just go straight for the Ether-C

  From what everyone is saying, this looks to be possibly the best thing ever in the history of closed-back cans.  I was previously thinking that I'd save up for the Audeze LCD-XC someday as my stay-at-home cans, but with the announcement of this new model from Mr. Speakers, I think we all know what choice I should make.

Yup.  I was originally leaning toward the open back Ether.  But, the more I read, the more I think hmmm that sounds like what I really would enjoy better.  I can always sell off the audezes and spring for a T1 Beyer or HD800 later if massively huge soundstage and imaging is something I really wanna try.  I gotta shrink down my stack of schiit and cans and my spidey senses are telling me to give these a try. 

 

[jfoxvol]

  I'd heard the Audeze line and HiFiMan HE400S, so far. I'm intrigued by Oppo PM-3, but stop short of buying as while some praise the bass its bass seems noticeably lower than the mids and high mids in graphs, and Tyll's review tells me they'll lack bass I like. Audeze LCD 2.2 were a very close second to the LCD-3. The LCD-X was in a distant third place. The EL 8 was disappointing but also beat its closed counterpart as all the open versions did. My only concern on these cans is that between 100-200 hz they should start a gentle slope to be 1-2 db quieter about 1 khz to really have an ideal curve. That much low mids / mids (between 200 and 1 khz) may make them a bit midrange focused beyond what I'd want.

I own the PM3 and I also own an LCD-3.  I listen to the PM3 most of the time.  They're very different but the PM3 does mids so good and so clear.  The bass drops off significantly when you drive with a mobile device.  It's not as tight and punch as the LCD-3 but it does well and checks so many boxes that I don't mind that the bass isnt as present.  It is still there if you drive it decently well.  
 
Also, very different design and market.  Oddly, the PM3 to me sounds more like an audiophile headphone than their top tier.  I know I'm comparing a 2k headphone to a 400 dollar headphone.  They each have their merits.  LCD3 to me is still my king headphone (hopefully not after I try the Ether C) but yeah it's heavy and I can only use it at home.