[jayp266]

A picture of me with my new blue amperiors! cheers to the forum!!


for the thread

Cute! Enjoy.

 

[LAmitchell]

QUESTION about software players (strictly for OSX as I am using a Mac) with my AMPERIOR headphones.
 
I've been listening to a few of the major ones for the last week or so (Decibel, Audirvana, Amarra, etc) and was wondering if anyone can tell MAJOR differences between them. 
 
I got excited because on the COMPUTER-AUDIOPHILE website, Audirvana won best product, so I've been trying to "hear" for myself what all the fuss is about. I thought I was hearing differences between the players, but now I'm not so sure. 
 
The only one that gave me a MAJOR difference was AMARRA.. it made the sound THICKER, but  the bass was a little too bloated on alot of the songs I listened to (Jazz Vocals mainly).
 
Again, this is using the AMPERIOR headphones, so I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on this or maybe I'm just wasting my time and should stick to iTunes.
 
Thx,
LAmitchell

 

[scrypt]

Received my cable form CustomCans.co.uk and all fitted. Now I'm lucky that we have two pairs of amperiors at home - one is my wife's new pair as she loves teh sound too, so I've been able to do back to back comparisons.

GSARider:

Custom Cans offers three kinds of cable for the HD-25/Amperior, one of which is a Cardas -- is that the one you chose? I ask because it would be instructive to know whether a cheaper cable actually made a difference.

I've been enjoying the unaffected sound of my Amperiors for the past three days -- suffice to mewl that a friend brought them over for a visit and they decided to sign the lease (as it were).

 

[Mr.Sneis]

I finally got a pair of these to try out.  Not sure why it took me so long to snag a set but here's a brief impression - not sure where else I would post this.  Sorry in advance if I ruin anybody's day!

Setup: macbook pro + Audirvana free -> m2tech hiface 1 -> Stello DA100s upsampling off -> Headamp GS-1
Source material: less-than stellar mastered modern rock/electronic recordings and some decent ones

Build:

Much different feel in-hand than I got from the hd-25-ii's; the Amperiors feel beefier which is a good thing.  No weird build issues.

Pads look and feel comfortable, I get the impression these may be more tolerable than the pleather of the dt-1350's or hd-25-ii's which I could probably stand for about 30-45 minutes at a time.

Weird that the cable goes from real-thick to real thin.  Hope the gauge is consistent but I suspect it is not.

Sound:

In summary these sound really congested, not sure why but they seem to be voiced really weird.

Boomy punchy bass missing punch and definition.  At least it's not sloppy sounding.

Recessed/shelved mids, TBH sound as if they are hardwired EQ'd wrong.  As a result I get the feeling that I am missing out on a bit of detail.  

Female voices are not so great, no.sparkle.at.all.  Male voices are better.

Non-offensive treble, at least to my ears.  Points above kind of tarnish this though.

Soundstage not too impressive, to be expected for a closed design.  Layering also really sucks, not flattering in the least bit.

Summary:

Build quality is pretty good but not too impressed with the sound.  I'd say the dt-1350's sound considerably better but I would trust Sennheiser QC moreso than Beyer's which is a big thing to me.  IMO at full msrp there's a lot better alternatives than the Amperior.

 

[robm321]

Well, if you ruin anyones day, I'll hopefully make it a bit better. Not that anyone should care what we think anyway if they are enjoying them.

I used to own the Amperiors and DT1350s, and I prefer the Amperiors over the DTs by a small margin. The timbre of the instruments were much more accurate, and the sparkle that the Amperiors displayed pointed out how little the DTs had. By themselves, it wasn't noticeable, but going back and forth, it became very obvious.

That being said, the issues I had with the Amperiors was excessive bass (not a fan of exaggerated bass). I also had an issue with some fatiguing upper mids.

The DT and Amperiors are both very good in very different ways. I miss both of them.

 

[roma101]

What are you using these days now that you don't have the Amps or the DTs Rob?

 

[robm321]

Hey Roma!

I've been using my Etymotics mainly and m80s, but I'm still looking for a portable closed phone.

There are so many options, so its hard to zero in on one. The Momentums sound good, but the lack of treble is an issue. I'm wanting to try out the Sony mdr-7520 next.

Have you found a portable that works for you?

 

[roma101]

Quote:

Hey Roma!

I've been using my Etymotics mainly and m80s, but I'm still looking for a portable closed phone.

There are so many options, so its hard to zero in on one. The Momentums sound good, but the lack of treble is an issue. I'm wanting to try out the Sony mdr-7520 next.

Have you found a portable that works for you?

 
So far my favorites, sonically, are the Yamaha PRO 500 I acquired recently. I know for sure they are keepers (haven't been able to say that about any other headphone so far) because of their SQ and timbre, which is pretty spot-on to my ears. However, I am not a fan of the form factor and it's a headphone that I want to make sure I protect for the long run, since they are a bit pricey. So I don't use them every day out and about. Not to say the BQ is bad, it's quite solid, but I certainly wouldn't call them a beater phone like an HD25 or an M-80 for instance.
 
I also have the Amps and the DTs but I do have my pros and cons with each headphone. The DTs have more detail to my ears and I appreciate those attributes but sometimes, they do sound a bit sterile. The Amps have a fun sound, better timbre, but they can be just a bit too much for my taste especially in the higher registers. I'm pretty much thinking about letting go of them both to recoup some funds and try something else possibly.
 
I have my eyes on the ATH-WS99 as of right now, although I am not sure how much of what I read is hype vs. solid impressions. I'd have to hear them for myself, but knowing AT I have a feeling they'll be good. I LOVE the form factor and styling but I am not sure how much they will isolate, compared to something like the Amps.
 
I'm also interested in the Momentums but they are definitely out of my price range as of right now. I also am not sure how I'll feel if they will lose out on treble. I like my sparkle just right without any sibilance but I definitely am not a fan of any roll-off. Cymbals and high-hats have to sound right to my ears. How does the treble of the Momentums compare to the treble of the M-80? Is there more sparkle on the Momentum?
 
Speaking of V-MODA the M-100 have been calling my name for some time. Too many options while so little time/money!

 

[xanlamin]

Quote:

 
So far my favorites, sonically, are the Yamaha PRO 500 I acquired recently. I know for sure they are keepers (haven't been able to say that about any other headphone so far) because of their SQ and timbre, which is pretty spot-on to my ears. However, I am not a fan of the form factor and it's a headphone that I want to make sure I protect for the long run, since they are a bit pricey. So I don't use them every day out and about. Not to say the BQ is bad, it's quite solid, but I certainly wouldn't call them a beater phone like an HD25 or an M-80 for instance.
 
I also have the Amps and the DTs but I do have my pros and cons with each headphone. The DTs have more detail to my ears and I appreciate those attributes but sometimes, they do sound a bit sterile. The Amps have a fun sound, better timbre, but they can be just a bit too much for my taste especially in the higher registers. I'm pretty much thinking about letting go of them both to recoup some funds and try something else possibly.
 
I have my eyes on the ATH-WS99 as of right now, although I am not sure how much of what I read is hype vs. solid impressions. I'd have to hear them for myself, but knowing AT I have a feeling they'll be good. I LOVE the form factor and styling but I am not sure how much they will isolate, compared to something like the Amps.
 
I'm also interested in the Momentums but they are definitely out of my price range as of right now. I also am not sure how I'll feel if they will lose out on treble. I like my sparkle just right without any sibilance but I definitely am not a fan of any roll-off. Cymbals and high-hats have to sound right to my ears. How does the treble of the Momentums compare to the treble of the M-80? Is there more sparkle on the Momentum?
 
Speaking of V-MODA the M-100 have been calling my name for some time. Too many options while so little time/money!

 
Sorry to see that you are letting go of the Amperior for ATH-WS99. Personally, I would never do that as ATH-WS99 just doesn't sound fun and engaging. In fact, I have heard almost the entire range of the new AT series. Basically, they are very clear but not as good as Yamaha Pro 500. Momentum paired with iCan is very good with SQ very close to that of the Amperior. M80 or M100 never cut it for me as they are just too uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time and they just sound veiled when compared to Amperior or Momentum.

 

[roma101]

Hey thanks for the input xanlamin. Yeah I put that trade out there since I find the WS99 interesting and I'm kind of getting tired of the Amperior's sound sig. Not to mention I can't afford to acquire another can without letting to of another at the moment. I have a feeling I might end up missing them. How else would you compare the sound of the WS99 to the Amperior, Momentum and M-100? From what I have read they're W-shaped. How natural is the sound compared to the PRO 500?

 

[robm321]

I did get a chance to hear the Yamaha pro-500. They had a nice big soundstage and solid imaging. Unfortunately, they were locked in to some demo music from a horrible source, so they sounded a bit artificial. I chalk that up to the source though.

The Momentums sound similar to the m80s, but the Momentums are better. I like the bass on the m80s better but everything else the Momentums win.

I agree with you about the strengths and weaknesses regarding the Amps and DTs. Still looking for the ideal phone for a budget but none seem to nail it for me yet.

The M100s were a flop to me. Way too much bass. If you like that, they would be a perfect fit.

 

[roma101]

Thanks for those impressions rob. I think our tastes and impressions of certain headphones are very similar. Have you tried the DT770 LE by any chance?

 

[robm321]

Romo, No, not yet. Have you?

 

[roma101]

Not yet. Hope to at some point though. I would imagine they're good competition for the other portables mentioned.

 

[robm321]

Its unbelievable how many players are in the $2-300 closed headphone space. It seems like I read about a new one every week.