[chesebert]

1. Holo May sounds too analytical and not musical.
2. All Denafrips sound too analytical and not musical.
3. DCA makes technicality good but unmusical scientific instruments
4. dCS sounds too clean and modern and not musical - not worth the money
5. MSB dacs are way too sharp and needs super careful pairing and not worth the money
6. Emm Labs have been going after hi fi sound profile in their latest iteration and their old stuff actually sounds more musical
7. Abyss sound like a hot mess - bass yes but where is the mid?
8. Macintosh dac sounds like mid if stuff and their large amp doesn’t sound all that musical to me
9. HE1 is not god tier if you care about having great bass in any way.
10. All HFM are tuned for old Chinese audiophiles with messed up hearing in the high FR
11. Most audio gear that are marketed as high end are actually marketed at 60+ crowd with hearing losses
12. Vast majority of audio reviewers are full of crap and don’t know how to listen critically
13. Just because someone has a bunch of expensive gear doesn’t mean crap in this hobby when it comes to sound impressions or their opinion of said gear
14. ZMF uses OEM drivers but their cans are priced the same as those that make their own drivers - guess somebody has to pay for all the fancy woodwork (wood is generally one of the worst materials to make cans out of unless you are going after some coloration
15. Chord Dave sounds too analytical and harsh and no better than a supped up Topping
16. People are delusional if they think they can fix problems in their system by buying a different/more expensive headphone cable.
17. I don’t understand why people buy chifi after a certain price when you can find better sounding western or Japanese used for the same or less money.

disclaimer: drunk posting after a bottle of sake.

 

[Ciggavelli]

Holo May sounds too analytical and not musical.
All Denafrips sound too analytical and not musical.
DCA makes technicality good but unmusical scientific instruments
dCS sounds too clean and modern and not musical - not worth the money
MSB dacs are way too sharp and needs super careful pairing and not worth the money
Emm Labs have been going after hi fi sound profile in their latest iteration and their old stuff actually sounds more musical
Abyss sound like a hot mess - bass yes but where is the mid?
Macintosh dac sounds like mid if stuff and their large amp doesn’t sound all that musical to me
HE1 is not god tier if you care about having great bass in any way.
All HFM are tuned for old Chinese audiophiles with messed up hearing in the high FR
Most audio gear that are marketed as high end are actually marketed at 60+ crowd with hearing losses
Vast majority of audio reviewers are full of crap and don’t know how to listen critically
Just because someone has a bunch of expensive widgets doesn’t mean crap in this hobby when it comes to impressions
ZMF uses OEM drivers but their cans are priced the same as those that make their own drivers - guess somebody has to pay for all the fancy woodwork (wood is generally one of the worst materials to make cans out of unless you are going after some coloration
Chord Dave sounds too analytical and harsh and no better than a supped up Topping

disclaimer: drunk posting after a bottle of sake.

I'm glad you said the bolded. I 100% agree. I don't even watch or read headphone reviews most of the time. That sh!t is meaningless to me

Also, I love sake

 

[ScornDefeat]

Another controversial thought, Raal could charge a lot more for their headphones. Not good for the consumer, but they could...

If their headphones didn't seem like a DIY project that can be made in your garage. Other than the most hardcore amongst us, it's tough to envision even the more discerning consumers dropping $3.5K on something that looks and feels like the CA-1a.....

Same reason why people love ZMF and why Meze can charge $3K. Aesthetics and build quality play a massive role in all of this, even the sound quality. Psychoacoustics are real.

This also goes for electronics, too.

 

[chesebert]

RAAL tweeters are great. Not all good driver techs are ideal for cans - unless it’s just a cash grab.

 

[Ciggavelli]

If their headphones didn't seem like a DIY project that can be made in your garage. Other than the most hardcore amongst us, it's tough to envision even the more discerning consumers dropping $3.5K on something that looks and feels like the CA-1a.....

Same reason why people love ZMF and why Meze can charge $3K. Aesthetics and build quality play a massive role in all of this, even the sound quality. Psychoacoustics are real.

This also goes for electronics, too.

Definitely.

I'm curious about what you mean when you say "electronics too." What did you mean?

 

[Ciggavelli]

Also, and I hate to say this, but Rob Watts might be too old at this point. Can his hearing at that age really discern what we want in a dac? Sorry Rob. I also really dislike his hatred for LPS. His DAVE really does sound better with a SJ PSU. It is what it is.

 

[ScornDefeat]

Definitely.

I'm curious about what you mean when you say "electronics too." What did you mean?

Amps, DACs, streamers, etc.

The aesthetics and perceived build quality impact how the community interacts with the product, beyond just the perceived sound.

I think the funky Chord aesthetic has played a big role in their cult-like following. Exact same thing can be said for darTZeel.

 

[Ciggavelli]

Amps, DACs, streamers, etc.

The aesthetics and perceived build quality impact how the community interacts with the product, beyond just the perceived sound.

I think the funky Chord aesthetic has played a big role in their cult-like following. Exact same thing can be said for darTZeel.

That is interesting. I was talking to this one poster who built his own server. It is probably better than my Antipodes K50 (and by the way I think Antipodes is over rated, but the Antipodes stans ran me out of their thread). Aesthetics are so important for most people. I mean, my K50 is pretty and the Taiko Extreme is real pretty, but is is better than somebody making their own TOTL server... probably not.

 

[ScornDefeat]

I mean, my K50 is pretty and the Taiko Extreme is real pretty, but is is better than somebody making their own TOTL server... probably not.

I think if you took the Taiko Extreme out of the machined copper/aluminium hybrid chassis and put it into a Streacom case, they'd have a hard time selling them for more than $5-7K. There are pretty extreme (no pun intended) levels one can take building their own high-performance "audio" server, literally $10K+ parts alone, but without that milled 20+ lb hybrid metal case, it's a different beast.

I don't fault this, either. I think having something look and feel nice is important. It shouldn't be the most important, though. But it certainly has an out-weighed impact on things in the audiophile space.

 

[SolarCetacean]

The Susvara is like the cast-iron pan of headphones. The main obstacle to ownership is the legion of dudebros who will nitpick everything about how you use them. Don't use soap! Don't let it soak! Scrub it while it's hot! And you gotta SEASON this thing, bro!

And it's not like those cast-iron fanatics are entirely wrong; cast iron is going to rust if left sitting in water and seasoning is a thing. But the lengths they insist on going to... Maybe it's better to not get a cast-iron at all.

I've heard the Susvara; it's a great headphone and if I was banned from having estats I'd pick up the Susvara in a heartbeat. But with estats, while gear is expensive, the state space for exploration is relatively small. Not that many estat amps on the market and you can't cable-roll. With the Susvara, there's just too much to explore, and everyone thinks that their setup is the best.

 

[number1sixerfan]

The Stax Mafia pisses me off. Their elitism really rubs me the wrong way.

Same, very annoying.

The Shang Sr has a sub-bass problem.

It does. As do nearly all stats lol. You were right to move on for your preferences and genres lol

People love ZMF headphones mainly because of how they look. Though the Calderas are amazing.

Hot take from me: the craftsmanship should be appreciated and I don't mind the comments at all about them. Also agree, the Caldera is the one that finally stood out for me as actually TOTL (even though colored with the house sound, very enjoyable and refined)

I'll join the fight club lol.

The 3ES is meh. I tried the Corina on it and thought "wow, this bass is flaccid". A few weeks later, I tried out the Corina on the BHSE and thought "damn, this bass hits hard". Everything that I've heard indicates that BHSE >> 3ES.

Keep in mind here, the T2 is quite a nice leap above from the BHSE, having had both for months side by side.

At the same time, I also don't take the Stax Mafia's word as gospel. They collectively have a lot of experience with estat amps, but they generally want a particular type of sound from their gear. And anything that doesn't fit that model of what amps and headphones sound like is deemed to be trash. But someone could legitimately want a "floatier" sound to their estats rather than the harder-hitting, "solid" sound that the mafia amps provide.

Agree. I've lurked head case for a long time and obviously a long time user here. It's definitely cult like, with a lack of disagreement within the group and focus on a few "golden ears" amongst them. I'm not into that kind of thing at all.. yet.. I do definitely appreciate the expertise and innovation that stems from that group. I just take listening impressions and hard, negative stances with a large degree of salt.

The STAX Mafia has nothing on the Chord Crazies... LOL.

If this isn't the damn truth lol. Stax Mafia is comprised of angels compared to the chord threads lol. And I say that owning three different chord products lol. The chord threads are truly ridiculous, and the Dave thread is the worst (even the regulars don't post as often anymore). The fanboyism and bias is off the charts, and you can't have any real, valuable conversation about comparable products whatsoever, which is just really unfortunate.

-------

Lastly, we should keep in mind that drunken thoughts aren't always only negative or overly critical. We should also be sharing major wow moments and gear we actually loved lol

 

[chesebert]

2nd that. Even better with proper ear scan and using macbook.

 

[BassicScience]

The Susvara is like the cast-iron pan of headphones. The main obstacle to ownership is the legion of dudebros who will nitpick everything about how you use them. Don't use soap! Don't let it soak! Scrub it while it's hot! And you gotta SEASON this thing, bro!

And it's not like those cast-iron fanatics are entirely wrong; cast iron is going to rust if left sitting in water and seasoning is a thing. But the lengths they insist on going to... Maybe it's better to not get a cast-iron at all.

I've heard the Susvara; it's a great headphone and if I was banned from having estats I'd pick up the Susvara in a heartbeat. But with estats, while gear is expensive, the state space for exploration is relatively small. Not that many estat amps on the market and you can't cable-roll. With the Susvara, there's just too much to explore, and everyone thinks that their setup is the best.

It's only an obstacle to ownership if you actually believe everything you read on Head-Fi, or the audio press in general. The main rule for maximizing Susvara performance is to give it enough juice, and since you can buy totally transparent speaker amps nowadays for around $1k (or less), it's not all that daunting a task. Along those lines, my "unfiltered" opinion is that all planars sound best off a speaker amp... and I'm only on my first beer.

 

[number1sixerfan]

It's only an obstacle to ownership if you actually believe everything you read on Head-Fi, or the audio press in general. The main rule for maximizing Susvara performance is to give it enough juice, and since you can buy totally transparent speaker amps nowadays for around $1k (or less), it's not all that daunting a task. Along those lines, my "unfiltered" opinion is that all planars sound best off a speaker amp... and I'm only on my first beer.

I've made it a point to stop talking about this because it rubs people the wrong way lol, but you can seriously get a speaker amp that can power the Susvara as well as any $10k plus headphone amp for $2k or less. A lot of people simply want gear to complete a chain that carries weight around here and thus feel inclined to go after the 10k plus amps.

That's no disrespect to any of those amps, just plugging that for the Susvara and TC, there are plenty of affordable options that will get you similar performance. Also, I generally prefer not using speaker amps for headphones, so it really only applies to the hardest to drive headphones for me.

 

[theveterans]

It's only an obstacle to ownership if you actually believe everything you read on Head-Fi, or the audio press in general. The main rule for maximizing Susvara performance is to give it enough juice, and since you can buy totally transparent speaker amps nowadays for around $1k (or less), it's not all that daunting a task. Along those lines, my "unfiltered" opinion is that all planars sound best off a speaker amp... and I'm only on my first beer.

On a drunken note, my Topping sounds better than your speake amps