Valitri
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- May 29, 2012
- Posts
- 4
- Likes
- 12
Preface:
I am writing my thoughts for a second time in a row because my page timed out ;( OMG, now I am editing it from my phone. Work computer not letting me edit. The headphones I base my opinions are with the headphones I have the most experience with. VModa Crossfade LPs, Sony MDR-V6, Audio Technica AD500s.
Comfort/Bass/Mids:
I ordered these based on the recommendations in this thread. I have had them for over a month now. My initial impressions were they sounded great, they were lightweight, I loved the semi open design, but they got increadibly hot and uncomfortable in as little as 10-15 minutes. So I replaced the pads with the stock pads from my Sony MDR-V6, and they got increadibly more comfortable. Now to explain why I love the semi open design so much. I feel the soundstage is definately wider than my closed headphones, I get a little airflow that makes these more comfortable, and I still get a respectable amount of bass. The bass is not as powerful as I am use to with my closed headphones, but on some songs it will go really low and vibrate with some power. I wouldn't call this a negative thing, it is just different. Reguardless of the bass being different, it is still very nice and better than the open headphones I have tried. The mids are very pronounced and bring out details in music that I cannot hear in my bass heavy closed headphones. I have to explain an issue I encountered before I can explain what I think about the highs.
Highs/Amp impression:
I use a Xonar DG soundcard with the built in headphone amp. It has 3 different settings for the power of the amp. With all my other headphones I use "exciter" mode, which is made for 64 Ohm+ headphones, produces the most volume, and brightens the music. With these headphones exciter mode makes the highs really harsh to my ears. As I understand the term harsh, it means the highs are too pronounced. They almost make me squint a little when they pierce my ears with even fairly moderate volume. So I turn the amp power down to the middle setting, which I believe is to be used in headphones from 32-64 Ohms. The highs no longer make me cringe and sound very nice. The only issue with this is, at max volume, I only get maybe 95% of what I would like my max volume to be. It still gets loud enough for all but my drunkest of times when I just want to crank it to 11 and enjoy the sound.
Recommendation:
Yes I absolutely recommend these headphones. I love them, they are my main headphones now. With that generic blanket statement there are a two caveats I would like to add. These headphones are not for those who want 100% sealed sound, so if you take a bus or train to work or something like that people around you will hear your sound a little and you will hear whats going on around you a little. This was a non issue for me, because I use them in my computer room far away from my family. I would also highly recommend replacing the pads. The stock ones got really hot extremely fast for me which made them very uncomfortable. As I said, I am using stock MDR-V6 pads for now, but I am going to look into the velour pads everyone is recommending.
Conclusion:
Go me! Long time lurker here at headfi, this is my first contribution to the community. Just wanted to say thanks for such a great place.
I am writing my thoughts for a second time in a row because my page timed out ;( OMG, now I am editing it from my phone. Work computer not letting me edit. The headphones I base my opinions are with the headphones I have the most experience with. VModa Crossfade LPs, Sony MDR-V6, Audio Technica AD500s.
Comfort/Bass/Mids:
I ordered these based on the recommendations in this thread. I have had them for over a month now. My initial impressions were they sounded great, they were lightweight, I loved the semi open design, but they got increadibly hot and uncomfortable in as little as 10-15 minutes. So I replaced the pads with the stock pads from my Sony MDR-V6, and they got increadibly more comfortable. Now to explain why I love the semi open design so much. I feel the soundstage is definately wider than my closed headphones, I get a little airflow that makes these more comfortable, and I still get a respectable amount of bass. The bass is not as powerful as I am use to with my closed headphones, but on some songs it will go really low and vibrate with some power. I wouldn't call this a negative thing, it is just different. Reguardless of the bass being different, it is still very nice and better than the open headphones I have tried. The mids are very pronounced and bring out details in music that I cannot hear in my bass heavy closed headphones. I have to explain an issue I encountered before I can explain what I think about the highs.
Highs/Amp impression:
I use a Xonar DG soundcard with the built in headphone amp. It has 3 different settings for the power of the amp. With all my other headphones I use "exciter" mode, which is made for 64 Ohm+ headphones, produces the most volume, and brightens the music. With these headphones exciter mode makes the highs really harsh to my ears. As I understand the term harsh, it means the highs are too pronounced. They almost make me squint a little when they pierce my ears with even fairly moderate volume. So I turn the amp power down to the middle setting, which I believe is to be used in headphones from 32-64 Ohms. The highs no longer make me cringe and sound very nice. The only issue with this is, at max volume, I only get maybe 95% of what I would like my max volume to be. It still gets loud enough for all but my drunkest of times when I just want to crank it to 11 and enjoy the sound.
Recommendation:
Yes I absolutely recommend these headphones. I love them, they are my main headphones now. With that generic blanket statement there are a two caveats I would like to add. These headphones are not for those who want 100% sealed sound, so if you take a bus or train to work or something like that people around you will hear your sound a little and you will hear whats going on around you a little. This was a non issue for me, because I use them in my computer room far away from my family. I would also highly recommend replacing the pads. The stock ones got really hot extremely fast for me which made them very uncomfortable. As I said, I am using stock MDR-V6 pads for now, but I am going to look into the velour pads everyone is recommending.
Conclusion:
Go me! Long time lurker here at headfi, this is my first contribution to the community. Just wanted to say thanks for such a great place.
