Or, even better in value a n d sound terms, the new kid in Classical town: CCA CRA 20 plus 20$ for the upgrade cable = 40$ Get the Fiio V Tips and drive them with a really good source like the new Cayin RU6. Outstanding!

Yep. Comparison to a 1000$ sound is screaming at best. It is a very nice and complementary, not-so-audiophile set as alternative in certain situations. If I want to have the same usefulness yet on a more audiophile level, technicalities like imaging, space, more resolution and all of this...

It has to have a not too light and not too strong, direct seal. Hovering in your ear. Then it sounds "right". To me, it resembles the HD660s in terms of full-size headphone timbre. Without the treble extension and airiness but with more, well, space. Because it obviously has no external...

I guess it is all about the right fit, not about production variables. You do get a strong bass as well as mids and a good treble response up into the 8-9khz region assuming you softly drill that thing into the concha until it snaps into place so to say. You will know as soon as it holds its...

Yep, I guess a majority of readers here is confused now. Where to begin? First, nobody except singularities solders here below a microscope worth more than any high-end earbud or two. Second, bio-cell-or-and-composite is the argument here. Best and especially most natural timbre per dollar...

I am wondering what this Lotoo PAW S1 does, on many levels. First I like the Sweet and None settings the most, on my IEMs and as source into headphones. It is truely musical, euphonic and exceptionally well tuned. (Black background, Harmann-like with slightly soft edges) Clearly better than DFR...

Imho TRUE upgrades are ... HD800s L700 Not more Yet not less either.

Agreed, regarding the Clear which I don't fancy either. Although, take another 1,4k phone, for instance the HD800s. This is on a significant higher level if we are talking about technicalities. Hence, in terms of musicality, not so much.

AKG K712 has a certain "raw" but highly musical and "real world" sound characteristic, provided it "likes" the source and amp. In German we talk about Klangfarben for a reason, hence it is "colored" with a good and noble cause. I like your comparison to the Clear because, well, you describe the...

No there is no difference neither in built nor in acoustics. And I heard several ones. What is significant is the inferior quality of the stock cable, all weaknesses are enhanced with it. Go for an upgrade immediately to avoid disappointment. I do run them with a Forza Audioworks.

To get significantly better (central) imaging, you would have to step up to a Beyerdynamic T1 f.i.

If I am guessing right and you are describing this mysterious behavior a strange character trait of the K712, I do agree from experience, with two exceptions from my earlier days with this headphone, the iFi Idsd black label and the Burson Amps.

The Pad Question I listened to the Empyrean today, for a focused and dedicated time to go further with the pad thing. And the winner is ...well, both. Sort of. First, the leather pads are (subjectively) louder, not by much but still. So I had to calibrate for that. The Leather Pad is without...

Very nicely put. Fits almost in a tweet. It could be of some added value for many here to contrast and compare it to the Chanel Number Five - pardon - the Focal Utopia. Is Empyrean more on the lean back/cosy side of the equation and hence the Utopia the one for critical listening? And finally...

Just a matter of taste. At 399$€ you will soon get a 660s including the balanced cable. Or get a 650 with a good balanced one. Perhaps it is also about the use case - hence, I tend to favor the 660s if we are talking (mobile) personal audio.

To refine that, the source and chain is, and often cables are as well, able to ‚up’a very good headphone to a a certain degree i.e. one level up. But it does not do it in case/comparison between HD650/HD660s v HD800m/HD800s.

Which, then makes the whole noise floor of HD660s v HD650 quite redundant. Doesn’t it?

And / But There is sort of an inflection point(of no return) to this. Recently I had a serious listening session and opportunity to check the ‚scaling limit‘ of the HD660s benchmarking it against the HD880s. First, a jitterbug/Dragonfly Red combination ie just 2.1V fed the HD800s. The 660s was...

In the past few weeks, I've listened with an increasingly well burned in HD660s several times and with a whole range of current usual suspects in direct benchmark. I can say - slowly I get used to the freshman and at closer look he has a few peculiarities. Do not use too warm sources, DACs and...

Okay - then I am helping out here ... It’s a choice between punchy, clear, straight, clean, honest and in one word, natural. That is HD660s Bass. Versus a sort of ‘Beats for Adults’ bass i.e. slightly wooly, tuned, artificially warm, dampened and in one word, unnatural. That’s AOF Bass.

So true, Heinz :) Would be nice if this context could be explained elsewhere too The be sort of a Sonoma with all the advantages of a (trans)portable Mysphere is not a bad sweet spot to be in. Perhaps you could introduce the 3.2 and its purpose for general enlightenment!