My first encounters
with the Abyss Diana headphone was at an audio-store called F1 Audio. At the time I was more interested in listening to the HEK-SE, so I didn't have enough time to listen to the Abyss headphone, but it clearly left some impression with me. Fast forward 2 months and I'm sitting on a barely padded chair at a meet in Chicago with the Abyss Diana Phi on my head and I'm waiting until my iPhone is left with at least 5% battery in case someone needed to call me or there was an emergency... priorities, right?
The Abyss Phi, once again, left an impression with me. Although this time it would be long-lasting: I simply did not want to stop listening to my favorite music, or even music that I've never heard before. I know many audiophiles know what I'm talking about and how after an experience like this it's difficult to not start looking at your financial state. As I was listening to the Diana Phi I went on Head-fi.org and quickly posted an AD for both my ATH-ADX 5000 and my Sony MDR-Z1R. It felt impulsive, but it also felt right. I tried to use both of those headphones as portables but they just didn't cut it out with their size. I've always wanted a true high-end portable, and the Abyss Diana Phi tickled that fancy.
Before I made the final decision to sell two great headphones I went to the F1 Audio Store the next day. I believe I was there 10 minutes after it opened, and the employees were constantly walking in and out of the store in order to unpack all of the audio-gear they presented at the ZMFestivus in Chicago. It felt a bit awkward, but they let me stay in a quiet room on a plush couch with my iPhone 6 and FiiO A5 amplifier that the Diana Phi was plugged into. I finally tuned into the speed, finesse, details, impact, dynamics, cohesiveness and overall 3D-effect that I've actually never heard in a full-sized headphone, at least nothing that had all of these qualities in one package. I was sold.
I decided to sell the 2 headphones, however, I decided to purchase a Diana V2 instead of the Diana Phi because the Diana V2 was more affordable, had the same fit and comfort as the Phi, had an upgraded driver that was built off the Phi driver's strengths, had more color options (the Diana Phi color is terrible in my view) and was said to be more warm and not overly-detailed like the Phi was. This sounded like a true, all-around headphone for portable use.
I apologize for the long build up, but the build up to eventually diving into a headphone purchase cannot be ignored in my opinion. So, let's actually begin this long review:
The package
of my coffee-colored Diana V2 came in a nice, small package. There was an outer sleeve to the actual box that contained the Diana V2. Inside the box there was a small, brown carrying bag with the Diana logo on the front: I'd like to point out that I have yet to use this bag. It has a nice foam cut-out where one can put the Diana in so it remains stable, but I just haven't had the need to use it. Inside this bag was the Diana V2 and a stock 2m cable, terminated in 3.5mm and a 6.3mm adapter at its side. All of these items were zipped up in separate zip-lock bags, which I thought was nice. Compared to the unwieldy Sony MDR-Z1R package I thought that the Abyss Diana package was well-made and really made an emphasis that this headphone is primarily meant for portable use.
The fit and comfort
of the Diana V2 is, at first, a bit awkward: the new pads fully cover my ears, but the outer part of my ears basically rest on the slopes of the inside of the pads. It's still comfortable, but still noticeable from time to time. The pads themselves are made out of lambskin leather and are fitted onto the headphone by way of magnets -- there are a lot of magnets built into this headphone. Out of the 4 adjustment levels I only had to adjust mine to level 1. These adjustments are made out of long-lasting carbon material and are controlled by magnets. I believe that this is a first in the headphone world, which is really wonderful and makes me feel like I'm holding a luxurious product. The headband is also made up of some type of magnet material that literally conforms to your head .. once again, another first -- although I do have to say that there are some listening-sessions where I notice a hot-spot on-top of my head and I have to readjust the headband positioning to feel relief. The clamping pressure feels just right for me, but for larger heads it MIGHT be an issue.
The finish
of the Abyss Diana is top-of-the-line. It is built like a tank, uses premium materials and it weighs in at under 350 grams. I can see this headphone lasting a long, long time. However, I'd like to point out that even after owning it for just about a month I am noticing tiny chips on the paint.. and I tend to take care of my headphones pretty well. It looks like setting them on a counter, even gently, is enough to damage the paint so I would recommend setting them on some plush cloth or on a stand if you want to keep these headphones in pristine condition.
The sound
of the Diana V2 is first and foremost, VERY balanced: nothing is missing, everything is included. I remember listening to the Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory OST, and this soundtrack is a wonderful test of how a headphone can handle complex passages. The speed of the Diana V2 is bar-none spectacular. I think I said, "Wow," out-loud while I was listening to them at one point. The sound of the Diana V2 had my head spinning in circles. I then moved onto the Halo OST, and this soundtrack is especially good at testing how a headphone can handle highs and imaging. Yet again, the Diana V2 came through with winning colors. Nothing was ever sibilant, yet the extension and details in the highs kept me engaged throughout. There is one track where, with any other headphone, the imaging pans strictly right-to-left and back again. However, with the Diana V2 it was right-back-left-forward-center, etc.. there was layering within the imagining.
For bass, I go to my go-to: Cannibal OX: Cold Vein. The bass is there, it is weighty, fast, precise, controlled and never bloomy unless the track calls for it. I'd like to say that this headphone lets you hear what the recording intended for the listener to hear. Yet it's not boring. It is neutral with a slight aggressiveness that keeps me engaged no matter what I'm listening to. The dynamics of this driver deliver in spades. From top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top everything has a sense of impact, yet it is still smooth at the same time. The center imaging and cohesiveness, the control and the depth and width of the sound-stage is where this headphone really shines. It just feels like this driver is in control and it never lets what you hear get out of hand.
The mid-range is neutral to my ears. It's dead-to-rights center. This is especially evident when one listens to music at louder volumes. When listening to louder volumes with the Diana V2 nothing within the sound-spectrum crumbles, so be careful with how loud you are listening your music to! This also applies to vocals, male and/or female. You will hear things that you never heard before, which is cool. Live music is wonderful as well. I feel like I'm a part of the crowd that can be heard throughout the song.
The portability
of the Diana V2 is where some people might be turned off. Most of my listening has been done with iPhone 6 + DFR or FiiO A5, and they work AND are absolutely needed. This headphone will not run off of an iPhone or any other phone by itself. You would also need a very powerful DAP in order to get this headphone to higher-than-usual volumes.
All I know is that I recently went out on a walk. A fall day, cool and a bit breezy. Just how I like it. While I was walking I was listening to the Diana V2 and never felt like I was wearing something ridiculous. This is a stylish headphone that screams "TRY ME!"
Please do me a favor and at least audition these headphones before this world ends.
with the Abyss Diana headphone was at an audio-store called F1 Audio. At the time I was more interested in listening to the HEK-SE, so I didn't have enough time to listen to the Abyss headphone, but it clearly left some impression with me. Fast forward 2 months and I'm sitting on a barely padded chair at a meet in Chicago with the Abyss Diana Phi on my head and I'm waiting until my iPhone is left with at least 5% battery in case someone needed to call me or there was an emergency... priorities, right?
The Abyss Phi, once again, left an impression with me. Although this time it would be long-lasting: I simply did not want to stop listening to my favorite music, or even music that I've never heard before. I know many audiophiles know what I'm talking about and how after an experience like this it's difficult to not start looking at your financial state. As I was listening to the Diana Phi I went on Head-fi.org and quickly posted an AD for both my ATH-ADX 5000 and my Sony MDR-Z1R. It felt impulsive, but it also felt right. I tried to use both of those headphones as portables but they just didn't cut it out with their size. I've always wanted a true high-end portable, and the Abyss Diana Phi tickled that fancy.
Before I made the final decision to sell two great headphones I went to the F1 Audio Store the next day. I believe I was there 10 minutes after it opened, and the employees were constantly walking in and out of the store in order to unpack all of the audio-gear they presented at the ZMFestivus in Chicago. It felt a bit awkward, but they let me stay in a quiet room on a plush couch with my iPhone 6 and FiiO A5 amplifier that the Diana Phi was plugged into. I finally tuned into the speed, finesse, details, impact, dynamics, cohesiveness and overall 3D-effect that I've actually never heard in a full-sized headphone, at least nothing that had all of these qualities in one package. I was sold.
I decided to sell the 2 headphones, however, I decided to purchase a Diana V2 instead of the Diana Phi because the Diana V2 was more affordable, had the same fit and comfort as the Phi, had an upgraded driver that was built off the Phi driver's strengths, had more color options (the Diana Phi color is terrible in my view) and was said to be more warm and not overly-detailed like the Phi was. This sounded like a true, all-around headphone for portable use.
I apologize for the long build up, but the build up to eventually diving into a headphone purchase cannot be ignored in my opinion. So, let's actually begin this long review:
The package
of my coffee-colored Diana V2 came in a nice, small package. There was an outer sleeve to the actual box that contained the Diana V2. Inside the box there was a small, brown carrying bag with the Diana logo on the front: I'd like to point out that I have yet to use this bag. It has a nice foam cut-out where one can put the Diana in so it remains stable, but I just haven't had the need to use it. Inside this bag was the Diana V2 and a stock 2m cable, terminated in 3.5mm and a 6.3mm adapter at its side. All of these items were zipped up in separate zip-lock bags, which I thought was nice. Compared to the unwieldy Sony MDR-Z1R package I thought that the Abyss Diana package was well-made and really made an emphasis that this headphone is primarily meant for portable use.
The fit and comfort
of the Diana V2 is, at first, a bit awkward: the new pads fully cover my ears, but the outer part of my ears basically rest on the slopes of the inside of the pads. It's still comfortable, but still noticeable from time to time. The pads themselves are made out of lambskin leather and are fitted onto the headphone by way of magnets -- there are a lot of magnets built into this headphone. Out of the 4 adjustment levels I only had to adjust mine to level 1. These adjustments are made out of long-lasting carbon material and are controlled by magnets. I believe that this is a first in the headphone world, which is really wonderful and makes me feel like I'm holding a luxurious product. The headband is also made up of some type of magnet material that literally conforms to your head .. once again, another first -- although I do have to say that there are some listening-sessions where I notice a hot-spot on-top of my head and I have to readjust the headband positioning to feel relief. The clamping pressure feels just right for me, but for larger heads it MIGHT be an issue.
The finish
of the Abyss Diana is top-of-the-line. It is built like a tank, uses premium materials and it weighs in at under 350 grams. I can see this headphone lasting a long, long time. However, I'd like to point out that even after owning it for just about a month I am noticing tiny chips on the paint.. and I tend to take care of my headphones pretty well. It looks like setting them on a counter, even gently, is enough to damage the paint so I would recommend setting them on some plush cloth or on a stand if you want to keep these headphones in pristine condition.
The sound
of the Diana V2 is first and foremost, VERY balanced: nothing is missing, everything is included. I remember listening to the Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory OST, and this soundtrack is a wonderful test of how a headphone can handle complex passages. The speed of the Diana V2 is bar-none spectacular. I think I said, "Wow," out-loud while I was listening to them at one point. The sound of the Diana V2 had my head spinning in circles. I then moved onto the Halo OST, and this soundtrack is especially good at testing how a headphone can handle highs and imaging. Yet again, the Diana V2 came through with winning colors. Nothing was ever sibilant, yet the extension and details in the highs kept me engaged throughout. There is one track where, with any other headphone, the imaging pans strictly right-to-left and back again. However, with the Diana V2 it was right-back-left-forward-center, etc.. there was layering within the imagining.
For bass, I go to my go-to: Cannibal OX: Cold Vein. The bass is there, it is weighty, fast, precise, controlled and never bloomy unless the track calls for it. I'd like to say that this headphone lets you hear what the recording intended for the listener to hear. Yet it's not boring. It is neutral with a slight aggressiveness that keeps me engaged no matter what I'm listening to. The dynamics of this driver deliver in spades. From top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top everything has a sense of impact, yet it is still smooth at the same time. The center imaging and cohesiveness, the control and the depth and width of the sound-stage is where this headphone really shines. It just feels like this driver is in control and it never lets what you hear get out of hand.
The mid-range is neutral to my ears. It's dead-to-rights center. This is especially evident when one listens to music at louder volumes. When listening to louder volumes with the Diana V2 nothing within the sound-spectrum crumbles, so be careful with how loud you are listening your music to! This also applies to vocals, male and/or female. You will hear things that you never heard before, which is cool. Live music is wonderful as well. I feel like I'm a part of the crowd that can be heard throughout the song.
The portability
of the Diana V2 is where some people might be turned off. Most of my listening has been done with iPhone 6 + DFR or FiiO A5, and they work AND are absolutely needed. This headphone will not run off of an iPhone or any other phone by itself. You would also need a very powerful DAP in order to get this headphone to higher-than-usual volumes.
All I know is that I recently went out on a walk. A fall day, cool and a bit breezy. Just how I like it. While I was walking I was listening to the Diana V2 and never felt like I was wearing something ridiculous. This is a stylish headphone that screams "TRY ME!"
Please do me a favor and at least audition these headphones before this world ends.
