Ichos

Reviewer at hxosplus
Smooth sailing
Pros: + Balanced and smooth
+ Bass presence
+ Dynamic
+ Clarity
+ Soundstage
+ Lightweight
+ Well made cables
+ Briefcase
+ Price
Cons: - Resolution
- Rough treble
- Heavy cables
- No single ended plug
- Uneven weight distribution
- Narrow ear pads
HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite

The Zeus Elite has undergone enhancements and advancements compared to its predecessor, the Zeus. One notable improvement is the incorporation of a 50mm long-stroke layered diaphragm, consisting of two layers of inert composite film sheets held together by a layer of acoustic adhesive. This arrangement ensures stability for the membrane. Additionally, the diaphragm is complemented by an ultralight Japanese Daichi CCAW premium voice coil.
This sandwich configuration guarantees a more consistent distribution of vibrations throughout the membrane, minimizing distortions that may arise from fragmented reverberations. This linear functionality improves the sound's clarity and definition, while also enabling a wider dynamic range.

Non audio stuff

The headphone is crafted using a blend of wood, metal, and predominantly plastic components. The ear-cups are fashioned from dark Zebra wood and feature aluminum alloy protective grills adorned with an intricately engraved pattern, lending them a visually appealing appearance.

The remaining parts of the headphone are constructed from sturdy plastic, although they may not exude a high-end aesthetic. The inner frame of the headband is reinforced with a stainless steel sheet, enhancing its durability.

While the materials employed and the overall sensation of the Zeus Elite may not be considered truly "Elite," there is still potential for enhancement.

The headphone has a weight of 360g, making it lightweight and comfortable. It also has a medium clamping force, providing enough stability when worn on the head. The headband is equipped with a generous layer of soft padding, ensuring additional comfort. However, it is worth noting that the weight is not evenly distributed and tends to concentrate at the top of the head, potentially causing discomfort after extended use. The ear pads, which can be easily replaced by the user, are soft and well-cushioned with thick memory foam. Unfortunately, the inner space of the ear cups may not be sufficient for larger ears. Despite these minor issues, the HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite headphone overall offers a mostly comfortable and lightweight experience.

The HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite is equipped with two high-quality custom cables that are crafted using a blend of single crystal copper and silver-plated copper wires, resulting in a more harmonized audio experience. The cable connection system features a 3.5mm plug interface, allowing for effortless cable swaps.

Both cables are designed with balanced plugs, with one featuring a 4-pin XLR connector and the other a 4.4mm connector. However, it is worth noting that a 6.35mm adapter is not included, which means that using the headphones with single-ended sources would require purchasing an aftermarket cable or adapter.

The cables themselves are exceptionally well-crafted, boasting a robust and durable construction that minimizes any unwanted noise. However, it is important to consider that they are also quite weighty and may not be the most practical choice for portable usage.

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Audio stuff

The HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite has an impedance of 32Ω at 1KHz and a sensitivity of 105dB/Vrms at 1KHz, making it effortless to drive without significant power demands.

The Zeus Elite offers a well-balanced tuning that showcases impressive bass presence, extending smoothly into the lower frequencies. The low-end is clear and distinct, with minimal emphasis on mid-bass and no bleeding into the mid-range. The tonality is remarkably natural, allowing most instruments to sound realistic without any excessive coloration.

This headphone delivers a highly impactful and dynamic sound, with minimal reverb within the ear cups. The bass is fast, tight, and controlled, although it may not be the most layered. Nevertheless, the bass line is well-resolved, avoiding the perception of sounding monotonous.

The mid-range bears resemblance to the Sennheiser HD650, although it falls slightly short in terms of resolution and refinement. However, the tuning is quite similar, featuring prominent mids and a subtle emphasis on upper-mids, which adds extra bite to certain voices and instruments. The Zeus Elite offers ample clarity and harmonic resolution, resulting in a natural and realistic overall timbre, complemented by excellent layering and definition.

The treble of the Zeus Elite is reminiscent of the Sennheiser HD650, but it lacks the same level of energy and sparkle. However, it still manages to maintain a smooth and polite sound signature, with enough light and clarity in the higher frequencies. These higher frequencies sound natural and forgiving. In comparison to the HD650, the Zeus Elite does lack some refinement, as the higher frequencies have a slight roughness to their texture and a comparative lack of resolution. Additionally, the fine-detail retrieval is not as deep.

The Zeus Elite by HarmonicDyne surpasses the Sennheiser HD650 in terms of its open sound and spaciousness. Its soundstage is remarkably wide and expansive, resembling that of a grand speaker. The headphone excels in depth layering, accurate positioning, and effectively conveying the ambient atmosphere, setting it apart from its competitors.

The HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite can be likened to the Sennheiser HD650 on steroids in terms of its exceptional low-end extension, dynamics, and soundstage. However, it may not possess the same level of resolution and refinement. This headphone excels across various music genres, ranging from pop and rock to grand symphonic and choral compositions. It provides an immersive listening experience, characterized by a delightful musicality and a pleasant touch of warmth and politeness.

Conclusion

The HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite is a solid headphone that can definitely compete with other popular options out there.

It has a similar vibe to the Sennheiser HD650, although it may not have the same level of refinement and detail. However, it makes up for it by offering impressive bass extension and a spacious soundstage.

The Zeus Elite boasts a well-balanced sound signature with a noticeable emphasis on bass. This combination creates an immersive listening experience that is complemented by its impressive technical capabilities. While the build quality could use some improvement, it is worth noting that the headphone is lightweight and comes with two high-quality cables and a convenient carrying briefcase. All of this is offered at a very competitive price point.

The HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite is available from Linsoul.
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ywheng89

100+ Head-Fier
HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite's Review
Pros: Non offensive tuning overall
Good soundstage
Comes with two balanced cable, 4.4 and XLR terminated
Cons: Case might be a little too huge (nitpicking)
Technicalities can be better for the asking price
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General/Build/Comfort/Packaging
HarmonicDyne is a brand where it needs no introduction within the audiophile community. They have various products under their portfolio and i have the Zeus Elite with me today, which is one of the recent releases from the brand. It is dynamic driver headphone which sports quite a big dynamic driver which supposedly will help with the sonic performance.
Build quality is very solid overall, the headband provides sufficient cushioning for my head, earpads are rather soft and comfortable for long sessions.
The packaging for Zeus Elite is rather unique as it is my first time seeing headphones packaged in such a manner. The Zeus Elite is stored in a briefcase like storage case, within the case, you will find two high quality dual 3.5mm cable, one is terminated to 4.4, and another is XLR, which is not an issue for me as i will be using balanced 4.4 most of the time, those who are using single ended might have to source for 3rd party cable.

Gears used for this review
  • Earmen Tradutto -> Earmen CH-Amp
  • Earmen Colibri
  • Colorfly CDA-M1P
  • Hiby R6 II
  • HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite Stock cable 4.4
Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

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Sound Impression
Being an open backed headphone, the Zeus Elite is quite open sounding and has a fairly good soundstage in terms of width, height, and depth perception. Tonality wise, Zeus Elite is slightly warm with good enough treble performance.

Bass
  • Sub bass is slightly rolled off but it still has some rumble when the track calls for it
  • Mid bass has some slight emphasis here and the bass is very punchy and has good body to it
  • The speed is good, listening to Metallica’s Lux Aeterna, Slipknot’s People=crap!, during the speed drumming session, the bass doesn’t sound bloated, it also doesn’t bleed into the mids
Mids
  • The mids are somewhat lacking in terms of resolution, yet it is not overly recessed nor very in your face
  • Vocal for both male and females has good enough textures to them, they both sounded very full and not dull at all
  • Upper mids are generally safe to my ears and not certainly not shouty
  • Details in this range are good enough for the asking price
Treble
  • The treble has enough energy yet it is smooth at the same time, certainly not dark
  • Detail retrieval is quite good, micro details can be picked up easily
  • The treble performance is safe overall, never sibilant nor has any weird peaks
Soundstage/Imaging
  • Soundstage is quite good, it has that out of your head experience, depth and height perception is quite good, not exceptional, but not bad either
  • Instruments can be picked up easily where it is coming from
  • Good layering and separation
Driveability
  • Zeus Elite is very easy to drive,doesn’t require a lot of power to perform at its best, but it does scale well with sources and amplification, when fed with more power, bass seems to sound tighter and exhibited better control
  • Dongles released recently will power the Zeus Elite just fine, but not to its maximum performance
Comparison (Sundara)
  • Sundara sounds more technical compared to Zeus Elite
  • Neutral bright in terms of tuning
  • A lot harder to drive and demands more power in order to perform at its best
  • Bass is tighter and has better speed
  • Mid range is very detailed
  • A little bit more energy on the treble
  • Soundstage is slightly narrower
  • Build quality is rather cheap compared to Zeus Elite

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Final Thoughts
Overall, the Zeus Elite is quite a well performing headphone, with good enough technicalities for the asking price, and a smooth frequency range which doesn’t have any spikes on the top end makes for a good laid back listening session. I’m definitely recommending this if you are not looking for a critical listening session, else you might have to look for some other options available in the market.

*EDIT:
At the sale price of 322.15$ currently, instead of the usual 379$

*The HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite was sent over by Linsoul for the purpose of this review, I received no monetary compensation nor was I influenced in any way to produce this review.

If you are interested in getting a pair, head over to their official store to grab one now! It is currently available for 322.15$ sale price instead of the usual 379$

HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite - Non affiliated

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ICYGENIUS

New Head-Fier
HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite review of full-size headphones by ICYGENIUS 🎧
Pros: Crazy technicality
Very mature sounding
Very accurate and detailed sound
Responds well to EQualizer
Excellent bass control
Amazing textured bass
Bass attack and decay are excellent
Weighty and transparent mids
Neat and not tiring upper mids
High frequencies are very detailed and not overly bright
Micro and macro details, real analytics right in front of you
Insane elaboration of soundstage width and depth
Very comfortable fit and comfort, I can use them for several hours without getting tired
Assembly and design at a high level
Cons: Not, literally everything about them is perfect.
Introduction!
Today in review we’ll talk about full-size headphones from HarmonicDyne worth $379!
These headphones come in a very large metal cool and reliable carrying case, which we will look at a little later, and here there is a drawing of the headphones themselves, the brand logo and the name of this model Zeus Elite!

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And here are the technical characteristics of the headphones and a 50mm dynamic driver is responsible for the sound their sensitivity is 105dB and they have an impedance of 32ohms.
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And here it is also written what is included in the package, which we will talk about now and, of course, consider the headphones.

Let's take a look at what's included!
The headphones come in a huge carrying case with a handle and a glass front panel.
And in general, I think it’s cool that the headphones come in this, and not in some ordinary simple box, as it protects them during transportation and adds more wow factor when unpacking.

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Well, now let's look at the headphones themselves, which are well fixed and protected here, and they look really chic and weigh 360g and have an open type design and I will say right away that they play loud enough outside, so everyone who is next to you will hear your music very clearly!
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The cup in these headphones is made of zebrawood wood, this is an exotic type of wood that has such a dark shade, the front panel has a very interesting shape!
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And the ear pads that are used here are exactly the same as those of the HarmonicDyne Athena headphones that I have been using all this time, and after a while I can say that the quality is excellent, very soft and velvety and made of suede, and I am pleased that the ears in them do not sweat due to The fact that they have perforated skin here inside, so there is no effect of vacuum and pressure, I calmly sat in these headphones for 3-4 hours.
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Well, the headband here is exactly the same as that of the Athena headphones with such a very soft insert, and the Zeus Elite has two more wooden inserts here, and here the right and left channels are labeled in exactly the same way on the sides, and in general, as you can see the entire design of the headphones is exactly the same as that of the Athena, so there are no problems with the comfort and fit of the headphones, and the headband is adjusted very easily with a characteristic click, so you can easily adjust it to suit you.
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Well, the connector for connecting the headphone cable is located here at the bottom of the cup, so let's not waste time and look at the two wonderful cables included in the kit, which really surprised me.
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Accessories.
In this little box labeled "Accessories" there are two cables here is also a small instruction manual for using the headphones.
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And this is what they look like, they are quite weighty to match these expensive headphones, very high quality 4-core silver plated copper wires, one of them has a 4.4 balanced plug for connecting to a DAC amplifier!

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But the second cable already has an XLR connector for connecting to powerful stationary amplifiers.
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How do these headphones sound?
Well, now friends, let's talk about the sound of these headphones, and I used the Topping G5 DAC when listening to them.
When listening to the headphones, I immediately noticed very accurate and smooth low frequencies with a slight shift in emphasis to the midbass, and complementary smooth mids with a rather smooth but accentuated approach to the upper middle, which personally, to my ears, gives a slight brightness to the vocals and makes their production more forward,but I liked the high frequencies for their duration and good resolution!
And when I connected these headphones for the first time, I immediately noticed that they have an analytical presentation but with a shift towards the bright side, that is, the mid and high frequencies occupy a more dominant position than the bass.
Yes, out of the box, this setting will probably be perfect for working with sound, since the headphones do not hide the quality and various problems of recordings and mixing, that is, you can perfectly hear various problems of the tracks in them.

Low Frequencies :
The bass in these headphones has an excellent emphasized and precise attack, and quite transparent and very detailed textural elaboration, and a nice long decay, that is, it does not end abruptly, but leaves behind a nice and neat trail, and I definitely like how it fills the space with its weight thanks to excellent depth.
Mid Frequencies :
We have a very clean and transparent midrange without sibilance and excessive brightness, which is perfectly complemented by low frequencies, the presentation of this area is neat and smooth but does not go into unnecessary warmth, on the contrary, the tone of this area is quite cold and correct and the vocals fill the space well and are on the correct level and its image is felt approximately in the center, but at the same time it does not sound monotonous, tight or dull,but on the contrary, it tries to fill and cover as much space as possible with its depth, which is really good in these headphones, but the instruments here are not somewhat lost or hidden under the vocals, but simply complement it perfectly with their weight and good energy, especially the various synthesizers that have very clear and detailed timbres!
High Frequencies :
What I immediately liked was the technicality, which in these headphones is at a really excellent level, that is, the attacks here are in perfect order, the cymbals all sound restrained with good resolution and no hidden detail and elaboration of their after-sounds from reverberation, and this area does not sound bright and tiring therefore You can listen to the headphones for a really long time, and it’s worth saying that I listened to everything I could on them, various heavy genres of metal rock, various acoustic music, orchestral music, and guitars, riffs, strings and wings, everything sounds very really cool and natural and literally takes you to another level after in-ear headphones.
Stage and stereo panorama :
But it is especially worth noting the sound stage, which in these headphones is rightfully excellent, it goes beyond the headphones, you can immediately feel it, that is, a very cool effect is created that all the instruments and different sounds are playing around you and not inside you, and the drawing of the images themselves is very clear and detailed and the instruments are not blurred in space and are not lost at all, that is, you can determine what is playing where and from where without problems and you don’t even need to strain for this.
My conclusion on these headphones :
The HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite turned out to be excellent and very comfortable over-ear headphones with a more mature and correct sound, they reproduce all genres perfectly and have a really good package to match them.
Link where you can buy them!
https://www.linsoul.com/products/harmonicdyne-zeus-elite
Icygenius was with you, I will be glad if you subscribe to my YouTube channel and watch this full review on HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite:
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ICYGENIUS
ICYGENIUS
@Mannuu salute bro,this is my equalizer preset that I have been using for a long time, I think I got the most out of these headphones.
https://ibb.co/CMdtdjq
M
Mannuu
i use Peter Equalizer APO for my EQ.

in that print screen.. are u using any specific software or something xD

thanks for the reply :)
ICYGENIUS
ICYGENIUS
@Mannuu yes bro, i use Kirchoff EQ with Audirvana,but you can use EQ Apo and not worry about it, by the way don't forget to set gain to -6
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