Mod House Tungsten

General Information

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SPECIFICATIONS

Double-Sided magnet version
  • Sensitivity: 78 dB/mW
  • Impedance: 155 Ohm
  • Weight: 515 grams
Single-Sided magnet version
  • Sensitivity: 76 dB/mW
  • Impedance: 135 Ohm
  • Weight: 520 grams

Latest reviews

adydula

Headphoneus Supremus
ModHouse Tungstens - A Tale of a Headphone I Didn't Think I Needed !
Pros: 1. Overall Performance
2. Almost Perfect Balance
3. Neutral
4. Timbre Excellence
5. Pad Swapping - The BEST
6. Price / Performance
7. Cable
8. Transparent
9. Spacious
10. Comfortable
11. Assembled in USA
Cons: 1. Power Requirement. Some think this a Pro!
I first heard of the Tungsten’s from several friends at a local Schiit Meet in Pittsboro, North Carolina. At the time I didn’t think much of the comments since I already have several really good headphones in house. But one friend kept telling me that I was missing the “boat” and I had to listen to these planars. About the same time another friend asked me to repair a rather high end dac and wanted to pay me for it. As a friend I said no, then he said I have some headphones you might want to listen to….and one was his set of Tungsten DS headphones from Mod House. So, I got to listen to his Tungsten’s for a week as “payment” for the repair job! Sweet!

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The Tungsten's a friend loaned me!

It took a week for me to determine that these planars are indeed a very special headphone. I have three dynamic headphones and three planars. So, I really don’t need another set of planars, or so I thought. I placed my order like many others and the wait started. These headphones are in great demand, that should tell you something about their quality. The wait time has really gone to a several months waiting period. Mod House from my understanding is a small business in Pennsylvania and Ryan Dietz does most of the manufacture and assembly with help from family members and friends. So, the build process is slow. Assembled in a small Pennsylvania town of Lititz. 3d printed parts, 24K Gold driver assemblies! The story or development of the Tungsten's are published on the Mod House Audio website. A very interesting read.

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Testing with many amps. Using the Pre-Amp of Pass Labs HPA-1 to drive a 6CA7 Van Alstine Speaker Amp. Excellent!

Ryan has recently sent out updates on his efforts to reduce the wait times for the Tungsten's. Unfortunately, he and his family have experienced several really unfortunate things that have affected the delivery dates of Tungsten's. Some of these things are very personal and family related. I do know he is working hard on making this better! Nuff Said.

I had the good fortune to obtain a demo set of DS Tungsten's. A one off that is very blue in color (I call is Smurf Blue!). Seems Ryan had a B-stock set that he relegated to a Demo set. As always, I am not being paid for this review. All the comments are from my experience and YMMV. Ryan has made himself available to me for any questions I had. By the way the color has nothing to do with the sound! (smile).

Abit of a side note, Ryan credits his wife Katie, his friend Matt, Skedra for Viking Weave cables and Zach from ZMF in assisting over the years in making Tungsten a reality. Great team. Good to see folks already well established helping others out. Thanks. Smile.

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Demo Set - Wild Color!

Build Quality:

Some have commented on this in that they look home-made and aren’t as “polished” as other TOTL headphones. I get that. Tungsten’s to me have an industrial vibe to them. A kind of retro look and feel. I really like this. The pair I have are very well put together. Easy to adjust. Comfortable to wear. A spring steel band that can be bent a tad if you need to adjust to make the fit to your head. I found the fit to be perfect for me. Most of these headphones are made and assembled by Ryan. Some reviewers mentioned the clamping force was a tad too much for them and bent them some to have less clamping force. I used them fully in the down position. Heavy ? Well they are 520 grams. My ADX 5000 are 320 grams. So, in comparison yes, but they carry their weight very well IMO. They have a small leather type headband strap (Alcantara) that helps with this. I wore these for several hours with no issues.

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One of my test stacks.

A really neat thing that I do like about these headphones is the way Ryan has recessed the 3.5 mm headphone jacks into the driver mountings. They help guide the “barrels” of your cables nicely into the jacks. These connections are not the most robust or sturdy on most headphones where they are hanging out there in the air. Simple design, but to me more a carefully thought-out design. These openings will accommodate up to 10mm diameter, a barrel of 9mm or larger is suggested. One reason Ryan recommends Viking Weave and Double Helix Cables.

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I really like the way these plug in.

Tungsten’s have stainless steel rods that allow adjusting the drivers to fit various ear / heads and should hold up for years. By the way the parts are made out of MJF Nylon 12.

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You can tell these were 3D printed. A slightly coarse feel and look. NOT an issue here. Industrial Look.

Carrying Case: A simple grey pelican type case. Foam filled. Inside the case are the headphones some foam separators, a small metal printed credit card style plate with the serial number and other pertinent headphone information and the Viking Weave cable.

Headphone cable: Wow! What a refreshing surprise. A real copper Litz cable from Viking Weave Cables. XLR – 4 pin. Its 6 ft long. It’s a GEBO (X) cable that uses PVC dielectric with 22 awg core and 22 awg shield of OFC copper. A very nice touch for a TOTL headphone. Other terminations are available, and the wiring for the cable uses the standard pinout so you can use this cable with other headphones! No weird wiring schemes here. I tried several other standard headphone cables in the Tungsten's which worked just fine as well as using the Viking Weave cable in other headphones.

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Very nice touch to get a high quality copper OFC cable.

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Looks aren't everything, its what's inside as well! But this IMO is a very refreshing look. Clean. Unbreakable. Nylon.

Earpads. If you read Ryan's information on his website the choice of earpads were a very important consideration. I think the driver and its geometry and location in the mountings are very important. Secondly the earpads have an enormous affect on the sound quality and otherwise. The physicality’s of wearing headphones can make a really big difference in the outcome. Just place your hands over your open back headphones, quite a difference in sound! So, the type of material, the thickness of the pads and the shape of the pads can affect the sound signature. After much testing and feedback Mod House settled in on ZMF Caldera Hybrid pads for single sided Tungsten's and ZMF Caldera Ultra-Perf pads for the double-sided drivers. The unit I have had the Ultra-Perf pads. IMO a very good choice for this tuning.

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The BEST pad mounting scheme. Simple. It just works VERY well.

Drivers:

Now this is the heart of this headphone. 24 K gold is used. After years of testing Ryan with a variety of materials he made this choice. Interesting. In choosing gold wires, unlike many planars the impedance becomes significantly higher than “normal”. Couple this with most amps decline in power at higher impedances makes choosing an amplifier, well “ya gotta think about this a bit more”. I had a loaner several months ago and was able to try, many amps with those tungsten’s. It became apparent that many amps will drive the tungsten’s ok. But as always some seemed to just work better than others. I discuss this below in detail. Using thin custom magnets that are more acoustically transparent according to Mod House this allows for a more uniform magnetic field that provides for a higher performance. In other words it helps make the “magic” of what Tungsten's are. And they do have magic traits! When I hear drums being hit with a wooden stick, it often sounds like the material in a drum is in the tungsten, uncanny realistic to me. So, we have higher impedance than most and lower sensitivity. Which leads me to say the only really negative thing about the Tungsten’s are its sensitivity specifications. 76 dB/mw and 78dB/mw for single - and double-sided versions respectively. The impedance is 135 ohm and 155 Ohm average respectively. Most planars are lower than this. So what does this mean to you. Well compared to most any other headphone they are harder to drive to reach various SPLs. Also, they require more voltage at these impedances. You may notice most headphone amplifiers have power ratings that deliver more power at lower impedances. Like 32 ohms or so. As the impedance increases the power ratings seem to be less in most amps. And then there is the often-confusing voltage vs current discussion. This is not intended to be a physics lesson in voltage and current distribution. The key thing here to remember is these headphones need more power than easier to drive headphones. A closer look at this it’s been determined that with these headphones you need more voltage at their rated impedance than current. Typically, I listen from 75 to 85 dB or so. I constantly adjust my volume knob on amps to my desired level. A voltage around 20 volts seems to be a sweet spot for us listeners at these levels. If you are a quiet listener, you can get away with a much lower voltage. If you’re a real high level listener (Danger!! Don’t do this) you would need 30 volts or more!! Many tungsten owners (zealots!) tout that you have to have a speaker amp. I disagree. Yes they can work and work very well with a speaker amp. But they are not needed for most of us. An amp that can put out 20 volts at these impedances will suffice just fine IMO. Some folks feed their amps with a dac output more than the normal 2.0 volts. You cannot defy the laws of physics, by trying to feed an amp with a hot dac. This only gets you so far. Only if your amp has the "capability" of outputting the desired voltage. Selecting an amplifier with tungsten’s is something you need to consider. Carefully.

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The "Magic" Part!

Amplifiers I used are Schiit Mjolnir 3, Schiit Vali 3, Schiit Midgard, Vioelectric V281 SE, Soekris 2541 Dac amplifier section, Pass Labs HPA-1. More on this below.

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V281 LE, Pass Labs HPA-1, Schiit Midgard (A real surprise!), Holo Cyan 2, Schiit Modius E and Soekris 2541

Listening experience:

Nothing short of exceptional especially for a planar headphone. There are so many planars out there all over the price performance spectrum. At $2,000 these are not inexpensive but not as expensive as others that they are often compared to. Friends with Susvaras, Utopias, Abyss, D8000 Pros etc. tell me that “Tungsten’s often are better in some attributes. Its absolutely crazy that the Tungsten holds its own against all of these and possibly beats them in several aspects.” High praise. Do they live up to it with my listening. Simple answer: Yes they do.

Headphones I use are HD650, ADX5000, HE1000SE, Rad 0, D8000 Pro, ZMF Verite Closed Backs. All great headphones in their own right. But Tungsten's have moved all these down just a notch!.

The amplifiers I used had a direct impact to my listening experience. After listening with all these amps my order of preference is: Vioelectric V281 LE, Schiit Midgard, Schiit Mjolinr 3, Pass Labs HPA-1. Why? Read on.

Note: (The "experience" with these amps are with Tungsten's. With other headphones the results may be different).

For a $219 amp from Schiit Audio, the Midgard has been one of my "reference" or go to SS amps. It has a lot of power and is a wonderful discrete SS amp designed by Jason Stoddard. It did a really decent job in driving the Tungsten's. Solid. Yes, you have to use HIGH gain, and the volume has to be cranked up to 3 pm. More than that the SPLS get painful. If your on a budget this amp will do nicely especially if your not a really loud listener. More on this pairing can be found with a good electrical theory explanation as to why Midgard works well with the Tungsten's on the net. You can Google this or PM me for the technical information. It verified what I was experiencing with Schiits Midgard. If you're on a tight budget the Schiit Midgard will do nicely!

The Mjolnir 3, is a beast of a Class A amp from Schiit Audio as well. It does drive the Tungsten's very well. IMO not as good to my liking as the much less expensive Midgard. HIGH gain, volume around noon and its loud. The overall sound signature to me is it’s a tad warmer to my liking in this pairing. I like a clean and transparent sound. Clarity is an overall consideration to me. I don’t like Veils of any kind. Some Tungsten owners do not think this pairing is the best. Unless you actually listen yourself this amp may be to "you" liking.

Pass Labs is a 3.5 watt / 32 ohm Class A beast. Wonderful design. Expensive. But does not have the EMF to drive the Tungsten's well. Up to 70-75 dB but it runs out of gas, Sad. I have had this amp here for years and with most all other headphones its superlative.

Which leaves the Vioelectic 281 LE. Based on a 2014 design from Lake People. In the search for an amp that would have a high voltage swing at the Tungsten impedance. This amp kept popping up on my radar. Lake People after many requests decided to make another 100 of these units. All sold quickly. Another 100 are being built and sold via Power Holdings. They are coming in slowly, but you can pre-order. I stumbled over a demo unit and I snapped it up. Its been in house for a few weeks. It drives anything I have with ease. It was purchased expressly to drive the Tungsten's, and it does very, very well. I run the V281 LE with +6dB of gain. The volume control is set around the desired 12 noon position. Only a few recordings made at low levels makes me move the volume much higher. The big difference between this and the Midgard with the Tungsten's is an immediate wider, open and more well-defined soundstage to my ears. Almost like cranking up the volume without cranking up the volume. It’s a wonderful transparent clear sound. About as good as I ever have heard. I am sure that its voltage at the impedance is part of the magic. I know other Tungsten zealots like other amps a well. That’s fine. You can search the web and see the others. Price wise the V281 Se is I believe $2699.99 retail. But I will say if you buy this amp you really don’t need anything else.

NOTE: I did use my 6CA7 35 watt RMS per channel speaker amp. It works very well. Very similar to the V281 LE. Honestly, I do not see any reason to use it over the V281 LE and vice versa.

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My Sweet Spot Amp.

Other amps worthy of mention that many folks really like are: LordGwyn Aegis, Auris Nirvana, Decaware ZMF Reference OTL, Glen OTL, and CFA-3. As always YMMV. We all hear differently.

So now you know my favorite amp to use with Tungsten's. How do they sound to me. Well just superb.

The strong traits are clarity, when driven well. Revealing, when driven well. The tonality and timbre are IMO exceptional. Tungsten’s produce an even natural sound. Realism is a good word to describe the sound. The resolution is also exceptional, very good. If its in the recording your going to hear It. With enough power on board the overall dynamic response can be explosive. The dynamic range exhibited is first class. At times is scary realistic.

I am not going to contrast all my other headphones in detail against Tungsten's. If you're looking at a $2,000 headphone hopefully you already have a good base of knowledge. The only thing I can say in conclusion is: If you buy a set if Tungsten's, just get an amplifier that will drive them well and you will not be unhappy. IMO and of course YMMV.

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Tungsten's with Optional HEX Style Grills - Provides a Slight Tuning Change.

Conclusion:

I started this experience stating that I did not think I needed another headphone. Doing this for so many years I really know what I like and can afford. Well, I am glad that I was gently pressured in to listening to these headphones. I thank that person.

What a real all-around special headphone the Tungsten is. Assembled in the USA in a small town of Lititz, Pennsylvania by a person who had a dream of making a headphone that he thought would be one the best transducers out there.

Well Ryan hit the ball out of the park, Tungsten is an exceptional all around planar with exquisite tonality and balance. It may not have the technicalities as some but it has soul, is musical, and honest. It is a revealing and articulate headphone. In the price category I think it is the best out there sonically.

Many owners opine how well Tungsten's do against Susvaras, Abyss, Utopia etc. For a basically a homemade 3D printed headphone to compete in this arena is simply amazing.

Make sure you carefully choose an amplifier that will do Tungsten justice, and you will be rewarded.

I hope Mod House will be able to improve future deliveries, there are a lot of folks just chomping at the bit so to speak for a Tungsten experience.

Alex
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mjstealey
mjstealey
This is a wonderful review Alex, and a nice insight into finding your way to the ModHouse Tungsten :)

There is much discussion around what it takes to "properly"drive these headphones, but I find them enjoyable even with less than properly spec'd amplifiers. Heck, they even sound great to me with the couple of tube amps I've tried them on (Woo Audio WA6-SE and Feliks Euforia). Much of this will come down to how loudly you plan to listen to them.

Currently using my Tungsten DS with a Wells Audio Milo, which I haven't seen discussed much, and it drives them quite well with plenty of headroom to spare.
adydula
adydula
Must be the purple color makes them easier to drive!!
LOL!
adydula
adydula
Added picture of optional HEX style Grills. Provides a slight change in the tuning.

ThanatosVI

Headphoneus Supremus
ToTL Performance at half the price
Pros: - excellent sound quality
- great detail
- weighty sound
- amazing timbre
- great subbass (with Bass ventilation spacers)
- comfortable
- magnetic pad swap mechanism
- terrific price/performance ratio
Cons: - terribly long wait times
- really hard to drive
Modhouse Tungsten Review

Goldwergers' glowing review of the Modhouse Tungsten piqued my interest in these headphones. Due to overwhelmingly positive reviews like these, the demand was incredibly high (and still is today), to the point where Modhouse has to announce when an order window will be open, and usually, that window is closed again within 1-2 minutes.
I read the review one day before the February drop and then spontaneously decided to try my luck. To my surprise, I succeeded on the first try. One month later, I heard the Raal 1995 Immanis, which completely turned my collection upside down and set a new bar to reach in my collection. If my order hadn't been in already, I wouldn't have tried on subsequent drops.Roughly 10 months later, my Tungsten arrived.

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Unpacking experience:The shipment has a very basic design. A "pelican case" which isn't too big, offers some protection, and fits great with the headphones.In the case, there are the headphones, the cable, the authenticity card, and in my case, the other two sets of pads as well as the bass ventilation spacers.Very simple but sufficient. The quality of the packaging is just fine for a "homemade" headphone like these.

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Build and comfort:I really like the aesthetics of the Tungsten. The shape of the parts looks and feels very pleasing. It has this garage-made feel, but with lots of character, not in a cheap way.Let's start with the things that could be improved in my opinion:The 3D printed parts could require some sort of finish to make the material scratch-resistant. The 3D printed material instantly looks like it is scratched, however, these aren't deep and wiping it off with a cloth makes it look new again.I have a very small head and I need the Tungsten on the smallest available setting. If there were smaller settings, I'd probably go even 1-2 clicks smaller. It's still comfortable and no deal-breaker, but for people with even smaller heads, it might be.

After that, I have only very positive things to say about the build.The pads are mounted on rings that mount magnetically and are super easy to swap. This works as well as with Meze headphones and therefore is, in my opinion, better than any other pad swap mechanism besides Meze and HEDD.The headphone is very open and covering the grilles alters the sound notably. I mention this under build because there actually are different grilles available and they are easily user-replaceable with 4 screws per cup.

The headband doesn't look like it, but it's actually very comfortable, as is wearing the headphone as a whole. More comfortable than the otherwise rather similar Audeze headbands, at least to me.

The Pads:At the time of this writing, the Tungsten comes with 3 different sets of pads:

  1. ZMF Caldera Hybrid: These are the stock pads on the Single-Sided Tungsten and my favorite on the double-sided model as well. They offer the best balance and thickest sound of all pads. Most bass quantity while still being reasonably open.
  2. Modhouse Fusion Hybrid: These are Modhouse's own pads. They are also very comfortable. Physically, the room for the ears is slightly smaller inside as seems to be the soundstage. They still keep most of the bass quantity but enhance midrange energy notably. Everything is more intimate with the Fusion Hybrids. Treble is just about perfect with these. For my taste, they are slightly too intimate in presentation. Maybe Ryan can try the same material composition but with the same dimensions inside as the ZMF Pads to keep the soundstage. (On the other hand, Caldera fans might really appreciate the more intimate presentation)
  3. ZMF Ultra Perf: These have the leanest presentation. They introduce some bass rolloff and offer the most clarity and biggest stage in return. Still good pads, but my least favorite of the three.
The metallic spacers increase the sub-bass frequencies below 50Hz by up to 5dB, giving them a nice boost in sub-bass without bloating mid and upper bass. In my opinion, the bass presentation improves a lot with spacers and they should be installed at all times.
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The cable is inserted into recessed and angled 3.5mm sockets, so that the cable is at a comfortable angle and firmly inserted.The cable itself is from Viking Weave Cables. It's a step up from many other stock cables, but still not on the level of most aftermarket cables. It's slightly stiff, unlike all my Norne cables. The VWC reminds a lot of Effect Audio's Code23.

Sound Impressions:

This time I want to start in an unusual pattern with the aspect of detail retrieval:The Tungsten is NOT on the level of Susvara in terms of detail retrieval, nor does it seem like it wants to be. The Tungsten is not a "detail first" kind of headphone. It's more of a Timbre kind of headphone, and this is where it beats most other planars.

Midrange: Vocals are very present on the Tungsten. Also, instruments have a very natural-sounding body to them. Overall, the Tungsten has a midrange very reminiscent of a dynamic driver. With Ryan's own Fusion Hybrid Pads, it seems rather mid-forward to me, which might be a good or bad thing, depending on the music you want to hear. With the two ZMF Pads, it's more balanced in that regard.

Treble: The treble on the Tungsten is very balanced. It has some sparkle but isn't really bright. It has a good amount of air but isn't overly airy (like many Hifimans, for instance). To my ear, this is a nearly perfectly balanced treble presentation. Compared to Susvara, Immanis, or even 1266TC, it is on the darker side though. Whereas it would be brighter than a Solitaire P with less air.There is a 2nd grille option available, which removes the slight air peak in the treble. If someone is listening at really loud volumes, these might be the preferred option.

Bass: The Tungsten's bass offers great quality and digs deep without rolloff. It has no bumps in the midbass either. This is very similar to Audeze flagships in both quality and quantity. With the bass ventilation spacers installed, it receives a very nice sub-bass boost, which starts at around 40-50Hz and goes up by roughly 5dB. This gives it a nice subwoofer-like bass without any extra energy in the midbass area. The CRBN2 does something similar here; also, the Immanis has more of a peak in the sub-bass without thickened midbass.

Soundstage: The Tungsten soundstage starts intimate, or very intimate depending on the pads you're using, but in all cases can render a big stage. The stage is bigger than on a DCA Expanse but smaller than on a Meze Elite and especially smaller than on a Raal 1995 Immanis.

Overall: The Tungsten has a quite balanced, slightly warm-leaning sound signature. For a planar, it has a lot of weight to the notes, kind of like a middle ground between the fast and detailed nature of a planar and the more weighty and oftentimes more natural sound of a dynamic driver.For me personally, that weighty sound on a planar is the unique quality that secures its place in my collection of flagships. Something that makes me grab the Tungsten despite my other options.

It's very impressive what Ryan created with his first own headphone from the ground up. It doesn't beat Susvara, Immanis, and the likes in overall technical ability, but it brings a lot of its own character to the sound, which many listeners might prefer over the other flagships. Soundwise, the Tungsten plays on the level of Elite, Expanse, Caldera, only fit and finish isn't up to that level yet.For the "at home" produced headphone that it is, even the build has amazing quality though. At 2.000 msrp this is an unsurpassed price / performance ratio.

Not long ago, I had 3 weeks with the Hifiman Susvara Unveiled and Abyss 1266TC, which both didn't manage to impress me much after owning the Raal 1995 Immanis for a while. The Tungsten however has so much character that it truly did impress me, despite what I am already used to on a daily basis.Overall, the 10 months of waiting for this headphone have been worth it after all.

Comparisons:
In this section I'll compare the Tungsten gradually to the rest of ny collection: (this section will be extended over time)

Soltanus Acoustics Eurifiche S:
The Euridiche S is an interesting comparison, since it has a similar background to the Modhouse Tungsten.
Both headphones utilize 3D Printing technology and are built by small "one man army" manufacturers.
The Euridiche S is an electrostatic headphone which clocks in at 3300€ (incl. 20% VAT) and is therefore slightly more expensive.
Sound wise they have a few similarities. Both headphones focus the bass more on the subbass region with no midbass bloat whatsoever. Despite the Euridiche S being the electrostat, it doesn't have any less bass quantity or impact.
In the midrange the Tungsten offers a weightier presentation, while the Euridiche scores with finer nuances.
In the treble the Euridiche has more sparkle in the regular setting and roughly equal amount in the reduced setting.
In technicalities the Euridiche S wins by a significant margin being more detailed Overall. On the other hand the Tungsten convinces with its superior Timbre and weight.

[More comparisons to add later]
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Melineous

Head-Fier
Double Sided Modhouse Tungsten Review
Pros: Insane value over competition
Best in class included accessories
Balanced sound with no harshness
Wide soundstage
Comfort
Cons: Drivability
Lack of Character
Spoiler Alert!
What's the weirdest part about reviewing a product as hyped up as Tungsten? For me, it's if I say it's anything but the best headphone I've ever heard, then the review will come across as negative. Spoiler, that's not what this review is, but it isn't the best headphone I've ever heard either. I've owned and heard multiple flagship level headphones such as LCD-5, 3 Utopia's, Susvara, and Expanse. I feel I should offer my comparisons to the conversation because so many others have. My plan is to keep the "flowery language" at a minimum because I don't want my thoughts to get lost in translation. I'm going to talk more about my feelings on Tungsten and comparisons to other headphones, rather than about objective numbers or measurements. There are great sources for that, and I don't offer anything valuable to that conversation.​

My Setup and Some Disclosure
My listening was done on multiple sources and amps. This includes using a Topping E50/L50 stack, Bifrost 2 og, Yggdrasil A2, my phone and computer as sources, Jotunheim 2, and Mjolnir 3. Listening was done over multiple days, and at multiple times. Testing was done with a double sided Tungsten with the default perforated pads as ordered. Hybrid pads were not used during testing. I also had an audio friend do listening sessions with me, and we shared similar opinions on the comparisons below. So I believe it's not just me possibly having a weird ear canal or fitment. My opinions could change with better amping, but they didn't change swapping between the amps available to me. Tungsten is revealing and inherited the sonic traits of the amps, but at no point did it "wake up" into a new sound signature as some other headphones have for me in the past.

Not My First Rodeo
I got into this hobby because I was sick of using "gaming headphones" which led me to look for something better. When I looked online for something that was closed back, had good soundstage, and was also comfortable. The Argon mk3 popped up in multiple reviews. I was sold on it and placed an order. About 4-5 months later it arrived, and I was blown away by it. Great directional imaging, solid low end, and tons of noise isolation. After hearing it I told all of my friends "If Ryan ever makes a headphone from the ground up. I'll buy it immediately." 2023 came and Tungsten was announced. True to my word I placed an order immediately, and now I have one.​

$2,000 (Double Sided)
This is a super interesting number, because if you compare it to headphones of similar price Tungsten stands strongly among the pack. It has soundstage and imaging competitive with my hd800s, and to my ear, is more resolving than a HE1000v2 series headphone. Tungsten's frequency response measures better than both, with no harshness in my listening. For comfort all 3 of these headphones are comparatively great, but things change if you throw included accessories into the mix. Then, Tungsten truly stands alone, and it's not close. You're probably wondering, "Where's the Susvara comparison others are making?" We'll get to that.​

Problems With Hype
I don't want this to be a novel's length so I'll cut right to it. I chose the comparisons I did, because to me, it's where Tungsten belongs. From my experience listening to many headphones, Tungsten easily competes up to $3,000, but doesn't compete in summit-fi like I was lead to believe. Tungsten does sound more like a Susvara than it does a HD600, but it's not perfect. For me it has an issue with timbre. As resolving as it is, and as wide as it sounds. It's biggest flaw is it's boring to listen to. A lot of us who really analyze what we're listening to, listen for timbre. Tungsten is a cold, flat sounding headphone. There's no point where I'm nodding my head or tapping my feet listening to Tungsten. Everything in the music is there down to the deepest bass, and up to the highest highs. Nothing is peaky or offensive. It's just thin sounding and lacks that special something. In this way it sounds similar to some estats I've heard. A lot of people are going to love it's sound signature, but it doesn't align with what I'm looking for. Every headphone has a trade off, and for me this is Tungsten's.​

There, I Said It
When listening to my hd800s the mids are warm and smooth sounding, with what sounds like a veil lifted off the treble allowing things to really pop up top. Bass extension is poor, and the treble is usually sibilant and too sharp. Though, the majority of the time, this headphone really sings. In contrast, Tungsten surgically delivers everything to you on a platter without any sibilance, and does it while having great bass extension. Yet, vocals and instruments take the back seat here and don't grab me like they do on the 800. I'm personally searching for headphones that sound the most organic and natural to my ear, and Tungsten is too cold and unengaging for my tastes. For this reason I'd take the hd800s over Tungsten. Not because the hd800s is more impressive, but because it's more engaging and has some character.​
When compared to the he1000v2 Tungsten has a similar tonal thinness, but is far more resolving without having to boost treble going into sibilance. It has equal levels of comfort and slightly smaller sound staging, while coming with far better accessories. In my opinion, if you have an amp to drive Tungsten effectively, egg shaped Hifimans are not a recommendation I'd ever give again. Just buy a Tungsten instead.​

Buy a Tungsten
Do you want as much resolution, instrument separation, and staging as you can get for the money? Buy a Tungsten. Do you want a he1000 series headphone, but you can still hear above 5khz? Buy a Tungsten. Do you want something laid back that doesn't offend or jump scare you while listening to music? Buy a Tungsten. Do you want to support small manufacturers, and hobbyists in our community? Buy a Tungsten. To me, these are the reasons to buy one. It's insane to think Ryan created this as his first attempt at an in house headphone. None of my criticism clouds my respect for this headphone, or the effort that's gone into it's creation. I've thought about creating and tuning my own headphone, and I couldn't dream of it being half as good as Tungsten is. Sincerely, well done.​

The Susvara Comparison
I feel this could be taken as harsh criticism, but it needs to be said. The hype has been around Tungsten being a flagship competitor at a substantially lower cost. In my opinion, this is disingenuous. The biggest hurdle to overcome when aiming to be a flagship is timbre. Tons of headphones at the highest prices have great technicalities, but very few of them sound convincing or "real." Although, this is Susvara's greatest strength. Susvara is by far the most natural/"real" sounding headphone I've ever heard. It has a weird upper midrange peak, but with the use of different pads (I use Dekoni Velour) to absorb some of that energy. Susvara becomes 98% perfect to my ears.​
Susvara is more dynamic, more bassy, and far more resolving than Tungsten. Susvara also has a tonal warmth and density unlike other headphones I've heard. Only headphone that came close was a ZMF Auteur with suede pads. It does all this while also staging instruments and room noise to sound like the music is around your head, and not just being played by headphones. Listening to Tungsten I sit and think how impressive it is that it didn't take an entire team of engineers, and millions of dollars to create it. It just took pure genius and passion. When I listen to Susvara I'm blown away by how natural and transparent everything sounds. I sit giggling with excitement and chills even after rewinding and listening to Purple Rain for the 15th time in a row. Listening to Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me with George Michael and Elton John, It's like I can feel the individual claps of the crowd and it's energy behind me. This is what that extra cost gets you when you purchase a flagship. I owned the much hated LCD-5 for just shy of a year, and even it sounded more "real" than it didn't. Even with its overly forward nasally analytical sound, I'd still take it over Tungsten. Simply because it sounds more transparent, and less in the way of the recording.​

Conclusion
In it's price range Tungsten is fiercely competitive with other headphones, and I would never hesitate to recommend it to someone. If you're looking for a single do it all headphone that's comfortable, with as impressive of technicalities as you can get, and the highest quality accessories you could ask for at $2000 or less. Then, you should place an order. The wait isn't going to get any shorter any time soon.​
For the crowd thinking this is the next must own FOTM flagship to get dumped in classifieds. I wouldn't recommend it. In my opinion it's a truly great headphone, and I can't wait to see what it inspires others to do. I just can't help but feel it shouldn't have been compared to the highest end of flagships. Tungsten feels like it's aiming to be the best at everything, and even though it's successful in doing so. That's not what the highest end is about. For me, Tungsten lacks the identity necessary to compete against headphones full of personality.​

* I will add nice photos once I get the change to take some.
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Melineous
Melineous
I forget this still gets views and interactions so I just wanted to thank everyone for taking the time to read what I had to say. I just wanted to reiterate that I have an unending amount of respect for Ryan, and what he's created. It's just that for me, after owning the Argon for years, I was expecting an ultra refined "fun" headphone, and I just had the wrong expectation. Making a near Susvara clone with better accessories for 1/3rd the price is very commendable. Just not what I expected. I decided after this review it was time to "throw my hat in the ring" and try to develop something of my own. I really can not overstate how impressive Tungsten is to be made at scale, consistently, and by hand. I've seen the comments mentioning that SS Tungsten is the "fun" one of the two, and I already planned to buy a Tungsten again once they're easier to get ahold of. I'll probably be getting SS next time and giving it a try based on the recommendations. Thanks again everyone.
A
andersee
Hi @coreypine ,
I just got my Tungsten SS in about 7 months! I am listening to it from yesterday.
Overall, I like it very much, and I can understand the feel you gave to your Tungsten. :)

The only thing I am confused is the imaging. I don't feel the imaging is that good with my Tungsten. (I am happy with sound stage, though.)
I will wait for initial burn-in period. I may also try to find the Perforated pad to try.
Any comment from anyone? :)

FYI,
. I have Utopia (old version) and Caldera. I feel all three have their own strong genres of music, and weak genres.
. My go-to genres: K-pop, classical, pop, acoustic. It's quite diverse. :)
I use flac files most of the times.
. I am driving it with Violectric V550. I don't listen at huge volume level, so, 60~70% of volume from V550 is enough.

Thanks.
A
andersee
I tried a perforated pad that I have for my Caldera. And, boom! The sound hugely improved to my taste!
Now,
. the imaging and treble response are much better. Also, I feel sound stage got broader.
. sometimes, the female vocal sounds a little strong, but that is not too much to me.
It is now the best headphones that I have for classical music! Also, very nice for other genre, too.

But, the Caldera pad does not have a magnet to stick to Tungsten. I am asking whether I can.

Comments

Kelt0912

100+ Head-Fier
I have upgraded my set up just to power my soon to be Mod House Tungsten headphones. I was told the SA-1 can power it but not to it's fullest. What you think?

old set up
VMV D1se DAC
Singzer SA-1

to

ifi iCAN Pro
Gustard R26 Discrete R2R DAC
 
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