Abyss JOAL Headphone- Jack of all Listening

[santsant]

The pads thing is kind of a problem like for ZMF they are $50 and you can buy a few and see what you like and it isn't an issue (or they have full tuning kits now) but at these prices it would be good to know what you like before putting that much money on them. It would be cool if after you bought a headphone you could have an option to pay to have them send you a full set of pads to test, you try them and then ship them back or like a tour you ship them to the next person and then you could buy a new version of the one that you prefer. They could only do this for people that purchased a headphone to keep it manageable or they can expand it to anyone if it's working well and they can have some kind of deposit in case anything gets damaged.

If I just bought a set of headphones it would be totally worth say $50 to have time to try all of the pads on my gear and then decide which one I liked best. I feel like I would probably like lambskin bass ported but it would be worth it to know.

They could at least send the earpads demos to their official distributors so more people can try it, but unfortunately even the distributors don't have it ready and have to order it from Abyss.

 

[Luckyleo]

A review from our friend Skeeb23

 

[AntiqueMusician]

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[Kevintj604]

After over a month waiting for HeadAmp to fulfil my order I just received the Bass Ported Hybrid Pads.

I'm about 8 songs in and they are phenomenal. They transform the JOAL into an entirely different headphone.

These should be the stock pads in my opinion.

 

[LoryWiv]

They may be too busy cranking out JOALs to reply

Hey @adeadcrab I noticed you have Joal along with Meze Elite and Focal Utopia headphones per your signature. My full-size headphones are Elite and Utopia (2022 version). I reach for Elite more as they are incredibly comfortable and quite resolving but non-fatiguing. I like Utopia for a change of pace but tire of them quicker, Elite is definitely more my "go to". Interested in Joal and wondering how it compares as a potential third option. Is it significantly different enough to consider or a sidegrade / downgrade from the cans I already own? Your thoughts as an owner of all of these would be highly valued. Thx.

 

[Kevintj604]

Thrilled with bass ported Hybrids. Nuts combo with the KANN Ultra.

@AntiqueMusician Regarding your question about the Hybrid Bass Ported Pads. I do prefer them over the stock with more modern genres. Last night I was listening to EDM, Pop & Hip-Hop and the extra added note weight, sub bass and slight elevation in the mid treble adds a level of excitement that's welcome.

On certain EDM tracks the sub to midbass lift can add a bit too much bloom and it can overwhelm busy passages so there's a perceived loss of fine grain detail. Like most things in life there's a trade-off. I can see myself swapping out the bass ported for the stock depending on genre.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Hey @adeadcrab I noticed you have Joal along with Meze Elite and Focal Utopia headphones per your signature. My full-size headphones are Elite and Utopia (2022 version). I reach for Elite more as they are incredibly comfortable and quite resolving but non-fatiguing. I like Utopia for a change of pace but tire of them quicker, Elite is definitely more my "go to". Interested in Joal and wondering how it compares as a potential third option. Is it significantly different enough to consider or a sidegrade / downgrade from the cans I already own? Your thoughts as an owner of all of these would be highly valued. Thx.

JOAL will have the same sensation as Elite for "non fatigue" type of sound. Both headphone also great for being forgiving and still perform technicalities well at the same time.

Character wise Elite provide brighter treble, bigger bass punch, with bigger soundstage too. JOAL will be more intimate and warm overall, even though bass not as thick as Elite.