[chongky]

This is the first time I am reviewing a pair of headphones, so please forgive the occasional awkwardness in expression.

The pair of headphones I am recommending here is the CG800S, crafted by a Taobao team, which I bought back in October 2021. My story is quite long, so I have to cut it short here. I was looking for a new pair of cans specifically for classical music and so I bought the Hifiman Sundara. The Sundara, however, felt a little thin in presentation and I grew dissatisfied with it. After reading some very good reviews on Taobao, I decided to take a punt and buy another pair of open-back headphones which happened to be this flagship, CG800S.

It took me more than seven months to write this review, however. Long story short: the seller sent me a faulty cable, and the replacement took a long time to come since I had to first send the faulty cable back. As a result of COVID-19, I kept postponing my trip to the post office. There are twists and turns on my audio journey I won't detail.

A disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the company and am only a buyer who cares about good sound. I'm also not from China (in case anyone is wondering, I'm from Singapore.)

And now to the company and the headphone specifications.

The headphones and Taobao company

The Taobao company which made the CG800S is the Dongguan Chongge Audio Technology Pte Ltd (东莞虫哥音频有限公司). The company sells its products on Taobao, and the CG800S is its flagship. They are a small team, more like a DIY team that makes and sells headphones, IEMs, cables, etc. on Taobao. I have only bought the open-back CG800S, and it is this pair of cans I am reviewing here.

Headphones: (Taobao) Dongguan Chongge Audio Technology CG800S
Headphones type: Dynamic, Open-back, Over-ears
Resistance: 35 Ω
Efficiency: 108 dB/mW
Weight: 310 g (self-measured, excluding cable)
Cable length: 130 cm
Price: RMB1599 (around US$240 at current currency rates, excluding shipping charges and taxes)
Warranty: 12 months

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...14476704547.16.5d6b6da9oLSRnp&id=635179911521

The CG800S can easily be powered by a smartphone as its resistance is only 35 ohms, and its efficiency 108 dB/mW. Even at 60% volume level on my Xiaomi Mi 9T, it plays loud enough—quite a bit louder than the Sundara on the same power.

The CG800S is actually being described as a “limited edition flagship” (旗舰限量). There is another model, CG801S, which is tuned specially for vocals. I don’t know if the two models use the same driver, but the CG801S occupies the same price point as the CG800S and the two models are the most expensive headphones produced by the team. Compared with the CG800S, there are more wood choices for the CG801S; those with more expensive wood cups are priced higher.

The CG800S comes with a default cable which uses pure silver as conductor. The cable is actually quite nice and doesn’t tangle easily. The default cable uses the 4.4 mm balanced male connector. Be sure to tell the seller if you want an unbalanced 3.5mm male connector, or he will send you the 4.4 mm balanced one. If you need other connectors, you can communicate with the team, but they always send a silver cable no matter what kind of connectors you ask for. I think the CG800S is tuned with the silver cable sound specifically in mind.

Another point to note. This pair of headphones actually arrived at my doorstep in a battered, secondhand “instant noodles” box. There is nothing inside except the headphones and silver cable. According to their leader/boss, they need to cut costs, so they have to skimp on the packaging. (Edit: I think they upgraded their packaging to a very decent one now, looking at their Taobao video. I cannot be 100% sure though.) Many people won’t mind having the bare-bones packaging and will care more about the sound and build quality.

 

[chongky]

Build quality:

This is supposedly a handmade pair of headphones, although it uses some industrial parts. You can easily find a replacement headband cushion on Aliexpress, for example.

(Please forgive my not-so-good camera and photographic skills.)

As you can see from the photos above, the design is utilitarian. Some of the pleather around the earpads is peeling now, but it is just around the earpads. I took the earpads out to wash and had to stretch them to fit back to the cups, so I can accept the pleather flaking. (It's really black fabric with a membrane of pleather.) Also, I had this pair of headphones for almost nine months now. The earpads are (allegedly) made out of swan's down, not pleather.

The headphones look quite sturdy to me and the only plastic they used is on the sides. It will not win prizes for cosmetics or build quality though. I don’t know whether the plastic they used is carbon fibre, but even if it's not, it doesn’t look cheap to me. It looks stronger than the plastic used on the sliders of my Beyerdynamic T90 (which broke four times, twice on each side.) The wood cups are made of black walnut wood. Having owned the CG800S for more than eight months, I can say I haven’t had any issues with its build quality.

You can adjust the cans to fit your head, by sliding the notched rods up or down the sides. To be honest, they are quite hard to adjust. You have to find a way to push the rods, say against a table, but once you get them adjusted, they will not slide away easily.

They may not be suitable for extra-large heads. My head is big but not extra-big, and my rods are slid all the way up to the maximum.

(Compared to Sundara, both slid to maximum size.)

Comfort:

The CG800S is fairly light at 310 g and comfortable to wear. I find it more comfortable than the Beyerdynamic T90 and the Sundara. The earpads are supposedly woven from swan’s down, but I’d take this with a pinch of salt. Whatever material it is, it feels soft and comfortable. Furthermore, the clamp is not excessive. I can easily fall asleep with the CG800S on my head, and I think I have done so on a couple of occasions.

 

[chongky]

Test equipment:
DACs: Topping D50S; TempoTec Sonata HD PRO; internal DAC of Xiaomi Mi 9T
Headphone amps: JDS Atom amp; TempoTec Sonata HD PRO
Audio files: AIFF 16-bit/44.1KHz lossless files; 320 kbps Spotify streaming files

Sound quality:

I actually bought this pair of headphones specially for classical music, and it does not disappoint. However, since the CG800S is a neutral pair of cans, it serves very well as a jack-of-all-trades for anyone who prefers a neutral, non-shouty sound signature. It sounds great even for pop and rock music.

I'm not getting into the burn-in debate, but I started listening to the CG800S after around 80 hours of burn-in. But I've had it for so long, I can't remember the exact sound changes. From memory, the headphones sounded a little muffled at first, before becoming more open and refined.

Neutrality:
The CG800S is described as a pair of open-back “monitoring headphones”, with a neutral tuning. I didn’t notice any peaks or troughs while listening to it; although there may be some, they are certainly not noticeable to me. It sounds flat—not bright, not dark, and definitely on the neutral side. Neither the bass, mid-range or treble is overwhelming. I do not find them overpowering the other frequency ranges. They sound organic and cohesive. Some people may find this boring, but to me, it actually serves very well as a jack-of-all-trades pair of cans.

Resolution and clarity:
One of the best traits of the CG800S is its resolution. It is a highly resolving pair of headphones that can expose the flaws in your recording quite easily. I can hear compression distortions if they are in the recording, although I usually do not find them bothersome. You will have no trouble differentiating between most analogue and digital recordings. Also, with this pair of cans, you will appreciate a source with low distortions and a high S/N ratio. I actually toggled between the HD mode of my Xiaomi Mi 9T smartphone and the TempoTec Sonata HD PRO. The dongle measures better and also sounds more refined on the CG800S.

Clarity likewise is exemplary. This clarity doesn’t sound bright to me, unlike some high-contrast headphones that may be tiring to listen to for long periods. Another word that pops up in my mind is “crystalline”.

Density:
Unlike some neutral headphones, the CG800S is quite dense in its sound presentation. The mid-range doesn’t sound thin or disembodied. But it still sounds neutral, not warm or flaccid. The density does mean meatier vocals in its presentation—to some, this may mean sounding more analogue.

Soundstage and Imaging:
The CG800S doesn’t have a particularly large soundstage, but the soundstage is more than adequate for me, even for classical music. I didn’t really notice a deficiency in the soundstage when listening to it; I only noticed it when recalling other headphones in my memory. That said, I haven't really listened to that many headphones.

The open-back CG800S doesn’t have the holographic imaging or jaw-dropping instrumental separation of some TOTL headphones. But I still find the imaging and instrumental separation good. What it gives is an honest presentation of the music, very much what you get with most monitoring headphones, one that is not overly euphoric and still very enjoyable.

Refinement:
Refinement is also great, with low distortion. As a planar though, the Sundara may have slightly less distortion. The Sundara has quieter silence at low volumes, but it could be because the CG800S has a higher efficiency.

Comparisons:

With the Hifiman Sundara
The first thing I noticed is that the CG800S plays louder than the Sundara. The Sundara has a nimble, airier presentation, with very good instrumental separation. The CG800S, on the other hand, is fuller and denser. Both sound on the neutral side. The Sundara can sound a little thin with vocals. There is sometimes sibilance when listening to the Sundara; sibilance is much better controlled in the CG800S. Vocals on the CG800S are closer to the ear and slightly more realistic.

Although the CG800S doesn’t have the biggest soundstage, the soundstage is more than adequate for popular music and tends to get bigger for orchestral works. Instrumental separation is better on the Sundara. I think most people will prefer the vocals on the CG800S.

With Beyerdynamic T90
I actually wanted to compare the CG800S with the Beyerdynamic T90, but the right driver of my T90 died (or maybe the wiring died). So what follows is based entirely on memory. When I first got the CG800S, I gave them both a listen and preferred the CG800s, mainly because the T90 can sound bright on many tracks. The T90 treble can be so sharp and bright as to be murderous. The CG800S definitely sounds more neutral. If the T90 sounds more euphoric on certain tracks, the CG800S I remember is better as an all-rounder.

Conclusion:
I don’t want to hype this pair of headphones because there are too many hyped on Headfi, but if the Sundara can claim to be the best headphones bargain in personal audio right now, the CG800S is in the same ballpark for me. Many may even prefer the CG800S as it has a fuller, meatier presentation. Like the Sundara, the CG800S occupies a sweet spot in pricing, meaning it is not too cheap (skimping on materials) and not too expensive. After buying it, I never felt I needed the Hifiman Arya again (thank God!).

The workmanship is utilitarian but this is a pair of cans crafted by a Taobao team, so don’t expect a piece of audio jewelry. The CG800S has proven to be sturdy so far; I have owned it for almost nine months now, without any issues with its build quality.

Buying from Taobao obviously has its risks, so an advice to anyone who is tempted, please consider the pros and the cons carefully before committing to its purchase. You must know how to communicate in Chinese, or have someone who can do that for you on Taobao.

Until someone gives a second review of this quite wonderful pair of cans, it's my word against no one else's, and so that’s all I have to say, folks.