So, I just did a direct A-B comparison battle between the NDH20 Black Edition with Opus/Micro iDSD Finale, and Rad-0 with Opera/Hugo 2. Of course, the Rad-0 eventually won this battle, but the interesting thing was, the area where the NDH20 came closest was the raw detail retrieval. The Micro Finale has a more detailed amp and dac vs the Gold Bar, and the Opus made that difference pretty obvious.
The superiority of the more expensive Rad-0/Opera rig was evident in the micro details (most clearly in the treble), but more than that, it manifested as a kind of organic aliveness, or perhaps "correctness" with the cheaper headphone presenting its respectably ample amount of detail in a comparatively fake/plastic/lifeless manner. The Rad-0's treble is simultaneously smoother and more precisely defined than the Neumanns, it feels like comparing a wig to a real head of beautiful, vibrant hair. It's like, do you want to eat a cookie or just be handed a plastic toy cookie?
I can't say the NDH20 wasn't showing me every single micro detail in the recording: it pretty much was! Maybe not all the "plankton", but micro details for sure. But the Rad-0 (and of course, the Hugo 2) could actually take those details and from them reconstruct the cumulative, wholistic magic of the soundwaves and razzle dazzle my ears with said magic. It was a kind of accuracy or realism that differs from what I think of as clarity/detail/precision, different even from "refinement" or sophistication. My ears immediately recognized what my words here fail to adequately describe: a certain fidelity inclusive of detail, but not limited to it.
!!! 
