[Pharmaboy]

Anyone else want to give it a try? I figured out what I’m ‘feeling’ with those other cans - a very obvious change in pressure when the drums ‘hit’, almost a suckout of air giving it that visceral feeling in your ear. With the Atticus the sound is big and bold, but it’s like watching it through a closed window, while with something like the V-Moda the window is open and you can ‘feel’ it. It’s not so much about low end rumble - rather low end (ear) drum slam.

Think I know what you mean. That "bass notes pressurize my head" thing happened most of all w/my E-Mu-Teak on Liquid Carbon (since sold this HP).

It also happens to quite a degree on the Eikon, which I've listened to extensively on multiple occasions, thanks to my generous Head-Fi pal, @jinxy245. Eikon has a rather flat, tuneful, and very impactful bass w/probably the most sub-bass I've heard. But here's the meta-point about this: Eikon & Atticus may look identical, but are very different sonically. Not huge/overt differences, but a whole list of small/significant differences that truly add up.

So yeah, the bass on the Eikon is crazy good (better in certain subtle ways than my favorite bass HP, the Ori). But you'll be hearing so many other good things on it--incl amazing soundstaging, high resolution w/o peakiness/brightness, and great fidelity to music source--that you soon stop thinking about hearing one thing at a time. Every time I put on the Eikon, I was on a mission, looking for this or that thing--either to see how the Eikon does that thing, or comparing it to another HP. And every time, after getting a faceful of that top-to-bottom sonic impact & musical quality, I forget all about my mission and just listened to music.

If you love your Atticus, you really need to hear the Eikon. You might love that, too. If so, you have to own both.

BTW, the absolute best HP I ever heard for percussion is the Elear. However, it's too accurate & analytical a headphone for me to own and listen to it often. But in a roundabout way, this illustrates my point about the Eikon: I can listen to the Elear & very readily hear the thing it does astonishingly well w/percussion--also appreciating its tight, articulate bass (not high-level or particularly strong in sub-bass, as Eikon is). But all the other things that it doesn't do quite as well for me (soundstaging, overall tonality/voicing, and musicality) are also coming at my ears.

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

Hey y'all! Quite drunk again, should be writing my dissertation but instead I'm here dropping off my "extended listening" notes on the Atticus. I've got only a little bit of time before I head down to the Moody Theater (better known as the venue of ACL Live) to see Sleep perform live--doom/stoner metal legends, for those not familiar. These are my last words before my hearing is completely destroyed (jk, bringing hearing protection).

So, the last drunken long-winded post I made about these, I said a lot of words about how I didn't feel like I needed the HD800 and was content to just use the Atticus. While I still hold by my original description of the sound and etc, I admit that at the time I was super stoked on doom metal and a bunch of other music that really made the Atticus glow...

1. I'm keeping the HD800. I could easily be satisfied with the Atticus and HD600 alone, but I do find that some music works much better on the HD800 than on the Atticus, to the surprise of no one I guess. I still definitely listen to the Atticus more, I'd say it's a 75/25 split between the two. With some albums, it sounds like they tried to mix in a little warmth from the start, and so the low end and mids on the Atticus can get kind of cloying and fatiguing. My personal examples that probably no one here can relate to are Wolves in the Throne Room; Thrice Woven is magic on the Atticus but their better produced albums e.g.Two Hunters are a bit too thick and muddled, whereas the HD800 helps me dive a little deeper into all the action and to hear every little bit of grit in the (intentional) distortions. Hell, I can even use the HD800 to understand metal vocals, for a lifelong metal fan that's kind of a big step up. On the other hand, albums like Storm of the Light's Bane by Dissection (see: audibly clippy, tinny) or Be'lakor - Of Breath and Bone (see: COMPRESSION with a capital C. can you make it louder? a little more? ok now double the loudness. are you sure that's doubled? because I think it could be just a little more compressed...) sound piss poor on the HD800, because that's what they are. And while huge wood cups can't fix hyper compression, they can do a lot to put the best parts of the recording at the front of the stage. Atticus helps me just enjoy the music and forget that I'm listening to something that the mixing engineer finished the proverbial night before it was due.

2. Receiving suede pads soon. I think this will be beneficial for aforementioned issues with too much thickness on some albums. Zach says these take the midbass down some and elevate the treble a little.

3. On the note of fatigue, I notice that whenever I adjust my headphones to a listening level, I'm adjusting to a certain frequency range in the upper mids/low treble. That means I listen to the Atticus ****ing loud. It rules but also adds to the fatigue. I want to emphasize to those reading this who have never heard the A, that in terms of sound signature these are absolutely the least fatiguing and smoothest headphones I have ever heard, and the fatigue is caused by my own insistence on listening so loud.

4. I am only now beginning to fully appreciate the effect of head positioning on the Atticus' sound. One thing the HD800 has going for it: wear them crooked as hell and as long as you're sort of on point, they basically sound the same as if you have them professionally positioned. The Atticus, not so much. My latest bit of audio nervosa is constantly repositioning the cups on my head... but I'll get it before too long. The difference I hear is, at first moving away from the "sweet spot", a loss of treble extension and drop in the upper mids that goes fairly rapidly from smooth and clear to sounding a little more muffled; and further outside of that position I start hearing cup resonances that definitely shouldn't be there.




PS Sleep sounds ****ing fantastic on the Atticus. This song is a decent sample, but there's really no replacement for their hour-and-six-minutes-long magnum opus, "Jerusalem" aka "Dopesmoker", which describes the journey of the Weedian Priests. Drop out of life with bong in hand / Follow the smoke towards the riff filled land.

 

[RatFarm]

I hope your not driving

 

[heliosphann]

I hope your not driving

Especially not 55...

 

[Pharmaboy]

And I seriously hope your dissertation is titled, "Alcohol and the Phenomenology of Headphone Audio" (I would get high on basically anything/everything, then read this paper like a dog digging holes in the front yard).

Seriously, thanks for good post...also for having "personal examples that probably no one here can relate to" (thought I was the only one!).

Head-Fi is always informative--can can also be very entertaining at times.

 

[AppleheadMay]

I hope your not driving

Especially not 55...

Of course he isn't, typing when driving is illegal! ;P

 

[jinxy245]

At least there's no law against typing under the influence...

 

[Zyklonius]

Hey y'all! Quite drunk again, should be writing my dissertation but instead I'm here dropping off my "extended listening" notes on the Atticus. I've got only a little bit of time before I head down to the Moody Theater (better known as the venue of ACL Live) to see Sleep perform live--doom/stoner metal legends, for those not familiar. These are my last words before my hearing is completely destroyed (jk, bringing hearing protection).




PS Sleep sounds ****ing fantastic on the Atticus. This song is a decent sample, but there's really no replacement for their hour-and-six-minutes-long magnum opus, "Jerusalem" aka "Dopesmoker", which describes the journey of the Weedian Priests. Drop out of life with bong in hand / Follow the smoke towards the riff filled land.

I can only imagine how amazing Dopesmoker sounds with Atticus. I can attest to its pure transcendental glory with LCD-2.

Most importantly, let us know what kind of shirt Matt Pike wore during Sleep's set.

 

[Monsterzero]

@zach915m ,or anyone else really...

Can anyone comment on the synergy between the Atticus and the Audio GD Master-11?
Thinking about picking this beast up,but am open to other suggestions in the general price ballpark.

 

[heliosphann]

@zach915m ,or anyone else really...

Can anyone comment on the synergy between the Atticus and the Audio GD Master-11?
Thinking about picking this beast up,but am open to other suggestions in the general price ballpark.

I can try my Atticus on my Master 11 and give you a few thoughts. Don't think I've tried it with the Atticus actually.

I believe Zach has said that he's used the Master 11 a lot for tuning.

 

[heliosphann]

Ok, so I did some listening with my Master 11. My M11 doesn't have the latest DSP upgrade, but it does have a +9db gain.

The M11 is a very neutral sounding SS amp. I think that's why Zach uses it for tuning. There's really no coloration at all, which can be good or bad depending on what you're looking for. With the Atticus, I'd say it's just very average as far synergy with a SS amp. It's got the juice, but it's just not that exciting of a pairing. To compare I used the M11 as a DAC/Pre-amp to my Woo WA2 and there's no question, THAT'S WHERE IT'S AT. I've got some nice tubes in the WA2, including some GEC power tubes and it really brings the Atticus to life. I think an OTL is definitely the way to go with the Atticus. It just loves dem tubes!

I was listening to some songs with the Atticus/WA2 and "Real Thing" by Faith No More came on and it's a good thing I had a tighter clamp, because I almost lost them headbanging. Phew...

 

[gLer]

Think I know what you mean. That "bass notes pressurize my head" thing happened most of all w/my E-Mu-Teak on Liquid Carbon (since sold this HP).

It also happens to quite a degree on the Eikon, which I've listened to extensively on multiple occasions, thanks to my generous Head-Fi pal, @jinxy245. Eikon has a rather flat, tuneful, and very impactful bass w/probably the most sub-bass I've heard. But here's the meta-point about this: Eikon & Atticus may look identical, but are very different sonically. Not huge/overt differences, but a whole list of small/significant differences that truly add up.

So yeah, the bass on the Eikon is crazy good (better in certain subtle ways than my favorite bass HP, the Ori). But you'll be hearing so many other good things on it--incl amazing soundstaging, high resolution w/o peakiness/brightness, and great fidelity to music source--that you soon stop thinking about hearing one thing at a time. Every time I put on the Eikon, I was on a mission, looking for this or that thing--either to see how the Eikon does that thing, or comparing it to another HP. And every time, after getting a faceful of that top-to-bottom sonic impact & musical quality, I forget all about my mission and just listened to music.

If you love your Atticus, you really need to hear the Eikon. You might love that, too. If so, you have to own both.

BTW, the absolute best HP I ever heard for percussion is the Elear. However, it's too accurate & analytical a headphone for me to own and listen to it often. But in a roundabout way, this illustrates my point about the Eikon: I can listen to the Elear & very readily hear the thing it does astonishingly well w/percussion--also appreciating its tight, articulate bass (not high-level or particularly strong in sub-bass, as Eikon is). But all the other things that it doesn't do quite as well for me (soundstaging, overall tonality/voicing, and musicality) are also coming at my ears.

Thanks for your detailed impressions. Wish I could just hear the Eikon for myself. Unfortunately that’s not possible where I live, so to hear it I’d have to buy it and unfortunately the head-fi budget is depleted

I do love the Atticus very much - it’s a perfect foil to my 2016 LCD-2F, so I can pick between big and bold Atticus or clear and open LCD-2, depending on my mood and music choice. Would an Eikon complement this tight group of two? Who knows. Maybe I’ll find out one day.

 

[Monsterzero]

Ok, so I did some listening with my Master 11. My M11 doesn't have the latest DSP upgrade, but it does have a +9db gain.

The M11 is a very neutral sounding SS amp. I think that's why Zach uses it for tuning. There's really no coloration at all, which can be good or bad depending on what you're looking for. With the Atticus, I'd say it's just very average as far synergy with a SS amp. It's got the juice, but it's just not that exciting of a pairing. To compare I used the M11 as a DAC/Pre-amp to my Woo WA2 and there's no question, THAT'S WHERE IT'S AT. I've got some nice tubes in the WA2, including some GEC power tubes and it really brings the Atticus to life. I think an OTL is definitely the way to go with the Atticus. It just loves dem tubes!

Hmmm...interesting. I guess Zach uses it to get as neutral as possible a response?

Did you get your HD250s yet? Curious to hear what you think of that coupled with your WA2.

I was listening to some songs with the Atticus/WA2 and "Real Thing" by Faith No More came on and it's a good thing I had a tighter clamp, because I almost lost them headbanging. Phew...

I just put my Atticus back on my dome for the first time in a couple weeks and getting my skull pummeled by Tulsadoom 'Storms of the Netherworld'
Feeding it from my La Figaro 339,just need a bit more incisiveness and attack.....

EDIT Here ya go!

 

[heliosphann]

Hmmm...interesting. I guess Zach uses it to get as neutral as possible a response?

Did you get your HD250s yet? Curious to hear what you think of that coupled with your WA2.


I just put my Atticus back on my dome for the first time in a couple weeks and getting my skull pummeled by Tulsadoom 'Storms of the Netherworld'
Feeding it from my La Figaro 339,just need a bit more incisiveness and attack.....

I'll let Zach answer that for sure, but it makes sense to tune on something as neutral as possible.

HD250's are inbound. I'll for sure have to try them on the WA2... And the Liquid Gold.

Tulsadoom? Somebody's a CONAN fan. lol I'll have to check them out. The WA2 is really receptive to tube rolling. The GEC tubes added a good deal of bass punch and warmth compared to the Tung-Sol 5998's I had in beforehand. So maybe tube rolling could help your La Figaro 339.

 

[Monsterzero]

Tulsadoom? Somebody's a CONAN fan. lol I'll have to check them out. The WA2 is really receptive to tube rolling. The GEC tubes added a good deal of bass punch and warmth compared to the Tung-Sol 5998's I had in beforehand. So maybe tube rolling could help your La Figaro 339.

Good catch on the Conan reference.

I used to own the WA2 and then sold it when i sold my T1s...Ive kicked myself on more than one occasion for that one...The 339 is a warm tube amp,even with a 'bright' tube combo in there.
I have a brighter DAC inbound for a demo & review and see how that sounds...Tossing around a Glenn amp too as @Hansotek really likes his...he and I have pretty similar tastes in gear me thinks.