dBel84
Cavalli Tinkerer at large
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2006
- Posts
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- 303
I contemplated about posting anything at all seeing as this thread is developing an undertone which I am not comfortable with and honestly don't have the inclination to deal with. BUT I do feel I need to set my record straight about a few things.
1. Comfort - The foam is initially ugly but it grows on you and is very comfortable. It appears to be industrial type rubber foam and I suspect will survive a chemical spill. The pads are J$ pads, the foam is firm and as such has less give than something like the 02 pads. The leather does soften up and the headband can be stretched to accomodate most people with more cerebral matter. There is however never any doubt that you are wearing in excess of 1/2 kg on your head.
2. The cable. The stock cable is in my opinion well chosen for this headphone. It is not a cheap afterthought but a shielded 4-quad cable many of us would choose to recable most stock headphones. Well made and worthy. My unexpected listening test with the ALO cable was well ... unexpected and unexplained.
3. I second (3rd / 4th) the opinion that these headphones are going to be difficult to assess in meet conditions.
4. Comparisons to other headphones. - highly subjective.
I like the 02. It is all it is made out to be. Would I choose it , probably not as it would mean that I need a dedicated stat rig and that is not something I see necessary. For what it is worth I liked the 404 - hybrid exstata pairing as much. There is a good reason we have the stax mafia and an international following of electrostatic headphones. Can you plug your stat into your iphone and continue to groove - I am sure some crazy Icelandic nomad may have tried this
. In the past I could appreciate much of what the stats offer with vintage orthos, additionally the orthos bring massive dynamics and serious punch to the table (at the expense of soundstage), that palpable energy is what most dynamic headphones offer but they lose the subtle nuances in the mids and many if not most have a bass coloration which is only noticeable when you have spent time in its absence. So why do I blather on, well it is the first time that I feel an orthodynamic offers a complete package. The accuracy and natural presentation of the top end stats with the soundstage and palpable energy of dynamics which preserving the planar mids and bass control. I guess this is hype but it is also what made me sit back with true appreciation for something that I had been looking for. Top end dynamics T1/HD800 , I do not own them and therefore have only listened to them on either their owners systems or more recently in a store with a selection of amps. Either non of the systems that I have heard the HD800 with have good synergy with it or I dislike the signature of this headphone. People may cringe but i thought the previous HD6xx were more balanced. The T1 is actually a very good sounding headphone on initial listening. I found it pretty well balanced, there is a midbass coloration but that is only wrt planar bias. I thought the T1 had a greater clamping force than the LCD2 but the velour pads and lower mass, make it overall more comfortable. well so much for a short post , enough said from me.
..dB
I contemplated about posting anything at all seeing as this thread is developing an undertone which I am not comfortable with and honestly don't have the inclination to deal with. BUT I do feel I need to set my record straight about a few things.
1. Comfort - The foam is initially ugly but it grows on you and is very comfortable. It appears to be industrial type rubber foam and I suspect will survive a chemical spill. The pads are J$ pads, the foam is firm and as such has less give than something like the 02 pads. The leather does soften up and the headband can be stretched to accomodate most people with more cerebral matter. There is however never any doubt that you are wearing in excess of 1/2 kg on your head.
2. The cable. The stock cable is in my opinion well chosen for this headphone. It is not a cheap afterthought but a shielded 4-quad cable many of us would choose to recable most stock headphones. Well made and worthy. My unexpected listening test with the ALO cable was well ... unexpected and unexplained.
3. I second (3rd / 4th) the opinion that these headphones are going to be difficult to assess in meet conditions.
4. Comparisons to other headphones. - highly subjective.
I like the 02. It is all it is made out to be. Would I choose it , probably not as it would mean that I need a dedicated stat rig and that is not something I see necessary. For what it is worth I liked the 404 - hybrid exstata pairing as much. There is a good reason we have the stax mafia and an international following of electrostatic headphones. Can you plug your stat into your iphone and continue to groove - I am sure some crazy Icelandic nomad may have tried this
. In the past I could appreciate much of what the stats offer with vintage orthos, additionally the orthos bring massive dynamics and serious punch to the table (at the expense of soundstage), that palpable energy is what most dynamic headphones offer but they lose the subtle nuances in the mids and many if not most have a bass coloration which is only noticeable when you have spent time in its absence. So why do I blather on, well it is the first time that I feel an orthodynamic offers a complete package. The accuracy and natural presentation of the top end stats with the soundstage and palpable energy of dynamics which preserving the planar mids and bass control. I guess this is hype but it is also what made me sit back with true appreciation for something that I had been looking for. Top end dynamics T1/HD800 , I do not own them and therefore have only listened to them on either their owners systems or more recently in a store with a selection of amps. Either non of the systems that I have heard the HD800 with have good synergy with it or I dislike the signature of this headphone. People may cringe but i thought the previous HD6xx were more balanced. The T1 is actually a very good sounding headphone on initial listening. I found it pretty well balanced, there is a midbass coloration but that is only wrt planar bias. I thought the T1 had a greater clamping force than the LCD2 but the velour pads and lower mass, make it overall more comfortable. well so much for a short post , enough said from me.
..dB
I contemplated about posting anything at all seeing as this thread is developing an undertone which I am not comfortable with and honestly don't have the inclination to deal with. BUT I do feel I need to set my record straight about a few things.
1. Comfort - The foam is initially ugly but it grows on you and is very comfortable. It appears to be industrial type rubber foam and I suspect will survive a chemical spill. The pads are J$ pads, the foam is firm and as such has less give than something like the 02 pads. The leather does soften up and the headband can be stretched to accomodate most people with more cerebral matter. There is however never any doubt that you are wearing in excess of 1/2 kg on your head.
2. The cable. The stock cable is in my opinion well chosen for this headphone. It is not a cheap afterthought but a shielded 4-quad cable many of us would choose to recable most stock headphones. Well made and worthy. My unexpected listening test with the ALO cable was well ... unexpected and unexplained.
3. I second (3rd / 4th) the opinion that these headphones are going to be difficult to assess in meet conditions.
4. Comparisons to other headphones. - highly subjective.
I like the 02. It is all it is made out to be. Would I choose it , probably not as it would mean that I need a dedicated stat rig and that is not something I see necessary. For what it is worth I liked the 404 - hybrid exstata pairing as much. There is a good reason we have the stax mafia and an international following of electrostatic headphones. Can you plug your stat into your iphone and continue to groove - I am sure some crazy Icelandic nomad may have tried this
. In the past I could appreciate much of what the stats offer with vintage orthos, additionally the orthos bring massive dynamics and serious punch to the table (at the expense of soundstage), that palpable energy is what most dynamic headphones offer but they lose the subtle nuances in the mids and many if not most have a bass coloration which is only noticeable when you have spent time in its absence. So why do I blather on, well it is the first time that I feel an orthodynamic offers a complete package. The accuracy and natural presentation of the top end stats with the soundstage and palpable energy of dynamics which preserving the planar mids and bass control. I guess this is hype but it is also what made me sit back with true appreciation for something that I had been looking for. Top end dynamics T1/HD800 , I do not own them and therefore have only listened to them on either their owners systems or more recently in a store with a selection of amps. Either non of the systems that I have heard the HD800 with have good synergy with it or I dislike the signature of this headphone. People may cringe but i thought the previous HD6xx were more balanced. The T1 is actually a very good sounding headphone on initial listening. I found it pretty well balanced, there is a midbass coloration but that is only wrt planar bias. I thought the T1 had a greater clamping force than the LCD2 but the velour pads and lower mass, make it overall more comfortable. well so much for a short post , enough said from me.
..dB
I contemplated about posting anything at all seeing as this thread is developing an undertone which I am not comfortable with and honestly don't have the inclination to deal with. BUT I do feel I need to set my record straight about a few things.
1. Comfort - The foam is initially ugly but it grows on you and is very comfortable. It appears to be industrial type rubber foam and I suspect will survive a chemical spill. The pads are J$ pads, the foam is firm and as such has less give than something like the 02 pads. The leather does soften up and the headband can be stretched to accomodate most people with more cerebral matter. There is however never any doubt that you are wearing in excess of 1/2 kg on your head.
2. The cable. The stock cable is in my opinion well chosen for this headphone. It is not a cheap afterthought but a shielded 4-quad cable many of us would choose to recable most stock headphones. Well made and worthy. My unexpected listening test with the ALO cable was well ... unexpected and unexplained.
3. I second (3rd / 4th) the opinion that these headphones are going to be difficult to assess in meet conditions.
4. Comparisons to other headphones. - highly subjective.
I like the 02. It is all it is made out to be. Would I choose it , probably not as it would mean that I need a dedicated stat rig and that is not something I see necessary. For what it is worth I liked the 404 - hybrid exstata pairing as much. There is a good reason we have the stax mafia and an international following of electrostatic headphones. Can you plug your stat into your iphone and continue to groove - I am sure some crazy Icelandic nomad may have tried this
. In the past I could appreciate much of what the stats offer with vintage orthos, additionally the orthos bring massive dynamics and serious punch to the table (at the expense of soundstage), that palpable energy is what most dynamic headphones offer but they lose the subtle nuances in the mids and many if not most have a bass coloration which is only noticeable when you have spent time in its absence. So why do I blather on, well it is the first time that I feel an orthodynamic offers a complete package. The accuracy and natural presentation of the top end stats with the soundstage and palpable energy of dynamics which preserving the planar mids and bass control. I guess this is hype but it is also what made me sit back with true appreciation for something that I had been looking for. Top end dynamics T1/HD800 , I do not own them and therefore have only listened to them on either their owners systems or more recently in a store with a selection of amps. Either non of the systems that I have heard the HD800 with have good synergy with it or I dislike the signature of this headphone. People may cringe but i thought the previous HD6xx were more balanced. The T1 is actually a very good sounding headphone on initial listening. I found it pretty well balanced, there is a midbass coloration but that is only wrt planar bias. I thought the T1 had a greater clamping force than the LCD2 but the velour pads and lower mass, make it overall more comfortable. well so much for a short post , enough said from me.
..dB
