[Marximus]

The pads aren't that small, but rather they're fairly shallow. I think my ears are of average...surface area (?), but they stick out enough to where driver contact was an issue.

 

[MrBKR]

I listened to a pair last week and I am a fussy pain in the butt looking for something that is all things to all men (Punchy Bass, Vocals, Open Soundstage, Sparkle and Life, for Multiple applpications etc).
 
Every pair I I have listened to had a box it couldn't really tick (unless I spend silly money I fear).
 
The HP100's pretty much ticked all the 'audio' boxes...
 
My only issue (and of course it's a personal one) was looks... I just think they look like a cheap budget brand and not like a £150 piece of mid-range audio!
 
But if you like the looks (and they are sleek and they are comfy too!), and their price is in your range, then I think you really need to have a listen...
 

 

[lumberjake]

I finally got mine a couple days ago. I'm coming from a V Moda M80 and Klipsch X5 IEM.
 First thing is way bigger soundstage than either of the others I have. Individual instruments or sounds come from a much larger field. The detail, which was something I was looking to improve on the M80 (the IEM have gobs of detail), was just what I was hoping for. I noticed the little small things that get muffled with warmer, bassier 'phones. My music is new again. The bass is very...different. This is not a "bassy" or warm HP but its not completely sterile either because there is no shrilling of the ears with guitars or anything bright, they managed to keep it smooth. My M80s have great bass and quite a bit of it but it disappears as it gets deeper. The Soundmagic manage to keep the bass very level and controlled with no upper bass emphasis. Its there but its not knocking on your ear like my M80s which I kinda missed yet its a fair trade for the very uncluttered mid detail. Whats impressive is the sub bass. It will rumble when asked like on Dubstep etc. The mids are quite detailed and sharp in exchange for warmth and body. Again, this was what I'd hoped as my M80s have great warm full bodied mids that do mix it up with the upper bass. Finally the highs. They have awesome highs with plenty of shimmer and snap, something lacking in my M80s. This gives my music a completely different feel of openess yet no shrilly simbilance
I'm ultimately very pleased with these headphones. After reading all the reviews I got what I wanted, a more detailed HP with  good sound stage that still had bass at a total cost of less than $250 CAN.

 

[ostewart]

Really really glad to see these get some attention, as i was the first to get a full review up on them last year, but gradually there were more and more positive reviews after mine, and now look at everyone loving them. They deserve it!

 

[mrbigsby]

Quote:

The pads aren't that small, but rather they're fairly shallow. I think my ears are of average...surface area (?), but they stick out enough to where driver contact was an issue.

 
No pad contact issue here at all. DO you often fold yours? i find that in some cans folding will diminish the pads.
 
Quote:

I listened to a pair last week and I am a fussy pain in the butt looking for something that is all things to all men (Punchy Bass, Vocals, Open Soundstage, Sparkle and Life, for Multiple applpications etc).
 
Every pair I I have listened to had a box it couldn't really tick (unless I spend silly money I fear).
 
The HP100's pretty much ticked all the 'audio' boxes...
 
My only issue (and of course it's a personal one) was looks... I just think they look like a cheap budget brand and not like a £150 piece of mid-range audio!
 
But if you like the looks (and they are sleek and they are comfy too!), and their price is in your range, then I think you really need to have a listen...
 

 
So glad for you man! THese are WONDERFUL headphones, im so happy people are finally trying them out. Im going to grab a second pair for safe keeping.
 
Quote:

I finally got mine a couple days ago. I'm coming from a V Moda M80 and Klipsch X5 IEM.
 First thing is way bigger soundstage than either of the others I have. Individual instruments or sounds come from a much larger field. The detail, which was something I was looking to improve on the M80 (the IEM have gobs of detail), was just what I was hoping for. I noticed the little small things that get muffled with warmer, bassier 'phones. My music is new again. The bass is very...different. This is not a "bassy" or warm HP but its not completely sterile either because there is no shrilling of the ears with guitars or anything bright, they managed to keep it smooth. My M80s have great bass and quite a bit of it but it disappears as it gets deeper. The Soundmagic manage to keep the bass very level and controlled with no upper bass emphasis. Its there but its not knocking on your ear like my M80s which I kinda missed yet its a fair trade for the very uncluttered mid detail. Whats impressive is the sub bass. It will rumble when asked like on Dubstep etc. The mids are quite detailed and sharp in exchange for warmth and body. Again, this was what I'd hoped as my M80s have great warm full bodied mids that do mix it up with the upper bass. Finally the highs. They have awesome highs with plenty of shimmer and snap, something lacking in my M80s. This gives my music a completely different feel of openess yet no shrilly simbilance
I'm ultimately very pleased with these headphones. After reading all the reviews I got what I wanted, a more detailed HP with  good sound stage that still had bass at a total cost of less than $250 CAN.

 
Great to hear the reviews online have been helpful to you. These really are amazing cans, not just "for the money" they are just amazing cans. Loving the fact others are finally getting into them. Hard to listen to anything else in your collection (with very few exceptions) after listening to these for a couple days.
 
Quote:

Really really glad to see these get some attention, as i was the first to get a full review up on them last year, but gradually there were more and more positive reviews after mine, and now look at everyone loving them. They deserve it!

+1 

 

[Anewills]

Are their any good, deeper, replacement pads for these that anyone knows about?

 

[georgelai57]

Damn, it sucks to be Canadian when it comes to Amazon.com. They won't ship here for some stupid reason and I'm dying to get these. I've been forced to try and barter with folks in HK. At least they want my business. Sorry, off topic but its frustrating when its a magical line that bars me from great deals.

Absolutely EVERY review I have scoured on the net has been crazy positive for this headphone, its amazing. The only negative is the difficulty in getting ones hands on a pair if you live outside the US. Too bad because I'm sure Soundmagic could sell tons of these if they were better marketed. I hope someone from them reads this and sees just how well recieved and how difficult many people find getting a set.So many others are getting all the attention like Momentums, Amperiors, M100s, AKG 550 and Tiesto line while these sit quietly in the back annihilating them all. 

Hi, I've often seen posts about how difficult it is to get things from Amazon US into Canada and yet it's on the same continent. I live on the other side of the world, Singapore, and I use a service called HopShopGo.com which gives me a US address. I hope you can find a similar service in Canada. Cheers

 

[DefQon]

Interesting I've been eyeing these on ebay for quite a while now but never plunged due to my past experience with the build issues on there PL30/PL50 IEM's. How's the build quality on these, since I just purchased a pair of Hfi 2400 for $89 I'm quite keen to hear as to how these do with soundstaging.

 

[lumberjake]

Quote:

Hi, I've often seen posts about how difficult it is to get things from Amazon US into Canada and yet it's on the same continent. I live on the other side of the world, Singapore, and I use a service called HopShopGo.com which gives me a US address. I hope you can find a similar service in Canada. Cheers

Thanks for the info. I managed to get a pair via a retailer in Hong Kong, and heard from another member that there is someone on Amazon.com that is selling them at a very good price that will ship to Canada, unfortunately I missed that boat and may have saved some cash but, frankly, the folks from Hong Kong were very good to me and gave me a deal over their ebay price so I'm happy! Its amazing how much faster I get stuff from overseas(1 week) vs. the US (up to a month). I guess its customs.
These headphones are exactly what I had hoped, and -if you read enough reviews- you can get a very good idea of how they sound without listening. Having M80s, I wanted a bigger sound stage, more detail, increased treble with better extention, more neutral and still have bass. The AKG K550 was looked at but too may fit issues and there was mixed reports regarding the amount of bass and I cannot stand a headphone without decent bass. These are very intersting because the bass is very well controlled and never interferes with the mids. If anything that would be my only slight criticism-the mids are very clear and could use a tiny bit more body but then I wanted a more neutral/less warm headphone so I cant have it both ways. The bass goes DEEEEEP and have lots of definition which is missing on the warmer smooth M80s. I can clearly hear the bass kick on drums and get serious rumble on electronic tracks. The heart beat on Dark Side of the Moon is a nice thu-thud! As mentioned the mids are detailed and not forward or recessed as is the treble which shimmers nicely yet never harsh something I just do not have on the M80. It really is an amazingly well balanced headphone(despite the slightly misleading FR graph). I'd like someone to scale the graph to the same standard as other headphones to get a real grasp of FR. I'm far from an expert but I would think these would be great for a smaller studio due to the neutral sound and detail along with soundstage. Another happy Soundmagic customer. Oh, mine were made in  Feb 2013 which are the supposed REv2 design. I think the only difference being a round piece of thin black open cell foam on top of the driver grill seperate from the cushions. Don't know what that does aside from comfort perhaps

 

[DemonFox]

That was a great write up and if I didn't just buy the new WS99's I think I'd be all over these things. Been wanting to try them out for a while but had no idea that have better bass than every Beyer even the 990's. That's really saying something. The 99's have some of the best bass I've ever heard from a neutral stand point. Never getting in the way but always exactly where you want it to be at all times. I could do with a little better comfort even those these are still comfy and a case couldn't hurt either so lol 
 
Damn, guess its time
 
 
Thanks,
 
 

 
 
Oh, the HP300's look kinda cool. I hope they suck tho so I won't have to worry about trying to get another pair  
 
http://soundmagic.appliances-china.com/Product_Look.php?ID=234539

 

[mrbigsby]

I dont think they have made the HP300 yet, but when they do- ill be all over them!

 

[Anewills]

Quote:

I dont think they have made the HP300 yet, but when they do- ill be all over them!

I got my hp100's on Friday and love them so far.  How much do you think that the hp300's would cost.  I'd imagine a few hundred more but that'd be a complete guess.

 

[MrTheposter]

mrbigsby why do they sound unimpressive without amps? Will the cans still sound better without an amp than say the $50 audio technica XS5 ?
 
I had a tight budget so I bought the HP100 without leaving any in the budget for amps.
 
If I did buy an amp it would need to be able to be carried with me on the move while listening as I will use the headphones as a portable pair despite them not being perfectly designed for such a use. 

 

[mrbigsby]

I think they do fine on the go, thats where i use mine mostly. THey are fine without an amp- but IMHO i think a small amp will do best. a nice little e17 is cheap-ish (even a second hand one from the for sale threads here) and sounds great. Even unamped they will sound tons better than many other headphones out there.

 

[ELVISNIXON]

How do these compare to Senn Momentums and vmoda m-100?  The comments seem to make the Hp100 sound like the best of both.