[pbui44]

For the end of my loan time with the Cascade, here are my final impressions:

-The Cascade without filters sounded much more natural to me and made me glad that two layers of fabric (ear pad and driver) kept me between my ear and the ear cup metal. It left the sound both intimate and open, leaving an emotionally bright presentation.

-I could not lay down without leaving any fingers on the temple-areas (top inside corners) of the ear cups, as the aggressive angling of the ear pads make the earcups open. Because of this, CA must have made the Cascades compliment-only to IEMs. You can wear this at work and not worry about being too comfortable.

-I started listening more to my Lossless FLAC and less than streaming, as the Cascades became more unforgiving, especially with no filters.

-The Cascades are really a much more casual over-ear that is meant to be a listening alternative to IEMs or on-ears. I say this because they sound like IEMs or on-ears, but with a somewhat more open sound. It’s like sitting on a soft square-cornered leather chair with a welcoming speaker system, but wishing you had an ottoman or table to kick your legs up, so you just sit up to hear the acoustically treated sound from the speakers.

-If you listen to e-books or lectures with music, the Cascades are definitely for you as an upgrade to any-given-Bose, just like any CA IEMs is as well. Want to review your last Bio-Chem lecture with your notes and books, then unwind with some Cat Power and change gears with someone reading “The Princess Bride” to you? No problem at all!

I just shipped the Cascades off to the next person, @VRacer-111 , so I was happy with my time listening to the Cascades and felt that they offered a very unique over-ear portable to the market, hence my three-part impressions. Thanks for reading, folks!

 

[Wiljen]

Nothing but the best from the USPS. Not only are they good at losing packages, but even better at losing money!

Well the good news is right after telling us they had lost them and had no idea where they were, they arrived at the next tour participant's address so we are back on track if a couple weeks behind schedule.

The mysteries of the PO never cease.

 

[VRacer-111]

For the end of my loan time with the Cascade, here are my final impressions:

-The Cascade without filters sounded much more natural to me and made me glad that two layers of fabric (ear pad and driver) kept me between my ear and the ear cup metal. It left the sound both intimate and open, leaving an emotionally bright presentation.

-I could not lay down without leaving any fingers on the temple-areas (top inside corners) of the ear cups, as the aggressive angling of the ear pads make the earcups open. Because of this, CA must have made the Cascades compliment-only to IEMs. You can wear this at work and not worry about being too comfortable.

-I started listening more to my Lossless FLAC and less than streaming, as the Cascades became more unforgiving, especially with no filters.

-The Cascades are really a much more casual over-ear that is meant to be a listening alternative to IEMs or on-ears. I say this because they sound like IEMs or on-ears, but with a somewhat more open sound. It’s like sitting on a soft square-cornered leather chair with a welcoming speaker system, but wishing you had an ottoman or table to kick your legs up, so you just sit up to hear the acoustically treated sound from the speakers.

-If you listen to e-books or lectures with music, the Cascades are definitely for you as an upgrade to any-given-Bose, just like any CA IEMs is as well. Want to review your last Bio-Chem lecture with your notes and books, then unwind with some Cat Power and change gears with someone reading “The Princess Bride” to you? No problem at all!

I just shipped the Cascades off to the next person, @VRacer-111 , so I was happy with my time listening to the Cascades and felt that they offered a very unique over-ear portable to the market, hence my three-part impressions. Thanks for reading, folks!

And the Postman just handed me the Cascades (thankfully my off Friday)!

 

[VRacer-111]

I think I've settled on the 3T filter and will stick with that (and no filter for 'stock' observation when needed) for the remainder of my time with it, provides the best balance of bass without too much loss of clarity. Highs come across a little different compared to the other filters (its accentuating certain frequencies the others do not), but I'm fine with them. The low end is pretty spectacular on these things...like the fusing the best qualities of a TH-X00PH and Focal Elear into one headphone... excellent subbass with great clarity and detail.

I think the cable has seen better days though...

I'll get it on my Estat system with the RME ADI-2 DAC later tonight and see how clear it really sounds.

 

[VRacer-111]

Found its weakness... it is not a good gaming can at all. The Koss KPH30i is much better at gaming, and it's just 'okay'... only reason I could play Destiny 2 with the Cascades is because I KNOW the terrain by heart and the visual references...

 

[SkumBucket]

So my wife and I got burglarized last night - they took my DAP, an Onkyo DP-X1, which I absolutely, positively love and am real sad to see go. I was especially excited to test the Cascades with it, as I was interested to hear them out of the DP-X1's single ended and balanced ended outputs (a buddy was going to send me a cable he got with his HD800s). The balanced output offers significantly more power over single ended and I was interested to hear - and share - how the Cascades were going to respond.

I was planning on centering my review on how the Cascade scales between a good DAP, a good DAP in balanced mode, and various other, more entry level portable sources. That's all out the window now and unfortunately I'm not going to be able to offer much in that regard now. They also took the only other pair of closed-back cans, some Sennheiser HD-598Cs, I have, even though they were old and not a great direct comparison.

They also took my Nintendo Switch (was interested in trying the Cascades for gaming), the Sennheisers, and some random other stuff. They didn't find my HE-560's, which were in their case, but I lost the DAP that powers them and I don't have a desktop setup (maybe I'll put those up for sale to grab some Cascades if I like them...)

Anyway, my review was already going to be pretty bare bones, as I'm not super experienced reviewing cans but I thought I had a good angle. That's out the window but I'm still looking forward to hearing these, I just won't be offering as much value as I thought. My nicest source unit is either going to be a Sansa Clip+ or an old 5.5G Ipod.

Rest assured though that after last night's events, I'm not letting the Cascades or any of my gear out of my sight!

 

[Wiljen]

@SkumBucket, in light of recent events, if you wanted to send the Cascade on to the next member and try again at a later date, I think we could accommodate that. I'm just thinking it might give you a chance to recover some gear and get a better source to work with. I know insurance takes time to work through (if they even cover it - I find usually my loss is roughly equal to my deductible) and the tour has few enough people left on the list you could likely see them again next month if you decided to do that.

 

[Monsterzero]

So my wife and I got burglarized last night

Sorry to hear that... I think I'd lose my mind.
Perhaps its time to invest in a watchdog?

 

[SkumBucket]

@SkumBucket, in light of recent events, if you wanted to send the Cascade on to the next member and try again at a later date, I think we could accommodate that. I'm just thinking it might give you a chance to recover some gear and get a better source to work with. I know insurance takes time to work through (if they even cover it - I find usually my loss is roughly equal to my deductible) and the tour has few enough people left on the list you could likely see them again next month if you decided to do that.

I actually don't have the Cascades yet, but I am next on the list after VRacer-111. If you want to skip me and circle back, that's quite alright with me, but I think I was the last leg of the West coast tour.

Not sure what I'm going to do at this point. The losses aren't much more than my deductible. I can survive with my CA Jupiters out of a little Sansa Clip+ for a while, but again, if I do get my hands on the Cascades it won't be the most comprehensive review out there. I'm OK with whatever will work best of the tour and the community.

Sorry to hear that... I think I'd lose my mind.
Perhaps its time to invest in a watchdog?

We actually do have watchdogs - two decently sized pitbulls, actually. My wife left the house with one for just 90 minutes, and we think the thief saw that and figured he/she had an empty house. The other dog was home and likely went apeshit on the intruder, but my interior office door was closed and we think the dog spooked the thief before they slammed the door on the dog as she approached. The thief then raided my office real quickly and left. Sounds like our girl might have prevented them from going after anything in the rest of the house, but more than anything else I am happy the dog is OK!

 

[VRacer-111]

Doing comparison of the Cascade with my TH-X00PH and 1-MoreTriple Driver Over-ear tonight, after exclusively listening to it all week. Writing down impressions.

Running both my laptop and Oppo BDP-93 into the RME ADI-2 DAC and outputting to the TASCAM MH-8 right now so I can directly compare all instantly. Using 'Jeff Beck: Live at Ronney Scott's' blu-ray in PCM stereo and my music library on the laptop. I'll tell you right now I'm having a tough time deciding which I like better, my TH-X00PH or the Cascades... the 1More Triple-driver isn't in the same ballpark or any kind of contender between them. A couple pictures:

Tomorrow is my last day with the Cascades before I am to ship them off, really going to miss them!
Guess I need the address of who they are going to next as well...

 

[SilverEars]

Doing comparison of the Cascade with my TH-X00PH and 1-MoreTriple Driver Over-ear tonight, after exclusively listening to it all week. Writing down impressions.

Running both my laptop and Oppo BDP-93 into the RME ADI-2 DAC and outputting to the TASCAM MH-8 right now so I can directly compare all instantly. Using 'Jeff Beck: Live at Ronney Scott's' blu-ray in PCM stereo and my music library on the laptop. I'll tell you right now I'm having a tough time deciding which I like better, my TH-X00PH or the Cascades... the 1More Triple-driver isn't in the same ballpark or any kind of contender between them. A couple pictures:

Tomorrow is my last day with the Cascades before I am to ship them off, really going to miss them!
Guess I need the address of who they are going to next as well...

I personally preferred my Ebony over the Cascades. You can get the Ebony close to $300 lower than the Cascades(Ebony massdrop is going on right now with detachable cable now, although it's not as compact or folds). I prefer the less significant bass level and the I like the mids on the Ebony. Cascades is a good performer for a closed-back, and if they come out with more neutral sounding closed-back(and lower pricing), I may bite. Bass is a bit too much to the point that it skews my perception of other headphone bass being insufficient.

Can you provide more thoughts on the 1more triple? Why it doesn't contend with the other two?

 

[VRacer-111]

I personally preferred my Ebony over the Cascades. You can get the Ebony close to $300 lower than the Cascades(Ebony massdrop is going on right now with detachable cable now, although it's not as compact or folds). I prefer the less significant bass level and the I like the mids on the Ebony. Cascades is a good performer for a closed-back, and if they come out with more neutral sounding closed-back(and lower pricing), I may bite. Bass is a bit too much to the point that it skews my perception of other headphone bass being insufficient.

Can you provide more thoughts on the 1more triple? Why it doesn't contend with the other two?

Wow, the EB are more different than I thought they were from the PH based on your EB vs Cascade thoughts. PH has noticeably more subbass impact and a little more middbass than the Cascades, though the Cascades are 'snappier'. Theres things I really like about the Cascades (better isolation and dynamics, allows for lower volume, nice clarity and speed and instrument separation, and most excellent bass) and things I really like about the PH (absolutely lovely subbass presence, excellent imaging, lively and open sound, and how the mids come across).

The 1MT-DO-E is less refined and harsher than both the Cascade and PH, bass is most bloomy going more into the mids. It's also more 1-dimensional/compressed sounding. Definitely a $200 tier headphone versus $500-$800 tier headphone.

 

[VRacer-111]

And I almost forgot I had some good high-resolution audio... so I searched and found one of the few DVD-A albums I have...

Cascade is absolutely beautiful sounding out of the RME ADI-2 DAC... better pairing for it than Gustard X20U and H10 amp. My TH-X00PH is opposite... loves the Gustard rig and is 'good' on the RME ADI-2 DAC.

 

[SilverEars]

Try Nicki Parrott Her tracks are great with bass warmth.

 

[Jearly410]

@VRacer-111
I’m seeing Diana Krall later this month with my wife. Any particular songs/albums I should check out beforehand?