[madams5000]

How comfortable are the Cascades because i have heard issues regarding the headband

Lol, I made mine very comfortable now, but not real portable. To be able to sit with them without discomfort from the band, I extend the band so that it just touches my head and use the ear clamp force to keep them over my ears. Works great if I don't move -_- This is my solution, despite these being made for portable use, I got them for in house use when my open headphones might bother others. Works for me, but would never consider these for use out and around.

 

[Jonathan Lerner]

I'm also considering the t5p.2 aeon c and sony mdr z1r if anyone has any advice

 

[Lookout57]

The Sony MDR-ZR1 sound is similar, just more imaging and details. However it doesn't have the same bass slam as the Cascade.

 

[noplsestar]

Lol, I made mine very comfortable now, but not real portable. To be able to sit with them without discomfort from the band, I extend the band so that it just touches my head and use the ear clamp force to keep them over my ears. Works great if I don't move -_- This is my solution, despite these being made for portable use, I got them for in house use when my open headphones might bother others. Works for me, but would never consider these for use out and around.

I have to disagree here. My go to headphone was the Oppo PM3s, they are (with bigger angled Brainwavs pads) very comfortably and you could wear them for hours. They have a few gram less than the Cascade.
At first when wearing the cascade I thought that the PM3s were more comfy, and I still do think so but since I have worn the Cascade a few days I don’t feel any pressure point any more and can wear them for hours.
Also I have to disagree concerning wearing them outside on the go. I have done so for the last week and I have to say that they behave very well when in the city. I can move my head where I want and as fast as I want. They always stay where they should be. I have zero problems when I’m subways etc.
This headphone works - at least for me - for 100% on the road. Sure, they are a bit heavy. But you get SQ and premium materials.

Of course you can always go and listen to IEMs when out and around in the city. I have tried.
One of my last IEMs were the Empire Ears Phantom and Legend X, the 64audio U18t, the Jomo Flamenco, the InEar ProPhile8, the Xelento, Oriolus. They all have they advantages over big headphones for sure. It’s the size. But and this is a big BUT, none of them convinced me so much as the Cascades do (and some of those IEMs listet above do cost 2 to 4 times of the Cascades!!). Not even the Legend X had, IMO, that immersive punch down below. They had a lot of bass for sure, and all the other frequencies were also there, much as the cascade, but never have I felt that power I feel when listening to the Cascades. The stage is bigger, imaging, layering is better. I don’t know, I could go on the whole day.
Yeah, the cascade are „not the smallest“ portable headphone but they are worth every penny. And they are truly portable (not as the Aeon, which are not foldable).
I can even give my Calyx M DAP inside the case.

Having said all that, one has to try them. What fits my head doesn’t have to fit everyone (I’ve got neither a big, nor a small head. Same goes for my ears.)

Also I‘m looking forward to the larger earpads. Not because my ears don’t fit, but because sometimes different earpads can alter the sound of a phone quite significantly.

 

[SHAMuuu]

The Sony MDR-ZR1 sound is similar, just more imaging and details. However it doesn't have the same bass slam as the Cascade.

I'm a bit surprised a 50mm can have more bass slam than the Sony 70mm. I have a previous 70mm, a shieeetyier version, and when cranked, my brain matter almost spills out. The only other headphone to match it is the JVC's dedicated carbon 55mm dedicated subwoofer in the sz1000.
If that is the case, then I will be paying more attention for the bass impressions on this can . Btw the 70mm i have is xb1k, and i know the z1R has a stiffer higher quality cone so i would imagine the potential is higher.

Potential as in EQ'ing the lower end ofc.

EDIT: ***Sorry 42mm.

and yes I should mention the th900 has a higher basshead rating than xb1k/sz1k and has 50mm, so i shouldn't be all that surprised per se

but at 42mm, that would be something.

 

[nanaholic]

I'm a bit surprised a 50mm can have more bass slam than the Sony 70mm. I have a previous 70mm, a shieeetyier version, and when cranked, my brain matter almost spills out. The only other headphone to match it is the JVC's dedicated carbon 55mm dedicated subwoofer in the sz1000.
If that is the case, then I will be paying more attention for the bass impressions on this can . Btw the 70mm i have is xb1k, and i know the z1R has a stiffer higher quality cone so i would imagine the potential is higher.

Potential as in EQ'ing the lower end ofc.

EDIT: ***Sorry 42mm.

and yes I should mention the th900 has a higher basshead rating than xb1k/sz1k and has 50mm, so i shouldn't be all that surprised per se

but at 42mm, that would be something.

The Z1R earpads is deeper and firmer, and the volume inside the earpad is also bigger, so the driver of the Z1R actually sits a bit further out from the ear compared to the Cascade. This takes the edge of the bass slam off slightly for the Z1R.

FYI I've been saying this as well but the Focal Clear also slams harder than the Z1R, because the depth of the earpads of the Focals is also shallower compared to the Z1R and the headband also having more clamping force (to be point that if I just press slightly on the Focals, my ears will touch the driver grills). And the driver on the Focals are seriously tiny by flagship standards (40mm). There's a lot more factors contributing to the bass slam than FR, driver size and open/close.

 

[SHAMuuu]

The Z1R earpads is deeper and firmer, and the volume inside the earpad is also bigger, so the driver of the Z1R actually sits a bit further out from the ear compared to the Cascade. This takes the edge of the bass slam off slightly for the Z1R.

FYI I've been saying this as well but the Focal Clear also slams harder than the Z1R, because the depth of the earpads of the Focals is also shallower compared to the Z1R and the headband also having more clamping force (to be point that if I just press slightly on the Focals, my ears will touch the driver grills). And the driver on the Focals are seriously tiny by flagship standards (40mm). There's a lot more factors contributing to the bass slam than FR, driver size and open/close.

I still don't fully understand the headphone transducer behaviours, but with car woofers i found the more surface area (for subbass frequencies like 30-50hz) requires much less excursion. IIRC a 18" has to move less than half in terms of excursion than a 10" (at 20-50hz test tones). However, there are other factors like stiffness of cone, magnetic flux at the coil, and the quality of the surround etc.

My beef with z1r was the mid bass accentuation masks the sub bass extension to some degree, but i was fortunate to spend enough time and check enough tracks to see when the mid bass wasn't all in your face, the sub-bass extends to at least 25hz, where it is moving air. We're talking air movement like a mini fan tickling the eardrums, rather than the regular "mid bass slam". I should clarify i look at midbass as 60hz + b/c of my car audio viewpoint as the cutoff was usually at 60hz to mid-bass subs.

The surface area differences b/w the 42mm and 70mm is something like 2.5-3x as much. Doesn't seem like it.

However, there is debate on the magnetic flux weakness on the Z1r relative to its cone size, I have not been able to source info on the weight of its transducer minus the magnet, not the flux rating, excursion maximum spec etc.

I wish such info would be available like Focal which releases this, as well as MySphereteam

I tried emailing some companies asking for some info, and in some cases they didn't have it (driver sourced from outside 3rd party)

But i find it strange the company didn't have such specs. I won't name them, as I will probably get banned.

I know all that info doesn't mean all that much in all cases, but there is some use for them.

@Hawaiibadboy did praise them and he's a basshead head-fi'er, so I will look deeper into the bass prowess of these.

He is the bass scientist on here Basshead scientist i mean.

 

[menuki]

An owner of the Cascades mentioned his worries about the headband forming cracks after a while of use and this actually got me worried a bit. Everything about them is built to last, the Ear-Pads have a lot of space for the ears so even if they flatten a bit they'll still be comfortable. But the Yamaha MT220 showed this behavior, the headband formed cracks after a while and you could see the foam. If this happens with the Cascades, then that would be rather sad. :'D

 

[tekkster]

I've had the Cascade for a few days now.

Bass heavy is no joke. and it almost sounds like when a LPF (low pass filter) on recording gear is turned on. Everything sounds lower, and then the bass itself is elevated, seems like.

The sound signature itself is rather familiar, but includes a lot more detail than I expected.

As someone who is very used to HD800, Utopia, TR80, PM-3, M50x/m70x, T1, and most recently the KSE1200, these Campfire Cascade headphones sound a lot closer to my DJ headphones, or maybe the meze 99c.

I'm not saying they sound the same as those latter headphones, but the bass heaviness reminds me of them. A ton more detail than the 99c, of course, with lots of subtle sounds making it through. But it is a little strange to hear a violin and every once in a while, think that maybe it's a viola.

Really fun headphone, and with it's relatively compact folded size, this is a great headphone for me for travel purposes when I'm in the mood for over-ears.

 

[headwhacker]

The cascade indeed has huge boost in bass. But it can be easily EQed down. I like to cut 2-3dB starting at 500Hz downwards. This headphone is like the polar opposite of MrSpeakers Aeon. Very thin and light in bass. However, I can't find the right EQ to elevate the Aeon's bass without hearing something breaks somewhere else. Cascade on the other hand is very easy to EQ. I tried a couple Daps (AK240SS, QP2R) with just a simple GEQ and there you go. The sound I could not get with Aeon. I'm still in the process of burning in my cascade.

Cascade is road friendly than Aeon. Oh and it can be driven by any source with a 3.5mm or 2.5mm socket. Despite the smaller footprint, the cascade is over-ear for my head. Isolate is the best so far I have tried for a closeback headphone. Very comfortable, unlike the Audeze sine which is on-ear and can't get comfortable with it to listen for a long time.

 

[tekkster]

The cascade indeed has huge boost in bass. But it can be easily EQed down. I like to cut 2-3dB starting at 500Hz downwards. This headphone is like the polar opposite of MrSpeakers Aeon. Very thin and light in bass. However, I can't find the right EQ to elevate the Aeon's bass without hearing something breaks somewhere else. Cascade on the other hand is very easy to EQ. I tried a couple Daps (AK240SS, QP2R) with just a simple GEQ and there you go. The sound I could not get with Aeon. I'm still in the process of burning in my cascade.

Cascade is road friendly than Aeon. Oh and it can be driven by any source with a 3.5mm or 2.5mm socket. Despite the smaller footprint, the cascade is over-ear for my head. Isolate is the best so far I have tried for a closeback headphone. Very comfortable, unlike the Audeze sine which is on-ear and can't get comfortable with it to listen for a long time.

I mostly agree with this.

I pair the Cascade with the R6 right now, since the R6 has pretty easy eq features.

It's not really the best closed head phone isolation for me, but it's better than some closed headphones. To me, it's better at sound isolation than the meze 99c, but not as good at sound isolation compared to the nightown carbon or tr80/250. It's about the same as the M50x and m70x to my ears. Not measured, of course. I just tried them on and listened to the computer noises in my room (my nas reading and writing drives which is very quiet and hard to hear with headphones on, the computer and switch fans which have a constant drum but range across some frequencies). Just an opinion, of course. I'd say they're decent enough that I would enjoy listening to them outdoors in a quiet area like a quiet part of a park, hotel room. But in a noisy cafe, definitely any of my IEMs are better, and on a plane or the train, I'd go with my wh1000xm2 active noise cancellation.

For compactness, I basically agree, though the cable ends stick out in front of the headphones a little too dramatically for real compactness. When packing it up in my bag, I prefer folding flat to folding in, so I can't use the case it comes with. Unplugging the cable allows a nice fold flat configuration that fits in my slim bag very nicely. Love that. The M50x/m70x works similarly, but the circular shape of these larger diameter headphones makes them feel larger than the cascade. And of course, sound-profile-wise, I prefer the m50x to be used with my audio recording gear, while i prefer the cascade for just enjoying music.

 

[SilverEars]

The cascade indeed has huge boost in bass. But it can be easily EQed down. I like to cut 2-3dB starting at 500Hz downwards. This headphone is like the polar opposite of MrSpeakers Aeon. Very thin and light in bass. However, I can't find the right EQ to elevate the Aeon's bass without hearing something breaks somewhere else. Cascade on the other hand is very easy to EQ. I tried a couple Daps (AK240SS, QP2R) with just a simple GEQ and there you go. The sound I could not get with Aeon. I'm still in the process of burning in my cascade.

Cascade is road friendly than Aeon. Oh and it can be driven by any source with a 3.5mm or 2.5mm socket. Despite the smaller footprint, the cascade is over-ear for my head. Isolate is the best so far I have tried for a closeback headphone. Very comfortable, unlike the Audeze sine which is on-ear and can't get comfortable with it to listen for a long time.

Well, it's because the Cascade is warm. I've only heard the AFC, and there's no warmth about it and lacking bass. I wouldn't recommend comparing both because Cascades really skews perception of bass once your ear adjusts. But, AFC does indeed lack enough low-end and mid-warmth. A bit lower treble lifted as well. Ether Flow Open is warm, and can perform better at times with the mids, but it does sound a bit too warm that the clarity gets lost at times.

 

[Zachik]

Well, it's because the Cascade is warm. I've only heard the AFC, and there's no warmth about it and lacking bass. I wouldn't recommend comparing both because Cascades really skews perception of bass once your ear adjusts. But, AFC does indeed lack enough low-end and mid-warmth. A bit lower treble lifted as well. Ether Flow Open is warm, and can perform better at times with the mids, but it does sound a bit too warm that the clarity gets lost at times.

Coming from a person who LOVES bass - I disagree AFC is lacking! (I own AFC)
Compared to Cascade (which I also own) - it has less bass. But compared to Cascade, everything got less bass
I would describe the bass on AFC as neutral, whereas bass on most headphones I usually prefer - bass is elevated compared to neutral.

 

[SilverEars]

Coming from a person who LOVES bass - I disagree AFC is lacking! (I own AFC)
Compared to Cascade (which I also own) - it has less bass. But compared to Cascade, everything got less bass
I would describe the bass on AFC as neutral, whereas bass on most headphones I usually prefer - bass is elevated compared to neutral.

Well if you think that is neutral and sufficient (which is matter of perspective). My perspective is obviously different. It's not neutral in my perspective, or I would describe it as I did. It seems to be trend that people think something is neutral that sounds skeletal. Or just an excuse of some sort.

 

[Zachik]

Well if you think that is neutral and sufficient (which is matter of perspective). My perspective is obviously different. It's not neutral in my perspective, or I would describe it as I did. It seems to be trend that people think something is neutral that sounds skeletal. Or just an excuse of some sort.

Good point. I would correct my statement to: I love bass, and to my taste - AFC is not lacking.