I have bought expensive cans in past, so I decided what the hell, I will return or sell it. I paid less than $800 which isn't on the "high price" money radar, compared to
other "top" planars.
I found out that it is not a knock off of the hifiman, but maybe more of Sony, because of the Sony style cups.
I read Sony had designed the cups, not for looks, but instead for a specific for "sound pattern", and then the choice of wood was also specific for tonality.
So in comparison to the Hifiman:
**Different driver (only 66mm nano).
**Overall lighter weight unit.
**different design, (one solid wood baffle plate, with both front & rear damping.
** Totally different wood cups (a bit larger. Rich grained wood type. More shapely inside & out. A raw wood internal design of complex notched layers!)
** Very different earpads (soft perforated leather with a lush/furry material on top surface, instead of a velour-top/hybrid type pad like hifiman).
Overall, this is a "no joke" design, with solid polished metal surfaces, and nothing cheap in "look" or "feel". Even the case is nice.
I imagine they're probably selling this unit very close to cost, in order to sell this thing at the going price (under $800).
Maybe that's why they have no real advertising or info.
Being a planar, with Sony style cups, we would naturally want to compared it to the hifiman r10.m, which I would expect to have a slightly cleaner sound.
Subjective impressions:
Sound is exceptional in mid-range details and transients(probably due to the planar element).
Mids are the biggest strength, being very good and "natural" sounding(probably because of the cups). Sonic image was large. The angle of the cups we're not horizontal, but slightly tilted upwards. I believe this is why some have observed the Hifiman unit "project" image a bit backwards, while this unit projects a bit taller image (instead), than what a user would expect. Yet it could also be positioning and larger driver of the hifiman unit.
Regardless, the unit soundstage was very good for a closed can.
I did not find the bass as linear as described in the graphs.
In fact it sounds & measures a bit lean going into the sub-bass (gradual roll off).
Trebles are a bit soft, and as a result, cymbal crashes do not show the full shimmer as they should, actually similar to what people saying about the hifiman.
On a positive note, because of the clear, straight forward design, you can simply removing front foam damping for slight increase to trebles.
I do not know if the hifiman r10 can be similarly adjusted.
I would be hard pressed to purchase the hifiman regardless if this headphones existed or not, simply because of the price.
I do find these Chinese units to be a competitor to both the Hifiman r10 and also Abyss Diana V2.
Yet I still expect the latter two to be a bit "cleaner".
This cheaper unit is ripe for modders, because of the internal space, and so infinite choices of bit front & rear damping changes.
Although the driver itself has limits in what could be done.
For instance, I do not see this unit being boosted much, in the bass & treble extremes.
I already moded mine close enough to my liking anyways.
The best thing about the can, is the fact that you do not hear any "cup" type enclosure sound.
I am convinced that it is because of the cups. They are not smooth inside.
So that's my take on these cans.
I'm keeping mine for now.
