do you recommend any pair? I have read the bluedio thread and i put the T4s in my cart. Still waiting to see if i can find something better.
Chinese / Asian Brand Info Thread (On or Over Ear Headphones)
- Thread starter slowpickr
- Start date
Talking about edifier, I'm still waiting for them to release some kill em all budget headphones. Edifier bought Stax some years ago. I'm surprised that the knowledge they have access now has not yet been reflected on their products... Or maybe it has. I have not heard any edifier headphones 
I havent heard any Edifier-headphones, W830BT has insane battery life (95h!) and is supposedly very bass heavy, W855BT is probably a bit more balanced (or thats what ive heard). I watched recently review of W860NB and they seem to offer pretty decent anc for a semi-budget btooth can.
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Slater
Headphoneus Supremus
A few things to keep in mind with the T4S:
1. It has the smaller 80mm pads like the T2, T3, and T4. Not really an on ear, and not really an over ear. Starting with the T5, Bluedio increased the pads to 90mm, which makes a huge difference in comfort (depending on your ears). However, on the T4 and T4S, you can mod it to accept larger generic 3rd party 90mm pads. You may not even have to do this, but I just thought I would mention the pads in case you are one of those people that get annoyed if pads touch any part of your ear.
2. The T4S uses a usb type C for audio out. So if you plan to use it wired, you’ll have to use the included Bluedio usb C to 3.5mm cable. The cable is included, but take care of it. If the cable breaks, generic usb C to 3.5mm cables don’t work because the cable is somewhat proprietary (it’s analog and doesn’t include any DAC chip like most 3rd party cables). You can order stock replacement cables cheaply from Bluedio though.
3. The ANC function is crap. Don’t buy it for ANC, and don’t bother even trying to use it because it is rubbish. Bluedio’s ANC doesn’t work well at all on all of their full size headphones. My advice is to just pretend it’s not there. I glued my ANC switch to permanently disable it, so I don’t accidentally activate it.
Other than that, the T4S is good. It the cups rotate to fold flat, vs the cups folding inwards like the T3 and T3+.
Note you can tune the T4S drivers via covering the 4 magnet vent holes on the back of the drivers. More holes taped = reduced sub bass. So by sealing off 3 or 3.5 holes, the sound can be tuned to be less v shaped. Stock, Bluedio’s house sound is pretty Beats-like (boom boom boom).
slapo
100+ Head-Fier
I have the W830BT with the stock pads, it's all bass, very recessed treble and midrange. Swapped the stock pads for Sony MDR-10RBT pads, although I had to stretch them around the rim. Sensible bass, surprisingly decent midrange and treble now. The SteelSeries Arctis cloth pads work too, but reduce portability (leak like a sieve).
The battery life is excellent, though.
Vistacruisin
New Head-Fier
OKCSC ZX1, Bosshifi B7 both getting a bunch of semi random posts. I had been interested in the ISK hf2010 but these two new models seem to be an upgrade. I'm looking for a single pair of open headphones I can use with gaming shooters and movies. Powering off my Yamaha stereo headphone output. I've tried the hyperx cloud/ pro 80 and while comfortable, it felt warm on ears and too closed in for my taste. Thanks for feedback
mbwilson111
Headphoneus Supremus
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Not Chinese but what about the Beyerdynamic DT880. I think Massdrop has been doing them...
raccoon city
100+ Head-Fier
Looking for recommendations on a possible upgrade...
My favorite pair of headphones are my ISK MDH9000 clone.
I want a similar pair of headphones, but without the durability issues that are possible with the ISK MDH9000 clone.
Looking for closed over-ear headphones that are comfortable.
I like nice protein leather, but I am willing to pay extra for sheepskin leather.
The more bass the better.
I like earpads that are circles, but this isn't a deal breaker.
I also like it when it's easy to switch earpads.
I like good noise isolation, and I have an extra large head.
It doesn't have to be Asian headphones, but I know that there are people in this thread that appreciate good value for money.
Any suggestions?
My favorite pair of headphones are my ISK MDH9000 clone.
I want a similar pair of headphones, but without the durability issues that are possible with the ISK MDH9000 clone.
Looking for closed over-ear headphones that are comfortable.
I like nice protein leather, but I am willing to pay extra for sheepskin leather.
The more bass the better.
I like earpads that are circles, but this isn't a deal breaker.
I also like it when it's easy to switch earpads.
I like good noise isolation, and I have an extra large head.
It doesn't have to be Asian headphones, but I know that there are people in this thread that appreciate good value for money.
Any suggestions?
slapo
100+ Head-Fier
Update on the EKSA E100:
I modded it a little last weekend. There's a recessed ridge in the cups and the left cup has four hole is there which I guessed they would be little bass vents.
I have stuffed the ridges with BluTack and smoothed it out. Put dynamat extreme on top of two larger holes in the left cup. In the right cup, the battery was atop of those and I couldn't see space between that and the cup itself so I left it be.
It sounds a bit tighter now and combined with the pads, now hybrid perforated cheapo eBay pads, the bass is alright (could be lesser still, but then I don't like it bumped up much), mids are somewhat thinner than before, but still good and treble is sparkly, but not too much. My ears top out at ~15.5 kHz, though.
Soundstage is smaller now, but not by much - they still sound pretty spacious. Not particularly wide, but have some depth and imaging it now improved and pretty decent.
Tested also on Yosi Horikawa's Bubbles and Megatron's voice, also here:
Decent value at ~20 USD + pads and BluTack.
I modded it a little last weekend. There's a recessed ridge in the cups and the left cup has four hole is there which I guessed they would be little bass vents.
I have stuffed the ridges with BluTack and smoothed it out. Put dynamat extreme on top of two larger holes in the left cup. In the right cup, the battery was atop of those and I couldn't see space between that and the cup itself so I left it be.
It sounds a bit tighter now and combined with the pads, now hybrid perforated cheapo eBay pads, the bass is alright (could be lesser still, but then I don't like it bumped up much), mids are somewhat thinner than before, but still good and treble is sparkly, but not too much. My ears top out at ~15.5 kHz, though.
Soundstage is smaller now, but not by much - they still sound pretty spacious. Not particularly wide, but have some depth and imaging it now improved and pretty decent.
Tested also on Yosi Horikawa's Bubbles and Megatron's voice, also here:
Decent value at ~20 USD + pads and BluTack.
Mojo Warrior
New Head-Fier
- Joined
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The Monoprice Stage Right meets all your requirements except the bass is linear, not exaggerated. $30 and a replaceable cable.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=605055
Looks like the Sivga SV007 has a new cousin with some upgrades. KLH Audio Ultimate One
"The KLH Audio Ultimate One Open-Air Dynamic Headphones are as much of a statement as they are a solution. This is a $500 pair of headphones vs. sub-$100 (SIVGA). While I’m sure the SIVGA sound good, the KLH are much more advanced in sound and comfort. KLH wants these to be the headphones you keep forever.
The ear cups of the KLH Ultimate One are solid ebony wood (and legally harvested to boot!). Not only do they look awesome, but according to KLH Audio Chief Technology Officer Steven Howell, the extremely hard construction of ebony wood goes a long way in eliminating / reducing resonances.
The KLH earpads and headbands are much higher-quality than the SIVGA too.
KLH opted to use Sheepskin in any areas that come in contact with the skin (or scalp). This is because sheepskin doesn’t distress from human oils.
The company also opted to use premium grade cow leather on the areas subject to sunlight – namely the outer edges of the ear pads and headbands. The cow leather ages very nicely. In contrast, the SIVGA uses polyurethane.
The foam in the KLH ear pad is more advanced too. SIVGA uses a single stage, where KLH uses a dual stage: its outer round is a softer more pliable cushion, and its inside is stiffer. This is less resistant to collapse or compression, meaning better fit, and longevity.
The actual air cups of the KLH are 10mm bigger in diameter than SIVGA, and there are substantial driver differences too. The SIVGA uses a dusted diaphragm design, i.e. dusted with beryllium where the KLH driver is 1) higher beryllium content and 2) has a more advanced coil (32-ohm) with higher-current capability than SIVGA. This makes the driver faster, more compliant, not as brittle sounding.
The input cable to the KLH headphone is a Silver Litz cable, where SIVGA is not.
Let me know if I can answer anything else! - Paul Muto, PR for KLH Audio"
"The KLH Audio Ultimate One Open-Air Dynamic Headphones are as much of a statement as they are a solution. This is a $500 pair of headphones vs. sub-$100 (SIVGA). While I’m sure the SIVGA sound good, the KLH are much more advanced in sound and comfort. KLH wants these to be the headphones you keep forever.
The ear cups of the KLH Ultimate One are solid ebony wood (and legally harvested to boot!). Not only do they look awesome, but according to KLH Audio Chief Technology Officer Steven Howell, the extremely hard construction of ebony wood goes a long way in eliminating / reducing resonances.
The KLH earpads and headbands are much higher-quality than the SIVGA too.
KLH opted to use Sheepskin in any areas that come in contact with the skin (or scalp). This is because sheepskin doesn’t distress from human oils.
The company also opted to use premium grade cow leather on the areas subject to sunlight – namely the outer edges of the ear pads and headbands. The cow leather ages very nicely. In contrast, the SIVGA uses polyurethane.
The foam in the KLH ear pad is more advanced too. SIVGA uses a single stage, where KLH uses a dual stage: its outer round is a softer more pliable cushion, and its inside is stiffer. This is less resistant to collapse or compression, meaning better fit, and longevity.
The actual air cups of the KLH are 10mm bigger in diameter than SIVGA, and there are substantial driver differences too. The SIVGA uses a dusted diaphragm design, i.e. dusted with beryllium where the KLH driver is 1) higher beryllium content and 2) has a more advanced coil (32-ohm) with higher-current capability than SIVGA. This makes the driver faster, more compliant, not as brittle sounding.
The input cable to the KLH headphone is a Silver Litz cable, where SIVGA is not.
Let me know if I can answer anything else! - Paul Muto, PR for KLH Audio"
I mean, for 400 bucks more, it better be more advanced. I miss the point of such a comparison. These are compared only because they look the same? Or am I missing something?Looks like the Sivga SV007 has a new cousin with some upgrades. KLH Audio Ultimate One
"The KLH Audio Ultimate One Open-Air Dynamic Headphones are as much of a statement as they are a solution. This is a $500 pair of headphones vs. sub-$100 (SIVGA). While I’m sure the SIVGA sound good, the KLH are much more advanced in sound and comfort. KLH wants these to be the headphones you keep forever.
The ear cups of the KLH Ultimate One are solid ebony wood (and legally harvested to boot!). Not only do they look awesome, but according to KLH Audio Chief Technology Officer Steven Howell, the extremely hard construction of ebony wood goes a long way in eliminating / reducing resonances.
The KLH earpads and headbands are much higher-quality than the SIVGA too.
KLH opted to use Sheepskin in any areas that come in contact with the skin (or scalp). This is because sheepskin doesn’t distress from human oils.
The company also opted to use premium grade cow leather on the areas subject to sunlight – namely the outer edges of the ear pads and headbands. The cow leather ages very nicely. In contrast, the SIVGA uses polyurethane.
The foam in the KLH ear pad is more advanced too. SIVGA uses a single stage, where KLH uses a dual stage: its outer round is a softer more pliable cushion, and its inside is stiffer. This is less resistant to collapse or compression, meaning better fit, and longevity.
The actual air cups of the KLH are 10mm bigger in diameter than SIVGA, and there are substantial driver differences too. The SIVGA uses a dusted diaphragm design, i.e. dusted with beryllium where the KLH driver is 1) higher beryllium content and 2) has a more advanced coil (32-ohm) with higher-current capability than SIVGA. This makes the driver faster, more compliant, not as brittle sounding.
The input cable to the KLH headphone is a Silver Litz cable, where SIVGA is not.
Let me know if I can answer anything else! - Paul Muto, PR for KLH Audio"
SonyFan121
AKA Steven31, Audio Aficionado, Audioholic123, JVC steven, and others
Looks like the Sivga SV007 has a new cousin with some upgrades. KLH Audio Ultimate One
"The KLH Audio Ultimate One Open-Air Dynamic Headphones are as much of a statement as they are a solution. This is a $500 pair of headphones vs. sub-$100 (SIVGA). While I’m sure the SIVGA sound good, the KLH are much more advanced in sound and comfort. KLH wants these to be the headphones you keep forever.
Slater
Headphoneus Supremus
Looks like the Sivga SV007 has a new cousin with some upgrades. KLH Audio Ultimate One
"The KLH Audio Ultimate One Open-Air Dynamic Headphones are as much of a statement as they are a solution. This is a $500 pair of headphones vs. sub-$100 (SIVGA). While I’m sure the SIVGA sound good, the KLH are much more advanced in sound and comfort. KLH wants these to be the headphones you keep forever.
The ear cups of the KLH Ultimate One are solid ebony wood (and legally harvested to boot!). Not only do they look awesome, but according to KLH Audio Chief Technology Officer Steven Howell, the extremely hard construction of ebony wood goes a long way in eliminating / reducing resonances.
The KLH earpads and headbands are much higher-quality than the SIVGA too.
KLH opted to use Sheepskin in any areas that come in contact with the skin (or scalp). This is because sheepskin doesn’t distress from human oils.
The company also opted to use premium grade cow leather on the areas subject to sunlight – namely the outer edges of the ear pads and headbands. The cow leather ages very nicely. In contrast, the SIVGA uses polyurethane.
The foam in the KLH ear pad is more advanced too. SIVGA uses a single stage, where KLH uses a dual stage: its outer round is a softer more pliable cushion, and its inside is stiffer. This is less resistant to collapse or compression, meaning better fit, and longevity.
The actual air cups of the KLH are 10mm bigger in diameter than SIVGA, and there are substantial driver differences too. The SIVGA uses a dusted diaphragm design, i.e. dusted with beryllium where the KLH driver is 1) higher beryllium content and 2) has a more advanced coil (32-ohm) with higher-current capability than SIVGA. This makes the driver faster, more compliant, not as brittle sounding.
The input cable to the KLH headphone is a Silver Litz cable, where SIVGA is not.
Let me know if I can answer anything else! - Paul Muto, PR for KLH Audio"
That looks like a nice and thoughtful upgrade KLH did there. Kudos to them.
The only thing I would add is that I sure hope in all of that upgrading of wood cups/drivers/cables/pads, that KLH reinforced the hinge. Hopefully they didn’t just paint the ODM headband black and call it a day.
Because the headband metal right at the hinge lug is paper thin, and is prone to breakage. Despite the headphone looking beefy because the headband is made of “metal”, it is the Achilles heel of the Sivgas, Bosshifis, and every other headphone based off of that upper frame (including a newer and pricey Monoprice planar).
It needs to be redesigned to be twice as thick. Or at least made out of stainless steel or better aluminum instead of brittle pot metal. I’m not 100% sure if it’s cast zinc or cast low grade aluminum. But whatever the material is needs to be much stronger.
Only the last photo is mine. The other 2 were from other owners. It is not an isolated case. Sure, most of them don’t break. But it is still a design/manufacturing defect that needs to be corrected, because it can and does happen.
I know this closeup below isn’t the best quality, but you can see how the metal at the break looks grainy/sandy. This is why it is weak and breaks. Cast zinc or cast aluminum this paper thin aren’t sufficiently strong and have a very low shear and torsional strength. Not what you want with a hinge!
The fact that the headband adjustment notches AND the wire groove are incorporated in this area, make an already thin headband effectively even thinner! I forgot to measure my headband when it broke, but from memory the thickest the metal ever got was 2mm, and the thinnest was under 1mm!
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I know nothing about klh audio but I contacted them and asked if they want to be a part of my "best open headphones for $500" shootout which includes hifiman he400/400i/560, sennheiser hd700/hd650, iBasso sr1, brainwavz alara, shure srh1540, ollo S4, audioquest nighthawk carbon, grado rs2i and onkyo a800.
I hope they're willing to participate. Just by not coming up last would mean klh has made a good pair of headphones.
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