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Chinese / Asian Brand Info Thread (On or Over Ear Headphones)
Nov 11, 2020 at 7:51 AM Post #6,379 of 7,153
jasswolf said:
Cross-posting this for ZX1 users because I've just received similar pads and wanted to post some thoughts.

This styling definitely aids the midrange, both where it dips, but also where it peaks in the upper mids and comes off grainy. The graininess isn't gone, but in concert with the dampening of the lower treble, it's vastly more tolerable.

Unfortunately the side effect of all this is two-fold in my case:

1. there must be some taming happening at 5kHz because the soundstage seems to be somewhat more narrow, and in a headphone that already lacks a great deal in the upper treble this can leave it a bit lifeless at times; the existing treble detail takes a hit too

2. the area of bass bloat is shifted squarely on top of where kick drums reside, and it can completely destroy the enjoyability of some tracks

I say 'in my case' because the foam used in these pads is incredibly stiff, and I suspect that is contributing to both the heavy-hand on the treble dampening and bass boost. So the velour pad has a lot to contribute, and I suspect a combo with softer foam and maybe sheepskin leather would bring the lower mids in a bit.

Along with the pads came a couple of flat bits of foam for tuning, something I once wanted for a second set of ZX1s I originally intended to gift to a friend before I started revealing their many flaws. That set has the wrong dampening material in front of the driver, and while it has some better clarity in some aspects, it is absolutely grating in that 1.5kHz-4kHz range where this driver struggles.

It seems that you're always compromising with this headphone when it comes to detail level, basic tuning and pad rolling, and that probably reflects the driver inside probably not being suitable as a single driver solution (and thus not much of a headphone driver). With the OpenHeart OH2000 now appearing in this price range and the soundstage width of the Takstar Pro 82 and GM200 also around this price point, it's really hard to recommend this headphone any more.

That straight after that you have the AKG K361 @ $80 on sale and the AKG K371 @ $105 really dials down any value it has for those looking for a good entry-level can. Some might like the lower treble energy in certain situations, but I think it just winds up destroying upper-register female vocals in all modern and too many older recordings.
Click to expand...


I agree with your final statement of the ZX1. You can mod these headphones and drastically change their sound profile. However, I suspect beacuse of the poor driver damping that these headphone will never sound "hi-fi" and every time I really want to analytically listen to a song I reach for my Sennheiser hd590 or AKG k550 instead.

Regarding the pads, I suspected since earlier that changing the impedance of the pads helped attenuate the midrange peak as you describe with your new pads.
My method for testing this theory was to use the stock pads and tape the outside of them with varying amounts of tape to kinda simulate a more restrictive outside material (velour, leather, etc).
Results:
zx1 pad imp.png


As can be seen above was my theory based on previous testing true, the largest differences was that the more tape (ie higher impedance pads) the more the driver breakup frequency (2kHz) aswell to a lesser degree the 5kHz peak was attenuated.
After listening to them did this change nerf the soundstage however as you talked about with your new pads, if this is due to the 2kHz peak or the 5kHz one (or both) I don't know.

I would personally avoid damping in front of the driver as this would have an even larger impact on higher frequencies 9kHz< where this driver doesn't really have any power left.

The result of this would be as you said too, you always have to comprimise with this headphone, either you try to open them up as much as possible and get that soundstage but have razors-getting-jamed-in-your-ears treble/high mids. Or pad roll them to get a kinda good but warm headphone that has a tamed treble (I find them good for gaming).
The thing you never get either way is something that exceed the well known brands in terms of pure music appreciation.
 
Nov 11, 2020 at 8:29 PM Post #6,381 of 7,153
Mullle Meck said:
I agree with your final statement of the ZX1. You can mod these headphones and drastically change their sound profile. However, I suspect beacuse of the poor driver damping that these headphone will never sound "hi-fi" and every time I really want to analytically listen to a song I reach for my Sennheiser hd590 or AKG k550 instead.

Regarding the pads, I suspected since earlier that changing the impedance of the pads helped attenuate the midrange peak as you describe with your new pads.
My method for testing this theory was to use the stock pads and tape the outside of them with varying amounts of tape to kinda simulate a more restrictive outside material (velour, leather, etc).
Results:
zx1 pad imp.png

As can be seen above was my theory based on previous testing true, the largest differences was that the more tape (ie higher impedance pads) the more the driver breakup frequency (2kHz) aswell to a lesser degree the 5kHz peak was attenuated.
After listening to them did this change nerf the soundstage however as you talked about with your new pads, if this is due to the 2kHz peak or the 5kHz one (or both) I don't know.

I would personally avoid damping in front of the driver as this would have an even larger impact on higher frequencies 9kHz< where this driver doesn't really have any power left.

The result of this would be as you said too, you always have to comprimise with this headphone, either you try to open them up as much as possible and get that soundstage but have razors-getting-jamed-in-your-ears treble/high mids. Or pad roll them to get a kinda good but warm headphone that has a tamed treble (I find them good for gaming).
The thing you never get either way is something that exceed the well known brands in terms of pure music appreciation.
Click to expand...
It'll definitely be the 5kHz peak, and that's something we're seeing in newer headphone releases as a trick that is being use more and more (TYGR 300, HD 560S, HE5XX).
 
Nov 11, 2020 at 9:47 PM Post #6,382 of 7,153
Nov 12, 2020 at 2:45 PM Post #6,388 of 7,153
dissociativity said:
that post in no way implies that lol, they're not compareable being open vs closed.
However, the Xiaomi is okay, I've got m40x and in comparison the xiaomi feel veiled, and with a very tiny soundstage, less bass extension, it's almost too flat feeling?
sounds better if I boost the treble from memory.
Even a lower end grado sr60 sounds better than the xiaomi to me, but by no means is it bad sounding, just boring sounding, the comfort, isolation and build does make up for it a lot tho.
I'm don't expect my openhearts to sound worse than a grado sr60, but I may be surprised and have my soldering iron at the ready to try a new 40mm driver, it uses a shell designed for DIY after all.

They're fine, they have incredible build, amazing comfort, no squeaking like the plasticky hell that is the m40x, the pads are very high quality.
Kinda wana buy a second pair since I'm selling this to a friend, to make them open back.

If anyone could update me on how those open back modded xiaomis sound I'd be delighted.
Click to expand...
I wasn't suggesting that the post implied that, I'm just familiar with @Slater 's previous posts about xiaomi, and actually bought one based on his comments. In contrary to the xiaomi, he basically kept silent about the openheart, no recommendation or detailed review, this is why I asked about his opinion. I'm still not sure why a close and open headphone can't be compared, I don't think about a detailed analysis, just a rough overview. I'm sure that a bad open back also sounds bad compared to a good close back, after all, no matter the equipment you just close your eyes and listen to the sound one by one, no rocket science involved.

In my experience, Xiaomi does sound a bit veiled, but it depends on the position of the earpads on the ear as well, and with a brighter dac like sabre models it's quite alright actually. Still prefer it 90% of the time to the sharp tinny sound of pro 80. A bit eq would improve a lot of things, I haven't had the time yet to play with it unfortunately
 
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Nov 12, 2020 at 3:41 PM Post #6,389 of 7,153
robar said:
In my experience, Xiaomi does sound a bit veiled, but it depends on the position of the earpads on the ear as well, and with a brighter dac like sabre models it's quite alright actually. Still prefer it 90% of the time to the sharp tinny sound of pro 80. A bit eq would improve a lot of things, I haven't had the time yet to play with it unfortunately
Click to expand...

Worth noting, the Xiaomi was designed by 1MORE, and from what I can tell 1MORE evolved it into their Triple Driver Over-Ear Headphones, which I also have. The triple driver adds a piezo tweeter in on top of the other driver in the earcup. Due to how shallow the pads are and that it's almost an on-ear headphone, that means that for some people the bump where the piezo is under the acoustic cloth can touch their ear and be a little uncomfortable. So while the Triple Driver has more upper extension, I personally find it less comfortable. (Note that you can flip the headphones around and flip the cables so that the tweeter is more to the front of your ears than the back which can help it not to touch.) Anyway, I feel like the Xiaomi is 80% of the sound of the 1MORE Triple Driver, but more comfortable because it doesn't have that piezo tweeter. The way the bass is tuned on the two models might be different as well, I haven't done a back to back listen recently to say for sure.
 
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