[raymogi]

My Diana Phi arrived late last night. I rushed down to pick it up, and tried it on with R2R2k at first. Tears came out. This thing is such a beast (it's beautiful on the outside though). I threw every single genre of music that I like and it crushed everything.

This will be my last headphone purchase until Abyss themselves releases something that can top this in size and performance.

 

[Pictograms]

When people mention that Diana Phi does not play nice with badly recorded music what are they referring to? More problems with mixing or mastering?
Can someone give me some song examples?
I just haven’t listen to anything that was obviously horrible and am now curious since this is the reason I originally bought the Diana non Phi

 

[lockjaw]

Abyss reproduce exactly what's been recorded, a good thing!
Average or poor recordings are just more noticeable.
By the same token, great recording become sublime on the Abyss... but.... you need lots of power to drive them well. More power = more clarity.

 

[Pictograms]

Abyss reproduce exactly what's been recorded, a good thing!
Average or poor recordings are just more noticeable.
By the same token, great recording become sublime on the Abyss... but.... you need lots of power to drive them well. More power = more clarity.

Hmmm, maybe I’m not phrasing the question right...
I was just listing to Pretty.Odd. by Panic At The Disco normally I don’t enjoy this album because there is a lot of hard panning left and right giving a lot of dead space, I did however really enjoy it with the Diana Phi because that dead space was no longer dead space it sounded like a room with people standing in it. Hard to describe, but I really enjoyed the album.
So can you give me a example of a album you don’t enjoy because of the Phi? I want to hear what it’s like

 

[mulder01]

My Diana Phi arrived late last night. I rushed down to pick it up, and tried it on with R2R2k at first. Tears came out. This thing is such a beast (it's beautiful on the outside though). I threw every single genre of music that I like and it crushed everything.

This will be my last headphone purchase until Abyss themselves releases something that can top this in size and performance.

Is that the superconductor cable?

 

[raymogi]

Is that the superconductor cable?

Yes sir. This is probably the softest, most pliable upgrade cable I've ever owned.

 

[XUPX]

I've read much of this thread and of the 1266 thread after a (very) brief audition I had with both.
I have to admit that the sound of the Diana Phi haunts me. It sounded so great. I wasn't as impressed with the 1266, it sounded a bit sibilant to me, that said, I now know I definitely didn't have it properly fitted.

I almost bought a used Diana Phi afterwards (was the second person to reply to the ad so just missed it) and am seriously debating getting one.

I'm coming from an HD800/S (had both, currently with the non-S) and the Clears. I'm hoping these will replace the Clears as I keep them mostly for piano and from what I read piano sounds amazing with these, but possibly both.

My main concern is that I don't know if I'll have enough power to run the Dianas. Currently running my cans from a Hugo 2, but might be buying a Monoprice THX 887 amp when it's released soon. I believe that should have enough power (rated at
16 ohms: 8800mW <1% THD
32 ohms: 6000mW <1% THD
300 ohms: 700mW <1% THD
600 ohms: 350mW <1% THD
according to their specs).
I'm also debating buying a used pair, if I can find one or just bite the bullet and get a new pair.
I'm quite excited, I have to say, at the thought of owning a pair of these.

 

[lockjaw]

Hugo v1 works great for me.
For that final bit of clarity you're right, something with more power would be great. Having said that, if you planned to never upgrade past the Hugo 2, you'd be fine.

Diana is easier to drive than 1266, so honestly, you're good to go.

 

[XUPX]

Hugo v1 works great for me.
For that final bit of clarity you're right, something with more power would be great. Having said that, if you planned to never upgrade past the Hugo 2, you'd be fine.

Diana is easier to drive than 1266, so honestly, you're good to go.

Cool! I saw some say that the Hugo 2 was enough but many say differently so good to know that even Hugo 1 can get a good sound out of them.

 

[jlbrach]

the hugo 2 is enough for a portable setup with the diana phi and sounds quite good but with more power the diana phi shine...with the formula s or other high end amp they really do scale up

 

[XUPX]

Yeah, I get that. I think if I do get one it'll be with the Hugo at first, then see how adding the amp works and maybe go from there.

Thanks for the replies! I'll update when I get one lol.

 

[CreditingKarma]

Yeah, I get that. I think if I do get one it'll be with the Hugo at first, then see how adding the amp works and maybe go from there.

Thanks for the replies! I'll update when I get one lol.

I would look at the possibility of picking up a Hugo TT2.it would be an upgrade to the dac and it is a powerful headphone amp too.

 

[XUPX]

I would look at the possibility of picking up a Hugo TT2.it would be an upgrade to the dac and it is a powerful headphone amp too.

That's actually one if the options I'm considering for sure. But I don't think I can justify that at this point. Not just yet. This is still a big amount to drop for me.
Thanks for the recommendation!

From reading here, that's an option (Hugo TT2) as well as the GS-X mk2 as well (I really prefer solid state, as transparent as possible). There's also the Violectric V281 but people here said it wasn't a great match from what I remember (although it may have been in the 1266 thread).

 

[lockjaw]

If you're looking for a great budget amp that can handle the abyss, need to consider the Cayin iha6
700 new, 450-500 used market. 7 watts into 32ohms. built like a tank.
If this were built in the USA, easily a 2 grand amp.

Hugo 1 is fine, don't need to go up much higher. I've never noticed much improvement as you scale up your DAC. Cans and Amp are the most important.

I'm going to lose a lot of friends, but this was my experience with Hugo 1 vs Hugo 2. My wife's sister, a vocal coach with amazing hearing, did this test, same result. All blinded. Felt I had to make a youtube video.

 

[up late]

a blind test will do that