[mvvRAZ]

Actually, I was a professional sound engineer. Definitely heard loud music. Definitely not comparing to a sound cannon. And also, physics and mathematics and driver design is against your statement.

Less distortion from better gear isn't the only thing making is sound better. More power helps certain driver designs sound better because they need more power to vibrate at the correct speed and wavelengths necessary to reproduce the sound properly that the music is displaying. I'll give you an example of why gear that has the low end sounding mostly removed or "Heard" rather then "felt".

Low end, let's say bass waves, like 20hz or 50 hz, at waves that are vibrating 20 or 50 times per second. In the spectrum of sound, this is very, very slow. The wave length is also very large because it's so slow the wave spreads out more before it's next vibrational wave and the space created between the wave is larger then higher frequencies which are faster and shorter. So, when a low frequency like 20hz is being reproduced, it need a lot of air and space to fully form the wave before starting to reproduce it's next wave in the cycle. To actually power a diaphram to move this low and slow it requires a lot of energy and air to be shifted. This energy and air being moved requires a lot of power to do. This is why s sub woofer for example can run on 1000 watt amps and such because low frequencies by literal physics require a lot of power to reproduce. Then, to reproduce accurately and handle as much power as they need without distorting of course is a difficult trick to achieve and takes a lot of design and work.

Higher frequencies are much faster, they require less space and less air to move, thus they don't need as much power or space to move within, but, the driver need to be able to move incredibly fast back and forth to produce each wave. So it needs speed and flexibility. 20,000 hz is literally 20,000 vibrations per second. That's a lot of movement. This can cause jitter in the driver's and mechanisms which can introduce sound distortion or just mechanical vibration from the rapidly moving parts. So, another feat of engineering to make sure a well designed driver doing introduce extra noise when moving that fast.

Why planar magnetics are difficult to drive in comparison to other headphones, but also sound so amazing? They're magnets sitting above and below one another (depending on how you're looking at them - basically they're on opposite ends) and through electrical energy they're vibrating at rapid pace, with each vibration they pull and push on the electric coils resting in the middle between the magnets which moves the diaphram contained within the coil.

The fact that they're two magnetic fields pushing and pulling means the speed at which they can move is faster then most normal physical mechanics that we invent. This gives you the amazing rapid pace that a planar magnetic can move at, which gives it beautiful articulation and the ability to fully move every single hz per second it needs to no matter how fast for high frequencies. This means they are never skipping over wave forms and doing incomplete vibrations which don't fully express each waveform because they're not able to move quick enough. Other driver types suffer from that issue but not the magnetics. However, to power 2 magnetic fields which then move a diaphram coil between them requires more energy then is necessarily needed to power directly a diaphram and coil to move such as a Dynamic driver does.

Also, since the planar magnetic can move so rapidly in such a small space, it can articulate so well, with little mechanical resistance, but it doesn't exactly have the space needed to move lower big and powerful wave form. It needs air and space to properly do this. Which again, to create those long drawn out big waveforms, it requires more energy. So to articulate the low end, get that vibrational "felt" sensation, you need more power. In all drivers but especially drivers with little sir and room in which they move because they're designed to move rapidly.

Sounding loud doesn't mean sounding good, this isn't a statement. It's fact. Have you ever listen to your phones free included earbuds? You can crank them up max volume that doesn't mean they sound good. Voltage and resistance are big factors that come in to play that help the driver's properly articulate each waveform across the spectrum so it's not just about power, and it's not just about volume. It's about dispersion, cohesion, power, speed, air and space, resistance voltage, etc. All of these things are factors. So just saying that you could blow something up with a desktop amp, doesn't mean that gear is the best the headphones could possibly produce.
Also, each piece of gear has their own way in which they attempt to reproduce the audio signals transmitted through then, they all induce noise and jitter and have different ohms and resistance and such. So they all can offer upgrades in sound depending on how the engineering is done to minimize some of the issues that each price of gear with introduce into your listening.

Yes, a headphone might sound good out of a singular piece of gear, but just because the volume is super loud, doesn't mean you're not hearing distortion, clipping, volume but not enough speed and energy and power to reproduce depth accurately, space accurately, speed, etc.

This is pure physics of how the moving parts function and the resistence they meet withing their function. Good gear does it's best to illuminate the limitations of physical moving parts that all introduce their own vibrations as they move which are sounds which are introduced into our song which distorts some of what the song was meant to display.

Im not speaking about the price of gear. The amp I recommended is $800. It's not crazy expensive I'm not speaking about that at all, you can have good gear at good prices. I'm speaking about having the right gear that has the right power, voltage, articulation and all other things I just spoke of to properly allow your headphone to perform to it's peak potentials as designed.

And if you are happy with the gear you have and how it sounds, there's nothing wrong with that, I'm only introducing the idea of a headphones signature sound and how when it's not being fed what it needs to perform to it's potential, youre not getting it's peak sound, or in this case, even an accurate reproduction if it's true sound due to its limitations. But again, if you're happy with the sound you get as is from your gear, there's nothing wrong with that. But don't say just because it's loud that's as good as it gets and it's been driven correctly.

Every time I see the notification from you I just know I’m gonna come out a smarter man, I ******* love yours posts

 

[ceeloChamp]

Great explanation @Liberatus you perfectly put to words somthing I know, but couldn't possibly describe.

 

[seamon]

Looks like the Romi BX2 Plus and the upcoming Cayin C9 would be my next amp purchases for the Diana V2. My current rig is pretty good but might as well try everything out there before settling. As always, I believe in auditioning for myself and then deciding.

 

[treebug]

depends on how they ship and if they have them in stock I got mine from headphoneauditions.nl and they arrived in a week

Thanks. Ordered Thursday, arriving on Monday!

 

[TheMiddleSky]

I've started my Diana V2 listening session! A quick question to the thread - does more bass kick in at some point or do they stay quite neutral even after burn in?

To date I haven't heard a headphone that has had actually satisfying bass (something like the MMR Thummim or Sony IER Z1R etc)

They will stay quite neutral, perhaps with slight a little more kick than dead neutral (if that thing exist). When I tried with WA11, I do think that bass slight less body than what I used to hear through Questyle cma 12 master, Violectric V281, Quad PA-One, and Woo WA8)

Oh hey, I love Thummim too btw!

 

[mvvRAZ]

They will stay quite neutral, perhaps with slight a little more kick than dead neutral (if that thing exist). When I tried with WA11, I do think that bass slight less body than what I used to hear through Questyle cma 12 master, Violectric V281, Quad PA-One, and Woo WA8)

Oh hey, I love Thummim too btw!

I've spent quite a lot of time with them now and I'm really liking what I'm hearing so far. I will definitely experiment with a variety of amps to see where I can get a gentle low end lift. The WA11 is alright, but a super marginal improvement on just LPGT for me, so I think that money would be way better spent on a desktop amp. What are you running the Diana with?

 

[TheMiddleSky]

I've spent quite a lot of time with them now and I'm really liking what I'm hearing so far. I will definitely experiment with a variety of amps to see where I can get a gentle low end lift. The WA11 is alright, but a super marginal improvement on just LPGT for me, so I think that money would be way better spent on a desktop amp. What are you running the Diana with?

Nah I totally agree with that, invest on desktop amp will be worth it. Currently direct from Questyle cma 12 master.

 

[mvvRAZ]

Nah I totally agree with that, invest on desktop amp will be worth it. Currently direct from Questyle cma 12 master.

I shall try that when I can!

 

[seamon]

I shall try that when I can!

If you are going desktop, then look into the Broadway amp. It was designed specifically for the Diana. It runs on battery too.

 

[mvvRAZ]

If you are going desktop, then look into the Broadway amp. It was designed specifically for the Diana. It runs on battery too.

I like the sound of that!

Have you given it a try?

 

[bluestorm1992]

I've spent quite a lot of time with them now and I'm really liking what I'm hearing so far. I will definitely experiment with a variety of amps to see where I can get a gentle low end lift. The WA11 is alright, but a super marginal improvement on just LPGT for me, so I think that money would be way better spent on a desktop amp. What are you running the Diana with?

If you already have the WA11 and want to make the best use of it, I suggest getting a 4.4 to 4.4 cable and pair it with the line out function of the LPGT, which is excellent. For WA11, its amp portion is really good IMO, but the dac portion really holds it back when used alone. This will give you a somewhat portable pairing (from living room to bedroom kind of portable lol), while giving an overall good performance.

If you don’t have the WA11 then don’t bother. Get a desktop amp. Besides the CMA 12, I also recommend checking out the topping D90+A90 combo. It has a lot of good feedback from other headfiers.

 

[seamon]

I like the sound of that!

Have you given it a try?

Not yet. Haven't been able to try a lot of gear this year. If I decide to build a desktop rig, that is on my list along with Liquid Gold X

 

[mvvRAZ]

If you already have the WA11 and want to make the best use of it, I suggest getting a 4.4 to 4.4 cable and pair it with the line out function of the LPGT, which is excellent. For WA11, its amp portion is really good IMO, but the dac portion really holds it back when used alone. This will give you a somewhat portable pairing (from living room to bedroom kind of portable lol), while giving an overall good performance.

If you don’t have the WA11 then don’t bother. Get a desktop amp. Besides the CMA 12, I also recommend checking out the topping D90+A90 combo. It has a lot of good feedback from other headfiers.

I've mostly been using the WA11 with the 4.4 adapter actually (as you said out of the LPGT). I don't think it's a bad amp, and it does sound pretty decent, but I think I'd rather spend that money on something that would make a lot more difference than what the WA11 is doing for me right now

 

[bluestorm1992]

If you already have the WA11 and want to make the best use of it, I suggest getting a 4.4 to 4.4 cable and pair it with the line out function of the LPGT, which is excellent. For WA11, its amp portion is really good IMO, but the dac portion really holds it back when used alone. This will give you a somewhat portable pairing (from living room to bedroom kind of portable lol), while giving an overall good performance.

If you don’t have the WA11 then don’t bother. Get a desktop amp. Besides the CMA 12, I also recommend checking out the topping D90+A90 combo. It has a lot of good feedback from other headfiers.

I happen to know a headfier in Europe who is selling the broadway amp (balanced version) for 1000 Euro. Do you want me to share the info?

 

[mvvRAZ]

I happen to know a headfier in Europe who is selling the broadway amp (balanced version) for 1000 Euro. Do you want me to share the info?

Yes please I’d love to chat with him about it!