Hello, everyone. Thanks for watching my Diana TC review and having a thoughtful conversation afterward. Since some aren't clear, here is the primary signal chain I used for DTC:
Windows 10 PC w/ Audirvana > Shunyata Venom USB cable > Singxer SU-2 DDC > WBC AES cable > Berkeley Alpha Series 2 DAC > WBC XLR cables > Violectric HPA-V281.
I used this same chain to do a fair amount of testing when I had the 1266 in house and the issues I noticed with the DTC's bass weren’t on the radar screen with 1266 powered by V281 (deep, punchy, quick, tuneful, textured, all the good adjectives). The V281 may not be the most powerful amp out there, but saying it's underpowered is a bit of stretch. The V281 has also driven lots of other hard-to-drive cans like Susvara, HE6se V2, Stealth and shown no signs of injecting tonal weirdness or lacking the oomph to bring out bass extension. When I had the 1266, I also had a RAAL HSA-1b on loan, which is rated for higher power than V281, and the 1266 was more mid-forward on the RAAL than the Vio. If you watch my other reviews, you'll see the V281 actually relaxes the mids for pretty much every headphone you throw at it. If you read my Diana Phi review from Spring 2021 (
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/abyss-headphones-diana.22827/reviews), you’ll also see that the tonality of the Phi was too aggressively mid-forward for me on the HeadAmp GS-X Mini, which is on Abyss’s list of recommended amps. I had the Vio HPA-V200 at the time and remember the V200 relaxing the Diana Phi’s mids as well, but not to point where I would personally spend $4K on it. If anything, evidence suggests the Vio signature tames the Abyss mids.
To my ear the DTC was just way out ahead of the already mid-forward 1266 and Diana Phi. I 100% agree that signal chains matter and that synergy is a real thing. I’ll also agree the V281 and the DTC may not be the best sonic match for each other. However, there is a big gap between “not best sonic match” and “chain is too flawed to give fair review”.
Either way, I’m glad you all enjoy your Abyss headphones. They aren’t for me, but there are some strengths (BASS from 1266 and Phi, being a big strength) that make them worthwhile for a good number of listeners. I wish they had an option that was as powerful and amazing in the bass as 1266 but more natural and tonally balanced through the mids. I will be the first to say they get that right if/when they do get that right.
TBH, I hate doing negative reviews. They are not fun. I don’t like recommending against products from small companies as IMO the more small audio companies we have, the richer our hobby is. That said, I dislike even more the prospect of people spending $4.5K on something that probably shouldn’t be worth that…again…that just being my opinion.
Cheers all, and enjoy the music.