[SaddleSC]

OK...I am blown away and I haven't even listened to them yet! After perusing this thread for nearly a month, I finally pulled the trigger on an "off the menu" configuration of the Diana MR...Forged Carbon, Black Leather headband, and Vegan Ultraseude ear cups. Customer service said they would get them delivered before the holidays. I received an order confirmation yesterday afternoon. This morning, I had not yet received a shipping confirmation but figured they would ship out tomorrow for Friday or Saturday delivery. I was working at home this morning and the doorbell rings...I answer it and the UPS driver is holding a box from JPS Labs. They put the headphones in my hands 20 hours after I placed the order...amazing!!!

I will have some actual listening impressions this evening...haha

 

[akukula]

OK...I am blown away and I haven't even listened to them yet! After perusing this thread for nearly a month, I finally pulled the trigger on an "off the menu" configuration of the Diana MR...Forged Carbon, Black Leather headband, and Vegan Ultraseude ear cups. Customer service said they would get them delivered before the holidays. I received an order confirmation yesterday afternoon. This morning, I had not yet received a shipping confirmation but figured they would ship out tomorrow for Friday or Saturday delivery. I was working at home this morning and the doorbell rings...I answer it and the UPS driver is holding a box from JPS Labs. They put the headphones in my hands 20 hours after I placed the order...amazing!!!

I will have some actual listening impressions this evening...haha

Congratulations! How I wish I have such an amazing self restraint as you do. If it was me I would have dropped everything and started listening lol. Do keep us posted!

 

[SaddleSC]

Congratulations! How I wish I have such an amazing self restraint as you do. If it was me I would have dropped everything and started listening lol. Do keep us posted!

Thanks! I wish I could take more credit for my impeccable willpower, but I was doing some renovations on my home office so my primary system is currently sitting in boxes. I was planning to set it up tomorrow or Friday to be ready for the arrival of the new Abyss...I was shocked when they arrived this morning! I have a cheaper Burson setup downstairs and will be able to play with them a bit this evening and then tomorrow will get the Chord system set up

 

[draytonklammer]

These are VERY EARLY thoughts, but the Diana MR might be my favorite Abyss headphones to date.
This is coming from someone who "die-harded" the 1266 from 2016 to about 2022.

 

[Rhodey]

These are VERY EARLY thoughts, but the Diana MR might be my favorite Abyss headphones to date.
This is coming from someone who "die-harded" the 1266 from 2016 to about 2022.

This is awesome to hear! Glad it’s working out for you.

 

[SaddleSC]

I will be setting up my Chord Hugo TT2 this afternoon in my new home office, but last night my curiosity got the best of me and I ran the Abyss Diana MR out of my inexpensive "portable" Monolith THX AAA Dac/Amp. The source was just Tidal HiFi through USB to the Monolith and the sound was still STUNNING!

My initial impressions are consistent with the reviews I have read online. The sound stage is more intimate than the HD800S and presents more narrowly but not in a bad way. In exchange, the sound stage is a bit taller, which was interesting. The instrument separation was still excellent and I could still pick out many of the small details of my favorite tracks. I have the Ultraseude pads on my MR and that was definitely the right choice for me. The treble is not blunted in any way but just presented in a very neutral and pleasing way. Female vocals are stunning and leap off the canvas of a dark background. The diaphragms have great speed when necessary. The bass actually surprised me...very full and perfectly tuned without being bloated or overpowering.

If I had to describe the Diana MR in one word, it would be "cohesive". While slightly less "technical" than the HD800S, I can already tell the MR will be a more enjoyable headphone to listen to for longer periods of time. Rather than trying to listen deeply into the details, like I do with the HD800S, I was just enjoying the presentation as a whole. It is just very satisfying. I will not be replacing my HD800S, because I still enjoy very critical listening for short periods of time, but I have a feeling that the MR will become my new daily driver and the HD800S will be relegated to more analytical audio pursuits. So far I am thrilled with the MR...and would highly recommend them!

 

[draytonklammer]

I will be setting up my Chord Hugo TT2 this afternoon in my new home office, but last night my curiosity got the best of me and I ran the Abyss Diana MR out of my inexpensive "portable" Monolith THX AAA Dac/Amp. The source was just Tidal HiFi through USB to the Monolith and the sound was still STUNNING!

My initial impressions are consistent with the reviews I have read online. The sound stage is more intimate than the HD800S and presents more narrowly but not in a bad way. In exchange, the sound stage is a bit taller, which was interesting. The instrument separation was still excellent and I could still pick out many of the small details of my favorite tracks. I have the Ultraseude pads on my MR and that was definitely the right choice for me. The treble is not blunted in any way but just presented in a very neutral and pleasing way. Female vocals are stunning and leap off the canvas of a dark background. The diaphragms have great speed when necessary. The bass actually surprised me...very full and perfectly tuned without being bloated or overpowering.

If I had to describe the Diana MR in one word, it would be "cohesive". While slightly less "technical" than the HD800S, I can already tell the MR will be a more enjoyable headphone to listen to for longer periods of time. Rather than trying to listen deeply into the details, like I do with the HD800S, I was just enjoying the presentation as a whole. It is just very satisfying. I will not be replacing my HD800S, because I still enjoy very critical listening for short periods of time, but I have a feeling that the MR will become my new daily driver and the HD800S will be relegated to more analytical audio pursuits. So far I am thrilled with the MR...and would highly recommend them!

I agree with your comment regarding pad choice.
The vegans seem to be the best tuning. I'm considering trying the ported vegans, but the bass on the normal ones is honestly more than I expected.

From the reviews, I thought it would be too warm.
That isn't true at all. The vegans are still very detailed, but not in a way that hurts my ears.

 

[SaddleSC]

I agree with your comment regarding pad choice.
The vegans seem to be the best tuning. I'm considering trying the ported vegans, but the bass on the normal ones is honestly more than I expected.

Agree 100%...when I first ordered, I was pretty sure I would add the ported version in the future, but after a bit more listening time, the bass is far more robust and full than I was expecting with the non-ported pads...I am thrilled with the overall tuning and really have no desire to change the sound characteristics

 

[SaddleSC]

I just got two more hours of listening time on the Diana MR and I am blown away (even on my Monolith)...one important thing to note is the weight and overall comfort on the head. I have owned a few pairs of Audeze LCDs...Classic, LCD-2, LCD-3 and as much as I enjoyed the sound characteristics, the weight and clamping force made them unwearable for more than 10-15 mins. They were also very hot in the summer. This pair of Diana MRs literally disappears on the head and the vegan ear pads are so soft that it is like a pillow around the ears. No hot spots, no neck pain from the weight...just pure listening enjoyment!

I was listening to Anne Akiko Meyers, "Air: The Bach Album" and here is what is impressing me the most about the MR so far. With the HD800S, in order to have the volume level high enough to give a sense of fullness to the bass notes, I would often have to keep my hand on the volume knob and attenuate the volume a bit during the highest violin notes for them not to be a bit too much for my ears. With the MR...I can get the sense of fullness and immersion in the low notes, but the top end violin is presented in a way that is highly accurate, airy, and with great separation but the high notes remain perfectly comfortable to my ears.

The comfort, combined with the overall tuning and presentation is the best I have heard so far. It is just enjoyable. It is like I can step back and look at the beauty of the painting without using a microscope to analyze each brush stroke...needless to say, I am impressed!

 

[draytonklammer]

I just got two more hours of listening time on the Diana MR and I am blown away (even on my Monolith)...one important thing to note is the weight and overall comfort on the head. I have owned a few pairs of Audeze LCDs...Classic, LCD-2, LCD-3 and as much as I enjoyed the sound characteristics, the weight and clamping force made them unwearable for more than 10-15 mins. They were also very hot in the summer. This pair of Diana MRs literally disappears on the head and the vegan ear pads are so soft that it is like a pillow around the ears. No hot spots, no neck pain from the weight...just pure listening enjoyment!

I was listening to Anne Akiko Meyers, "Air: The Bach Album" and here is what is impressing me the most about the MR so far. With the HD800S, in order to have the volume level high enough to give a sense of fullness to the bass notes, I would often have to keep my hand on the volume knob and attenuate the volume a bit during the highest violin notes for them not to be a bit too much for my ears. With the MR...I can get the sense of fullness and immersion in the low notes, but the top end violin is presented in a way that is highly accurate, airy, and with great separation but the high notes remain perfectly comfortable to my ears.

The comfort, combined with the overall tuning and presentation is the best I have heard so far. It is just enjoyable. It is like I can step back and look at the beauty of the painting without using a microscope to analyze each brush stroke...needless to say, I am impressed!

I mostly agree with the comfort.
My largest gripe is that the headband causes me discomfort.
I've been considering wrapping it in a thick scarf, or something...

I even tried the factory headband pads and I think they honestly either made it worse or didn't improve it at all.

The rest is crazy comfortable.

 

[Abyss Headphones]

From the many headphone related products reviewed in 2023 by the Headfonia.com staff, Abyss Diana MR earned their prestigious Product of the Year award as the best of 2023. Many thanks!

From the review:

The DIANA MR is a high-end headphone that not only looks great and offers good comfort, it also is a headphone that is easy to drive. The DIANA MR plays at a high technical level but it at the same time is easy to listen to. The MR is very musical, forgiving and very engaging. You just want to play more and more of your favorite tracks and I on many occasions have found myself listening to my favourite albums till very late at night.

While the DIANA TC still is the resolution king, I think a lot of people might prefer the MR’s more engaging, full and softer/warmer tuning. It’s good that Abyss has different DIANA tunings, so you don’t have to choose just one. All of Abyss’ headphones are complementary, with the AB1266 PHI at the top of the tree.

It is very easy for me to give the Abyss DIANA MR our Product of the year Award. Congratulations!

 

[Rhodey]

I mostly agree with the comfort.
My largest gripe is that the headband causes me discomfort.
I've been considering wrapping it in a thick scarf, or something...

I even tried the factory headband pads and I think they honestly either made it worse or didn't improve it at all.

The rest is crazy comfortable.

Beautiful audio makes a nice pad if you think they’re a keeper and you want more comfort.

 

[elig63]

Hi guys !

Has anyone compared DIANA MR with Fostex TH900mk2 or Dan Clark ETHER?

 

[SaloonWrecker]

I have a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra with a THX Onyx amp and i was wondering if I should get an E1DA 9038D6K to power the Diana MR. Looks like the Onxy pushes 180mw per channel at 22ohm and the E1DA is listed as 180mw at 32ohm. Still pretty new to audio so not sure what to do. More power the better right? Have to stick to portable sources.

 

[linshu1992]

I had the opportunity to test MR against multiple portable sources. From dongles like m15, ru7, qls mub 1, to xd05 bal, to xd05pro. MR sounds pretty nice on dongles, but significantly better with more power. When you are out and about, you probably won't hear those nuances. If you are listening at desks, then investing in a beefier solution is worthwhile.