DMS Project Omega - Now Available for Pre-Order

[caracara08]

Just want to say players like DMS make this hobby what it is. I personally do not know his story but to me, this appears to graph as a near perfect headphone for my tastes. I also dig the looks albeit not has pretty as ZMF. If I can get Atrium sound without the weight and at 1/3 the price, sounds pretty good to me.

I was around when companies like Audeze, FiiO, iBasso, Dan Clark Audio, et al started off and it’s amazing to see what they’ve grown into.

I hope this headphone succeeds. It’s always good to have more options with the pros this headphone brings to the end user.

Having just found this thread today, I’ll have to look into it more and see if there’s a way I can pull it off financially.

Good luck to DMS and Project Omega.

 

[Philimon]

Having just found this thread today, I’ll have to look into it more and see if there’s a way I can pull it off financially.

More info here in the headphone sub-forum.

Good luck to DMS and Project Omega.

x 2 x 9000

 

[Aeskualpio]

I received my Project Omega's yesterday.
Spent about 90 minutes with one of my test track playlists.
DMS included a very nice typed and signed letter in with the headphones.
The included cable is a very nice woven cable with dual 3.5mm connectors and a 1/4 inch TRS connector.
Given when they arrived and work I had to do last evening I connected them to my XD05+ and iPhone (and a brief trial with the OnePlus Open). All listening at about 60% volume

Here are my initial thoughts:
Extremely light weight and comfortable.
No on ear fatigue or warmth after 60 minutes of continuous listening.
My 9 year old tried them on and both found them comfortable and "fun" (he tried to steal them to watch Youtube with).
They remind me of my HD-6XX but with a very nice and engaging ice cream scoop of bass.
Good instrument separation, a wide soundstage, and excellent dynamics.

Will spend more time today and this weekend and do some comparisons (Focal Clear, HD8XX, and Dianas), but I'm impressed.

Here's a link to the playlist


https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/23795980

 

[TaronL]

I received my Project Omega's yesterday.
Spent about 90 minutes with one of my test track playlists.
DMS included a very nice typed and signed letter in with the headphones.
The included cable is a very nice woven cable with dual 3.5mm connectors and a 1/4 inch TRS connector.
Given when they arrived and work I had to do last evening I connected them to my XD05+ and iPhone (and a brief trial with the OnePlus Open). All listening at about 60% volume

Here are my initial thoughts:
Extremely light weight and comfortable.
No on ear fatigue or warmth after 60 minutes of continuous listening.
My 9 year old tried them on and both found them comfortable and "fun" (he tried to steal them to watch Youtube with).
They remind me of my HD-6XX but with a very nice and engaging ice cream scoop of bass.
Good instrument separation, a wide soundstage, and excellent dynamics.

Will spend more time today and this weekend and do some comparisons (Focal Clear, HD8XX, and Dianas), but I'm impressed.

Here's a link to the playlist


https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/23795980

Happy to hear they arrived safe and sound!

Excited to hear what you think as you have more time to spend with them.

I’m jealous that we don’t have a production unit at our office yet. I wanted to run it off the Envy 25 this weekend.

 

[Infoseeker]

I had also received my DMS Omega yesterday. Posted it on discord. I'll just repost it here.

Using my Dangerous Convert 2 ....to dual mono FluxLab M-Field amps (lol).

Timbre is perfect. The weight is ultra-light...significantly so!

Bass is as expected from an openback. Good enough for rock, great even. But don't expect extra rumble for synth stuff. But.....using a 75-Ohm impedance brings up the bass enough for synth stuff. No eq needed.

Mids have good enough of microdynamics, actually more than I was expecting. Acoustic guitar strings feel better than I thought would come from the Peerless driver.

Vocals are a little forward for me. Not uncanny so, but a little more than my personal htrf needs. Just some extra vocals that come expected with warm presentations. Though this doesn't really feel warm either; like it does not emphasize deeper vocals.

Treble rolls off just perfectly for me. Treble is perfect.

I am using this instead of a tube amp for output impedance. Connected to the end of my own dual 3.5mm cable w/ balanced 4.4 plug:

4.4mm Male to 4.4mm Female Balanced 75-Ohm Impedance Adapter Conventer Plug for HiFi Player/Earphone/AMP
<https://a.aliexpress.com/_oC08cH1>

There can be 150-ohm versions and beyond that found on Aliexpress as well. But I somehow went for this one.

Overall, it meets and even exceeds my expectations!

 

[redmonddad]

I also received my DMS Omega...technically arrived yesterday but I couldn't pick it up from FedEx until today. It's burning in on a Ferrum stack right now. Very lightweight and comfortable, although I had to use them at full extension which is unusual for me as I don't have an especially large head or unusually low ears. It might just be needing to time to adjust to the feel of the pads.

I don't want to say much about the sound until they have more burn-in time.

 

[innocentblood]

nice to see these have finally started shipping. looking fwd to receiving mine soon

 

[TaronL]

Quick Project Omega update for those still waiting from batch 1 from DMS



You will have received an email from Headphones.com as well so just shoot a message over to info@headphones.com with whichever option you prefer and we will take care of you!

 

[Spektrograf]

Quick Project Omega update for those still waiting from batch 1 from DMS

[snip]

You will have received an email from Headphones.com as well so just shoot a message over to info@headphones.com with whichever option you prefer and we will take care of you!

I appreciate the update. Thank you! I've waited this long, a few more weeks won't make or break anything, so happy to not have you guys take on the cost of double-shipping. Thanks for the offer though!

 

[innocentblood]

I appreciate the update as well and I am willing to wait for the complete set to be shipped to me

 

[Infoseeker]

I finally remembered to check my unit on the graph tool mentioned in the letter it comes with.

Seems I may have randomly gotten a golden unit. So my praise my not be representative of others takes:

(the yellow one)

 

[TheTee12]

I also received my DMS Omega...technically arrived yesterday but I couldn't pick it up from FedEx until today. It's burning in on a Ferrum stack right now. Very lightweight and comfortable, although I had to use them at full extension which is unusual for me as I don't have an especially large head or unusually low ears. It might just be needing to time to adjust to the feel of the pads.

I don't want to say much about the sound until they have more burn-in time.

Curious if the fit changes over time for you. I am interested in buying the Omega but I have read one other review noting there doesn't seem to be enough extension on the headband for big heads. Since I am wearing a lot of headphones on almost max extension (Focal Clear, Hifiman HE1000) I am worrying the fit of the omega would be a problem for me.

 

[redmonddad]

Curious if the fit changes over time for you. I am interested in buying the Omega but I have read one other review noting there doesn't seem to be enough extension on the headband for big heads. Since I am wearing a lot of headphones on almost max extension (Focal Clear, Hifiman HE1000) I am worrying the fit of the omega would be a problem for me.

The cups are quite roomy so there’s quite a bit of up/down leeway (at least for the size/shape of my ears). I can wear them from fully extended to about 2 “clicks” in (both sides) without impacting the sound. I feel the most natural 1 click in on both sides. If it helps to calibrate, I wear the HE1000se 2-3 clicks down from max.

Also, I have a week of burn-in now and these are great at their price point. I’ve been using a SP3000 DAP and a Ferrum stack to drive it using an Arctic Cables balanced cable. The response is very full across the spectrum and there doesn’t seem to be hot spots or dropouts in the frequency response. I do have to crank it up quite a bit more than the Focals or the HE1000se. I usually set the SP3000 around 30-50 for the Focals (can’t remember setting for the HE) but have to crank it to around 60 for the Omega. Can’t say exactly with the Ferrum OOR amp as the volume is not marked, but also had to turn it up a bit.

For me the Omega compares favorably to the Focal Clear MG, but not with the top tier headphones in my collection. It does not have the incisiveness and detail of the Utopia or HE1000se (and the Stellia as well, but not sure I should compare a closed-back to an open). The sound stage also sounds a little less expansive as well. That said, the Omega costs significantly less so that’s not necessarily an indictment of it’s performance.

Putting aside the model vs model comparison, the Omega overall offers a very pleasant listening experience, particularly for background use while working. It’s super lightweight and comfortable (if fit is not an issue for you), allowing for extended use in your office. It’s a bit bulky for carrying around in your laptop bag for mobile use and as a very transparent open-back not great in noisy environments.

 

[TaronL]

For those interested in the behind the scenes and the trials and tribulations of Batch 1 that DMS went through I recommend checking out this new video breaking down the costs along with all the pieces that that did not work out!

 

[Spektrograf]

My Omega's landed yesterday and I'm impressed enough that I wanted to drop an appreciation post for the work done by DMS here.

DMS Omega's with an original run Eddie Current Zana Deux running a Mullard ECC35 Brown Base (NOS when purchased)


Even with just casual listening sessions today, I'm thrilled with what he delivered in this pair of headphones.

Spoiler: A little bit (longish) of background on me and my journey in headphones.

I've been into hifi since the 1990's. My first hifi purchase was a pair of HD580's in 1996 when I finally had enough to make—what was to me—a big purchase for myself. Those HD580's are still in daily use today.

I've been a participant of head-fi since head-fi was a small, growing forum in the early internet days and meet-ups were 15 people in a borrowed community room with card tables. Those days, DAC's were bought from the hifi fringe and headphone amps were bought (or made) by early makers like Ray Samuels, Xin, Ti Kan, with good reviewers like Tyll Herstens shining light on the work that was being done in this space and by those like Sennheiser, Beyerdynamics, Grado, etc.

Since then, I've bought/sold, upgraded, and ridden the evolution train to just short the stratospherically priced products that are available today. I've settled on a collection of gear to suit my needs for serious/dedicated listening sessions, and for listening to music while at my workstation, which is where I most spend my time.

The HD580's have served workstation duties consistently, despite my many attempts through the decades to knock them out of their place. Recently, the 580's swap time with a set of 620's driven off a ddHiFi dongle when I'm just YouTubing. Music listening at the workstation is always off a Mojo2>Gilmore Lite mk2/GRPS>580's stack.

What I've been looking for all these years has been EXACTLY what DMS just created with the Omega's—i.e. take the HD580/600's, give it a little more bass and a bit more treble extension, and don't mess with the magic middle. THIS is what I expected Sennheiser to deliver with the HD800's when they released, but they fell short, since they lost some of that magic middle in the HD800's.

While I don't really index on soundstage or perceived image, as I more care about timbre, I was very pleasantly surprised at how spacious the image seemed to me creating a stark contrast to my HD580's smaller soundstage. My perception of orchestras are projected out more forward and far wider side-to-side than my 580's. They don't give the illusion of space as much as the 800's, but they're certainly a step up from the 580's.

…

It's my first day enjoying these, so early days, but it's been the rare set that has brought a smile to my face, track after track. They're fairly effortless to wear given how light they are, so aren't physically nor experientially fatiguing at all so far.

I, for one, am very glad that DMS took on giving the community a taste of what I'd consider the first "HD580/600 plus some" that I've heard that I feel hasn't degraded the core of the the magic of the HD580/600's.

…

I feel the Omega's hit that "just right" of a well crafted creation, which is much harder to achieve than creations that "wow" on initial listens. For all the intents and goals DMS has publicly communicated, I feel he's nailed his target, and am I so glad he did.

Well done, and thank you!



edit: A few notes I forgot to mention. These sound good through various sources, though there's still some level of scaling with different gear. They sound decent through my MacBook Pro M1's headphone out—thought through this output I hear a bit of glare and bass is wooly. They present with better performance for me through my various other amps. Through my Eddie Current Zana Deux (OTL with output impedance of 12 ohms), the Omega's do present with more bass which my mind reads as "bigger sound". There's still enough control there that the bass doesn't get sloppy, though it doesn't present as tight and as low as through my HeadAmp GS-X mk2. For context, I find my HD580's scale wildly depending on what I plug it into to the extent that I hate how they sound through any laptop headphone output, but sound captivating through my ECZD.