[SuperDuke]

Hopefully I'll have my Elekit 6L6 amp finished soon. I'm eager to to hear how it sounds w/ the Dharma.  This amp has the flexibiltiy to use Ultralinear, Pentode and triode modes as well as roll many tubes

 

[Oregonian]

  What Vintage amps have you used?

My main system is a Pioneer Spec rack system - Spec 1 preamp/Spec 2 amp (250 wpc) that I use for both speaker duty or headphone duty (about 50% for both) - and split time between the Dharma, HD800 or HE-400 (fed direct from the speaker taps on the B channel).   Dharma responds to power nicely. 
 
Have also listened to the Dharma out of my SA-8800 integrated, SA-7500MKII and SX-1050 (all Pioneer vintage iron).  

 

[remilio]

I'm Thinking about getting a Norne copper occ litz Norne Draug 2 cable w/ my Dharma. I think it deserves it

 
Will it fit? Norne uses bigger connectors on headphones end than "normal" cables, AFAIK, such connectors are not compatible with Dharma.

 

[dpump]

   
Will it fit? Norne uses bigger connectors on headphones end than "normal" cables, AFAIK, such connectors are not compatible with Dharma.

The Draug V2 is a fantastic cable and should be perfect on the Dharma. I have a V2 on my Sennheiser HD800 but it won't fit into the recessed receptacle on the Dharma because the connector is too 'fat'. You need to be sure Trevor at Norne knows to use the stock Sennheiser HD800 connector and also not to use a thick heatshrink around the connector so it will work with the Dharma.
​

 

[markm1]

   
Will it fit? Norne uses bigger connectors on headphones end than "normal" cables, AFAIK, such connectors are not compatible with Dharma.

They have one specifically for the Dharma. A couple of places I contacted told me to just select HD800 and make a note about it being a Dharma. But, I'm finding several cable companies (Norne, Moon Audio) now have a specific choice of the Dharma.

 

[remilio]

  They have one specifically for the Dharma. A couple of places I contacted told me to just select HD800 and make a note about it being a Dharma. But, I'm finding several cable companies (Norne, Moon Audio) now have a specific choice of the Dharma.

 
That's cool! Hope you'll choose the Draug and like it like I do

 

[markm1]

   
That's cool! Hope you'll choose the Draug and like it like I do

 
Thanks, this will be my first time ordering an aftermarket cable. I've been trying to do some research. Thank you very much Mr. Google. Being such a new product, there's not much precedent unlike a well known HP that's been around for a while and garnered a lot of ink in terms of reviews and feedback.
 
But, it seems there have been some comparisons between the D and the HD800 which I haven't even heard. But, reading the tea leaves, the owners of the HD800 s often talk about lacking bass and being somewhat bright depending on gear.
 
I agree with the general consensus that the D is more or less a neutral headphone, and not bass light per se, but lacks sub bass extension. That's a common complaint for fans of EDM and hip hop. I listen to everything from classical and jazz to indie rock, but not so much hip-hop or EDM. I'm pretty much a rock guy. And, I do like metal...not exclusively, but it is one of my favorite genres.
 
 I find for classical, jazz, indie, rock in general and a lot of metal, the D does really well.  And, not just the typical audiophile rocker's go to recordings. Oh, I can enjoy Floyd, Steely Dan and the like. But, right now I'm listening to Iron Maiden's Book of Souls tonight  it sounds terrific-everything balanced where it should be. But, that's not always the case.
 
But, compared to say Audeze, there can be a lack of bass slam and super low end for drone and doom. If you're not into metal people-don't ask-you wouldn't understand-he-he. It's a metal thing

 
The other thing is, while I don't think it's fair to call the D bright, I think I agree with some reviewers that suggest the mids might be slightly peaked or accentuated. In the notorious world of poorly recorded metal and rock (in general) with compressed overly "loud" mastered music, the D can appear to be bright due to the nature of some of these recordings. I actually think the D reflects the nature of the recording-bright, warm or otherwise.
 
Looking at cable reviews, it seems there are some cables oriented to add detail and clarity to the mids for warmer HPs like Audeze for example. That's not what I'm looking for. I don't feel a need for more openness, transparency, details. To me those or the strengths of this HP.
 
I'd like to tighten up the bass if possible and perhaps smooth out the mids and treble without negating the great detail retrieval of this HP.
 
I think/hope the Draug2 is the right choice. More money than I wanted to spend, but not at the extremes of high end. And, I know the differences will probably be subtle and I'm OK with that.
 
I want a balanced connection anyway for my DAC/amp, so I'll just invest a little more hoping for an investment in years of great listening should this be the last spendy HP I buy. It probably won't be, but that's how I think! If this was my last purchase what tweeks would I want to make.

 

[Kukua]

Synergistic research headphone cable is amazing..fuller, more detail bigger soundstage than the aforementioned...
I promise you'll be blown away

 

[hubi]

Hi markm1
 
Your sonic description is consistent with my experience, very well written. I have my Dharma since December. Till now I have the stock cable and I'm searching a reasonable priced aftermarket cable to even further improve the performance of the Dharma. I'm new in the headphone area and found this thread. It's very helpful and interesting for me.
 
kind regards
Hubert

 

[BlakeT]

Thanks to Todd for allowing me to demo the Dharma.  I really enjoyed my time with the Dharma.  If it was my one and only headphone forever, that would be fine with me. In order to provide some context, I figured it would make sense to compare the Dharma to my current cans.
 
My current headphone inventory:  HD800, TH900 and W3000ANV (others I've owned over the last couple years.. T90, T1, HE400, HD600).  I also currently own a V-Moda M100 but I really only use that when I'm on a plane.
 
Amplification:  I decided to only use my Cavalli Liquid Carbon for amplifier duties.  I did not use my IHA-1 Dragon for my comparisons.
 
Demo Music:  Yim Hok Man - Poem of Chinese Drum; The Blue Nile - Seven A.M.; Olive - Indulge Me; Vacant - Alley Way; Dead Can Dance - All in Good Time; Dianna Krall - S'Wonderful; Olafur Arnalds - For Now I am Winter (Nils Frahm Rework); Rain Tree Crow - Cries & Whispers; Blade Runner (25th Anniversary Remaster) - Main Titles; Trentemoller - Evil Dub; Tropic of Cancer - Various; Moderat - A New Error.
 
My Findings.......
 
(The following aspects are listed in order of preference from favorite to least favorite)
 
Comfort:  HD800, tie- Dharma/TH900, W3000ANV (the headband system that AT uses simply does not work with my head shape). 
 
Build Quality:  All of them are excellent, so let's say a 4-way tie.
 
Bass:  TH900, HD800, Dharma, W3000ANV
 
Mids:  HD800, W3000ANV, Dharma, TH900
 
Highs:  Tie- Dharma/HD800 (perhaps a very slight edge to the HD800), W3000ANV, TH900
 
Overall: My overall favorite is the HD800.  After that, it is really is hard for me to rank the others.  I like all of them for the unique presentation they provide, so let's say a three-way tie among the Dharma, TH900 and W3000ANV.
 
I did not notice any issues with the transition from highs to mids as a couple people noted, or any weird bass distortion.  I really don't have any complaints.  I thought the Dharma sounded a bit better with the higher gain setting on my Liquid Carbon.
 
The Dharma is a terrific headphone.  If I didn't already own and love the HD800, I would have bought the Dharma from Todd, no question about it.  

 

[S Crowther]

Anyone listened to the D next to the HE1000? Any preference?

 

[markm1]

I did a brief comparison at a meet, but ran out of time as we were all packing up.
 
That's an interesting question as this D is my first upper end HP and I've been thinking what else I might want to round out my listening in terms of offering different characteristics. I  think they both do similar things, but the HE-1K is a technically better HP. It's probably top to bottom a more pleasant, perhaps laid back HP.  They're both extremely revealing with light, spacious mids and highs. I'd need to hear again, but I'd give the bottom end a nod to the HE-1k. So, in that sense it's more balanced. I think honestly the HE-1K is in a slightly different league. It's also 3X $.
 
I probably wouldn't own both because while different in a number of ways, I think they do a lot of similar things well...sort of cancelling each other out. If money weren't an object and I had a choice between the two, I'd go with the HE-1K. But, relative to its strengths which are many, I think the D is a better purchase. I very much like the D and have no regrets whatsoever.

 

[markm1]

  Hi markm1
 
Your sonic description is consistent with my experience, very well written. I have my Dharma since December. Till now I have the stock cable and I'm searching a reasonable priced aftermarket cable to even further improve the performance of the Dharma. I'm new in the headphone area and found this thread. It's very helpful and interesting for me.
 
kind regards
Hubert

Re: after market cabling, I'm using Nuprime's DAC-10 h which has a headphone amplifier (the "h") with both single ended unbalanced and 4 pin balanced. I emailed ENIGMAcoustics and a recent reviewer of my DAC. The unbalanced out on the Nuprime is just under 5 ohms and the balanced is 10 ohms. Given the low impedance of the Dharma, the consensus seems to be to go with the unbalanced 1/4 " out ....just passing that on....

 

[Stillhart]

 
Re: after market cabling, I'm using Nuprime's DAC-10 h which has a headphone amplifier (the "h") with both single ended unbalanced and 4 pin balanced. I emailed ENIGMAcoustics and a recent reviewer of my DAC. The unbalanced out on the Nuprime is just under 5 ohms and the balanced is 10 ohms. Given the low impedance of the Dharma, the consensus seems to be to go with the unbalanced 1/4 " out ....just passing that on....

 
I mean... just buy a balanced cable and a SE adapter.  You can always go from balanced to SE but not the other way around.  Then you can listen to both and decide for yourself.

 

[markm1]

   
I mean... just buy a balanced cable and a SE adapter.  You can always go from balanced to SE but not the other way around.  Then you can listen to both and decide for yourself.

 
The issue is that the Dharma may respond in unfavorable ways to the higher impedance output. I assume most of us want to make reasonable spending choices and $ spent on something I may not use doesn't make a lot of sense to me.