Woo! New guy in the madhouse. I came by a couple weeks ago, trying to decide if I should hunt for some $130ish used Grados, but walked away with crosshairs trained on the RP-21.
They are not exactly easy to find yet. I went roaming around the distributor list on Equation's site and found that most of these guys don't have websites, let alone websites that actually sell things. Ultimately settled on some folk from Cali (since I'm in Vegas and wanted fast shipping with no tax), who at least had a request-quote page:
http://www.jimsmusic.com/index2.html
I am not at liberty to mention the paid price, of course, but I'll say that their man Tom treated me well enough that I'll give satisfied word of mouth.
Cans arrived within a couple days.
They look like this on me
(and they kinda mess up my hair):
Before getting into the meat of my impressions, here's my background -- let it color my opinions accordingly: Tight budget. I listen mostly to high bitrate MP3s filtered through 24bit DirectX mastering plugins, on a laptop with Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro USB output. My workhorse has been the KSC-75. I once got refurb HD595s and LOATHED them even with break-in. I also once got some Ears EM3s, and loved their range but could not bear the in-head soundstage.
That should do it. First impressions out of the box:
OH THE PAIN. After years of using the almost-forgot-I-was-wearing-them KSC-75s, there are now suddenly two plungers and a vice on my head. A few minutes of listening told me that I would need break-in before I could say anything meaningful.
About an hour of listening and an hour of pink noise later, my first thoughts are still critical:
I miss the air of the KSC-75s. Some of my favorite songs to get lost in are suddenly sounding wrong and unapproachable. Whoever said that these are not fatiguing must have a wildly different definition of fatigue than I do. HOWEVER, I love the soundstage, the range is great except for the upper-mids, and the balance is impressive. I am keeping these for sure, and am satisfied with the purchase.
About a week later, after approx 20 hours of pink noise, and 20 hours of listening:
More comfortable to wear now. Range is smoothing out more than before -- upper-mids get better but not 'all better' by any means. Balance is overall great, and I can see why these make really strong studio mastering headphones. They still cause fatigue, but less than before. I have rediscovered my old techno collection, as the bass of a fine closed can does handily put the KSC-75s to bed. Still not getting the life that I loved from some of my favorite tracks, but I'll see how much of that can be corrected digitally.
And now currently, second week, with no more white noise but probably 50 or more hours of listening:
Headband is almost comfortable now. Earpads still kinda stink, though not enough for me to pay $25 for Beyers. Fatigue is much lessened, but honestly still disappointing. Sound improvements over time seem to have plateaued for now. Loving the 50mm drivers. Spent hours tweaking my digital correction software, ultimately adding BBE Sonic Maximizer to my filter chain, and now have a lot of the sense of 'revelation' that I was hoping for (and did not get) without correction. Ultimately happy with purchase, and will probably use these until I can get something in the few-hundred-dollars range.
So those are the general impressions. Let's get into some specifics:
Bass:
Satisfying. Neutral tone. Reaches quite deep in freqency. Not a lot of impact or attack though. Neither boomy (whew) nor thundering (aww).
Low-mid:
Satisfying. Neutral tone. Good to me, and I have not needed to give it any digital correction or adjustment at all.
High-mid:
Recessed. Lacking soul in vocals. Weakness of the RP-21 as far as I'm concerned.
High:
Satisfying, for the most part. When forced, it can be dry and white, sharp like a papercut. Not wincingly shrill (as the KSC-75s can be), but not sparkling, either. Nice range, at any rate.
Comfort:
As suggested by others, fold the cups of the headphone flat when they are not in use, as doing so stretches the band nicely; otherwise these headphones clamp pretty hard. Padding is dense and not very forgiving; it takes tens of hours to begin making them comfortable. Despite the clamping pressure, these headphones will still move if you move dramatically. The cups are large enough to totally envelop my ears, but shallow so that the edges of my ears press against the inner foam.
Surprisingly little sweat. My summer-time room temperature is about 85f/30c, so I was expecting sweat -- but really don't get it. HOWEVER, I feel some fatigue merely by having them on, even without any sound. This may just be that I spent the past 5 years wearing open slip-on headphones. Either way, the ear pressure disappoints me.
Build:
Holding them, I feel like they'll be lasting for years and years. Plastic is thick enough to feel sturdy. Cable is detachable, plugging into the left cup; can lock into the cup by twisting the jack slightly after plugging in. I'll leave it unlocked, since the silly-long cable will probably be stepped on some day, and I'd rather yank the cable out than launch the whole set of cans off my head.
Driveability:
Holy God do these things drive easily. 50mm 32 Ohm drivers, they require less juice than my old KSC-75s which are 60 Ohm.
Comparisons with the few headphones that I've known:
They tear the throat out of the HD595s as far as I'm concerned (maybe I got a bum refurb).
Bass isn't as beautiful as the EM3s, but balance and soundstage is staggering in contrast.
Less sparkle than KSC-75s, vastly less comfortable, but aside from those two things, they are simply in another class entirely.
Last words:
These are serious headphones. At home in a studio setting, they are critical and technically balanced (aside from naughty upper-mids). These are not easy-listening headphones. Unforgiving of things like YouTube. Fatiguing to me on things that should be effortless, such as audio books, and games with light ambient sounds. They are pretty great for the price, all considered. Satisfied with my purchase, and they have definitely made me more picky (for better or worse).
