[Wildcatsare1]

That’s understandable. I’m sorry you haven’t had the chance to, but you’re not the only one who has a tough time finding a store that has headphones of this magnitude. Big box stores will carry Sony, but you won’t see a Z1R... I hope you get the chance to listen to Focal some time around your area,and you are always welcome at MTME

Oh before I forget-

Happy New Years friends! I hope this new year is better than the last.

Back at you Craig, and the rest of you Headphonists, have a happy and blessed New Year!

 

[donlin]

Wanted to add my two cents regarding the WOF and Tyll’s reviews. First, unless you’ve been into headphones for a while you may not realize he was a “Founding Father” of this entire headphone phenomenon. He’s listened to a wider variety of headphones and associated equipment than anyone here at Head Fi, including Jude.

Too get a better feel for a Reviewer’s preference you need to go back and read as many of their reviews you can access. Yes, their taste evolves, just like the rest of us, but you’ll get a feel for their base and how/why they it’s changing. I won’t dare speak for Tyll, but I’ll give my opinion his preferences. For example, he doesn’t like bright, sharp, spikes in the lower treble (HD800, Beyerdynamic, etc.), and he prefers a neutral, natural presentation. This is a more traditional “audiophile” point of view, bassheads, or at least unnatural bass that overpowers the mids is viewed as a bit mid fi. It may be fun, but the traditionalist is looking for fidelity to the original musical event.

As for Tyll’s choices in music there is an article available on his Site, just do a search there.

Excellent post, very well said. I have a feeling most of the guys here just don’t appreciate Tyll’s stature in the history of high end headphones and the respect they enjoy today. When I first got into good headphones in 1991, there was absolutely no headphone “scene” and almost nobody thought of them as anything more than a necessary evil. Corey Greenberg at Stereophile was a strong voice for Grado and Melos amps but that was sbout it. Tyll came along with his Headroom amps shortly after that and that’s when things slowly started to take off. He deserves a lot of credit for what he does and has done.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Excellent post, very well said. I have a feeling most of the guys here just don’t appreciate Tyll’s stature in the history of high end headphones and the respect they enjoy today. When I first got into good headphones in 1991, there was absolutely no headphone “scene” and almost nobody thought of them as anything more than a necessary evil. Corey Greenberg at Stereophile was a strong voice for Grado and Melos amps but that was sbout it. Tyll came along with his Headroom amps shortly after that and that’s when things slowly started to take off. He deserves a lot of credit for what he does and has done.

Exactly, I was in a similar place, on Corey’s recommendations, I had Grados and Headroom Amps. In fact, I found original Headroom portable amp the other day. From the Grados I moved on to Stax Lamdas, wish I’d never sold them.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

As I said before, reviewing phones is kind of art rather than science. I guess your approach will invite even more confusion. What I would recommend is that if you find a reviewer whose tastes are similar to yours, you should stick to him. That's it. And there are many many reviewers out there.

The kind of reviewer I'm talking about is the, shall we say, standard of reviewing. Movie critics, book critics, food critics, reviewers from any walk of life are not accepted as having strong biases that slant their reviews. But okay. I'm done with this dumb argument.

 

[bidn]

Wanted to add my two cents regarding the WOF and Tyll’s reviews. First, unless you’ve been into headphones for a while you may not realize he was a “Founding Father” of this entire headphone phenomenon. He’s listened to a wider variety of headphones and associated equipment than anyone here at Head Fi, including Jude.

Too get a better feel for a Reviewer’s preference you need to go back and read as many of their reviews you can access. Yes, their taste evolves, just like the rest of us, but you’ll get a feel for their base and how/why they it’s changing. I won’t dare speak for Tyll, but I’ll give my opinion his preferences. For example, he doesn’t like bright, sharp, spikes in the lower treble (HD800, Beyerdynamic, etc.), and he prefers a neutral, natural presentation. This is a more traditional “audiophile” point of view, bassheads, or at least unnatural bass that overpowers the mids is viewed as a bit mid fi. It may be fun, but the traditionalist is looking for fidelity to the original musical event.

As for Tyll’s choices in music there is an article available on his Site, just do a search there.

I fully agree with you, Wildcatsare1.
And I see the search for a neutral presentation, tough not optimal for specific musical genres, as the best manner for providing universal assessments and taking away personal biases.
I too do respect Tyll's reviews a lot, and almost ordered the Clear after seeing his WoF clean-up... but still thinking about the mysterious Focal P...

Happy new year to you and to all, cheers, ,
bidn

 

[Wildcatsare1]

I fully agree with you, Wildcatsare1.
And I see the search for a neutral presentation, tough not optimal for specific musical genres, as the best manner for providing universal assessments and taking away personal biases.
I too do respect Tyll's reviews a lot, and almost ordered the Clear after seeing his WoF clean-up... but still thinking about the mysterious Focal P...

Happy new year to you and to all, cheers, ,
bidn

Yeah, a closed Clear would be an awesome addition to their product line. Have a Happy New Year!

 

[mtoc]

folks who thinks Tyll's recommend-cans are too high priced, could buy the small speakers he uses, which often appear in his vis

 

[TSAVJason]

Hey fellow HeadGear enthusiasts, we at TSAV would like to thank you all for your support during our years here in the community and let’s hope 2018 brings us all good luck, good health, Cool Stuff and good fortune!

Did I just sound like a fortune cookie?

Happy New Year All!

 

[notsimar]

I think this realignment of the wall of fame sends a Clear message (pun intended) to manufacturers. Seeing the new benchmark for TOTL headphones rise to 4k+ yet not delivering a total package is weak. While I didn't always agree with Tyll's preferences, he is evolving as a reviewer, as we all do with our personal tastes so I am good with it. I am kinda looking forward to seeing the LCD2C vs Sundara comparison

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Hey fellow HeadGear enthusiasts, we at TSAV would like to thank you all for your support during our years here in the community and let’s hope 2018 brings us all good luck, good health, Cool Stuff and good fortune!

Did I just sound like a fortune cookie?

Happy New Year All!

Hey Jason,

Do you have any recommendations on desktop amps for the Clear? Loving the Mojo for portable, around the house listening, so warm, rich traditional Class A sound.

Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Hey Jason,

Do you have any recommendations on desktop amps for the Clear? Loving the Mojo for portable, around the house listening, so warm, rich traditional Class A sound.

Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Given the Clear's low impedance and general ease in driving I really don't think you'd need anything more powerful unless you wanted to shape the sound differently.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Given the Clear's low impedance and general ease in driving I really don't think you'd need anything more powerful unless you wanted to shape the sound differently.

You know, you are probably correct, the need is connecting an amp to my Bluesound Node2. At the price it’s an incredible Streamer, but it’s headphone amp is marginal.

 

[TSAVJason]

Hey Jason,

Do you have any recommendations on desktop amps for the Clear? Loving the Mojo for portable, around the house listening, so warm, rich traditional Class A sound.

Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Thanks for the well wishes!

@SomeGuyDude is sort of right. The Clear takes so little effort to get up and go. I guess I’d ask what your preferred feature set might be?

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Thanks for the well wishes!

@SomeGuyDude is sort of right. The Clear takes so little effort to get up and go. I guess I’d ask what your preferred feature set might be?

I know I compressed that down a little far, just saying that the Clear doesn't "need" a particularly burly amp and something like the Mojo will be able to drive it to full potential and it's more about preferences and other factors than raw SQ at that point.

 

[Jodet]

You know, you are probably correct, the need is connecting an amp to my Bluesound Node2. At the price it’s an incredible Streamer, but it’s headphone amp is marginal.

My Bluesound2 feeds a Violectric V280 which sounds amazing on the Clears.