[b3wannabe]

 

  Thanks, mate.  I listen to classic rock, blues, some jazz. I like to hear the bass but am not a 'basshead' and dislike it when the bass gets too boomy and muddies the mix. I've heard the Fostex at a meet and really liked it for what short exposure I had. Bass was very good but I'm less sure about the uppers. I'm now in Florida (Tampa Bay area) and know of no meets or retailers in this vicinity. I've not had a chance to hear the Elear. I like the reviews that suggest both the Fostex TH900 and the Elear are "fun" and "musical" - which fits my preferences. I currently have an assortment from HD600 to LCD2 to HE-500 and many less expensive models. What I covet are "presence" and "magic" which are subjective, I'm sure. What I have are nice enough but I dream of having that "wow" factor on a more sustained basis across music genres. I am not much for EDM. When the 'V' shape is too V-like, I miss the lush mids and am not keen on hard upper-range frequencies. I like a tight, well-defined, bass. Anyway, I appreciate your comments very much. It will cost less to just buy a set than to travel to CanJam or somewhere like that. One remaining question - in terms of ears getting warm - how are the micro-fiber pads on the Elear compared to the stock pads on the Fostex? Thanks much for sharing your impressions. The purchase decision will be between the Fostex which I know I like (from a short listen) vs. the Elear which is getting many great reviews. I've been in the boat before, though, where the reality of a listen fell short of the impression I got from reading reviews. I won't mention particular brands because everyone's prefs are unique to them. 

You might want to also consider the TH 610. I owned both the TH 900 and TH 600 and felt the TH 600 gave me most of the TH 900 with a little less polish. Just throwing that as a possibility, but from what I'm reading the Elear is a serious piece of kit, but do consider trying the TH 610, particularly if you can buy and try and return if you don't think they do it for you. Ideally you can buy both and return the one that is least to your taste.

Thanks. I listened to the TH600 at a meet and for whatever reason wasn't taken by it. Might have been source or amp pairing or whatever. The 900 was exciting by comparison. Is the 610 a distinct variant? It's one thing I love about this hobby - chasing the ultimate. YMMV and all that. For example, I like the HD600 more than the HD650 Senn. Both good. My best "value" pick remains the very reasonable Goldring DR150. I love that model and bought a second pair. Thanks very much for the input!

 

[Sonic Defender]

  Thanks. I listened to the TH600 at a meet and for whatever reason wasn't taken by it. Might have been source or amp pairing or whatever. The 900 was exciting by comparison. Is the 610 a distinct variant? It's one thing I love about this hobby - chasing the ultimate. YMMV and all that. For example, I like the HD600 more than the HD650 Senn. Both good. My best "value" pick remains the very reasonable Goldring DR150. I love that model and bought a second pair. Thanks very much for the input!

The 610 would be very similar to the 600 from what I read. I also preferred the 600 to the 650, never did try the Goldring.

 

[b3wannabe]

 

  Thanks. I listened to the TH600 at a meet and for whatever reason wasn't taken by it. Might have been source or amp pairing or whatever. The 900 was exciting by comparison. Is the 610 a distinct variant? It's one thing I love about this hobby - chasing the ultimate. YMMV and all that. For example, I like the HD600 more than the HD650 Senn. Both good. My best "value" pick remains the very reasonable Goldring DR150. I love that model and bought a second pair. Thanks very much for the input!

The 610 would be very similar to the 600 from what I read. I also preferred the 600 to the 650, never did try the Goldring.

I'd loosely label the Goldring DR150 as a knockoff of a Sennheiser, maybe an HD558 lookalike. Got it for $89 and think it's a fun set of cans at that price. Thanks for the input on the Fostex. I just pulled the trigger and ordered the Elear. Hope it arrives before Thanksgiving!

 

[Mbeeching]

Six weeks into my love affair with the Elear and this romance show no signs of slowing down.
Finding them consistently enjoyable and musical, very at ease just letting them get on with the delivery.
Prior to the Elear I was on an endless crusade to seek out pseudo-micro detail, it's very refreshing.
 
Though certainly not to everyone's tastes, I've never heard these particular tracks sound so good:
The Commodores: Night Shift (24/96)
Yellow: The Race
Puff Daddy: Been Around the World
Bob Marley: Could You be Loved (24/192)
B-52s - Love Shack (24/192)
 
Has anybody dared say... Jacks of all trades, master of none?
Perhaps, great headphones though

 

[Mbeeching]

 
 

 

[JWahl]

From what I heard the dip is not an issue with modern music.

So you like them with Metal music ?

Yes, that was what I was implying; I should have been more specific. Lamb of God is a Metal band. But I haven't listened to every metal recording I have. It works well for that band, because the speed helps delineate the articulation between faster guitar riffs and drums without everything mushing together. At the same time, the midbass still keeps enough warmth to have a weight to the distorted lower guitar crunch. With this album at least, the 4k dip doesn't bother me. It adds a little distance to male vocals. Some could consider this depth perception, some might find it a disengaging sound. I personally like a little sense of depth, though on a few recordings, male vocals can appear to be too distant and recessed.

 

[YtseJamer]

Yes, that was what I was implying; I should have been more specific. Lamb of God is a Metal band. But I haven't listened to every metal recording I have. It works well for that band, because the speed helps delineate the articulation between faster guitar riffs and drums without everything mushing together. At the same time, the midbass still keeps enough warmth to have a weight to the distorted lower guitar crunch. With this album at least, the 4k dip doesn't bother me. It adds a little distance to male vocals. Some could consider this depth perception, some might find it a disengaging sound. I personally like a little sense of depth, though on a few recordings, male vocals can appear to be too distant and recessed.

 
Ok thanks for your feedback 

 

[oqvist]

Does anybody here with tube and solid state amps preferr your solid states for the Elear?

 

[JWahl]

Does anybody here with tube and solid state amps preferr your solid states for the Elear?

Ditto. In your case do you feel the Head One doesn't make it too warm or bloated? I have owned the more expensive Head Two, but it is push pull and solid state rectified, so I imagine it's probably more neutral. I only recently bought the Elear and have only been listening out of Chord Mojo. It's good, but I'm wondering how it scales. At the meet where I first hear the Elear, I did briefly try it out of the Valhalla 2 which I still had, but it didn't really stand out in a special way.

I'm also in line for a loaner of the new Apex Sangaku, so I will report back on how it sounds with the Elear.

 

[oqvist]

Ditto. In your case do you feel the Head One doesn't make it too warm or bloated? I have owned the more expensive Head Two, but it is push pull and solid state rectified, so I imagine it's probably more neutral. I only recently bought the Elear and have only been listening out of Chord Mojo. It's good, but I'm wondering how it scales. At the meet where I first hear the Elear, I did briefly try it out of the Valhalla 2 which I still had, but it didn't really stand out in a special way.

I'm also in line for a loaner of the new Apex Sangaku, so I will report back on how it sounds with the Elear.

No I think it sounds real and it sounds thin and somewhat artifical on my solid states. Like a hyper modern digitized sound. Would love the hear the Head two or I wont since I don´t afford one...

 

[JWahl]

  No I think it sounds real and it sounds thin and somewhat artifical on my solid states. Like a hyper modern digitized sound. Would love the hear the Head two or I wont since I don´t afford one...

 
That's good to hear.  I think the next time I upgrade to a dedicated amp again, I'm going to try to keep it around $1500 or less.  Right now I'm curious about, but haven't heard: iFi iCan Pro, Metrum Aurix (or similar), or simply building another Torpedo III (or finding another used one).  The Torpedo III is one of my favorite amps I've owned but I haven't heard the Elear with it, mostly the HD-650.  The Sangaku is $2000, but if it impresses me enough from the loaner, I may consider the stretch.  Finding a used Trafomatic Head One could be an option, since I thought the Two sounded good, although expensive.  But I'd really like to hear it first.  And something like the Metrum Aurix could deliver some of the benefits of simplicity, without having to fuss with tubes.  And it's not outrageously priced.  If any Elear owners out there own the Aurix also, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

[eargasam]

Anybody have any idea how the elear fairs with the dp-X1 is that a good combo ?

 

[Audio Addict]

I recently added an Exogal Comet Plus DAC being fed by Roon and running balanced into my RSA Apache (Sparkos Labs SS3601 opamps) which the Elears are running balanced from using a WyWires headphone cable.  The level of musical enjoyment from this setup is amazing.  The Comet Plus took a while to start to open up but it definitely is coming into its own.  I am finding it difficult to give any of my other headphones much time these days.  While I know how good the Utopia is, the Elears at 1/4th the price to me are amazing. 

 

[alexsv]

Does your Comet have the upgraded DC cable from WyWires? Here's a review:http://www.dagogo.com/audio-blast-wywires-exogal-umbilical

 

[YtseJamer]

Lol

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/5egoip/frankenlears/