[frigginloony]

  EQing isn't inherently bad, but it can be bad depending on how much somebody does. It sort of goes along the line of thinking that if some is good, more may be better. If somebody is really trying to compensate for a design limitation of a headphone lets say, they may actually train their ear after compensation to get used to distortion or really odd frequency response swings. As you may know, how a speaker responds to signals can actually change dramatically depending on the signal.
 
Now modest boosting and cutting is fine, I do it, but even then I have to be aware of unintended consequences being possible. I agree with you, it is highly personal and there is no right or wrong approach when it comes to how we like to hear things, and if coloring the sound works there is actually nothing wrong per say. For instance, I loved the HD800S, but according to Tyll's measurements it actually has a fair amount of distortion in the low bass if I recall. I perceived this distortion (assuming it is actually there) as rather pleasant, just like how tubes can introduce harmonic order distortion which as the name implies is harmonic and for many quite welcome.
 
I guess my main reason for posting what I did is to say that if you are making significant EQ adjustments, you likely don't really like the headphone's signature as much as you might think and also that those adjustments bleed into adjacent frequencies often so you might be really adjusting more than you think and in essence train your ear to actually prefer that sound. Is that bad, not necessarily of course, but it might be. Anyway, my apology if it seems I'm prescribing how people should enjoy their music, not at all my intent. Cheers.

 
No No not at all Sonic,  great explanation!!   Indeed, that is what i heard when attempting to EQ  (once and only time  LOL) my old Grado's which I gave up on because just as you said, once i got the highs to where I liked them, the mids fell apart, then trying to get the mids back into shape the subbass dropped thru the floor, and so on. 

 

[Sonic Defender]

   
No No not at all Sonic,  great explanation!!   Indeed, that is what i heard when attempting to EQ  (once and only time  LOL) my old Grado's which I gave up on because just as you said, once i got the highs to where I liked them, the mids fell apart, then trying to get the mids back into shape the subbass dropped thru the floor, and so on. 

That has been my experience in the past when I have tried to make adjustments, sometimes it can create imbalances elsewhere, or emphasize areas you didn't intend to. I'm not suggesting EQing is really elaborate, but it isn't as easy to do well as you would believe reading comments here in the forums sometimes. Anyway, I tend toward leaving a headphone alone and if I just can't quite adjust to it, I move on. Cheers.

 

[Rchandra]

I wonder if they'll make a closed back version of the elear. If this headphone had a closed back version for the same price then im preordering immediately.

 

[Dvdlucena]

  My Elears are being returned. They aren't bad headphones, not at all. Best build quality of any cans I've even seen. But they don't come anywhere close to the HD800 except in the category of bass and they aren't superior enough to the HE 560 ( which outperform them in the upper mids and highs ) for me to care.

Basic Impressions:

Elears can manage 1 or 2 frequencies well. Which is to say Bass, Mid, Treble, Bass/Mid, Bass/Treble, or Mid/Treble. Do not ask the to do all Bass/Mid/Treble, the result is muddy.
I can't imagine even using words like Soundstage, Imaging, or Air with the Elear. Every headphone I have - except the momentums I sold -  beats them in those arenas.
Cello's sound great. Violins sound boring, Tiesto sounds great, late BT ( _ ) sounds boring,   Tool's Lateralus with the Elear is bad, oh so bad. This probably has to do with lackluster mids and highs. Tubes help the mids.
Elears are more forgiving than HD800 but only because the are missing so much.

If I only had the Lyr 2, I might keep the Elears over the HD800 - but I don't. 

I would highly recommend the Elear for House, EDM, Rap.  But not much else.
 
As always, just my ears, but also my wallet.

Can you explain me more about that correlation?
 
thanks!

 

[Rchandra]

That has been my experience in the past when I have tried to make adjustments, sometimes it can create imbalances elsewhere, or emphasize areas you didn't intend to. I'm not suggesting EQing is really elaborate, but it isn't as easy to do well as you would believe reading comments here in the forums sometimes. Anyway, I tend toward leaving a headphone alone and if I just can't quite adjust to it, I move on. Cheers.

Ive seen you in the z1r thread do you have an elear as well? Whats your thoughts on the two!?

 

[deserat]

  Can you explain me more about that correlation?
 
thanks!

 
To me the Lyr2 isn't the best match with the HD 800. Most of the problems you hear about with the HD 800 are apparent with the Lyr 2. Lack of Bass, sibilance, overly analytical.  With the Lyr 2 one could mistake the HD 800 as a flawed headphone. It's apparent flaws are maybe equal to the flaws in the Elear, they are different potentially equal,  I think that really comes down to preference.  

I do however posses other Amps, The Bottlehead Crack and the HDVA 600, all of the flaws of the HD 800 disappear with these amps. When plugged into either of these amps I would take the HD 800 over the Elear hands down, no contest. I tried the Elear with the HDVA 600 - it was a very bad match. I assume the HDVA 600  like the Crack has a higher than normal output impedance - this makes low impedance cans sound terrible but makes High Impedance cans sing link angels. 

There may be such an amp pairing that makes the Elear sing like an angel. 

So given what I know is a flawed HD800 sound, vs the Elear. I'd probably take the HD 800 but I'm not willing to say anybody else would come to the same conclusion. I'm also not willing to invest $1000 in a amp just for the Elear. 

I'm almost done with a Mainline build, which is a universal amp that far outclasses the Lyr,  but don't think it will be ready within the return policy window so can't hold them until completion to test.

Hope that helps.

 

[Dvdlucena]

   
To me the Lyr2 isn't the best match with the HD 800. Most of the problems you hear about with the HD 800 are apparent with the Lyr 2. Lack of Bass, sibilance, overly analytical.  With the Lyr 2 one could mistake the HD 800 as a flawed headphone. It's apparent flaws are maybe equal to the flaws in the Elear, they are different potentially equal,  I think that really comes down to preference.  

I do however posses other Amps, The Bottlehead Crack and the HDVA 600, all of the flaws of the HD 800 disappear with these amps. When plugged into either of these amps I would take the HD 800 over the Elear hands down, no contest. I tried the Elear with the HDVA 600 - it was a very bad match. I assume the HDVA 600  like the Crack has a higher than normal output impedance - this makes low impedance cans sound terrible but makes High Impedance cans sing link angels. 

There may be such an amp pairing that makes the Elear sing like an angel. 

So given what I know is a flawed HD800 sound, vs the Elear. I'd probably take the HD 800 but I'm not willing to say anybody else would come to the same conclusion. I'm also not willing to invest $1000 in a amp just for the Elear. 

I'm almost done with a Mainline build, which is a universal amp that far outclasses the Lyr,  but don't think it will be ready within the return policy window so can't hold them until completion to test.

Hope that helps.

yeah!
helped a lot!
 
cheers
 

 

[Sonic Defender]

Ive seen you in the z1r thread do you have an elear as well? Whats your thoughts on the two!?

I wish I had an Elear, I'm very intrigued by it and would really love to own one. It sounds like a headphone I could really enjoy, but at this stage I can't bring another headphone home. I follow this thread so I can keep up with the Elear crowd and get a feel for what it is all about.

 

[Rchandra]

I wish I had an Elear, I'm very intrigued by it and would really love to own one. It sounds like a headphone I could really enjoy, but at this stage I can't bring another headphone home. I follow this thread so I can keep up with the Elear crowd and get a feel for what it is all about.

I know the struggles brother especially when you're married.. LOL but hey the headphone will drop in price eventually heck i would even recommend going in store and see if they could give you a deal if you pay upfront with cash.

 

[Dvdlucena]

  I wish I had an Elear, I'm very intrigued by it and would really love to own one. It sounds like a headphone I could really enjoy, but at this stage I can't bring another headphone home. I follow this thread so I can keep up with the Elear crowd and get a feel for what it is all about.

I know what do you mean!
My wife is almost living home if i dare to buy another audio gear....
 
crazy days here!
 

 

[Sonic Defender]

I know the struggles brother especially when you're married.. LOL but hey the headphone will drop in price eventually heck i would even recommend going in store and see if they could give you a deal if you pay upfront with cash.

Not for a while anyway. I have had to stop working to stay home with my daughter so no purchases for at least a year I think. Bummer.

 

[Sonic Defender]

  I know what do you mean!
My wife is almost living home if i dare to buy another audio gear....
 
crazy days here!
 

So if you had to chose, wife or audio gear, is it a hard choice for you?

 

[Dvdlucena]

  So if you had to chose, wife or audio gear, is it a hard choice for you?

Oh Mannn
 
Don't put me in this kind o situation....
 
LOL!
 

 

[xrayman]

How did you burn them in? Did you use music or pink noise? And if you used pink noise then where did you get it?

I did use Pink Noise for me

 

[xinghui0711]

To me the Lyr2 isn't the best match with the HD 800. Most of the problems you hear about with the HD 800 are apparent with the Lyr 2. Lack of Bass, sibilance, overly analytical.  With the Lyr 2 one could mistake the HD 800 as a flawed headphone. It's apparent flaws are maybe equal to the flaws in the Elear, they are different potentially equal,  I think that really comes down to preference.  


I do however posses other Amps, The Bottlehead Crack and the HDVA 600, all of the flaws of the HD 800 disappear with these amps. When plugged into either of these amps I would take the HD 800 over the Elear hands down, no contest. I tried the Elear with the HDVA 600 - it was a very bad match. I assume the HDVA 600  like the Crack has a higher than normal output impedance - this makes low impedance cans sound terrible but makes High Impedance cans sing link angels. 


There may be such an amp pairing that makes the Elear sing like an angel. 


So given what I know is a flawed HD800 sound, vs the Elear. I'd probably take the HD 800 but I'm not willing to say anybody else would come to the same conclusion. I'm also not willing to invest $1000 in a amp just for the Elear. 


I'm almost done with a Mainline build, which is a universal amp that far outclasses the Lyr,  but don't think it will be ready within the return policy window so can't hold them until completion to test.


Hope that helps.

To me HD800 excels in terms of technical performance than Elear. With HD800s you get immensely wide soundstage and superb imaging that probably no other headphones can do. However, the staging can get diffused for certain songs, not to mention the occasional spikes on treble.
Elear is a unique pair of headphones that does stand up in its price category. The bass response is probably the best out of an open acoustic headphones. If you manage to get a good fit, the soundstage is actually less intimidating than first impression.
Also I should mention that these two headphones are completely different sounding headphones there is not a winner.
I can't wait to demo Utopia despite its price tag.