That is ironic, I figured the Elears would be to heavy handed with classical. Sounds like you baught them for similar reasons that I've considered. Thanks for your reply. What kind of details are you hearing in some of those old recordings? What are some examples? That might give me an idea of what I might expect with these.
That is ironic, I figured the Elears would be to heavy handed with classical. Sounds like you baught them for similar reasons that I've considered. Thanks for your reply. What kind of details are you hearing in some of those old recordings? What are some examples? That might give me an idea of what I might expect with these.
I think others can chip in with their opinions. I'm actually a bit of an audiophile noob. I'm just used to jamming with the music and I never bought headphones over $500. But with the Elears, I'm now a critical listener because every background imperfection or idiosyncrasy seems to be showing up. Static, pops, mixing details like either hidden vocals or something else playing in the background. On one song, there was music mixed in that I never noticed before. This was a newer recording though. Not being a DJ or mixer, I'm not used to hearing that.
The classical recordings I heard, along with some live rock recordings, sounded clearer and more straightforward to me. Maybe because there is no mixing with those genres.
Imo the Elear would be a great complement to the HD800S, very different sounds but I wouldn't say one is better than the other.
I wouldn't worry too much about upgrading dac/amp for the Elear, as it is fairly easily driven. The Oppo should be fine. I would worry more about driving the HD800S though, as it is significantly more picky about upstream components.
Thank you, yeah the high impedence of the 800s is why i'm considering putting buying these off and upgrading sources. I've seen comments previously where people say things like, "Turn the elear up to high and you might punch an eyeball out." haha. Are they pretty shrill like the original 800s were with treble? IN your experience?
Lol, no it's not the treble on the Elear that will punch you, it's the dynamics. They have a lot of "oomph" if that makes sense, so the transitions between soft and loud sounds have the potential to have a lot of impact.
No peaky or shrill treble at all, at least in my experience
Purchased these a little bit ago and sent them to burn in for awhile . I finally sat down and spent time with these and I wasn't impressed at all.. Maybe It's because I'm so used to audeze house sound and HD 800s . My ears also dont fit in the pads because i have elephant ears
Purchased these a little bit ago and sent them to burn in for awhile . I finally sat down and spent time with these and I wasn't impressed at all.. Maybe It's because I'm so used to audeze house sound and HD 800s . My ears also dont fit in the pads because i have elephant ears
I think it’s all about expectations. I too was underwhelmed with the Elears given how many described it as being very dynamic and having excellent low bass response. It depends on what headphones you are comparing them to, in my case the Beyer T1 v1, in which the Elears were less dynamic and had less detail. If I was used to an HD600 I might have a different opinion.
I'm guessing if you already own high end, you're going to be more discerning, which is understandable. Maybe I'm in the honeymoon period but I'm willing to work with these. My preferred studio recorded genres need a silver cable or an amp(or both). But with streamed live performances, podcasts or Youtube vids where spoken word rules, and classical; I'm not having any issues and am very satisfied.
I have Elears, work great for the wide range of jazz I listen to. Maybe not so much for classical where I prefer more open laid back sound. So I bought a pair of HD800s. Now that's a killer combo that covers a lot of bases! One size doesn't fit all...
I got an Elear on the way to complement my HD800S. Couldn't resist the promo deal. HD800S is great for softer music like jazz and acoustics but doesn't punch hard enough for Electronic.
Thank you, yeah the high impedence of the 800s is why i'm considering putting buying these off and upgrading sources. I've seen comments previously where people say things like, "Turn the elear up to high and you might punch an eyeball out." haha. Are they pretty shrill like the original 800s were with treble? IN your experience?
No shrill/harsh treble on the Elear, not even close. For reference, I found the HD800S overhwelmingly harsh and sibilant on several recordings that i normally don't have a problem with.
They are however, very dynamic. Sudden sounds like drums, piano keys being hot with force, guitar strings being plucked forcefully, will have pretty immense impact, and leads to a very engaging sound.
The Elear is VERY different from the HD800S, almost a complete opposite. If you like the Senn, it's not safe to say you'll like the Elear. The Elear gets a lot of hype and quite some hate too.
The truth is: It's a great headphone and definitely competes wirh anything in it's price range, but like any headphone, it's not for everyone. People will have different tastes and perceptions of sound. If you buy these blind and have high expectations from the hypetrain, there is of course a chance that you will be let down.
Hey all, long time reader of head-Fi forums, first post of any kind. I appreciate everything that's been posted about these headphones, I've considered them off and on for a long time. I have a dilemma though. Right now I own: oppo PM3 and Sennheiser HD800S. I've been looking at several options for upgrading my components first however, as all I own is an OPPO HA-2SE. I've thought about various DACAmps E.G. NuPrime DAC10H, or Oppo Sonica with a tube amp, but which one to get. Then the Elear's go on sale and I get wondering again whether or not these would be a complement to my HD800 S. Mor for rock, metal HipHop etc. I don't expect them to be an upgrade to HD800S however, as those are amazing with Classical, jazz, Classic rock, Folk, instrumental. plus I love the soundstage and imaging. sorry for the rambling post, any thoughts/perspective would be very appreciated.
I think the Elear would be a great complementary headphone to the HD800S. They sound quite different with the Elear being more dynamic than the 800S with a more pleasing low-end also. I do think an upgrade of your DAC would benefit both of the headphones. I have the Schiit Modi Multibit and I think it sounds great, and at $250 it's a great deal as well. They sound very good with the genres of music you want to use them for also, better than the HD800S does imo.
How does the Elear fare for people with ears on the large side? Most people find Beyerdynamic headphones supremely comfortable, but my DT 1990s I recently bought are causing me some pain. I think the cups are just a bit too shallow, causing my ears to be pressed against the driver (yet I find the HD650 to be the most comfortable headphone I own).
How does the Elear fare for people with ears on the large side? Most people find Beyerdynamic headphones supremely comfortable, but my DT 1990s I recently bought are causing me some pain. I think the cups are just a bit too shallow, causing my ears to be pressed against the driver (yet I find the HD650 to be the most comfortable headphone I own).
My ears touched the inside of the cup on the HD650 too, but the driver is covered in a soft foam so it wasn't uncomfortable. On the Elear my ears still touch even though the cup is pretty deep, probably because the earpads are so soft and compresses. The Elear doesn't have foam inside the cup, but rather a hard plastic cover, so it's definitely more noticeable than on the HD650. Still hasn't been a big issue for me, I still find the Elear very comfortable. If you find the HD650's cups big enough in circumference, the Elear should be big enough too, I think they're around the same height and bigger width than the HD650.
If you're bothered by your ear touching the inside of the cup on the Elear, it could be worth trying some HM5, ZMF etc. angled pleather/leather pads with them. I posted some pics and my experiences with pad swapping recently. Since then I've just gone back to using the stock pads, not quite sure which I like the best. The pros of the ZMF pads are described in my earlier posts, but after a while I found something lacking in the ZMF's presentation. It's hard to put a finger on, but I think it's related to coherency, midrange richness and instrument's timbre.
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