sparkofinsanity
100+ Head-Fier
I did a little comparison with three of my headphones that some of you might get something out of, though I did it solely for myself to figure out what I like.
They all definitely make you choose what type of music you listen to in them, but they complement each other pretty well. But yeah, brick walled stuff (Californication etc) and badly recorded songs are rough listens on all of them.
Instead of making a playlist with tracks that sound great in headphones I decided to just do a little comparison with albums I love (a Top 30 list I made long before I even owned any of these headphones, except a later addition of the Phoebe Bridgers album). A somewhat diverse set of albums across multiple genres, although my picks pretty much shows my age, gender and country of birth.
Let’s meet the contenders:
Focal Stellia (no EQ) - Closed back that punches hard with well extended (and elevated) bass and lots of micro details. In your face kinda sound.
Audeze LCD-XC 2021 (with EQ) - Closed back with sultry bass and more laid back warm sound compared to the other two (note: that’s with Audeze’s DSP settings in Roon).
Sennheiser HD 800 S (with EQ) - Open back with a fairly bright sound signature with lots of treble micro details and comparatively large soundstage, no real sub bass even with EQ.
Flac played through Roon on Topping D90/A90.
Stellia……..Opeth - Blackwater Park
LCD-XC…..Jim James - Eternally Even
HD800S…..Under Byen - Det Er Mig Der Holder Træerne Sammen
HD800S…..Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Out Of Season
Stellia……..Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
Stellia……..Meshuggah - obZen
Stellia……..Songs: Ohia - Axxess & Ace
LCD-XC…..P J Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
Stellia……..Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
HD800S…..Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People
Stellia……..The Oh Hellos - Oh. Hello.
HD800S…..Joni Mitchell - The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
LCD-XC…..Tool - 10,000 Days
Stellia……..Blacknuss - Gold - A Decade Of Soul, Jazz & R’N’B
HD800S…..Esbjörn Svensson Trio - From Gagarins Point Of View
Stellia……..Tim Bowness / Peter Chilvers - California, Norfolk
Stellia……..The Mars Volta - Frances The Mute
HD800S…..Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
Stellia……..Jill Scott - Beautifully Human - Words And Sounds Vol. 2
LCD-XC…..Ed Harcourt - Here Be Monsters
Stellia……..This Will Destroy You - This Will Destroy You
Stellia……..The Haunted - Revolver
Stellia……..Thomas Dybdahl - One Day You'll Dance For Me, New York City
HD800S…..Stavros Lantsias – Diary of Dreams
LCD-XC…..Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker
Stellia……..Nine Horses - Snow Borne Sorrow
Stellia……..Ólafur Arnalds - Living Room Songs
LCD-XC…..Peter LeMarc - Nio Broars Väg
Stellia……..Kaah - Kaahlender
Stellia……..2814 - 新しい日の誕生
Most of these sound good on all headphones but the HD800S clearly is the hardest to please, but where they do work they work really well. The Stellia works with basically everything but is a little too ”eager” and treble forward for some songs that should feel more relaxed, but over all these are engaging headphones like nothing else I’ve heard. The LCD-XC on the other hand feels a little too dull with certain songs, and on stuff like Meshugga’s Obzen details get lost in the barrage of guitars (that the Stellia manages to pull up), but on stuff like Eternally Even everything gels and sound so sweet (Rolling Stones Exile On Main Street is another).
They all definitely make you choose what type of music you listen to in them, but they complement each other pretty well. But yeah, brick walled stuff (Californication etc) and badly recorded songs are rough listens on all of them.
Instead of making a playlist with tracks that sound great in headphones I decided to just do a little comparison with albums I love (a Top 30 list I made long before I even owned any of these headphones, except a later addition of the Phoebe Bridgers album). A somewhat diverse set of albums across multiple genres, although my picks pretty much shows my age, gender and country of birth.
Let’s meet the contenders:
Focal Stellia (no EQ) - Closed back that punches hard with well extended (and elevated) bass and lots of micro details. In your face kinda sound.
Audeze LCD-XC 2021 (with EQ) - Closed back with sultry bass and more laid back warm sound compared to the other two (note: that’s with Audeze’s DSP settings in Roon).
Sennheiser HD 800 S (with EQ) - Open back with a fairly bright sound signature with lots of treble micro details and comparatively large soundstage, no real sub bass even with EQ.
Flac played through Roon on Topping D90/A90.
Stellia……..Opeth - Blackwater Park
LCD-XC…..Jim James - Eternally Even
HD800S…..Under Byen - Det Er Mig Der Holder Træerne Sammen
HD800S…..Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Out Of Season
Stellia……..Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
Stellia……..Meshuggah - obZen
Stellia……..Songs: Ohia - Axxess & Ace
LCD-XC…..P J Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
Stellia……..Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
HD800S…..Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People
Stellia……..The Oh Hellos - Oh. Hello.
HD800S…..Joni Mitchell - The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
LCD-XC…..Tool - 10,000 Days
Stellia……..Blacknuss - Gold - A Decade Of Soul, Jazz & R’N’B
HD800S…..Esbjörn Svensson Trio - From Gagarins Point Of View
Stellia……..Tim Bowness / Peter Chilvers - California, Norfolk
Stellia……..The Mars Volta - Frances The Mute
HD800S…..Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
Stellia……..Jill Scott - Beautifully Human - Words And Sounds Vol. 2
LCD-XC…..Ed Harcourt - Here Be Monsters
Stellia……..This Will Destroy You - This Will Destroy You
Stellia……..The Haunted - Revolver
Stellia……..Thomas Dybdahl - One Day You'll Dance For Me, New York City
HD800S…..Stavros Lantsias – Diary of Dreams
LCD-XC…..Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker
Stellia……..Nine Horses - Snow Borne Sorrow
Stellia……..Ólafur Arnalds - Living Room Songs
LCD-XC…..Peter LeMarc - Nio Broars Väg
Stellia……..Kaah - Kaahlender
Stellia……..2814 - 新しい日の誕生
Most of these sound good on all headphones but the HD800S clearly is the hardest to please, but where they do work they work really well. The Stellia works with basically everything but is a little too ”eager” and treble forward for some songs that should feel more relaxed, but over all these are engaging headphones like nothing else I’ve heard. The LCD-XC on the other hand feels a little too dull with certain songs, and on stuff like Meshugga’s Obzen details get lost in the barrage of guitars (that the Stellia manages to pull up), but on stuff like Eternally Even everything gels and sound so sweet (Rolling Stones Exile On Main Street is another).