[ThEvil0nE]

#843 arrived a day ago and they look fantastic, loving the retro Japanese look.

Plugged them into my Zen Can 6XX and with both the "HD6XX" and "XSpace" active they are a great listen when fed by my Qutest, full-bodied and engaging. Not so much with my Fiio R7 which felt a bit leaner, still good, but not as fun.

The only real issue I have is the cable/connection, I need to just nudge it slightly away from fully locked and I loose all sound in the right ear. I really don't understand why they are using this connection. Going to see if I can find another cable and see if that fixes it as I don't really want to send the headphones back.

So does anyone know if anyone makes a balanced cable to fit these?

That's good to know. Still haven't had any luck solving the audio cutting out issue with it turned 90*, but the "push it a bit further when it's at 90*" or "don't turn it all the way to 90*" methods both work for now and if need be I'll replace the cable.

Sounds like yours has the reverse issue of mine. Mine's the left ear that does it. Try just not locking it fully (like turning it 75* or something) and see if it works fine there? That works for me, even if it's not the most elegant solution.

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Anyway cable issue aside, I've been listening to these non-stop since I got them. Barely taken them off my head. With each of my headphones I've been making playlists of songs/genres that particularly stood out on those headphones, but with the T50RP 50th Anni I'm finding that just about any music is quite an experience with it. I will say though that vocals, textured bass, songs that have lots of music where their precise imaging can really show itself, and for some reason anything with the sound of water in it in particular really stands out to me on these.

So some favourites so far include:







That said I'm loving everything I throw at these. From Tool, to Halie Loren, to Atmosphere to Dire Straits. It's harder to find something that doesn't sound fantastic.

The base of the shell on the 2.5 male connector is at an angle. When connecting to the phones give it a nice push as you twist/turn the cable in place, it could/should fix the cutting off issue.
I do prefer that it can swivel/swing as I do, in some cases, like to have the cable behind me and not dangle in front.
If you want to keep the cable in place and not swivel you can use a thin o-ring as a gasket.

Also here’s a good listen..

 

[MakeshiftApe]

^ Nice album. Stank from that album already made it into my K702 playlist, but I hadn't listened to it on this yet, nor had I ever actually heard any of the other songs on the album. Chesky Records stuff is always fantastic.

That also led to me discovering this other fantastic Jamey Haddad album:



Also good point about the angled connector, I'd never noticed that before, with that in mind, pushing in near the top of the connector seems to fix the disconnect, and also since starting to do that, it seems now sometimes when I turn the connector 90* it just works first try without any wiggling. So almost seems like the issue is repairing itself somehow? Hoping so.

I can't tell if it's the fact I found a better seal/position on my head last night (which I've noticed does make a fair bit of difference with these for me - they already sounded great but once I found the sweet spot it was a sizeable improvement), or if it's just my ears getting more used to the sound signature, but I feel like the soundstage has improved from my first listens.

 

[ThEvil0nE]

^ Nice album. Stank from that album already made it into my K702 playlist, but I hadn't listened to it on this yet, nor had I ever actually heard any of the other songs on the album. Chesky Records stuff is always fantastic.

Also good point about the angled connector, I'd never noticed that before, with that in mind, pushing in near the top of the connector seems to fix the disconnect, and also since starting to do that, it seems now sometimes when I turn the connector 90* it just works first try without any wiggling. So almost seems like the issue is repairing itself somehow? Hoping so.

I can't tell if it's the fact I found a better seal/position on my head last night (which I've noticed does make a fair bit of difference with these for me - they already sounded great but once I found the sweet spot it was a sizeable improvement), or if it's just my ears getting more used to the sound signature, but I feel like the soundstage has improved from my first listens.

The female jack/connector housing looks to be pressed fit in place as it isn't held by any screws. That pushing force applied from connecting should have aligned everything up in place. My first pair did have the cutting off issue at a certain angle swing as you mentioned, that simple "apply force" trick fixed it and you only have to do it once. My second pair didn't have the issue.

I do wear them a little higher to make a good seal on the bottom.

BTW, did you do my mod? I think you should give it a go.

Went through my 90's album and this one's giving me another dimension of sound presentation. What really got me smiling are the bass lines on most tracks, it cuts through the arrangement like hot knife on butter, phat

 

[MakeshiftApe]

I haven't yet done the mod, I'm thinking of saving the first of any modding for when I next get that "must buy new headphones" itch so I can kill two birds with one stone and save myself some money (not that it'll be long, knowing me )

Funny you mention Cake. I literally just rediscovered them after not having listened in years on the first day of getting my Anni. That was quite the trip, used to blast them on really cheap speakers as a teen, it's always fun hearing songs that you've known for years come alive on new gear.



Think this might have been the first song of theirs I heard.

As a side-note, these are incredible for listening to any binaural recordings. I put on an ASMR audio of mechanical keyboard typing sounds yesterday (don't knock it til you've tried it ) and it was as real as the sound of my keyboard in front of me - none of my other headphones come close at making little sounds like that actually feel real, though my K702 does it with vocals and guitars. That one Yosi Horikawa song Letter is a treat on these for that reason.

 

[schmalgausen]

Just arrived from polish online store. A little bit cheaper than in America.

 

[ThEvil0nE]

I’ve been exclusively reaching and listening to my mod’dT5050. It’s definitely not a lounging phone but more like a shot of adrenaline while sipping on espresso type listening

 

[MakeshiftApe]

What's everyone here using as an amp for their Anni? The amp I'm currently using has enough volume but feels like there isn't much headroom for high dynamic range tracks or for potentially altered power volume requirements when messing around with EQ or modding down the line. I've gotten various suggestions but currently I keep coming back to two choices Fiio Q11, and the JDS Atom+.

I'd much prefer the portability of the Q11 if it's an option since I could use a portable amp in general, and I like that it has a low gain option that I can use when powering my other headphones so my clumsy and forgetful self doesn't need to worry about turning it up louder than they can handle - but I like that the Atom has 1W @ 32Ω vs 650mW @ 32Ω for the Q11.

What does anyone here think, would the Q11 be enough? I know it's a fair bit more power than I have currently (I think my current amp is a measly 100-200mW) but a couple of people have recommended I get something with 1W+ like the Atom+

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Anyway, here's another song that I absolutely love on these:

 

[ThEvil0nE]

RPs like power. I run RME ADI-2 DAC and I'm pretty content with it, still could be better tho

 

[sonic2911]

RPs like power. I run RME ADI-2 DAC and I'm pretty content with it, still could be better tho

Exactly, it loves power. I have RME's too and even balanced from my oppo ha-1, I think I need more than that.

 

[Ginryuu]

Are there any budget amps (or even with DAC as combo) for this headphone?
I am getting these headphones hopefully this week but I don't have any amp or DAC and thought my mainboard soundcard (Realtek ALC897Audio Codec) from my PC would be enough to handle them but if it's not it would be good to have something to power them up. Don't wanna spend thousands just for an amp. Are there even options under 100€?

 

[ThEvil0nE]

Are there any budget amps (or even with DAC as combo) for this headphone?
I am getting these headphones hopefully this week but I don't have any amp or DAC and thought my mainboard soundcard (Realtek ALC897Audio Codec) from my PC would be enough to handle them but if it's not able to it would be good to have something to power them up. Don't wanna spend thousands just for an amp. Are there even options under 100€?

Tho I'm sure it can play but you might not be too happy with them just driving it direct from your PC but for what's it's worth.. @WitzyZed's T5050 sounded really good on his DAP

 

[Ginryuu]

That thing (FiiO X5iii) looks old and because of that it seems to be discontinued.
Couldn't find it anywhere (new of course).

Even on eBay some people want around 300 bucks for that.
I don't intend to pay so much money.

 

[MakeshiftApe]

Are there any budget amps (or even with DAC as combo) for this headphone?
I am getting these headphones hopefully this week but I don't have any amp or DAC and thought my mainboard soundcard (Realtek ALC897Audio Codec) from my PC would be enough to handle them but if it's not it would be good to have something to power them up. Don't wanna spend thousands just for an amp. Are there even options under 100€?

I wouldn't try to run these off your motherboard. My motherboard has the ALC1220 which from what I recall has a fair bit more power than the ALC897, and it's only powerful enough for quiet listening, and only for songs without much dynamic range. I'm currently using my audio interface which gives me about 100-200mW and it feels like just enough to be good but perhaps not the best I could be giving them, hence why I'm currently in the process of upgrading there.

I'm still on my own search but the most powerful option I've found so far for under 100 euros is the iFi Zen Air Can, which is 1.2W @ 32Ω for 99 euros. It's purely an amp rather than an amp/dac combo though, but I think the ALC897 is still good enough to not introduce noise/distortion at the DAC end of things so I think you'd be fine there.

(Note: Just because it's the most powerful one I've found so far doesn't mean it's the most powerful, I'm still looking for sure, as my budget is only slightly above yours so that's around about the price point I've been looking at too)

 

[Ginryuu]

I wouldn't try to run these off your motherboard. My motherboard has the ALC1220 which from what I recall has a fair bit more power than the ALC897, and it's only powerful enough for quiet listening, and only for songs without much dynamic range. I'm currently using my audio interface which gives me about 100-200mW and it feels like just enough to be good but perhaps not the best I could be giving them, hence why I'm currently in the process of upgrading there.

I'm still on my own search but the most powerful option I've found so far for under 100 euros is the iFi Zen Air Can, which is 1.2W @ 32Ω for 99 euros. It's purely an amp rather than an amp/dac combo though, but I think the ALC897 is still good enough to not introduce noise/distortion at the DAC end of things so I think you'd be fine there.

(Note: Just because it's the most powerful one I've found so far doesn't mean it's the most powerful, I'm still looking for sure, as my budget is only slightly above yours so that's around about the price point I've been looking at too)

Yeah I was browsing through reddit and a lot of people were asking for help in this regard with the "normal" T50RP.
Problem is that majority of these comments are from 2016 - 2021 so a lot of stuff they have recommended is already discontinued.

The only cheap options I know are from Fiio and iFi. Saw some cheap ones from SMSL as well but I'm not sure if they are really powerful enough.
All these JD Labs Atom or Schiit Stacks are out of my budget.

 

[schmalgausen]

Schiit stack (which I use for all my cans) has a lot of power. Definitely enough for T50RP. Dedicated DAC is also great.