Head-Fi Review Exclusive
Dec 1, 2001 at 10:08 PM Post #16 of 44
Can you give us hints as to the difference of quality between OTL MGHead compared to standard setting?
 
Dec 1, 2001 at 10:41 PM Post #18 of 44
That was an exceptional review...thank you for sharing it with Headfi!

Quote:

I'm in no way a headphone professional and I don't claim to be.


If that ain't the biggest load of B.S. I've ever heard...
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Dec 1, 2001 at 11:12 PM Post #19 of 44
Differences between DT and OTL (physical):
OTL - Two 1/4 Jacks
DT - One 1/8, One 1/4 Jack

My OTL:
* Stepped Pot (I emailed Joseph he's going to change this to smooth pot)
* Impedance switch is gone replaced by the Trans/OTL switch which lets you toggle modes.
* The toggle switch which lets you change modes is slightly bigger than the old impedance toggle. More durable?
* Still has the same detachable power cord with the option of adding a tube cage.
* Tubes come shipped seperately in their boxes instead of being plugged into the unit. This greatly reduces damage on the tube sockets and ensures you don't get the leaning tower of Pisa effect... My tubes were dead straight in their sockets.

Newer DTs from Divertech:
* Smooth Pot
* Impedance Switch (most people claim it was almost useless)

OTL Sound vs. Non-OTL sound:
Basically, the OTL version is a big improvement over the non-OTL version. It picks up on a few of the non-OTL's weak points and delivers more bang for your buck so to speak. It has a wider sound stage, lush, warm but delicate tube tone and greatly improved bass impact.

IMO the non-OTL ver in comparison sounds quite constricted with less liquidity and definitely a lot less bass impact. It also lacks the added midrange warmth that the OTL version gives.

In the context of listening to say Bach's Cello Suites performed by Yo Yo Ma the non-OTL would give you great performance but it can't present the peddle points and large bow sweeps as well as the OTL ver. That is to say it would lack weight, air and a degree of bounce. The only benefit that I can see the non-OTL version has is that sometimes when Yo Yo Ma does heavy double stopping to play chords you get a bit more seperation rather than a mass of sound. But who's complaining when you buy the OTL ver and you also have the option of making it non-OTL?

The peddle points in comparison on the OTL ver are heavy enveloping and are easily sufficient to demonstrate Yo Yo Ma's virtuosity on the cello. Even in the Gigue on Suite 3 the OTL ver wouldn't let up which meant that you always got an involving performance (something that people often complained about on the non-OTL ver.) Long bowed passages on the OTL ver are similarly just as lush. I can probably best describe them as liquid caramel. You get a certain sweetness with a degree of solidity which is nothing short of magical...
 
Dec 2, 2001 at 4:30 AM Post #22 of 44
Dear Mr. Evil Cthulu,
I enjoyed your review very much. After reading the entirity of it, I was thoroughly impressed. I did notice one little thing however. I noticed that you talked a bit about portability, and how nice headphones were in that sense. You then suggested that the grados were the only relatively portable phones in the group. I agree with you. But, perhaps you could have mentioned Ety's, as they are certainly on par with all of these headphones, but are immensely portable. I don't mean that you would have to review them, but just footnote them in the portability section.
As for the cello suites....do yourself a favor and drop Yo-Yo Ma in favor of Mstislav Rostropovich. Ma is good, but to get real passion try Rostropovich. I find that the suites don't sound nearly as sterile as they do in Ma's versions. Rostropovich's version is out on EMI, and in my opinion it is tied for the best version along with any of the Casals reditions. The only problem with Casals is that at the latest, they were recorded in the 1940s, so they suffer a lot on sound quality. Oh, and Rostropovich's Davidoff Stradivarius sounds soooo beautiful...man I would like to get my hands on that...I guess I will just save up until I have several million dollars..
 
Dec 2, 2001 at 5:24 AM Post #23 of 44
Stuart,

I decided not to introduce Etys into the mix because they weren't really in this review and are a very different type of headphone. They don't really follow the same design as any of the headphones in this review therefore it would take me quite a while to explain them. I thought it would also add confusion to the review plus seeing as I've never tried them I prefer not to comment too much about something I don't really know...

I think I'll add in a small note about them with a link to the Etymotic website but I probably couldn't write too confidently on the subject. Thanks for the tip and I'll add that in ASAP.

As for Rostropovich, I've heard about him before but I always find it very difficult to find rarer classical music especially seeing as I'm in Australia. Some people on this board commented about him before (can't find the exact thread atm) but they gave me the impression that Yo Yo Ma sounded better... I'll give a shot if I can find his CD.

Thanks for reading my review...
 
Dec 2, 2001 at 8:08 PM Post #24 of 44
I'm reading through it now... Nice
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Noticed this:

Page 5 - about the Beyers...

Quote:

Frequency Response Range: 5Hz 35,0000Hz


35,0000 ?

I guess most people reading it will realize it's a mistake, but...
it's 5-35,000


edit: LOL
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You put the left side on his right ear....
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Dec 2, 2001 at 8:14 PM Post #25 of 44
Mumrik,

Thanks for picking up on that. That was an error on my part the Beyer's Freq Response is 5-35,000Hz. It has been fixed.

I'm going away for a week on holiday starting today. I'll see you all soon...
 
Dec 3, 2001 at 3:37 AM Post #27 of 44
Most thorough headphones comparison review to date...nice job!
 
Dec 3, 2001 at 6:03 AM Post #28 of 44
evilcthul,
Wonderful review!! You obviously put a great deal of work into this. Thanks very much for sharing it with us!

Regards,
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