More reviews - Final Audio Design Pandora Hope VI, enhanced Shure SRH840 and Beyerdynamic DT770 reviews.
Final Audio Design Pandora Hope VI
Headphones are assigned to the middle level category due to their excessive "nonflatness", although considering the price ($ 699) they are closer to the top level. It’s desirable in comparison with their colleagues to praise Pandora Hope VI, and not vice versa.
To begin with, the cans sound signature is “painted” furiously as psychedelic matryoshka on the Arbat street. Or taking into account country and manufacturer, let’s remember anime (robots and cyberpunk type). Timbre is filled with liquid metal. Bass is thick, greasy and full of balanced armature buzzy meat. To make such a fat sound (fat often not found in the original record) hard task even for LCD-2. And nevertheless bass is extremely fast and mobile. Strange and interesting experience. Mids are perhaps even dryish, no such sweetness and forwardness as one would expect from such a breed of Japanese headphones. Highs are sparkling (in a good sense of the word, not overly bright), armature-style highs. Soundstage is wide, especially for the closed cans.
Let's look at the bright stripes of this cocktail:
Alternative: Perhaps for the first time listening for metal music I hear so metal. Indeed, steel notes are present in a voice of Pandora. Unique, fascinating.
Doom: And here all is perfect. Isodynamic top cans can do better, but the price tag is going to be top also.
Sludge, Stoner: At Doom it was good and it’s good here also. Buzzing bass meat is in it’s place.
Power: Have fun. Rollicking. Bells are ringing. Gypsy-style power metal Very worth of listening, very special.
Grindcore: A clear, sharp, powerful attacks do not show faults found on Death and Black. Balanced armature creates a background, really interesting in the context of grindcore.
Thrash: Wow. Roller coaster with a stop in the pool and splashing fountains. Refreshes and invigorates. Does not come off. Even a slight lack of punch is forgivable, perhaps.
Let's look at the dark stripes:
Industrial: The problem with punch is still present plus it’s multiplied by visible on industrial music insufficient extension of the bass.
Black: First impression – dynamic and fleshy at the same time. But final impression is spoiled by the cluttering of small details by armature-style buzzing.
Progressive: Broad soundstage pleases certainly, but for the genre more neutral and more technical presentation would be a plus. Playfulness is clearly superfluous. Although such a rollicking version can really please somebody.
Cans - feast, cans - holiday. Unnatural, but very exciting. At the middle level – positively are monsters. If you don’t care too much about neutrality – Pandora could be even top cans for you.
Shure SRH840
These cans have rather flat frequency response, but they are not too "flat". They have confident tight bass with good extention. Clean, slightly elevated treble. Nice natural mid-range. Soundstage is wide enough, especially for sealed headphones. The sound is airy, which, combined with a relatively flat frequency response and amount of bass perfect for metal, gives very interesting results.
Obvious advantages:
Doom: Sobriety and a lot of bass are better than just sobriety )) Smooth sound with slightly elevated highs, moderately rumbling bass. I expected on general technical assumptions that M50 should be better on Doom. But having parity at bass, 840 have more rich timbre, great midrange of 840 leaves no chance of M50.
Power: Speed, air. Well measured, evil drive. Deep bass. At their level - just fine
Symphonic: A little strange - but very good (for its level of course). Reasonable doses of openness (for closed cans) and lots of emotions.
Progressive: And again, great for the level (and closed cans) result. Wide soundstage, rich timbres, bass - all the way through.
Notable disadvantages:
Death: Bust of bright colors does not look serious.
Grindcore: Needlessly hysterically. Not prohibitive, but very, very unpleasant.
Industrial: Too lightweight for this genre. Balloons look inappropriate on the steel mills.
Thrash: Too hysterical, something more dark and easy (e.g. M50) seems more appropriate.
One of my favorite entry-level ears. For light and bright mood.
Beyerdynamic DT770 PRO (250 om)
Again, despite the word "PRO" in the title, we have the device that is actually focused on music listening, not just technical analysis. Gorgeous bass punch, slightly playful (but not so much as in 840) treble. Slightly withdrawn mid-range. A small soundstage (not really small for closed cans). Headphones have well integrated, in a way liquid sound, not overwhelmed with excessive details.
What is good:
Doom: Perfect. One of the best Doom presentations ever. Thick, dense, viscous bass and overall coherent sound - very base matching genre interpretation.
Thrash: Rollicking, cheerful. Texture and speed of bass – direct hit for the genre.
Industrial: Very convincing. More technical and cool interpretation would be more traditional. But not so comfortable as on 770.
Black: Ohhh. Anaal Nathrakh - brain if seeping out of the ears and warm pleasant streams flow down the cheeks from the headphone cups.
Alternative: Driving, delicious, powerful. What more could you want?
What is not so good:
Symphonic: Lack of width of soundstage and lack of air are painfully present.
Sludge, Stoner: Too “coherent”, more details are wanted here. A bit of brightness would be appropriate here.
Progressive: Mediocre. Wide spacious soundstage is must have here.
Power: Too narrow and rather flat.
Death: A little something is missing to make 770 Death presentation perfect. May be a bit of brightness or may be a bit of darkness.
According to the results, Beyers 770, along with Shure 840 – my favorite entry-level cans. For a dark mood.