[Monsterzero]

I'm currently using Utopia as my full sized, does Stellia sound better for metal compared to Utopia?

I never tried ZMF stuff, so idk about those.

I havent spent much time with Utopia,so no help there.

ZMF=warm,not too unlike Audeze or HD650 sound,just much better IMO.

The Stellia does have a bit of a metallic sound to it,but apparently not as much as Utopia from what Ive read. FWIW I am not fond of spikey upper mids or treble,and the Stellia doesnt bother me. YMMV.

 

[emptymt]

I havent spent much time with Utopia,so no help there.

ZMF=warm,not too unlike Audeze or HD650 sound,just much better IMO.

The Stellia does have a bit of a metallic sound to it,but apparently not as much as Utopia from what Ive read. FWIW I am not fond of spikey upper mids or treble,and the Stellia doesnt bother me. YMMV.

I always wanted to hear the ZMF's, sadly, where I live, There are no ZMF dealers.

I'll try the Utopia over the weekend, and will possibly report my finding here.

btw, liking your review work man.

 

[Monsterzero]

I always wanted to hear the ZMF's, sadly, where I live, There are no ZMF dealers.

I realize Australia isnt a small country,but Epiphany Audio is the Australian ZMF dealer. Perhaps contact them?

btw, liking your review work man.

Thank you.

 

[Dobrescu George]

I don't post in this one thread quite that often, but as a metalhead, I surely need to say that FH7 from FiiO is quite the top pick if you need a IEM

 

[NZtechfreak]

After a goodly long break away from the forums and trying/buying new gear, it's nice to come back and see this thread alive and well.

Had just been enjoying my HE-6/CMA800R monos all this time, but recently saw some new Utopias on sale for equivalent of $2k USD and went for it. Enjoying them a lot for metal. Well, actually all genres I should say.

Like the HE-6, I would imagine my naturally attenuated higher frequency hearing helps as they are not at all problematically bright for me and perceived tonal balance probably shifts a bit accordingly such that bass is not at all insufficient to my ears either (too much loud guitar playing and going to concerts have done for these ears). I point this out so that those sensitive to treble can take that into account when I give feedback, YMMV etc (the reason I liked Tyll's reviews, while my hearing and preferences are miles from his, I had a solid read on how he hears things and when he would rave about a headphone and only complain about there being too much treble energy then I knew it might be something I should seek out).

I think next thing is to save for the Abyss Phi TC, will probably call it a day for buying new desktop headphones when I get those.

Will be interested to see more feedback on the Stellia though, as still a place on my roster for closed 'phones (still do like my Pandora Hope VI though).

Probably going to audition the Raal within next week or two - anyone tried them for metal?

 

[Hansotek]

After a goodly long break away from the forums and trying/buying new gear, it's nice to come back and see this thread alive and well.

Had just been enjoying my HE-6/CMA800R monos all this time, but recently saw some new Utopias on sale for equivalent of $2k USD and went for it. Enjoying them a lot for metal. Well, actually all genres I should say.

Like the HE-6, I would imagine my naturally attenuated higher frequency hearing helps as they are not at all problematically bright for me and perceived tonal balance probably shifts a bit accordingly such that bass is not at all insufficient to my ears either (too much loud guitar playing and going to concerts have done for these ears). I point this out so that those sensitive to treble can take that into account when I give feedback, YMMV etc (the reason I liked Tyll's reviews, while my hearing and preferences are miles from his, I had a solid read on how he hears things and when he would rave about a headphone and only complain about there being too much treble energy then I knew it might be something I should seek out).

I think next thing is to save for the Abyss Phi TC, will probably call it a day for buying new desktop headphones when I get those.

Will be interested to see more feedback on the Stellia though, as still a place on my roster for closed 'phones (still do like my Pandora Hope VI though).

Probably going to audition the Raal within next week or two - anyone tried them for metal?

The RAAL is absolutely phenomenal. Insanely transparent and airy. Really nice bass. Soundstage king. I think you're going to be blown away.

Good to see you back here, it's been a while!

 

[Hansotek]

I don't post in this one thread quite that often, but as a metalhead, I surely need to say that FH7 from FiiO is quite the top pick if you need a IEM

Absolutely agree. I've been listening to these nonstop!!

 

[Monsterzero]

The RAAL is absolutely phenomenal. Insanely transparent and airy. Really nice bass. Soundstage king. I think you're going to be blown away.

Ive read nothing but glowing reports about the RAAL,however they require more amp than any other headphone out there,yeah? Like a +100wpc speaker amp.

@Hansotek Have you had a chance to check out the HEDDPhone yet? Thoughts?

 

[Hansotek]

Ive read nothing but glowing reports about the RAAL,however they require more amp than any other headphone out there,yeah? Like a +100wpc speaker amp.

@Hansotek Have you had a chance to check out the HEDDPhone yet? Thoughts?

Yeah, the impedance of the RAAL is like 1ohm, so conventional headphone amps don't work. You need to run a 100 watt-ish (might be less, I have't really gotten into it) speaker amp with their adapter to get the correct power and damping factor going. It's a pain, but it's easily a top 3-5 headphone.

I have not heard the HEDDPhone yet. It's at the top of my list to try.

 

[NZtechfreak]

I'm aware of the power required for the Raal. As an HE-6 owner that doesn't bother me, I love them from the CMA800R monos, but have used them on a number of speaker amps also - speaker amps for headphones is not new to me. If I like the Raal more than the Abyss then that'll be a good excuse to introduce some more speakers into my setup. I had no plans to ever do this, however after getting the 305s to use in my guitar rig I've been surprised how much the family and I have been enjoying them for music.

The Heddphone is one I definitely need to try too before throwing down far larger sums of money on Abyss or Raal - I think I owe my wallet that! At this stage I remain a bit sceptical, reeks of hypetrain at the moment - I see one person raving about them and other feedback much more muted in comparison. My expectations at this stage are pitched towards them being good, possibly even very good, but still falling short of pinacle setups like Abyss/Susvara/RAAL. That would potentially make them a superb value for money proposition for a lot of buyers, but that wouldn't draw me in given I have already shown a willingness (/stupidity/financial recklessness) to outlay the cash required for those last percentage points of diminishing returns.

@Hansotek - Yes, it has been a while!

 

[Hansotek]

I'm aware of the power required for the Raal. As an HE-6 owner that doesn't bother me, I love them from the CMA800R monos, but have used them on a number of speaker amps also - speaker amps for headphones is not new to me. If I like the Raal more than the Abyss then that'll be a good excuse to introduce some more speakers into my setup. I had no plans to ever do this, however after getting the 305s to use in my guitar rig I've been surprised how much the family and I have been enjoying them for music.

The Heddphone is one I definitely need to try too before throwing down far larger sums of money on Abyss or Raal, that's for sure.

@Hansotek - Yes, it has been a while!

They demoed the RAAL on the Benchmark AHB2, if I remember correctly. It was NICE.

 

[NZtechfreak]

They demoed the RAAL on the Benchmark AHB2, if I remember correctly. It was NICE.

That's not surprising, it was developed using the Benchmark AHB2, so one would expect that to be a good pairing. Both the RAAL and Benchmark are extraordinarily transparent as I understand it, so I would think this would be a good pairing to truly test whether a neutral reference sound is what one is really after (I know a lot of people in this hobby believe that is what they are after, but when they hear systems like this they find that maybe they do in fact have a preference for X/Y/Z to be elevated, depressed or smooothed over with reference to neutral).

I see some people complaining the RAAL is "too dynamic" for them, that bodes well for me, that is a criticism that has been leveled at the HE-6 and Utopia from a number of people too and something I particularly enjoy about both those cans. I think it comes down to different listening styles, some people want to chill when listening to music and very revealing and dynamic headphones aren't the best conduits for that kind of enjoyment. For me, when I'm sitting down to listen to my headphones, I want all my attention to be riveted to the headphone and fully immersed in the sound in a very attentive/active way. I still find even with the Utopia and HE-6 that they don't inject energy into songs where it doesn't exist, if I listen to chill music with them it's still chill - I just want to hear the dynamics and energy when they are there and for a metal fan I can't see how anyone would want it any different (not a put down if you like metal and relaxed sounding cans, totally your preference, no right or wrong, just being clear about my preference).

 

[Tsukuyomi]

This may seem like an odd thing to say but, ive noticed that the singer\band "Jinjer" sound really good on B&O H9 (3rd Gen). Or is that just me? :S i feel like the smoother sound profile helps when their music gets a little tingy.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Well, I've just emailed the folks with the Raal here in NZ. Should be able to have an audition hopefully next Friday or the week after. It's on.

 

[Hansotek]

This may seem like an odd thing to say but, ive noticed that the singer\band "Jinjer" sound really good on B&O H9 (3rd Gen). Or is that just me? :S i feel like the smoother sound profile helps when their music gets a little tingy.

I demoed the H9i at AXPONA, I liked it a lot!