I have demoed HEDDphone, they are very balanced headphones, on the soft side, unfortunately they lack depth in the soundstage, otherwise it would be perfect, if you don’t have problem with comfort, which for me is acceptable.
At Canjam NYC I believe they had the heddphone running off Hugo TT2 and a Phonitor (sorry not sure which). I think I preferred the TT2. I agree with the poster above me who commented on the stage depth. Depth did feel a little shallow, but definitely wide compared to other cans I own like the LCD-X and ZMF Verite. The latter comparison is unfair since deep staging is one of the Verite's special strengths. I listened to each set on both the TT2 and Phonitor with my own DAP feeding music. I think the choice of Amp is what is responsible for people's varying experiences with the stage width. Additionally, I would say the bulk of the mids details like guitar and backing vocals, and trebel like hihats can extend 2 inches from my ears, but it is CAPABLE of throwing other details like ambient synths and higher trebel percussion like chimes way out there, so it does create a really spacious feeling.
I preferred the sound of the TT2 through this headphone because the sound was very smooth. Bass was punchy and clean. I agree could use more subbass, but I wonder if that desire stems from looking at this huge monster headphone and expecting it to have ridiculous bass. Mids
were present for vocalists, and the trebel was just buttery smooth. Even with the volume probably a bit too high because of the crowd around me, it had the right amount of grain and smoothness, without being shouty or distorted. It's a mix between the detail of HD 800S, the smoothness of Hifiman, but with more meat, like an audeze.
Image height was a little odd. I felt the horizon of the music was at an inch below my ears. I kept adjusting the band to maybe center my ears in the cup but not sure it made a difference.
Overall I thought it was a triumph. I told Mr Knopp we all want this to succeed, so that other companies can step their game up. For their first headohone design, they knocked it out of the park. The price is a bold statement but makes sense since they're new to the headphone game. I hope relatively low pricing remains one of their features
I also heard these at CanJam. I thought they were spacious sounding, good resolution, not sure about outstanding resolution, but good enough. They were well balanced tonally too. I also thought they were surprisingly comforatable, especially coming from taking the Rosson and the LCD4 from off my head. The headband was at full length, so I see what everyone says about the fit. They said the new batches will have the longer headbands. These are on my to buy list for sure.
Adding another HEDDphone impression to the mix. To preface, I'm a STAX fan -- my current rig is an L300 Limited driven by a modded SRD-7 transformer box with various speaker amps (NC400 monoblocks, Sansui Six, or Pioneer M-22). Before buying the Stax, I auditioned TOTLs from all the other big manufacturers but was unimpressed.
I went to Can Jam unaware the HEDDphones even existed and was absolutely blown away upon listening to them. To my ears, they combine the best attributes of electrostatics (speed, resolution, airiness, realism) with the slam and punchiness of a great dynamic or planar magnetic driver. I expected sacrifices in the midrange and bass since AMTs are usually implemented as tweeters, but it's exactly the opposite. Midrange was smooth and rich, while bass had a killer combination of impact and extreme tightness. I'm a speaker person at heart, and the HEDDphones sounded like a really great speaker setup. I listened to the other TOTLs at the convention and, in my opinion, the only competition is the SR-009S. I think the soundstage of the SR-009S is slightly superior -- with great acoustic recordings, the SR-009S melted away and gave the illusion of being in a room with the band. The HEDDphones threw a wide soundstage with satisfactory depth and imaging, but they did not disappear like the SR-009S. However, I prefer the tonal balance and impact of the HEDDphones. Of course, these are pretty rough impressions -- I would go deeper into resolution etc., but the ambient noise levels on the convention floor were too high to give the HEDDphones a fair chance in this department.
Another reason I'm making this post is to agree with @qboogie that the HEDDphones on the TT2 sounded much better than the Phonitor setup. I heard a brittle, fatiguing treble with the Phonitor, whereas the TT2 gave a perfect tonal balance. FWIW, I found the HEDDphones to be quite comfortable and did not have any issues with the fit, but most headphones fit me without issue (perhaps my head is close to the median dimensions). Of course, these are just my opinions, and I've had a good time reading others' impressions in this thread. In the end, selection of TOTL transducers always comes down to personal preference.
Someone who compared them on another forum (nickname Torque) said an amp which puts out 1 W at 32 ohm is plenty enough.
A shiit magni 3+ or heresy puts 2,4 W per channel at 32 ohm - for 100 bucks.
Someone really spending 2000 - 4000 bucks more for ... for what exactly? There should be and is no difference in sound. The brain does the sound?
Or everyone millionaires here?
I'm probably the "normal spending person" here then and outnumbered
So, are you saying that a Dodge or Ford that has engine spec's at X horse power, is the same as a Porsche with same X horse power?
Why pay 4 or 5 times more?
Someone who compared them on another forum (nickname Torque) said an amp which puts out 1 W at 32 ohm is plenty enough.
A shiit magni 3+ or heresy puts 2,4 W per channel at 32 ohm - for 100 bucks.
Someone really spending 2000 - 4000 bucks more for ... for what exactly? There should be and is no difference in sound. The brain does the sound?
Or everyone millionaires here?
I'm probably the "normal spending person" here then and outnumbered
You're probably referring to this post, and what it actually says in this regard is:
If your amp can deliver about 1 W into 42 ohms, you’re in the sweet-spot; less and you’ll start to notice with more dynamic music and higher listening levels (and be towards the end of your volume dial’s range with quieter recordings), more and the returns diminish fairly quickly.
Which is just talking about what you need to power them properly, which certainly can be done without breaking the bank:
The $99 Schiit Magni 3+ or Heresy (or the original Magni 3) all have ample power to get the job done here. The Liquid Spark also has plenty of juice. Another budget favorite, the JDS Labs Atom is a bit less than ideal here, and the Archel 2 Pro I would say just doesn’t have the juice to do these justice.
The HEDDphone is certainly capable of exploiting higher performance and/or different presentation from other amplifiers, and I don't agree that spending more doesn't get you anywhere. It might not get you (significantly) better measurements, but that's not the same as there being no differences or benefits.
Depending on where I am listening and what I am doing, I am driving mine off the following devices/amplifiers (listed purely alphabetically):
Chord DAVE
Chord Hugo TT2 (High Gain)
Phonitor X
RME ADI-2 Pro FS R BE (Balanced Mode)
Woo WA234 MKII MONO (300B in Lo-Z, Plate Output Mode)
The DAVE is usually sitting around -10 dB from its direct headphone output with better recordings. The TT2 in high-gain mode has a bit more range left on the volume setting. The Phonitor X has plenty of headroom and doesn't need the boost settings enabled, the RME unit doesn't need the high-power mode enabled if in balanced mode (if you use the pure DAC version it is another matter). The Woo is sitting at about a quarter of its volume setting, so there's massive headroom there (I could run it in Cathode output mode, but it sounds better here using the plate outputs).
Hello Torq, would it be possible for you to list the above devices in order of preference? Do you also find the HEDD to sound better out of the Hugo than out of the Phonitor like a couple of members have posted? TIA.
I could, but I'm not going to - it's not worth the hassle/inbox explosion and its just one opinion anyway. I will say that my preferred DAC there is DAVE and my preferred amp would be the Woo.
It'd be a superfluous piece if you were running a Hugo TT2, as all amplifiers add noise and distortion and the Hugo TT2 doesn't an need external one for the HEDDphone.
I'd also like to add that attendees were fiddling with all the controls on the Phonitor. Perhaps that could account for the discrepancy. I did not have enough time on the Phonitor setup to try my own settings, so I was using whatever the previous person chose.
Thanks Torq.
So the sound of the headphone sounds a bit different with different amplifiers.
And the benefits in sound quality? Or are there none, since the output power is enough even with a smaller amplifier?
That is what the measurements are saying.
Or is it exactly this change in sound signature which is deemed better?
it's more about the amp's performance qualities: stage, layering, blackness of background, resolution, dynamics, attack/decay, etc
Yes, you're generally going to get better performing amps the higher up the audiophile cost ladder you venture. It's up to you to decide if that gain (over a magni3) is worth it.
The best way for you to experience this is to bring your headphones with you to a meetup, and try the higher end stuff and see how it differs from your home setup. Being well adjusted to your particular headphones (their resonances, etc) you can better hear the difference between amps/dacs (provided your cans are of acceptable quality to begin with).
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