[JLoud]

I am running the HEDDphone with a Woo WA5. Also the GSX mk2. I prefer the tube sound of the WA5. Soundstage is a little bigger and the treble is sweetened some. I find the ss more clinical. Not bad by any means but if you like tubes you will definitely like the HEDDphone on them.

 

[MacedonianHero]

This is teasing me. I am not pretty sure when I can get my hand on it. So far, I believe that the Heddphone is very positive can but there still two issues like weight and headband also yoke extension that leads to difference experience by individuals.

Imho, Chord Dave is certainly a super dac however, the headphone output from Dave is not so convincing compare to a good solit state. Have you @MacedonianHero tried the Hedd with tubes amplifier?

Well, my head is on the larger side and I can get them on my head at the maximum extension. I use my HD800S on maximum extension and can just get them over the bottom part of my ears when I put them on as well FWIW. With regards to weight, it is very evenly distributed across my head that they seem lighter when I wear them than when I hold them. No issues whatsoever here in either regard.

What you do get is an wonderfully expansive presentation with likely some of the smoothest treble I've ever heard, mids that are super detailed and life-like and bass that hits no harder than the recording intended and is still very satisfying.

The Chord DAVE's headphone output is as pure as a signal with minimal distortion that ANY headphone will EVER see (as the DAVE has the lowest levels of distortion around). Adding another amplifier will only add to the distortion. And right now it is playing these Heddphones at only -13dB with plenty of drive, punch, head-room and dynamics. I think I might prefer this setup than through either my Benchmark HPA4 or HeadAmp GS-X mini. I only use those other 2 headphones for super-hard-to-drive headphones like the LCD-4/Susvara/Abyss Phi TC. I suggest you read up on the DAVE as there is no separate amplifier that is being used, but rather the signal from the DAC without the added distortion/colourations. Tube amps only heap on the distortion and that no longer appeals to me in general. Though that WA33 is one amazing amplifier.

Seriously, if anyone has a DAVE, I strongly suggest you get these headphones for an audition...the level of transparency is off the charts!

 

[paradoxper]

Sheesh, you are so freakin' big-headed!

 

[MacedonianHero]

Great, another hp I’ll have to consider, darn it . Does it come 1/4” only or with 4 pin xlr for our gsx mk2’s.

I think you definitely should! My HD800S are gonna get a lot LESS head time after hearing these for a few sessions already! It comes with the 1/4" only, but good news, any LCD Audeze balanced cable will fit them just fine.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Sheesh, you are so freakin' big-headed!

You know what they say about guys with big heads? Big brains.

 

[paradoxper]

You know what they say about guys with big heads? Big brains.

Evident by your quip.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Evident by your quip.

Lol. Would I prefer another few centimetres on the headband...sure, but I'm totally ok with them as they are as well.

 

[paradoxper]

Lol. Would I prefer another few centimetres on the headband...sure, but I'm totally ok with them as they are as well.

Likewise I would prefer the headband to be more of an airbag, but hey, the sound is so greatly divine, I'll live with a little pain.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Likewise I would prefer the headband to be more of an airbag, but hey, the sound is so greatly divine, I'll live with a little pain.

I think you're shortchanging their sound a bit by only calling them "greatly divine"....I think they're better that.

 

[paradoxper]

I think you're shortchanging their sound a bit by only calling them "greatly divine"....I think they're better that.

Please keep in mind my head is not as big as yours.

 

[paradoxper]

I've been interested in these and have been following comments for months, but no one has compared them to Stax, specifically the 009, which I've owned since 2011 and use for monitoring recordings at mix/mastering stages as well as for pleasure. I've been wanting a comparable planar or dynamic reference phone but so far have not found one that satisfied me except the Susvara, which I thought was overpriced, plus I was concerned with reliability, so did not buy. I've heard Abyss TC, Utopia, Mysphere 3.2, LDC4 - for various reasons none of them seemed like long-term propositions regardless of price. (I have LCD3F but don't listen to it much, too colored and not detailed enough). I actively dislike Senn 800 (maybe not driven well when I heard them years ago? have not heard 800S).

One interesting thing about the HEDDphone is it measures fairly similar to 009 re FR - lower bass down somewhat, peak around 1-2K. I've had my issues with the Stax, but with my current DIY tube amp I'm not bothered by brightness (as long as the recording is not boosted in the highs) and bass and dynamics are quite satisfying for acoustic music (jazz, classical, world etc), and even for classic rock, if the low bass is there. Sure, I would like an even flatter phone that sounded as good in other respects.

Then again, I don't need another phone that sounds very much like the 009. I don't think the HEDD will, because electrostats have a certain kind of presentation and people have said the HEDD sounds like a combination of planar and dynamic. I'd love to find a phone with more slam (but that may not be HEDD's forte) and one with the kind of timbral saturation/density that electrostats don't have in the way the best planar and dynamic phones do, (Possibly related: 009 measures flat in lower mids/upper bass but this is exactly the area where I sometimes still feel a slight lack of fullness/foundation - do not feel this with LCD3F!) I don't imagine the HEDD has quite the detail retrieval of the 009 or Susvara, but hopefully enough that music is well layered in depth and the space between sounds is lively rather than a vibrationless backdrop (reports on HEDD about this seem inconsistent).

Since I may not be able to demo HEDD before buying it would be great to hear opinions. I'm also interested in the RAAL now that the Jot R is almost here, but again don't know if a demo will be possible (I live in Vancouver).

Since you have been patiently adamant.

I'll keep my thoughts brief and let Pale Rider fill in in-depth context.

They compare quite well to the 009, with the caveat of being driven by a T2. I might admit even directly comparable out of a Carbon.

HEDD's Resolution and detail retrieval is a slight step down. However, what is quite rather remarkable is the HEDD's ability to extend without a hint of harshness. Only the T2/009 and SR1a have presented such an uncanny quality.

HEDD's mids are a little forward and quite detailed. The 009 matches this and exceeds in how smooth they are presented.

Both present well textured and extended bass, with the 009 feeling a tad bit punchier and the HEDD extending further down. Contrary to BS rhetoric of stats.

HEDD's stage is bigger, more enveloping and extended. Still the 009 is excellent if just a hair or two behind; it remains well separated and open.

009 has incisive imaging with great solidity -- more than I've heard any headphone save SR1a.
HEDD here is negligibly behind unless you are looking for it.

Closing: I think the HEDD would make a wonderful complementary addition if you wanted to stay within the same sound signature.
I might add consideration for the SR1a as well.

If you wanted the slightly different signature as alluded, perhaps the Abyss with it's own can of worms.

IMO of course.

 

[SoundHelmet]

Too bad the comfort wasn't there for you. How about a little more comparison between Heddphone and Focal Elex?

Headphone staging is much bigger wider but loses a bit of front depth. Heddphone goes from way out left and right to right in the center of the head. Whereas elex sort of sits a bit around the edges of my head and bit out in front. So Heddphone can be more intimate with vocals than elex at times but the rest of the stage is placed further apart.

The treble doesnt have the edginess or sharpness that elex has sometimes. Cymbals sound more natural and realistic. The treble has zero peaks.
Bass extends a bit better but not as much midbass punch. The heddphone is pretty exciting and fast overall though.

Heddphone's mids werent as forward too. Heddphone was overall less fatiguing but still great engaging sound.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Actually I think that might have to do with other issues in your setup. With the DAVE (alone) or when paired with the GS-X mini or HPA4, the front-to-back sound staging is head above shoulders better than so many TOTL headphones that I've heard (and many costing more). I agree that the treble doesn't have any edginess or sharpness. Definitely some of the best treble around (and this is from a former Stax-guy). For headphones like these, it's really about your whole system and making sure that there are no constraints holding it back. But remember, it is a journey, so enjoy the stroll!

As I'm writing this, I'm listening to my DSD version of Jazz at the Pawnshop and my Hugo2, and if anyone is interested, yes, the Hugo is a peach with these Heddphones! I was transported to the pawnshop in Sweden and hearing the band in front of me and the crowd behind me is eerily lifelike! With the clarinet on "Limehouse Blues", it can come off as unwieldy with several TOTL headphones, but with these cans, it is both extended and detailed, but never strident. Amazing how these headphones can balance this very delicate line.

 

[joseph69]

I have an RMA# to return my HEDD because I enjoy both, my Utopia & HEKv2 much more, but I think I'm going it give the HEDD 1 more week before coming to a final conclusion.

 

[MacedonianHero]

I have an RMA# to return my HEDD because I enjoy both, my Utopia & HEKv2 much more, but I think I'm going it give the HEDD 1 more week before coming to a final conclusion.

Please keep us posted Joseph. I can say that I already prefer it to the Utopia. The smallish sound-staging and sometimes unruly treble response has me preferring these Heddphones. In terms of detail retrieval, I think they are right there with the Utopias and all at less than 1/2 the price! Curious to hear what you think?