-Bass is not bad. Rather hard impact, phat and thick due to the lower harmonics of the bass being emphasised by the lowermid gain.
-Presentation can be a deal breaker for some. It's very closed in IMO. The lower mids and treble clearly dominate the stage sometimes.
Overall decent. But definitely not to my taste. I think the texture is the best part about the headphone. I do think it has ways to go with its staging/presentation though. FR is a tuning choice so if HEDD like the tonal balance, I won't dispute that.
I have yet to hear them, so I’m not disputing any of your impressions. But I can’t help but wonder how your impressions can be the near polar opposite of Resolve Reviews. He says their bass is very tight and articulate but slightly lean. He says the upper mids are NOT as dipped as most headphones. And he says their imaging and stage are the best he’s ever heard...
I have yet to hear them, so I’m not disputing any of your impressions. But I can’t help but wonder how your impressions can be the near polar opposite of Resolve Reviews. He says their bass is very tight and articulate but slightly lean. He says the upper mids are NOT as dipped as most headphones. And he says their imaging and stage are the best he’s ever heard...
I have yet to hear them, so I’m not disputing any of your impressions. But I can’t help but wonder how your impressions can be the near polar opposite of Resolve Reviews. He says their bass is very tight and articulate but slightly lean. He says the upper mids are NOT as dipped as most headphones. And he says their imaging and stage are the best he’s ever heard...
I tend to like basslight stuff more with a good amount of uppermids, which is why HEDDphone has too much lower mids for me. The presence of the amount of lower mids make the bass a bit too thick.
Staging wise I find that they are really closed in. Everything is in front of my face. Another thing I didn't add in my post above is that the staging is elevated. Typically headphones and iems present the sound leveled to my head. The HEDD sounds like the music is playing slightly higher than usual. I'm not sure why this is happening - I've adjusted the fit numerous times and came to the same conclusion.
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At the same time I did a comparison to the utopia so you know what I'm comparing against:
-Hedd does texture better. No competition. Utopia sounds smoothed out and too polite in comparison
-Utopia has an FR and presentation that I prefer over HEDD. Utopia has elevated uppermids (from what I define as natural). I find that Utopia is also too recessed in the lower treble but has a uppermid boost. Results in uneven cymbals.
-HEDD has better bass and texture. Utopia could use more bass in general as well. The lowermid presence of the HEDD gives it a greater body and slam to its bass.
-HEDD makes cymbals actually sound like cymbals. Utopia is too polite with crash/ride cymbals.
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Well, just some thoughts on the HEDDphone as an IEM guy:
-First thing that struck me in the first 20 seconds was the presence of lower mids. Some people can consider it a tad bloated in its presentation.
-Fantastic texture. I can hear the grit on cymbals (partly also because the lower and mid treble is emphasised) and texture on well recorded snares.
-I'd describe the signature as being lower mid, lower and middle treble lifted.
-Uppermids sounds dipped and portrays vocals a bit suppressed/choked out. The moderate lack of uppermids makes electric guitar solos sound too polite and lacking in energy.
-Bass is not bad. Rather hard impact, phat and thick due to the lower harmonics of the bass being emphasised by the lowermid gain. I'd prefer less lower mids for a tighter snap on tom/snare drums.
-Lift in lower and middle treble makes for great metallic texture on cymbals (like it should) but can be too much and aggressive in its portrayal of cymbals. In Steve Vai's tender surrender (Where the Wild Things Are), the cymbals dominate the track with the lead guitar being behind because of the upper midrange dip.
-Presentation can be a deal breaker for some. It's very closed in IMO. The lower mids and treble clearly dominate the stage sometimes.
Overall decent. But definitely not to my taste. I think the texture is the best part about the headphone. I do think it has ways to go with its staging/presentation though. FR is a tuning choice so if HEDD like the tonal balance, I won't dispute that.
Edit: I'd also like to add that the Heddphone sounds better for me on lower volumes than on medium or high volumes. The lower volume helps with less body to the lowermids and treble intensity.
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Well, just some thoughts on the HEDDphone as an IEM guy:
-First thing that struck me in the first 20 seconds was the presence of lower mids. Some people can consider it a tad bloated in its presentation.
-Fantastic texture. I can hear the grit on cymbals (partly also because the lower and mid treble is emphasised) and texture on well recorded snares.
-I'd describe the signature as being lower mid, lower and middle treble lifted.
-Uppermids sounds dipped and portrays vocals a bit suppressed/choked out. The moderate lack of uppermids makes electric guitar solos sound too polite and lacking in energy.
-Bass is not bad. Rather hard impact, phat and thick due to the lower harmonics of the bass being emphasised by the lowermid gain. I'd prefer less lower mids for a tighter snap on tom/snare drums.
-Lift in lower and middle treble makes for great metallic texture on cymbals (like it should) but can be too much and aggressive in its portrayal of cymbals. In Steve Vai's tender surrender (Where the Wild Things Are), the cymbals dominate the track with the lead guitar being behind because of the upper midrange dip.
-Presentation can be a deal breaker for some. It's very closed in IMO. The lower mids and treble clearly dominate the stage sometimes.
Overall decent. But definitely not to my taste. I think the texture is the best part about the headphone. I do think it has ways to go with its staging/presentation though. FR is a tuning choice so if HEDD like the tonal balance, I won't dispute that.
Thank you for your comments. Upper mid and treble sounds rather like what you get from a K812/872 which I thought was more accurate towards cymbals and percussion but a lot of people found it harsh. But hey, this is all speculation. It needs to be auditioned and from what you are saying, it sounds like it has the components to be a very musical and balanced headphone.
Yes, could say so. The Utopia sounds like it has smoothed out and uneven treble. Due to the unevenness in the utopia, hihats actually sound aggressive while crash/ride sounds polite.
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That's exactly what I don't like about Utopia. The elevated upper mids make it very aggressive for me. Just couldn't listen to them more than a few minutes. It feels like the vocals are shouting at my face from a cm distance.
That's exactly what I don't like about Utopia. The elevated upper mids make it very aggressive for me. Just couldn't listen to them more than a few minutes. It feels like the vocals are shouting at my face from a cm distance.
Couldn’t agree more. I don’t just prefer upper mids that are a little subdued, I can’t really handle them any other way. I don’t like nails on a chalkboard.
At the same time I did a comparison to the utopia so you know what I'm comparing against:
-Hedd does texture better. No competition. Utopia sounds smoothed out and too polite in comparison
-Utopia has an FR and presentation that I prefer over HEDD. Utopia has elevated uppermids (from what I define as natural). I find that Utopia is also too recessed in the lower treble but has a uppermid boost. Results in uneven cymbals.
-HEDD has better bass and texture. Utopia could use more bass in general as well. The lowermid presence of the HEDD gives it a greater body and slam to its bass.
-HEDD makes cymbals actually sound like cymbals. Utopia is too polite with crash/ride cymbals.
Couldn’t agree more. I don’t just prefer upper mids that are a little subdued, I can’t really handle them any other way. I don’t like nails on a chalkboard.
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