My early review is up, and I'll post it here, too:
Pros: Speed, bass (there's a lot of it, and it's very high quality), excellent detail retrieval, good soundstage with proper amplification, really well-built, nice cables
Cons: Freaking heavy, gets uncomfortable fast, very hard to drive
Hi all, so here's my first-ever Head-Fi review, the HEDDphone. Huge thanks to @Todd at TTVJ for the loaner program, and my review is my own opinion, not colored or influenced by anyone. A word of warning: I am not in any way, shape or form a great reviewer. I'll do my best to describe what I hear, what I like, and what I dislike, but think of me more as a Yelp reviewer rather than some of the other reviewers who really can talk the talk and walk the walk.
Anyways. I've been listening to the HEDDphone for several hours, and wanted to give my initial thoughts.
The HEDDphone is by far and away the most expensive set of headphones I've ever listened to - at least until my Verites arrive - and it's probably worth the price ($1899). This is a difficult-to-drive, heavy set of cans that would never even consider leaving the house with you, except possibly as something to bludgeon would-be muggers to death with.
For my testing, I listened to two amps - a Monoprice Monolith THX 887 (single-ended output) and a modified Darkvoice (shunt mod, Alps 50k pot, Russian-made Tung-Sol 6SN7GTB and a 1951-ish RCA 6AS7G power tube). The amps were fed by a SMSL SU-8 DAC playing Apple Music from my PC. The songs I chose to use were:
- Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
- Eagles - Hotel California (Live)
- Gipsy Kings - Bamboleo
- Miles Davis - So What
- Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way, The Chain, You Make Loving Fun
- Sia, Miguel and Queen Latifah - Satisfied
- Leslie Odom, Jr., and Lin-Manuel Miranda - The World Was Wide Enough
- Wynton Marsalis - Variations Sur "Le Carnival de Venise"
- Yo-Yo Ma - Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major - Prelude
Packaging:
If you care about the packaging, here it is:
Please note that I'm, I believe, the last person on the loaner program, so while this is likely indicative of the standard packaging, it's also been repacked several times by several people.
In all, the packaging is fine. Box is massive. Like, maaaaaaaaaassive. Inside you've got the headphones themselves and a 1/4" terminating cable with HEDD's proprietary connectors on the cup side.
It's a very nice cable, and the connectors are simply fantastic.
Build:
Like a tank. This is a set of cans that has materials to back up its price point, no question. Once again, like the box, these things are maaaaaaaaaaassive. Check it out (AKG K240 Monitors for scale):
Pads are super thick and cushy, very comfortable, and the adjustment dealie seems solidly built. Reminiscent of Sundara's adjusters (except with a nice swivel mechanism).
Comfort:
Ugh. At first, no problem - the pads are supremely comfortable, really deep and cushy, and the headband is nicely padded. After half an hour though, the sheer weight of these and clamping force got to be too much. I developed a pain on the top of my head, where the weight was not distributed well, and my face started to feel like someone was attempting to extract juice from it.
I'm used to wearing headphones like Sundaras, E-MU Teaks and Beyerdynamic T1s so I don't really have a lot of experience with heavy headphones, but this experience did not make me regret that lack of experience whatsoever. Can wear 'em for maybe an hour, tops. Might I get used to them over time and with some finagling? Sure, maybe. But I'm not really inclined to try. I don't need a Christmas migraine. Switching from the HEDDphone to Sundaras was like Goku taking off his weighted training gear - I felt like I could fly and perhaps throw fireballs.
Listening experience:
I'm loath to try to break this into subbass/mid-bass/mids/treble etc., because I don't really know how to compile all of that, so I'll just share my listening impressions by song. Please note that this is mostly stream-of-consciousness typed as I listened.
General Listening Thoughts:
I hate whatever the little film is between the pads and drivers. I can hear it crinkle, like there's wax paper back there. Mostly noticeable if you push on the outside of the cans while wearing them, as your ears will push into the cloth at the center and crinkle the wax paper or whatever it is, but I found that it would make noise just when I moved my head around sometimes. I have to imagine this is removable, but these aren't mine and I ain't modding them.
There's no isolation, which, they're fully open-back headphones, what did you expect?
They need SERIOUS POWER to drive. They're low impedance (42 ohm) but very low sensitivity (87dB/1mW). To get to full listening volume, I had to bump the SE output on my THX 887 to the highest gain level and crank the volume to like 1 o'clock. Similarly, on the Darkvoice (I know, they're low-impedance, they're not supposed to be friendly with OTL tube amps), I had to put volume up to 100%. This is in large part because I just yesterday finished modding the Darkvoice, with a 50k Alps pot and 47k resistors between the inputs and the pot, but still... damn.
They do sound really, really nice, though. Some of the high points for me:
Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
THX:
Slow opening of low organ sounds really meaty, syrupy almost. Very clear, can hear the keyboards very well, very clearly. Drum solo seems recessed. Guitar solo as well. Bass is crunchy, very present, very clear. Vocals very forward, sounds like Knopfler is standing right in front of me. Rhythm guitar fades into the background, drum fills still seem recessed a bit. All vocals sound great and extremely present, Knopfler and backup vocals all together.
Note on the drums: snares are good and there, it’s the toms that seem muted (mid-bass).
Whole experience is very, very, very technically good. Very fast, fast decay
Darkvoice:
Takes full power (with my shunt mods). Seems to have less of the deep organ. These things want power. Toms have more life to them, better mid-bass, and the guitars are waaaaaay better. Intro solo is sickening. Bass kicks in with great clarity and amount. Vocals still great, seems like instruments are less recessed. Better overall balance. Seems to have a bit less clarity, but still extremely clear.
Eagles - Hotel California (Live)
THX:
Hear the fingers sliding on the guitar in the intro. Guitars have great timbre. Kick drum is very powerful, bongos not so much. They’re clean, but a bit recessed. The guitar solos are perfect. I can hear the different strings being used. Amazing bass. Not sure I’m getting any sort of soundstage. When the crowd breaks into applause it feels like I’m listening to them, not among them. But holy hell the bass. Seems like the acoustic guitars are significantly better represented than Knopfler’s electric guitars. Frey’s vocals are really in-your-face. Backup vocals too. Instrument separation is OK - I can hear them all distinctly and clearly, but they don’t seem to be separated in the soundstage.
Closing solo sounds like these headphones were made for it. All the harmonies, all the overlapping guitars, all of them acoustic, it’s super realistic. Feels like I’m in a small basement venue listening to these guys jam.
Darkvoice:
Seems to be missing a bit of the natural acoustic timbre, but the soundstage is opened up a ton. Drums and maracas sound very real. Intro solo is stronger, intro backing guitars less so. I feel like I’m in the crowd more than I did through the SS amp. Every guitar sounds good, but plucked has a better sound than strummed. There’s a bit more muddiness between overlapping instruments and vocals. Vocals less forward, just as natural.
Gipsy Kings - Bamboleo
THX:
This is a great match for these. All the folk instruments sound very well-defined, well-mixed. Male vocals remain really forward in a good way, the sharp strikes on the toms (higher than the tom drum fills in MFN) really cut through, and the maracas are great. I’m hearing guitar riffs I don’t think I’ve ever noticed in this song.
If I were listening to more Latin music or classical guitar, these headphones would be perfect. The castanets (clapping?) are a bit peaky and kind of hard to listen to.
Went into Djobi Djoba (next song, just from autoplay), and the guitars are again perfect, but the bass (sounds like striking of a stand-up bass) is weird and off-putting. Plenty of sub-bass, no bloom, just this particular technique seems almost to confuse the drivers here. The “Bwooooow” of the bass during the refrain sounds fabulous, and again I’m not sure I’ve ever heard that quite this way before.
Darkvoice:
Bamboleo starts off sounding a little like it’s being played on vinyl. Still sounds excellent, but not as crisp and clear and natural as through the SS. Would be interesting to roll tubes with these to see if I can get closer to the clarity of the SS with the tonality and balance of the DV. Djobi Djoba is similarly still good, but not as good. The weird bass thing in the beginning is still weird but dialed back so it’s less jarring.
Miles Davis - So What
THX:
Intimate. Really nice presentation of the bass/piano intro, and I’ve never heard a stand-up bass expressed quite so realistically.
Horns come in and I can hear the breathiness of Coltrane’s sax. It’s transcendent. The cymbal is great. And Miles sounds excellent, if a bit overshadowed by the rest of his band. Usually when I listen to this album, it’s Miles Davis and his band. With these, it’s the Miles Davis band. If that makes sense.
Darkvoice:
Bass is lacking, which is a shame because it was so good through the THX. Still clear, just less present. Not getting the natural breathiness of the saxophones, either. But, again, the soundstage is much expanded. It sounds like Miles and his band are spread out on a small-ish stage rather than being clustered together on a tiny stage.
Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
THX:
Guitar riffs seem more forward than they were on Brothers In Arms, but the bass seems recessed and a little muddy. Vocals are amazing. The bright steel-string rhythm guitar is almost featured, and sounds good. It’s ahead of the distorted lead riffs. Bass is good, just not like it was in other songs. Not sure if it’s the mixing of the album, but during solos it seems like the lead guitar is backing up the rhythm guitar, almost like they set it up that the solos are more like Keith Richards-esque riffs that play along with the rest of the band instead of a traditional solo that grabs the attention.
Darkvoice:
OK, wow. This is synergy. Perfect balance between vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, bass is a little lacking but there and clear, and the drums sound fabulous. Definitely more separation.
Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
THX:
Intro kick drum is awesome, as is the intro guitar. Clean, good balance between the electric and acoustic. Voices sound good but maybe a little on top of each other. I’m still not really hearing any soundstage. In the bridge, these do a really great job of delivering the tension of the bass solo with the snare and guitar coming in from quiet to aggressive.
Darkvoice:
You can hear the little rustling before the song starts better, which I appreciate. Strong plucking/buzzing strings in the solo, keyboard sounds very nice. Better balanced vocals, better separated vocals. Bass comes in with a vengeance, almost overwhelming everything else, despite the bass drum being kinda lacking, but in a very good way. Like a top-tier bass cannon experience rather than a Beats bass howitzer experience.
Fleetwood Mac - You Make Loving Fun
THX:
Female vocals seem not to hold up to male vocals. Christine McVie seems to lack sparkle and maybe clarity in her lead vocals.
Darkvoice:
Man, the intro bass line is fun in this. And McVie sounds a lot better.
Sia, Miguel and Queen Latifah - Satisfied
THX:
Wanted to hear something else with a female lead. Sia sounds much more forward than McVie did, but she’s still a little… mushy. Veiled perhaps. The hip-hop effects (looping of voices) really work great here, maybe because the decay is fast and gives you that tangible break between lines. I remain disappointed in how these convey female vocals. Miguel sounds great.
The rap section with Queen Latifah is spectacular. She’s got this cadence that the HEDDphones love, and the backing bass is perfectly balanced and punchy.
Darkvoice:
There’s Sia. Much better, and the female backing vocals are really fantastic, particularly in the introduction. I think it’s missing the speed from the SS amp, but female vocals are another thing entirely with the DV. Has good bass slam. Very attacking.
Miguel still sounds really good, but either he’s a little muted vs. the THX or it’s just less stark the difference between him and Sia.
Queen Latifah sounds fantastic. Backing bass is a bit muddier; still sounds nice but it was special through the THX and it’s just nice with tubes.
Sia really does sound great with this combo.
Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda - The World Was Wide Enough
THX:
Ticking is weirdly cool. Bass is perfect. Leslie Odom sounds like he’s speaking directly to me from a chair a few feet ahead of me. Really great hi-hat and snare, and the harmonies between Odom and Miranda are well-balanced.
“This man will not make an orphan of my daughter” conveys the heartrending emotion of Burr very well.
Miranda’s soliloquy works really well. Dead silent background until the wind. Really conveys the eeriness. The emotions in his voice are tangible. His last words to Eliza tug the heartstrings more than usual (and I’ve listened to this album a lot).
Cello and piano are amazing, and the bell strike at 4 minutes is clear and striking.
Bass is, as always, really good.
Darkvoice:
Ticking is less sharp. Hi-hat is very nice, just the right amount of attack. Odom sounds wonderful, less like he’s talking to me from right in front and more like he’s off to one side with Miranda off to the other side (right and left respectively). I feel like I’m hearing more of the backing instrumentals, specifically the bells.
Somehow Odom’s voice is more emotional. Raw emotions, all I can think is early Led Zeppelin because they always sounded like they were recording in a garage with all the unvarnished raw power rather than in a studio.
Same with Miranda. Emotional. I can hear facial expressions in his voice. Still great black background between singing and wind blowing.
To get what I’m talking about with the emotions in the vocals, just listen to Odom sing “He aims his pistol at the sky WAIT” (3:05). The kick drum in the last bit of the song really nicely keeps the time and sounds like I’d want it to - can clearly hear the striking of the mallet, but it’s not harsh or overwhelming.
Wynton Marsalis - Variations Sur "Le Carnival de Venise"
THX:
As a trumpeter, this is one of my favorite pieces ever. The whole thing sounds a little recessed, which may be the mix, but it also sounds more like you’re in a grand hall. Still lacking soundstage, like you’re in a grand hall sitting right in front of a three-person orchestra playing a dozen instruments each.
Wynton sounds good. His tone is so clear, and the HEDDphones jive with that nicely. Their speed also really contributes to this album - there’s this part where Wynton plays this crazy fast multi-octave part that should by all accounts be two trumpets (starts at about 6:45), and the HEDDphone keeps up admirably. I’ve been playing since roughly 1988 and to this day have no idea how he can play so fast, across octaves, and so clean.
Percussions sound very veiled, particularly strong cymbal crashes
Darkvoice:
Way less recessed. Really brings out the soundstage, and feels like you’re listening to the Pops in the half-shell. This is almost a perfect synergy between HEDDphone, amp and song. Can clearly hear the bells playing along with the horns, they don’t step on each other’s feet, and you get a lot more of the backing orchestra when Wynton is playing his sections.
And of course, Wynton sounds fabulous. I think there’s less of a sharp end to his notes, but rather than sounding muddy, it sounds natural, like the organic end of airflow through the mouthpiece. At times I think I can hear his lips coming off the mouthpiece at the end of a run of notes. All this without losing the clarity - it’s just, I guess, warmer without sacrificing clarity. Very, very natural sound. I imagine this is what seeing Wynton live is like.
Yo-Yo Ma - Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major - Prelude
THX:
Prelude (Yo Yo Ma) (THX) - Surprisingly recessed. I don’t know if this is simply the byproduct of different recording methods between rock/pop and classical, but I get the impression that this is being recorded on a microphone ten or so feet away from the Yo-dawg. Technical proficiency remains front and center, though.
Darkvoice:
Like Wynton, Yo-Yo Ma sounds significantly more present through the Darkvoice than he does through the THX. Rather than feeling like you’re listening to him play the cello through a microphone positioned away from him, you feel like you’re listening to him play the cello on your couch. Feels like his cello reaches deeper more richly, too. And the stretch from about 1:45-2:00 really takes you on a journey.
Comparisons:
HiFiMan Sundara
Sundara is head and shoulders more comfortable. I don’t know if I could use the HEDDphones all day, but the Sundaras, no problem. I didn’t bother doing the Sundaras with the Darkvoice - planars and OTL amps don’t mix - so all impressions are with the THX.
Sundaras sound good, don’t have the bass quantity of the HEDDphones. Everything just sounds a little bit less. Tuning is interesting; the vocals are less forward, less real. I think the Sundaras are a safer sound, but less compelling.
For pure sound, HEDDphones are really a step above. But I’d probably rather listen to the Sundaras for long periods, because they sound good and are I want to say roughly sixteen pounds lighter. The biggest difference is overall bass - sub-bass and mid-bass both - are lighter and more sterile sounding than the HEDDphone. And the clarity is dialed down just a touch.
Beyerdynamic T1.2
Using this with the Darkvoice to have an OTL to OTL hard-to-drive-off with the HEDDphone. Once again, there’s no comparison comfort-wise - I could wear my Beyers forever. And not just because of weight, but also because they are unlikely to be able to crack a watermelon with their clamping force.
There’s certainly less bass here, but to give you an idea of how hard-to-drive the HEDDphones are, remember how I said I had to max out the volume on my (modded) DV to get a full listening experience? On the Beyers - which, mind you, are 600 ohm cans - I get the same volume at about 11 o’clock (zero for me is at 7 o’clock).
Back to the bass: this is the difference between the two headphones. Both offer tremendous clarity and separation, both have beautiful, lush mids and trebles, and both have extremely clean bass. But the HEDDphone can pull off that rare gut-punch bass that hits hard, clean and satisfying.
The Beyers also have a little more recession in the mids, particularly lead guitar. Lush and nice, but not as forward as the HEDDphone. They also don’t do as well with the natural timbre of acoustic instruments (HEDDphone + SS signal + Hell Freezes Over = beauty), but they do better with the Darkvoice in a lot of ways. Less of a soundstage with tubes than HEDDphone and they can’t match HEDD’s speed.
TL
R
I'll listen some more while I have these, and make edits as necessary, but that's-a my first headphones review. Gorgeous-sounding cans that I couldn't wear for more than an hour before needing to have my head replaced. Amazing bass, particularly in the sub-bass region, DEFINITELY needs some beefy amplification. I'd be interested to try it with a hybrid amp, since its resistance is too low to really take advantage of an OTL tube amp (at least as far as I understand). But the tubes did open up the soundstage and give me a better overall experience on the classical pieces.
If I hadn't modded the Darkvoice's pre out out of existence I'd try running it as a preamp into the THX, but c'est la vie.
5-point sound, 3-point comfort. I give it a 4.5.
Pros: Speed, bass (there's a lot of it, and it's very high quality), excellent detail retrieval, good soundstage with proper amplification, really well-built, nice cables
Cons: Freaking heavy, gets uncomfortable fast, very hard to drive
Hi all, so here's my first-ever Head-Fi review, the HEDDphone. Huge thanks to @Todd at TTVJ for the loaner program, and my review is my own opinion, not colored or influenced by anyone. A word of warning: I am not in any way, shape or form a great reviewer. I'll do my best to describe what I hear, what I like, and what I dislike, but think of me more as a Yelp reviewer rather than some of the other reviewers who really can talk the talk and walk the walk.
Anyways. I've been listening to the HEDDphone for several hours, and wanted to give my initial thoughts.
The HEDDphone is by far and away the most expensive set of headphones I've ever listened to - at least until my Verites arrive - and it's probably worth the price ($1899). This is a difficult-to-drive, heavy set of cans that would never even consider leaving the house with you, except possibly as something to bludgeon would-be muggers to death with.
For my testing, I listened to two amps - a Monoprice Monolith THX 887 (single-ended output) and a modified Darkvoice (shunt mod, Alps 50k pot, Russian-made Tung-Sol 6SN7GTB and a 1951-ish RCA 6AS7G power tube). The amps were fed by a SMSL SU-8 DAC playing Apple Music from my PC. The songs I chose to use were:
- Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
- Eagles - Hotel California (Live)
- Gipsy Kings - Bamboleo
- Miles Davis - So What
- Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way, The Chain, You Make Loving Fun
- Sia, Miguel and Queen Latifah - Satisfied
- Leslie Odom, Jr., and Lin-Manuel Miranda - The World Was Wide Enough
- Wynton Marsalis - Variations Sur "Le Carnival de Venise"
- Yo-Yo Ma - Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major - Prelude
Packaging:
If you care about the packaging, here it is:
Please note that I'm, I believe, the last person on the loaner program, so while this is likely indicative of the standard packaging, it's also been repacked several times by several people.
In all, the packaging is fine. Box is massive. Like, maaaaaaaaaassive. Inside you've got the headphones themselves and a 1/4" terminating cable with HEDD's proprietary connectors on the cup side.
It's a very nice cable, and the connectors are simply fantastic.
Build:
Like a tank. This is a set of cans that has materials to back up its price point, no question. Once again, like the box, these things are maaaaaaaaaaassive. Check it out (AKG K240 Monitors for scale):
Pads are super thick and cushy, very comfortable, and the adjustment dealie seems solidly built. Reminiscent of Sundara's adjusters (except with a nice swivel mechanism).
Comfort:
Ugh. At first, no problem - the pads are supremely comfortable, really deep and cushy, and the headband is nicely padded. After half an hour though, the sheer weight of these and clamping force got to be too much. I developed a pain on the top of my head, where the weight was not distributed well, and my face started to feel like someone was attempting to extract juice from it.
I'm used to wearing headphones like Sundaras, E-MU Teaks and Beyerdynamic T1s so I don't really have a lot of experience with heavy headphones, but this experience did not make me regret that lack of experience whatsoever. Can wear 'em for maybe an hour, tops. Might I get used to them over time and with some finagling? Sure, maybe. But I'm not really inclined to try. I don't need a Christmas migraine. Switching from the HEDDphone to Sundaras was like Goku taking off his weighted training gear - I felt like I could fly and perhaps throw fireballs.
Listening experience:
I'm loath to try to break this into subbass/mid-bass/mids/treble etc., because I don't really know how to compile all of that, so I'll just share my listening impressions by song. Please note that this is mostly stream-of-consciousness typed as I listened.
General Listening Thoughts:
I hate whatever the little film is between the pads and drivers. I can hear it crinkle, like there's wax paper back there. Mostly noticeable if you push on the outside of the cans while wearing them, as your ears will push into the cloth at the center and crinkle the wax paper or whatever it is, but I found that it would make noise just when I moved my head around sometimes. I have to imagine this is removable, but these aren't mine and I ain't modding them.
There's no isolation, which, they're fully open-back headphones, what did you expect?
They need SERIOUS POWER to drive. They're low impedance (42 ohm) but very low sensitivity (87dB/1mW). To get to full listening volume, I had to bump the SE output on my THX 887 to the highest gain level and crank the volume to like 1 o'clock. Similarly, on the Darkvoice (I know, they're low-impedance, they're not supposed to be friendly with OTL tube amps), I had to put volume up to 100%. This is in large part because I just yesterday finished modding the Darkvoice, with a 50k Alps pot and 47k resistors between the inputs and the pot, but still... damn.
They do sound really, really nice, though. Some of the high points for me:
- Bass bass bass
- Speed speed speed
- Details with a capital "D"
- Male vocals are in-your-face and sound like the singer is right up in your grill
- Sub-bass is holy wow
- Acoustic instruments are nearly perfectly represented and have beautiful timbre
Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
THX:
Slow opening of low organ sounds really meaty, syrupy almost. Very clear, can hear the keyboards very well, very clearly. Drum solo seems recessed. Guitar solo as well. Bass is crunchy, very present, very clear. Vocals very forward, sounds like Knopfler is standing right in front of me. Rhythm guitar fades into the background, drum fills still seem recessed a bit. All vocals sound great and extremely present, Knopfler and backup vocals all together.
Note on the drums: snares are good and there, it’s the toms that seem muted (mid-bass).
Whole experience is very, very, very technically good. Very fast, fast decay
Darkvoice:
Takes full power (with my shunt mods). Seems to have less of the deep organ. These things want power. Toms have more life to them, better mid-bass, and the guitars are waaaaaay better. Intro solo is sickening. Bass kicks in with great clarity and amount. Vocals still great, seems like instruments are less recessed. Better overall balance. Seems to have a bit less clarity, but still extremely clear.
Eagles - Hotel California (Live)
THX:
Hear the fingers sliding on the guitar in the intro. Guitars have great timbre. Kick drum is very powerful, bongos not so much. They’re clean, but a bit recessed. The guitar solos are perfect. I can hear the different strings being used. Amazing bass. Not sure I’m getting any sort of soundstage. When the crowd breaks into applause it feels like I’m listening to them, not among them. But holy hell the bass. Seems like the acoustic guitars are significantly better represented than Knopfler’s electric guitars. Frey’s vocals are really in-your-face. Backup vocals too. Instrument separation is OK - I can hear them all distinctly and clearly, but they don’t seem to be separated in the soundstage.
Closing solo sounds like these headphones were made for it. All the harmonies, all the overlapping guitars, all of them acoustic, it’s super realistic. Feels like I’m in a small basement venue listening to these guys jam.
Darkvoice:
Seems to be missing a bit of the natural acoustic timbre, but the soundstage is opened up a ton. Drums and maracas sound very real. Intro solo is stronger, intro backing guitars less so. I feel like I’m in the crowd more than I did through the SS amp. Every guitar sounds good, but plucked has a better sound than strummed. There’s a bit more muddiness between overlapping instruments and vocals. Vocals less forward, just as natural.
Gipsy Kings - Bamboleo
THX:
This is a great match for these. All the folk instruments sound very well-defined, well-mixed. Male vocals remain really forward in a good way, the sharp strikes on the toms (higher than the tom drum fills in MFN) really cut through, and the maracas are great. I’m hearing guitar riffs I don’t think I’ve ever noticed in this song.
If I were listening to more Latin music or classical guitar, these headphones would be perfect. The castanets (clapping?) are a bit peaky and kind of hard to listen to.
Went into Djobi Djoba (next song, just from autoplay), and the guitars are again perfect, but the bass (sounds like striking of a stand-up bass) is weird and off-putting. Plenty of sub-bass, no bloom, just this particular technique seems almost to confuse the drivers here. The “Bwooooow” of the bass during the refrain sounds fabulous, and again I’m not sure I’ve ever heard that quite this way before.
Darkvoice:
Bamboleo starts off sounding a little like it’s being played on vinyl. Still sounds excellent, but not as crisp and clear and natural as through the SS. Would be interesting to roll tubes with these to see if I can get closer to the clarity of the SS with the tonality and balance of the DV. Djobi Djoba is similarly still good, but not as good. The weird bass thing in the beginning is still weird but dialed back so it’s less jarring.
Miles Davis - So What
THX:
Intimate. Really nice presentation of the bass/piano intro, and I’ve never heard a stand-up bass expressed quite so realistically.
Horns come in and I can hear the breathiness of Coltrane’s sax. It’s transcendent. The cymbal is great. And Miles sounds excellent, if a bit overshadowed by the rest of his band. Usually when I listen to this album, it’s Miles Davis and his band. With these, it’s the Miles Davis band. If that makes sense.
Darkvoice:
Bass is lacking, which is a shame because it was so good through the THX. Still clear, just less present. Not getting the natural breathiness of the saxophones, either. But, again, the soundstage is much expanded. It sounds like Miles and his band are spread out on a small-ish stage rather than being clustered together on a tiny stage.
Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
THX:
Guitar riffs seem more forward than they were on Brothers In Arms, but the bass seems recessed and a little muddy. Vocals are amazing. The bright steel-string rhythm guitar is almost featured, and sounds good. It’s ahead of the distorted lead riffs. Bass is good, just not like it was in other songs. Not sure if it’s the mixing of the album, but during solos it seems like the lead guitar is backing up the rhythm guitar, almost like they set it up that the solos are more like Keith Richards-esque riffs that play along with the rest of the band instead of a traditional solo that grabs the attention.
Darkvoice:
OK, wow. This is synergy. Perfect balance between vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, bass is a little lacking but there and clear, and the drums sound fabulous. Definitely more separation.
Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
THX:
Intro kick drum is awesome, as is the intro guitar. Clean, good balance between the electric and acoustic. Voices sound good but maybe a little on top of each other. I’m still not really hearing any soundstage. In the bridge, these do a really great job of delivering the tension of the bass solo with the snare and guitar coming in from quiet to aggressive.
Darkvoice:
You can hear the little rustling before the song starts better, which I appreciate. Strong plucking/buzzing strings in the solo, keyboard sounds very nice. Better balanced vocals, better separated vocals. Bass comes in with a vengeance, almost overwhelming everything else, despite the bass drum being kinda lacking, but in a very good way. Like a top-tier bass cannon experience rather than a Beats bass howitzer experience.
Fleetwood Mac - You Make Loving Fun
THX:
Female vocals seem not to hold up to male vocals. Christine McVie seems to lack sparkle and maybe clarity in her lead vocals.
Darkvoice:
Man, the intro bass line is fun in this. And McVie sounds a lot better.
Sia, Miguel and Queen Latifah - Satisfied
THX:
Wanted to hear something else with a female lead. Sia sounds much more forward than McVie did, but she’s still a little… mushy. Veiled perhaps. The hip-hop effects (looping of voices) really work great here, maybe because the decay is fast and gives you that tangible break between lines. I remain disappointed in how these convey female vocals. Miguel sounds great.
The rap section with Queen Latifah is spectacular. She’s got this cadence that the HEDDphones love, and the backing bass is perfectly balanced and punchy.
Darkvoice:
There’s Sia. Much better, and the female backing vocals are really fantastic, particularly in the introduction. I think it’s missing the speed from the SS amp, but female vocals are another thing entirely with the DV. Has good bass slam. Very attacking.
Miguel still sounds really good, but either he’s a little muted vs. the THX or it’s just less stark the difference between him and Sia.
Queen Latifah sounds fantastic. Backing bass is a bit muddier; still sounds nice but it was special through the THX and it’s just nice with tubes.
Sia really does sound great with this combo.
Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda - The World Was Wide Enough
THX:
Ticking is weirdly cool. Bass is perfect. Leslie Odom sounds like he’s speaking directly to me from a chair a few feet ahead of me. Really great hi-hat and snare, and the harmonies between Odom and Miranda are well-balanced.
“This man will not make an orphan of my daughter” conveys the heartrending emotion of Burr very well.
Miranda’s soliloquy works really well. Dead silent background until the wind. Really conveys the eeriness. The emotions in his voice are tangible. His last words to Eliza tug the heartstrings more than usual (and I’ve listened to this album a lot).
Cello and piano are amazing, and the bell strike at 4 minutes is clear and striking.
Bass is, as always, really good.
Darkvoice:
Ticking is less sharp. Hi-hat is very nice, just the right amount of attack. Odom sounds wonderful, less like he’s talking to me from right in front and more like he’s off to one side with Miranda off to the other side (right and left respectively). I feel like I’m hearing more of the backing instrumentals, specifically the bells.
Somehow Odom’s voice is more emotional. Raw emotions, all I can think is early Led Zeppelin because they always sounded like they were recording in a garage with all the unvarnished raw power rather than in a studio.
Same with Miranda. Emotional. I can hear facial expressions in his voice. Still great black background between singing and wind blowing.
To get what I’m talking about with the emotions in the vocals, just listen to Odom sing “He aims his pistol at the sky WAIT” (3:05). The kick drum in the last bit of the song really nicely keeps the time and sounds like I’d want it to - can clearly hear the striking of the mallet, but it’s not harsh or overwhelming.
Wynton Marsalis - Variations Sur "Le Carnival de Venise"
THX:
As a trumpeter, this is one of my favorite pieces ever. The whole thing sounds a little recessed, which may be the mix, but it also sounds more like you’re in a grand hall. Still lacking soundstage, like you’re in a grand hall sitting right in front of a three-person orchestra playing a dozen instruments each.
Wynton sounds good. His tone is so clear, and the HEDDphones jive with that nicely. Their speed also really contributes to this album - there’s this part where Wynton plays this crazy fast multi-octave part that should by all accounts be two trumpets (starts at about 6:45), and the HEDDphone keeps up admirably. I’ve been playing since roughly 1988 and to this day have no idea how he can play so fast, across octaves, and so clean.
Percussions sound very veiled, particularly strong cymbal crashes
Darkvoice:
Way less recessed. Really brings out the soundstage, and feels like you’re listening to the Pops in the half-shell. This is almost a perfect synergy between HEDDphone, amp and song. Can clearly hear the bells playing along with the horns, they don’t step on each other’s feet, and you get a lot more of the backing orchestra when Wynton is playing his sections.
And of course, Wynton sounds fabulous. I think there’s less of a sharp end to his notes, but rather than sounding muddy, it sounds natural, like the organic end of airflow through the mouthpiece. At times I think I can hear his lips coming off the mouthpiece at the end of a run of notes. All this without losing the clarity - it’s just, I guess, warmer without sacrificing clarity. Very, very natural sound. I imagine this is what seeing Wynton live is like.
Yo-Yo Ma - Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major - Prelude
THX:
Prelude (Yo Yo Ma) (THX) - Surprisingly recessed. I don’t know if this is simply the byproduct of different recording methods between rock/pop and classical, but I get the impression that this is being recorded on a microphone ten or so feet away from the Yo-dawg. Technical proficiency remains front and center, though.
Darkvoice:
Like Wynton, Yo-Yo Ma sounds significantly more present through the Darkvoice than he does through the THX. Rather than feeling like you’re listening to him play the cello through a microphone positioned away from him, you feel like you’re listening to him play the cello on your couch. Feels like his cello reaches deeper more richly, too. And the stretch from about 1:45-2:00 really takes you on a journey.
Comparisons:
HiFiMan Sundara
Sundara is head and shoulders more comfortable. I don’t know if I could use the HEDDphones all day, but the Sundaras, no problem. I didn’t bother doing the Sundaras with the Darkvoice - planars and OTL amps don’t mix - so all impressions are with the THX.
Sundaras sound good, don’t have the bass quantity of the HEDDphones. Everything just sounds a little bit less. Tuning is interesting; the vocals are less forward, less real. I think the Sundaras are a safer sound, but less compelling.
For pure sound, HEDDphones are really a step above. But I’d probably rather listen to the Sundaras for long periods, because they sound good and are I want to say roughly sixteen pounds lighter. The biggest difference is overall bass - sub-bass and mid-bass both - are lighter and more sterile sounding than the HEDDphone. And the clarity is dialed down just a touch.
Beyerdynamic T1.2
Using this with the Darkvoice to have an OTL to OTL hard-to-drive-off with the HEDDphone. Once again, there’s no comparison comfort-wise - I could wear my Beyers forever. And not just because of weight, but also because they are unlikely to be able to crack a watermelon with their clamping force.
There’s certainly less bass here, but to give you an idea of how hard-to-drive the HEDDphones are, remember how I said I had to max out the volume on my (modded) DV to get a full listening experience? On the Beyers - which, mind you, are 600 ohm cans - I get the same volume at about 11 o’clock (zero for me is at 7 o’clock).
Back to the bass: this is the difference between the two headphones. Both offer tremendous clarity and separation, both have beautiful, lush mids and trebles, and both have extremely clean bass. But the HEDDphone can pull off that rare gut-punch bass that hits hard, clean and satisfying.
The Beyers also have a little more recession in the mids, particularly lead guitar. Lush and nice, but not as forward as the HEDDphone. They also don’t do as well with the natural timbre of acoustic instruments (HEDDphone + SS signal + Hell Freezes Over = beauty), but they do better with the Darkvoice in a lot of ways. Less of a soundstage with tubes than HEDDphone and they can’t match HEDD’s speed.
TL
RI'll listen some more while I have these, and make edits as necessary, but that's-a my first headphones review. Gorgeous-sounding cans that I couldn't wear for more than an hour before needing to have my head replaced. Amazing bass, particularly in the sub-bass region, DEFINITELY needs some beefy amplification. I'd be interested to try it with a hybrid amp, since its resistance is too low to really take advantage of an OTL tube amp (at least as far as I understand). But the tubes did open up the soundstage and give me a better overall experience on the classical pieces.
If I hadn't modded the Darkvoice's pre out out of existence I'd try running it as a preamp into the THX, but c'est la vie.
5-point sound, 3-point comfort. I give it a 4.5.
