[flameas]

any balanced cable links, recommendations?

 

[thebkt]

Periapt Cables are good!

 

[bagwell359]

any balanced cable links, recommendations?

I don't have one, but I have been looking into that for a few days. Given how much magic lives in the treble of almost all HFM cans - silver plated seems like a good idea. Given how potent the bass can be, I don't know that I'd go for a gauge above 22 (I.E. too thin).

Whatever I do, it'll be DIY because the cost of high end headphones cables is plainly ridiculous vs cost of materials. I'm not always convinced that cables mean very much, but having just been given a coax digital cable that's silver plated that kills standard stuff (and is easily told apart blind). This will be for my HE-500's for starters, and I'll change the plugs to the new HFM standard. I've got silver solder (toxic as heck - watch out!) and lots of experience, just a matter of finding OFC copper that's AG plated at a gauge of 22, 20, or perhaps 18. I'd like a nice jacket, and those can be had. Also I think there is new balanced plug that's supposed to be better than the standard ones too....

The utilitarian in me can't see spending $400 on cable for a $900 can (Audio46 sells them for $900 quite often). Sure I can assemble as good or better for under $100. That will satisfy any audio nervosa and leave me with $300 for a collection to buy a TOTL can.

Another thing you can do is lop off the SE connection and put an XLR on it. That will tell you how much more you can expect out of XLR over SE since you are changing but one variable.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Periapt Cables are good!

I got a Periapt balanced cable for my HEX v2. Nice cable...a bit microphonic (many cloth-wrapped cables are), but the sound is quite good. It's a more substantial cable in every way than the stock SE cables, which never hurts.

 

[nishan99]

Just ordered the Focal Elex to complement my Ananda.
Both have neutral SQ, so one may ask What am i doing

The Ananda is too planar(more liquid, less dynamic) for gaming and some music like orchestras and pianos, also they definitely lack bass slam(the quantity and quality are excellent tho), my M1060 even being a planar do those things better than the Ananda.

Otherwise the Ananda is significantly superior in everything else like SS, effortlessness(never sounds congested in complex tracks even at high volumes!, even my JBL305pmkii speakers can't even compete with them in that regard!) etc.

So i hope i will be satisfied with the Elex and keep them as a gaming cans and for some music

 

[CoFire]

Just ordered the Focal Elex to complement my Ananda.
Both have neutral SQ, so one may ask What am i doing

The Ananda is too planar(more liquid, less dynamic) for gaming and some music like orchestras and pianos, also they definitely lack bass slam(the quantity and quality are excellent tho), my M1060 even being a planar do those things better than the Ananda.

Otherwise the Ananda is significantly superior in everything else like SS, effortlessness(never sounds congested in complex tracks even at high volumes!, even my JBL305pmkii speakers can't even compete with them in that regard!) etc.

So i hope i will be satisfied with the Elex and keep them as a gaming cans and for some music

I have the HEX V2 and Elex. The HEX V2 doesn't completely negate the Elex, but if I had to choose one, I'd go with the HEX V2. I don't see the Elex as much of a complement to the HEX V2 but I can see how it's greater impact across the spectrum can benefit piano notes, not sure on orchestra as the Elex has subbass roll off compared to the HEX V2.

 

[nishan99]

I have the HEX V2 and Elex. The HEX V2 doesn't completely negate the Elex, but if I had to choose one, I'd go with the HEX V2. I don't see the Elex as much of a complement to the HEX V2 but I can see how it's greater impact across the spectrum can benefit piano notes, not sure on orchestra as the Elex has subbass roll off compared to the HEX V2.

thanks for the feedbackfeedback <3

yeah the piano notes sound dead on the ananda , tbh everything sounds dead on them, not in a bad way tho, same goes why some people like electrostats sound, etherial and liquid but not natural or live like dynamics, same can be said to planars as they are in the middle between the two.
i can see myself in the future having TOTL electrostat and dynamic headphones, like the utopia and L700

Btw, how they compare in gaming if you game with them ?

 

[CoFire]

thanks for the feedbackfeedback <3

yeah the piano notes sound dead on the ananda , tbh everything sounds dead on them, not in a bad way tho, same goes why some people like electrostats sound, etherial and liquid but not natural or live like dynamics, same can be said to planars as they are in the middle between the two.
i can see myself in the future having TOTL electrostat and dynamic headphones, like the utopia and L700

Btw, how they compare in gaming if you game with them ?

The Elex sound more like headphones with a smaller soundstage but sharper imaging. Impactful, dynamic, a little rolled off in the subbass, more treble energy but not strident. Excellent headphones.

The HEX V2 have a larger soundstage, larger images that are a little less focused but are bigger in a bigger space. These headphones sound more like listening to music in a room as opposed to headphones. The subbass gives music great body without bleeding into the mids. The HEX V2 has less impact but makes up for this with quantity/weight of the note. I think this character is what gives the HEX V2 it's laid back reputation. You also get the speed of planars along with texture of sound. The treble is a little rolled off to my liking, not much, but this allows me to turn them up without making my ears ring.

I prefer the Elex at lower volumes and they are great headphones but imo, don't give you the WOW factor you get when first listening to the HEX V2. The subbass and soundstage presence of the HEX V2 over the Elex just cannot be ignored. If I had to choose one, it's HEX V2 all the way, but make no mistake, these are 2 great headphones.

Edit: I don't game much anymore but hope this helps.

 

[RenEh]

thanks for the feedbackfeedback <3

yeah the piano notes sound dead on the ananda , tbh everything sounds dead on them, not in a bad way tho, same goes why some people like electrostats sound, etherial and liquid but not natural or live like dynamics, same can be said to planars as they are in the middle between the two.
i can see myself in the future having TOTL electrostat and dynamic headphones, like the utopia and L700

Btw, how they compare in gaming if you game with them ?

I just bought a pair of Ananda’s and I was very torn between these and the LCD2 classic because the piano and female vocals do seem a bit dead. They don’t really sound good with jpop, but these do seem to sound better with more western music and male vocals. They’re the opposite of the lcd2’s and I think they might actually complement each other. I’m still mulling over my decision as I can still return the Ananda’s, but given that Audeze will have a Black Friday sale next year I may just end up owning both.

Is there any way to warm up the Ananda’s? I want more wow out of my female vocals.

For video games, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed as they give my home theater a run for their money in the bass, I have two Hsu ULS-15, but has even more clarity than my speakers.

 

[nishan99]

yeah i own the ananda and i know how great they are, but they need high volume to shine, their performance collapse the lower volume they get, quite the opposite to other headphones

with their their lack of dynamics i tend to use them at high volumes ~80db for longer periods of time for music, movies and gaming, it also kills the immersion in general and this is especially critical for gaming and movies.
The low immersion also owing to their limited SS width compared to the height and almost non existent depth combined with their soft nature, their imaging capability is limited.

from my research the Elex have one of the best dynamics with excellent imaging depth as well, that's why i chosen them to complement my Ananda for gaming, movies and some music moods like when i want to listen at low volumes or pianos and orchestras.

I hope i will get what i want

 

[Chillzone21]

thanks for the feedbackfeedback <3

yeah the piano notes sound dead on the ananda , tbh everything sounds dead on them, not in a bad way tho, same goes why some people like electrostats sound, etherial and liquid but not natural or live like dynamics, same can be said to planars as they are in the middle between the two.
i can see myself in the future having TOTL electrostat and dynamic headphones, like the utopia and L700

Btw, how they compare in gaming if you game with them ?

I am driving my Ananda's with a 300w into 4ohm speaker amplifier (solid state) that I built myself from a class D module, sounds very dynamic. If planar's are under powered they can sound flat in some area's.

 

[nishan99]

I am driving my Ananda's with a 300w into 4ohm speaker amplifier (solid state) that I built myself from a class D module, sounds very dynamic. If planar's are under powered they can sound flat in some area's.

daym, watch out, you could damage them.

I have ifi micro bl which has about 2W/32Ohm which can even drive the original He6 at loud volumes, so i don't think it's power related, it's just it's nature which is okay
you can't have everything in a headphone

 

[Chillzone21]

daym, watch out, you could damage them.

I have ifi micro bl which has about 2W/32Ohm which can even drive the original He6 at loud volumes, so i don't think it's power related, it's just it's nature which is okay
you can't have everything in a headphone

Been running great. The Ananda's are planar's, and although the specs seem to point to extreme sensitivity, I have found that they still love lot's of power. The result is effortless sound at any volume, dynamic, clean and powerful.

The only downside is a little hiss at low volumes, and the sensitivity to the influences of EMI. I had the iFi Micro before the new speaker amp, and there was no EMI or hiss. After the introduction of the new Class D amp, the was a few issues to deal with. Firstly the EMI I was getting from two power pack transformers located near the amplifier was terrible, I had to separate them at about 2m to eliminate that problem. Then there was a ground loop issue that was not co-operating between the A8 Realiser and the Oppo, that somehow was affecting the speaker amp.

And the hiss problem is minimal on most occasions, only on movies with a dead silent background in a quite scene you can slightly hear the hiss, but for the most part I find background noise is greater than the hiss levels anyhow, so not really a problem.

All in all, so far a great improvement over traditional headphone amplifiers in my personal situation, but I have not tried many of the more powerful headphone amps.

You are right, it can be dangerous for the headphones, in an attempt to fix the ground loop issue, I purchased a ground loop isolator. When I connected the isolator in between the amplifier and the pre amp, I got a huge crackling sound that was very loud and audible from a distance from the headphones. I thought I had blown a driver for sure, but luckily they weren't affected by the crackling sound, but it was a close one.

I don't feel the amplifier itself poses a great risk, but incompatible connections can.

The Ananda's I feel are a great step forward in construction, have had none of the issues from the previous HE400i's and the 3.5mm connections are much better and stronger, no need to drill them out and connect straight to the wires with the Ananda's.

 

[nishan99]

Been running great. The Ananda's are planar's, and although the specs seem to point to extreme sensitivity, I have found that they still love lot's of power. The result is effortless sound at any volume, dynamic, clean and powerful.

The only downside is a little hiss at low volumes, and the sensitivity to the influences of EMI. I had the iFi Micro before the new speaker amp, and there was no EMI or hiss. After the introduction of the new Class D amp, the was a few issues to deal with. Firstly the EMI I was getting from two power pack transformers located near the amplifier was terrible, I had to separate them at about 2m to eliminate that problem. Then there was a ground loop issue that was not co-operating between the A8 Realiser and the Oppo, that somehow was affecting the speaker amp.

And the hiss problem is minimal on most occasions, only on movies with a dead silent background in a quite scene you can slightly hear the hiss, but for the most part I find background noise is greater than the hiss levels anyhow, so not really a problem.

All in all, so far a great improvement over traditional headphone amplifiers in my personal situation, but I have not tried many of the more powerful headphone amps.

You are right, it can be dangerous for the headphones, in an attempt to fix the ground loop issue, I purchased a ground loop isolator. When I connected the isolator in between the amplifier and the pre amp, I got a huge crackling sound that was very loud and audible from a distance from the headphones. I thought I had blown a driver for sure, but luckily they weren't affected by the crackling sound, but it was a close one.

I don't feel the amplifier itself poses a great risk, but incompatible connections can.

The Ananda's I feel are a great step forward in construction, have had none of the issues from the previous HE400i's and the 3.5mm connections are much better and stronger, no need to drill them out and connect straight to the wires with the Ananda's.

you got some balls i have to say

 

[Chillzone21]

you got some balls i have to say

There under warranty (I don't know what happened to the drivers, they just stopped working)