[GREQ]

I wouldn't use those items as comparable examples. They are either currently greatest in class (Burj Khalifa) or still great, even if having been superseded. The R10 I'd be more inclined to compare to something like a Ferrari Testarossa -- a great classic in its own way, but very flawed compared to a modern sports car.

Then you missed the point which I didn't make.
No, but really it's more about the 'romanticism' involved with the object, and I do agree with your point as a technical detail.

But let's entertain for a second the thought of GM bringing out the "GM Testarossa GT" and it looked almost exactly like the Ferrari, as if it was done over a weekend for a high-school design project.
Becuase this is exactly what we're looking at here, and is exactly how many people in this thread feel.

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

Mmmm the nostalgia factor. Can be quite the powerful thing. Personally I’ve always had a thing for licking ancient ruins.
Though instead of riding the backwaves of a rivaling company’s achievements, Hifiman should pay homage to themselves...again...but this time choose the right headphone for a re-release. We’ve seen pretty much every old headphone of theirs rise up again like some weird can-phoenix...yet the single most alluring headphone they’ve ever produced still somehow escapes their attention.
They would have made an ocean of dineros if they’d done something similar to what Sennheiser did with Drop and the 6XX...only with a brandspanking new (old) HE-5XX...but I guess Hifiman seems to be completely unaware of their finest hour

 

[bmichels]

gosh, I just bought already a TOL closed headphone, a ZMF Verite Closed Back. So, I will have to pass this time....

 

[Piotr Michalak]

Personally, I don't see the big deal. The R10s are just headphones. They are only considered special because it was 20 years after they were first released before anything comparable came along. As other people have said, many headphones available now are much better. Back when I tried a bass-light pair at a meet, I preferred my LCD-3s, even if the R-10s had a glorious mid-range.

My R10 have better technicalities and neutral midrange even than my SR009 and 007. I wonder how people may say that LCD3s or something is better than R10, unless it’s all about the bass

 

[Ithilstone]

More pictures of drivers and such....

https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?i...15969624173102da058f1f8e647946f6229e6d56aa343

https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?i...1596962417324aeb4a50c9861ddb4b54cd98c00f075d2

Planar version - looks like the drivers will have a 'horizontal' orientation, instead of the the traditional 'vertical magnet orientation'


Dynamic version - seems to somewhat copy the Sony R10 baffle design.


Sony MDR-R10 baffle

Dynamic version looks very much like original r10 if they actually improved the driver in terms of longevity (better materials) and sound (nano coating) there may be on to something

Planar version also looks purposefully different to standard planars vertical magnets Vs horizontal and that layer of diffusion material with start shape cutout - again give a hope for truly thought out design.

Time will tell.

Not mad about naming but Chinese culture is so different to west world one - it just might be Ok in their book...

 

[GREQ]

Yes, that people give these products their value. It is all perception.

It's not the point I was making, but it's not wrong either.

In the same way, money or gold has value because people give those things value.
Intrinsically, these things have no value.

But, at the same time, I think Mink is deliberately stirring the pot here a little, knowing that most people will see things from only one side.
Call it playing devil's advocate, or whatever, it's not wrong.

for me it's just .....

 

[AnakChan]

Personally, I don't see the big deal. The R10s are just headphones. They are only considered special because it was 20 years after they were first released before anything comparable came along. As other people have said, many headphones available now are much better. Back when I tried a bass-light pair at a meet, I preferred my LCD-3s, even if the R-10s had a glorious mid-range.

It definitely didn't get a smile outta ya .

 

[radnor]

I love the sound of Hifiman's products. Susvara is the best headphone IMO and I quite literally heard everything. Yet I still don't plan to give them my money. Fang forced me to *not* buy it with the build quality of his product, his customer service and some of the remarks he has made over the years about his consumers and his competitors. This R10 is just a nail in the coffin.

Hifi mans customer service with me was great! I had an issue with susvara pads and they immediately sent a replacement.

 

[Mediahound]

I don't think that people who are new to this hobby, such as yourself, realize how famous and beloved the Sony R10s truly are. They have been talked about for decades. They go for $10,000 on the used-market.

Quite true, but probably only because they are no longer made and were one of the first 'audiophile' closed back headphones. By today's standards, the Sony R10's are probably not really as good sounding as other closed-backs available.

 

[obsidyen]

I was considering buying the Arya but this behaviour by Fang is making me dislike his business practices and anything he makes.

 

[FastAndClean]

Why so expensive? Because it sounds good.

 

[trellus]

I don't think that people who are new to this hobby, such as yourself, realize how famous and beloved the Sony R10s truly are. They have been talked about for decades. They go for $10,000 on the used-market.

It would be like Chevy coming out with a car called the "Countach." Then having the nerve to say that the Lamborghini Countach sucks.

The audacity.

The R10 is not just another headphone. It is the definitive closed back headphone.

I’ve noticed for a while they are beloved and I still can’t figure out why. . They look ugly as sin to me and the description of the sound is unappealing. I think people are nuts to spend $10,000 on headphones I doubt most people who aren’t buying nostalgia would find enjoyable, but that’s just me.

 

[HipHopScribe]

What a cheap move, Hifiman should be embarrassed

 

[Piotr Michalak]

The wood Caps are from a OEM factory, I think u have to buy in bulk with 500 units as minimum. Each ear cap cost 5usd .

That's a lol that they are making this with cups from an oem company. Let's make our own headfi community R10 edition! HF-R10

 

[nanaholic]

Personally, I don't see the big deal. The R10s are just headphones. They are only considered special because it was 20 years after they were first released before anything comparable came along. As other people have said, many headphones available now are much better. Back when I tried a bass-light pair at a meet, I preferred my LCD-3s, even if the R-10s had a glorious mid-range.

It's a big deal because there are several issues at hand, but you are focusing on the issue which is not what makes people angry at Hifiman for.

Firstly, the R10 reached legendary status because 20 years ago it was unique, and while true that it would probably simply be classified as a pair of headphones that has a peculiar sound tuning, doesn't measure particularly well and only suitable for a tiny portion of music genres, nevertheless it was something which Sony spend a lot of time and effort to design and make.

However, the Sony R10's technical merits as a headphone on its own as measured against modern headphone is actually irrelevant to the discussion and people's issue with Hifiman's move currently at hand.

This is because Hifiman blatantly comes out with a direct ripoff of the housing - which serves as an essential acoustic tuning property of a closed-back headphone and requires many man hours of trial and error to do especially back 20 years ago when prototyping and machinery is a lot less developed than today (no 3D scanner or 3D printing for starters, computing power is also a lot less so computer acoustic simulation would also be extremely difficult) - and shameless admits that they check the patent design and knows that Sony can't sue them (which is essentially acknowledging they ripoff the unique acoustic property of the inside design wholesale), with Hifiman itself being a well known audio/headphone brand, it says a lot about the company doing this because they did not spend the time and effort to make an essential component of the headphone while capitalising both its engineering as well as brand value.

IMO Hifiman had set back the state of Chi-fi 10 years with this move, just when Chi-fi has began to show they are no longer making cheap knockoffs and can go with completely original designs, Hifiman came out to re-solidify that stereotypical imagine of Chinese companies just being ripoffs of other people's hard work.