Agreed, the HE-R10P Stealths are an outstanding closed back the goes under the radar. It might have been because of the original version. But the HE-R10P Stealths are a beast. I feel it’s one of the best closed backs out there along with the DCA Stealths and Focal Stellias.
I'm now thinking about a new amp. I'm now using a fairly old Rudistor NX-03, and I'm thinking about Asgard 3. Any experience with it and R10d? Any advice for a similar budget?
Sorry for quoting myself... May I ask it again? I'd like to stay around Euro 500,00 at the moment (Asgard 3 with no module is 419,00 from Schiit Europe), but I can go higher if it's worth. Used would be okay, but I cannot access Classifieds yet.
Glad you tried that and it made the R10P sound better. I feel a lot of people are dismissing this HP without having given it a chance to shine on a good chain. In that sense it's a lot like Susvaras. I feel like there are other closed backs which can sound good on lesser chains and that's great, but then again they can't get to the level of the R10Ps on a godly chain. Maybe the Atrium closed, TBH I haven't tried them yet. But for peeps like me who want one TOTL chain with one open back and one closed back that scale with that chain, the R10P and Susvara combo is perfect...
100% agreed! Had my Susvara for 5 years and many other cans that came and went. The Susvara was the only one that stayed forever. The R10P stealth is the perfect compliment when you need that isolation for times when the kids go nuts at home!
I guess my mistake was believing the R10P stealth was easy to drive to high potential because I saw a post where someone was driving it with a Cayin RU6 with good results. I mean it is not a hard can to drive like the Susvara but the R10P stealth can really scale with good hardware. I spent the longest time in a single session with it when driving them off my Bartok + Super Symmetry Dynahi just last night! Lets keep sharing what else we find out about the R10P stealth. Got then off the open box discount direct from Hifiman and worth every single cent. I’m sure we haven’t unlock its full potential. I’m still using the stock cable lol. Can’t imagine the potential when I eventually replace it with something more scalable!
While I wait for answers to my question, I thought I'd post a few impressions.
Here's what I'm talking about: Qobuz high res through Topping D50s (Bluetooth) - Rudistor NX-03 - Hifiman HE-R10 Dynamic.
Background: I'm a 63 years old musician, professional performer (playing the clarinets, the whole family), and composer (mostly of chamber music, often with vocals) and teacher. I listen to all kinds of music, and I mean all.
The more I listen, the more I like what I hear... But, there are records that sound really amazing with my combo. Others don't... but when they sound good, they sound really good. Here are a few examples:
Aaron Parks - Arborescences (ECM)
A solo piano record, with typical ECM sound. I hear amazing timbre, of perfect color. Slightly warmer than reality, but that may be the recording. Intimate, like being near the instrument. Liquid, and you may call it a bit euphonic, but really beautiful.
Frank Sinatra - Francis A. & Edward K. (Reprise I think)
Sinatra was THE voice, but this record isn't one of his best, I believe. Here soundstage is huge! Saxes on the right, brass on the left, so not that realistic, but again timbre is outstanding. Sinatra's voice is slightly recessed, compared to other records, but it blends perfectly with the orchestra. However, what makes this listen very pleasing is I can hear the bass so well. At the beginning of the record I thought it was too much, but as soon as all the instruments (and voice) have come into play it's just perfect. In the end I can hear everything in the arrangements, and that's for me pure pleasure.
Artificial, synthesized sounds are completely different beasts... Pursuing fidelity is absurd... What I like in this case is how the music wraps me up, with clear still warm and punchy sound. Trance is the music and trance you get with this combo. Bass is prominent, and highs a bit recessed, but even if not in your face you can hear everything with great clarity.
As I said, I listen to everything, I'll talk about classical music and rock etc. next time.
Well, I paid the HE-R10D a mere 216 euros shipped, that's the best money I have spent in headphones so far... And to put what I wrote into some kind of context: I have other headphones, HD600/650, RS1 buttoned, DT880 600, FT1 and a few others (I had LCD2 first version, too), but none of the flagships of today.
Was hoping to read some impressions to hold myself over until my R10Ps get here, so I jumped into the early pages of this thread. Boy, was that a mistake. The first 40-50 pages are some of the most embarrassing stuff on the forum.
So instead of that, the R10D is getting some head time.
Still adore them. I will correct myself on one thing that I had initially thought about them: previously I had thought there was a boost to low-mids that made vocals sound overly thick. Upon further listening, I realize now that it's a resonance. I'm still mostly unbothered by it, but it makes more sense as to why I hear it in some tracks, and not in others. It's a very specific frequency, which I don't have a good enough ear to nail down.
At any rate, still blown away by the energy and lushness of the sound. I find myself super impressed by the size of the soundstage, considering they're a "closed back". I feel like calling them closed-back is a little inaccurate, though. Technically, there's no vents or anything, so they are a closed back, but for all practical purposes they're a semi-open. In fact, while I never owned these at the same time as the Klipsch HP-3, I think those headphones had better isolation. These, and the R9, really remind me more of the old Denon AH-D2000s, which were super popular when I first joined this hobby. Providing no real isolation, but providing that sweet, sweet closed-back bass response. I actually find semi-open designs to be extremely under-rated and under-utilized. Even the HP-3 had excellent bass and soundstage.
Did only a brief test tonight, listening to this record, which is by the way a great one:
Tried only velvet and sheepskin, since mesh looks very similar to stock. Not night and day, but I could hear differences, and ended up preferring the velvet ones, cause with this particular record they give a better balance, while sheepskin do tame the bass a little, but bass in this record is so beautiful I don't really want to tame it. However, it's too early to have a precise idea, I'll keep posting...
Did I say I like my HE-R10D very much? Grab one until it costs so little!
Did only a brief test tonight, listening to this record, which is by the way a great one:
Tried only velvet and sheepskin, since mesh looks very similar to stock. Not night and day, but I could hear differences, and ended up preferring the velvet ones, cause with this particular record they give a better balance, while sheepskin do tame the bass a little, but bass in this record is so beautiful I don't really want to tame it. However, it's too early to have a precise idea, I'll keep posting...
Did I say I like my HE-R10D very much? Grab one until it costs so little!
I’m considering to buy one but I own a Kennerton Rognir DD yet and Audivina as closed back HPs.
I took FRs not from the same Squig unfortunately, but on paper R10D looks has less mid presence and maybe can sound even warmer than my kennerton, am I wrong?
I’m considering to buy one but I own a Kennerton Rognir DD yet and Audivina as closed back HPs.
I took FRs not from the same Squig unfortunately, but on paper R10D looks has less mid presence and maybe can sound even warmer than my kennerton, am I wrong?
Unfortunately I never heard Rognir and Audivina... My experience with closed backs is very limited. I had once an Audio Technica (can't remember the model). I bought an FT1 recently, and then this one. To my ears the Hifiman beats the Fiio in bass extension and soundstage, while mids are great on both. Where they are really different is in the highs, more prominent on FT1, slightly recessed on HE-R10D. But, I wouldn't call one of the two better in this respect, just different, and I like both. Apparently the Hifiman a bit more, since it gets more head time. YMMV of course.
I don't know why but, even though I didn't own it, I was somehow certain that with the Mojo the synergy would be perfect. Don't ask me why I knew... I don't know either... but I would have put my hand in the fire.
My opinion is that regardless of whether or not they are worth the 1299 euros listed, they have a nice sound. Very often there are very expensive headphones that we simply don't like... other times they are absolutely not worth their cost. The thing that really matters to me is that the headphones I buy make me happy and satisfied with their sound and the R10Ds do that. In the end I think that there are a lot of 1000 euro headphones that sound worse than the R10D and yet, for those headphones, it is not said that they don't sound good for the price they have but that they have little bass or they have too much or that the mids they are not integrated in the sound or even that the highs are too sharp or not very incisive... in short, the details are analyzed without saying what should be said... and that is that they sound bad for how much they cost. Hifiman, too often, is measured on its cost... and just as often far exceeds the average of headphones of the same cost. I am convinced that my HE 1000 Stealth sound much better than headphones from other brands of the same cost (1500 euros), as do the HE6SEV2 (700 euros), as do the R10Ds (399 euros). However, all this matters very little... the only thing that matters is that for me as for you the HER10D have a nice sound, all this is enough and more.
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