[jjazzy]

Not sure what the difference is, I haven't played with headphones in a while, can you let me know what the differences are?

Open, you hear also music outside the cups. Closed no sound outside the cups.

Open planned sound mostly best, depended how loud you are listening that is usable in your situation

 

[jjazzy]

I have been 100% speakers listening on my system, now I want to get a pair of headphones to use on my TT-2/M Scaler combo for when the kids are asleep, what do you guys recommend? I want a full sound, nothing thin or bright, some recommendations please. No worries about budget, just want something really good.

Go for planars

 

[Kentajalli]

I have been 100% speakers listening on my system, now I want to get a pair of headphones to use on my TT-2/M Scaler combo for when the kids are asleep, what do you guys recommend?

For when the kids go to bed, one needs a closed back!
Only a handful of good closed-backs are about, Planar or otherwise.
At least good closed backs worthy of a TT2.
I suggest LCD-XC or a DCA Stealth.
The XC needs a little EQ. For me, so does the Stealth! That mid bass hump is not to my liking.
When it comes to transducers, aim for the lowest distortion levels, almost to the exclusion of all else!
A bold statement, I know! But you will be amazed how quickly your ears/brain would apply its own EQ (get used to'em). But one can never get used to distortion.
Both headphones mentioned, are market leaders when it comes to distortion. Of course, there are others.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

For when the kids go to bed, one needs a closed back!
Only a handful of good closed-backs are about, Planar or otherwise.
At least good closed backs worthy of a TT2.
I suggest LCD-XC or a DCA Stealth.
The XC needs a little EQ. For me, so does the Stealth! That mid bass hump is not to my liking.
When it comes to transducers, aim for the lowest distortion levels, almost to the exclusion of all else!
A bold statement, I know! But you will be amazed how quickly your ears/brain would apply its own EQ (get used to'em). But one can never get used to distortion.
Both headphones mentioned, are market leaders when it comes to distortion. Of course, there are others.

Dan Clark Stealth then, isn't that What Rob Watts uses?

 

[alekc]

I have been 100% speakers listening on my system, now I want to get a pair of headphones to use on my TT-2/M Scaler combo for when the kids are asleep, what do you guys recommend? I want a full sound, nothing thin or bright, some recommendations please. No worries about budget, just want something really good.

@GuiltyRocker if you want to retain TT2 musicality while also staying at the same level of details, clarity, air and sound stage with terrific placement of instruments in space I would recommend both T+A Solitaire models. If budget is not an objective go with P model, but TBH the difference between cheaper P-SE is not a night and day. I went with P-SE since the difference between those two weren't worth the price difference for me. The sound is on-par with Susvara yet the build quality is a lot better (plus Susvara really shines with proper tube amp IMHO).

A comment on Empys: all Meze headphones I've heard so far were telling their own - beautiful - story via adding some colour, touch of warmth and smoothness. Honestly I think they pair a lot better with R2R dacs (I've love them with Rockna WL) and especially Empys can provide poetical sound when paired with AuroraSound HEADA. I've been running M-Scaler/TT2 with HEADA for a few years already and I love this setup however, again this is not a sound TT2 gives you directly.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

@GuiltyRocker if you want to retain TT2 musicality while also staying at the same level of details, clarity, air and sound stage with terrific placement of instruments in space I would recommend both T+A Solitaire models. If budget is not an objective go with P model, but TBH the difference between cheaper P-SE is not a night and day. I went with P-SE since the difference between those two weren't worth the price difference for me. The sound is on-par with Susvara yet the build quality is a lot better (plus Susvara really shines with proper tube amp IMHO).

A comment on Empys: all Meze headphones I've heard so far were telling their own - beautiful - story via adding some colour, touch of warmth and smoothness. Honestly I think they pair a lot better with R2R dacs (I've love them with Rockna WL) and especially Empys can provide poetical sound when paired with AuroraSound HEADA. I've been running M-Scaler/TT2 with HEADA for a few years already and I love this setup however, again this is not a sound TT2 gives you directly.

Thanks, I'll check these out and the other recommendations. I appreciate the advice, thank you.

 

[MgMGM]

I have been 100% speakers listening on my system, now I want to get a pair of headphones to use on my TT-2/M Scaler combo for when the kids are asleep, what do you guys recommend? I want a full sound, nothing thin or bright, some recommendations please. No worries about budget, just want something really good.

Campfire Audio ARA IEM's do it for me. Got the Audeze LCD XC and the campfire are night and day improvement. Fuller and more musical sound. The LCD XC are for me thin and bright, probs gona be selling them I think. (Upgrade to Campfire Solaris Steller Horizon, If Mrs lets me!)

 

[Progisus]

I have been 100% speakers listening on my system, now I want to get a pair of headphones to use on my TT-2/M Scaler combo for when the kids are asleep, what do you guys recommend? I want a full sound, nothing thin or bright, some recommendations please. No worries about budget, just want something really good.

I would suggest Focal Utopia headphone and for an iem the 64audio Fourte. The fourte is long in the tooth but to me rivals headphones with better isolation.

 

[MgMGM]

Band...XTC Album.....MUMMER Track.......Beating Of Hearts Sublime with TT2/ Campfire Audio ARA IEM's......Lyrics really make you think.... In context of the wars been fought during these times it does strike a chord, great music. ( As with the rest of the album and XTC previous Lp 'English Settlement' it seems Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding were looking into crystal balls with there songs covering...... war..... slavery..... domestic violence...... racism..... climate change....... local councils totally defunct and almost bankrupt..... misogyny...... amongst other stuff.} Check it out... Unique English band, very underrated...... Happy new year.......

 

[Meridian7]

Open backs:
For Empyrean 'version 1', I suggest dsp (make highs +3 compared to lows) and angled pads. Mojo2 dsp is great.
Meze Elite, no dsp needed, also angled pads.
Closed back:
I've Focal Stellia, no dsp needed, likes a full week 24/7 burn in. Immense resolution and great but just not quite the open backs planar magic. Easier on the amp load.

I run them all on silver cables from skyaudiocables at ebay, great service and I'm not affiliated!

Haven't really tested other HP's though.

 

[GuiltyRocker]

Whatever headphones I get I will never use DSP.

 

[580847]

I need to focus on my health, so I'm just going to make a single post since it seems like a good opportunity to share my 'thought process' after years of Rob Watt's Up invaluable teachings. I'm not going to suggest this or that product as that's not my thing as I believe posters have too much emotional involvement when they make recommends.

Since I'm a graduate of Watt's Up Uni, I approach transducers by first asking myself "What would Rob Watts use?".

For example, would Rob Watt's ever use 'W'-shaped sound sigs? If he did, how many minutes can Rob Watt's tolerate wonkiness? Over/Under 3 minutes is probably the betting line. Coloured transducers? Over/Under 10 minutes.

Just think about it, Rob Watts can request any transducer he wants on demand. That's like a one-million dollar advertising campaign for the transducer supplier. What does he choose? At first, it was the Aeon Closed. Nothing cliquey, it did the job. Then the Stealth was on his radar and he locked into that transducer. The Stealth certainly wasn't for the hype. I really love Rob Watts is not susceptible to Marketing and just the facts kind of bloke. There's no brand name / FOTM bragging that he bought the most expensive transducer so it 100% has be good, their Marketing said so. There's no I want to post the unboxing on Instagram because it just cost so much, I'm such an influencer. Rob Watt's chain is just no nonsense sensible refined and production stable throughout the years.

I just try to put myself in Rob Watt's shoes. For example, Rob Watt's is open to the idea of giving CIEMs one more try last time I checked. He has not had a good experience so far with CIEMs. I'm one of the few that can potentially get him perfect digital CIEM impressions, not the high variance traditional CIEM impressions that hurts one's ears. But I'm not sure how easy it is nowadays as the world has changed. I should be able to do this since I was a CIEM customer since 1999 and with the right communication, hopefully something can be setup if the right professional product is released.

But for this use case, comfort is #1 priority. But I want to only focus on professional CIEMs, not consumer and not boutique. So it's really a task since there's nothing released yet that checks all the boxes and not already discontinued. But I have hope. So whenever I think of transducers, I ask myself what would fit Rob Watt's needs? It's not too daunting a task to find a CIEM up Rob Watt's alley since all his preferences are in the Watt's Up thread, it just depends on product cycles and the right coordinating timing.

The TT2/HMS/Stealth will likely never fit my use case as I haven't given up on International Air Travel yet due to health reasons (living abroad from time to time), but I just imagine how fun it would be to do Watt's Up Homework while re-reading the Watt's Up thread. It would be a dream to follow the thread while listening to the same chain as Rob Watts IMO. The thread is of extreme educational value and offsets the price of a Chord DAC by providing once in a lifetime teachings. With a TT2/HMS/Stealth Chain, I can rewind if I missed something that Rob Watts has caught while sharing his impressions on the same track. That's valuable education-wise.

So instead of being bombarded by all the product choices out there, I suggest putting yourself in Rob Watt's shoes and ask what would he use.

Oh, I also use the perfect, neutral CIEM cable so since I have a 2nd pair I always wonder how it would pair with the Stealth. I know how to procure the original Hirose connectors not the copycat connectors, so it wouldn't be too difficult to switchover. I also consider Rob Watt's annealing Solid Core recipe to pair with the Stealth. So perfect, neutral cable versus unknown solid core cable if Stealth was ever on the radar.

----------

Musickid. I really like that you make adjustments to be more align with Rob Watt's teachings over the years. If you make a mis-step, you are willing to learn and adjust and not push your mistakes on others to validate your past decision and move on from mistakes. Too many do that and not willing to adjust while you seem to not care and do what is optimal. Really cool you stay the course and not feed your Chord DAC with the wrong algorithms. Feeding the wrong algorithm is just so much variance, and I really dislike any variance in chains.

I started to think about Voxativ too along with the Stealth. Rob Watt's inspired me to consider a simple travel speaker set, so I thought about putting 5 inch Voxativ into Pods along with something simple. This is a 3.5 inch full-range Pod @87 sensitivity I was considering just for desktop use (it fits in a travel bag), but I think it's better to be patient and go all out with Voxativ:

Reminder, there's a pureaudioproject with Voxativs if that's your new old jam:

https://pureaudioproject.com/classic15-open-baffle-speakers-by-pureaudioproject/

I found out there's a Voxativ dealer halfway to Las Vegas, so who knows maybe one day.

Steve Hoffman approved:


I haven't thought about this too much, but this popped in my head today during a walk:

Feeding toslink into a HMS is like feeding an HMS into a HMS since both toslink and HMS processes a 100% source. It's potentially double-processing.

So I'm hoping to experiment with USB optical once I get more PCI-E parts early 2024 and cross fingers it works. It's amazing for Gaming as it's pure neutrality with Soundstage Depth. Hopefully, I can replicate on the Music side since I have the best passive power supplies in the world. But I think Battery Packs should do the job too.

USB optical > HMS only single processing
toslink optical > HMS double-processing?
HMS > HMS double-processing

Okay, time to rest and go back into READ-ONLY mode.

Just my current End of 2023 thought process after years of Watt's Up teachings. I reserve the right to evolve and adjust over time.

EDIT: With more and more HW EQ, it makes sense the transducer is close to flat IMO since HW EQ seems to be a future Chord trend. Imagine the complexity of EQ'ing a 'W-shaped' wonky sound sig.

Also fun checking out Mastering Studios using Chord DACs in the Chord Pro section as there is a critical mass of Mastering Studios in Southern California. Mastering Studios are underrated as Hollywood for Videos and Gaming Industry are more in the spotlight. The game where I noticed Soundstage Depth after 6 weeks of Brain Burn-In was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, so I guess it's no surprise Gaming SQ can be a thing. One could get fired using Wonky W-shaped, coloured transducers at these Mastering Studios.

https://chordelectronics.co.uk/chord-electronics-pro

Gaming SQ wasn't a thing until mid-November, then by lowering Noise Floor Modulation using the best Off Mains 5V power supply in the world on a USB optical cable it became a thing for I. I actually became disoriented by listening to rain drops in the game, then I went into the backyard and heard rain drops. My brain CPU power could not process the in-game world from the real world rain drops, so I struggled to walk for a split second. Adding Soundstage Depth for Gaming in open world games adds to the realism.

 

[Meridian7]

Whatever headphones I get I will never use DSP.

I get that totally.
Is also why I only use mojo2 for it, seems like it respects bit-perfect sound quality the most when doing dsp. Considering Empyrean - Mojo2 a tango dance, usually plus a class A amp (Rebelamp) towards the headphone.

 

[Meridian7]

https://chordelectronics.co.uk/chord-electronics-pro

What an impressive list of sound professionals who are ASR cultwise worth-to-crap-on gullible audiofools in a high need of 'Amir liberation'.

 

[alekc]

Whatever headphones I get I will never use DSP.

@GuiltyRocker I hear you and I fully understand your policy, however testing Mojo 2 DSP maybe a game changer for you, it has been for me but honestly speaking I only use one setting from time to time (bringing soud color of Mojo 2 toward Mojo OG).

Coming from headphones perspective when a headphone manufacturer tells me I need to use EQ to get best results for me it is a statement that he failed on achieving own goals when designing particular cans. From headphones I had experience with this issues is mostly of concern for Audeze, I think their cooperation with Embody and Roon DSP settings for different headphone lines is not accidental. As for Meze Empys, I'm not sure they need EQ if they are matched with proper amp but this increases the length and complexity of signal path so maybe if listening directly from TT2 they gain something with DSP settings. Haven't tried it myself so can't comment here except that I do not use DSP daily instead I try to keep things as simple as possible.

T+A cans are great out of the box and both models are perfectly fine without any additional EQ settings at least in terms of clarity, instrument separation, stage and layering.

At the end it is all matter of personal taste. Just my 2 cents.