[musickid]

I'm using a £1100 oppo pm1 (planar magnetic one) and to my ears it's on the same level with some 2-3K phones i've tried. Without blowing my own trumpet i played violin for over 10 years and my ears are sharp. The pm1 blows away some lower priced phones but not all. Quote from a fellow member on pm1 thread last July.

Just bought an Oppo PM-1 on eBay. These headphones are really something else. In the past I've owned Focal Utopias, HD800, HD800S, etc. and I don't remember enjoying their sound signature like I do the PM-1's. On the well produced CDs e.g. Paul Simon's Greatest Hits, the instruments sound realistic & the subtle background percussions can be heard clearly. Best headphones I've heard.

I also remember Rob using nighthawks which cost £500 with blu2/dave which costs £16,500. They were his favourites. Need i say more. I do fully agree with you however that tt2 owners should invest as much as possible into hi-end cans so i'm definitely not disagreeing with you there. When i save around 2K i'll go shopping for quality phones to compliment my pm1/tt2. No rush though. Of interest i'm hoping my pm1 will be a collectors item in the future as many are saying it will because oppo no longer make them.

 

[betula]

I'm using a £1100 oppo pm1 (planar magnetic one) and to my ears it's on the same level with some 2-3K phones i've tried. Without blowing my own trumpet i played violin for over 10 years and my ears are sharp. The pm1 blows away some lower priced phones but not all. Quote from a fellow member on pm1 thread last July.

Just bought an Oppo PM-1 on eBay. These headphones are really something else. In the past I've owned Focal Utopias, HD800, HD800S, etc. and I don't remember enjoying their sound signature like I do the PM-1's. On the well produced CDs e.g. Paul Simon's Greatest Hits, the instruments sound realistic & the subtle background percussions can be heard clearly. Best headphones I've heard.

I also remember Rob using nighthawks which cost £500 with blu2/dave which costs £16,500. They were his favourites. Need i say more. I do fully agree with you however that tt2 owners should invest as much as possible into hi-end cans so i'm definitely not disagreeing with you there. When i save around 2K i'll go shopping for quality phones to compliment my pm1/tt2. No rush though.

£1100 PM1 is not exactly entry level (£800 secondhand). Nighthawk is great for £200, the price they cost on secondhand market atm.
Btw both the Audioquest and Oppo headphones are discontinued, which is interesting.
Rob has a good number of headphones. I am pretty sure there are some TOTL ones lying around too.

 

[rkt31]

As expected qutest edges out PS dac with latest software update for more life like and 3d sound at 1/4th price. Seems FPGA inside PS dac is not powerful enough or Ted Smith's algorithm is not good as Rob's. So don't even think of tt2 or dave or hms against PS . Qutest imho is one of the best bargain dac. https://audiobacon.net/2018/12/20/ps-audio-directstream-dac-playing-in-snowmass/amp/

 

[musickid]

Only aeons closed i believe due to their transparency. I'm wondering with susvaras costing 5K plus and now being as common an upgrade as cornflakes when the upwards spiral in what we are willing to pay will come to an end? Fo me a 2K headphone is something for life and not loose change by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[betula]

Only aeons closed i believe due to their transparency. I'm wondering with susvaras costing 5K plus and now being as common an upgrade as cornflakes when the upwards spiral in what we are willing to pay will come to an end? Fo me a 2K headphone is something for life and not loose change by any stretch of the imagination.

The fact it is well known on the forums that Rob likes the Nighthawk and the Aeon Closed doesn't mean he only has these two headphones. Do you think he is only using these two when developing world class DACs?
I also wouldn't (couldn't) pay 5K+ for Susvara or Abyss. My very well bargained Empyrean is about the highest I am willing to pay for headphones at the moment and I am pretty sure these will keep me satisfied for a good number of years to come. I never owned a headphone that ticked all my boxes so well. It is a personal hobby of course. You might hate what I order in a fine-dining restaurant. I might dislike yours. But it is still fine dining. Or high-end audio in our case.

 

[musickid]

Nice analogy. I couldn't think of a reply to match.

 

[andrewd01]

Hi, does anyone have both HD800S and LCD2 and a TT2? I am curious to know if they can both be run at the same time out of TT2 and give similar listening volume. My wife hates the leaking sound from my HD800S and has suggested getting a second pair of phones for her as a solution. I have briefly heard LCD2 out of a hugo2 and really liked the signature, so would like to get a set as a compliment to the HD800S.

 

[musickid]

or sony mdr z1r closed?

 

[andrewd01]

or sony mdr z1r closed?

That is also on my radar, but twice the price of LCD2.

 

[hepcat11]

Beyers are a bit treble sharp it's well known. My only concern is.....should the tt2 be paired with a TOTL headphone in the £1-3K range as most do here. Pairing tt2 with a lower end headphone seems to go against the trend. Would you be doing the tt2 full justice or not if you liked an entry level headphone and would it reveal all the tt2 is capable of? The amiron is mid-tier i think.

I've used my TT2 with Beyer DT990 Pro 250, Focal Elex, HiFiMan 4xx, and my TOTL Meze Empyrean. The Empy is, of course, what I typically use with it. But the DT990Pro sounds quite nice with it too. The Focals, OTOH, I did not enjoy as much. Really felt like TT2 shone a spotlight on the Elex's limitations.

 

[Amberlamps]

Beyers are a bit treble sharp it's well known. My only concern is.....should the tt2 be paired with a TOTL headphone in the £1-3K range as most do here. Pairing tt2 with a lower end headphone seems to go against the trend. Would you be doing the tt2 full justice or not if you liked an entry level headphone and would it reveal all the tt2 is capable of? The amiron is mid-tier i think.

I've used my old Audio Technica ath700 and 900 on TT2 and they sounded really good for being old and made entirely out of plastic.

 

[musickid]

I thought the TT2 was designed with an anti matter sub £1K rejection chip which repulses headphones under £1K in value to a distance of 1M?

I'm finally finding myself totally immersed in the TT2/HMS sound today and it's feeling very sweet and natural. I'm not feeling the adjustment shadow anymore. I'm in the groove with this equipment listening to some Ethiopian sax jazz.

 

[betula]

I thought the TT2 was designed with an anti matter sub £1K rejection chip which repulses headphones under £1K in value to a distance of 1M?

Lower-end headphone drivers have limitations by design. You can have the best possible telescope in your hands, but if the lenses are just 'relatively' clean you won't see much.

 

[musickid]

What about if the weather forecast was wrong and it's a cloudy night? Mood, tiredness and time of day also greatly influence the listening experience. I agree with you tt2 deserves the very best headphones to truly shine. Without doubt.

 

[betula]

What about if the weather forecast was wrong and it's a cloudy night? Mood, tiredness and time of day also greatly influence the listening experience. I agree with you tt2 deserves the very best headphones to truly shine. Without doubt.

Sure. It is all about personal preference, taste, need, mood, etc. Whatever floats your boat. As long as a technically weaker headphone is just an alternative over your very best equipment.
IMO it is important to make sure you are able to use everything you own to their full potential, whenever you feel like to. Otherwise what's the point of owning them?