[jamato8]

Ok after an entire day of listening and comparing, I can say this. If your on a budget of around $500 and want just one good all-round headphone then I would absolutely recommend these, not sure what else outside of maybe a Sundara (Which I haven't heard) can do most genres this well. But if you start comparing these to a more specialized headphone with a specific sound signature your looking for or are willing to go higher priced ($800+) you can probably skip these.

These are very good at $500. But their biggest problem is they either don't excel at anything and are just good/great, they don't have the clear detail retrieval you get at higher priced brackets and/or they cant handle a lot of various sounds going on at once and start sounding muffled, instantly losing any sort of clear sound they had going on.

For songs with not a lot going on, I prefer these over my other headphones most of the time. The mids here are wonderfully done and most vocals sound pretty balanced. The bass is very punchy and holds its own with any headphone (as long as your not a basshead) as its very tastefully done, punchy and fun. The imaging is on point as long as there aren't too many instruments going on and the soundstage is just big enough to not desire any more. But many songs have a section or two that add a few too many instruments and all of a sudden the headphones turns from a great experience to something fairly mixed and muffled for x amount of time ruining the flow. These drivers just cant handle a lot of things going on at once and I personally cant overlook that.

Quick summaries vs my other headphones:

The AD1000X destroys it for any vocal performance, soundstage and anything based on brass instruments but loses at everything else. It can be had for $200 used ($250 new) and is a great specialized can for that purpose.

The T1.2s have equally as good punch for the bass while retaining much much more texture. The soundstage is infinitely bigger with all instruments having more room to breathe, better separation and more detail retrieval. The SR2 has better vocals then these and feels more consistent/intimate, generally working with a nicer with variety of genres. But it cant touch the songs the T1.2 does work great for, which is more about how picky the T1.2 is vs the SR2 being better at something. The T1.2 can be had anywhere from $500 used to $800 dollars new.

The LCD-2-Classics are detail kings compared to the SR2. Almost any song I picked, there was constantly music in the background that I can clearly hear on my LCD2 in half a second of putting it on that is just not present on the SR2. Once again instrument separation is much more coherent on the LCD2 with very distinct separation vs the much closer together sound of the SR2. LCD2's play less mastered songs in a nicer laid back way that doesn't ruin the music, SR2 just gets overpowered and loses its tonality. The LCD-2's also give a more life like sound to the background instruments where the SR2's do a better job with sounds that are more present. SR2's few clear points up on the LCD2's are the mids/vocals being way more forward with a more full/lush sound and it's punchier bass. This makes the SR2 a pretty great choice for Hip-Hip and simple pop vs the LCD2 but the LCD2 wins in just about everything else. The LCD2-C is $650-ish used to $800 new.

Overall, if I didn't own any of my current gear and just had this I would like it a lot for the price. Most of the time when I didn't take time to compare the SR2s directly to my other headphones I thought they sounded great and was able to look past its flaws! It was only when I took them off, rewound a song and replayed it on another pair of headphones did I instantly hear the flaws it does posses. It does a great job putting an overall signature that sounds well made and hides what it cant do, but if you already own higher end gear I don't see a real reason to buy this as it doesn't really exceed at anything.

Its going back for me, but I'm glad I got to hear it and I probably have a new recommendation for the $500 headphone person that only wants a single pair of headphones.

How many hours on the SR2? I have many of the same headphone you list and then some and am not hearing the same thing. I hear a lot of detail, good size on the soundstaging, separation and complex music holds together totally. I do use some pretty good amps, the LTA Z10e and the Absolute and the DX220Max. With all of those it does great.

 

[jamato8]

So no speed metal ?

Metal by whom?

 

[Bboy500]

How many hours on the SR2? I have many of the same headphone you list and then some and am not hearing the same thing. I hear a lot of detail, good size on the soundstaging, separation and complex music holds together totally. I do use some pretty good amps, the LTA Z10e and the Absolute and the DX220Max. With all of those it does great.

So I want to be very clear, I'm not saying they don't have detail, or that they have a bad soundstage or bad separation. They do have those things, and they are good at it (Otherwise I wouldn't say they are worth the $550!) But when compared to some higher priced gear, they aren't as good in direct 1:1 comparisons.

The best way I can explain it is I'm enjoying the music when I'm listening on the SR2 with little general complaints. Then I'll go ahead and put on my LCD-2 Classics and all of a sudden it sounds like the width has increased by 50%+ and the microdetails of a song have all been turned up by 300% volume, its an instantly noticeable thing (That I otherwise wouldn't be thinking about I had I not put on these other pair of HP's). Now the vocals get recessed and the bass loses it extra punchiness so the SR2 does do things better here, but to say the SR2 punches in the same league for everything is just not something I hear. It does some things better, but not everything.

My Amp/Dac is what's in my sig, an L30/E30 which are both great objectively speaking. I don't believe either of those should be the problem as they produce some amazing sound and I find them to generally get the most out of any headphone I have tried.

I've been listening since early morning of yesterday, getting close to 36 hours of owning these and listening to them for probably 20 hours or so by now due to having days off work. My opinion as of about the 5th hour of owning them has remained relatively the same and I haven't heard much change in sound since.

 

[kman1211]

Ok after an entire day of listening and comparing, I can say this. If your on a budget of around $500 and want just one good all-round headphone then I would absolutely recommend these, not sure what else outside of maybe a Sundara (Which I haven't heard) can do most genres this well. But if you start comparing these to a more specialized headphone with a specific sound signature your looking for or are willing to go higher priced ($800+) you can probably skip these.

These are very good at $500. But their biggest problem is they either don't excel at anything and are just good/great, they don't have the clear detail retrieval you get at higher priced brackets and/or they cant handle a lot of various sounds going on at once and start sounding muffled, instantly losing any sort of clear sound they had going on.

For songs with not a lot going on, I prefer these over my other headphones most of the time. The mids here are wonderfully done and most vocals sound pretty balanced. The bass is very punchy and holds its own with any headphone (as long as your not a basshead) as its very tastefully done, punchy and fun. The imaging is on point as long as there aren't too many instruments going on and the soundstage is just big enough to not desire any more. But many songs have a section or two that add a few too many instruments and all of a sudden the headphones turns from a great experience to something fairly mixed and muffled for x amount of time ruining the flow. These drivers just cant handle a lot of things going on at once and I personally cant overlook that.

Quick summaries vs my other headphones:

The AD1000X destroys it for any vocal performance, soundstage and anything based on brass instruments but loses at everything else. It can be had for $200 used ($250 new) and is a great specialized can for that purpose.

The T1.2s have equally as good punch for the bass while retaining much much more texture. The soundstage is infinitely bigger with all instruments having more room to breathe, better separation and more detail retrieval. The SR2 has better vocals then these and feels more consistent/intimate, generally working with a nicer with variety of genres. But it cant touch the songs the T1.2 does work great for, which is more about how picky the T1.2 is vs the SR2 being better at something. The T1.2 can be had anywhere from $500 used to $800 dollars new.

The LCD-2-Classics are detail kings compared to the SR2. Almost any song I picked, there was constantly music in the background that I can clearly hear on my LCD2 in half a second of putting it on that is just not present on the SR2. Once again instrument separation is much more coherent on the LCD2 with very distinct separation vs the much closer together sound of the SR2. LCD2's play less mastered songs in a nicer laid back way that doesn't ruin the music, SR2 just gets overpowered and loses its tonality. The LCD-2's also give a more life like sound to the background instruments where the SR2's do a better job with sounds that are more present. SR2's few clear points up on the LCD2's are the mids/vocals being way more forward with a more full/lush sound and it's punchier bass. This makes the SR2 a pretty great choice for Hip-Hip and simple pop vs the LCD2 but the LCD2 wins in just about everything else. The LCD2-C is $650-ish used to $800 new.

Overall, if I didn't own any of my current gear and just had this I would like it a lot for the price. Most of the time when I didn't take time to compare the SR2s directly to my other headphones I thought they sounded great and was able to look past its flaws! It was only when I took them off, rewound a song and replayed it on another pair of headphones did I instantly hear the flaws it does posses. It does a great job putting an overall signature that sounds well made and hides what it cant do, but if you already own higher end gear I don't see a real reason to buy this as it doesn't really exceed at anything.

Its going back for me, but I'm glad I got to hear it and I probably have a new recommendation for the $500 headphone person that only wants a single pair of headphones.

Thank you for your impressions, seems to be similar to the Nighthawk in how it starts muddying up when things get complex and they have a similar driver. So well tuned and easy to listen to but seems to lack some speed, texture, microdetail, etc. I have the T1.2 which definitely have a lot of texture and good dynamic slam. And I have two other headphones that are faster and more resolving than the T1.2.

 

[jamato8]

So I want to be very clear, I'm not saying they don't have detail, or that they have a bad soundstage or bad separation. They do have those things, and they are good at it (Otherwise I wouldn't say they are worth the $550!) But when compared to some higher priced gear, they aren't as good in direct 1:1 comparisons.

The best way I can explain it is I'm enjoying the music when I'm listening on the SR2 with little general complaints. Then I'll go ahead and put on my LCD-2 Classics and all of a sudden it sounds like the width has increased by 50%+ and the microdetails of a song have all been turned up by 300% volume, its an instantly noticeable thing (That I otherwise wouldn't be thinking about I had I not put on these other pair of HP's). Now the vocals get recessed and the bass loses it extra punchiness so the SR2 does do things better here, but to say the SR2 punches in the same league for everything is just not something I hear. It does some things better, but not everything.

My Amp/Dac is what's in my sig, an L30/E30 which are both great objectively speaking. I don't believe either of those should be the problem as they produce some amazing sound and I find them to generally get the most out of any headphone I have tried.

I've been listening since early morning of yesterday, getting close to 36 hours of owning these and listening to them for probably 20 hours or so by now due to having days off work. My opinion as of about the 5th hour of owning them has remained relatively the same and I haven't heard much change in sound since.

So how many hours on the SR2? Because I have phones that without a doubt do complex and the SR2 are right there. No they are not the same, none of my phones are the same but quality wise, the SR2 have speed and their own interpretation like all phones.

Listening to them with the Manley Absolute balanced and great sounding. DX220Max, balanced . . . lots of everything, that is right.

 

[Bboy500]

So how many hours on the SR2? Because I have phones that without a doubt do complex and the SR2 are right there. No they are not the same, none of my phones are the same but quality wise, the SR2 have speed and their own interpretation like all phones.

Listening to them with the Manley Absolute balanced and great sounding. DX220Max, balanced . . . lots of everything, that is right.

It's right there in the quote, about 20 hours of listening on them over a day in a half.

Heres a good test song, I don't know what headphones you have but this is an easy example.

Song: Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl - 1:00 to 1:15 mark. The difference between my LCD2-Classics with Dekoni Velour pads and the SR2 are night and day.

SR2: Starts mixing instruments together right at the start, slightly but its already there. By the time he starts really singing louder and louder the rest of the music behind his vocals more or less starts to blend together and becomes muddy. I can still separate the instruments if I really try, but I have to really try and actively try to ignore him singing. I am unable to listen to him and the instruments at the same time with any sort of clarity.

LCD-2 Classics: Running trough the same 15 seconds are a different story. Not only straight away am I able to hear every instrument completely with its own space (More so then the SR2 anyway), but they are also much clearer/louder from each other! And when he starts singing louder almost nothing changes. He sings louder, instruments sound exactly the same with the same detail and separation as if there was no vocals at all. All that happens is he starts... well, singing!

If you don't hear this difference then I have no idea what to tell you *Shrugs* There could be some slight variation in headphones, we could just have totally different ears, it could be our Dac/Amp (I doubt its the source as I'm using Qobuz). But its night and day to me.

 

[jamato8]

It's right there in the quote, about 20 hours of listening on them over a day in a half.

Heres a good test song, I don't know what headphones you have but this is an easy example.

Song: Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl - 1:00 to 1:15 mark. The difference between my LCD2-Classics with Dekoni Velour pads and the SR2 are night and day.

SR2: Starts mixing instruments together right at the start, slightly but its already there. By the time he starts really singing louder and louder the rest of the music behind his vocals more or less starts to blend together and becomes muddy. I can still separate the instruments if I really try, but I have to really try and actively try to ignore him singing. I am unable to listen to him and the instruments at the same time with any sort of clarity.

LCD-2 Classics: Running trough the same 15 seconds are a different story. Not only straight away am I able to hear every instrument completely with its own space, but they are also much clearer/louder from each other! And when he starts singing louder almost nothing changes. He sings louder, instruments sound exactly the same with the same detail and separation as if there was no vocals at all. All that happens is he starts... well, singing!

If you don't hear this difference then I have no idea what to tell you *Shrugs* There could be some slight variation in headphones, we could just have totally different ears, it could be our Dac/Amp (I doubt its the source as I'm using Qobuz). But its night and day to me.

I thought you had listened during the day but that didn't tell me how many hours are on the headphones. 20 hours is nothing, you need at least 100 for the drivers to break in, the bass to settle, the soundstage to open and the details to come out.

I have a few of the headphones listed that I have but I have about 3 times that many and most are some of the better phones on the market, IMO.

I will add that the detail is not on the level of the Abyss but not many phones are (the Utopia can not do what the Abyss do), with it done well. The attack is excellent on the Abyss, very fast transients. But you also need money into amps for the Abyss. Which is why the headphones like the Utopia and SR2 are nice, because they don't need the higher power, just clean power, to sound good.

 

[Bboy500]

I thought you had listened during the day but that didn't tell me how many hours are on the headphones. 20 hours is nothing, you need at least 100 for the drivers to break in, the bass to settle, the soundstage to open and the details to come out.

I have a few of the headphones listed that I have but I have about 3 times that many and most are some of the better phones on the market, IMO.

I'm one that "believes" in brain burn in, not headphone burn in but Id really rather not start that discussion here, I wont argue one way or another as everyone is different I am going to keep them for at least a week or two more, I always try to do so with any new headphones I buy. I rarely find headphones change from say, the the end of the 2nd day of listening vs 2 extra weeks of listening but I will continue to listen to the SR2 for the rest of the duration of owning them to give them their fair chance.

If it does, I'll definitely post about it here! But until then, that Jet example can easily be used as a good test (Though obviously the headphone your comparing with matters just as much)

 

[jamato8]

I'm one that "believes" in brain burn in, not headphone burn in but Id really rather not start that discussion here, I wont argue one way or another as everyone is different I am going to keep them for at least a week or two more, I always try to do so with any new headphones I buy. I rarely find headphones change from say, the the end of the 2nd day of listening vs 2 extra weeks of listening but I will continue to listen to the SR2 for the rest of the duration of owning them to give them their fair chance.

If it does, I'll definitely post about it here! But until then, that Jet example can easily be used as a good test (Though obviously the headphone your comparing with matters just as much)

That is why I may listen to a headphone from time to time as it burns in but I don't want my head doing it (burning in), I want to hear any changes to the equipment. I have worked with a number of manufactures over the years and all of them believed in and could hear differences with time. It is even more evident when you have a product with a few hours on it and the same one with 1 or 2 hundred hours. To me, and to a number of people I know, the difference is very evident. I also listen to live music, that is extremely important.

 

[cel4145]

In case anyone is interested, Audiophonics had these frequency response measurements posted on the product page for the SR2

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/audi...eadphone-50mw-24-108db-3hz-40khz-p-14711.html

 

[Bui Hai Anh]

I don't know... Tested the LCD-2 Classic, LCD-1, HD800S vs my X2HR the other day.

LCD-2 Classics was honky, shouty, and muddy at the same time, giving me headache in the first minute.

LCD-1 was much easier on the ear regarding tonality, but not much detail there.

After LCD-1, my X2HR seemed overly detailed with bass slam, but mid sounded thin. HD800S had even more detail and wider soundstage, but less bass slam.

I can't think of LCD-2 Classics as detailed. If SR2 retains some of SR1's characteristics, then smooth it is. The distributor offered me a pre-order price of $486, so I'm torn between SR2 and NDH20 now.

 

[510198]

Ok after an entire day of listening and comparing, I can say this. If your on a budget of around $500 and want just one good all-round headphone then I would absolutely recommend these, not sure what else outside of maybe a Sundara (Which I haven't heard) can do most genres this well. But if you start comparing these to a more specialized headphone with a specific sound signature your looking for or are willing to go higher priced ($800+) you can probably skip these.

These are very good at $500. But their biggest problem is they either don't excel at anything and are just good/great, they don't have the clear detail retrieval you get at higher priced brackets and/or they cant handle a lot of various sounds going on at once and start sounding muffled, instantly losing any sort of clear sound they had going on.

For songs with not a lot going on, I prefer these over my other headphones most of the time. The mids here are wonderfully done and most vocals sound pretty balanced. The bass is very punchy and holds its own with any headphone (as long as your not a basshead) as its very tastefully done, punchy and fun. The imaging is on point as long as there aren't too many instruments going on and the soundstage is just big enough to not desire any more. But many songs have a section or two that add a few too many instruments and all of a sudden the headphones turns from a great experience to something fairly mixed and muffled for x amount of time ruining the flow. These drivers just cant handle a lot of things going on at once and I personally cant overlook that.

Quick summaries vs my other headphones:

The AD1000X destroys it for any vocal performance, soundstage and anything based on brass instruments but loses at everything else. It can be had for $200 used ($250 new) and is a great specialized can for that purpose.

The T1.2s have equally as good punch for the bass while retaining much much more texture. The soundstage is infinitely bigger with all instruments having more room to breathe, better separation and more detail retrieval. The SR2 has better vocals then these and feels more consistent/intimate, generally working with a nicer with variety of genres. But it cant touch the songs the T1.2 does work great for, which is more about how picky the T1.2 is vs the SR2 being better at something. The T1.2 can be had anywhere from $500 used to $800 dollars new.

The LCD-2-Classics are detail kings compared to the SR2. Almost any song I picked, there was constantly music in the background that I can clearly hear on my LCD2 in half a second of putting it on that is just not present on the SR2. Once again instrument separation is much more coherent on the LCD2 with very distinct separation vs the much closer together sound of the SR2. LCD2's play less mastered songs in a nicer laid back way that doesn't ruin the music, SR2 just gets overpowered and loses its tonality. The LCD-2's also give a more life like sound to the background instruments where the SR2's do a better job with sounds that are more present. SR2's few clear points up on the LCD2's are the mids/vocals being way more forward with a more full/lush sound and it's punchier bass. This makes the SR2 a pretty great choice for Hip-Hip and simple pop vs the LCD2 but the LCD2 wins in just about everything else. The LCD2-C is $650-ish used to $800 new.

Overall, if I didn't own any of my current gear and just had this I would like it a lot for the price. Most of the time when I didn't take time to compare the SR2s directly to my other headphones I thought they sounded great and was able to look past its flaws! It was only when I took them off, rewound a song and replayed it on another pair of headphones did I instantly hear the flaws it does posses. It does a great job putting an overall signature that sounds well made and hides what it cant do, but if you already own higher end gear I don't see a real reason to buy this as it doesn't really exceed at anything.

Its going back for me, but I'm glad I got to hear it and I probably have a new recommendation for the $500 headphone person that only wants a single pair of headphones.

Nice impressions! Does the timbre of instruments sound natural? Also, did you try the other set of pads?

 

[cloberpot]

Could someone please share the cup size and pad size (outer/ inner diameter)? centimetres would be best!

 

[Bboy500]

I don't know... Tested the LCD-2 Classic, LCD-1, HD800S vs my X2HR the other day.

LCD-2 Classics was honky, shouty, and muddy at the same time, giving me headache in the first minute.

LCD-1 was much easier on the ear regarding tonality, but not much detail there.

After LCD-1, my X2HR seemed overly detailed with bass slam, but mid sounded thin. HD800S had even more detail and wider soundstage, but less bass slam.

I can't think of LCD-2 Classics as detailed. If SR2 retains some of SR1's characteristics, then smooth it is. The distributor offered me a pre-order price of $486, so I'm torn between SR2 and NDH20 now.

I've never seen any version of the LCD 2's described as honky/shouty and muddy. The LCD2's (And by extension the Classics) are legendary headphones for a reason, now its one thing if people don't like them or don't enjoy dark headphones. Totally normal. But there's no way you can describe any LCD2s like that, hard hard disagree. Like, I cant even fathom listening to any version of the LCD2's and using the words "muddy" to describe them How. Is your pair broken?

As far as calling them detailed, I'm not exactly doing that. I'm calling them detailed compared to the sr2's but not calling them exactly detailed headphones in general. They do detail just fine for their price bracket, they don't excel at it for the price, they don't have to.

Understand the difference between comparing headphones and making a general statement. I can say a $50 pair of headphones is detailed compared to another $100 pair of headphones without calling the $50 headphones great at detailing overall.

Nice impressions! Does the timbre of instruments sound natural? Also, did you try the other set of pads?

I did try the other sets of pads and found them lacking in bass and sounding way too tinny. I tried to keep listening but only lasted about an hour before I had to pad swap back, it sounded terrible to me. I didn't give them their fair time though, and I've read good impressions with them for others! They just did not work at all for my ears.

As far as the instruments, yeah I'd say they do.

 

[RSC08]

this reeks of social media hype tactics. review when?

What, you discarded the "quality, quality, so much quality, quality, omg this quality, quality, quality and by the way the headband is so bad they will fall down your face unless you mod them, quality, quality, wow quality" "review"?