[mudnut]

Got the AR5000 today, they are super light and comfortable. Can confirm it's 'warm-neutral' with good clarity and mid emphasis. Bass is very neutral but extends deep; those who look for 'slam' should look elsewhere. Female vocals and string instruments sound particularly good and attention grabbing with these headphones. Overall, a great pair of headphones worth the $299 retail price. One surprise I found was that they need almost as much power as my HEK Stealth even though specs suggest they are much more sensitive.

 

[Ichos]

Got the AR5000 today, they are super light and comfortable. Can confirm it's 'warm-neutral' with good clarity and mid emphasis. Bass is very neutral but extends deep; those who look for 'slam' should look elsewhere. Female vocals and string instruments sound particularly good and attention grabbing with these headphones. Overall, a great pair of headphones worth the $299 retail price. One surprise I found was that it needs almost as much power as my HEK Stealth even though its specs suggest it's supposedly much more sensitive.

Are you sure about sensitivity? I drive mine with peanuts. They are easier than the Arya Organic.

 

[mudnut]

Are you sure about sensitivity? I drive mine with peanuts. They are easier than the Arya Organic.

Oh yea, certainly easier. Has Freya S at 11:30 with the AR5000 and HEK Stealth at 12:30 on the pot to achieve more or less the same volume. I was expecting AR5000 to be more like 9:30.

 

[BlankName]

Oh yea, certainly easier. Has Freya S at 11:30 with the AR5000 and HEK Stealth at 12:30 on the pot to achieve more or less the same volume. I was expecting AR5000 to be more like 9:30.

Every step on the Freya is .625db, so every hourish step should be about 6⅔db which roughly translates to about a 4.64 times increase in power output.

 

[OnlySoMany]

Are you sure about sensitivity? I drive mine with peanuts. They are easier than the Arya Organic.

You might try plugging them into a potato, might drive them a bit better.

On a serious note, these actually look pretty decent for the price.

 

[Ichos]

You might try plugging them into a potato, might drive them a bit better.

On a serious note, these actually look pretty decent for the price.

I will add a lemon for even better driver grip

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

Guys,

I've tried the potato thing. Improvement was immediately audible with a filter bass, like it's been fed adequately.

But if you add the lemon, the mids sound supremely neutral and the treble became almost acid as they should be !

Thanks a lot for the tip especially since I was able to find an audio dealer that sold me the potato enhancer for less than 2k...

 

[Ichos]

good job

 

[bithloman]

So ive had them on my head for a few hours and im impressed. at first i listened to some older music which i wasnt ultra impressed with, but then a modern rock song came on and it was nice and thick without being bloated in the mids. things like tame impala and red hot chili peppers really shine here. It has a good kick, macro dynamics are above average. not a huge fan of amir from ASR and his bass EQ on these i didnt like so i just did a shelf below 125hz since the bass response is planar like flat with low distortion. and it doesnt rumble like a planar but it has a much more natural tonality to the bass than my aeon noire does with more snap and punch in the bass the aeon is about 30% more resolving across the board but less natural sounding and with a less interesting stage and imaging. no it doesnt beat them or even close really but if you want an upgrade to a hd600 this might be the new champ. technicalities are B rating which is great for a dynamic at this price but dont expect high end planar treble sparkle, although with EQ this headphone can be end game for most people. also would be interesting to use with tubes. the angled drivers are SUPER angled and super close to your ears, which gives this very unique imaging character and quite nice spatial qualities. things can really fly off to the side and back, less than a hifiman XS but more interesting i would say. i would put tonality quite high since im used to planars this has a much more hd800s quality without the sparkle , not rolled off sounding either though.

 

[Pan Varox]

I have them for almost a week at this point. To be honest this is exactly what Sennheiser should try to do as HD6xx series successor instead of weirdly priced HD660S/S2.

These cans are very similar to HD600, but with much better imaging and soundstage and at the same time they do bass pretty well. They are relatively cheap, awesomely built and very comfortable. Oh and they are also very easy to drive, although they sound better on good amp (tubes make them sound good too)

In comparison HD600 has slightly stronger perceived bass punch and still smoother and sweeter midrange, but to be honest it’s small difference and I am happy to trade this off for better soundstage and bass extension in most scenarios.

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

Hi,

Given all the praise of the Sennheiser HD600, I should give those a new try.
But I tried them and did find they are really light on bass...
I tried the HD700 and HD800 and had the same feeling : light on bass.

Maybe they were not properly driven or fitted ?

Regards.

 

[Pan Varox]

Hi,

Given all the praise of the Sennheiser HD600, I should give those a new try.
But I tried them and did find they are really light on bass...
I tried the HD700 and HD800 and had the same feeling : light on bass.

Maybe they were not properly driven or fitted ?

Regards.

It all comes down to preference and music you listen to. For me harman curve bass is in most cases too much and I prefer it flat, but most people prefer boosted bass.

HD600 for sure won’t work well for busy electronic or metal music no matter how well driven, but imho they are perfect for acoustic music

 

[PenguinHeadphoner]

Hi,
Thanks a lot for your answer.
I listen to every king of music except rap and techno
It goes from metal to classical going through rock and jazz or electronic ambient music...
As you do, I consider the Halen curve a little too bass heavy... And that is why I was interested in the aune headphone. It seems they're not to much bass heavy and as such may be driven as is with no EQ
Regards

 

[AudiophileJargon]

This looks interesting :}

 

[Riversalt]

Comparisons with the usual options will be very welcome.

HD600.
Ibasso SR2/SR3.
Hifiman XS Planar but in the same price range, why not?