[Jaebug]

Do you find the fit loose, tight, or just right?

Just right. The cups are a bit stiff to turn/swivel, but the up-side to that is they hold that angle pretty well once you get them how you want. Clamp force is medium, and the headband has a good amount of flex so it doesn't feel like I'm prying them off my head. I wear glasses and have been happy with the seal I get using the leather pads.

I'm hesitant to compare too closely to my Kennerton's since I got those secondhand and I don't know how close to 'stock' they are, but the XTC-C have a little more clamp force and the pads are firmer (which i prefer--the Kennerton angled bass pads are too mushy for my preference).

 

[John Massaria]

Thanks, I thought shipping was lower at €58.

Which driver do they have? Is your signature in order of preference? I see your XTC-O after the Verité open, Fostex 909, and Rognir, but I've read people say that the XTC are better than all the ZMFs they've tried.

It’s fixed shipping for anyone outside USA at $58

 

[Zap67]

I have XTC O, I live in Italy

the shipping outside USA is 75 dollars

Sorry, i was wrong, 58 dollars

 

[rlawry]

Anyone?

Also, has anyone ordered XTC cans to Europe? Wondering about the shipping costs and times, how much we could retune ourselves without shipping the headphones back, etc.

It would also be good to have more clarity on the difference between the standard XTC, the XTC^1.5 and the XTC^2, since the prices scale up pretty quickly.

Thanks

Here is my take on the differences between the standard XTC, the XTC^1.5, and the XTC^2, assuming the same tuning of course.

Since the size and weight increase with the size of the cups, the standard XTC will be the lightest (my standard XTC is the lightest phone I own), then the ^1.5, then the ^2. Each size increase will also result in more awkwardness since the larger cup will stick out more from the ears.

With increasing cup size the spaciousness will increase slightly since it will protrude farther from the ears and the space inside the cup increases.

Basswise, we need to know how bass works in headphones, particularly since we are using what is really a midrange driver firing into a closed cup. Since we cannot produce a full bass wave in a tiny cup space (a 30 Hz bass wave has a wavelength of around 32 feet), bass is produced by pressurizing and depressurizing the air inside the cup and around your ears. The driver forces air into and out of the cups, giving a bass pressure wave. As the cup size increases, the effect of the air pushed by the driver decreases, so essentially the smaller the cup the greater the bass effect. I do have to say that since I have only heard the standard XTC and not the larger versions, I am not sure how much the bass level will be lowered but I can say that there is gobs of bass with them and cannot imagine the ^1.5 or ^2 would be lacking in bass levels. In fact, I closed off half the bass ports on my XTC to lower its level somewhat.

I seriously doubt there will be a major effect on other sonic aspects such as dynamics, detail, speed, timbre of instruments, and so on due to the use of the same driver and tuning, again, assuming the same tuning for which John can design.

If anyone else wants to chime in here please do so. Hope this helps.

 

[XMarsX]

The headphones ALMOST made it into town early enough to get onto the delivery truck today. Too bad UPS doesn’t deliver on Sundays now like FedEx does.

 

[mysticbooty]

Spent a couple days with these and I'm floored. Crisp mids/highs and super tight bass. I can't imagine a world where someone would want more bass, but you can get it if you want it. The coolest thing about getting these was that John was able and willing to make sure it was tuned the way I wanted. Usually after a purchase I'm thinking about what's next, but with these I think I'm going to be good for a while

 

[Zoide]

Spent a couple days with these and I'm floored. Crisp mids/highs and super tight bass. I can't imagine a world where someone would want more bass, but you can get it if you want it. The coolest thing about getting these was that John was able and willing to make sure it was tuned the way I wanted. Usually after a purchase I'm thinking about what's next, but with these I think I'm going to be good for a while

What other headphones have you tried? Would love to hear some comparisons, thanks.

 

[mysticbooty]

What other headphones have you tried? Would love to hear some comparisons, thanks.

58x, Aeon X Closed and Hifiman HE-R9 JM OCD Extreme Stealth Edition (I thought I wanted bass, but it turns out I don't want that much ).

I'm not super articulate when it comes to headphones, but these are doing everything I wanted the previous purchases to do and more.

 

[Mhog55]

Spent a couple days with these and I'm floored. Crisp mids/highs and super tight bass. I can't imagine a world where someone would want more bass, but you can get it if you want it. The coolest thing about getting these was that John was able and willing to make sure it was tuned the way I wanted. Usually after a purchase I'm thinking about what's next, but with these I think I'm going to be good for a while

Which method of tuning did you choose?

 

[XMarsX]

They're here and burning in on the Mjolnir 2. I only briefly listened to them as I am on kid duty today for a few more hours.

The bass is absolutely insane. More thoughts to come tonight, but they are good. Really good.

 

[mysticbooty]

Which method of tuning did you choose?

 

[UberHaxorMarty]

They're here and burning in on the Mjolnir 2. I only briefly listened to them as I am on kid duty today for a few more hours.

The bass is absolutely insane. More thoughts to come tonight, but they are good. Really good.

No need to run the majority of headphones outside of on your head. The materials are too rigid to require any kind of burn in since any change in rigidity over time would be inaudible to the human ear. As an example I have Cloud Revolvers where the whole headphone disintegrated except the driver and metal parts and the actual driver has not changed whatsoever and sounds identical (with new pads I have 2 sets of new ones I tried recently) to when I got them many years ago. I usually need 30 minutes for my brain to adjust to the signature and that's it. Pads, headbands, and your brain can "burn in", not headphone drivers. Basically if the headphone changes noticably outside of your brain adjusting to the signature the industry would consider it defective and not ship it.

 

[XMarsX]

Time to let the ears and cans dance. My XTC^2 are tuned "Warm yet detailed" and I sprang for the 7N OCC internal wiring. I'm using the included XLR balanced cable and the preinstalled leather(?) pads which have perforation on the inside. There is a full leather set of pads and a fluffy memory foam pad included as well.

My knee jerk reaction is if you took the 2021 LCD-XC (with EQ), shaved off 1/3 the weight, added 25% more bass and a significant amount of punch and widened the sound stage a good 20%, that would be the XTC^2. Isolation is about the same, which is surprising considering the weight difference. If you are a no-EQ person, it's no contest, the XTC^2 is the better listening experience.

The fluffy memory foam pads really reign the bass in(there is still a good amount), and add a bit to the treble. The mids sound more intimate. I'd venture a guess that if you chase the Harmon curve, these are what you'd use.

After a short tour with the fluffy pads I'm back to the leather with perforation. I'm surprised these have more bass than the other pads as I've read a few times full leather pads produce the most bass.

Edit - I forgot to add earlier, these are a bit easier to drive than the XCs.

 

[kadinh]

I hope the person that snagged these before I did really enjoys them

 

[Zoide]

@John Massaria A member of AudioScienceReview strongly disagrees with some of your innovation research. I think it would be great for you to chime in and have an open exchange of ideas to clear things up:

https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/jm-audio-xtc.44210/post-1572778

Thanks!