[kehadnb94]

Was he already implenting the new technique or is this something that is coming soon?

By the way it would be nice if John would put out in ears as well… would you buy them??

 

[UberHaxorMarty]

By the way it would be nice if John would put out in ears as well… would you buy them??

Would only be interested if he did a mini xtc like the LCDi4 (open back iem with 30mm or bigger drivers). Problem with the i4 though is the ear hooks will break eventually, so you need to make those out of something that can handle the weight of the iem.

 

[kehadnb94]

Would only be interested if he did a mini xtc like the LCDi4 (open back iem with 30mm or bigger drivers). Problem with the i4 though is the ear hooks will break eventually, so you need to make those out of something that can handle the weight of the iem.

Iem from John in general I would instantly buy

Was he already implenting the new technique or is this something that is coming soon?

On Thursday he developed it, but from Germany it’s more than a pain in the ass, for a 5 % improvement, I’m good I speaked to John , but that is not worth it totally imo

By the way it would be nice if John would put out in ears as well… would you buy them??

I guess that is then a fairytale xddd

 

[Zhon]

Was he already implenting the new technique or is this something that is coming soon?

He started last Thursday or Friday I believe

On Thursday he developed it, but from Germany it’s more than a pain in the ass, for a 5 % improvement, I’m good I speaked to John , but that is not worth it totally imo

I already sent mine back so might as well add the upgrade, but yeah internationally it will suck . Who knows, maybe 5% is all I need

 

[kehadnb94]

I already sent mine back so might as well add the upgrade, but yeah internationally it will suck . Who knows, maybe 5% is all I need

I think the same but not for almost 200 that’s too much

 

[LucasKA]

Just want to add in my voice for John's excellent work, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my XTC closed. Beryllium drive with detailed warm tuning. A massive upgrade from Kennerton GH40 JM edition for sure and beats my Denon D7000. Like John said, the Bass is presented well but never overpower or become muddy, and the headphone scale up well too.

I had been using it when out of house, in cafe, on the train. It strikes the balance between musical and technical at the same time.
The only small small thing I worried is the build quality of the head gimbal and the strap may not stand day to day use traveling in a soft case. If only it has similar folding mechanism like Dan Clark...

The XTC is the end game closed back for me, except I am now so tempted by XTC ².5 Euphoric Xtreme Trip....anyone got one and can share their thoughts?

For those who use scalpel tuning, how do you compare it to detail monster like Utopia or Abyss Diana or HD800?

 

[UberHaxorMarty]

Just want to add in my voice for John's excellent work, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my XTC closed. Beryllium drive with detailed warm tuning. A massive upgrade from Kennerton GH40 JM edition for sure and beats my Denon D7000. Like John said, the Bass is presented well but never overpower or become muddy, and the headphone scale up well too.

I had been using it when out of house, in cafe, on the train. It strikes the balance between musical and technical at the same time.
The only small small thing I worried is the build quality of the head gimbal and the strap may not stand day to day use traveling in a soft case. If only it has similar folding mechanism like Dan Clark...

The XTC is the end game closed back for me, except I am now so tempted by XTC ².5 Euphoric Xtreme Trip....anyone got one and can share their thoughts?

For those who use scalpel tuning, how do you compare it to detail monster like Utopia or Abyss Diana or HD800?

It's splitting hairs at a point since our biological ears are the bottleneck. I have the scalpel tuning and it's enough. If you really want the maximum amount of detail Shure KSE1200/1500 is the best on the market still which is why I own them. You'll need to EQ and mess with tips making sure you get a perfect seal. Then yeah you have the highest detail, but it's only slightly more than TOTL headphones. I wouldn't say that is worth it to someone just trying to enjoy music.
The reality is that for headphones details is basically not having the fr reading being a mess and not having bleed from bass alongside having balanced mids. Then have treble borderline sibilant and work to avoid resonance and vibration. Driver itself just needs to be capable of doing that and where estats and planars shine more is when you actually want to EQ like crazy because you can make big changes without distorting them as easily as most DDs I have heard.

 

[KOM66]

I have both the XTC C and XTC 2.5.
The built quality of the 2.5 is definitely better along with better soundstage and detailed. I do think it’s an improvement on already great headphones.

 

[kehadnb94]

It's splitting hairs at a point since our biological ears are the bottleneck. I have the scalpel tuning and it's enough. If you really want the maximum amount of detail Shure KSE1200/1500 is the best on the market still which is why I own them. You'll need to EQ and mess with tips making sure you get a perfect seal. Then yeah you have the highest detail, but it's only slightly more than TOTL headphones. I wouldn't say that is worth it to someone just trying to enjoy music.
The reality is that for headphones details is basically not having the fr reading being a mess and not having bleed from bass alongside having balanced mids. Then have treble borderline sibilant and work to avoid resonance and vibration. Driver itself just needs to be capable of doing that and where estats and planars shine more is when you actually want to EQ like crazy because you can make big changes without distorting them as easily as most DDs I have heard.

I think the tuning makes a great difference, speaking about what generally prefer. My headphone - beryllium- is tuned to the target 10 db shelf diffuse field (fka Harman target or sort of) and for me it sounded 10 times better than the warm yet detailed tuning despite that it was bio wool, but have to hit the spot, sometimes getting the target is all you need

 

[UberHaxorMarty]

I think the tuning makes a great difference, speaking about what generally prefer. My headphone - beryllium- is tuned to the target 10 db shelf diffuse field (fka Harman target or sort of) and for me it sounded 10 times better than the warm yet detailed tuning despite that it was bio wool, but have to hit the spot, sometimes getting the target is all you need

Luckily I am a Harman enjoyer as well, but I have seen people that like weird headphones like the Nighthawk/Nightowl which are both to me a disaster. Different people different tuning. The really dedicated will use different headphones for different genres and artists, and I'm not that far gone lol (probably better to just use different EQ profiles for that as well too in most cases to boost bass or reduce treble).

 

[rlawry]

I have the XTC-C with beryllium drivers and nearly scapel tuning and it has enough bass for my tastes, more than with my Kennerton Rognir Planars and RAAL SR-1b which have a ribbon driver. The RP and SR-1b's strong suits are speed and detail along with transparency and spaciousness, a lot more than the XTC-C whose strong suits are more bass and midrange body. Which phones I reach for usually depend on the recording. Some recordings need the bass foundation of the XTC-C and aren't satisfying on the SR-1b but there are those recording that benefit from the wealth of speed and detail of the SR-1b or even the RP.

 

[LucasKA]

It's splitting hairs at a point since our biological ears are the bottleneck. I have the scalpel tuning and it's enough. If you really want the maximum amount of detail Shure KSE1200/1500 is the best on the market still which is why I own them. You'll need to EQ and mess with tips making sure you get a perfect seal. Then yeah you have the highest detail, but it's only slightly more than TOTL headphones. I wouldn't say that is worth it to someone just trying to enjoy music.
The reality is that for headphones details is basically not having the fr reading being a mess and not having bleed from bass alongside having balanced mids. Then have treble borderline sibilant and work to avoid resonance and vibration. Driver itself just needs to be capable of doing that and where estats and planars shine more is when you actually want to EQ like crazy because you can make big changes without distorting them as easily as most DDs I have heard.

Yeah Shure KSE1200 is on my list for future acquisitions! I currently have the baby STAX and love the level of detail and speed.

I am thinking of getting a headphone for sound mixing and is looking for more reference sound signature, and wonder if scalpel tuning will be right for that purpose.

I have both the XTC C and XTC 2.5.
The built quality of the 2.5 is definitely better along with better soundstage and detailed. I do think it’s an improvement on already great headphones.

Would you say the improvement is worth buying another headphone? How do you use the C and 2.5 differently? Do you tune them differently? Thanks!

 

[phoneslave86]

Adding a master clock really changed my perspective on tuning beyond detailed. I'm now enjoying absolutely non fatiguing sound with Beryl Very detailed. I can even imagine handling near scalpel or scalpel tuning like this if I needed to. I've been dealing with fatigue for years and it's just gone overnight, no more fatigue with this clock. It's truly hard to believe. Awesome gains as well with even much more controlled dynamics, separation and staging. They say the master clock gets rid of 'digital glare'. I did not believe the effect would be so profound. As usual with the XTC, the scaling and effects from equipment is so pronounced with everything going well beyond my expectations. I know if I had to make a review for this clock I would sound like the craziest of them all!

 

[spw1880]

Hi Guys, lots of interesting positive impressions of the xtc 2.5 euphoric. Does anybody own a ZMF VC or VO (that i already own)? may i ask for a comparative impression between VO/VC and the xtc 2.5?

I have searched the thread and i haven't really got a handle on any detailed way the xtc 2.5 is superior or different to VC or VO. If a HP is superior or lacking in a specific way vs another, price cheaper or more expensive, is not a consideration for me personally. Please help with a descriptive comparison, perhaps can help me make adecision to buy the xtc2.5.

Thank you

 

[Raidersfan8118]

I have the XTC-C with beryllium drivers and nearly scapel tuning and it has enough bass for my tastes, more than with my Kennerton Rognir Planars and RAAL SR-1b which have a ribbon driver. The RP and SR-1b's strong suits are speed and detail along with transparency and spaciousness, a lot more than the XTC-C whose strong suits are more bass and midrange body. Which phones I reach for usually depend on the recording. Some recordings need the bass foundation of the XTC-C and aren't satisfying on the SR-1b but there are those recording that benefit from the wealth of speed and detail of the SR-1b or even the RP.

The xtc is noticeably less detailed than rognir planar?