[subguy812]

Second hand XTC 1.5's arrived today. These sound very good, they actually remind me of the Aeolus in it's presentation, with a very close if not equal depth to it. Great first impression for my first closed back headphone ever. Looking forward to the XTC 2.0, which arrives next Tuesday.

Welcome to the club of the informed.....

 

[Bjorn154]

Second hand XTC 1.5's arrived today. These sound very good, they actually remind me of the Aeolus in it's presentation, with a very close if not equal depth to it. Great first impression for my first closed back headphone ever. Looking forward to the XTC 2.0, which arrives next Tuesday.

Look great - welcome!

 

[John Massaria]

Soooo, John, do you have more of the Kurogaki wood if we wanted to send ours in to get upgraded? Or not an option?

since i'm a one man show - its not possible as each wood is as unique as the people of the world

 

[AnamCeoil]

Loving the cups and impressions throughout the thread, and great to see such joy being shared by many.

Though I really don't "need" another HP, these have got me very interested. I typically go for closed-backs, but am looking to upgrade my Sundara for an open back.

Was very interested in the original XTC, but was wondering what main benefits might the XTC2 bring? If anyone has insights would be greatly appreciated.

Also, the Arya Stealth at the current price is looking super competitive... really prefer supporting smaller makers- but bang for the buck is a big consideration, and so the Arya has my eye a bit as well. If anyone has insights into how they might compare would be much appreciated.

I'm not in the US, so sending for retuning is not an easy option- though phenomenal customer service from Mr. JM.

 

[Bjorn154]

Loving the cups and impressions throughout the thread, and great to see such joy being shared by many.

Though I really don't "need" another HP, these have got me very interested. I typically go for closed-backs, but am looking to upgrade my Sundara for an open back.

Was very interested in the original XTC, but was wondering what main benefits might the XTC2 bring? If anyone has insights would be greatly appreciated.

Also, the Arya Stealth at the current price is looking super competitive... really prefer supporting smaller makers- but bang for the buck is a big consideration, and so the Arya has my eye a bit as well. If anyone has insights into how they might compare would be much appreciated.

I'm not in the US, so sending for retuning is not an easy option- though phenomenal customer service from Mr. JM.

Tuned the same the sound profile should not differ much. It is mainly the size of the soundscape that differs. XTC a little more intimate while with the XTC2 you will be surrounded by it all. The possibilities are only limited by the capabilities of your DAC/amp combo. On the tuning it is imperative to tune it with the DAC/amp combo you intend to use most in mind for optimal results. Hope you take the plunge - you will not regret it.

 

[AnamCeoil]

Tuned the same the sound profile should not differ much. It is mainly the size of the soundscape that differs. XTC a little more intimate while with the XTC2 you will be surrounded by it all. The possibilities are only limited by the capabilities of your DAC/amp combo. On the tuning it is imperative to tune it with the DAC/amp combo you intend to use most in mind for optimal results. Hope you take the plunge - you will not regret it.

Hey, really appreciate the quick response; and appetite is further whetted Soundscape has never been my main focal point, so sounds like the original might be a good option - and for the price an easier blind buy to justify.

Thanks for the steer re: source gear. Just got the Musician Draco and Feliks Audio Echo Mkii so need to do some serious thinning of the herd: Mojo 2 > Violectric 202 and Musician Draco > Echo ii likely to be my main desktop sets, so much to consider there and will reach out to JM to discuss before/ while buying. Have been tempted to write to him a few times, but don't want to disturb him with my detailed queries until I'm sure I'm going to pull the trigger
Thanks again for the insights- enjoy the music!

 

[Bjorn154]

Hey, really appreciate the quick response; and appetite is further whetted Soundscape has never been my main focal point, so sounds like the original might be a good option - and for the price an easier blind buy to justify.

Thanks for the steer re: source gear. Just got the Musician Draco and Feliks Audio Echo Mkii so need to do some serious thinning of the herd: Mojo 2 > Violectric 202 and Musician Draco > Echo ii likely to be my main desktop sets, so much to consider there and will reach out to JM to discuss before/ while buying. Have been tempted to write to him a few times, but don't want to disturb him with my detailed queries until I'm sure I'm going to pull the trigger
Thanks again for the insights- enjoy the music!

Nothing wrong with the XTC to wet the appetite. Feel free to reach out with questions.

 

[MakeItWain]

since i'm a one man show - its not possible as each wood is as unique as the people of the world

No worries sir, just envious! Those look amazing.

 

[MillionAntz]

I would imagine something with some warm clear detail would be great. I have the deep thick detailed sounding biowool drivers and R2R amp and dacs are spectacular in making them sound even more deep thick and detailed. I'm a big fan of NOT balancing out the sound of my headphones with components that would bring it to a more of a middle ground. What I like is finding components that help support and strengthen the nature of the sound of a pair of headphones.

What I personally would recommend for you, if I'm remembering you were asking for around $1000, I would recommend the Geshelli J2 Socketed dac with Either the Archel 3 Pro or the Erish 3 pro. The J2 Socketed dac has replaceable opamps so you can opamp roll and tailor the sound a tad and the opamps in both the Archel 3 pro and the Erish 3 pro are the spectacular Sparkos 2590 opamps. I love that pairing because the opamp switching in the dac make it so there is a bit of customization I can do. I have the J2 socketed with the Dual Sparkos Labs SS2590 Pro Op Amps and the Archel 3 Pro and for headphones that I feel are warm and detailed it's incredible for it's price.

Second to that I would recommend the Aune S9c Pro. Spectacular piece of gear. Serves bright detailed headphones well. It also has two different sound options whcih I am a big fan of.

I saw earlier that someone was talking about having and loving the Audio GD R28NOS. I have that and I love it. I use it for deeper thicker headphones but have found that it works well with some but not all bright detailed headphones in my collection. It's a spectacular piece of gear for sure. Highly recommended. But to me the Geshelli dac+amp combo highlights and expresses the bright detail in headphones tunes like that in a way that it very special.

I do not think the Geshelli stack is in any way clinical or analytical. I have heard the same about the Aune. There is a wonderful sparkle and naturalness to it. To my ears the R20NOS has a deeper thicker naturalness to it. All the options have a ton of detail for sure but none are clinical or analytical and stale. I hate that.

When you say the Aune S9C Pro serves bright detailed headphones well, what do you mean by that? I am just curious. I currently am pairing the XTC 2 Open with it and have been enjoying it quite a bit. I have been looking at potentially getting a set of planar headphones but still looking into what would pair well with S9C Pro

 

[Patswalker]

When you say the Aune S9C Pro serves bright detailed headphones well, what do you mean by that? I am just curious. I currently am pairing the XTC 2 Open with it and have been enjoying it quite a bit. I have been looking at potentially getting a set of planar headphones but still looking into what would pair well with S9C Pro

It’s more of a subjective thing for me. I like class A and I like that dac chip and the combo of the two in the S9C pro with bright detailed headphones. To me it enhances the sound of bright detailed headphones.

Some people like to balance the tone of their headphones with sources that are the opposite. For example I have listened to me XTC2 biowool that lean wide thick and detailed with sources like the S9C pro and the Geshelli labs dacs and amps. I don’t like it. It do like it with wide thick detailed sounding equipment. I got the headphones to sound like that so I don’t want to use sources that lessen that and balance it out. I want sources that enhance that.

 

[vsrrr]

Just changed to the new pads on my XTC2's (with "Warm Defined Tight Bass with Defined Detail" tuning).
Surprisingly easy process, and this video from John was helpful:


I can echo Bjorn's comments about the sound improvement going from the Fuzzy's to these new "Ultra Thick Angled" pads.
I'm hearing increased clarity top to bottom, and bigger, fuller bass. This amounts to a light re-tuning of the XTC2's, in a pleasing way.

 

[MakeItWain]

Just changed to the new pads on my XTC2's (with "Warm Defined Tight Bass with Defined Detail" tuning).
Surprisingly easy process, and this video from John was helpful:


I can echo Bjorn's comments about the sound improvement going from the Fuzzy's to these new "Ultra Thick Angled" pads.
I'm hearing increased clarity top to bottom, and bigger, fuller bass. This amounts to a light re-tuning of the XTC2's, in a pleasing way.

I don't think these pads are available for the XTC^2.5, right?

 

[Bjorn154]

Just changed to the new pads on my XTC2's (with "Warm Defined Tight Bass with Defined Detail" tuning)
Surprisingly easy process, and this video from John was useful:


I can echo Bjorn's comments about the sound improvement going from the Fuzzy's to these new "Ultra Thick Angled" pads.
I'm hearing increased clarity top to bottom, and bigger fuller bass. This amounts to a light re-tuning of the XTC2's, in a pleasing way.

I don't think these pads are available for the XTC^2.5, right?

There are 105mm that John sent me by mistake. I am keeping them for my 2.5’s. At least I think it’s the equivalent.

 

[phoneslave86]

I don't think these pads are available for the XTC^2.5, right?

I enjoy those aplenty on my 2^5 cut-out. Different focus, the most revealing sound in the mids and upper I've ever seen. The 2^5 at 'detailed' is actually deeper than my very detailed open backs were with these pads on quite a bit of content. Square still better overall to me but these are just great with a silver cable and some chamber music.

 

[mformoriarty]

XTC 2.0 arrived early, letting my amps warm up a bit before giving it a listen. It's gonna be an interesting evening.