LFF's Enigma (new from the maker of the Paradox)

[zerodeefex]

That does look nice.  Perhaps being an early adopter for the Suji finish limited my options.  

I don't know about you, but I'm glad I have had mine for months more than anyone ordering now.

 

[HemiSam]

That finish looks great on that stand.
 
I was looking at a vintage pair of headphones on a thread here that very much remind me of the steel headband and cup mounts on the enigma.  The name is escaping me, but they were sold out of a shop in Louisiana and there's a couple of threads about them here on head-fi.  The cups are cream colored...it'll come back to me.
 
 
HS

 

[daigo]

I don't know about you, but I'm glad I have had mine for months more than anyone ordering now.

For the moment, I still tend to use my W3000ANV more than my Enigmas but I've been listening to more female vocals than anything else lately which is where the W3000ANV works better for me.  

 

[Levaix]

So look what I found today...

http://headfonics.com/2014/09/the-enigma-by-paradox-audio/

I really only had a couple things on my mind when I finished reading that this afternoon.

1.) Maybe even more so than before, I really want to compare these to my Signature Pros. Some of the comments I was just kind of confused by, and unfortunately I haven't heard any of the headphones they were compared against. (Alternatively, it would have even been good for comparisons against something that's commonly compared with the Sig Pro, but no luck there either.)

2.) The factual errors really kind of distracted me here. On the first page the price range is compared to a couple sets of headphones that are several hundred dollars more expensive (eg. Fostex TH900). And then on the second page after extensive comparisons and allusions to the T50rp, he straight up says it's a modded T50rp.
 

 It’s one of the few T50RP mods I’ve heard that can authoritatively produce enough sub bass to actually make my ears vibrate during songs that call for it.

That's in spite of earlier stating that the Enigma uses custom drivers. I feel like maybe the reviewer initially wrote the entire thing thinking they were like the Paradox, and then it had to be redone?

Anyways, didn't mean to be particularly negative, lol... I wonder how much the Alpha Pads change the sound. I'll be honest, it's kind of burning a hole through me that there might be headphones I'd like more than what I have, haha.

 

[gelocks]

  So look what I found today...

http://headfonics.com/2014/09/the-enigma-by-paradox-audio/

I really only had a couple things on my mind when I finished reading that this afternoon.

1.) Maybe even more so than before, I really want to compare these to my Signature Pros. Some of the comments I was just kind of confused by, and unfortunately I haven't heard any of the headphones they were compared against. (Alternatively, it would have even been good for comparisons against something that's commonly compared with the Sig Pro, but no luck there either.)

That's in spite of earlier stating that the Enigma uses custom drivers. I feel like maybe the reviewer initially wrote the entire thing thinking they were like the Paradox, and then it had to be redone?

Anyways, didn't mean to be particularly negative, lol... I wonder how much the Alpha Pads change the sound. I'll be honest, it's kind of burning a hole through me that there might be headphones I'd like more than what I have, haha.

 
1) Sig Pros (from memory) are a bit more warmer overall in sound signature. Bass definition is really close, both provide good impact and extension without being overpowering. The mids I find the Enigmas a bit better defined and more forward, in fact, I liked the Sig Pros a whole lot and they reminded me of MrSpeakers Mad Dogs that I had on hand at the time and I thought their mids were good but in comparison to the Enigmas, they fall to a "soft" category. Both of their upper registers are controlled in the sense that neither of these bump too much to introduce sibilance but I actually find that the Enigmas can sound a bit "off" with some more recent stuff while the Sig Pros are a bit more controlled though not necessarily more detailed. But when the music is well recorded, listening to Paquito D'Rivera's "Portrait of Cuba"... dammn... the Enigma's are very good!
 
I guess I mentioned it before, if the Enigma's use T50RP drivers, then LFF made some magic because their highs are a different presentation of what I've heard from either the Mad Dogs, Alpha Dogs, etc.

 

[Armaegis]

I've had an Enigma on loan for a couple days. So far I'm still trying to wrap my head around the sound signature.
 
My first impression within the first few seconds was "wow, these are super clean", but after a few minutes they started to feel really really mellow, like something was missing in the top end. Now normally when something is scooped out in the upper mids things sound hollow, but not so here, so I'm guessing it's a really gradual slope/drop in the upper range. This is in stark contrast to my HE-6 (and even then, mine is modded to tame down that treble range).
 
It might also be the clamp having a psychosomatic effect. I'm getting a lot of pressure below my ear and towards my jaw, so lack of comfort affects my perception/judgement of sound.

 

[audiofrk]

I've a bit of a pillage and plunder business on the side and just this morning I came across some mighty fine booty:







Lucky #13, as photographed with a lucky potato.

Now that's a case Rick James would approve of

 

[Ishcabible]

2.) The factual errors really kind of distracted me here. On the first page the price range is compared to a couple sets of headphones that are several hundred dollars more expensive (eg. Fostex TH900). And then on the second page after extensive comparisons and allusions to the T50rp, he straight up says it's a modded T50rp.
 

That's in spite of earlier stating that the Enigma uses custom drivers. I feel like maybe the reviewer initially wrote the entire thing thinking they were like the Paradox, and then it had to be redone?
 

 
OH SHOOT. Thanks for spotting that. Fixed that; I wrote that section in the plane. I'll blame it on the altitude. 
 
The main reason I compared it to the T50RP is that there really aren't any other closed planar headphones other than the Yamaha YH100. While it's 100% fair to compare planars to dynamics, I've always heard a distinct timbre difference in the bass. It was kind of hard to compare the Enigma to any other closed headphone, as the section jumps from the Alpha Dog's price to the TH900/W3000ANV. At $900, I can't think of any other similarly priced option option other than the TH900 on sale (which still is around $200 more).

 

[Neogeo333]

  I've had an Enigma on loan for a couple days. So far I'm still trying to wrap my head around the sound signature.
 
My first impression within the first few seconds was "wow, these are super clean", but after a few minutes they started to feel really really mellow, like something was missing in the top end. Now normally when something is scooped out in the upper mids things sound hollow, but not so here, so I'm guessing it's a really gradual slope/drop in the upper range. This is in stark contrast to my HE-6 (and even then, mine is modded to tame down that treble range).
 
It might also be the clamp having a psychosomatic effect. I'm getting a lot of pressure below my ear and towards my jaw, so lack of comfort affects my perception/judgement of sound.

Ding ding ding, that's what I was thinking.   The clamp force of the Enigma change the sound with time.   I thought I was the only one.  But after bending the metal band to ease the headlock pressure its much better.  Before the mod the pads will touch each other, now after the mod the pads have a 1 inch separation.   That much was needed to get them comfortable. 

 

[anetode]

I've actually found the Enigma to be fairly comfortable. The clamp is tight, but not bothersome.

 

[Armaegis]

   
The main reason I compared it to the T50RP is that there really aren't any other closed planar headphones other than the Yamaha YH100.

 
Audeze LCD XC? Though it's in a higher price bracket.
 

  Ding ding ding, that's what I was thinking.   The clamp force of the Enigma change the sound with time.   I thought I was the only one.  But after bending the metal band to ease the headlock pressure its much better.  Before the mod the pads will touch each other, now after the mod the pads have a 1 inch separation.   That much was needed to get them comfortable. 

 
It's a loaner, so I don't want to bend the headband. The pads aren't touching on this pair, but it's still too much clamp for me to listen at length without getting distracted.
 
I do also have a rather wide jawline, so that contributes.

 

[Ishcabible]

   
Audeze LCD XC? Though it's in a higher price bracket.
 

 
Oh shoot you're right. I've never actually tried that one so it slipped my mind.

 

[gelocks]

I didn't really liked the LCD-XC's much... prefer the Alpha Dogs and the Enigma's over them... yeah, I said it,,..

 

[zerodeefex]

I preferred the Enigmas and DEFINITELY preferred the Paradox Slants to the LCD-XC

 

[Armaegis]

I still haven't actually read any impressions on the Enigma (or maybe I did at some point, but don't remember anything), so I don't have any preconceptions of what I should be hearing. I'm just jotting down a few notes as I go then will compare them to what others have said later. After another day, I'm still on the "super clean, but lacking something" feeling.