Mad Lust Envy's Headphone Gaming Guide: (11/19/2019: Audeze LCD-1 Added)

That's weird. Seems like the one weakness of the SXFI dongle is no line out, but this desktop solution does not add that.

X7 added SBX via optical out later, if I remember correctly. Maybe they will do the same with SXFI.

 

Yeah, we should probably bug them over at reddit or through MLE if it's worth it for this device.

 

Or we could bug them here, iirc they have a headfi rep.
@LucasCL hello there

 

I'll answer by saying that after a few hours of use, the following idea has crossed my mind: I might sell my HD800S and TH900... or maybe not. The attack and decay of planars put a massive, massive smile on my face. I'd say these things are EDM beasts, if you value accuracy over quantity. For me, I think there's still enough quantity. For rock and metal I'd love to see an extra ~2 dB boost in the 50-150Hz (or thereabouts) range to thicken up what I'm hearing. There are characteristics of these cans that remind me of the HD800S, but I'm enjoying these more - there's more life to them, despite remaining relatively neutral, without feeling like I'm missing out on detail. There's a bass quantity which the HD800S can't match without EQing it. As for the TH900, if want TH900 bass, I can kind-of get there via EQ if I'm in the mood for some bass-canon listening. Additionally, while these are quite bright and there's a lot of forward detail, to my ear there's no harsh treble peaks like what is present in the HD800S and TH900 (the TH900 especially).

The size of the driver also does something remarkable for music and gaming - it's quite an experience. I'm thoroughly enjoying these in Apex Legends right now, with no apparent positional audio compromises yet. More gaming time is needed, across more games including R6S where positional audio is so critical, but my initial impression is that I'm doing a better job of understanding player locations with these than my HD800S.

I'll let you know if I still hold these opinions after a few more days of use.

As for why I opted for Ananda over the Arya... in the store it sounded almost as if I were wearing the same headphone. I know 30 minutes in store isn't a good judge of nuance between such similar cans, nor trying to pick technical superiority between them, but I wasn't willing to spend an extra AU$1200 for something that might only look much better. That said, I'm tempted to buy the Arya as well, returning the ones I like less, so I can give myself the time to see what differences I might discover with a few days of critical listening on both of them...


(For those with bad vision: Purple is Ananda, green is Arya. Source: https://www.headphones.com/blogs/news/hifiman-ananda-vs-arya-planar-headphone-review-comparison).

 

Keep the impressions coming!

Here's a review and comparison by that Resolv guy where he goes into detail in their differences.



Interestingly he initially had the same experience like you, and in further and more thorough listening he made out the main differences and how they add up in the long run.

I never listened to the Arya and I'm simply not eager to buy anything Hifiman above 1000 since sooner or later that bracket will get trickle down tech through rather fast revisions. Also since I paid a very good price on the Ananda, I'd have to pay a thousand dollars upwards. I'd pnly pay that for a HEKSE.

 

@Fegefeuer what cables should I be getting for these Ananda's? Cheap is fine, because nothing can seem as cheap as the cables they ship with.

 

@jamieskella

I bought this cable for the XX, which will also fit the Ananda, and it's a NICE cable. 9.9ft too. I got tired of the microphonics and cable memory that happens on the stock cables.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H6SPVX5/

For the price, it was a no brainer. Much better than the really short cable I bought for the HE400, which was more expensive and like 3ft. Much too short.

 

What are peoples thoughts on the Super X-fi vs WavesNX? Thinking of getting the knock off Mobius the cloud orbit s since I have no need for BT. Or quite possibly the Nighthawk with the sxfi amp I currently own the amp I have a addiction to taking headmaps.

 

Brilliant, thanks - have just ordered one of those Neomusicia cables.

Because it's not $400, it's not going to make my headphones sound better though, is it?

 

Re-sleeve it with silver nylon, call it prestige, and charge a few hundred. It will surely sound better then.

 

@jamieskella Thanks for the feedback! Anandas will definitely be on my list for cans to try in the future. I bought some HD700s recently, but the treble peak is a little fatiguing to me. I just bought a pair of HD800 w/ SDR mod, so I'm very excited to try those out.

 

If the treble on hd700 is too fatiguing for you, try the modhouse kit for the hd700

 

I thought about doing that since it's really cheap for the kit. Still might, just to try, but I've been wanting to try a pair of HD800, and I'm thinking I'll end up keeping them over the HD700 anyways. HD700 sure are comfy though!

 

I was afraid of the harsh treble people have been talking about when it comes to HD700s, so I was pleasently surprised when I got mine and didn't find that to be the case with my setup.

I've used them with an op-amp swapped Nu Audio soundcard and a Xonar Essence III, both using MUSES02 op-amps. I think the warmer signature of these reigned the HD700s in a bit, even without EQing or modding.

 

It's really not as bad as people make it out to be, but I do hear it in certain songs. They were a little fatiguing when I was playing the Modern Warfare Beta, compared to my HD598s. WIth that being said, I've been using them as my daily drivers for the past couple of weeks.