Just came to share a random thought about Tungsten DS.
I went from Susvara OG to Tungsten to Verite. Had Tungsten for about a week. Fantastic headphone. I found it to be a better "Susvara" than Susvara in every single way except for: 1) being slightly less "musical" and 2) a tad less detailed. Tungsten is an amazing headphone with a fantastic sound signature I would describe as neutral, but energetic. DCA stuff is neutral but "boring," Susvara neutral but "romantic," and Tungsten I think is neutral but with tons of "energy."
Just my two cents. Tungsten was but a fleeting moment in my audio journey, but it definitely left a favorable mark on my eardrums.
The thing about both Susvara OG and TungstenDS is that they scale pretty much indefinitely. Just recently I got to listen to both on my Wandla GSE / TS120, and on the Rockna Wavedream Sig / AIC10. I’ll share my Sus/Tung notes from the meet. I also used to own the 1266TC but sold them for TungstenDS after I was able to mod it enough to bring me back to the same emotional experience the 1266 gave me. Just recently was able to borrow a friends 1266TC and took some notes from the same stack that I’ll share as well.
Techno Kids - Zyce and Morten Granau
- 1266TC - Transcendent - the bass is magnetic the hit hats are ultra quick and so much detail is retrieved its almost creating detail that isn’t there. The separation of tones is impressive. A lot of overlapping of notes especially bass and with highs located in various places - none are getting stepped on. When bass kicks in after a pause it feels like the bass is challenging the listener to dare if they can deal with it.. it’s crazy impactful. Definitely a “left and right” feel to the sound.
- TungstenDS - Same type of transcendent sound as the 1266TC. There is more height once the high hats rolls in - the high hats have little less energy than the 1266TC, but the girth of the sound is deeper on the Tungsten. Details retrieval seems the same, but the detail emphasis is slightly higher on the 1266TC. The Tungsten has more body by a small margin (may be cable related).
- Susvara OG: Sound is expansive, there is a huge layer of sound being played from - some depth, sounds sound like they are coming from parts of that layer, but the depth isn’t fully fleshed out. The way it handles space is by adjusting volume from parts of the driver, but the depth isn’t always convincing.. the sound can sound like it is originating the from flat layer so the depth isn’t fully convincing.
You Can’t Control It - Jack Johnson
- 1266TC - Again a general sense of a “left/right” sound - albeit sounds fantastic. All the various audio filters are presented with great detail. Fantastic layering, bass is well balanced.
- TungstenDS - More encompassing than the 1266TC by a tiny bit. The sound is a tiny bit less wide, but has a better balance of placement of instruments and vocals due to being able to project in front and to the sides well. Notes feel bigger because they cover more of perceived directions (front, back, left, right) Overall the sound is again a tiny bit muddy/smeared compared to the 1266TC with the Prion4 cable.
- Susvara OG: Sounds really similar to how Tungsten sounds. Everything is really balanced and well placed. Nothing is elevated and the sound is extremely dynamic and resolving. Great balance at loud volume.
Total Control Mega Drive
Susvara OG: Very Tungsten sounding.. the highs break up a tiny bit more than Tungsten when pushed to very high DB level.. Bass is deeper with Tungsten but a small margin. Otherwise sounds about same resolution wise.. I think Tungsten has better depth.
Wavedream Signature > AIC10 > TungstenDS (modded)
The sounds stage is magnified with fullness of sound. More enveloping than anything else I’ve ever heard Tungsten on. The lows have “meat-depth” lol also called tonal density that is unlike any other chain ive heard. There is no bloom or mud smearing despite the enhanced fullness and density to the sound. The layering and separation is tirelessly effortless. The resolution across the entire range is as detailed as ive ever heard but nothing feels artificially elevated to try to make it so.
Wavedream Signature > HM1 > TungstenDS (modded)
Pretty much everything word for word that I said about AIC10 - with the only difference being the AIC10 has a tiny bit more liquidly smooth transition between notes. The HM1 had to be at MAX volume pot but it was still capable of producing sounds with no distortion at very loud DB as I prefer to listen. The HM1 was also very confident in producing a stable sound - also had a similar tonal density which makes me think that density is coming from the Wavedream Signature. I did prefer the AIC10 over the HM1 in terms of sounds I think mainly because the AIC10 soundstage I “think” was slightly larger and a tad bit more dynamic. Both chains were the best I’ve ever heard my Tungstens.
Wavedream Signature > AIC10 > Susvara
Significantly better than the Susvara on my chain. The flat layer I felt like the Susvara had as an originating point source on my TS120/Wandla stack was non existent on this chain. Susvara had a huge fullness to the sound with the same tonal density that I had heard in the Tungsten. Everything was properly sized, and the vocals of the male singer in “Four Wild Horses” had new characteristics that I have never heard before on any chain with my Tungstens. Very lifelike, like you were standing in the recording booth with the vocalist. I did not compare this song with the Tungsten to see if that same sense of live near field vocals came through on those.
Cyan 2 > Bliss > TungstenDS (modded)
BASS. Lo-z volume pot at +10 (apparently I listen loud). This chain had the most bass than anything else I head at the Tungsten on at the meet. Nice full sound. I didn’t take great notes because I was focused on how much bass punch this had with the Tungsten. It did sounds really good, but perhaps too much bass. IMO this is a chain I would want to use a silver cable on for Tungsten to tame the bass little and resolve the highs a little more - I bet that synergy would be fantastic. This chain was very smooth for a solid state amp, and probably the most tube like sounding solid state sanding chain. I think the weak point would be the resolution and a tiny bit of rolloff to it. I would add silver somewhere here to reclaim that resolution.
RME Fireface> SparkOS Ares > Tungsten (modded)
Pretty well contained sound good at lower volume but at volume I listen at things just start to go wrong. Mainly bass would break up pretty early, and it didn’t have the depth and separation I’m used to hearing.
It seems i have to forget about it and simply wait until next year. 8-10 months it seems or maybe it`s faster meanwhile!?
