[Scorpio1957]

Ryan is live on the Directors Garage livestream and he has just said they sold out within a minute. Blimey that’s nuts!

 

[Dixter]

November 3rd purchase off Mimic Audio. No update at all. I dunno if I should just wait longer or just cancel the order

@Ciggavelli The last time I talked with Mimic ( at Dallas Camjam ) he told me they were going to be moving their shop from Texas to Chicago this month... so he could be busy with that, but his orders shouldn't be held up....

 

[koikoikoi]

Lotteries are just as easy to game as drops (if not easier because depending on its implementation a person could easily sign up multiple times themselves) if we're taking at face value that scalpers with bots are the ones taking up orders, which I doubt that there are many of if at all, I think it's just a case of a highly passionate bigger than anticipated fanbase and the limited production capabilities of a one man shop. As others have mentioned, we're talking about potentially very limited inventory each time.

Sure, Ryan could implement bot prevention mechanisms if he wanted to establish a lottery system, but those are expensive and would require him devoting time to not just figuring out a lottery system but figuring out how to prevent that system from being gamed and as others have mentioned, that's time spent that could potentially be spent fulfilling orders. When you're dealing with such a small scale operation the time you spend is the most important resource available to you.

All this to say, there is no perfect system at this point, and yeah while the wait and the feeling of not being able to place an order when you want to do so sucks, there are no easy fixes until he feels like his company can scale up enough to be able to handle those things or if he figures out a way to increase production while maintaining the level of quality he desires and which others have already remarked upon for each headphone made. These are growing pains, nothing more.

Perfectly understandable and I agree with everything. Tried many times until now and just had to say something about it as the process is not great.

 

[chrisnyc75]

I really think everyone should take a beat, pause, and be thankful Ryan isn't just opening up orders with an unlimited waiting period. At this point I'm confident the wait would be several years. Instead, he seems to have decided to release a few at a time - as many as he can reasonably produce given the resources he has at this moment - until he builds up enough capital to expand the operation. A sensible & respectable approach to building a long term business/brand. I don't know him or have any particular vested interest in this, but as an educated casual observer I'm sure he has done his homework, consulted with industry peers who have had success in this market, and is proceeding with a long term plan in mind.

If you want a great planar headphone today, Arya is readily available. If you want to be part of this newly emerging disrupter, get on board or gtfo.

 

[elira]

I think he should raise prices so demand matches production.

 

[number1sixerfan]

I think he should raise prices so demand matches production.

Reading the past few pages... I didn't want to say it, but kind of wanted to. And then everyone will also be unhappy. Hard to win in these scenarios.

Anyways, I have the Tungsten here for a demo from a friend and will share some impressions in this thread at a future date. Very enjoyable, and for $2k definitely an absolute bargain in the current industry landscape, so I get all of the chaos.

 

[Erick Muller]

I think he should raise prices so demand matches production.

If he really wanted to piss off everyone and turn off potential customers, that's exactly what he should do, the greedy Nvidia approach, the problem is that Ryan and ModHouse are not Nvidia and the headphone market has significantly more competition and pressure than the GPU market, so if he raised the price of the SS Tungsten to said $3k or $4k, he's now in direct competition with really heavy hitters and very well establish companies and also the customers base for that summit tier is significantly more demanding and he knows that if he does that, the incredibly reception his new headphone has had would plummet into the ground in an instant and all the good will he has garnered would disappear right there and then.

 

[Ciggavelli]

If he really wanted to piss off everyone and turn off potential customers, that's exactly what he should do, the greedy Nvidia approach, the problem is that Ryan and ModHouse are not Nvidia and the headphone market has significantly more competition and pressure than the GPU market, so if he raised the price of the SS Tungsten to said $3k or $4k, he's now in direct competition with really heavy hitters and very well establish companies and also the customers base for that summit tier is significantly more demanding and he knows that if he does that, the incredibly reception his new headphone has had would plummet into the ground in an instant and all the good will he has garnered would disappear right there and then.

I'm expecting $4k sound because it's a DIY shop, and the prices are lower because of that. We shall see...

 

[number1sixerfan]

I'm expecting $4k sound because it's a DIY shop, and the prices are lower because of that. We shall see...

Can confirm that it clears that. It certainly punches above its cost, no question. (again, for the current pricing landscape)

 

[Blejzeros]

I'm expecting $4k sound because it's a DIY shop, and the prices are lower because of that. We shall see...

It may be a spicy take around here but Tungsten DS overall sound is better than caldera.

 

[number1sixerfan]

It may be a spicy take around here but Tungsten DS overall sound is better than caldera.

I think the Caldera is an obvious comparison it lends itself to. I can't speak to one over the other, but similarities for sure and a very interesting comparison.

 

[Ciggavelli]

Can confirm that it clears that. It certainly punches above its cost, no question. (again, for the current pricing landscape)

Interesting...I'm more curious now.

It may be a spicy take around here but Tungsten DS overall sound is better than caldera.

Wow! That's a big claim. We shall see...


If it doesn't make TOTL levels, it's getting thrown in the trash...

(or at least being sold at cost...)

I dunno what's going on with my health, but with the time I have left I'm not going to deal with sub-TOTL levels

 

[Ciggavelli]

For a TOTL pair of headphones, it needs to have superb resolution (no veil). It better have good bass too or it's getting passed to the side. I'm starting to get real picky. Mids are hopefully average or better.

 

[mfgillia]

For a TOTL pair of headphones, it needs to have superb resolution (no veil). It better have good bass too or it's getting passed to the side. I'm starting to get real picky. Mids are hopefully average or better.

It does to many of us who already own one but like anything else not everyone is going to agree where it ranks compared to other TOTL headphones from a pure sound quality perspective.

From a value perspective though, don't see much debate yet that it isn't number one at its $2k price point for the ds.

Still highly recommend picking up both sets of pads if possible as early feedback suggests it's close to 50/50 which one someone will prefer.

 

[Exekuhtor]

Agreed, it seems that the Tungsten is a very good TOTL allrounder, but not a specific "absolute best in specific areas" like the Susvara (mids + treble), the 1266 (bass + dynamics + aggressiveness) etc. I originally was very interested, but after watching the reviews, i bought a LCD-4 (which i haven't heard yet and was interested in for a long time), and i'm super satisfied with that thing since it is very relaxed and very good for a big portion of my library (i even did a review, link in my sig).

From what i've read / heard: If you want one TOTL allrounder -> Tungsten (and Empy 2, allthough Tungsten seems to be way more dynamic) are the best candidates. If you prefer a collection with various coloured headphones (which i do) and are not that hung up on a (Harman) target (*cough* Resolve), then other TOTL's can do better in specific areas.
That being said: I still want to hear it, but i'm not going on that 3 months waiting list. Of course for us in the EU it's another nuisance on top of that.

@Ciggavelli That one last sentence sounds scary, please take care...