Mod House Audio Tungsten - Planar Magnetic Headphones - Impressions and Discussion
Dec 13, 2023 at 7:00 AM Post #631 of 3,917
What's tungsten owners experience on the lead time estimates?
Is it "should be ready by the estimated X weeks" or more like "it will take X amount of weeks to start working on your unit"

I'm a few days over my estimated lead time (Mimic edition), so i'm wondering how long should i wait before i start pestering Mimic or Ryan about it :smile:
 
Dec 13, 2023 at 8:55 AM Post #632 of 3,917
What's tungsten owners experience on the lead time estimates?
Is it "should be ready by the estimated X weeks" or more like "it will take X amount of weeks to start working on your unit"

I'm a few days over my estimated lead time (Mimic edition), so i'm wondering how long should i wait before i start pestering Mimic or Ryan about it :smile:
I was told 8 weeks, got mine in 5 weeks. The fact that the lead time is now 12 weeks is because it's "publicly" available so Ryan has a lot more orders to process. It may come before 12 weeks, but I think now that there is a lot more fanfare, it may actually take nearly a full 12 weeks. So have patience, it's worth the wait.
 
Dec 13, 2023 at 9:08 AM Post #634 of 3,917
I was told 8 weeks, got mine in 5 weeks. The fact that the lead time is now 12 weeks is because it's "publicly" available so Ryan has a lot more orders to process. It may come before 12 weeks, but I think now that there is a lot more fanfare, it may actually take nearly a full 12 weeks. So have patience, it's worth the wait.
I also hope that Ryan is taking some time to himself over the holidays for family and friends.
As much as I want my personal Tungsten to arrive, I don't want him or his family business to burn-out over the holidays ... I'm sure they are up to their eyeballs in Tungsten orders.
:beerchug:
 
Dec 13, 2023 at 9:09 AM Post #635 of 3,917
Is there already a frequency response graph?
I mean would be kinda nice to have one or see some measurements
Find a Susvara chart. It nearly conforms to Harman for the bass region and treble, and is "flat/neutral". Notice that the midrange has little peaks here and there.
For the Tungsten DS, there's a slight dip in the sub bass region, a slight bump in the mid bass region, but otherwise it hugs the ideal Harman curve linearly, especially in the midrange, in contrast to the Susvara which has peaks in the midrange. Treble region is slightly lower than the Susvara, but still nearly conforming to the Harman curve.
At a quick glance, the two curves look alike, but the biggest difference is in the midrange.

I don't know if I can share the charts I've seen, but they will be published soon by reviewers.

I have both a Susvara and a Tungsten DS (Mimic Edition, with UP pads) and the frequency response actually makes sense to me. The sub bass is better on Susvara compared to what my chain can do for Tungsten, and the treble is a little darker on Tungsten and it doesn't float like it does on Susvara. The midrange on Tungsten is more energetic, while on Susvara, it's generally, the presentation as a whole is smoother. The midrange of the graph showing a "close to target" for Tungsten is something I didn't expect because it makes a lot of songs sound more interesting and very different in presentation. But I think it's a huge improvement.

For me Tungsten is what Susvara should have been in my mind, a high end sound that makes music engaging. Instead Susvara has a certain kind of politeness (at least with May/Bliss. from my limited amp experience, the Hifiman EF1000 makes the Susvara far more engaging.) that may make certain tracks a bit boring or at least make you reach for EQ or HQPlayer to liven it up.
 
Dec 13, 2023 at 9:29 AM Post #636 of 3,917
I wish we had more compares.... wondering how close it comes to the Susvara
It's better than Susvara for me, but treble is airier on Susvara (it floats above the music I guess), and on my stack (May/Bliss, with power conditioners) the Tungsten is delivering more detail and timbre (presumably due to higher impedance lowers the noise floor or something).
That being said, Susvara is still very very good. But Tungsten delivers more excitement and detail, but the sub bass is a tad lower than what the Susvara does naturally. But mid and upper bass is far more engaging than Susvara. Susvara is still very good though, when you get better equipment though. I've heard the Sennheiser HE-1 at CanJam and I think that my current set up can compete with the HE-1 easily if I fiddle with things like HQPlayer, and use better playback sources like iPad, RaspPI, etc. So the Susvara definitely can hold its own against high end things like the HE-1. I haven't heard things like the Aperio or Bravura, or Shangri La, or even the X9000 but I feel that the Susvara can definitely compete with most of the super high end with better equipment.
Tungsten is new, so it will be a while before people can test it with high end equipment and compare it to the super hi-end.

If you give me a short list of tracks to compare, I can give you my impressions comparing those tracks with Tungsten DS and Susvara.
Note that Tungsten SS is not as resolving as the DS, and it's a bit more of a fun, energetic sound, but that being said, the DS and SS have that similar signature of having engaging sound.
 
Dec 13, 2023 at 10:03 AM Post #637 of 3,917
It's better than Susvara for me, but treble is airier on Susvara (it floats above the music I guess), and on my stack (May/Bliss, with power conditioners) the Tungsten is delivering more detail and timbre (presumably due to higher impedance lowers the noise floor or something).
That being said, Susvara is still very very good. But Tungsten delivers more excitement and detail, but the sub bass is a tad lower than what the Susvara does naturally. But mid and upper bass is far more engaging than Susvara. Susvara is still very good though, when you get better equipment though. I've heard the Sennheiser HE-1 at CanJam and I think that my current set up can compete with the HE-1 easily if I fiddle with things like HQPlayer, and use better playback sources like iPad, RaspPI, etc. So the Susvara definitely can hold its own against high end things like the HE-1. I haven't heard things like the Aperio or Bravura, or Shangri La, or even the X9000 but I feel that the Susvara can definitely compete with most of the super high end with better equipment.
Tungsten is new, so it will be a while before people can test it with high end equipment and compare it to the super hi-end.

If you give me a short list of tracks to compare, I can give you my impressions comparing those tracks with Tungsten DS and Susvara.
Note that Tungsten SS is not as resolving as the DS, and it's a bit more of a fun, energetic sound, but that being said, the DS and SS have that similar signature of having engaging sound.
Thanks for the offer... when mine come in I can chose a couple of songs for you to compare... I heard the Tungsten/Susvara next to each other at the camjam but its hard to get a good listen with the crowds ..... they did sound pretty close though.. I have a feeling they are closer than some may know...
 
Dec 13, 2023 at 10:28 AM Post #638 of 3,917
these headphones are definitely on my radar. hopefully, they will be more widely available next year.
 
Dec 13, 2023 at 3:52 PM Post #639 of 3,917
I was told 8 weeks, got mine in 5 weeks. The fact that the lead time is now 12 weeks is because it's "publicly" available so Ryan has a lot more orders to process. It may come before 12 weeks, but I think now that there is a lot more fanfare, it may actually take nearly a full 12 weeks. So have patience, it's worth the wait.
Yeah, with direct orders and orders through Mimic Audio, Ryan is probably going to have his hands full for a while :sweat_smile:.
 
Dec 14, 2023 at 8:47 AM Post #640 of 3,917
Is there any way to view the options page? I don't want to be specing my Tungsten on purchase day and potentially lose out on an allocation. Or is it a pay-now spec-later situation?

Interested in AHB2 and Bliss impressions. I know CMA put these in his review as acceptable amps. Hoping for other reviews as well. Having already done the Susvara amp dance, don't really want round 2.
 
Last edited:
Dec 14, 2023 at 8:50 AM Post #641 of 3,917
Is there any way to view the options page? I don't want to be specing my Tungsten on purchase day and potentially lose out on an allocation. Or is it a pay-now spec-later situation?

Interested in AHB2 and Bliss impressions. I know CMA put these in his review as acceptable amps. Hoping for other reviews as well. Having already done the Susvara amp dance, don't really want round 2.
when you see the pic of the Tungsten then click on the picture... that will take you to the options/order page and you can see what is available there...
 
Dec 17, 2023 at 12:30 AM Post #644 of 3,917
I guess I should've known better: supressed bucket lists don't stay suppressed forever. So I finally got a Riviera AIC10 in my home chain and reconfirmed my impressions from CanJam Dallas: it is indeed the best I have ever heard the Tungsten. The pairing is sweet, melodic, grandiose and.. utterly seductive.
 
Last edited:
Dec 17, 2023 at 11:36 AM Post #645 of 3,917
Looking at my next upgrade path for 2024 and wondering if the Cayin HA-3A is powerful enough to run a Tungsten DS?

I'll eventually move to an Ferrum Oor stack but that'll be more like an end of next year purchase and wondering if the HA-3A is good enough to tide me over.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top