[ScornDefeat]

For the few who've actually been able to extensively listen to these so far; how "dynamic" does the DS sound?

To put in context, I find Planars to typically be lacking in this category compared to Dynamics (not surprising or a unique view from me lol). How does the DS rank, for a Planar?

Further context, for Planars, my spectrum for this:

More "dynamic" ------------ Less "dynamic"

D8000-1266TC--------Solitaire P--Empyrean-----Susvara------------Stealth/Expanse

 

[Resolve]

For the few who've actually been able to extensively listen to these so far; how "dynamic" does the DS sound?

To put in context, I find Planars to typically be lacking in this category compared to Dynamics (not surprising or a unique view from me lol). How does the DS rank, for a Planar?

Further context, for Planars, my spectrum for this:

More "dynamic" ------------ Less "dynamic"

D8000-1266TC--------Solitaire P--Empyrean-----Susvara------------Stealth/Expanse

That's quite the continuum. The D8000 is an interesting case because it uses the driver's resonance frequency as a way of creating a kind of rounded bass effect. The Ab1266TC is designed to also incur the resonance frequency (should it be worn that way). It has zero damping yielding a very high Q (narrow) boost down low when there's a gap or partial gap. The Empyrean has a higher resonance frequency, and the bass will drop out a bit when there's a gap, and the same is true for the Stealth/Expanse, although there could be other reasons why those are received as undynamic. I'm not too sure about the Solitaire P, but it seems the main outlier here is the Susvara, since that one also has a low resonance frequency with very little damping.

What I'm getting at here is that it may be down to how the headphones are coupling on real people. In cases where there's a gap or partial gap, a front-sealed planar with a low resonance frequency that has minimal damping could very well be perceived as having a better sense of 'impact', since there will also be a sub-bass boost for that person.

Now, I'm not entirely convinced of this since I've found counterexamples, even when measured in situ with in-ear mics. But from my perspective this theory is very much still on the table - or at least there seems to be something to it. And if that's the case, how the Tungsten is received for this quality could also be down to coupling, and you'd get a different report depending on the listener.

For me, I'd rate the Tungsten closer to the HE-6 than say... the Empyrean for this quality, FWIW.

 

[ScornDefeat]

That's quite the continuum. The D8000 is an interesting case because it uses the driver's resonance frequency as a way of creating a kind of rounded bass effect. The Ab1266TC is designed to also incur the resonance frequency (should it be worn that way). It has zero damping yielding a very high Q (narrow) boost down low when there's a gap or partial gap. The Empyrean has a higher resonance frequency, and the bass will drop out a bit when there's a gap, and the same is true for the Stealth/Expanse, although there could be other reasons why those are received as undynamic. I'm not too sure about the Solitaire P, but it seems the main outlier here is the Susvara, since that one also has a low resonance frequency with very little damping.

What I'm getting at here is that it may be down to how the headphones are coupling on real people. In cases where there's a gap or partial gap, a front-sealed planar with a low resonance frequency that has minimal damping could very well be perceived as having a better sense of 'impact', since there will also be a sub-bass boost for that person.

Now, I'm not entirely convinced of this since I've found counterexamples, even when measured in situ with in-ear mics. But from my perspective this theory is very much still on the table - or at least there seems to be something to it. And if that's the case, how the Tungsten is received for this quality could also be down to coupling, and you'd get a different report depending on the listener.

For me, I'd rate the Tungsten closer to the HE-6 than say... the Empyrean for this quality, FWIW.

Thank you for the thorough response, truly appreciated. It's very helpful having somebody with technical knowledge surmise what might be causing my sense of perceived "dynamics" between these various headphones. Interestingly, there seems to be some consistency here, as well, although perhaps I will have to re-evaluate the Susvara a bit.

Fit (due to varying head shapes) and coupling (due to the fit, headphone design, pad wear, etc) play such a massive and understated role. It really can change the game from one listener to the next.

Now I need to demo an HE-6 so that your comparison makes more sense to me

 

[sahmen]

For me, I'd rate the Tungsten closer to the HE-6 than say... the Empyrean for this quality, FWIW.

@Resolve : This view makes me wonder what you think about soundstaging and imaging on the Tungsten DS. To elaborate, I am thinking not only in terms of how it projects perceived width, depth, general spaciousness, and the placement of instruments within demarcated spaces, but also its ability to convey a sense of layering and airiness when the source calls for it. -- Also, how do these elements come across via the two pads (Hybrid and perforated)?

I no longer have my OG He-6 (six screws), but I do have an He-6SE V2, and its soundstage strikes me as being relatively narrow and less spacious as compared to those of the Susvara, the He1000SE, or the Abyss TC 1266. That is (at least partially) why your mention of the closeness of the Tungsten to the He-6 brings questions about soundstaging to mind.

Sorry if I am asking you to repeat things you might have already touched upon in the review.

 

[TruBrew]

Has anyone tested these with a vintage receiver? I haven’t owned any headphones in years but have been thinking about getting back into it. I don’t want to clutter up my space with more stuff, so I would like to use my Pioneer SX-950. I remember it did great with my LCD-2 and LCD-3. It also did just fine with my HE-6 as far as I can remember. I just didn’t care for those as much as the LCDs, so I didn’t have them for long.

 

[Slackaveli]

The problem is that if he hires people that already know how to do what he does, they're gonna charge for it and that it's going to increase the cost of the headphone, if he grabs people that don't have a lot of experience with what he needs help with, he may not need to increase the cost of the headphones but he needs time to train these new apprentices, so there's really no good solutions here, is either time or money or both.

Train the wife lol

 

[muths66]

Incoming

 

[Aetherhole]

Incoming

That’s beautiful! What color is that?

 

[muths66]

That’s beautiful! What color is that?

H329

 

[sahmen]

Incoming

SS or DS?

 

[muths66]

SS or DS?

DS

 

[Dixter]

Incoming

@muths66 do they send a pic to every one that has an order in ???

 

[muths66]

@muths66 do they send a pic to every one that has an order in ???

I not sure but i wait mine for quite a long time but when waiting I decided to change to ds instead of ss.

 

[Resolve]

@Resolve : This view makes me wonder what you think about soundstaging and imaging on the Tungsten DS. To elaborate, I am thinking not only in terms of how it projects perceived width, depth, general spaciousness, and the placement of instruments within demarcated spaces, but also its ability to convey a sense of layering and airiness when the source calls for it. -- Also, how do these elements come across via the two pads (Hybrid and perforated)?

I no longer have my OG He-6 (six screws), but I do have an He-6SE V2, and its soundstage strikes me as being relatively narrow and less spacious as compared to those of the Susvara, the He1000SE, or the Abyss TC 1266. That is (at least partially) why your mention of the closeness of the Tungsten to the He-6 brings questions about soundstaging to mind.

Sorry if I am asking you to repeat things you might have already touched upon in the review.

My thoughts on soundstage probably won't be too popular here but in general soundstage (and specifically distance and locatedness) doesn't actually exist in stereo headphones. It's instead more of a spaciousness effect conferred by the relationship between the upper mids and treble - specifically the dip around 1-2khz. I'd say for that quality the Tungsten is fairly normal, in a good way. It has a bit of that effect, similar to the hifiman headphones, but it's also not as extreme for this as say the HD 800S.


Image separation is also really good. With headphones that have low variance for behavior on different heads (and the Tungsten is pretty good for that), you end up getting a better matched response in situ when worn on the head, and in my experience this seems to correlate well for being able to clearly delineated different regions and pans in mixes - different instrument lines and so on.

It also helps that it's got flat linear bass extension all the way down and an FR that doesn't overly mask the clarity of those regions.

 

[sahmen]

My thoughts on soundstage probably won't be too popular here but in general soundstage (and specifically distance and locatedness) doesn't actually exist in stereo headphones. It's instead more of a spaciousness effect conferred by the relationship between the upper mids and treble - specifically the dip around 1-2khz. I'd say for that quality the Tungsten is fairly normal, in a good way. It has a bit of that effect, similar to the hifiman headphones, but it's also not as extreme for this as say the HD 800S.


Image separation is also really good. With headphones that have low variance for behavior on different heads (and the Tungsten is pretty good for that), you end up getting a better matched response in situ when worn on the head, and in my experience this seems to correlate well for being able to clearly delineated different regions and pans in mixes - different instrument lines and so on.

It also helps that it's got flat linear bass extension all the way down and an FR that doesn't overly mask the clarity of those regions.

Your description of these spaciousness effects suits me fine. Thanks! I am aware of your preference for the Hybrid pads, but could you kindly comment on how differently these effects of spaciousness are conveyed by both pads? I intend to get both pads eventually, so I am not necessarily seeing any of these pad options in "either/or" terms.