Arghavan
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Thanks for the suggestion. Which size did you end up going for?
Moondrop VENUS, PARA (hybrid default pads and EP-100A pads) and COSMO (re-equipped with the Brainwavz Memory Foam Hybrid Earpads XL Size and ZMF Universe Lambskin perforated pads or AliExpress 110 mm Real Sheepskin perforated earpads) Discussion.
Skip to 10 minutes in. He also mentions some earpads to try.
I ordered the 110mm size.
The 105mm size would probably work as well, but the 110mm size definitely fits securely.
Here is a sound demo of the COSMO with the AliExpress earpads installed
Hi, there.
Thank you for this very informative and interesting comparative video, which gives an initial idea of the differences in listening between the three headphones tested: an electrodynamic, the Focal Elex (a sort of hybrid between the focal Elear and the Clear); the COSMO fitted with perforated Lambskin pads from AliExpress, much more affordable than the ZMF Universe perforated Lambskin pads, and finally the XK-Audio Serene, which is intended to be a low-cost clone of the Hifiman Susvara OG.
I've listened to this video very carefully, with my Sennheiser HD-400 Pro headphones, but the differences in character of these three headphones can be clearly perceived, according to the different demos.
As far as can be judged from such a demo, I'd say that the COSMO equipped with these upgrade pads is the one of these three headphones with the largest, airiest soundstage, with the best opening ; it's probably also the one with the best resolution, at least ahead of the Elex.
The sound of the XK-Serene is more compact, less airy; the female voice in the last demo a little recessed (probably due to a dip in the RF between 1 and 2.5 KHz.
It's hard to judge the tonality of these three headphones on such a demo; the Elex's is quite nice to hear, quite warm in the lower midrange and with the most mid-bass; the sound seems the most contrasted; probably the most dynamic; the XK-Serene's sound seems flatter, blander and the least airy; it's the one I like the least.
hat I'd be interested in would be a comparison of the COSMO, on these same demos, with the three pads you own: the Brainwavz Hybrid XL pads, which should provide a little more bass and a little less treble on these demos, while maintaining a good, wide soundstage, but with a sound that's a little less punchy and defined than the ZMF perforated Lambskin pads (which are less veiled in the treble than the Brainwavz Hybrid XL pad fitted on the COSMO), and, of course, a comparison of the ZMF perforated Universe Lambskin pads with the Aliexpress pads perforated Lambskin, both to compare the openness and airing of the soundstage, but also the tonality in the midrange, upper-midrange, and treble, especially on female vocals.
Once again, thank you for this very interesting comparison, which already gives an little insight into these headphones being compared.
Actually, in this video, only the Serene has noticeably lower volume. My HiFiMAN EF600 wasn’t able to drive it fully. I recently purchased a headphone amplifier with 20W @32Ω output, so I’m planning to record a comparison of how different earpads affect the COSMO sound soon.
i'm using the ZMF Verite to listen.. very interesting the Elex sounded quite hollow, recessed bass and treble.... Cosmo is exactly why i bought it, it excels in the classical track.... whereas the XK is good for fast and heavy beat music
Hello everyone.
Here's a quick test to find out if your headphones are genuine Hi-Fi headphones, capable of reproducing all the notes of an emblematic musical instrument, as the piano, in the correct, balanced tonality: in this case, here for the demo (below), a Yamaha concert piano (88 keys) whose fundamental notes range from the lowest A (27.5 Hz) to the highest C (4186 Hz).
(note: see (below) table of frequencies for a standard 88-key piano below).
You can visualy memorize the keys played and the frequencies (in Hz) relating to the keys (notes) played, to realize that the notes (frequencies) played in this video below (a Boogie Woogie), on the piano, in a virtuoso way, quite exceptional, to realize the playing of the left hand (in the low frequencies) and the right hand (in the medium, high medium and high frequencies), range in practice from B (62 Hz) (left hand) to E (2600 Hz) (right hand).
Bear in mind that these are the fundamental notes, and that there are almost equally powerful harmonics at 2 x, 3 x times these fundamental frequencies, which make up the harmonic richness of this musical instrument.
Now let's get down to business and practical work : on this Boogie Woogie played on this Yamaha concert piano, I listened to three of my headphones: the Sennheiser HD 560S (and its equivalent, the HD-400 Pro); the Moondrop VENUS (Stock pads, non-interchangeable) and the Moondrop COSMO equipped with its excellent upgrade pads (interchangeable), ZMF Universe Lambskin perforated, listening attentively to all the extended playing of the piano (here included from B (62 Hz) (left hand) to E (2600 Hz) (right hand)).
The two most well-balanced headphones in terms of frequency response, for the balance of playing between the left hand (playing the bass and lower midrange) and the right hand, playing the entire midrange range, right down to the lower treble (for the fundamental notes), are the Sennheiser HD-560S and the Moondrop COSMO equipped with ZMF upgrade pads.
Here, with these two headphones, on this piano demo, the left and right hands of the piano are balanced, and notes are reproduced at equal acoustic power.
The most unbalanced headphone, on this same piano demo, is the Moondrop VENUS, which overplays the left piano hand to the detriment of the recessive right piano hand; this is very clear to hear; the piano playing is thus unbalanced in favor of the left hand.
The Moondrop COSMO headphones stand out from the Sennheiser HD-560S/400Pro headphones by virtue of their superior resolution and greater harmonic richness, not to mention better rendering of the reverberations of the notes played with this Yamaha concert piano.
That said, knowing the limitations of the Moondrop VENUS (left-hand-right-hand imbalance on the piano), I'll leave you to imagine what other, prestigious headphones like the Raal Immanis and the Hifiman Susvara OG can achieve; high-end headphones - very expensive), certainly very resolute, even exceptionally resolute, but with a tonality, let's say perfectible (nb: see the FRs of these prestigious headphones in spoiler below), which should translate in practice (when listening to these headphones) into a recession of the right hand of the piano (compared to the left hand) and also into recessive (more distant) female voices.
As a result, these high-end headphones are not strictly speaking Hi-Fi, in the original sense of the term (perfectible fidelity for tonality).
Note : there is currently no objective measured FR of the COSMO equipped with ZMF Universe Lambskin perforated upgrade pads, but frequency analysis of a sinusoidal frequency sweep shows to my ear, an improved FR of the COSMO equipped with these ZMF pads compared with the same COSMO equipped with the PARA hybrid pads, with attenuation of the frequency hump (hump of +3 dB) at 3 KHz and filling of the frequency dip (dip of -3 dB) at 6 KHz ; hump (at 3 Khz) and dip (at 6 KHz) found with the COSMO fitted with the PARA hybrid pads, but not (any more) with the ZMF Universe Lambskin perforated pads.
Here's a quick test to find out if your headphones are genuine Hi-Fi headphones, capable of reproducing all the notes of an emblematic musical instrument, as the piano, in the correct, balanced tonality: in this case, here for the demo (below), a Yamaha concert piano (88 keys) whose fundamental notes range from the lowest A (27.5 Hz) to the highest C (4186 Hz).
(note: see (below) table of frequencies for a standard 88-key piano below).
You can visualy memorize the keys played and the frequencies (in Hz) relating to the keys (notes) played, to realize that the notes (frequencies) played in this video below (a Boogie Woogie), on the piano, in a virtuoso way, quite exceptional, to realize the playing of the left hand (in the low frequencies) and the right hand (in the medium, high medium and high frequencies), range in practice from B (62 Hz) (left hand) to E (2600 Hz) (right hand).
Bear in mind that these are the fundamental notes, and that there are almost equally powerful harmonics at 2 x, 3 x times these fundamental frequencies, which make up the harmonic richness of this musical instrument.
Now let's get down to business and practical work : on this Boogie Woogie played on this Yamaha concert piano, I listened to three of my headphones: the Sennheiser HD 560S (and its equivalent, the HD-400 Pro); the Moondrop VENUS (Stock pads, non-interchangeable) and the Moondrop COSMO equipped with its excellent upgrade pads (interchangeable), ZMF Universe Lambskin perforated, listening attentively to all the extended playing of the piano (here included from B (62 Hz) (left hand) to E (2600 Hz) (right hand)).
The two most well-balanced headphones in terms of frequency response, for the balance of playing between the left hand (playing the bass and lower midrange) and the right hand, playing the entire midrange range, right down to the lower treble (for the fundamental notes), are the Sennheiser HD-560S and the Moondrop COSMO equipped with ZMF upgrade pads.
Here, with these two headphones, on this piano demo, the left and right hands of the piano are balanced, and notes are reproduced at equal acoustic power.
The most unbalanced headphone, on this same piano demo, is the Moondrop VENUS, which overplays the left piano hand to the detriment of the recessive right piano hand; this is very clear to hear; the piano playing is thus unbalanced in favor of the left hand.
The Moondrop COSMO headphones stand out from the Sennheiser HD-560S/400Pro headphones by virtue of their superior resolution and greater harmonic richness, not to mention better rendering of the reverberations of the notes played with this Yamaha concert piano.
That said, knowing the limitations of the Moondrop VENUS (left-hand-right-hand imbalance on the piano), I'll leave you to imagine what other, prestigious headphones like the Raal Immanis and the Hifiman Susvara OG can achieve; high-end headphones - very expensive), certainly very resolute, even exceptionally resolute, but with a tonality, let's say perfectible (nb: see the FRs of these prestigious headphones in spoiler below), which should translate in practice (when listening to these headphones) into a recession of the right hand of the piano (compared to the left hand) and also into recessive (more distant) female voices.
As a result, these high-end headphones are not strictly speaking Hi-Fi, in the original sense of the term (perfectible fidelity for tonality).
Note : there is currently no objective measured FR of the COSMO equipped with ZMF Universe Lambskin perforated upgrade pads, but frequency analysis of a sinusoidal frequency sweep shows to my ear, an improved FR of the COSMO equipped with these ZMF pads compared with the same COSMO equipped with the PARA hybrid pads, with attenuation of the frequency hump (hump of +3 dB) at 3 KHz and filling of the frequency dip (dip of -3 dB) at 6 KHz ; hump (at 3 Khz) and dip (at 6 KHz) found with the COSMO fitted with the PARA hybrid pads, but not (any more) with the ZMF Universe Lambskin perforated pads.
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dpump
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@eric65: There is a totally incorrect statement in your above post.
The pads on the Venus are easily replaceable. I have been using Voarmaks leather pads purchased from Amazon USA on my Venus which were recommended here previously. I just received the 110mm perforated leather pads from Aliexpress recommended here. They are a noticeable improvement to the Voarmaks pads as they are perforated on the inside and the outside. The Voarmaks pads are only perforated on the inside. No, the Venus does not have the magnetic attachment the Para and Cosmo have. The Venus has a groove on the outside of the earcups and you simply tuck the flap on the back of the earpads into the groove. Many headphones use this same system. The groove on the Venus earcups is a little wider than most other phones using this system and it's easy to swap pads with a little practice. Not a problem with a little effort and it's the same way the stock earpads are installed.
The Aliexpress pads have a similar construction to the ZMF perforated Universe pads. I haven't tried the ZMF pads but the Aliexpress pads seem to be very well made. If you still have the Venus, you should try the ZMF pads on them to see what you think. I haven't heard the Cosmo but I still hope to purchase a pair at some point. If I do, the first thing I will do is change to the Aliexpress pads. I still have the Voarmaks pads on my Para and I will soon try the Aliexpress pads on the Para. Hopefully there will also be an improvement on the Para.
The pads on the Venus are easily replaceable. I have been using Voarmaks leather pads purchased from Amazon USA on my Venus which were recommended here previously. I just received the 110mm perforated leather pads from Aliexpress recommended here. They are a noticeable improvement to the Voarmaks pads as they are perforated on the inside and the outside. The Voarmaks pads are only perforated on the inside. No, the Venus does not have the magnetic attachment the Para and Cosmo have. The Venus has a groove on the outside of the earcups and you simply tuck the flap on the back of the earpads into the groove. Many headphones use this same system. The groove on the Venus earcups is a little wider than most other phones using this system and it's easy to swap pads with a little practice. Not a problem with a little effort and it's the same way the stock earpads are installed.
The Aliexpress pads have a similar construction to the ZMF perforated Universe pads. I haven't tried the ZMF pads but the Aliexpress pads seem to be very well made. If you still have the Venus, you should try the ZMF pads on them to see what you think. I haven't heard the Cosmo but I still hope to purchase a pair at some point. If I do, the first thing I will do is change to the Aliexpress pads. I still have the Voarmaks pads on my Para and I will soon try the Aliexpress pads on the Para. Hopefully there will also be an improvement on the Para.
Hi.
In my experience, it is not possible to install the perforated ZMF Universe Lambskin pads correctly on the VENUS; the groove where the pads are attached to the VENUS is not deep enough; I think @N3urolink should confirm this.
That said, have you listened to my piano demo (above) with the VENUS (stock pads)?
How do you find the tonal balance between the left and right hands of the piano, with your VENUS?
PS: I still own the VENUS (stock pads), as well as the COSMO (original pads; Moondrop EP-100A pads; Moondrop PARA hybrid pads; Brainwavz hybrid XL pads; Dekoni Elite Hybid HE pads and ZMF Universe Lambskin perforated pads); I also own a Kennerton Thror (original ECL-01 pads); and I own a Sennheiser HD-560S and HD-400 Pro.
In my experience, it is not possible to install the perforated ZMF Universe Lambskin pads correctly on the VENUS; the groove where the pads are attached to the VENUS is not deep enough; I think @N3urolink should confirm this.
That said, have you listened to my piano demo (above) with the VENUS (stock pads)?
How do you find the tonal balance between the left and right hands of the piano, with your VENUS?
PS: I still own the VENUS (stock pads), as well as the COSMO (original pads; Moondrop EP-100A pads; Moondrop PARA hybrid pads; Brainwavz hybrid XL pads; Dekoni Elite Hybid HE pads and ZMF Universe Lambskin perforated pads); I also own a Kennerton Thror (original ECL-01 pads); and I own a Sennheiser HD-560S and HD-400 Pro.
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Fiio FT7 is out, here's Aliexpress link
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/1005008868811768.html?gatewayAdapt=4itemAdapt
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/1005008868811768.html?gatewayAdapt=4itemAdapt
dpump
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The back lip on the ZMF pads is too wide. It needs to be cut down if possible and then it will fit the Venus with no problem. ZMF makes these pads to fit headphones like Beyerdynamic where the back lip goes around the earcup, not in a groove. That's why the lip is so wide. If you can't cut the lip down, order the Aliexpress earpads. They have a smaller rear lip close to the one on the stock pads and they fit fine.
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A little idea of the FR of the FiiO FT7 compared to the COSMO (stock pads, Moondrop EP-100A pads and Moondrop Para's hybrid pads) (spoiler).
FiiO FT7 FR (Harman OE 2018 target).
Note: each horizontal line is spaced by 5 dB SPL on this graph.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones...se_graph_of_the_ft7_posted_by_fiio/?rdt=53253
to compare with the COSMO's FR (spoiler)
Notes: the target curve is Harman OE 2018 (exaggerating the bass level by about +5 dB SPL).
Each horizontal line is spaced by 5 dB SPL on these graphs.
These FR curves in no way presage the resolution of these headphones, nor their “speed”, nor the extent of their soundstage (aeration, openness ...).
Note bis: there is currently no objective measured FR of the COSMO equipped with ZMF Universe Lambskin perforated upgrade pads, but frequency analysis of a sinusoidal frequency sweep shows to my ear, an improved FR of the COSMO equipped with these ZMF pads compared with the same COSMO equipped with the Para hybrid pads, with attenuation of the frequency hump (hump of +3 dB) at 3 KHz and filling of the frequency dip (dip of -3 dB) at 6 KHz ; hump (at 3 Khz) and dip (at 6 KHz) found with the COSMO fitted with the Para hybrid pads, but not (any more) with the ZMF Universe Lambskin perforated pads.
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A little idea of the FR of the FiiO FT7 compared to the COSMO (stock pads, Moondrop EP-100A pads and Moondrop Para's hybrid pads) (spoiler).
FiiO FT7 FR (Harman OE 2018 target).
Note: each horizontal line is spaced by 5 dB SPL on this graph.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones...se_graph_of_the_ft7_posted_by_fiio/?rdt=53253
to compare with the COSMO's FR (spoiler)
Notes: the target curve is Harman OE 2018 (exaggerating the bass level by about +5 dB SPL).
Each horizontal line is spaced by 5 dB SPL on these graphs.
These FR curves in no way presage the resolution of these headphones, nor their “speed”, nor the extent of their soundstage (aeration, openness ...).
Note bis: there is currently no objective measured FR of the COSMO equipped with ZMF Universe Lambskin perforated upgrade pads, but frequency analysis of a sinusoidal frequency sweep shows to my ear, an improved FR of the COSMO equipped with these ZMF pads compared with the same COSMO equipped with the Para hybrid pads, with attenuation of the frequency hump (hump of +3 dB) at 3 KHz and filling of the frequency dip (dip of -3 dB) at 6 KHz ; hump (at 3 Khz) and dip (at 6 KHz) found with the COSMO fitted with the Para hybrid pads, but not (any more) with the ZMF Universe Lambskin perforated pads.
seems the mid and lower treble are quite full and then rolls off on both ends.. so it maybe a good female vocal and violin pair..... interesting
Hi.
I saw that you've just ordered the FiiO FT7; imho a good investment; this headphone should indeed have a good presence in the mid-high range, with probably a bit more treble brilliance than the COSMO, even when equipped with the ZMF Universe perforated Lambskin pads, but also with more bass (around 40-60 Hz) than the COSMO.
Future comparisons of the FT7 with your COSMO look very interesting, and I'll be keeping a close eye on them.
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