Hello (or good evening) to everyone, depending on your country of origin (it's evening in France).
Well, I've just listened to the COSMO with my audio system, and I'm going to agree with friend
@acclimatise, the COSMO's stock earpads don't suit the COSMO at all: to be brief, with the COSMO's stock pads it sounds weird, narrow for the soundstage (confined) and muffled (stuffy) in the treble, taking all the life out of the sound and voices, like a bis repetita of my Kernnerton Thror. A real shame.
But I wouldn't stop there, quite the contrary, because
@acclimatise (and I) were right to think that the COSMO should be given a second chance with pads other than the stock ones, which honestly don't suit these headphones at all (at least for my old 58-year-old ears, which do however have a certain experience when it comes to "just right" sound (thanks to Sennheiser in particular).
And now, divine surprise, there's a solution to save your COSMO from disaster, and for very little extra money (exactly 34.53€).
After listening to the Sina-drums drums on this track (below), and noting the disaster with the COSMO and its original pads, I said to myself, well, let's try PARA's hybrid (stock) pads on the COSMO (instead of its unconvincing stock pads) ; they're very easy to change, and are, via a metal plate that the PARA and COSMO have, magnetically attached.
There, very good surprise, it sounds much better for the drums (snare drum, toms and cymbals): the sound comes back to life and breathes again: it is precise, clear, very fine, fast, very detailed, precise in the spatialization and much more open than with the stock COSMO pads; in fact it sounds even better than with the VENUS for the exquisite finesse of the cymbals, their timbre (which seems the most accurate to me) and their extension in the treble.
The definition and clarity are even better than the VENUS; the opening of the soundstage is identical (wide); on the second video of Sina's drums, we have even more spatial precision and 3D effect than with the VENUS; the cymbals are even finer and more detailed than with the VENUS; we feel the difference in resolution of the COSMO (+ PARA pads) which clearly exceeds that of the VENUS, in precision and finesse.
The mid-bass level is a little lower than that of the VENUS, but the extension in the sub-bass is good, and there is impact from the bass-drums. The dynamics of the COSMO are excellent, starting with that of the snare drum.
I also tried the stock COSMO pads on the PARA (rather than throwing them in the trash, which was my first intention), and there, another divine surprise, the stock COSMO pads work very well on the PARA , by giving it more bass (and even a little more than with the VENUS) and also less treble: as a result, the PARA becomes much more pleasant to listen to, just like the VENUS, with a its bassier, warmer, less tiring in the treble.
However, the resolution level of the PARA (equipped with the stock COSMO pads) is lower than that of the VENUS which is itself lower than that of the COSMO (equipped with the PARA pads).
Likewise, the finesse of the PARA in the treble (equipped with the stock COSMO pads) is lower than that of the VENUS, itself lower than that of the COSMO (equipped with the PARA pads).
I finally tried the VENUS pads on the COSMO; it's better than with the COSMO and its stock pads, but I was left wanting more: even if the bass level is higher in level, I find a little coloration in the lower midrange which dulls it and makes it lose clarity and definition, including the definition of the soundstage; it still lacks a little treble for the cymbals, and the opening is less good than with the COSMO equipped with the PARA pads.
The sound of the COSMO with the VENUS pads resembles that of the VENUS with a little less treble and even a little more low mids; I don't find it any better (or barely better than that of the VENUS).
As for the cables used, no upheaval, my synergistic preference goes to the V-Line cable in silvered copper for the VENUS which suits it well, to the pure copper Moondrop UP cable, with the PARA equipped with the COSMO pads, which suits it well, and the black pure copper cable, stock, which is good, and is very suitable for the COSMO equipped with PARA pads.
For ADELE's voice (see the two videos below), my description above applies just as much: I like the three headphones thus equipped (VENUS, PARA equipped with the stock COSMO pads and COSMO equipped with the stock pads PARA).
The resolution of COSMO > VENUS > PARA (thus equipped)
The finesse of the sound of COSMO > VENUS > PARA (thus equipped)
The clarity of COSMO > VENUS > PARA (thus equipped)
The PARA bass SPL level (+ COSMO pads) > VENUS > COSMO (+ PARA pads)
The dynamics of COSMO = VENUS > PARA (thus equipped)
The opening of the COSMO soundstage >= VENUS > PARA (thus equipped)
The spatial precision (3D) of COSMO > VENUS > PARA (thus equipped).
Note: Much better sound on the blu-ray of Adele's live concert (DTS-HD MASTER soundtrack) than on this YouTube video (poor sound quality)
Finally, a link to obtain the excellent hybrid earpads of the PARA, also very comfortable to wear with the COSMO, barely heavier than the PARA.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806550826814.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt
EDIT : I almost forgot to mention that the COSMO's sensitivity (in dB/Vrms) is significantly lower than that of the PARA and VENUS (which is almost identical to within 1 dB for the latter two headphones).
To listen to SINA's drums at high SPL, I have to set the potentiometer on my VIVA 2A3 amp to almost 12 o'clock, whereas the volume potentiometer position is significantly lower with the VENUS (10.30 o'clock) and the PARA (10 o'clock).