[TWerk]

1. I heard the Yamaha 5000SE at CanJam NYC 2023, and it had nothing to do with it's hype and price tag. It wasn't just underwhelming, it was downright bad and sounded like muffled, horribly tuned, garbage.

2. Lol, ultrasone's

3. Grados?

Hahaha - dude I absolutely love Ultrasone - I think they're the most underrated headphones around - which model did you hear that you didn't like?

 

[TheDJHastings]

I tried the Ultrasone Performance 880 https://a.co/d/b0GZMYY

 

[TWerk]

I tried the Ultrasone Performance 880 https://a.co/d/b0GZMYY

Ah shoot, I liked that one!

Ultrasone is very hit or miss. May have to do with the s-logic and how it works with your ears - or maybe not.

But I have noticed this - people tend to really like them like I do, or completely hate them entirely.

Despite all the equipment I own, I was literally just jamming to their HFI 780 yesterday into my mac-book thinking if I had to sell everything and just keep this single $80 headphone, I would be pretty fine with it - which says a lot, I think.

 

[r343]

HE-400 OG Stock pads = Screechy painful treble and vocalist sings trough space suit.

HD700, Glarey treble combined with warm bass, like bright and warm headphones glued together.

HD8XX You haven't heard wonky mids untill you try HD8XX.

 

[TWerk]

HE-400 OG Stock pads = Screechy painful treble and vocalist sings trough space suit.

Completely agree. Tried the 400 a few times myself because I LOVE my 500.

400 is just too sharp and peaky - very icy treble.

The good thing is the 500 fixes this and improves upon basically everything, very much so on the completely sucked out mids and painful treble.

500 is one of my favorite headphones all together but I completely agree that the 400 was a swing and a miss.

 

[kith86]

Here's some of my oppinion :

Sennheiser HD800

I used to loved this but i realize it's not for me, lacking energy in mid and so boring for EDM, and that artificial soundstage though, not for me

ZMF Aeolus

Meh, sound so weird lacking treble and too warm, too thick as well

Sennheiser HD660S2

Same reason with aeolus but this more muffled and also boring, lacking dynamic too

Beyerdynamic T1v1

Lacking body, too thin, bass also not punchy, poor man ananda

Focal Celestee

Weird sound signature its hard to describe this, dark but not excited at all

Focal Elegia

Boring as hell, too flat for my taste

ATH r70X

Lacking Dynamic, so boring

Meze Lyric

Tested in on show, it was awfull, i didnot like it at all

Sony Z1R

Weird treble spike and scooped mid, not for me

 

[KaiFi]

I was very disappointed by the ZMF Atticus. I thought I would like it based on the description and it being recommended to me based on my usual tastes. Unfortunately I found it: excessively heavy, uncomfortable to wear, difficult to adjust headband size, mediocre isolation, and with a very bloated bass.

It was a valuable experience because it made me realize that what I like most is a mid-forward sound with rolled-off high end (not unlike my trusty Sennheisers), not so much an elevated low-end. Live and learn.

 

[chesebert]

I was very disappointed by the ZMF Atticus. I thought I would like it based on the description and it being recommended to me based on my usual tastes. Unfortunately I found it: excessively heavy, uncomfortable to wear, difficult to adjust headband size, mediocre isolation, and with a very bloated bass.

It was a valuable experience because it made me realize that what I like most is a mid-forward sound with rolled-off high end (not unlike my trusty Sennheisers), not so much an elevated low-end. Live and learn.

I would look for elevated low end with low harmonic distortion. bloated bass is a symptom of high harmonic distortion or improper amp match. However, we are talking about fairly easy to drive dynamic cans, the likely cause may be high harmonic distortion in bass - someone gotta have measurements somewhere.

Found it from a friendly place - my suspicion was right (at least in part). Potential amp mismatch could also be an issue.

 

[Metalingus]

DCA Noire, recently heard it at the store in Milan paired with hugo tt. My AirPods feels like a bliss after hearing that.

 

[OnlySoMany]

HD700. Just ehh in every way, but they looked cool. Crazy treble peaks.

Mr Speakers/DCA Ether 2 (open). Much too forward and sharp. Not emotionally engaging.

Susvara, until I got the right setup. Then it was a "holy crap" moment.

Fostex TH900. Just didn't sound right to my ears, but some may like it.

 

[OnlySoMany]

Freshly-Cut Grass

Random useless fact. The smell that freshly cut grass puts out is a defense mechanism from the plant.

 

[GREQ]

Original Hifiman HE-400 - has about 10dB missing between 2-6KHz. It sounds broken.

JVC HA-DX3 - the least flagship flagship headphone ever made? The definition of harsh, bright and mid-forward aggressiveness.

AKG K271 MKII - probably the wonkiest, and least 'studio' studio-headphone ever.

 

[bagwell359]

How could I forget? The Mahogany TH-X00 from MD. Boomy ill-defined bass, recessed mids, grainy treble, no soundstage, and they get much worse at volume. Even rewiring it XLR to run on my Rag 1, pads, cables couldn't do anything with them.

I did think the Ebony was a good deal better, but not a target for me.

 

[NightBuho]

I've had two disappointments this year, one in sound and one in fit.

The sound disappointment was the Audeze LCD-3. I've been an Auzede fan for years and the LCD-3 was on my list of must own headphones for a long time. Man did they just not sound good to my ears. I have a LCD-2C and an LCD-XC and really enjoy them both. I was hoping the LCD-3 would be even better but for lack of a better term they sounded veiled and the bass wasn't very good. I tried several amps and cables but nothing helped. They were used and looked mint but maybe they weren't a typical unit.

The fit disappointment was the Abyss Diana Phi. I really like how they sound but they have to be the strangest fitting headphones I've ever owned and I have about 40 right now and have had at least another 20 over the years. They apply all of their weight right above the ears and don't distribute any of it like most sets do. Luckily they're pretty light so it's bearable and mostly just annoying. I was able to make it a little better with Dekoni pads, expanding them a two notches, and adding a ZMF Co-pilot headband pad but even so they still don't fit what I would call well or comfortably. I know Abyss likes to do things their own way but it's a real mystery to me how how they could release something with such an odd fit.