[MattTCG]

I respectfully but strongly disagree with this sentiment. There is no rule that a $300 headphone can't be compared to or superior to a $ 1800 headphone. Price in this field is only loosely connected to performance. People forget that in 2003 the HD650 was Sennheisers flagship and just because the price has decreased does not mean it's a worse headphone

The Ethers price is also affected by its excellent build quality and materials. However I'm perfectly happy with plastic
Construction as long as the money goes into the sound quality....


These are just my impressions and I would caution Headfiers who are sensitive to harsh treble from buying the Ethers before trying.

 
So you haven't owned them (flow) or auditioned them in your home with your gear? Just asking... 

 

[rthomas]

You would not call the latest HD650s dark if you paired them with a powerful SS amp like the Jotunheim or Mjolnir 2.

I started in this hobby with Grados so I like my treble detail but dislike harsh treble which is why I now use the HD650.

 

[kejar31]

You would not call the latest HD650s dark if you paired them with a powerful SS amp like the Jotunheim or Mjolnir 2.

I started in this hobby with Grados so I like my treble detail but dislike harsh treble which is why I now use the HD650.

 
I owned a new pair "with the grey drivers" that I modded after I fell asleep listening to them due to them being way to laid back lol
 
BTW I used them with a bifrost / lyr2 (LISST) stack
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/814701/hd650-newest-version-modded

 

[rthomas]

I borrowed a well used pair recently to use with my new Jotunheim. It did not change my mind. Just for reference I also found my HD800S to be too bright and I sold them in 2 months.

 

[kejar31]

Funny you would say that, I owned the HD800S's for about 5 days and returned them due to their bright nature. 
 
And yet I am sitting here with my Flow's and do not hear any harsh brightness..

 

[Badas]

You would not call the latest HD650s dark if you paired them with a powerful SS amp like the Jotunheim or Mjolnir 2.

I started in this hobby with Grados so I like my treble detail but dislike harsh treble which is why I now use the HD650.

Mate. Coming in here and saying the Ether has crap treble was not tactful.
 
I was scared of the treble the most when I went to the Flows. Actually it caught me by surprise. On good gear The treble is there and never gets harsh. On the 650 the treble is not there. Probably why it is smoother. 650 is a dark HP.
 
Being less tactful. May I suggest that the crap audio gear is not great. Vastly overrated.
Try the Ethers on better gear.

 

[rthomas]

My shortest ownership experience was the Beyer T90, returned in 18 hours!

 

[rthomas]

 
Mate. Coming in here and saying the Ether has crap treble was not tactful.
 
I was scared of the treble the most when I went to the Flows. Actually it caught me by surprise. On good gear The treble is there and never gets harsh. On the 650 the treble is not there. Probably why it is smoother. 650 is a dark HP.
 
Being less tactful. May I suggest that the crap audio gear is not great. Vastly overrated.
Try the Ethers on better gear.

 
My friend, I did not intend to be untactful. I was just giving my honest negative impression to a very expensive headphone. So I hold it to a high standard....
 
The 650 has a tonal balance which is universally admired. Please have a look at it's frequency response graph and you will see that the 'treble is there'
 
Please see Rtings review of the HD650 for critical listening. If it has a hole in the treble area the evidence shows otherwise.....
 
 http://uk.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/sennheiser/hd-650
 
Schiit Audio gear is widely considered to be the best value for money in the industry, not everything needs to be $2000+ to be ''great''

 

[Jazic]

I borrowed a well used pair recently to use with my new Jotunheim. It did not change my mind. Just for reference I also found my HD800S to be too bright and I sold them in 2 months.

 
 
Do you have the Ether or Flow? Was wondering if you'd give some thoughts on how they sound with the Jutunheim. I really want to grab one for Xmas. 

 

[emptymt]

I borrowed a well used pair recently to use with my new Jotunheim. It did not change my mind. Just for reference I also found my HD800S to be too bright and I sold them in 2 months.

both needs warm amps, I own Ether Flow and reviewed the HD800S, with mojo ->liquid carbon combo, they are both fine on the treble.
smooth but edgy when it needed to be.
 
I find both headphones enjoyable almost at the same level (it's mostly give and take at this point anyway), despite the 800S being cheaper.

 

[kejar31]

   
My friend, I did not intend to be untactful. I was just giving my honest negative impression to a very expensive headphone. So I hold it to a high standard....
 
The 650 has a tonal balance which is universally admired. Please have a look at it's frequency response graph and you will see that the 'treble is there'
 
Please see Rtings review of the HD650 for critical listening. If it has a hole in the treble area the evidence shows otherwise.....
 
 http://uk.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/sennheiser/hd-650
 
Schiit Audio gear is widely considered to be the best value for money in the industry, not everything needs to be $2000+ to be ''great''

 
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SennheiserHD650.pdf
 
This frequency response?
 
IDK that is a pretty big dip of about 15 db in the 3.5khz - 10Khz range (which starts its decent at about 1Khz) that actually backs what people have been saying "its a dark headphone".. 
 
As I said, if you are adjusted to listening to a headphone like this, you need to give a more balanced headphone more time, like a week. 

 

[RCBinTN]

 
 
This was me last night.

Trying every bloody thing I had. Trying every feature. It was war.
 
I tried these things: Filters on the Vega DAC, volume control, gain control, sensitivity control, then finally different HP's.
 
Flow came out on top.
 
My winning combo was Vega filter 3 > V281 > Flow. Just awesome stuff.
 
It surprised me Flow was best on solid state. It sounded nice on tubes but definitely better on solid state.
 
It was great fun and I absolutely adore the Flow sound. Better than I expected. For some reason I was scared of the Flow's treble before I got a pair. I didn't need to be.

 
That looks like a ton of fun!  Nice gear.
 
My open Flow sound sublime when driven by the GMB and Bryston BHA-1 solid state amp.  Not at all harsh treble, just right, but then the BHA-1 is not a harsh amp.  May be similar to the V281 on which I've read a ton of favorable comments.
 
As for recessed mids, I don't experience that at all but I'm using an after-market cable (already posted above).  
 
YMMY, FWIW, and as always Cheers my friends,
RCB

 

[rthomas]

   
 
Do you have the Ether or Flow? Was wondering if you'd give some thoughts on how they sound with the Jutunheim. I really want to grab one for Xmas. 

I did not like this combination. To my ears the Schiit solid state amps are Neutral/Slightly bright.
 
The original Ethers were a bit bright and bass shy and the new Flows have more bass but are a bit brighter than the originals to my ears.
 
For your reference my ideal level of brightness is the HD600 or HD650. The new HD650 with new pads from a powerful neutral amp is very close to the HD600 in terms of treble. So I disagree with people who say the the 650 has no treble. The HD800 and HD800S are way too bright and bass shy/lean sounding for me.
 
I would strongly recommend that you try before you buy if you are even a bit sensitive to harsh treble. A ''warm'' amp may solve this issue but personally I prefer using a neutral amp and picking my flavour of headphone instead of trying to ''correct'' a headphone using an amp.
 
Good luck! 

 

[emptymt]

  I did not like this combination. To my ears the Schiit solid state amps are Neutral/Slightly bright.
 
The original Ethers were a bit bright and bass shy and the new Flows have more bass but are a bit brighter than the originals to my ears.
 
For your reference my ideal level of brightness is the HD600 or HD650. The new HD650 with new pads from a powerful neutral amp is very close to the HD600 in terms of treble. So I disagree with people who say the the 650 has no treble. The HD800 and HD800S are way too bright and bass shy/lean sounding for me.
 
I would strongly recommend that you try before you buy if you are even a bit sensitive to harsh treble. A ''warm'' amp may solve this issue but personally I prefer using a neutral amp and picking my flavour of headphone instead of trying to ''correct'' a headphone using an amp.
 
Good luck! 

U need Audezes, LOL.
neck pain though..

 

[RCBinTN]

  I did not like this combination. To my ears the Schiit solid state amps are Neutral/Slightly bright.
 
The original Ethers were a bit bright and bass shy and the new Flows have more bass but are a bit brighter than the originals to my ears.
 
For your reference my ideal level of brightness is the HD600 or HD650. The new HD650 with new pads from a powerful neutral amp is very close to the HD600 in terms of treble. So I disagree with people who say the the 650 has no treble. The HD800 and HD800S are way too bright and bass shy/lean sounding for me.
 
I would strongly recommend that you try before you buy if you are even a bit sensitive to harsh treble. A ''warm'' amp may solve this issue but personally I prefer using a neutral amp and picking my flavour of headphone instead of trying to ''correct'' a headphone using an amp.
 
Good luck! 

 
Agree 100%.  There are good recommendations for amp / HP pairings out there, but by far the best idea is to listen before you buy.
 
You write well and include the important notes "for me" and "to my ears."  That's the key - everybody hears music differently and there are many variables which influence the experience.
 
Personally, I do not find the HD800 to be overly bright, and find the Ether Flow to be quite a bit less bright than the HD800.  Maybe I'm a treble head, maybe my old ears have less resolution in the high frequencies, maybe it's the upstream rig.  Don't know.
 
All the Best -
RCB