[cs098]

  I will say that I found his review...odd, and leave it at that. It would be help to know that amp, dac and source music he was using or did I miss that. 

He uses a oppo ha-1 as a dac and the Pathos Aurium using 74' Reflektor tubes as the amp. He states it's a relatively neutral sounding setup, so it's easy to see why he didn't like the ether on it.
 
Here are some more comments from him.
 
http://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/3aihba/ether_impressions_vid/csd2a7j?context=3.

 

[MattTCG]

  He uses a oppo ha-1 as a dac and the Pathos Aurium using 74' Reflektor tubes as the amp. He states it's a relatively neutral sounding setup, so it's easy to see why he didn't like the ether on it.
 
Here are some more comments from him.
 
http://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/3aihba/ether_impressions_vid/csd2a7j?context=3.

I reviewed the ha-1 when it was first released. Personally I thought the amp section was pretty darn good, but that the dac was holding it back. I felt like it showed a fairly substantial improvement when I by-passed the dac and used the gungnir instead. I don't know anything about that amp the reviewer was using tbh.
 
Not trying to take anything away from the guy or his review. There will never be unamimous agreement on how something sounds. And...we will all have varying preferences. 

 

[prot]

Seems to me he was trying to be objective about the neutrality of the headphones whilst admitting they're not to his personal taste. Good to see a reviewer not get carried away (positive or negative) based purely on his tonal preferences but rather keeping an open mind on how others are likely to perceive them.

I also liked that review. People are different, ears are different and sound preferences are very different too ... the reviews *must* sound different. And if they do, that's a good sign which makes all *more* credible and we should all be very happy!

And now I'm eagerly awaiting Tyll's monster review, see http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/big-sound-2015-and-so-it-begins. That would be the "opposite" of the three-musketeers review that is cooking for the HEK ... this time it's one guy against 3 headphones (ether, dharma, hek). Hope he does not forget to include some of my favourites: measurements, (semi) blind comparisons, etc...

 

[m8o]

I will say that I found his review...odd, and leave it at that. It would be help to know that amp, dac and source music he was using or did I miss that. 

you didnt. There seemed more focus on how it (or other HP) reproduced sound in games than how musical passages many of us may be aquainted with were reproduced.

 

[wahsmoh]

  I reviewed the ha-1 when it was first released. Personally I thought the amp section was pretty darn good, but that the dac was holding it back. I felt like it showed a fairly substantial improvement when I by-passed the dac and used the gungnir instead. I don't know anything about that amp the reviewer was using tbh.
 
Not trying to take anything away from the guy or his review. There will never be unamimous agreement on how something sounds. And...we will all have varying preferences. 

100% with you. I heard the HA-1 briefly at CanJam 2015 and noticed the Sabre glare immediately. Turned down the volume, turned up,  changed tracks. Still there.  I would own the HA-1 just for the amp and cool display and bypass the DAC with my R2R Theta

 

[IHMEYERS]

  He's frequents /r/headphones on reddit alot and comments often, here's the thread
 
www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/3ayruk/mrspeakers_ether_review/.
 
Speaking with him, his opinion is that while the ether does not offer the tone and musicality he enjoys, he admits that technicality wise it's one of the best he's ever heard. He also admits his gear does not match with the ether to his tastes perfectly.

http://headfonics.com/2015/06/the-ether-by-mrspeakers/2/
 

I didn't understand the review at all.  I mean I get it, it's well written and straightforward but it was basically like
 
Bass, "I simply do not consider the Ether a musical headphone"
 
Midrange: "it isn’t quite on par with the LCD series from Audeze in heft"
 
Treble:  "I find it fatiguing after a while of usage."
 
Conclusion: "It is just right."
 
 
Huh?  What?
 
Doesn't make me want to rush out and buy one.  JMHO.

 

[rgs9200m]

These are some of the most confusing reviews I ever read. He seems to reverse himself repeatedly. I don't even know what it sounds like from all that reading and viewing.

 

[richard51]

After reading this review i am confused because i dont know if the Ethers are really analytical, non musical headphone, are they ? the review is clearly written but the conclusion is not logical with the analysis.... the Ether are non musical but very good...buy them..its better than  senn 800...what is the meaning of this : one step forward , one step behind...

i dont want a non musical headphone at this price for sure....

 

[Badas]

I think by musical he means warm. I think its great that he knows that warm is not neutral and gives it credit for other aspects.
 
I have a very warm HP and don't need another. So the Ether will be great if it is neutral.

 

[richard51]

For me a very good headphone is nor warm nor analytical , just right...

Hence musical , the right balance....

 

[vhsownsbeta]

   
Woo hoo!  My single-ended DUM, balanced DUM and road case shall soon be here!

I am going DUM and DUM-er too!
 

 

[aamefford]

I reviewed the ha-1 when it was first released. Personally I thought the amp section was pretty darn good, but that the dac was holding it back. I felt like it showed a fairly substantial improvement when I by-passed the dac and used the gungnir instead. I don't know anything about that amp the reviewer was using tbh.

Not trying to take anything away from the guy or his review. There will never be unamimous agreement on how something sounds. And...we will all have varying preferences. 

100% with you. I heard the HA-1 briefly at CanJam 2015 and noticed the Sabre glare immediately. Turned down the volume, turned up,  changed tracks. Still there.  I would own the HA-1 just for the amp and cool display and bypass the DAC with my R2R Theta

We all hear what we hear, of course. I dissent a bit here, only because I did comparisons with HA-1 and Bifrost Uber into both Asgard2 and HA-1 amps. The difference between the Dacs to me was vanishingly small. Likely expectation bias small. Since the Bifrost Uber is not a sabre chip, I'm starting to question this whole sabre glare issue, that's all.

 

[MattTCG]

^^ Sabre has always sounded a bit harsh and strident on the top end to me. Not a day and night difference but certainly appreciable IMO. 

 

[Badas]

  I reviewed the ha-1 when it was first released. Personally I thought the amp section was pretty darn good, but that the dac was holding it back. I felt like it showed a fairly substantial improvement when I by-passed the dac and used the gungnir instead. I don't know anything about that amp the reviewer was using tbh.
 
Not trying to take anything away from the guy or his review. There will never be unamimous agreement on how something sounds. And...we will all have varying preferences. 

 
 

  ^^ Sabre has always sounded a bit harsh and strident on the top end to me. Not a day and night difference but certainly appreciable IMO. 

 
I have the Oppo HA-1 and I agree. The DAC is bloody awful. I ended up bypassing it as well and run the Arcam irDAC into the Woo WA22 and Oppo HA-1. A lot better.
 
If he used the Oppo HA-1 as a DAC and he likes a warm sound then he would have hated it. System failure. Not HP's.

 

[Sonic Defender]

   
 
 
I have the Oppo HA-1 and I agree. The DAC is bloody awful. I ended up bypassing it as well and run the Arcam irDAC into the Woo WA22 and Oppo HA-1. A lot better.
 
If he used the Oppo HA-1 as a DAC and he likes a warm sound then he would have hated it. System failure. Not HP's.

You can't agree that the DAC was bloody awful, only you said that, MattTCG only said that he felt it was holding the sound back, but that sounds like a far cry from bloody awful. Do you really find it that bad of a DAC? What DAC signature do you prefer?