[bagwell359]

Well considering the majority of professional Beyers (one of the biggest Pro headphone makers) are round earcups, there are other professional manufacturers that definitely make round earcups. Older AKG's did as well.

Yeah and Beyer is soooooo well known for accurate timbre and non-peaky highs....

 

[bagwell359]

Still, a research paper on the effects of cup shape would be interesting.

Well, there are several things to look at:

1. Resonance amount and freq(s) of the material used
2. the pretty clear relationship of the distance of the rear cup edge to the driver. HFM's old style round have a consistent depth, and a big hole at about 1.8k, increase or decrease the depth and the spot of the dip changes, go to a graduated depth and it flattens.
3. tuning the amount of space between ear/head and closed cups
4. the clear perception that open backs have a more natural and larger soundstage than closed
5. the efforts of closed can makers to tune (absorb/diffract/diffuse) headphones to get a flatter response
6. the relationship of cup shapes overall. Clearly to me the Susvara has better bass and a not too tall soundstage like the more elongated HEK series. The OG HE-6 6 screw has way more impact in the bass then HEK Series, but also the successor HE-6 SE.
7. Relationship of bass tuning tubes and seal of pads - fenestrated vs non vs leather vs fabric

Those and probably more areas should be up for study. I am suspicious of the man of one book or one ism. Round cup vs elongated cups based on my experience seems well less important than open vs closed for instance.

Study and friendly debate over declarations will do this subsection of this thread well.

 

[kman1211]

Yeah and Beyer is soooooo well known for accurate timbre and non-peaky highs....

I wasn't agreeing with him, was just giving notable examples of round earcups in the pro market and I later gave examples of ellipse pro headphones. I get it, you hate Beyers.

 

[bagwell359]

I wasn't agreeing with him, was just giving notable examples of round earcups in the pro market and I later gave examples of ellipse pro headphones. I get it, you hate Beyers.

Hate? Just never heard one I wanted to own.

 

[Daiyama]

Stax make pretty nice headphones with non round shaped drivers, too.

 

[headblid]

Re: comfort, big head and fat ears here that I thought didn’t protrude too much but my ears touch the inner foam. This can get pretty uncomfortable especially with how much air these things move.
PSA for those that have ears that protrude somewhat and are interested in these cans.
A shame as these really seem to be great all around cans for enjoying music.

In another thread (HD-660S2) questions have been asked about how comfortable the NDH 30 is. It is proper to answer here. After nearly three months of intensive use I can say that it is one of the most comfortable headphones I have ever used. It takes hours of listening for me to start feeling that I want to take it off, just as happens with my heavily used HD-650. The round earpads are rather big and deep enough to prevent my ears from touching the inner foam or the earpads (my ears are 72mm long and are not protruding more then "normal" from the head). …

 

[xeizo]

In the house ...

 

[headstef]

I was listening to some "Telarc" and "Reference Recordings" classical and contemporary large orchestral/choral recordings today with the Neumann NDH 30. I used to consider some of this material somewhat bright or a little fatiguing at the most dense and loud passages (with the HD-650). I cannot stress enough how much more natural and balanced they sound with the NDH 30. If one of the two headphones is magical, it's not the HD-650, but the NDH-30 by far. And not only for their incomparable midrange but for the full spectrum. Large percussion instruments sound incredibly life-like and detailed. The speed of the drivers manifests its presence everywhere, as does the tremendous resolving ability. I had never thought that a headphone with such a character could be so musical and unfatiguing.These headphones seem to follow every recording or source to whatever heights. The next best thing after "being there". For my ears, made in heaven!

 

[xeizo]

I haven't listened that much, but they're very balanced on the darker side of the scale but treble is still resolving. Stereo image is flawless. Bass is deep and punchy.

In short, so far they sound very nice and imo if the HD660S2 was meant as an improvement upon HD650 these sounds like an improvement over HD600. Same neutralish sound but with lower distortion, deeper bass and better dynamics.

For myself I have better use of very neutral sound than crowd pleasing sound like the HD660S2 seems to have, I make that comparison as they cost exactly the same and both are open.

From short time memory compared to DT900 Pro X, similar resolution and dynamics, but the Neumann has a more globe shaped stereo image while DT900 Pro X is more left-middle-right.

 

[indigogo]

headstef & xeizo​

You are both right in your own way.
Sound balances between two worlds, in some new high dimension)

 

[headstef]

I haven't listened that much, but they're very balanced on the darker side of the scale but treble is still resolving. Stereo image is flawless. Bass is deep and punchy.

In short, so far they sound very nice and imo if the HD660S2 was meant as an improvement upon HD650 these sounds like an improvement over HD600. Same neutralish sound but with lower distortion, deeper bass and better dynamics.

For myself I have better use of very neutral sound than crowd pleasing sound like the HD660S2 seems to have, I make that comparison as they cost exactly the same and both are open.

From short time memory compared to DT900 Pro X, similar resolution and dynamics, but the Neumann has a more globe shaped stereo image while DT900 Pro X is more left-middle-right.

After getting used to the DT-900 pro-x or the DT-1990, any neutral headphone will rather sound dark. Those two Beyers have bright high treble, overexposing details more than what is natural. Personally, I don't want that; I prefer a headphone to be revealing without any treble excess. However, there are recordings that sound better with brighter headphones or EQ.

 

[kman1211]

After getting used to the DT-900 pro-x or the DT-1990, any neutral headphone will rather sound dark. Those two Beyers have bright high treble, overexposing details more than what is natural. Personally, I don't want that; I prefer a headphone to be revealing without any treble excess. However, there are recordings that sound better with brighter headphones or EQ.

Does the Neumann tone down the overexposed upper mids of the HD 600/650? I personally found that more bothersome than the moderate boost of upper treble of the DT 900 Pro X. The HD 560 S’s treble was more unpleasant and exaggerated than the DT 900 Pro X’s to my ears. But the DT 1990 Pro is simply too much on the upper treble though, I can’t handle headphones that bright anymore.

 

[xeizo]

Does the Neumann tone down the overexposed upper mids of the HD 600/650? I personally found that more bothersome than the rather mild boost of upper treble of the DT 900 Pro X. The HD 560 S’s treble was more unpleasant and exaggerated than the DT 900 Pro X’s to my ears. But the DT 1990 Pro is simply too much on the upper treble though, I can’t handle headphones that bright anymore.

Supertramp "Crime of the Century" 192kHz on Tidal can sound sibilant/grainy on almost everything, because of the limits of the recording technology from that day and the high ambition from the band. The NDH-30 does a good job of toning that down so that the record can be enjoyed without highlighting those blemishes.

Yes, NDH-30 do not need any particular EQ, it's sounds very good as is. However, EQ is usable I can make even the DT990 Pro 250 sound very good using EQ. The easiest is when using my digital mixer which has hardware DSP-based PEQ, just bring down the peak and it's a very enjoyable headphone. But of course it's more usable to not have to rely on hardware DSP.

 

[ThEvil0nE]

Tried the 30 directly on the Roland T8 and it played more than adequately loud. The same when I listen directly on the Roland M-10DX. Haven’t tried it directly on the Roland VR1HD but most likely it’ll behave the same.

I can also say that the 30 matches very closely to my Adam A4V in sound and character. This is when I listen really close to the A4V at about 10-12” away, A4V are 34” apart. Both through the RME ADI-2

 

[headstef]

Does the Neumann tone down the overexposed upper mids of the HD 600/650? I personally found that more bothersome than the moderate boost of upper treble of the DT 900 Pro X. The HD 560 S’s treble was more unpleasant and exaggerated than the DT 900 Pro X’s to my ears. But the DT 1990 Pro is simply too much on the upper treble though, I can’t handle headphones that bright anymore.

Some measurements show a small peak at 4kHz but it isn't really audible with a sine sweep, or it is very slightly. I feel that this area is unfatiguing even where the HD-650 shows some fatigue.