[bravo4588]

IMHO the Amperior is targeted towards the lifestyle/fashion crowd!
*it is shiny
*can be used with iDevices
*more color options
*just plug n' play (no amp, no LOD, no bulky rigs to ruin the luis vuiton bag)

 

[budgetboy]

As a person with a Cowon J3 as his audio source, I'm excited about the low impedance of these new phones. Given that I don't have a line-out on my preferred audio player, I'm trying to stay out of the amp game altogether. Even though the HD 25 is considered one of the headphones that "doesn't need an amp", I'd be constantly worried I wasn't getting the potential out of it with no amp, so this new model is attractive for that reason alone.
 
I'm confident that the price will drop to $250-$275 within 6 months of release because I just don't think many would pay $150 more for a mic and control cord and a shiny new finish. Initial asking price is always higher than street price, especially with Sennheiser. For example, the IE8s are still listed at over $500 on the Senn site, but I got mine for $275 on ebay.

 

[yliu]

I've saw this vid on YouTube that the HD25 doesn't do so well on the low end of the spectrum because it's light construction.

 
So could it be fixed on the aluminum one?

 

[Coq de Combat]

Quote:

As a person with a Cowon J3 as his audio source, I'm excited about the low impedance of these new phones. Given that I don't have a line-out on my preferred audio player, I'm trying to stay out of the amp game altogether. Even though the HD 25 is considered one of the headphones that "doesn't need an amp", I'd be constantly worried I wasn't getting the potential out of it with no amp, so this new model is attractive for that reason alone.
 
I'm confident that the price will drop to $250-$275 within 6 months of release because I just don't think many would pay $150 more for a mic and control cord and a shiny new finish. Initial asking price is always higher than street price, especially with Sennheiser. For example, the IE8s are still listed at over $500 on the Senn site, but I got mine for $275 on ebay.

The normal HD25 runs just fine out of the J3 without amping. The J3 is quite powerful in that regard. For example, I noticed little to no difference running my RE-262 straight from the J3 and my FiiO E11. I also own the HD25 and really, you shouldn't worry about it at all.

 

[budgetboy]

 
 

The normal HD25 runs just fine out of the J3 without amping. The J3 is quite powerful in that regard. For example, I noticed little to no difference running my RE-262 straight from the J3 and my FiiO E11. I also own the HD25 and really, you shouldn't worry about it at all.

 
Thanks, that really helps. I guess I always assumed there was a fair bit more performance I wasn't getting out of my M50s, but maybe it's their sound signature. 

 

[Coq de Combat]

Quote:

 
 
 
Thanks, that really helps. I guess I always assumed there was a fair bit more performance I wasn't getting out of my M50s, but maybe it's their sound signature. 

No problems. Of course, there will always be some gain with an amp, but I wouldn't say it's a big one with the HD25.
 
Personally, I liked the M50 a whole lot more than the HD25. I think the HD25 is rather boring in comparison to M50, the bass was underwhelming, the treble wasn't as outstanding and the mids.. well, the mids they are about the same. It felt more like downgrading to me, but who knows - you might like it better than I do. One thing's for certain with the HD25 though: it IS very much more portable than the M50.

 

[MorbidToaster]

I thought the exact opposite, to be honest. The M50 is the most boring headphone I've ever heard in my time here on Head-fi. I don't understand the frequent recommendations...
 
To each their own I suppose. I know some swear by it.
 
Quote:

No problems. Of course, there will always be some gain with an amp, but I wouldn't say it's a big one with the HD25.
 
Personally, I liked the M50 a whole lot more than the HD25. I think the HD25 is rather boring in comparison to M50, the bass was underwhelming, the treble wasn't as outstanding and the mids.. well, the mids they are about the same. It felt more like downgrading to me, but who knows - you might like it better than I do. One thing's for certain with the HD25 though: it IS very much more portable than the M50.

 
 

 

[shamrock134]

I also prefer the HD25 to the usual recommendations around that price range such as HFI-580 and M50 (I've owned all three).

 

[Coq de Combat]

Quote:

I thought the exact opposite, to be honest. The M50 is the most boring headphone I've ever heard in my time here on Head-fi. I don't understand the frequent recommendations...
 
To each their own I suppose. I know some swear by it.

Well, to each their own, as you said. I am one of those swearing by it, and I'd put it up there with the D2000 and Pro 900 as one of the headphones I've enjoyed the most. The HD25 is just lame (maybe 'tame' is a better word..) when it comes to .. everything, imo. The bass is much, much more tame, the treble isn't really that great and for the rest of it they are pretty much on par with eachother. I definitely see the HD25 as downgrading when coming from M50. However, the reason I bought the HD25 was mainly for commuting, and in that aspect I think it does a very good job; the way I see it, it's a great portable isolating can.
 
Then again, I didn't like the CAL! too much either and would definitely put it a step below the M50 as well.
 
Although I can see why anyone would look upon it either way, the differences between them are not that big.

 

[shamrock134]

Are you using the pleather pads on the HD25? The velours reduce the bass a bit. I find the bass on the HD25 to be punchier in the mid-bass although the M50 does extend deeper. I had the supposedly "bass heavy" box M50 too.

 

[Coq de Combat]

Yes, pleather. The only pads I got with them. I got the "Basic Edition" of HD25-1 II. I think they've stopped including the velour ones nowadays, or it might be the EU vs US kind of boxes that differ..

 

[budgetboy]

I enjoy the M50, but don't have any other full-size headphones to compare it to. I think I get better detail retrieval from my W3 though, plus the cord on my M50 is kind of messed up, so I use my W3 around the house and barely ever touch my M50. The bass impact is really nice though, a lot more "real" than my BA W3.
 
Coq - I have to ask - why do you have both the E10 and E11? Besides the dac functionality, don't they pretty much fill the same niche?
 
Morbidtoaster - Nice avatar. BT's last two albums are really enjoyable in FLAC. There's just so many sounds to pick out of the mix!

 

[maverickronin]

Tyll has some graphs up.
 
Amperior
 
HD25-1-II
 
Looks like they added some more bass.  So much for, "we told them to make it sound exactly the same"...

 

[budgetboy]

Probably voiced for the consumer market, as to be expected. Not necessarily a bad thing - not everyone likes the sound of an ENT monitoring-designed headphone.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/592285/head-fi-talks-new-headphones-at-ces-2012-with-tekzilla
 
Jude confirms that the Amperior is significantly easier to drive than the HD25, as well as saying that it "sounds better".
 
Thanks for posting the graphs maverick. Looks like the bass has been boosted as you said, and also looks like the treble has been brought down some. So a decidedly warmer sound. But certainly not a bad thing to some ears.

 

[Coq de Combat]

Quote:

Coq - I have to ask - why do you have both the E10 and E11? Besides the dac functionality, don't they pretty much fill the same niche?
 
 

Well, not really. The E10 is hooked to my computer and the E11 is hooked on my J3. Actually, I bought it when I bought a pair of IEMs that were pretty high in impedance. It did take a while before I noticed that there wasn't really a big difference between running them straight from the J3 as opposed to running them through the E11. Now, there ARE in fact some differences between running out of the J3 and the E11 (the bass a bit punchier and overall, the sound is a bit fuller and richer) so I'm keeping the E11 as an amp. I just want to stretch this: the difference is NOT night and day; it is in fact pretty miniscule, although audible.
 
Seeing as my E11 was already velcroed onto my J3, and I don't find it especially clunky, so it gets to tag along. Would I buy it again if it broke? Probably not. As said, the difference is not night and day, but I do enjoy the bass boost capabilities and tighter and richer sound it produces. Just don't look at it as a must and keep in mind that the J3 has the ability to drive even harder to drive IEMs/headphones straight out of it. It does improve the sound, but the price/performande ratio of it is rather small. I'd imagine the price/performance ratio being a bit bigger with less powerful amps such as my older Sony A828 DAP.
 
The E10 is mainly for my computer and it has it's place on my desk right next to my desktop computer, and it's either hooked to my vintage AKAI amplifier or just used as a headphone amp.
 
In short: the E10 is more of a DAC for me at the moment, but serves also as a headphone amp when I use more sensitive IEMs that catches the hissing issues of my AKAI. The E11 is my portable headphone amp for on the go.