Livingformusic
New Head-Fier
Hi JerryHead and Daniel Johnston,
It's been a while since the last time I've checked in here, as work has been busy for the past few weeks.
I've taken some time at home last Sunday to give a listen to the HD800S (from XLR-4.4 interconnect to 4.4-3.5 interconnect) with A306 (Japan model, uncapped), and I'd have to say it's a decent pairing for casual listening with most instrumentals (at slow to moderate tempo) and solo vocal tracks.
All tracks were streamed on Tidal, and the majority of music I listen to are classical (mostly orchestral, piano and strings, and some opera) and some jazz (mostly instrumental and some vocals).
Starting with a classical orchestral track ‘Spiritualist’ by Jeff Bailey, the first thing I noticed is the broadened closeness in presentation of stage, with noticeably scaled down width & depth and slightly less so in height (as opposed to a much more expansive and spacious stage with airy feel from desktop balanced headphone amp & dac setup). Instruments are played closer to one another than they normally do, and the slightly relaxed but intimate soundscape of the stage gives the impression that the orchestra is being played in a smaller concert venue.
Transients come off with a more softened edge, but not to the point of sounding/feeling 'blunt.' There is still some slight dense swift feel in the way notes of instruments and vocals are presented with enough body & macrodetail from lows to mids and relatively so in the highs. Where this becomes more of a miss from this pairing is the closeness of instruments reaching a near overlap which can give the kind of impression as if sounds of instruments are almost clashing towards their space and position in a closer presented stage.
Imaging and layering are not the most prominent in dynamics and detailed separation. In multiple transitions at moderate fast tempo that involve a row of violinists to the next row of instrumentalists, on to the pianist and over to the trombone and drums and back, arrangement of these sounds can come off a bit smeared with a sort of 'blurred' panning effect and more closely positioned to one another with less spatial distance and placement.
With the same pairing, I found a similar effect from another classical track 'Beau soir, L.6' (arranged by A. Gretchaninov, for piano & cello) by Boris Pergamenschikow, where the decay of each note played from the piano resonates more softly and fades unnaturally into the background. Cello sounded more defined in tonal body with slightly more denseness and detail presented upfront, but lacked some realism and presence in decay, and also how unnaturally 'flat' it felt with a lack of some airiness and layering/separation.
'Beau soir, L.6' (arranged by A. Gretchaninov, for piano & cello) by Boris Pergamenschikow (streamed from Tidal), on Sennheiser HD800S with XLR 4-pin balanced (to XLR-4.4 interconnect and 4.4-3.5 unbalanced interconnect) and Sony NW-A306 (Japan model, uncapped).
Despite some tonal and imaging flaws, the HD800S (@ 300 ohms) is a decent enjoyable/musical pairing with A306 (Japan model, uncapped @ 35mW per channel).
Following that same day, sometime in the afternoon, after reading enough impressions and thoughts of the Sony WF-1000XM5 on the XM5 thread as well as on this thread, I purchased a set (and Spinfit CP360 eartips) from Amazon the night before, and I found the XM5 to pair well with A306 (uncapped, with LDAC - sound quality mode on), with very decent comfort in fit (sits fairly firm and secure along the concha of my ears, without any hotspots nor significant discomfort) and wear (for few hours of listening at a time, until the earbuds start to lose some grip and seal, perhaps due to lack of rubberized grip along the side of its shells).
Sony WF-1000XM5 (with Spinfit CP360 eartips - large) and A306 (uncapped).
With the same track 'Spiritualist' by Jeffrey Biegel, the XM5 presents a fairly spacious stage with decent to adequate positioning of instruments. Presentation and tonality are somewhat relaxed on the slight warm side while maintaining a fairly good sense of macrodetail and above average separation & layering.
Imaging is not one of its strengths, as transitions of positioned instruments and vocals are rendered with a smoothened effect done in a less defined contrasting way and with less consistent presence & retention of dynamics & detail from one to the next along the stage.
Lows on the XM5 give a satisfying weight in sub-bass and mid-bass impact for most genres of classical and vocal tracks (on Tidal).
Mids are not overly forward nor recessed. Vocals are presented a little closer than solo instrumentals, but done so in a way with pleasant ease and some intimate feel, a bit of warmth and with just enough body and depth to keep the music listening experience enjoyable for hours without much fatigue.
Highs are more noticeably relaxed from mid to upper treble with a smoother top end, and more noticeably so for tracks with piano and percussion instruments. However, I found most classical orchestral tracks and instrumental & vocal tracks to lack some refinement, extension and air in the upper end of higher notes.
Other than some drawbacks found from my early impressions on this set, the XM5 is well capable of presenting the music in a way that makes me feel like I'm just there hearing, feeling and enjoying the music in a casual-fun way, rather than having to listen and look for individual cues and aspects of the music in other sets that are more geared towards the analytical side of the spectrum.
So far though, I've been enjoying and listening to the XM5 (and mostly with A306) every night after work for about a week. The XM5 does more than enough for most of my use cases, especially with my busy work schedule, and it's gotten to the point where I've decided to part ways with my wired iem sets and sell off the rest of my wired in-ear monitors (and I'll be listing some iems - Oriolus Forsteni and some other chi-fi sets - in the classifieds within the next few weeks). I'm satisfied and happy enough with the HD800S (with desktop amp/dac setup, when I'm at the desk/computer at home after work) and the XM5 (with A306 or iPhone, for convenience and casual listening at home, cleaning, or walking around couple blocks after work) to cover most bases of the music I listen to and use cases at home and on the go.
I'll follow up with more of my thoughts and impressions on the XM5 and A306 in another post (when time permits from work).
Enjoy.
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