Thanks to all in this tour, especially
white lotus for putting this together and Sennheiser for trusting us all
It feels not just a little special to have these here. Well, I have been staring at the package a bit this evening with only a brief opportunity for a listen. A few thoughts come to mind at this early stage so I thought I would take a moment to write to y'all.
The box is nice, weighty with a nice suction resistance while you lift off the outer section. Just a hint of premium (shame on you Q701box, shame) to lead into the beautiful internals crisply contrasting with the headphones themselves, sitting there in all their glory.
Lifting them out, I was struck with the solid feeling to these. I owned the NAD HP50's and have handled the momentums and p7's and to me, these feel better. The others I mentioned are pretty in their own ways but I really like the finish of these. They don't creak or wobble in your hands and each part looks like it has been well thought through and well finished. I enjoyed the way the cups open out and the adjusting mechanism is nice and smooth with a good resistance. I pulled out the cable at that stage, it is a rubbery piece of fettuccine that one... it feels better than the NAD cable from memory but the grippy finish and rubbery memory means that it speaks its mind when a little twisted or rubbing on something. Not bad, just not as good as the rest of the package to me. I think I would be fine with it long term, I learn to manage these sorts of things alright...
Testing them on my head, I feel the ear cups are a little smaller than I would prefer but I soon learnt that I can tuck my ears in at the top then the rest just slides in comfortably.
Now they are on the head... I should find my source... that is the magnatism of these hps, they just make me want to put them on...
For reference through this I am listening through my new Sony nwz-a15 amped by a topping nx-1 and will do most listening through this combo from here on unless stated.
For first impressions of the sound, I put on Alterbridge ABIII and press play. The temperature is nice, the atmosphere is set (while I hang out the washing for the missus) and the music begins...
Detailed impressions and comparisons will follow later but my first impressions are that it all seems really nice, the sound is nice, the bass is there and solid, the mids are warm and happy and the highs are present and inoffensive... I just am left with a little bit of a feeling that it is all too nice, at this point I miss the real crunch of the guitar, the shimmer of the cymbal or the punch of the bass. It is a bit like these are ready, waiting to take the edges off poorer music but in the process bleach my experience just a little.
In summary for now, I like it all, I really like is all and am excited to explore genres and the sound more but I am a little concerned that I at the end of this all I will still feel like I need a little something, for the sound to stand for something rather than just staying nice...
All just initial opinions, I will check back in later