dclancy
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2007
- Posts
- 637
- Likes
- 89
I never wrote a review before, then again I never owned a pair of headphones that haven't been posted to death on the boards. In fact the only thing I found here was stated by Seidhepriest in this thread.
So here she goes for those interested...
Backstory:
Feel free to scroll to the bottom because, I'm long winded, and there is a quick capsule review at the end
I began my search for a new set of cans to replace my trusty KSC 75's that have served my portable needs for quite some time. In fact I've purchased them 3 times now in just as many years (edit: not including the 3 pair I picked up for 6 bucks ea. at Rat Shack, but more on this later), but I've become boredwith their sound.
After much research I found I had peculiar criteria to go on. For instance, weak sound isolation is a is a huge plus. I also have learned to adore earclips for their shear convenience, I can have one on and one on my collar, or both on my collar when I need to address someone formally. I'm a soundstage fan, having been spoiled by my A900's and K701's. Also, they must be able to with stand tons of movement as I am very mobile at my job.
I stumbled upon the HC1000's at Head-Direct.com checking out the Yuins and trying to justify splurging for the G1's. The first thing I thought when I saw these was, “These look cool, but who the hell is OVC?” So I took a long look and rolled the die on these, I wanted to see if they were truly “PX Killers” or just a gimmick. (Note: Only owned a pair of PX100's briefly, before returning them and getting the 75's again. They weren't bad, just not 2-3 x's the price good, at the time.)
First impressions upon receiving them:
“Cheap Chinese crap!” The padding along the under side of the band, were askew, one completely off. They're stickers, think the security tags in DVD's and CD, but with padding. Well I affixed them, and have actually had no real problems with them since. In the long run I plan on just wacky glueing them to insure it stays that way. It just feels like cheap plastic. Headphones take a beating from me (hence 3 pairs of 75's in 3 years), time will truly tell on these. By the end of this fourth quarter, I'll be able to make a better, more fully informed call on these.
I would like to note that quality grips aside, I have no qaulms with Head-Direct, seeing as they just sell these, and appear to be good sponsors to head-fi, and as long as they keep the giveaways coming, there's no grips here! Also, shipping was fast. I handle shipping for a small business, and quick turn around is admired from that standpoint.
The sound:
Initial thoughts were “Waste of $49.”
I'm not a firm believer in burn in, and refuse to sqaubble a much debated subject on this forum. You know the arguments, decide for yourself. I do believe some headphones need to shake the cobwebs, and our ears have to adjust from what we're used to, so first impressions are never long standing.
The best way to describe my findings, is I kept adjusting them thinking that I must be missing the “sweet spot”. It's through this obsessive behavior that I made a discovery. When I pulled the phones slightly away from my head, the sound instantly stopped being muddy and undefined. I tested this by taking my quarter modded 75 foams, and slipping them in between my ears and drivers. The included foam is thin and cheap. Like no one R&D'd these and said it might make sense to spend an extra nickel on foam.
While my opinions changed eventually, one thing definitively holds the HC1000's from being the true “Killers” of anything. They severely, and utterly lack bass. To put that in perspective, I love my k701's for the bulk of my listening, so I would definitely consider myself a bass-light head. The HC's are just sad, and can't even be EQ'd satisfactorily.
Both amped and unamped findings are the same, but if I may add, a $10 Fiio (or better) is a must to make the most out of these cans. The fiio is well documented on these threads, and as I alluded to, I hate treading old ground, but I have to say it... the Fiio is a must have, especially to me, a guy who's been trying to find ways to slim down all the crap I carry. Phone, box cutter, ipod, marker, pen etc. I feel like friggin' Batman. In fact the short HC cord (an extension comes with, but is too darn long) is perfect to connect to the Fiio on a lanyard.
I found that the ipod mates well with the HC1000, as it's sound was slightly warmer and more forgiving. I felt though, that the sound bordered on sibilant,and screechy yet never really crossed the line. I was surprised to find how well it handled female voices, I thought for sure this would break the camel's back, but, as I found later, the rich mids are a saving grace. I have yet to try with a Line Out adapter, but if I make any real findings, and anyone cares, I'll post.
I just received a Sansa Express, so my experience with it is rather limited. I have to say, even unamped, it has no problem powering the HC1000 to a significant volume, and I can see why people recommend Sansa for SQ. Definitely a noticeable step up here, but finally the sibilance barrier is broken. I was surprised to find the Sansa EQ to actually be useful, having only own ipods all these years. If I bumped up the low end a notch and brought the mids down a couple, the problem erroded, and I was left in aural bliss.
Altogether, well defined soundstage, clear definition between instruments, and if there's a word (possibly French) for that effect when you're all alone and jerk your head to address a phantom noise you thought was outside your head, well, it had butt loads of that. Seriously, it makes me paranoid at work.
Side by side with the KSC75:
I feel no need do describe the Koss sound, see my redundancy disclaimer above.
When listening an entire day to the HC's I found I learned to stop fearing the high's and love the bomb, i.e. what I've been missing in my portable rig. When giving fair comparison to the 75's I remembered instantly what fun and value they are.
Side by side, with the noticeable addition of bass, the HC's sound thin and shrill, like I've been fooling myself into believing that I hadn't just pissed $50 down the drain. But to be fair in my comparison, I had to really take a lot into account, including my familiarity with the KSC's faults and weaknesses. Admittedly it's strengths lie in it's forgiving representation of compressed music, sweet highs and cookie cutter low's, add that to an impressive price tag (currently $6 with tax) and you have a package that's tough to beat.
What seals the deal is remembering why I was bored with them in the first place. They suck. They lack a level of clarity, that no source nor amp or Kramer mod will give them, at least compared to my (modest) home rig. If you were to take the HC's in they're value per performance alone, you'll find a very impressive, yet flawed phone that some will find unsatisfying. I wanted detail, and portability to boot. I think I got it.
The Good:
Impressive soundstaging and separation for a portable, responds well to amplification. Engrossing, maybe not immediately, but ultimately fun.Easily driven, collapsible, misc extras, low cost, and most flaws are easily and cheaply fixed.
The Bad:
Flawed out of the box, cheap design, feels flimsy. Needs new pads and an amp to shine.
The Ugly:
Painful and Bassless! Stock pads are unbearable. An upgrade reduces, but doesn't completely eliminate this.
Something to mention for those willing try:
This should count as the “comfort” portion of the review.
These thing's hurt! Good clamping ability, I noticed one day at work bending repeatedly to make shipping boxes, they stayed snug. Unfortunately the stock pads are too thin, of course everyone's ears are different, but seriously, go to Radio Shack and get replacements, they're like $3.50. This fixed the pressure headache issue I was having, and the muddied sound of the drivers being to tight to my ears to properly project sound. I quarter (well nickel) modded them and am quite happy with the overall improvement to the sound and comfort.
I attempted the Grado tape mod, but the thickness of the new pad still compresses too much to make this viable to increase bass. It's tough to cut the tape to a third it's width, and the result is tape scratching the ear constantly, no matter how you trim it. But seeing as it did improve the bass slightly, it's worth looking into, and the price of new pads aren't much. I plan on trying some alternatives. Perhaps running a strip of glue along the outer perimeter of the pad, or some sort of hardening agent. We'll see. I'll search some other mods on the board. I was also tempted to dremel some holes in the back of them, but I'm afraid of losing even more bass. Maybe woodies!!
Cheers, and thanks for reading.
So here she goes for those interested...
Backstory:
Feel free to scroll to the bottom because, I'm long winded, and there is a quick capsule review at the end
I began my search for a new set of cans to replace my trusty KSC 75's that have served my portable needs for quite some time. In fact I've purchased them 3 times now in just as many years (edit: not including the 3 pair I picked up for 6 bucks ea. at Rat Shack, but more on this later), but I've become boredwith their sound.
After much research I found I had peculiar criteria to go on. For instance, weak sound isolation is a is a huge plus. I also have learned to adore earclips for their shear convenience, I can have one on and one on my collar, or both on my collar when I need to address someone formally. I'm a soundstage fan, having been spoiled by my A900's and K701's. Also, they must be able to with stand tons of movement as I am very mobile at my job.
I stumbled upon the HC1000's at Head-Direct.com checking out the Yuins and trying to justify splurging for the G1's. The first thing I thought when I saw these was, “These look cool, but who the hell is OVC?” So I took a long look and rolled the die on these, I wanted to see if they were truly “PX Killers” or just a gimmick. (Note: Only owned a pair of PX100's briefly, before returning them and getting the 75's again. They weren't bad, just not 2-3 x's the price good, at the time.)
First impressions upon receiving them:
“Cheap Chinese crap!” The padding along the under side of the band, were askew, one completely off. They're stickers, think the security tags in DVD's and CD, but with padding. Well I affixed them, and have actually had no real problems with them since. In the long run I plan on just wacky glueing them to insure it stays that way. It just feels like cheap plastic. Headphones take a beating from me (hence 3 pairs of 75's in 3 years), time will truly tell on these. By the end of this fourth quarter, I'll be able to make a better, more fully informed call on these.
I would like to note that quality grips aside, I have no qaulms with Head-Direct, seeing as they just sell these, and appear to be good sponsors to head-fi, and as long as they keep the giveaways coming, there's no grips here! Also, shipping was fast. I handle shipping for a small business, and quick turn around is admired from that standpoint.
The sound:
Initial thoughts were “Waste of $49.”
I'm not a firm believer in burn in, and refuse to sqaubble a much debated subject on this forum. You know the arguments, decide for yourself. I do believe some headphones need to shake the cobwebs, and our ears have to adjust from what we're used to, so first impressions are never long standing.
The best way to describe my findings, is I kept adjusting them thinking that I must be missing the “sweet spot”. It's through this obsessive behavior that I made a discovery. When I pulled the phones slightly away from my head, the sound instantly stopped being muddy and undefined. I tested this by taking my quarter modded 75 foams, and slipping them in between my ears and drivers. The included foam is thin and cheap. Like no one R&D'd these and said it might make sense to spend an extra nickel on foam.
While my opinions changed eventually, one thing definitively holds the HC1000's from being the true “Killers” of anything. They severely, and utterly lack bass. To put that in perspective, I love my k701's for the bulk of my listening, so I would definitely consider myself a bass-light head. The HC's are just sad, and can't even be EQ'd satisfactorily.
Both amped and unamped findings are the same, but if I may add, a $10 Fiio (or better) is a must to make the most out of these cans. The fiio is well documented on these threads, and as I alluded to, I hate treading old ground, but I have to say it... the Fiio is a must have, especially to me, a guy who's been trying to find ways to slim down all the crap I carry. Phone, box cutter, ipod, marker, pen etc. I feel like friggin' Batman. In fact the short HC cord (an extension comes with, but is too darn long) is perfect to connect to the Fiio on a lanyard.
I found that the ipod mates well with the HC1000, as it's sound was slightly warmer and more forgiving. I felt though, that the sound bordered on sibilant,and screechy yet never really crossed the line. I was surprised to find how well it handled female voices, I thought for sure this would break the camel's back, but, as I found later, the rich mids are a saving grace. I have yet to try with a Line Out adapter, but if I make any real findings, and anyone cares, I'll post.
I just received a Sansa Express, so my experience with it is rather limited. I have to say, even unamped, it has no problem powering the HC1000 to a significant volume, and I can see why people recommend Sansa for SQ. Definitely a noticeable step up here, but finally the sibilance barrier is broken. I was surprised to find the Sansa EQ to actually be useful, having only own ipods all these years. If I bumped up the low end a notch and brought the mids down a couple, the problem erroded, and I was left in aural bliss.
Altogether, well defined soundstage, clear definition between instruments, and if there's a word (possibly French) for that effect when you're all alone and jerk your head to address a phantom noise you thought was outside your head, well, it had butt loads of that. Seriously, it makes me paranoid at work.
Side by side with the KSC75:
I feel no need do describe the Koss sound, see my redundancy disclaimer above.
When listening an entire day to the HC's I found I learned to stop fearing the high's and love the bomb, i.e. what I've been missing in my portable rig. When giving fair comparison to the 75's I remembered instantly what fun and value they are.
Side by side, with the noticeable addition of bass, the HC's sound thin and shrill, like I've been fooling myself into believing that I hadn't just pissed $50 down the drain. But to be fair in my comparison, I had to really take a lot into account, including my familiarity with the KSC's faults and weaknesses. Admittedly it's strengths lie in it's forgiving representation of compressed music, sweet highs and cookie cutter low's, add that to an impressive price tag (currently $6 with tax) and you have a package that's tough to beat.
What seals the deal is remembering why I was bored with them in the first place. They suck. They lack a level of clarity, that no source nor amp or Kramer mod will give them, at least compared to my (modest) home rig. If you were to take the HC's in they're value per performance alone, you'll find a very impressive, yet flawed phone that some will find unsatisfying. I wanted detail, and portability to boot. I think I got it.
The Good:
Impressive soundstaging and separation for a portable, responds well to amplification. Engrossing, maybe not immediately, but ultimately fun.Easily driven, collapsible, misc extras, low cost, and most flaws are easily and cheaply fixed.
The Bad:
Flawed out of the box, cheap design, feels flimsy. Needs new pads and an amp to shine.
The Ugly:
Painful and Bassless! Stock pads are unbearable. An upgrade reduces, but doesn't completely eliminate this.
Something to mention for those willing try:
This should count as the “comfort” portion of the review.
These thing's hurt! Good clamping ability, I noticed one day at work bending repeatedly to make shipping boxes, they stayed snug. Unfortunately the stock pads are too thin, of course everyone's ears are different, but seriously, go to Radio Shack and get replacements, they're like $3.50. This fixed the pressure headache issue I was having, and the muddied sound of the drivers being to tight to my ears to properly project sound. I quarter (well nickel) modded them and am quite happy with the overall improvement to the sound and comfort.
I attempted the Grado tape mod, but the thickness of the new pad still compresses too much to make this viable to increase bass. It's tough to cut the tape to a third it's width, and the result is tape scratching the ear constantly, no matter how you trim it. But seeing as it did improve the bass slightly, it's worth looking into, and the price of new pads aren't much. I plan on trying some alternatives. Perhaps running a strip of glue along the outer perimeter of the pad, or some sort of hardening agent. We'll see. I'll search some other mods on the board. I was also tempted to dremel some holes in the back of them, but I'm afraid of losing even more bass. Maybe woodies!!
Cheers, and thanks for reading.
