[Ron12]

Before leaving, I would really like to stress that the added bass helps not only with smoothness or natural-sounding tone but also with timbre... I mentioned that very slight tendency for plastic timbre as a negative but I am almost positive it must be considerably worse with basic Paradox. I can tell you that while it was completely acceptable (not perfection but acceptable) on Slants, it would bothered me on basic Paradox (and bothered me on another modded T50RP headphone I heard in the past). The bass really helps even though I have some slight complaints about it.

 

[adamaley]

Any idea about how these work with a Bottlehead Crack + Speedball? I may be interested in getting these as for the bedroom so as not to disturb the boss. Anyone used this combo that could provide some feedback?

 

[Maxx134]

I have owned or tried long enough to have a good impression:

1-T50rp stock (owned)
2-T50rp (chrislangley4253 moded & owned, excellent)
3-Mad dog (multiple occasions tried)
4-Maddog Pro (tried not long. too muddy to bear)
5-Alpha dog (different versions from friend)
6- Nickerfies T50rp mod (2 versions lent to me.. my fav versions in this list)
7- ZMF X Vibro (owned!)


Other planars:
PM1 (owned)
LCD3 (tried 2 versions)
LCD-X (tried extendid time)
HE6 (fully moded listened multiple occasions from friend)
HE560 stock (owned)
HE560 grill moded (owned)
He560 fully front/back moded (listened from a friends)
He500 (tried)
He400 (tried)
Enigmas (from friend)

And now I am lucky to have this Paradox "slant" version,
borrowed from a friend..

It is hands down, quite noticeably the best t50rp based headphone I have herd to date,
By a rather large margin. (!)

Mainly because this version does not sound like any of the other t50rp mods.

For instance,
It is hard to belive such a quality bass coming out of this and to sound so undeniably natural without being muddy or boomy or affecting mids in any way except sounding so natural and just whole. .
That I feel is a major hurdle all other t50rp mods never overcame.
Really nice weight meat and slam on the bass while being just very natural... or rather very planar (lcd) like..
This satisfaction of bass quality is what I always looked for but only herd in lcd3(those were excessive to me though )

The mids do not sound dark or bright, but rather extremly smooth and deeply detailed yet natural and quite vivid not dull which to me is at odds with being so smooth actually more like liquid in its nuanced presentation.
I haven't herd planar mids this realistically involving and polished since the he6.
I noticed a deeper focused details and breath as a whole.
The lower mids is just body, not thick or dark..


Presentation very clear and natural and not bright yet not dark...
Best description may be "analog" in likeness. .
Only the Zmf vibro had a slightly similar trait of deepness and livelines in the mids, but it had not this certainty in the tonality.
This is much better than even the zmf vibro I had.

They had since re-tuned the vibro, but regardless it never had this bass and treble cohesiveness..
In fact it is the "Slants" sonic image of a higher level of realism, that this can portrays ..

The soundstage is rather remarkable in that it is as large or larger than the Alpha/zmf vibro.
Yet the sound is not like either.
Lots of body to the instruments makes it just more enjoyable and real.
Presentation not far off or close in soundstage.
Lack of any congestion!(like other mods) with a natural and rather tall and deep soundstage is impressive in a closed can..
Especially with THIS closed can's dimensions(!)
It is also larger&deeper than my th600 (modded) as well, just so you have a better idea of sonic impression. .


I did try a super sibilant track to test this unit with.
I found that it neither killed my ears, nor hid the fact that the track had sibilance. .(!)
It struck a rare balance of being truthful to source by showing the sibilant aspect in a most realistic tonality that was uncanny accurate and as such allowable to be herd without being disagreeable (!)
Don't ask me how but I kept playing the track back to try understand what was going on. .

This may sound dumb but I have to just say wow....
It sounds like a mix of a touch of LCD type bass with Hifiman type clarity!
And, I would say much better sounding to me than the enigmas..(!)

You simply don't believe there is a fostex driver in there...
There is no way a t50rp driver can sound like this...no way.
Something is not adding up as this is just too realistic, alive, vivid, fluid, liquid, natural, cohesive & musical..
Some type of wizardry going on here. .

This is the first time I would actually be satisfied with a closed enough to not miss an open can,
Not because of soundstage but because of everything else noted.

It is simply on another level.
What the hell did Luis do inside?
He is a genius being able to take this to another level,
And it now makes me wonder about the Alpha Primes..
If those can take things up a notch in a similar way..
I will find out soon how they compare..

 

[Ron12]

 
The problem I see with your post is that your description is too good to be true. I've owned several planar-magnetic headphones (including Paradox Slant and other modded T50RP) and even though I find Slants among the best headphones I've heard, they are not as flawless as you state to my ears. If they were, I would have not sold them after a week or two of ownership.
 
 
While I agree these sound quite different than your typical T50RP mod, I would like to point out some things where I feel I should try to offer a counterpoint or correction because of your (in my opinion) too-good-to-be-true impressions (so please don't take it negatively).
 

 
IMHO, you should definitely listen to the bass presentation of Paradox Slant more carefully because your impressions not only don't match mine, but also don't match FR and distortion measurements. Short version is that Slant do not present bass in a muddy manner but it do tends to oscillate on the borderline of boominess. I also couldn't find the high-end orthodynamic type of bass slam you are talking about with them - they are not Audeze or Hifiman in this manner. Their bass is slightly boomy but, at the same time, somewhat soft. This softness or maybe somewhat anemic-type of presentation is shared with other T50RP mods as well.
 
We do agree on the smoothness and naturalness of mids... Very similar presentation to jerg-padded HE-500s but even smoother (maybe a bit too smooth to call it realistic due to slightly emphasised lower mids but I loved it anyway).
 
We also agree with each other on the topic of soundstage presentation but I should stress that while these do sound really expansive in terms of soundstage, they don't offer an open-back type of presentation. They simply sound closed-in (as expected) even though their soundstage is big. This is was a serious dealbreaker for me and I realised that no matter how great a closed-back headphone is, this lack of natural sound leakage (openness) is something I cannot get used to. It irritates my ears, causing me physical discomfort after a while.
 
Your impressions about sibilance are also valid. However, while I agree these don't sound like a typical T50RP mod, there are still some remnants - namely slightly plastic timbre (though better than expected) or not very high-end type of bass.
 
In short, I agree this is a seriously good pair of headphones... But it is not flawless and it's not THAT ubergreat. It's not like they deliver a whole new level of quality in comparison to something like LCD2 or HE500. I can see how someone could find them perfect when searching for something with roughly HE500s like tonality + HD800s like soundstage... Or if this smooth but clean, analog-like presentation mentioned by Maxx, is crucial. Just bare in mind these are closed-back so they are not gonna sound open which is something that goes against of what I find natural.
 
EDIT: The overall tonal balance is a bit on the darker side of neutral to my ears, mostly due to elevated lower mid to bass region (in other words, unlike with Audeze where treble is simply recessed). Similar to jerg-padded HE500 tonally (too similar to own both most probably) but of course not completely the same.

 

[adamaley]

Guys, thanks for the feedback. I have since done my homework and come to the realization that the Bottlehead Crack will not be able to drive this headphone (duh). Is there a reason both Mad Dog and Enigma do not print their specs for their headphones? It'll be helpful in pairing them with suitable amplifiers, rather than relying on hearsay, anecdotes and oh, qualified Head-Fiers. 

 
Does anyone find it odd that the Slants are held in higher regard than the Enigmas, seeing as the Enigmas are their TOTL? Could it be due to the fact that the Enigmas are going up against the LCD-2, T1, and even potentially the HE-6 and HD-800, and so are not as good of a value, or simply do not trounce any of their peers? Or is it simply their being closed in that higher realm that causes them to be dismissed.
 
Also, has anyone had a chance to compare the Slants to the Alpha Dogs? I'll be interested in some feedback on that as well. 
 
I will have a chance to hear the Enigmas sometime this week on a Bottlehead S.E.X., and I'll be able to compare it to an HD-800 and my LCD-3s. I'll be sure to provide some impressions later.

 

[Ron12]

  Guys, thanks for the feedback. I have since done my homework and come to the realization that the Bottlehead Crack will not be able to drive this headphone (duh). Is there a reason both Mad Dog and Enigma do not print their specs for their headphones? It'll be helpful in pairing them with suitable amplifiers, rather than relying on hearsay, anecdotes and oh, qualified Head-Fiers. 

 
Does anyone find it odd that the Slants are held in higher regard than the Enigmas, seeing as the Enigmas are their TOTL? Could it be due to the fact that the Enigmas are going up against the LCD-2, T1, and even potentially the HE-6 and HD-800, and so are not as good of a value, or simply do not trounce any of their peers? Or is it simply their being closed in that higher realm that causes them to be dismissed.
 
Also, has anyone had a chance to compare the Slants to the Alpha Dogs? I'll be interested in some feedback on that as well. 
 
I will have a chance to hear the Enigmas sometime this week on a Bottlehead S.E.X., and I'll be able to compare it to an HD-800 and my LCD-3s. I'll be sure to provide some impressions later.

 
I cannot answer all of your questions but I would definitely not pair Crack with Slants. Not only because Slants are already warm-sounding enough and because Crack is suitable only for high-impedance headphones but also because of Slants' bass which tends to be a little bit boomy and soft. You need a solid state amplifier and DAC with rock-solid, tight bass presentation for the best match. To be more specific, I can really imagine something like ES9018-based Audio-GD amp/DAC combo like NFB-27 or NFB-28 to be a great partner for the Slants. However, I should point out that Slants are really not that hard to drive - yes, they are not very efficient but they will sound very well out of everything. I found my HE500 more difficult to drive (not in terms of loudness but in terms of getting the bass and transients right) - they really benefit from my SA-31SE amp while Slants just sounded very well out of everything.
 
The great thing about Slants is that they sound great as they are, are compact, well-built, quite easy-to-drive, very versatile in terms of performance... I have a tendency to mod every headphone I get because I believe you can really achieve something that way. However, with Slants, they just sound great as are. There is nothing really wrong with them... The slightly overwhelming bass can be mitigated with, as already said, synergising amp and DAC.

 

[Timestretch]

If I was fostex I'd copycat the best modded T50RP and just mass produce it.  
  
Surely they could pump fully assembled Paradox Slants out of the factory for cheaper than a modder can handcraft them?  
  
And if they're as good as OP claims, then they would turn head-fi upside down and all other companies would need to drop their prices to compete. That's what confuses me -- if you can mod a $100 headphone like the T50RP and make it sound this great, then why can't the factory just change what they make, and implement those same mods via the assembly line? And if the $500 or so so modded T50RP sounds as good as a $2000 LCD-3, then who would ever buy the LCD-3?  
  
I really want to hear some of these modded T50RP headphones. I haven't heard them yet so I'm just in disbelief that they could actually sound competitive with flagships. 

 

[Ron12]

  If I was fostex I'd copycat the best modded T50RP and just mass produce it.  
  
Surely they could pump fully assembled Paradox Slants out of the factory for cheaper than a modder can handcraft them?  
  
And if they're as good as OP claims, then they would turn head-fi upside down and all other companies would need to drop their prices to compete. That's what confuses me -- if you can mod a $100 headphone like the T50RP and make it sound this great, then why can't the factory just change what they make, and implement those same mods via the assembly line? And if the $500 or so so modded T50RP sounds as good as a $2000 LCD-3, then who would ever buy the LCD-3?  
  
I really want to hear some of these modded T50RP headphones. I haven't heard them yet so I'm just in disbelief that they could actually sound competitive with flagships. 

 
Slants do definitely compete with flagships... You may not like them in the end due to different preferences but I doubt you would not find them on par with the majority of today's flagships (counting dynamic headphones like TH900, T1 etc. as well).
 
The problem is that price does not really reflect quality of performance or how much you are going to like something, once you get to 500USD+ region, today. It's not that difficult to find people who prefer HD800 over SR-009, HE-500 over LCD-3, LCD-2 over LCD-3 etc. Why? Because, as Tyll from Innerfidelity wisely pointed out several times, diminishing returns hit too hard once you get into high-end territory.
 
Differences do exist but these are generally not big enough. It's not like you compare HE500 and HD800 side-by-side and call HE500 crap because it performs 3x worse (as would their prices suggest). The difference is there but this is largely due to different tonality, different construction and driver specifics (so different soundstage, different imaging, different comfort), different amping (and overall audio chain) synergising rather than due to one driver being significantly inferior in nature to another. You can easily prefer HD800 as well as HE500 over the other one (both happened to me over the last two years)... because even though HD800 are technically superior, it's not enough to really call HD800 great and HE500 much worse. And this is true with the majority of cases - the real and true difference in performance is not big enough and therefore comparing HE500 to HD800 is much more less straightforward and clear than it is to compare HD558 to HE500 (or HD201 to HD558). Once you get into high-end territory, all the headphones are good enough to satisfy you IMHO and it's more about finding the flavour that suits you (and your music) the best.

 

[adamaley]

Well said, Ron12. At the end of the day it comes down to personal preference, which includes, in the real world, value preference as well. Each person has a personal value threshold they could never go beyond, and even if they heard something above that price point and it was better in many regards, it will not be worth it. It also helps when you know you aren't missing out as much due to diminishing returns up the money ladder.

 

[zerodeefex]

The Slants can't compete with the flagships when properly driven. Out of the Yggdrasil, the HD800, Abyss and SR-009 pulled away from every other production headphone at our recent mini-meet by quite a large margin with the HD800 at the top, the Abyss next, and the SR-009 just behind at exposing the the ridiculous little details. The Slants aren't resolving as the best of the best.
 
Where the Slants excel is in other areas. Tone, timbre, overall cohesiveness is spot on. If you're using less than ridiculous equipment, the Slants are a phenomenal headphone. Many headphones will probably move in and out of my stable, but 3 won't be going anywhere soon: UERM, HD800, and the Slants.

 

[adamaley]

The Slants can't compete with the flagships when properly driven. Out of the Yggdrasil, the HD800, Abyss and SR-009 pulled away from every other production headphone at our recent mini-meet by quite a large margin with the HD800 at the top, the Abyss next, and the SR-009 just behind at exposing the the ridiculous little details. The Slants aren't resolving as the best of the best.

Where the Slants excel is in other areas. Tone, timbre, overall cohesiveness is spot on. If you're using less than ridiculous equipment, the Slants are a phenomenal headphone. Many headphones will probably move in and out of my stable, but 3 won't be going anywhere soon: UERM, HD800, and the Slants.

Zerofeedex, what's your take on the Slants vs. the Enigmas (I see them in your profile)? Why would one get the Enigmas over the Slants, in your opinion?

 

[zerodeefex]

The Enigmas are a beautiful headphone. The cups are hand made and LFF makes every pair with love. They are slightly more relaxed, a little more towards the euphonic end of the spectrum, but not a ton. They're a much more relaxing headphone. I find the Slants to be more engaging, though. 
 
Do you want a more full bodied, relaxing listening experience? Go with the Enigma.
 
Do you want a slightly leaner, slightly more neutral, but more aggressive listening experience? Go with the Slants. 
 
Are you on the fence? Buy both. They're both great headphones.

 

[Ron12]

  The Slants can't compete with the flagships when properly driven. Out of the Yggdrasil, the HD800, Abyss and SR-009 pulled away from every other production headphone at our recent mini-meet by quite a large margin with the HD800 at the top, the Abyss next, and the SR-009 just behind at exposing the the ridiculous little details. The Slants aren't resolving as the best of the best.
 
Where the Slants excel is in other areas. Tone, timbre, overall cohesiveness is spot on. If you're using less than ridiculous equipment, the Slants are a phenomenal headphone. Many headphones will probably move in and out of my stable, but 3 won't be going anywhere soon: UERM, HD800, and the Slants.

 
Well, that largely depends on your definition of competitive. If you are a detail whore, I guess not. But that's not my definition of a quality sound reproduction.

 

[zerodeefex]

 
Well, that largely depends on your definition of competitive. If you are a detail whore, I guess not. But that's not my definition of SQ.

 
Once you get a good setup, like say the Yggy > the BA (and even more with something like the newer 2A3 MKIV), and are willing to do some light mods to the HD800, the tone, timbre, and cohesiveness of the better headphones comes through. The things you think the HD800s do poorly, like a slant towards the top end and the weaker bass are not a problem. The bass slam is there and it's tightly controlled, the slight shelving of the top end makes the FR more pleasing, and the setup is just musical as all heck. The details are just the icing on the cake. 
 
I get involved when my music sounds closer to reality. In another lifetime I was a concert (both classical and contemporary) whore. Live music is my schtick and the HD800 in a proper setup when modded is a superior freaking headphone. You have to spend a crapton to get there, but it's a better experience. The Yggdrasil really opened my eyes to how much better it is than pretty much anything else out there.
 
That being said, on anything less than an epic freaking setup that you're willing to drop many thousands of dollars into, I love the Slants. They're a great headphone, but nothing in the world will make take the TR50p drivers to that level of realism.

 

[Ron12]

   
Once you get a good setup, like say the Yggy > the BA (and even more with something like the newer 2A3 MKIV), and are willing to do some light mods to the HD800, the tone, timbre, and cohesiveness of the better headphones comes through. The things you think the HD800s do poorly, like a slant towards the top end and the weaker bass are not a problem. The bass slam is there and it's tightly controlled, the slight shelving of the top end makes the FR more pleasing, and the setup is just musical as all heck. The details are just the icing on the cake. 
 
I get involved when my music sounds closer to reality. In another lifetime I was a concert (both classical and contemporary) whore. Live music is my schtick and the HD800 in a proper setup when modded is a superior freaking headphone. You have to spend a crapton to get there, but it's a better experience. The Yggdrasil really opened my eyes to how much better it is than pretty much anything else out there.
 
That being said, on anything less than an epic freaking setup that you're willing to drop many thousands of dollars into, I love the Slants. They're a great headphone, but nothing in the world will make take the TR50p drivers to that level of realism.

 
I sold Slants after a week or two of owning them... So I am in no way trying to advocate them. I prefer my custom-modded (not jerg modded) HE500s over them (as well as over Anax 2.0 modded HD800 and tons of other headphones).
 
What I am trying to say is that what you are saying is largely subjective. So please don't try to apply your perception of reality (which includes topic we are discussing now) to mine