[Janus99]

I ordered the Denon Ah-D5200. Will get the phones tomorrow or friday latest. Im thinking of ordering the Meze 99 or Nightowl too. The SEM5 will also follow. But i cant order all at once. Im really excited about the listening experience.

If you want great mids and a rich sound, you might want to consider getting an Atticus. I have both the Pioneer and the Zmf, and, although I like them both, the Atticus is lusher more fun sounding. The Atticus might be a little more than you are budgeting at the moment (although not much more if you are considering the SEM5), but I've found that you might as well just save a little more and get the headphone you really want from the beginning. You'll most likely end up upgrading before long anyway and end up with a pile of cheaper headphones which get somewhat neglected. I have a k712, which serves well its narrow purpose, which for me is chamber music and music for acoustic guitar, such a flamenco. The large sound stage and crisp, dry signature seems to fit these genres perfectly. I agree that it can sound a bit anemic with many other forms of music.

 

[Sonic Defender]

If you want great mids and a rich sound, you might want to consider getting an Atticus. I have both the Pioneer and the Zmf, and, although I like them both, the Atticus is lusher more fun sounding. The Atticus might be a little more than you are budgeting at the moment (although not much more if you are considering the SEM5), but I've found that you might as well just save a little more and get the headphone you really want from the beginning. You'll most likely end up upgrading before long anyway and end up with a pile of cheaper headphones which get somewhat neglected. I have a k712, which serves well its narrow purpose, which for me is chamber music and music for acoustic guitar, such a flamenco. The large sound stage and crisp, dry signature seems to fit these genres perfectly. I agree that it can sound a bit anemic with many other forms of music.

Very subjective. I had a friend who thought he had found the grail with the Atticus and after a week of owning it he sold it for a $400 loss as he was disappointed. I do know that many people really like it and I wish that I had heard it before he sold it.

 

[Janus99]

Yes, of course it's subjective. I didn't mean that the Atticus was necessarily the one he really wanted, just that he should probably save up to get whichever one that happens to be, rather than continually spending money on headphones he'll soon want to upgrade from. He might prefer an Audeze or any other number of HPs, but it seemed that according to the criteria he laid out, the Atticus might suit him nicely. I love my Atticus, but I EQ down the mid-bass and EQ up the sub-bass.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Yes, of course it's subjective. I didn't mean that the Atticus was necessarily the one he really wanted, just that he should probably save up to get whichever one that happens to be, rather than continually spending money on headphones he'll soon want to upgrade from. He might prefer an Audeze or any other number of HPs, but it seemed that according to the criteria he laid out, the Atticus might suit him nicely. I love my Atticus, but I EQ down the mid-bass and EQ up the sub-bass.

For sure mate, I wasn't trying to imply that you were saying that was the right headphone for him, and beyond price point your suggestion was certainly good considering the stated qualities he or she was looking for. Cheers.

 

[Janus99]

For sure mate, I wasn't trying to imply that you were saying that was the right headphone for him, and beyond price point your suggestion was certainly good considering the stated qualities he or she was looking for. Cheers.

No worries at all. Hopefully you get to hear one some time since it seems it might suit your tastes as well. I myself would like to hear the Z1R, although I can't imagine ever buying one since I already own the Atticus and SEM5. The Pioneer is a great, balanced, all-around HP, especially if one is in need of a closed-back, but I get the feeling he's looking for something richer and more colored. Perhaps the Denons he bought will fit the bill.

 

[Sonic Defender]

No worries at all. Hopefully you get to hear one some time since it seems it might suit your tastes as well. I myself would like to hear the Z1R, although I can't imagine ever buying one since I already own the Atticus and SEM5. The Pioneer is a great, balanced, all-around HP, especially if one is in need of a closed-back, but I get the feeling he's looking for something richer and more colored. Perhaps the Denons he bought will fit the bill.

Yes the Atticus or Auteur would be of interest to me and I do suspect the OP would like a little more richness, but darn if the SEM5 isn't really solid all around. I suspect it could be made a little lush with some gentle EQing, but the only thing I do is boost some deep bass by about 1.7dB with a parametric EQ (EasyQ) within JRiver Media Center.

 

[My Little Phony]

I posted some first impressions about the Denon AH-D5200 in the following thread:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/den...r-of-the-ah-d7200.875053/page-4#post-14351307

I keep the 5200 but that does not mean the end of my search. I will continue to listen to all the other headphones if its possible including the Se-Monitor5 of course.

 

[Sonic Defender]

I posted some first impressions about the Denon AH-D5200 in the following thread:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/den...r-of-the-ah-d7200.875053/page-4#post-14351307

I keep the 5200 but that does not mean the end of my search. I will continue to listen to all the other headphones if its possible including the Se-Monitor5 of course.

I'll read that tomorrow when I have some time. Cheers.

 

[My Little Phony]

My review of the Denon AH-D5200:

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/denon-ah-d5200.23207/reviews

Now i really want to compare the 5200 with the monitor5. To order it the wallet has to grow again. Maybe i can find a store to listen to it but i guess that will be rare.

 

[Tex Irie]

My review of the Denon AH-D5200:

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/denon-ah-d5200.23207/reviews

Now i really want to compare the 5200 with the monitor5. To order it the wallet has to grow again. Maybe i can find a store to listen to it but i guess that will be rare.

I listed mine for sale or trade.

 

[gugman]

Hi all

can somebody tell me how does bass of SE5 compare to bass of Focal Elear ?

thanks a lot

 

[Sonic Defender]

Hi all

can somebody tell me how does bass of SE5 compare to bass of Focal Elear ?

thanks a lot

I don't have the Elear with me anymore, but my memory of them was the bass was somewhat loose, certainly less tight than the SEM5, and more mid-bass focused. The SEM5 is closer to neutral, as I said certainly tighter and faster sounding and in my opinion (going by memory) has better quality bass. The quantity of the bass I would think is perceived as similar overall, but the Elear pushes the bass up front more. I well prefer the SEM5 presentation style and if you want a little more grunt to the bass a gentle EQ nudge helps and the SEM5 responds nicely. For instance I boost the sub bass up about 2.5db and like what that achieves. I also just feel that the SEM5 is a more coherent sounding headphone with less noticeable areas of frequency emphasis or areas of recession as compared with the Elear. I think the Elear would initially be the more engaging signature, but in due course it would also be far more likely to introduce fatigue. The SEM5 is brilliant in the sense that it offers enough of a signature to have character, but mostly gets out of the way. That is my take on it anyway.

 

[gugman]

I don't have the Elear with me anymore, but my memory of them was the bass was somewhat loose, certainly less tight than the SEM5, and more mid-bass focused. The SEM5 is closer to neutral, as I said certainly tighter and faster sounding and in my opinion (going by memory) has better quality bass. The quantity of the bass I would think is perceived as similar overall, but the Elear pushes the bass up front more. I well prefer the SEM5 presentation style and if you want a little more grunt to the bass a gentle EQ nudge helps and the SEM5 responds nicely. For instance I boost the sub bass up about 2.5db and like what that achieves. I also just feel that the SEM5 is a more coherent sounding headphone with less noticeable areas of frequency emphasis or areas of recession as compared with the Elear. I think the Elear would initially be the more engaging signature, but in due course it would also be far more likely to introduce fatigue. The SEM5 is brilliant in the sense that it offers enough of a signature to have character, but mostly gets out of the way. That is my take on it anyway.

thank you so much !

so, basically I love my Elears except that I am a loud listener and this is where it is known not to be good at all due to it's "clipping" "flapping" sound, so I am looking for an alternative and was thinking to pull the trigger and go for SE5

good decision ? ; - )

 

[Oregonian]

thank you so much !

so, basically I love my Elears except that I am a loud listener and this is where it is known not to be good at all due to it's "clipping" "flapping" sound, so I am looking for an alternative and was thinking to pull the trigger and go for SE5

good decision ? ; - )

Being that the Elear is open back, a better comparison would be the Pioneer SE Master 1 - I've tried the Elear, had the clipping problem (NOT with heavy decibel or bass), own the SE Master 1 and highly recommend it. It is more costly than the Elear or SE Monitor 5 but depending on how deep your pockets are worth it. By the way, there's a guy selling his SE Master 1 in the classified section for around $1300 if I remember right. Smoking price.............almost made me buy a second pair.

 

[Tex Irie]

Hi all

can somebody tell me how does bass of SE5 compare to bass of Focal Elear ?

thanks a lot

The SE-Monitor5 has tight refined bass. Sounded really good with the Fiio Q5, Chord Mojo, and Gustard A20H. I had returned my Elear to get the Pioneer SE-Monitor5 and I wasn't disappointed at all.