[sennfan83261]

I own the Hifiman Arya, and whilst I love the imaging and soundstage, the bass isn't as strong as I want. If there's a headphone in existence that sounds just like the Arya with heavier bass level, I would be in heaven.

What about EQ'ing your Arya's?

 

[Anatman]

Just som thoughts after spending time with my beloved ones.

I am a drummer from back in the days, so the rhythms always catch me everywhere in all forms and shapes. I am addicted to bass / drums, they are the actual pulse of the melody. Even with that as a background, I don’t like bass that are blobby, fluffy, flaffy, slushy, shlosssshy, indistinct, characterless and bleeding into the soundscape, especially in settings it should not be "visible" in.

I'm not a so called "bass-head", but I really enjoy my bass. These lovely cans have a dynamic bass, tight without being stiff and rigid, goes all the way into the basement, without exaggerating down there either. It is also subtle in music where this is the intention. One floats away and smiles at the power and the precision, the separation, nodding to myself when it is even strongly present in a careful way, a paradox. Words are always difficult to describe one’s experience of the music. The bass is for me something of the lively and joyful with these, and it is present in a "happy" way. It is not sterile, but these are also not hammock/u-shape/v-shape-influenced in the soundscape, no nonsense here, just pure joy.

Have listened to different headsets, expensive and non-expensive, good ones, and less good ones. What really fascinates me about these cans, is the joy they serve inside the ear canals. Almost like ahhh, finally - there I met the right one. The one love, true love. They have a kind of magic around them, and that is the really secret with them, I think. They have bypassed all the terms, all the reviews, they are the one and only, indescribable for human beings.

I've had the Quad ERA-1 for a couple of months, maybe more - and I just ordered a extra set a couple a days ago. I have two setups when listen to music,One in the main floor, and the other in the second floor. And the excuse to buy another one of these, is to save the paint on the steps in the staircase when I bring these up and down with me. "Wife-factor in the making" I use the set I have now, all the time, therefore I must get a second set. All my other sets are crying in the dark, and are sadly enough degraded to dust-collectors.

Quad ERA1? These are the happiest headphones I have ever listen to music in. They are in word indescribable, and that's a proof of the best of the best.

DHL has ETA Monday. Then my life is in balance.

 

[RSC08]

What other sets do you own?

 

[Anatman]

What other sets do you own?

I have had different Audeze, STAX and HiFiMAN as the most expensive ones, that even was before the world of headfi really opened all its gates for me. One can say that today, I regret not having some of them. But they disappointed me, and I had to let them go so the money could flow. I have friends with different expensive cans I have borough from them and listen to them for a period. I mentioned that they are expensive, because that for me mean that I can expect something special from them. I remember them as very ok, but not more than ok. If that depends on my not fully developed headfi-head or not, I am not sure. The past is the past.

I now have Sennheiser HD 800 as the most expensive, Beyerdynamic 1990, different Grados, modded and beloved, JVC HA-SZ2000, Beyerdynamic 990/770 also modded, Verum One and different cheaper sets.

I have a kind of motto, I will not fall back in the hifi days, where measuring and the never-ending chase after more and better really ruined the pure joy, and the simplicity of happiness, feelings and joy of music that was my originally wow when I was a child. When listened the first time to the Era-1, I was also kind of not really, there, but that set of earphones really brought the pure joy of music back to me, they’re the one.

I am now measuring my listening more and more of the ears and my emotions. I also now and then “arrest” my self reading articles where specs fill all my mind. I will try not to be trapped in measuring, chasing the gold under the rainbow as with the hifi, my really goal is music and that is following music. So, my emotional outburst to the Quads, was just a layman’s gratefulness to my beloved. No more no less.

 

[Anatman]

And - I have allowed myself to have two listening stations, have allowed myself two DACs, and I have modified as cheaply as possible different headsets, but have never allowed myself to start the cable dance, I do not dare. I do not want to go back to the audioholism I had back in the hifi days, so I must have some restriction. Some people ar happy campers listen to music from a small radio, they are happy with that, no one can take that from them.

 

[mobbaddict]

I have a kind of motto, I will not fall back in the hifi days, where measuring and the never-ending chase after more and better really ruined the pure joy, and the simplicity of happiness, feelings and joy of music that was my originally wow when I was a child. When listened the first time to the Era-1, I was also kind of not really, there, but that set of earphones really brought the pure joy of music back to me, they’re the one.

The funny thing is that we used to enjoy music as kids with crappy earbuds and walkman, and never question ourselves about how much better it could be. Oddly enough I think the biggest challenge for a modern headphone is to recreate that exact feeling of carelessness where we stop nit-picking about the technical parts and just focus on sheer musical enjoyment. Whenever I listen to an old song that I used to like as a child, I want it to be portrayed just exactly as I remembered it (in a very idealised manner of course). And it's quite difficult to achieve actually. The truth is that some cheap earbuds (like the AKG earbuds I bought with my first MP3 player) sometimes do the basics (timbre, tonality) better than expensive headphones which focus too much on technicalities and screw up the rest.

 

[Anatman]

Good point mobbaddict! And at the same time, it's important that the few percent headfiers in the world, perhaps maybe can embrace one’s differences and preferences, and accept the differences as a generator that maybe even expand one’s perspective? Especially we men always tend to end up in one or another form of a pissing competition, where the ears dies out in fatigue boredom because they are not needed anymore. They lost their function over the sharp glowing glory of the measuring instruments, the cool and objective figures, and graphs.

Will we in this forum accept one with the equipment mobbaddict remember from childhood?
Those who love their headsets, DACs and whatever, in a way where measurements, graphs and the objective technical sharpness are the most important, yes - let them do it. Why not? Those who love their Sennheiser hd 555 and have proudly modded them to a hd 595, and have not even heard of a DAC, let them do it! Why the hell not? Those who both love the graphs as much as the emotions the ears create, well? Why not?

The point for me here in this forum, is the joy of reading all the exciting experiences people who love music make. I do not have to look down or up to anyone for that reason, I just need to read about their experiences, to widen my horizons, also to feel the power of reading about peoples experience, those people who are much more rare than common. There is really not many of the people I know that is into “this” as much as the people here.

I love it here. I will never ever be an expert; but I will always try to stay loyal to the joy of music. That is all.

 

[Chris Kaoss]

Well said/written.
That's all about.

 

[Thfoolonthhill]

Ive had to stop using the velour pads, they are hurting the bottom of my ears which are obvs just a smidge to big for these pads. The leather pads put too much pressure on my head on longer listening sessions which are pretty much every night. I'm thinking about moving on the quads which is a real shame as I really do love the sound from them.

What am I thinking. These cans are going nowhere. They just sound far too good. A break every so often will loosen the pressure.

Ps loving your last few posts @Anatman

 

[Chris Kaoss]

What am I thinking. These cans are going nowhere. They just sound far too good. A break every so often will loosen the pressure.

Ps loving your last few posts @Anatman

Damn.
I was going to take your Quad as a backup.

 

[Anatman]

Got my second set of Quad ERA1 a few ago my. On that occasion, I would like to give credit to HiFifreaks, where both sets are bought.
The first set I had was faulty, got it returned, and got a new one at the same time. This set was a second-hand set, therefore the price of 4000 NOK. Then I asked if I could buy a second set when in stock, for 4000 NOK (400£), same as for the first set. That was totally ok, they sent them to me the day they had a pair back in stock. I am totally satisfied with the service level of these people! Perfect customer treatment! I’ll emphasise this specially, cause I have reading negative experience with HiFifreaks.

A pair of these at both rigs, what more can I want. These are awesome fascinating, it is at the borderline of worshipping-madness now… Nutttynutty? Well – in my mind I cannot believe that there are any more perfect and happy-joyful-music-ness-heavenly-sounding headphones available in the entire world. Seriously!

 

[mobbaddict]

Got my second set of Quad ERA1 a few ago my. On that occasion, I would like to give credit to HiFifreaks, where both sets are bought.
The first set I had was faulty, got it returned, and got a new one at the same time. This set was a second-hand set, therefore the price of 4000 NOK. Then I asked if I could buy a second set when in stock, for 4000 NOK (400£), same as for the first set. That was totally ok, they sent them to me the day they had a pair back in stock. I am totally satisfied with the service level of these people! Perfect customer treatment! I’ll emphasise this specially, cause I have reading negative experience with HiFifreaks.

A pair of these at both rigs, what more can I want. These are awesome fascinating, it is at the borderline of worshipping-madness now… Nutttynutty? Well – in my mind I cannot believe that there are any more perfect and happy-joyful-music-ness-heavenly-sounding headphones available in the entire world. Seriously!

What do you think about the timbre of the Quad versus your previous headphones? That's the only part where I struggle a little bit sometimes with this headphone, especially with the leather pads. It doesn't sound very organic to me. I don't know if it's better or worse than other planars, I would need to hear some again.

 

[Anatman]

What do you think about the timbre of the Quad versus your previous headphones? That's the only part where I struggle a little bit sometimes with this headphone, especially with the leather pads. It doesn't sound very organic to me. I don't know if it's better or worse than other planars, I would need to hear some again.

I think my "ear-brain-feel" has developed and changed relative dramatic the past months. My focus has changed in a way that puts the experiences from the ordinary man/woman in review/experiences here (and other forums etc), as an entry when seeking knowledge.

Second, I may – or may not – read reviews from “Experts”, just to see if they are aligned to majority of common people’s experience. If there are major differences, ill seek info regarding that.

When on my ears, I will totally l (as much without any extern bias at all) left the rest over to the "ear-brain-feel" department. After some time there, I will usually know what I am dealing with.

I have never had a notion of any not-organic timbre? What do you mean by organic? The accuracy of the “real” sound of example a drum-set, there you can almost hear what kind of skin he’s using on the drums, by organic do you mean all the “flaws/faults/subtle distinctness-etc” of an instrument? Not as in dynamic, where you can enjoy the ride of substance in the dynamic carousel, but more the “signature” of the individual instrument, “as it really is”? I am not sure what you mean?

I did a super quick listening-comparing now, just to see if I had missed something, but in my ears, I really thinks the timbre is superb, also in demanding sound-stages! If I really try to be critical, I can maybe say that the “joy-dynamic” (which by the way is no distort as in EQ-ed coloration, just fantastic dynamic) overrules the organic timbre? But I am not agreed with myself there, soooo, really, I do not know.

 

[mobbaddict]

I think my "ear-brain-feel" has developed and changed relative dramatic the past months. My focus has changed in a way that puts the experiences from the ordinary man/woman in review/experiences here (and other forums etc), as an entry when seeking knowledge.

Second, I may – or may not – read reviews from “Experts”, just to see if they are aligned to majority of common people’s experience. If there are major differences, ill seek info regarding that.

When on my ears, I will totally l (as much without any extern bias at all) left the rest over to the "ear-brain-feel" department. After some time there, I will usually know what I am dealing with.

I have never had a notion of any not-organic timbre? What do you mean by organic? The accuracy of the “real” sound of example a drum-set, there you can almost hear what kind of skin he’s using on the drums, by organic do you mean all the “flaws/faults/subtle distinctness-etc” of an instrument? Not as in dynamic, where you can enjoy the ride of substance in the dynamic carousel, but more the “signature” of the individual instrument, “as it really is”? I am not sure what you mean?

I did a super quick listening-comparing now, just to see if I had missed something, but in my ears, I really thinks the timbre is superb, also in demanding sound-stages! If I really try to be critical, I can maybe say that the “joy-dynamic” (which by the way is no distort as in EQ-ed coloration, just fantastic dynamic) overrules the organic timbre? But I am not agreed with myself there, soooo, really, I do not know.

Not the level of detail retrieval nor the flaws that you hear in the recording (I think the Quad is very good at that, being super quick and transparent), but rather does like does it sound natural, realistic to you, especially as a musician who knows quite a bit about drums Also the texture and body of each instrument, how believable it is... To me the Quad sounds a little bit in the thin/synthetic side sometimes, almost like an electrostat. And I realized lately than my amp doesn't solve the problem, it's actually worsening it as compared to straight out a smartphone.

 

[strider1007]

And I realized lately than my amp doesn't solve the problem, it's actually worsening it as compared to straight out a smartphone.

If the ERA-1 sounds better on your smartphone than on your amp, you might consider auditioning some other amps.. I compared my S8 to the Jotunheim, major difference...