Musickiks
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2014
- Posts
- 25
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- 13
Also looking for any new recommendations*
So I’ve been listening, critically, not leisurely, to all three of these headphones (HD600 (my old pair for 9 years), new pairs of HD800S, and ZMF Auteur). I’ve been listening with an iFi micro Black Label.
It has been all Tidal Hi-Fi, through my phone- mainly Beatles 2009 masters, Beatles new mixes by Giles Martin (White album, Sgt. Peppers), and Radiohead albums. With sprinkling of Elton John and other modern records (St. Vincent, Grizzly Bear etc)
I bought the HD800S in hopes of upgrading from my HD600’s, and then bought the Auteurs when I wasn’t thrilled initially with the HD800S’. And initially I was over the moon with the Auteurs.
But over weeks of sporadic critical listening I feel at an impasse. So here’s my little lamens review. (Also I’m a musician and study mixing/critique mixes a lot so that’s my background, but am looking for a very high quality somewhat neutral headphone for leisurely listening) :
Trying to finish writing this at a family dinner so excuse any errors or missed things, lol.
HD 600 - nearly perfect to me, it’s such a balanced sound. Just lacking some hi-fi quality. It seems to capture about 75% of what the others do tone-wise. It needs better separation, but has a solid-sized soundstage. Flattish, but not particularly too flat, though it lacks a little bit of musicality I think because of it.
ZMF Auteur (with Atmos cable and Auteur pads) - very hi-fi, it is definitely near the 800S’s in terms of detail. Very rich and lush sound. What I notice the most is punchiness. It’s kind of great but in a way I find myself getting fatigued by it very quickly. It’s basically possibly too punchy to my ears. Also a thing I began to notice is what is unfortunately a squished soundstage mainly height-wise. Vocals do not breathe naturally, instruments are hi-fi but a tad squished sounding. It sounds as if a compressor was put on everything to me. There’s good separation, much better than the 600’s, similar to 800S’s. Definitely musical but even possibly too musical to the point a neutral/natural view of the real mix is lost. And maybe that’s ok if you like a more heightened, colored mix. I think it’s great just you know, perhaps a little too far. It’s like the mix is on musical steroids or something. Still nice but I really lament the loss in the size of the instruments and vocals and feel this actually takes away from the detail, and natural feel of the instrument, the punchiness is seemingly fatiguing and makes me question how pleasant these would be after even just an album listening session. I tried the Eikon pads for a hot second but thought it got muddy and had a noticeable loss in Fidelity but I really didn’t give them enough of a chance and will get back to them soon.
HD 800S - Definitely a little sharp and clinical and even harsh at times. Example, intro of Beatles - Getting Better on the Auteurs and 600’s sounds great, on these it’s harsh and biting, unpleasant. That being said, lord, these are so damn immersive. A wonderful hyper-realistic sized soundstage and great separation. The detail is unmatched. There’s times where you get a feeling like, “This is possibly similar to what it feels like listening to the master tapes.” Even so, it’s possibly unnaturally detailed. Where you’re not really hearing the way the instrument sounds, but the way it would sound if your ear were right next to the source. Amazing but perhaps too much. However, these also lack major low end. It’ll work for some genres but it’s a crazy oversight to me.
My fix: with the Black Label, you can add this really smart amount of low end on a setting called xbass. This warms them up and softens the sound almost enough while giving more punch and low end similar to Auteur, though not quite as much. It’s close to the best of both worlds though there is still some sharpness though not nearly as pronounced. But I hate thinking I’m investing in a pair of cans that need a crutch or can only be alleviated by a special setting on this one amp, so yeah I just don’t know.
I need to do a “leisure” listening session, like an album or two with each new pair and see how they feel that way. I’m just too OCD and analytical to relax almost, until I have a really good idea what I’m listening to.
My heart wants to say the Auteurs are my best bet, as I know they’re handmade with love, have incredible craftsmanship and have nearly the hi-fi detail of the 800S’s, and have a very nice musicality to them. But I also really do miss the expansive soundstage as well as I feel with the squished height you miss a natural feel of both the vocals and instruments (even the 600’s have a more realistic height in regards to the soundstage), which in a way translates to loss of detail to me and I just don’t know if I can reconcile that.
And on the other hand I just don’t know if the 800S’s are too clinical to actually be enjoyable leisurely.
If I don’t stick with either the 800S’s or Auteurs, do you guys have any recommendations in a similar price range ($1500-2000)?
So I’ve been listening, critically, not leisurely, to all three of these headphones (HD600 (my old pair for 9 years), new pairs of HD800S, and ZMF Auteur). I’ve been listening with an iFi micro Black Label.
It has been all Tidal Hi-Fi, through my phone- mainly Beatles 2009 masters, Beatles new mixes by Giles Martin (White album, Sgt. Peppers), and Radiohead albums. With sprinkling of Elton John and other modern records (St. Vincent, Grizzly Bear etc)
I bought the HD800S in hopes of upgrading from my HD600’s, and then bought the Auteurs when I wasn’t thrilled initially with the HD800S’. And initially I was over the moon with the Auteurs.
But over weeks of sporadic critical listening I feel at an impasse. So here’s my little lamens review. (Also I’m a musician and study mixing/critique mixes a lot so that’s my background, but am looking for a very high quality somewhat neutral headphone for leisurely listening) :
Trying to finish writing this at a family dinner so excuse any errors or missed things, lol.
HD 600 - nearly perfect to me, it’s such a balanced sound. Just lacking some hi-fi quality. It seems to capture about 75% of what the others do tone-wise. It needs better separation, but has a solid-sized soundstage. Flattish, but not particularly too flat, though it lacks a little bit of musicality I think because of it.
ZMF Auteur (with Atmos cable and Auteur pads) - very hi-fi, it is definitely near the 800S’s in terms of detail. Very rich and lush sound. What I notice the most is punchiness. It’s kind of great but in a way I find myself getting fatigued by it very quickly. It’s basically possibly too punchy to my ears. Also a thing I began to notice is what is unfortunately a squished soundstage mainly height-wise. Vocals do not breathe naturally, instruments are hi-fi but a tad squished sounding. It sounds as if a compressor was put on everything to me. There’s good separation, much better than the 600’s, similar to 800S’s. Definitely musical but even possibly too musical to the point a neutral/natural view of the real mix is lost. And maybe that’s ok if you like a more heightened, colored mix. I think it’s great just you know, perhaps a little too far. It’s like the mix is on musical steroids or something. Still nice but I really lament the loss in the size of the instruments and vocals and feel this actually takes away from the detail, and natural feel of the instrument, the punchiness is seemingly fatiguing and makes me question how pleasant these would be after even just an album listening session. I tried the Eikon pads for a hot second but thought it got muddy and had a noticeable loss in Fidelity but I really didn’t give them enough of a chance and will get back to them soon.
HD 800S - Definitely a little sharp and clinical and even harsh at times. Example, intro of Beatles - Getting Better on the Auteurs and 600’s sounds great, on these it’s harsh and biting, unpleasant. That being said, lord, these are so damn immersive. A wonderful hyper-realistic sized soundstage and great separation. The detail is unmatched. There’s times where you get a feeling like, “This is possibly similar to what it feels like listening to the master tapes.” Even so, it’s possibly unnaturally detailed. Where you’re not really hearing the way the instrument sounds, but the way it would sound if your ear were right next to the source. Amazing but perhaps too much. However, these also lack major low end. It’ll work for some genres but it’s a crazy oversight to me.
My fix: with the Black Label, you can add this really smart amount of low end on a setting called xbass. This warms them up and softens the sound almost enough while giving more punch and low end similar to Auteur, though not quite as much. It’s close to the best of both worlds though there is still some sharpness though not nearly as pronounced. But I hate thinking I’m investing in a pair of cans that need a crutch or can only be alleviated by a special setting on this one amp, so yeah I just don’t know.
I need to do a “leisure” listening session, like an album or two with each new pair and see how they feel that way. I’m just too OCD and analytical to relax almost, until I have a really good idea what I’m listening to.
My heart wants to say the Auteurs are my best bet, as I know they’re handmade with love, have incredible craftsmanship and have nearly the hi-fi detail of the 800S’s, and have a very nice musicality to them. But I also really do miss the expansive soundstage as well as I feel with the squished height you miss a natural feel of both the vocals and instruments (even the 600’s have a more realistic height in regards to the soundstage), which in a way translates to loss of detail to me and I just don’t know if I can reconcile that.
And on the other hand I just don’t know if the 800S’s are too clinical to actually be enjoyable leisurely.
If I don’t stick with either the 800S’s or Auteurs, do you guys have any recommendations in a similar price range ($1500-2000)?
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