R E C E N T - Purchases Thread
Apr 5, 2021 at 12:01 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 77

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Bought within last 60 days -> if you can rating 1-10 on value with a few words on it
Notate which you are excited about or regret etc

Me:
Anker Q30 8/10 great all arounder but a lot of bass
TaoTronics SS 46 6.5/10 good but flawed, good at $30 -> buy
Mixcder E10 7/10 great sound sig. and build if you don't mind smaller ear holes or like on ear and don't need ANC steal at $40ish OB
Monoprice M570 -> WAITING
Monoprice M1570 -> WAITING
 
Apr 7, 2021 at 5:08 AM Post #3 of 77
Within 60 days for me:
LCD-X - 7/10. Kind of a "jack of all trades"; good at just about everything...but unfortunately not great at any one thing. Not quite regret, but disappointed in that they aren't my endgames (which means I have to spend more $$$ now to find it). Was hoping these would blow my socks off and while they're an improvement and technically better than any others I have/had, they're far from perfect.

E-Mu Teak - 7.5/10. For me definitely needed ZMF Ori pads (probably just me and my big ears/head though), but after that they're very good. They're my most "fun" headphones and I listen to them the most. Build quality is sketch (they feel cheap, but look expensive-ish...it's kinda weird).

iSine10 - 8.5/10. Love these. These are what I was hoping the LCD-X would be (with obvious improvements). Only downside is comfort; between tips and all the various clips and such it will take time to get them just right for your ears. Sound-wise I'm very happy. Will never sell, and probably won't bother with any other in-ears any time soon.

Also got the Hiby R2 (dunno if you only want HP's but I'll include it) - 6.5/10. Doesn't sound terrible, but I gotta take a lot of points off for the menu/usability. Not much better than a phone, but on the bright side it's smaller and lets me save a bunch of space on my phone.
 
Apr 7, 2021 at 5:33 AM Post #4 of 77
The rating is arbitrary and relative to my liking, so don't be upset with my rating if you disagree.

Schiit Bifrost 2 - 4/10 - My first R2R dac (even though chip based). Sounded nice with its Unison USB, not as nice with Coax. Hated the relay clicking sound though, so got rid of it.

Cavalli Audio Liquid Carbon V2 - 3/10 - Was excited at first to get one of Alex Cavalli's amplifier, since they don't make these anymore, fell for the hype, did not like it and sold it.

iFi Diablo - 5/10 - Very potent portable amplifier/dac combo, did like its tuning, but not its MQA implementation, nor build quality, did not sound as natural as other DACs, since then sold it.

Romi Audio BX-2 Plus - 8/10 - Absolute powerhouse of a portable amp, battery powered, super light and very transparent/neutral/resolving - sold it as I don't have a use case for it anymore, but great value for money and totally recommend to others.

Violetric HPA V281 FE - 7/10 - VERY powerful amplifier, pronounced but well controlled bass, can powerful anything (including Susvara or AB-1266), but prefer clean sound of my HTT2, so sold it.

Chord Hugo 2 - 7/10 - Very nice sounding DAC, battery powered, but overheats when playing and charging, a bit underpowered for power hungry headphones. Sold since to upgrade to HTT2.

Chord Hugo TT 2 - 9/10 - What a wonderful DAC, love its clean sound, a pity it does not have 4-pin XLR headphone jack and one has to buy adapter for 2x3-pin. Keeping this one.

Chord 2Go - 1/10 - Absolutely not working for my use case, which I have written about in here.

Dan Clark Ether CX - 4/10 - OKish sounding closed back, very nice comfort, hated the stock cable, since then sold it.

Hifiman Arya - 5/10 - Soundstage was nice, more resolving than Ether CX, but decided to sell.

Focal Clear - 5/10 - Nice dynamics and slam, better than Ether CX, side-grade to Arya, decided to sell.

Abyss Diana V2 - 9/10 - Nice resolving headphone, like the tuning and quality control, minus point for comfort (could be more padded on the top). Decided to sell in order to fund AB-1266 TC upgrade.

Abyss Superconductor - 3/10 - An upgraded (and very expensive) cable for Dianas, which made it sound better, but was so annoying as it is literally two cables instead of one, plus not so nice to the touch as I expected. Decided to sell.

And yes, I bought and sold a lot in the last 2 months, haha.
 
Apr 7, 2021 at 5:54 AM Post #5 of 77
The rating is arbitrary and relative to my liking, so don't be upset with my rating if you disagree.

Schiit Bifrost 2 - 4/10 - My first R2R dac (even though chip based). Sounded nice with its Unison USB, not as nice with Coax. Hated the relay clicking sound though, so got rid of it.

Cavalli Audio Liquid Carbon V2 - 3/10 - Was excited at first to get one of Alex Cavalli's amplifier, since they don't make these anymore, fell for the hype, did not like it and sold it.

iFi Diablo - 5/10 - Very potent portable amplifier/dac combo, did like its tuning, but not its MQA implementation, nor build quality, did not sound as natural as other DACs, since then sold it.

Romi Audio BX-2 Plus - 8/10 - Absolute powerhouse of a portable amp, battery powered, super light and very transparent/neutral/resolving - sold it as I don't have a use case for it anymore, but great value for money and totally recommend to others.

Violetric HPA V281 FE - 7/10 - VERY powerful amplifier, pronounced but well controlled bass, can powerful anything (including Susvara or AB-1266), but prefer clean sound of my HTT2, so sold it.

Chord Hugo 2 - 7/10 - Very nice sounding DAC, battery powered, but overheats when playing and charging, a bit underpowered for power hungry headphones. Sold since to upgrade to HTT2.

Chord Hugo TT 2 - 9/10 - What a wonderful DAC, love its clean sound, a pity it does not have 4-pin XLR headphone jack and one has to buy adapter for 2x3-pin. Keeping this one.

Chord 2Go - 1/10 - Absolutely not working for my use case, which I have written about in here.

Dan Clark Ether CX - 4/10 - OKish sounding closed back, very nice comfort, hated the stock cable, since then sold it.

Hifiman Arya - 5/10 - Soundstage was nice, more resolving than Ether CX, but decided to sell.

Focal Clear - 5/10 - Nice dynamics and slam, better than Ether CX, side-grade to Arya, decided to sell.

Abyss Diana V2 - 9/10 - Nice resolving headphone, like the tuning and quality control, minus point for comfort (could be more padded on the top). Decided to sell in order to fund AB-1266 TC upgrade.

Abyss Superconductor - 3/10 - An upgraded (and very expensive) cable for Dianas, which made it sound better, but was so annoying as it is literally two cables instead of one, plus not so nice to the touch as I expected. Decided to sell.

And yes, I bought and sold a lot in the last 2 months, haha.
when I see posts like this I am drawn to what you did rate good, I am here giving $80 ANC headphones 7/10 and you gave my 2 endgames for planars (clear and arya) 5/10 (not saying you are wrong at all btw!) but yeah now I want to buy everything u gave good ratings

also love your AVI and when I read the name it made me giggle


Within 60 days for me:
LCD-X - 7/10. Kind of a "jack of all trades"; good at just about everything...but unfortunately not great at any one thing. Not quite regret, but disappointed in that they aren't my endgames (which means I have to spend more $$$ now to find it). Was hoping these would blow my socks off and while they're an improvement and technically better than any others I have/had, they're far from perfect.

E-Mu Teak - 7.5/10. For me definitely needed ZMF Ori pads (probably just me and my big ears/head though), but after that they're very good. They're my most "fun" headphones and I listen to them the most. Build quality is sketch (they feel cheap, but look expensive-ish...it's kinda weird).

iSine10 - 8.5/10. Love these. These are what I was hoping the LCD-X would be (with obvious improvements). Only downside is comfort; between tips and all the various clips and such it will take time to get them just right for your ears. Sound-wise I'm very happy. Will never sell, and probably won't bother with any other in-ears any time soon.

Also got the Hiby R2 (dunno if you only want HP's but I'll include it) - 6.5/10. Doesn't sound terrible, but I gotta take a lot of points off for the menu/usability. Not much better than a phone, but on the bright side it's smaller and lets me save a bunch of space on my phone.
Kind of sad @ the LCD-X part got the M1570 which is supposed to be similar to LCD 2F/Xsound hope it's good I will highly recommend the M570 it literally was better than sundara and those are one of my keep forever favorites there is just something so effortless about it being a planar, it's faster than my DT1990 but I doubt as fast as the LCD-X from what I heard but I love the timbre and tonality nice slightly warm SS soundstage and the build for $200 is amazing... anyway they go on sale OB every now and then for $150 and I snagged mine when it said "use code "OPEBOX" "so I got it for $120 before S&H + TAX which came to $135 honestly it's an absolute steal at this price i'm surprised the thread isn't longer because at $500 the Sundara is a buy and I like this more it doesn't do a lot amazing but it does basically nothing wrong but a bit better than jack of all like Sundara.
 
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Apr 7, 2021 at 6:37 AM Post #6 of 77
when I see posts like this I am drawn to what you did rate good, I am here giving $80 ANC headphones 7/10 and you gave my 2 endgames for planars (clear and arya) 5/10
Oh yes, this is totally a valid point and for sure a problem I see on head-fi a lot. When I am looking for a headphone I cannot simply audition in person, it is very difficult to form an opinion about said headphone (and its competitors in the price range), just by reading other people's impressions. Everyone is different, works with a different budget, has different priorities, stuff like that. What I have noticed though is that these price brackets usually encompass a tier/level of a headphone and then everything at that level provides you with comparative performance (different drawbacks/flavours) so the best is to buy both and sell one for a loss, at least that's the only way I found possible to really know which of the two you would prefer, because these side-grades are different and provide you with a different tonality/feature set and you may not know what you are looking for before you try both. But this requires double the money (at least temporarily) and resale means losing some on top of that, therefore effectively your headphones start costing more (unless you bought used to begin with). Arya and Clear are absolutely great headphones, a tier above aforementioned Ether CX and tier below Diana V2 (at least to my ears and what I value in a headphone). You can't make a mistake by going with either of those, but other people's ratings are therefore meaningless to yours (your 5/10 means something different to them), however, for their relative rankings (as long as they stay consistent) it does provide certain comparative value, like I tried with mine.

also love your AVI and when I read the name it made me giggle
You are very kind, thank you for this comment, made me happy to have read it :)
 
Apr 7, 2021 at 9:39 AM Post #7 of 77
I basically turned over my full-size headphone collection completely in the last 60 days. Ratings are relative to value for the segment and use case for each headphone, so aren't comparable between different types, prices, etc.

Oppo PM-3 (Closed Portable, Planar) - 9/10 - My doing-stuff-around-the-house headphone. This is a re-purchase actually. I sold my previous pair during my brief love affair with the Audeze Sine, but I soon regretted the decision. These are probably the most well-balanced closed headphones I've ever heard, and I've heard many. There are some more exciting ones, like the Sine, some that might be better on the technicalities, but to me the PM-3 has the perfect tonal balance. The bass is extended, the mids are euphoric and the highs are detailed, maybe a little rolled-off, and never harsh. Eventually the headband and earpads are gonna flake away and I'll deal with that when it happens, but build is otherwise flawless and comfort is great.

Final Audio Sonorous IV (Semi-closed, Hybrid BA-Dynamic) - 6/10 - My in-the-office headphone. These are weird. Sound is weird. Build is weird. There are peaks and dips in the upper mids and highs that probably shouldn't be there, so some music just doesn't sound quite right on these, but damn those balanced armature drivers are fast and clear and the dynamic drivers can really fill in the bottom end with some nice impact. When it's bad it's bad, but when it's good it's really great. They're comfortable enough stock, but an earpad change helped. There are probably better options out there for semi-closed in this segment, but I might hang onto these for a while since they're kinda unique.

V-Moda M-100 Master (Closed Portable, Dynamic) - 7/10 - On-the-go/travel headphones. I expected these to be pretty V-shaped, despite the marketing saying they were a more balanced V-Moda, but the marketing was right. The bass is definitely still boosted, but not like the original M-100, and really you want that boost when you're planning to use a headphone in noisy environments. The upper mids and highs are surprisingly balanced and they really don't do much wrong. They're narrow, even for closed headphones, and detail isn't amazing, but they sound good. The PM-3s could do this job for me, they're much better headphones for sound, but these fold smaller, isolate a little better and I'd care less if they were broken, lost or stolen. For someone who can't wear IEMs for long periods and who doesn't want to sacrifice sound quality with a Bluetooth ANC headphone, this was a good buy.

Avantone Pro Planar (Open, Planar) - N/A - Sold my TYGR 300 Rs, so there's a void in my line-up for home office headphones. Was hoping these would fill it, but they arrived broken. Build quality and design seemed iffy otherwise. They sounded really good when I could get them to work. Decided to return rather than exchange.

Dan Clark Audio Aeon Open RT (Open, Planar) - N/A - On the way now to hopefully be my home office headphone. Impressions to come.
 
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Apr 9, 2021 at 8:35 AM Post #8 of 77
Oh yes, this is totally a valid point and for sure a problem I see on head-fi a lot. When I am looking for a headphone I cannot simply audition in person, it is very difficult to form an opinion about said headphone (and its competitors in the price range), just by reading other people's impressions. Everyone is different, works with a different budget, has different priorities, stuff like that. What I have noticed though is that these price brackets usually encompass a tier/level of a headphone and then everything at that level provides you with comparative performance (different drawbacks/flavours) so the best is to buy both and sell one for a loss, at least that's the only way I found possible to really know which of the two you would prefer, because these side-grades are different and provide you with a different tonality/feature set and you may not know what you are looking for before you try both. But this requires double the money (at least temporarily) and resale means losing some on top of that, therefore effectively your headphones start costing more (unless you bought used to begin with). Arya and Clear are absolutely great headphones, a tier above aforementioned Ether CX and tier below Diana V2 (at least to my ears and what I value in a headphone). You can't make a mistake by going with either of those, but other people's ratings are therefore meaningless to yours (your 5/10 means something different to them), however, for their relative rankings (as long as they stay consistent) it does provide certain comparative value, like I tried with mine.


You are very kind, thank you for this comment, made me happy to have read it :)
honestly I think spending above $1000 is a sin but I reallly reallly want to get the Diana's at the time it becomes nothing more than small change financially I will just on your review..... I personally am on the opinion that having sounds you don't really favor can be beneficial in deciding if you want other headphones based on descriptions I find that a better tool that taking objective analysis standalone :)

Really happy you found something you like the M570's are my cheapest set for what I happen to pay and give me immense joy!

I basically turned over my full-size headphone collection completely in the last 60 days. Ratings are relative to value for the segment and use case for each headphone, so aren't comparable between different types, prices, etc.

Oppo PM-3 (Closed Portable, Planar) - 9/10 - My doing-stuff-around-the-house headphone. This is a re-purchase actually. I sold my previous pair during my brief love affair with the Audeze Sine, but I soon regretted the decision. These are probably the most well-balanced closed headphones I've ever heard, and I've heard many. There are some more exciting ones, like the Sine, some that might be better on the technicalities, but to me the PM-3 has the perfect tonal balance. The bass is extended, the mids are euphoric and the highs are detailed, maybe a little rolled-off, and never harsh. Eventually the headband and earpads are gonna flake away and I'll deal with that when it happens, but build is otherwise flawless and comfort is great.

Final Audio Sonorous IV (Semi-closed, Hybrid BA-Dynamic) - 6/10 - My in-the-office headphone. These are weird. Sound is weird. Build is weird. There are peaks and dips in the upper mids and highs that probably shouldn't be there, so some music just doesn't sound quite right on these, but damn those balanced armature drivers are fast and clear and the dynamic drivers can really fill in the bottom end with some nice impact. When it's bad it's bad, but when it's good it's really great. They're comfortable enough stock, but an earpad change helped. There are probably better options out there for semi-closed in this segment, but I might hang onto these for a while since they're kinda unique.

V-Moda M-100 Master (Closed Portable, Dynamic) - 7/10 - On-the-go/travel headphones. I expected these to be pretty V-shaped, despite the marketing saying they were a more balanced V-Moda, but the marketing was right. The bass is definitely still boosted, but not like the original M-100, and really you want that boost when you're planning to use a headphone in noisy environments. The upper mids and highs are surprisingly balanced and they really don't do much wrong. They're narrow, even for closed headphones, and detail isn't amazing, but they sound good. The PM-3s could do this job for me, they're much better headphones for sound, but these fold smaller, isolate a little better and I'd care less if they were broken, lost or stolen. For someone who can't wear IEMs for long periods and who doesn't want to sacrifice sound quality with a Bluetooth ANC headphone, this was a good buy.

Avantone Pro Planar (Open, Planar) - N/A - Sold my TYGR 300 Rs, so there's a void in my line-up for home office headphones. Was hoping these would fill it, but they arrived broken. Build quality and design seemed iffy otherwise. They sounded really good when I could get them to work. Decided to return rather than exchange.

Dan Clark Audio Aeon Open RT (Open, Planar) - N/A - On the way now to hopefully be my home office headphone. Impressions to come.

These are all off the beaten trail here I think (maybe besides the Oppo) I am interested in the V-Moda and the Oppos tbh have you auditioned drop panda vs the Oppo? would be interested to hear how it compares by someone who has heard the two, thinking about dabbling into Dan Clark also if you have any more experience with his lineup

oh and on the point of the thread bought
Klipsch Promedia 2.1
Monoprice Liquid Spark

some nice little purchases I think I will be happy with for the price I paid!
 
Apr 9, 2021 at 8:56 AM Post #9 of 77
honestly I think spending above $1000 is a sin
Tell me about that, I started this year with a budget of 1k (600 headphones, 400 dac/amp) and ended up spending more than 15k (with the cost of buying/reselling), this hobby has its way of eating through your wallet, haha.
 
Apr 9, 2021 at 9:07 AM Post #10 of 77
Tell me about that, I started this year with a budget of 1k (600 headphones, 400 dac/amp) and ended up spending more than 15k (with the cost of buying/reselling), this hobby has its way of eating through your wallet, haha.
And that is without tube mania!...
 
Apr 9, 2021 at 10:01 AM Post #12 of 77
These are all off the beaten trail here I think (maybe besides the Oppo) I am interested in the V-Moda and the Oppos tbh have you auditioned drop panda vs the Oppo? would be interested to hear how it compares by someone who has heard the two, thinking about dabbling into Dan Clark also if you have any more experience with his lineup

I did consider the Panda, but I haven't heard it. It would be nice to have some warranty support and easily swappable pad options, but I really don't need Bluetooth at this point since I'm using an LG G8 with a "Quad DAC" and comments on comfort and sound have been a bit iffy for the Panda. The comfort issue might be because there is clearly much less padding on the headband than the PM-3s, which I personally find very comfortable. I don't know how much to trust sound reviews. Some people find the Panda a bit dark and compressed, but some people also find the PM-3s too rolled off in the treble region which I don't. The few side to side comparisons I've read do suggest Drop tuned the Panda's darker and bassier than the PM-3s though, which might not be a good thing. Of course Drop has promised an app so changing the sound profile through DSP should be possible, but last I'd checked they still haven't delivered on the app.

As for Dan Clark Audio, I have zero experience with the current line-up, so I'm going into the Aeon with only the impressions of others to guide me. I have heard the Alpha Dog from back in the MrSpeakers days but that's it. The Aeon RT Open has been on my radar for a bit, but I had finally decided to pass on it in favor of the Avantone, which obviously didn't turn out well. I was actually ready to pull the trigger on the iBasso SR2 after the fail with the Avantone until I read about the sale on the "Hel Yeah" bundle from DCA with the Aeon, Schiit Hel and ModMic. That's a pretty killer deal since I can then either sell my current stack in favor of the Hel or move the Hel instead.
 
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Apr 9, 2021 at 10:13 AM Post #13 of 77
I did consider the Panda, but I haven't heard it. It would be nice to have some warranty support and easily swappable pad options, but I really don't need Bluetooth at this point since I'm using an LG G8 with a "Quad DAC" and comments on comfort and sound have been a bit iffy for the Panda. The comfort issue might be because there is clearly much less padding on the headband than the PM-3s, which I personally find very comfortable. I don't know how much to trust sound reviews. Some people find the Panda a bit dark and compressed, but some people also find the PM-3s too rolled off in the treble region which I don't. The few side to side comparisons I've read do suggest Drop tuned the Panda's darker and bassier than the PM-3s though, which might not be a good thing. Of course Drop has promised an app so changing the sound profile through DSP should be possible, but last I'd checked they still haven't delivered on the app.

As for Dan Clark Audio, I have zero experience with the current line-up, so I'm going into the Aeon with only the impressions of others to guide me. I have heard the Alpha Dog from back in the MrSpeakers days but that's it. The Aeon RT Open has been on my radar for a bit, but I had finally decided to pass on it in favor of the Avantone, which obviously didn't turn out well. I was actually ready to pull the trigger on the iBasso SR2 after the fail with the Avantone until I read about the sale on the "Hel Yeah" bundle from DCA with the Aeon, Schiit Hel and ModMic. That's a pretty killer deal since I can then either sell my current stack in favor of the Hel or move the Hel instead.
Please update us if you get a chance! There are so many Dan Clarks and they are so expensive and close in price I am scared to buy, in all honesty as far as PLANARS with just the 3 I own I think I have everything I need except bass rolled but I think the Argon Mk3 is really the answer to close that book, but people keep recommending them, haven't found a good price to perf answer and most of the stuff I buy is top tier in that respect. That is really the thing a product has to have to get my $$$


As far as the Panda goes honestly for the $400 pricetag to sound I wasn't impressed and basically everything you said is spot on, I will recommend you the 8323 bluetooth by monoprice for $18 especially if you have brainwavz ovals pleather or sheepskin (i use sheepskin angled i foolish thought might sound good on the 6XX) once you remove the black foam on this inside (CAREFULL) they sound too good and are comfy for the money.... Still like my ANC headphones for working but the bluetooth headphone space is weird is most things worth spening any money on between $40-$80 with lots of features like ANC and battery life and even basic $300+ bluetooth headsets failing to deliver except maybe some of the more niche offerings by like hifiman.... I still don't understand why they didn't make their little adapter for other headsets besides the DEVA and then for the Ananda have is priced so abserdly high but whatevs. I have a bluetooth receiver and Fiio A5 so I can run anything mobile for TV or even is kind of convenient for phone having them separate. Forget Panda and Mobius
 
Apr 9, 2021 at 5:45 PM Post #14 of 77
Focal Radiance: Much better than the Elegia, obviously more presence in the low end (I tried using dekoni sheepskin pads on the Elegia but it really muddied everything up in my opinion), very detailed, articulate and punchy. Formidable sub-bass can be garnered if one chooses without clipping or distortion.
I liked it a lot more than the Celestee though still on the fence after I bought them, until I changed the cable to a Forza audio works balanced. Now I adore them; they are a really powerful Focal performance all in all. Great fit and look like a Fabregé egg crafted in the Void. 8/10

Campfire Audio Cascade: Bought with a balanced cable and all available pads. I tried every filter. EQ'ed. I hate them. A lot of it has to do with the fit; they are meant for a much bigger head. I really don't understand why I don't like them, I knew the soundstage was small but so is the Radiance. I just genuinely hate them for reasons I can't express, though I understand fundamentally that they are a great product with a great build. It may be for the same enigmatic reason I disliked the Meze. 2/10

Denon AH-D7000: I avoided these initially because they are older than my D7200, so in my mind probably technically inferior. I was wrong. There is a smoothness in the highs in the D7200 that I found woolenly cloying, impotent.
The D7000's still have the beautiful resolution, dynamic and timber but include a presence and fortitude all but made coy in the D7200. The only downside is the cable, so I'm sending them away to have them recabled to allow for a removable set up. 9/10
 

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