[toaster]

I don't like Headphone RAZ. Bring back IEM RAZ!

Now THAT’S funny...

 

[normie610]

As well they should be! Come back to the light, Anakin.

I guess he’s ran out of IEMs to try since virtually @mvvRAZ has tried almost every TOTL IEMs on the planet

 

[mvvRAZ]

I guess he’s ran out of IEMs to try since virtually @mvvRAZ has tried almost every TOTL IEMs on the planet

Literally this... kinda burned myself out trying IEMs

Speaking of which, impressions of the HEDDphone and the P+A Solitaire coming up in the next few days

 

[Wyville]

Literally this... kinda burned myself out trying IEMs

Not that unexpected. Give it some time and IEMs will become interesting again. Reviewing also keeps burning me out and yet I still continue to write, so I decided to just take it more slowly. Enjoyable like slow brew coffee. Does that make me a hipster audiophile? An audiophipster?

Speaking of which, impressions of the HEDDphone and the P+A Solitaire coming up in the next few days

Very curious about the T+A Solitaire! Not many impressions around. Did you try it with the T+A HA200? The HEDDphone has been getting rave reviews, but the size and weight scare me off.

 

[Liberatus]

The Heddphone is really nice. I got to demo it in early January before it was released. To me, my point of reference was - it's as close as you can get to the 1266 power and detail and great enjoyment, for any less then the price of a 1266. And the price of it made it an amazing deal. It really instantly made me think of the 1266 and I was like wow, it's a better size/fit package - still not great - but compared to the 1266 it's an improvement. The comfort is wonderful, you don't feel the weight it's done really well. The only thing is the size makes it not very portable and it doesn't look very nice. But besides that they're the best headphone for the price. Easily hands down.

Oh, and they definitely need to be run well with power and good gear.

 

[gLer]

I must say it's a real advantage/benefit/relief to not have to worry about power requirements, LPSs, noise filtering devices, separates, etc etc with IEMs compared to full-size headphones. My audio life has been substantially less complicated, more relaxed, and more music-focused since deciding to walk away from desktop gear. I guess I was burned out from the other end of the candle.

 

[mvvRAZ]

I must say it's a real advantage/benefit/relief to not have to worry about power requirements, LPSs, noise filtering devices, separates, etc etc with IEMs compared to full-size headphones. My audio life has been substantially less complicated, more relaxed, and more music-focused since deciding to walk away from desktop gear. I guess I was burned out from the other end of the candle.

That’s the thing though. I’ve been trying as many amplifiers as I can, but so far the only real difference I’m hearing between something at 5-6k and something at 1k is that the latter is a touch cleaner, wider or a little more technical or whatever. You can however absolutely get a great idea of what something sounds like off something cheap and with sufficient quantity and quality of the power (like the Romi BX2 for example, at 7-800$)

I think it’s simply that the headphone elitism is six levels above the IEM elitism, and amplifiers and DACs aren’t making that much of a groundbreaking, night and day difference. I ordered a toping A90 to compare to the GSX Mini next week, but I have a really sort of negative bias towards these reviews that go like “you need a 3000$ DAC and a 6000$ amp to even come close to having heard these”

After all you can absolutely say the same about a pair of IEMs. If you haven’t heard the A12t with the 1800$ Eletech Iliad and the 3000$ LPGT and also a Hugo 2 to see how it does in a desktop setup, you aren’t even coming close to it’s potential, which frankly is a pile of crap IMHO (that’s also why I’m selling off a bunch of my cables)

 

[arijitroy2]

That’s the thing though. I’ve been trying as many amplifiers as I can, but so far the only real difference I’m hearing between something at 5-6k and something at 1k is that the latter is a touch cleaner, wider or a little more technical or whatever. You can however absolutely get a great idea of what something sounds like off something cheap and with sufficient quantity and quality of the power (like the Romi BX2 for example, at 7-800$)

I think it’s simply that the headphone elitism is six levels above the IEM elitism, and amplifiers and DACs aren’t making that much of a groundbreaking, night and day difference. I ordered a toping A90 to compare to the GSX Mini next week, but I have a really sort of negative bias towards these reviews that go like “you need a 3000$ DAC and a 6000$ amp to even come close to having heard these”

After all you can absolutely say the same about a pair of IEMs. If you haven’t heard the A12t with the 1800$ Eletech Iliad and the 3000$ LPGT and also a Hugo 2 to see how it does in a desktop setup, you aren’t even coming close to it’s potential, which frankly is a pile of crap IMHO (that’s also why I’m selling off a bunch of my cables)

You have seen the light!!!

 

[mvvRAZ]

T+A Solitaire and the HEDDphone

This is going to be a set of rather brief impressions on the two headphones - I found a dealer in Munich that had them both, and I spent around an hour with the two, so the below is based on several songs or so - the impressions are also based on a random amp that the store had, but it was able to drive the Abyss 1266 Phi CC very well without adding much coloration that I could detect, so IMHO it should be sufficient to also drive the Solitaire and HEDDphone

1. T+A Solitaire

The first thing that I kinda have to put out there is that I thought they looked extremely underwhelming considering the price is close to 5000 euros - the Utopia has a way more dashing and premium look, so does the 1266, the Diana V2 has a way more sturdy and premium build as well, the LCD4 is significantly more solid and tanky - I don't really see what the Solitaire's proposition is here but I didn't like it. They look like a standard mid-fi headphone that's just... big.

I was very positively impressed by the sound though. They aren't the most detailed or revealing headphones but they're comfortably one of the most pleasant sounding ones I've tried to date. Quite bass heavy, almost L shaped in their response, with really smooth, slow and satisfying lows (quite reminiscent of the IER Z1R in a lot of ways actually), with a warm and organic midrange, and really well extended and decently present treble. I enjoyed that they didn't go for the super sterile TOTL reference headphone sound like 80% of everything else I've tried, but instead went for something that you can actually have fun listening to and properly enjoy. It's almost as if these aren't even designed with audiophiles in mind but instead went for a wider appeal, where almost anyone can pick them up and have a good time.

I haven't tried them off portable amps to see how much power they need, but if they're very easily drivable, I think there could be some real value behind the pair in that you possibly don't need to go super deep into the amplification/DAC territory and can get more of a "plug and play" solution.

I found that they don't really have the crazy treble sparkle and detail of the Diana - the midrange would be on par with the V2, while the bass was significantly nicer and more appealing at the expense of a somewhat shelved and consequently boring treble presentation. The midrange I'd say is quite matched between the two, where they both have a warmer and more forgiving presentation, which I found to be a big positive in both their cases.

The 1266 Phi CC, to me, is a clear step-up in pretty much every way except for a slightly colder and more revealing midrange, but the engagement, staging and bass are on a completely different level to me.

At a price point of close to 5000 euros, I don't really see the appeal for the Solitaire other than that it sounds pleasant, but I'm sure that during my demo sessions over the next several weeks I'm going to find plenty of headphones that can do that for a lot less.

2. The HEDDphone

The HEDDphone was great. It feels like a giant pillow on your head, and even though it weighs a ton, once I put it on my head I couldn't really feel any of that - I think the enormity and cushiness of the pads helped a lot in getting a comfortable fit. I didn't love how big and ugly they are, but considering their price isn't overloaded AF, I'd say that's quite easily forgivable.

Sound wise, I loved almost everything about them. Really good, slow and satisfying bass response, extreme balance between clarity and body in the midrange, great staging - but - oddly enough the treble really lacked some detail and control in the higher registers (the cymbals in Seven Nation Army ended up sort of blending together and you were no longer really able to tell every nuance apart the way you can on the Diana or 1266). I think that might be as a result of the lack of some dynamic range in the treble, or simply somewhat overdone upper treble. I didn't really notice this happening with almost anything else but cymbals, so I think the issue is specifically in the highest registers.
_____________________________

All in all, I doubt I'd be really hunting down the Solitaire, but I'd quite happily like to find something similar and a lot cheaper, because I think the tuning has a lot of potential when implemented in an open back. The HEDDphone I'm definitely going to look for a demo unit to see how far I can take it and whether an amp with more tamed treble would be able to introduce the control it needs.

 

[MrLocoLuciano]

@popof94 review on Rhapsodio Infinity Mk2 is out in English on Tellement Nomade blog
http://www.tellementnomade.org/rhapsodio-infinity-mk2-hong-kong-new-deal/
Enjoy

 

[KickAssChewGum]

@popof94 review on Rhapsodio Infinity Mk2 is out in English on Tellement Nomade blog
http://www.tellementnomade.org/rhapsodio-infinity-mk2-hong-kong-new-deal/
Enjoy

Want to audition these so badly!

 

[Toothy]

I currently have the Nio and i love it with exception to it's midrange. What would you guys recommend i should upgrade to?

 

[xenithon]

I currently have the Nio and i love it with exception to it's midrange. What would you guys recommend i should upgrade to?

What module are you using? And what about the midrange do you not like? Difficult to answer re upgrades without knowing what the issue itself is so if you can flesh that out and give some examples it would help

 

[mvvRAZ]

I currently have the Nio and i love it with exception to it's midrange. What would you guys recommend i should upgrade to?

Yeah we could use a little more info on which part of the Mids you dislike

 

[mvvRAZ]

A short ramble about endgame HP and IEM setups

Endgame - new phone who dis

The legendary "endgame" is a word that keeps getting thrown around on Head-Fi, more often than not by someone who's just gotten a new IEM or DAP or cable, and in the attempt to convince themselves (and on the off chance, someone else too), they chant "end-game-end-game-end-game" - the legend holds that if a moderator sees that you've found your endgame they'll ban your IP address from ever registering on Head-Fi again, and you'll be safe from the plague that is the audio hobby.

Yeah unfortunately that's not how it works, and within a week or two you're once again on the prowl for the next best thing to see just how far you can take your insanity, and how much you can spend before your wife threatens with a divorce. But hey, that's showbiz baby

My approach to said legendary endgame is a little different in that I'd say it's not about a singular omnipotent endgame IEM, but instead about multiple (as many as you'd like really) endgame setups - and an endgame setup to me is one that you can listen to without anything further being desired. I believe this "chain" building element is a little more relevant where headphones are concerned, for several reasons:

1. Variety. There's a whole lotta IEMs on the market, and most companies tend to refresh their TOTLs almost yearly. An IEM model that is 2 or 3 years old barely holds any relevance (with a few notable exceptions like the VE Erl and 64 A12t), so with this kind of quantity of products being released, it becomes much easier to simply find something that works for you, than to really have to build a setup around an IEM that is mostly optimal for you but could use some work in an area or two. In general if someone tells me they've gotten a new IEM, but they'd really like to change two or three things about it, IMHO it's way easier to simply change the IEM as the chances are, exactly what you're looking for already exists.

Headphones on the other hand tend to enjoy a much longer shelf life. An HP model that's one or two years old is practically considered to be still in the "brand new" category, and we have models like the Utopia and LCD4, which are even older than that and still without any real update by the companies that made them. I'm not as informed about the HP market as I am about the IEM market, but AFAIK, most of the HP companies actually develop their drivers which naturally implies a much higher RnD cost compared to an IEM, which is mostly a question of implementation and tuning

It's not that there isn't enough headphones on the market, it's rather that there's just a more limited amount of options compared to the sea of IEMs out there, and considering that each one seems to come with its own 5000$ amp recommendation, it might seem very closed off to any potential newcomers

2. Drivability. Freaks like the oBravo Ra and EE Wraith aside, for the most part IEMs can be driven by mostly any half-decent DAP on the market, so it can really be as simple as getting a decently neutral and technical DAP/dongle (Lotoo PAW S1 being a prime example of that), and just finding an IEM that suits you well. DAPs and sources do have the potential to make a lot of difference in IEMs, but realistically, you can get a really good idea what an IEM sounds like pretty much right off the bat.

Headphones, unfortunately, tend to be a whole lot more pretentious. You've got power requirements depending on driver types, you've got to worry about synergies too, listening conditions, manufacturer recommendations yadda yadda - it also does not help that every other dealer recommends at least a 5000$ tube amp that needs another 2000$ to really be optimal before you've even heard your headphones - what a load of ****

I do not disagree with the statement that headphones require a pretty substantial chain building. I've tried some 5-6 amps with the Diana V2, and depending on which one I go with the signature and ability of the headphone changes more so than mostly any change I've experienced with a set of IEMs and a different source. The trouble here is that it isn't just a question of the inherent signature of an amp, but rather whether or not the amp can provide sufficient current to actually get the drivers moving properly. So far from my experience this is most relevant with planars, but I'll be experimenting with dynamics as well to see if they have similar quirks and needs
_______________________________________

My approach where headphones are concerned

1. Desktop amps/DACs

I've picked a warm amplifier (the HeadAmp GSX Mini), and a transparent one (the Topping A90) - after a lot of reading those are the two that had quite consistently glowing reviews, and are powerful enough to drive just about anything on the market, so we'd essentially be eliminating the whole "oh but you aren't feeding them enough current" argument

Both amps are driven by two decently neutral DACs (the Hugo 2 and the RME ADI 2), in order to be sure that what's actually introducing the majority of the coloration is the driver and not the source.

The reason why I've picked both a warm and a transparent amplifier is to give headphones a better shot considering that they are a fair bit more setup dependent than most IEMs - my approach to the portable market is driving everything out of the already very powerful and neutral LPGT, which gives me a really good idea of what something was essentially meant to sound like before any coloration is introduced by the source. I've stated previously it's the ultimate reviewer DAP in my ever so humble opinion, and my current HP setup is essentially trying to replicate that - find a combination of some DACs and amps that tell me what the headphone actually sounds like in a slightly more neutral as well as a slightly warmer environment, and evaluate them based on that

Now, if some TOTL headphone doesn't sound right or appealing to me out of either of these amplifiers, and the forums state "oh yeah you need this specific amplifier or these don't work at all otherwise" I'm pretty much going to be attributing that to a poor design that forces you into a ridiculously expensive purchase after you've already spent a ridiculous amount of money. The amplifier becomes a band aid to existing headphone issues as opposed to an enhancement of its already positive qualities.

2. Portable amps and DACs

Similar approach here. LPGT in line out (DAC) mode, with a warm amp (the ifi micro BL), and a more neutral/transparent one (Romi BX2) - both of them very powerful and both should be more than sufficient to drive almost anything on the market. The DAC tends to have a pretty limited effect on the sound as a whole anyhow, so as long as it isn't some radically coloured one it shouldn't be a night and day difference anyhow
_______________________________________

With all of this out of the way, the proper headphone reviews and rankings shall begin!

First proper impressions, pair ups and reviews will be of the Diana V2, the 1266 Phi CC and the Rosson Rad-0. My local dealer has access to tons of headphones though, so I'll be able to build up a pretty good amount of impressions decently quickly and get a ranking started