[Change is Good]

Mine are still out being modded. Probably will be a little while until I finally get them. The quality of work is worth the wait, though.

 

[SoundTown]

Yeah the detachable cable mod on the Walnut will be worth the wait. Imo the cables the Walnut comes with aren't very good. Definitely one of the poorer parts of the stock headphone.

 

[fjrabon]

been appreciating these more and more lately.  They definitely have less ringing, and thus more micro-detail, than the CAL! and Denon versions.  In a lot of ways, these sound out of the box, like what the old D1001 sounded like when Lawton modded (yes, people did this).  They pair extremely well with my dragonfly red, which really takes them to the next level, but can also be one of the best "straight out of your phone" closed cans out there.  I honestly feel like these give my Shure SRH840s a run for their money, and the Shures are roughly double the price and harder to drive (though the Shures definitely beat them in isolation).  
 
To me, they sound the best out of a zero impedance solid state amp, which goes a long way to taming the sub bass looseness that has been mentioned.  They don't need much power, in fact power wise they're fine from an iPhone, but they do benefit from a quality DAC and an amp that feeds them right.  They sound very bloomy and lack control in the bass out of my Audioengine D1, which has an output impedance of 10 ohms.  Same thing out of my tube and hybrid amps.  But they sound GREAT out of my m9XX, dragonfly red and Schiit Fulla.
 
Amp/DAC wise I'd rank the pairings:
 
1) Grace m9XX
2) Dragonfly Red
3) Matrix HPA3U
4) Schiit Fulla
 
GAP
 
5) Matrix Quattro
 
BIG GAP
 
 
6) HiFiMan EF2C
7) Audioengine D1
8) Millett SSHM
9) Bottlehead Crack (LOL, yes, I tried this out just for kicks, it was a crazy poor match)

 

[SoundTown]

Thanks for the comparisons between the amps, perhaps I'll try the Dragonfly Red with the Walnut if I can find the Red at a store near me. Will be interesting to see if it does in fact improve the sub-bass like you say.

 

[SoundTown]

 
Tyle of InnerFidelity just uploaded a video of the Walnut, comparing it to the CAL. Pretty informative.
That said, to add my 2 cents on his video, I feel neither the M50x nor the Walnut is suited for monitoring. The Walnut is too warm, the M50x's vocals are too smeared. Just my 2 cents, like I said.

 

[Change is Good]

Great review and comparison. Funny because I just received notice that my mod is finally done, so I'll be able to hear these very soon!
 
Some great work by @PETEREK as always. If anyone is interested in similar work just contact him via his website which is listed on his profile.
 

 

 

 

 

[fjrabon]

  Great review and comparison. Funny because I just received notice that my mod is finally done, so I'll be able to hear these very soon!
 
Some great work by @PETEREK as always. If anyone is interested in similar work just contact him via his website which is listed on his profile.
 

 

 

 

take it that you didn't like them?

 

[Change is Good]

 
take it that you didn't like them?

 
They're pretty good, actually, especially the bass. It's just a little too dark and up front for my taste. I never was a fan of that HD650ish 'in your face' kind of sound. Waiting on some velour pads to see if they change the sound more to my liking, but the need for funds toward textbooks is more of a priority at the moment. If pad swapping doesn't work and my wallet situation gets better, I may just gift them to my nephew for his bday. Until then it's listed in the classifieds.

 

[SoundTown]

   
They're pretty good, actually, especially the bass. It's just a little too dark and up front for my taste. I never was a fan of that HD650ish 'in your face' kind of sound. Waiting on some velour pads to see if they change the sound more to my liking, but the need for funds toward textbooks is more of a priority at the moment. If pad swapping doesn't work and my wallet situation gets better, I may just gift them to my nephew for his bday. Until then it's listed in the classifieds.

Out of curiosity, what DAC/amp/DAP are you using with the Walnut? I'll admit, I've been extremely busy and haven't been able to find time to try on other sources, but through my Fiio Q1 and my iPhone 5S, I can't seem to get the Walnut's bass to be any more pronounced. Upper bass still has a lot of heft and meat, as per my earlier impressions, but I can't solve my issues with the mid-bass / sub-bass roll-off.
As previously mentioned here, there might be some relation between source used and bass quality/quantity out of the Walnut, so that's why I'm asking.
And btw, I know the pain with textbooks man, I've stopped buying mine for school and just pester my lecturers to explain concepts to me after class. They can't really complain either since I'm still doing well with the tests, heh.

 

[Change is Good]

  Out of curiosity, what DAC/amp/DAP are you using with the Walnut? I'll admit, I've been extremely busy and haven't been able to find time to try on other sources, but through my Fiio Q1 and my iPhone 5S, I can't seem to get the Walnut's bass to be any more pronounced. Upper bass still has a lot of heft and meat, as per my earlier impressions, but I can't solve my issues with the mid-bass / sub-bass roll-off.
As previously mentioned here, there might be some relation between source used and bass quality/quantity out of the Walnut, so that's why I'm asking.
And btw, I know the pain with textbooks man, I've stopped buying mine for school and just pester my lecturers to explain concepts to me after class. They can't really complain either since I'm still doing well with the tests, heh.

 
I was just using my Sony A17. Your review was spot on with my impressions. The sub bass is rolled off while very present in the mid-upper to upper bass and mids, then back downhill in the top range. It's quite a steep n-shaped sound, which isn't really my cup of tea. I don't think there's much can be done with these headphones unless you are someone who loves the HD650. These would be ideal portables for fans of that sound signature.

 

[SoundTown]

   
I was just using my Sony A17. Your review was spot on with my impressions. The sub bass is rolled off while very present in the mid-upper to upper bass and mids, then back downhill in the top range. It's quite a steep n-shaped sound, which isn't really my cup of tea. I don't think there's much can be done with these headphones unless you are someone who loves the HD650. These would be ideal portables for fans of that sound signature.

Thanks for the reply. As far as I know, the A17 makes for a pretty decent player, most likely comparable to the iPhone. I'll have to investigate further, maybe try a few DACs and/or amps with the Walnut when I have the time. As it stands, based on my experience using the Walnut with my Fiio Q1, I'm not wholesale convinced an amp would make a terribly large amount of difference, but I'll be glad to be wrong.
Also, now that you've pointed it out, the Walnut does seem to sound like what I remember of the HD650's sound from my one-time demo. I'll probably give that headphone a second try in the near future to confirm that. I'll also agree, the HD650 wasn't my favourite headphone signature, especially at the price, but I clearly see why people love it so.

 

[fjrabon]

yeah, they are definitely very similar to the HD650, but with a touch more 8kHz.  And yeah, the big weakness they have is lack of extension at both extremes.  An amp will help control the bass looseness, but it won't do anything about the lack of extension.  

 

[SoundTown]

  yeah, they are definitely very similar to the HD650, but with a touch more 8kHz.  And yeah, the big weakness they have is lack of extension at both extremes.  An amp will help control the bass looseness, but it won't do anything about the lack of extension.  

Ah, I see, thanks for clarifying. I will agree amping does seem to tighten the bass a little (from Low gain to High gain on my Q1), but sub-bass is still noticeably absent.

 

[Kramertc]

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-e-mu-purpleheart
 
$75  shipped in the US...

 

[SoundTown]

  https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-e-mu-purpleheart
 
$75  shipped in the US...

 

Yeah I was surprised when I saw the product link in my email too. Interestingly, Chan had sent me a set of Purpleheart cups to try on the E-MU Teak when I bought the headphones, so perhaps it’s about time I tried those cups on eh?
Just touching it though, it is immediately noticeable how much denser and heavier the Purpleheart wood from E-MU is compared to the Rosewood, and especially compared to the Teak and Walnut. Will try to get it on the Teak headphones if I can make the time.
Will be interesting to see how this “portable” headphone turns out, especially at under $100.