[crazyface]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlorytheWiz825 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Great review. This is still one of the weirdest headphones in my book. :/

Yeah, they're pretty strange, aren't they?

We need a floatphone emoticon!

 

[Duggeh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by apostate /img/forum/go_quote.gif In the picture I've got it one setting below that, with three notches showing. I tend to go back and forth between "3" and "4" periodically trying to figure out which one I like better. Ant

Position is tricky, and down to individual preference. Its part of the Float Chassis though. The Float 1 and 2 are exactly the same, except that the most noticeable thing with them depending on forward/backward hold is the low bass impact/soundstage which negatively correlate with each other.

The AMT is also very tricky as the frequency response is different in each area of the driver, the area at the back produces lower frequencies, so if you have your ears all the way back, you get more bass, but at a very small point you start to rapidly lose the high end. I suppose if you wanted the best of both you'd need supersize ears!

Vertical adjustment is much easier on the Ergo 2. The driver doesnt actually get in the way of the headband slider.

Quote:

Oh wait, or did you mean bending the plastic? No, I wouldn't do that. I just meant that I had tried moving the headband to sit farther forward and farther back on my head.

Yeah I meant dont actually try bending the plastic itself. It doesnt respond kindly.

 

[apostate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif Position is tricky, and down to individual preference.

Very true... though my biggest problem is I forget I'm supposed to be comparing and re-adjusting and just get caught up in the music. One of these days I'll put a sticky note somewhere to remind me.

Ant

 

[crazyface]

Hi Ant,

does it sound likely to you that the rattling problem in my set is nothing more than the clip having come loose? I am kind of curious...

Yeah, unfortunately I have tiny ears, so that makes the adjusting more difficult. They have designed the things rather large - Swedes are kind of tall, I suppose.

 

[apostate]

That'd be my guess. There's not much to really go wrong in there. The cable is held in place by those 3 little plastic posts though and if there was a hard enough push on the cable inward I could easily see one breaking off. I was being very careful opening mine and apparently did something to break that middle one (either that or it was damaged from the get-go but I doubt it).

If you decide to open to find out I'd make sure of a couple things.

1) Absolutely get a screwdriver that perfectly fits the heads and is short enough not to be obstructed by the other panel so you're not stressing the headband while you work on it. The screws strip very easily and they're basically just screwed through the plastic so they're pretty tight.

These are more optional but will probably make things go a lot easier.

2) have something to hold the headphones in place so that there's no excess pressure on the headband while you're doing it and so everything doesn't fall apart when you get the screws out. Anything that the top panel could rest on while you're unscrewing the bottom would work.
3) Make sure the headband can't slide anywhere. When you take the screws out the panel you're working on will come apart and detach from the headband so if everything else can move it will and will place stress on the cable.

Having the headband and other panel adequately braced will also give you a chance to open it more slowly so you can examine it and get it back together correctly instead of relying on trial and error.

Ant

 

[smeggy]

Nice review, they do seem interesting on the sound front. Considering the driver is just a small round/standard looking thing I'm not sure why they put them into those massive housings rather than some sleek and svelt design that wouldn't make people run away in horror. Talk about shooting yoself in the marketing foot!

 

[crazyface]

Well, the large/foamy housing does make them difficult to position, but it is pretty darn comfortable -- without resorting to all kinds of exotic leathers, as some headphones in that price range do...
Anyway, don't let the clunky-ness turn you off to them.

They do make everything sound good!, that's their style.

 

[Duggeh]

Making a different housing adds to costs. And the large float one is needed for the AMT, which Im sure that Martin Durrenmatt and company consider to be the primary headphone in the range. All that varies is the name thats printed into the housing and the inner earpiece material.

Precide im pretty sire though, makes its money primarly on its loudspeakers rather than its headphones. Although they may shift a lot of these to European audio lovers who just dont have anythign to do with the internet.

He is in Japan right now actually, whether on business selling to the market out there or not though I dont know. (Maybe Stax and AT should watch out!)

 

[crazyface]

I'm finding I get a better sound when I wear them at the third or fourth notch, and that the treble stands out more the further back I move the phones, bringing their center nearer my ear and the back foam panels towards the back of my skull. This seems to have an adverse affect on the soundstage and bass however.

I wish this set had some lever or switch to adjust the length while still wearing them, to make comparing sounds easier.

Wearing them too high was my mistake during my initial listening - the drivers just weren't anywhere near my ears. Somehow I get the impression that the drivers in this pair and more centered than those pictured in Ant's photo.

Duggeh, did you ever open this pair? Are its drivers in the same place as Ant's pair's?

 

[Duggeh]

I didnt open that pair, but I opened my previous ones and the drivers were in that position.

In the Floats the driver is more centred but still lower down. The Ergo drivers are actually different from the Float ones too. The Floats use ring magnets with a baffled centre.

 

[Duggeh]

AMT driver also rear oriented.

 

[crazyface]

Thanks Duggeh!

I should mention also, for the sake of review, that those back foam flaps are held on with some kind of tape or glue-y substance, and it does appear to give after a while.
Also, on the subject of the AMP1, there's terrible hissing when used with lower impedence phones. My Grado 225's are reminiscent of aged cassette tapes, and my ER-4S suffer a whisper-soft constant noise. But the amp seems to make both sound quite nice, apart from that unfortunate effect.

 

[Duggeh]

Yeah I found the HF-1 utterly unlistenable with the Amp1 because of that hiss. I never tried to run anything but the AMT from the 4-ohm Hirschmann on the back panel but the headphone socket is really intended for 100ohms and up. Try using an in line resistor and see how that affects the sound.

On the pads glue, its just a strong double sided sticky tape. The right side piece fell off my AMTs after id had them for a few months, I just carefully peeled off the other side too. Listened to them without pads ever since, and a good thing too, with them on, I wouldn't be able to use one of my main wearing positions, which is tilted backward and pulled forward. You need a little more balance, but they are hardly gym cans anyway.

 

[crazyface]

That's an interesting idea - listening without the pads on. They seem to get in the way for me a bit, so if I can manage to peel them off without doing any damage (and figure some way to clean the tape-goo off), I'll give that a try.

I've gone back up to the first notch because it keeps the drivers tighter against my ears, bringing out more treble - I just push them farther back and at a slight angle. I think I'm slowly figuring them out.

 

[crazyface]

Also, I've never heard of a line resistor before. I'll try to find out about that! Thanks.