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@warren: Maybe I don't focus much on the sibilance (vocal aspect ). Also, maybe my source (ipod touch 4g) + fiio L3 lod cable might have something to do with it, and my music files (various quality).
It varies with everyone, and there's really no standard as to what is or is not sibilant from one person to the next right? There are a few members or ex-members of Head-Fi (like purrin, LFF, RhythmDevils, etc.) who consider treble peaks to be the devil incarnate, and rail against any cans with treble peaks in their signatures. Others are more forgiving. All in the ears of the beholder...
I read something interesting in an acoustics textbook a while back. Apparently, adults start losing their high-frequency hearing at a rate of 1Hz per day starting around the age of 30.
So I would think that the typical human being would be less susceptible to sibilance as they get older. Not everything improves with age I guess.
I myself listen to a fair amount of EDM and dub. So even outside of vocal sibilance, strident or biting cans generally leave me a bit strung out after a while.
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What slightly bothering me is Amperior's 18 ohm impedance, as I'm now interested in harder-to-drive type to compliment the amplifier
. There must be some sonic advantage with medium-to-high impedance phones, right? The hd25-II-C is 70 ohm which is quite OK. Sennheiser's hd600 is too much for me though hehe....
I wouldn't really go by impedance. Outside of the fact that certain drivers will [subjectively] sound better than others... and those drivers might just HAPPEN to have a higher impedance rating... there's no inherent advantage to a headphone with higher impedance drivers. Some of Head-Fiers' most beloved cans have low-impedance drivers, like your PortaPros. Plus, if we follow that logic, we'd be forced to admit that all IEMs are crap, and yet we know that just isn't true.
Actually, the opposite is true. With the advent of portable audio from the original Walkman up to the present day, lower-impedance cans offer the advantage of not requiring a lot of current to be properly driven. So I'd say there's absolutely nothing wrong with the Amperior's 18-Ohm rating, and I for one love the fact that I get to slim down my portable rig if when I get one. There is one obvious drawback to the Amperior though, and that is the price tag - which I find to be a bit steep for what it is.
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How about beyerdynamic and AKG range?
I haven't heard any Beyers for any appreciable length of time. The widespread comments about how bright they are has always demoted them a little in terms of my curiosity. I may soon score a DT880 (32-Ohm) just for exploration's sake though. We'll see, but in the meantime, there are so many good cans out that that wading into the Beyer pool isn't a huge priority for me right now.
However, I consider the AKG K240 Studio to be one of those rarely talked about hidden gems that should get a bit more attention than it currently receives. Its a semi-open little wonder that can be had for as little as $80! It's 55-Ohms in case you're wondering. And though some people say that it doesn't need to be amped, I find that feeding it a little more current does wonders sonically. The sub-bass is - as you can imagine - not quite there, but there is a relatively pleasing mid-bass hump. The highs are just a bit rolled off, but it does offer just enough sparkle to be pleasing. But the real joy of a K240 is that is possesses that classic AKG house sound at a truly affordable price. So it's a pretty cheap way to see if you'll like AKGs. If you do, you can move up from there (probably to a Q701 or K702 or something like that). If not, it was only about $80 and you can always sell it to recover some of that.
If you want to know a little secret to getting the K240s at a great price, here's a tip. For some unknown reason, Amazon marketplace sellers like to dangle a super low price ($79.99 or less) on these every once in a while. So all you have to do is find the AKG K240 Studio on Amazon. The price should be somewhere at or under $99.99. Go ahead and add it to cart but don't check out. Then refresh the cart once or twice a day. Every other day or so - usually in the dead of night - the price will drop to $79.99 or less. When it does, pull the trigger. I myself got mine for only $76.99.
