[MatW]

I think you’re probably right. I’ve read a lot of praise for that headphone. I have actually never heard any iteration of the Abyss 1266, so I don’t have a dog in the game. I just feel like everyone is entitled to their opinion.

That said, I have owned the Abyss Diana V2, and was greatly unimpressed with it. I couldn’t sell it fast enough. I want to hear the Rad O very badly, but all the complaints about its comfort and clamping force keeps me away.

Same here, I'd also like to give them a try. Could you pls elaborate on why you didn't like the V2?

 

[Wildcatsare1]

everything is opinion obviously but I do think if you asked a cross section of people on this forum to compare the rosson to the abyss TC I think the results would be pretty overwhelming...

I'm not disagreeing, believe your assertion of the TC, LCD-4 (though I believe this to be a far tighter competition), and Susvara being the cream of the crop is spot on, but I also strongly believe the RAD-0 is not getting the love it deserves versus the HE1000 (all of them), LCD-3, etc., they are excellent headphones.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

Same here, I'd also like to give them a try. Could you pls elaborate on why you didn't like the V2?

Sure. In spite of being built extremely well, with a phenomenal magnetic earpad system, they were also extremely uncomfortable to wear. And I don’t say that lightly.

The second reason was that I didn’t think the sound quality was worthy of their $3000 price tag. They sounded good, but nothing special to my ears. I thought the bass was lacking in body, especially for a planar, and I heard the soundstage as sounding rather small and not very wide. I also thought the center image had a small dead spot just left and just right of center.

So in the end, their build quality was worthy of $3000, but their sound quality was not. And their comfort was so abysmal, that I truly feel like Abyss should just scrap that design altogether and start over from scratch. In fact, Abyss needs to rethink the comfort of their headphones period. It’s a pretty common theme throughout their lineup all the way to their flagship.

 

[borrego]

Every one has his/her opinion. As long as I am still living with my wife, I would not buy the Abyss 1266 even if it is sold at the same price of the RAD-0 and sounding better. The Abyss 1266 (tie with the HE-1000 and the Susvara) is the most ugly headphones when being worn, and my wife will see me as an idiot. The RAD-0 is exactly the opposite.

I would also not buy any pair of headphones which requires driven with speaker amp "to sound best". I think the implementation of the technology is just wrong.

 

[jlbrach]

the abyss does not need a speaker amp and to be honest if you are sitting in your home listening to music what do you care what the HP looks like to others...for the record I think the abyss is actually kind of good looking in an interesting way...it is a bit cumbersome but oh the sound is glorious

 

[Trance_Gott]

RAD0 is easily one of the best headphone out there my words months agos.
Even beats LCD4 in the treble area and tone. Sure the 1266 TC is a special headphone with bass out of the world but when it comes to tone accuracy RAD0 is better because TC has decreased upper mids.
Rad0 is on Utopia, SR009 level with more meat on the bones.
And when you look at the price the RAD0 is a bargain vs the other TOTL headphones.

 

[vonBaron]

Well i even like my Ether Flow more than RAD-0
RAD-0 is too dark sounding HP for me (lacks treble, air and resolution, too somoth overall) and comfort is just awful!

 

[Trance_Gott]

Well i even like my Ether Flow more than RAD-0
RAD-0 is too dark sounding HP for me (lacks treble, air and resolution, too somoth overall) and comfort is just awful!

Then I don't understand why you like LCD4. Lacks more treble and is darker.

 

[vonBaron]

No they not.

 

[Trance_Gott]

I had 2 years the LCD4 and 3 Rad0s.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

I had 2 years the LCD4 and 3 Rad0s.

What headphone is that as your avatar pic?

 

[Trance_Gott]

SR007 MK2 SZ2xxx Japanese Edition with bass port mod. My number 1 with kgsshv carbon beating lcd4, RAD0, Utopia easily

 

[LCMusicLover]

@vonBaron — Wow, except for:

... lacks ... air ... and comfort is just awful!

... my ears completely disagree with yours.

Well i even like my Ether Flow more than RAD-0

Again, not to my ears. My EFO 1.1 were sold soon after my RAD-0 purchase. I do agree that EFO is much more comfortable than RAD-0. And with the e-stat pads, EFO did produce more elevated treble, but not with the angled Flow pads.

I will say that my EFO sale was driven by redundancy vs HEK more than comparison with RAD-0.

... RAD-0 is too dark sounding HP for me (lacks treble, air and resolution, too somoth overall) ...

Yep, agree to disagree. My ears did not hear a lack of treble or detail. And to my ears, definitely not ‘too smooth’.

 

[vonBaron]

Well maybe i got poor sounding unit of RAD-0 (bad QC?)
I see you too sell RAD-0 so that was not that great hmm

 

[LCMusicLover]

Well maybe i got poor sounding unit of RAD-0 (bad QC?) ...

To me, the ‘bad unit’ or ‘inter-unit variation’ explanations seem like cop-outs, although you hear them frequently. I believe it’s more likely due to differences between our systems, hearing and preferences. (I’ve seen similar discussions in Heddphones and Ether 2 threads.)

... I see you too sell RAD-0 so that was not that great hmm

No, just found that they were ‘too close’ to other cans I own. I ended up ‘swapping’ them for a Hedd. Ironic because I had sold Empyrean soon after I got my RAD-0 because they were ‘too far’ from my preferred sound sig. And even more ironic that I sold them back to the guy I bought them from.