Rosson Audio Design RAD-0 - Alex's Beautiful New Baby
Dec 23, 2022 at 4:15 PM Post #936 of 1,038
Here at last...
First listen for 20 min is really good.
Wider soundstage than other planars I have in house.
Very coherent.
Beautiful overall balance.
Treble is close to perfect IMO.
Tone...music sounds like music!
Keepers for sure.
More later....like u dont already know ~
LOL!

Merry Christmas!
Alex

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Very nice set! Glad to hear that you are enjoying them!
 
Dec 24, 2022 at 10:13 AM Post #939 of 1,038
Alright, so here's my initial review:

Background: I bought these as a more "Fun" headphone versus my Hifiman HE-1000 v2. I replaced my technically excellent, but supremely boring Focal Utopia with the HEKv2. All 3 headphones were hooked up to a Schiit BiFrost 2/64 DAC and a Jotunheim 2 Amp.

The Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): These are my favorite headphones of all time right now. They are fun, bassy, great sounding headphones that are great for EDM and Rock.

The Long Version: Before I talk about the sound, I want to talk about the physical and technical side. Yes, these are heavy and Alex Rosson needs to develop a better headband, yes, Puck's strap helps, yes, the massive earcups make for a very comfortable fit on the ears, and yes, they are gorgeous. I did have issues with the left ear cutting in and out, but rotating the stock cable slightly on the left side fixed that issue on the spot - I have a Corpse Audio balanced cable on the way. Full disclosure, my RAD-0 are used and I am at least teh 3rd owner, so don't expect that issue to be the norm (I had the same issue with my HEK).

The Sound: I am not a basshead and typically hate people with loud, rattley bass coming from their car. I do appreciate very good quality bass though and the RAD-0 excels in that area and has bass you can actually feel, which really brings EDM and rock alive. Basically every reviewer out there has praised the RAD-0s bass, so no surprise there. I was expecting that to be the only thing this headphone does really well, but instruments and vocals come though beautfully as well. The vocals are a step back from the HEKv2, and are a little more muffled than on the HEKv2, but are still good enough to be considered top notch. Guitars and synths play beautifully on both I'm Good (Blue) by David Guetta and Anastasia by Slash. Overall, this is a fantastic and wonderful sounding headphone that is very easy to drive and I'm hoping the Corpse cable brings out even more of the headphone's clarity and characteristics.

Conclusion: For me, this is truly an endgame headphone and one I'll enjoy listening to for a long time - but really Alex, fix the headband and the weight - it shouldn't be that hard and literally every review over 3 years mentions these issues.

The End.
Great review and I couldn’t agree more on all your comments. I vastly prefer the RAD-0 to everything I’ve owned and currently have in my collection. I read an interview with Alex a few days ago. The Rosson team have a few things that they are close to completing and one of them is a replacement for the headband. Another is a modular closed back that’s user applied. So both of those I’m super excited about and will be buying day 1.
 
Dec 24, 2022 at 10:40 AM Post #941 of 1,038
Great review and I couldn’t agree more on all your comments. I vastly prefer the RAD-0 to everything I’ve owned and currently have in my collection. I read an interview with Alex a few days ago. The Rosson team have a few things that they are close to completing and one of them is a replacement for the headband. Another is a modular closed back that’s user applied. So both of those I’m super excited about and will be buying day 1.
That's interesting - though I was kind of expecting a RAD-1 since I keep seeing the 0 on sale everywhere. New headband is a great idea though - closed back is really interesting as well. I've been comparing the RAD-0 to my closed-back Kennerton Gjallarhorn G50 JM Mk2 for the last few days and now the RAD-0 feels a little bass-light. I'm not even a basshead, and the GJM2 actually has too much bass without the plugs, so that was an interesting revelation. I'm wondering if the modular closed-back will fix that issue.
 
Dec 24, 2022 at 10:57 AM Post #942 of 1,038
That's interesting - though I was kind of expecting a RAD-1 since I keep seeing the 0 on sale everywhere. New headband is a great idea though - closed back is really interesting as well. I've been comparing the RAD-0 to my closed-back Kennerton Gjallarhorn G50 JM Mk2 for the last few days and now the RAD-0 feels a little bass-light. I'm not even a basshead, and the GJM2 actually has too much bass without the plugs, so that was an interesting revelation. I'm wondering if the modular closed-back will fix that issue.
All the John Massaria mods add quite a lot more mid and sub bass to the headphones that he mods. So I’m not surprised that the RAD-0 feels a bit more lean. I’ve been A/B’ing my RAD with the MM-500 and the MM feels quite bass lean in comparison. The MM is what I’d consider a true neutral with the Rosson feeling quite a lot more musical. Both are truly excellent headphones.
 
Dec 24, 2022 at 11:00 AM Post #943 of 1,038
All the John Massaria mods add quite a lot more mid and sub bass to the headphones that he mods. So I’m not surprised that the RAD-0 feels a bit more lean. I’ve been A/B’ing my RAD with the MM-500 and the MM feels quite bass lean in comparison. The MM is what I’d consider a true neutral with the Rosson feeling quite a lot more musical. Both are truly excellent headphones.
Yeah, it's just kind of funny because I thought the Rossons were much bassier than my HE-1000v2s. They were of course, but not to an unpleasant level. Now they sound a little lean on the bottom end after listening to the GJM2s. I have a new DAC/AMP coming soon to test out and then I'll probably write reviews of both after testing them with that.
 
Dec 24, 2022 at 11:07 AM Post #944 of 1,038
Yeah, it's just kind of funny because I thought the Rossons were much bassier than my HE-1000v2s. They were of course, but not to an unpleasant level. Now they sound a little lean on the bottom end after listening to the GJM2s. I have a new DAC/AMP coming soon to test out and then I'll probably write reviews of both after testing them with that.
Yeah. I thought the same thing when I had the HE1000V2’s. At the end of a month of back and fourth nearly daily I decided to sell the HEKV2’s. The Rosson’s just tick more boxes for me. I’m in a really happy place with my collection right now. I’ll probably buy the Arya Stealth & Aeon Noire again as I kind of miss both of those. Looking forward to hearing your impressions on the new DAC/Amp.
 
Dec 24, 2022 at 11:24 AM Post #945 of 1,038
Yeah. I thought the same thing when I had the HE1000V2’s. At the end of a month of back and fourth nearly daily I decided to sell the HEKV2’s. The Rosson’s just tick more boxes for me. I’m in a really happy place with my collection right now. I’ll probably buy the Arya Stealth & Aeon Noire again as I kind of miss both of those. Looking forward to hearing your impressions on the new DAC/Amp.
Yeah, I'm running a Schiit stack right now, but got the Fiio K9 Pro ESS for a great price from B&H. If it's not as good, I'll return it and keep the Schiit. It certainly takes up less space, so we'll see how it sounds. I am also looking at picking up some new open-backs from JM to see how those compare to the RAD-0s as well. I'll post those impressions when I get them. I'm just waiting to see what color options he can offer.
 

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