Kevintj604
Headphoneus Supremus
Nope. You can ask the seller what the number of the unit is and then reach out to Rosson. They’ll give you the tuning information.
Rosson Audio Design RAD-0 - Alex's Beautiful New Baby
- Thread starter XERO1
- Start date
Everyone should try to hear their Rad-0 on the Zahl HM1. It was the best I have heard the Rad-0 sound. 
shalin
New Head-Fier
just got a used pair of rad-0's, they live up to the hype!
they sure do take eq elegantly, running an oratory setup with a little more mid-bass for slam and it's already the best thing i've ever owned. flexible for all genres, but especially cool for electronic music, i.e. 80% of my listening.
they wipe the floor with my LCD-x in every way, including comfort. they are more resolving than my verite closed without nearly as much confusion in the mids, and are just as fun as my TH-909's with a ton more information in both sub-bass and high-air extension detail. looks like i'm gonna be selling some gear soon lol
curiously, i thought these would be more monsterous in the bass. i think both the verite and the th-909's move more air around on maximalist bass tracks, but the detail retreival, texturing, and sense of information available all the way up and down without losing the sense of impact and musicality more than makes up for it.
part of that is that it is possible they could use a little amp upgrade though. right now they're running straight out of the 1/4" output of an adi-2 with the stock cable, as my only other amp is a bottlehead crack that's an exceptionally poor pair for these due to their relatively low impedence. they feel slightly underpowered on low-power mode of the adi-2, but a bit overdriven on high-power mode. note they're still *super inspiring*, i just have heard demos from friends and at canjam that had a little more dynamism / warmth / immediacy and a bit more clean headroom on the gain.
any suggestions for an exemplary amplifier pair for these using the adi-2 for a dac on desktop amp? i'd love to find something good under 1k used or transcendent under 3k, particularly if it'd replace the adi-2 and therefore be easier to use with analog sources & bluetooth without having to use a separate DI box.
things i've heard are good pairings:
zmf pendant
burson soloist
gsx-mini
i've never worked with tubes before but i'm alarmingly tempted. hey, at least it's not electroststs...
they sure do take eq elegantly, running an oratory setup with a little more mid-bass for slam and it's already the best thing i've ever owned. flexible for all genres, but especially cool for electronic music, i.e. 80% of my listening.
they wipe the floor with my LCD-x in every way, including comfort. they are more resolving than my verite closed without nearly as much confusion in the mids, and are just as fun as my TH-909's with a ton more information in both sub-bass and high-air extension detail. looks like i'm gonna be selling some gear soon lol
curiously, i thought these would be more monsterous in the bass. i think both the verite and the th-909's move more air around on maximalist bass tracks, but the detail retreival, texturing, and sense of information available all the way up and down without losing the sense of impact and musicality more than makes up for it.
part of that is that it is possible they could use a little amp upgrade though. right now they're running straight out of the 1/4" output of an adi-2 with the stock cable, as my only other amp is a bottlehead crack that's an exceptionally poor pair for these due to their relatively low impedence. they feel slightly underpowered on low-power mode of the adi-2, but a bit overdriven on high-power mode. note they're still *super inspiring*, i just have heard demos from friends and at canjam that had a little more dynamism / warmth / immediacy and a bit more clean headroom on the gain.
any suggestions for an exemplary amplifier pair for these using the adi-2 for a dac on desktop amp? i'd love to find something good under 1k used or transcendent under 3k, particularly if it'd replace the adi-2 and therefore be easier to use with analog sources & bluetooth without having to use a separate DI box.
things i've heard are good pairings:
zmf pendant
burson soloist
gsx-mini
i've never worked with tubes before but i'm alarmingly tempted. hey, at least it's not electroststs...
Last edited:
The RAD-0 really likes being driven balanced in my experience, and I can vouch for the GS-X mini being a superb companion to it. As with all lower-efficiency planars, it's all about being an amplifier able to deliver large amounts of current quickly, to allow the bass to be all that it can be.
sadly after using it as a daily driver back in the days... my head started to hurt. it feels like a vice gripping your head. nowadays... it just a headphone for the occasion.
Yeah that clamp pressure is what ruined that headphone. It had such great sound
jonathan c
Headphoneus Supremus
To @shalin: when I owned Rosson RAD-0, #43 of #100 in the particular design, the best suited / most magical / uncanny amplifier pairing was with HeadAmp GSX-mini. If you fully intend to keep RAD-0, get this amplifier. Then get an excellent copper / silver interwoven (not plated) headphone cable: I recommend Norne Audio Vygarde or Forza Audio Works Noir Hybrid. With all that, you can then be a Head-Fi alumnus / alumna. 
EDIT: The RAD-0 'merciless' headband took its toll on me ....
EDIT: The RAD-0 'merciless' headband took its toll on me ....
Last edited:
You guys should know that the headband on the Rad-0 is intended to be bent to adjust the clamp pressure to your preference. Rosson even has a video on their sight about the proper technique for bending it. Just like ZMF headbands. Also, adding a suspension strap makes a big difference for comfort.
fabiocrest
New Head-Fier
Someone know if other pads different from the originals fit on the rad-0?
Fair enough. I never messed with the headband of mine before I sold it. However it would have to be a night and day difference as this was the only headphone I've ever had to sell because it caused physical pain. I've tried to reacquire it on a couple occasions but never was able to pull the trigger. I would like to give it one more shot.
Last edited:
If you ever do, hit me up for a strap and bend that headband. It really does make a major difference in my experience.
OM hawk
100+ Head-Fier
Holy moly, only 69 pages, for such a great headphone! That's ok, it's a great number anyway.
Speaking of numbers, rad-0 number 494, Pink Floyd, checking in. Proud to be part of such an underdog thread. Since my previous posts here, I have had my mega high end palladium coated silver cable reterminated for the Rads, with curious but satisfying results: the rad-0, with a dead neutral, dead honest, hyper detailed dac, amp, and headphone cable, still refuses to become boring or clinical, or unfun.
With my Hugo 2 and my equally expensive silver cable, the raw detail retrieval is really something special, but the Rads still retain a subtle, tasteful euphonic character over the whole frequency spectrum, one that doesn't sacrifice any extension top or bottom. Previously I had praised the Rad-0's versatility, and if anything upgrading to a more neutral, transparent cable has increased the versatility even more.
This might be a hot take, but I think the Rad-0 has the right amounts of everything. I don't hear it as "slightly euphonic" I hear it as Extremely Correct sounding. The bass for example, it's not excessive at all, I now have another headphone rig with significantly stronger, harder slamming bass than this, and it still sounds good. Likewise I've heard a truly, actually euphonic headphone, the Sendy Peacock, and that one still sounds good in the right chain. The Rad-0 is like a middle ground between everything.
I still can't believe I got this headphone brand new for 1800, what a deal! Now I'm going to spend more money on custom grills though, because I like it so much!
Speaking of numbers, rad-0 number 494, Pink Floyd, checking in. Proud to be part of such an underdog thread. Since my previous posts here, I have had my mega high end palladium coated silver cable reterminated for the Rads, with curious but satisfying results: the rad-0, with a dead neutral, dead honest, hyper detailed dac, amp, and headphone cable, still refuses to become boring or clinical, or unfun.
With my Hugo 2 and my equally expensive silver cable, the raw detail retrieval is really something special, but the Rads still retain a subtle, tasteful euphonic character over the whole frequency spectrum, one that doesn't sacrifice any extension top or bottom. Previously I had praised the Rad-0's versatility, and if anything upgrading to a more neutral, transparent cable has increased the versatility even more.
This might be a hot take, but I think the Rad-0 has the right amounts of everything. I don't hear it as "slightly euphonic" I hear it as Extremely Correct sounding. The bass for example, it's not excessive at all, I now have another headphone rig with significantly stronger, harder slamming bass than this, and it still sounds good. Likewise I've heard a truly, actually euphonic headphone, the Sendy Peacock, and that one still sounds good in the right chain. The Rad-0 is like a middle ground between everything.
I still can't believe I got this headphone brand new for 1800, what a deal! Now I'm going to spend more money on custom grills though, because I like it so much!
Thrilled!Users who are viewing this thread
