LCMusicLover
Headphoneus Supremus
@penguinofsleep2 -- Nice write-up! Comments interspersed
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Bottom line for me: RAD-0 sound great to me -- neutral(ish) and detailed without seeming boring or overly-analytical, with great bass. They elbowed Empyrean aside, and vie with Utopia, Auteur & Ether 2 for the majority of my head-time.
I won't comment on cost or value as that assessment seems to be very personal.
To my ears, from my equipment, I would disagree with '...nice unoffensive (sic) sound...like the HD...' pretty vigorously. I only own HD-6xx, but I would say RAD-0 presents a significantly more dynamic and detailed sound vs 6xx. I'm not trying to call them 'offensive' -- just saying 'nice unoffensive' seems like damning with faint praise....Sound wise these sounded fine and in 20 minutes of listening these have a nice unoffensive sound much like the HD580/600/650 series is ...
To my ears, vocals, especially female vocals, are sublime from RAD-0. Gretchen Peters' voice can be haunting -- at least as compelling as from my Blackwood Auteur. Incidentally RAD-0 is closest in tonality to Auteur of all my cans, with Auteur being just a bit brighter....but no individual component or 1 sound stands out...
Agree with this, comparing RAD-0 bass w/ Ether 2, EFO 1.1 & HEKv2....Planar bass is actually a little more "crispy" and has more texture versus planar competitors. You can hear some more technicalities in the bass and the transients are both a little faster and sharper sounding. Overall more refined. Not fatiguing or thumpy in any annoying way (but slam, presence, and umph is still there)...
Disagree pretty strongly again here. I find them very heavy, and I get a 'hot spot' right on the top of my head. I wish the pad were bigger, and I'm trying to figure out a way to mod them to distribute the weight more widely.Headphone was very comfortable and light enough ...
Agree. I was pleased that my new Cowon Plenue II Mk 2 drives them very well via balanced output. The original Plenue II didn't have enough power to drive them well -- I was using my AlgoRhythm Duet with it to drive all my full-sized cans other than Utopia.One big benefit is RAD-0 is relatively easy enough to drive. RAD-0 can piggyback off most headphone amps you use for dynamics, including tube amps - a huge plus for those who prefer tube amps. No need for a specific high power SS or hybrid headphone amp, or in case of HE6, a speaker amp + pre.
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Bottom line for me: RAD-0 sound great to me -- neutral(ish) and detailed without seeming boring or overly-analytical, with great bass. They elbowed Empyrean aside, and vie with Utopia, Auteur & Ether 2 for the majority of my head-time.
I won't comment on cost or value as that assessment seems to be very personal.