The Phoenix has risen. Couldn't resist. They arrived about an hour ago. Going through my headphone demo playlists. I am using a Linux system and using PulseEffects. An amazing EQ application. I like it better than APO on my Window desktop. Anyways here are the initial impressions. Basically zero burn in if that will matters.
Build:
They seem solid, but not heavy. Love this headphone band design. Best I have tried so far. No sounds moving cups around. Cable is 2.5mm detachable. Perfect length. Cable seems decent quality. It is thin and smooth to touch vs rough on a bunch of cables I have used. No need to upgrade imho, but that is user preference. Wood cups look good. They sound hollow if you tap on them. Travel case is nicely made and is small for a full size headphone that doesn't collapse. Outside looks nice with chrome ring and black painted mesh. Ear cups swivel and feel tight when moving. Pads are soft velvet fabric that are thicker at bottom than top. Inside and outside ring is soft protein leather. Feels good and doesn't have a shiny coating on it. IMHO pads need to be thicker/deeper. Also I would increase the total size of these headphones by about 25%. They are like miniature full size headphones. Kinda cool, but would like them bigger.
Comfort:
Headband is my favorite design. Barely feel it on top of head. Can move head already fast left right up down and they feel very secure. Clamp force is linear and not overly tight. Cups are too small for my ears. Bottom of pads lay on my ear lobes and top of ears seem cramped. Big ears take note. Small ears will probably not have an issue. Even though they are small they don't hurt, but after one hour when I lift them I notice. The headphones are too small. They seem like miniature headphones next to anything I own. The benefit though is they are lightweight. I did get some slight heat in the cups after 1 hour. These are open back, but have a slight closed back feeling. You can hear everything, but it's slightly muted/muffled. Take them off and everything gets clear and loud.
Power:
They are very efficient. I am actually finding they may be too efficient. Even on my phone (LG G6) I can't put them past 75%. Gets way too loud and starts to distort. Right around 65% is perfect and still loud. On my Modi/Magni Heresy stack on low gain I can't go past 11:30 on a loud track. On a low volume track max 1. At lower volumes highs are prominent with mids and lows about equal. As you make it louder the mids/lows start to come up and equal out with the highs. This happens at right around perfect volume that is loud. Then if you raise it even more highs get louder faster again. At this point it is way way too loud. I would think these would run better with a really weak power source. Don't get me wrong they sound good, but distort fast with more power.
Sound:
These are not reference headphones. More like fun headphones. Definitely a V shape, but happily the mids aren't totally recessed. The mids are definitely back just a bit, but not enough to cause issues. These cans JAM!!! For the first few minutes I accidentally had bass boost on and I was like HOLY SHXT. Bass Cannons with boost! Then I looked and put EQ back to stock. Still sounded great with less bass. They Sound great up until a certain point and then they started to distort when pushed past normal listening levels. My other cans don't do that. I tap out first before they distort. I let me GF listen and she loved them. She tried my Elegia and Arya and said they both sounded amazing in different ways. She did comment that they needed more bass. Not full sounding like most people prefer. Both need a Bass boost and even then still not what normal people like. At normal listening levels the Phoenix are what most people want stock. Not neutral and flat which most audiophile enthusiasts prefer. IMHO no EQ is needed, but they do EQ well if you want too. Once you EQ though stock doesn't sound as good. Choice is yours. They can be bass heavy to insane bass cannons.
Lows - These put out some great bass stock. Add bass boost and sub bass comes alive even more. Bass cannon lovers rejoice
Mids - slightly recessed, but still acceptable. Vocals sound great still and sound clear
Highs - Sound clean without being harsh
Summary:
Hope this review helps. They are well built, lightweight, and are fun to listen too. They do have a small cup size so big ear users be warned. They still work and seal even with big ears though. Feels nice to not feel like you have huge heaphones on your head. It's like full size headphones that got hit with a reduction gun (Alien cartoon). They actually still look cool. Can't say say cute for fear of loosing man card.
