[Deadneddz]

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Wow?? I heard the Qualia 010 at my first and Second meets, when they first came out,,,they sounded like 2 soup cans and a string,  both times.. Anyway they never reappeared at a meet again. I thought they were total junk,,now you guys are saying they are your favorite headphone.. 5 or 6 years later? I guess I need to give them another try..

How did you position them on your head? The seal and position will change the sound drastically. I also found from experience that even with a seal, if the headphones are in a backwards tilted position, it will still produce an annoying echo reverb effect in the midrange. The best position I achieved was having the cups seal around my ears in a forward tilted position. This competely rid the sound of any echo in the midrange and is the way the Qualia was meant to be heard imo.
 

 

[bozebuttons]

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  How about the black dragon cable?    
 

 

I had the  origional Black dragon & it developed a issue with the connector due to the wire size,I had Drew replace the Blackdragon with a Cardas cable & prefer it to the  origional Black Dragon,Much more flexible, I like the sound quality over the origional Black Dragon as well.
 I Know Drew changed the Black Dragon Cable since the origional ,I haven't tried that one.
 
 

 

[purk]

Thanks Tom.

 

[markmaxx]

 
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How did you position them on your head? The seal and position will change the sound drastically. I also found from experience that even with a seal, if the headphones are in a backwards tilted position, it will still produce an annoying echo re verb effect in the mid range. The best position I achieved was having the cups seal around my ears in a forward tilted position. This completely rid the sound of any echo in the mid range and is the way the Quail was meant to be heard IMO.
 

I was just getting into headphones and I don't remember how I put them on my head. I do remember EVERYONE at the Detroit meet at Wadi was laughing at the high priced headphone from Sony...Tull, Ray,Jude,Tom,Mikhail. etc. I am truly shocked you guys are giving them such rave reviews.

 

[mulveling]

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I was just getting into headphones and I don't remember how I put them on my head. I do remember EVERYONE at the Detroit meet at Wadi was laughing at the high priced headphone from Sony...Tull, Ray,Jude,Tom,Mikhail. etc. I am truly shocked you guys are giving them such rave reviews.

More evidence to not take meet impressions seriously
 
Getting the right fit on the Qualias is analogous to getting speakers setup in a room - it's a huge deal. Most other headphones are hugely forgiving to suboptimal placement.
I found the treble, bass, and imaging quality on the Qualias better than the R10. I still like the R10 mids quite a bit better - the Qualias will never sound warm & organic like that.
 
When the Qualias are setup just right, they'll stand a better chance than anything (including K1000) of NOT making you take notice that you're listening to headphones. Congrats on the nice snag, Purk!

 

[purk]

 
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More evidence to not take meet impressions seriously
 
Getting the right fit on the Qualias is analogous to getting speakers setup in a room - it's a huge deal. Most other headphones are hugely forgiving to suboptimal placement.
I found the treble, bass, and imaging quality on the Qualias better than the R10. I still like the R10 mids quite a bit better - the Qualias will never sound warm & organic like that.
 
When the Qualias are setup just right, they'll stand a better chance than anything (including K1000) of NOT making you take notice that you're listening to headphones. Congrats on the nice snag, Purk!

Mike,
 
You are to blame on this purchase!!  I was hooked with the sound of the Qualia after I borrowed yours for a week.  Heck it was a constant struggle listening to your pair because they didn't fit me well with the medium size headband.  I had to hold the earcups and apply ample pressue to create better seal, and this is after tilted them back and forth for nearly 10 mins just to get the position right.  They just fit me perfectly with the small headband.  I told myself never to get the Qualia unless I can buy one with a small headband.
 

 

[Icarium]

Meh Markmaxx. I'm pretty sure I've been pro qualia since I've been on head-fi and acquired a pair, i.e. several years. That for many this is a good headphone is not a new revelation. 
 
The black dragon cable is pretty good as well. Probably the second best I've tried sonically. It adds warmth and bass to the Qualia while the [ak]zip cable kinda plays to the headphones strengths. 
 
The relationship between the Balanced Gilmore Reference and the Balancing Act is the same. The BGR plays to the Qualias strengths, while the BA adds a fullness/warmth and organicity to the headphone at the slight detraction of effortless almost inhuman clarity/transparency. Both are excellent and I switch between one or the other. The BA is more fun because you can further change the sound with tubes.
 
My sources also are the same way. Organicity/Transparency. Swap it up. Combo it. Different flavor every day. Every week. Never bored. Different headphones flip it 180. 

 

[MikeLa]

Everyone should have the opportunity to listen to HiRes files using the Qualia's with a resolving system.  I have a small collection of 192/24 and 176/24 formatted music, that I would  listened to with the Qualia's plugged into the Auditor. To my ears, it was an amazing experience. I would lose the headphones in the detailed - large -  soundstage.  Just my layman belief that it may have something to do with their wide frequency response of the Qualia's, 5 - 120,000 Hz.  I don't know of a current dynamic headphone with a similar range, the HD800 is 6 - 51,000 Hz. Although, I'm not sure I understand why it would make a difference considering we can't hear that whole range, but it is an amazing sound.
 
<"edit"> wow, that sounds a bit much.  Even though I was very impressed with the sound... now come the disclaimers.... i'm a rookie and haven't heard any of the current reference headphones in my system yet - LCD-2, T1 or HD800 - so discount my comments accordingly... but it was amazing

 

[markmaxx]

Thanks guys...
 
This thread just took me by surprise,,
 
For me they had fallen off the radar.
 
I am guessing a nice set will go for..$3500.00?

 

[Icarium]

Purk paid very little for his like ~2.5k recently. Be prepared to pay anywhere from there to 4k though depending on how fast and desperate you are for a pair. Keep in mind there were only ~250 or so made or so I've heard (Could be wrong) and people who like them tend to keep them and not sell until years of not listening ensue and then they need the cash. Fureshi/Scrith parted with their pairs in that way. It might be worthwhile asking a few owners who don't talk about them as much to see if they'd be willing to sell. Can even ask me, but I have a long list and Purk was on it ;p I want another blue pair too.
 
Well I've never really paid any attention to frequency response ranges because they never express roll off particularly well. The only time I care is if bass has a high cut off a la k1000s.
 
I dont think frequency response as anything to do with that stuff. it might in a very tangential, but I don't know and I certainly wouldn't count on it.

 

[purk]

 
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Purk paid very little for his like ~2.5k recently. Be prepared to pay anywhere from there to 4k though depending on how fast and desperate you are for a pair. Keep in mind there were only ~250 or so made or so I've heard (Could be wrong) and people who like them tend to keep them and not sell until years of not listening ensue and then they need the cash. Fureshi/Scrith parted with their pairs in that way. It might be worthwhile asking a few owners who don't talk about them as much to see if they'd be willing to sell. Can even ask me, but I have a long list and Purk was on it ;p I want another blue pair too.
 
Well I've never really paid any attention to frequency response ranges because they never express roll off particularly well. The only time I care is if bass has a high cut off a la k1000s.
 
I dont think frequency response as anything to do with that stuff. it might in a very tangential, but I don't know and I certainly wouldn't count on it.

 
No doubt my purchased price was great.  But several years ago when many were giving them bad reviews due to fit issues, it took weeks to sell a Qualia even a dirt cheap price of 1.3k.   Muveling bought his for less than 1.5k together with a black dragon.  According to Hirsch, a Qualia store manager once offered to sell the Qualia to him for around $800 each, right after Sony decided to eliminate the Qualia line.

 

[Asr]

Ok that's it, I want a time machine so I can buy a Qualia right after Sony decided to discontinue them!

 
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I was just getting into headphones and I don't remember how I put them on my head. I do remember EVERYONE at the Detroit meet at Wadi was laughing at the high priced headphone from Sony...Tull, Ray,Jude,Tom,Mikhail. etc. I am truly shocked you guys are giving them such rave reviews.

Wait....what? Mikhail was at this meet? This must have been a long time ago.

 

[jjinh]

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Ok that's it, I want a time machine so I can buy a Qualia right after Sony decided to discontinue them!

If I had a time machine I'm pretty sure I'd be doing something else...