[Ciggavelli]

Y
You auditioned them yourself, so you obviously know if you enjoy them or not.

However from your preferences in music I think that those two Spirit Torinos are an incredibly bad fit

Yeah, your impressions on here are not promising considering what I look for. It coulda been their synergy with the Spirit amp. I have no idea how they’d sound on my WA33, so it’s definitely a risk. But your impressions concern me for my preferred genres.

 

[normie610]

I did. It sounded alright to me off their amp. Subass was adequate, though show room conditions aren’t ideal, so I can’t make definitive statements about subbbass (which requires a quieter listening space to fully evaluate). However I liked what I heard enough to strongly considering buying it in the future. That and the Caldera were put on my buy list after listening to them at Can Jam. My only concern is that both still aren’t better than the TCs. But they bring about new sound signatures.

Thanks. Perhaps their amp makes a bit of difference as it’s designed to drive Valkyria? I think no headphone can match TC in terms of reproducing that subwoofer-like bass, though a few might come close.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Yeah, your impressions on here are not promising considering what I look for. It coulda been their synergy with the Spirit amp. I have no idea how they’d sound on my WA33, so it’s definitely a risk. But your impressions concern me for my preferred genres.

I'll be honest, I can't imagine that the amp changes things much.

Their targeted tuning for the amp is absolutely uncolored. They also don't recommend tube amps with their flagships since they color the sound.

That means I don't see their amp increasing the Bass performance especially in the subbass Region.

Nonetheless, if you decide to get them I am looking really forward to your impressions.

You're one of the persons that listened to a lot of gear I also own(ed), which makes it always interesting

For me it's day 2 now, luckily we have a public holiday tomorrow so there is plenty of listening time ahead.

Right now I lean strongly towards keeping them.
While they are an utter disappointment for Bass driven music (EDM, Dubstep, Hip Hop)
They are without a doubt the best headphone for "real" instruments, no matter if violin, piano or acoustic guitar.

For Bass driven stuff I still have my others.
I can see someone getting an Abyss and these and be done with the game

 

[simorag]

AB-1266 TC, Meze Empyrean (any variants), Solitaire P will be unquestionably more satisfying than Valkyria with EDM, Hip-Hop etc.

Valkyria has virtually no energy below about 30Hz (regardless the similarly equipped Pulsar frequency response diagram posted a few pages ago), and there is no substitute for planar bass for the genres above IMHO. No amp or EQ can change that, I am afraid, including the Sigfrid which I have auditioned twice.

Rock / Metal can be surpsingly enjoyable given their meaty midrange density and visceral percussions rendition.

But, in my experience, where they are really worth their price is with blues, jazz, classical and all material dominated by acoustic instruments (with the special mention of pianoforte) or unprocessed vocals.

The Valkyria was designed by having in mind specific sonic priorities: approaching live acoustic music playback realism in terms of timbre and dynamics. In succeeding at that (as they splendidly do, to me) they must have accepted some compromises at the frequency range extremes. This is no news as it happens quite often in loudspeakers design.

An interesting aspect is that while they lack sub-bass, the Valkyria produce an utterly palpable and organic bass, making them sound fuller and heftier than most planars with instruments like cello, double bass, electric bass, tympani (and, did I mention piano? ).

 

[normie610]

An interesting aspect is that while they lack sub-bass, the Valkyria produce an utterly palpable and organic bass, making them sound fuller and heftier than most planars with instruments like cello, double bass, electric bass, tympani (and, did I mention piano? ).

Those instruments are what I mainly listen in jazz recordings and classical pieces (my two main genres) Hopefully it’ll be as I expected. Getting a bit impatient as my unit is being run for 50 hours by Spirit Torino before it’s shipped

 

[jlbrach]

I did. It sounded alright to me off their amp. Subass was adequate, though show room conditions aren’t ideal, so I can’t make definitive statements about subbbass (which requires a quieter listening space to fully evaluate). However I liked what I heard enough to strongly considering buying it in the future. That and the Caldera were put on my buy list after listening to them at Can Jam. My only concern is that both still aren’t better than the TCs. But they bring about new sound signatures.

nothing as of yet IMHO is better than 1266 TC,susvara and the sr1a and ca-1a....I keep listening to the new stuff and while they are different nothing to me is better

 

[xtr4]

My most recent "OH WOW!!!" moment was when I went back to listening Eric Clapton's MTV Unplugged which was mentioned in the Pulsar review a few pages back. I've never heard that album sound even more surreal. Usually I'll use that album for tracks like Tears In Heaven and Layla but on the Valkyria, I just had to listen to the entire album.

 

[tholt]

Did you have a chance to listen to EDM or hiphop?

The recent chatter here also concerns me as I listen to a lot of electronica and virtually no classical. I do enjoy folk, acoustic and indie stuff, so I guess I'll just have to gauge for myself once they get here!

 

[nrbatista]

From experience and IMHO, Pulsar is not a one-headphone-to-rule-all-music-genres, don't know if one even exists, to be honest.

That said, they are sublime for acoustical live music, jazz, blues, and classical, with "real" instruments, and voices. And, to me, this is precisely what I was after.

For every other music genre, EDM, etc, I go to Solitaire P.

 

[Axel]

I think the Valkyria is a headphone that "rules", non-synthesized, instrumental music.

 

[ThanatosVI]

From experience and IMHO, Pulsar is not a one-headphone-to-rule-all-music-genres, don't know if one even exists, to be honest.

That said, they are sublime for acoustical live music, jazz, blues, and classical, with "real" instruments, and voices. And, to me, this is precisely what I was after.

For every other music genre, EDM, etc, I go to Solitaire P.

Those two are a great pairing if you want to cover all genres with two headphones

 

[bmichels]

PULSAR or VALYRIA.... that is the question ! ( at least for me )

 

[simorag]

A few musical and sonics marvels, seemingly made for the Valkyria. Have a regenerating worker's day everyone!

 

[ThanatosVI]

The Piano presentation is so good with the Pulsar that I just ordered all the Piano collections for the Final Fantasy Soundtracks.

Initially I just wanted to pre order the FF XVI Soundtrack, but then I added all the Piano albums as well

 

[bmichels]

The Piano presentation is so good with the Pulsar that I just ordered all the Piano collections for the Final Fantasy Soundtracks.

Initially I just wanted to pre order the FF XVI Soundtrack, but then I added all the Piano albums as well

good move . could you share the link to order the Final Fantasy Soundtracks ? thans