BenF
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2013
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I auditioned 007MKII (vs 009, 009S, L300, Shangrila Jr and Perun) at HeadAmp through Blue Hawaii SE + Holospring DAC + SU1 interface .The problem with 007 is that It requires a very good amp and a dac at the same time. Without a good dac, bass doesn't get tight, treble becomes sibilant and on top of all 007s can't do what they do best: delivering a thick mid texture with a lot of detail. Without a good amp, treble becomes mush, mids sound too dark and overall it sounds like 300-500$ headphones at best.
009/S doesn't require a very good amp to start sounding pleasant. 009/S do sound pleasant even with average amps. Definitely they both scale with better gear, however due to the fact that 007 has very low diaphragm tension and have relatively a closed design to 009, it's definitely more timid when it comes to showing it's full potential. 009 is more dac dependent than 007(better dacs have better sibilance control)
when they are at their full potential, 007 is slightly behind in terms of detail, has better bass in both detail and tonality(sounds thicker and more realistic). 009S has huge stage, clearly better detail and both have top imaging where everything feels just right. Because 007 drivers are acoustically damped more(stators have less perforated area,with a thick ring on the edges), they provide better mid texture too however it costs them to sound intimate in terms of soundstage compared to 009. Pick your poison basically: You want to sacrifice mid texture and you want more detail with bigger stage? 009. You want to sacrifice a little bit of detail and wide staging for thicker, punchier bass and better defined mids? 007. I don't want to comment on tonality and "timbre" subjectivist stuff, those are yours to decide.
Despite the amazing soundchain, 007 sounded very warm and not nearly as transparent as you would expect from an electrostatic headphone.
Frankly, if it was 10 times cheaper, I still wouldn't have bought it.
It did have better bass response than 009 and 009s though.