[Kammerat Rebekka]

Hi Jussi.
The quotes got mixed up somewhere along the line I do own the Sundara and absolutely adore it.
BUT I think I realised something. Maybe the Takstar does sound like it measures? All those dips and peaks, together, actually amount to that strange yet wonderful sound it has.
It reminded me a little of what happens when I plug into the Valhalla...so I thought why not try the HF-580 with it?
Oh my knee!!! This beats my old HE-500 and V200 combo hands down. Not a whole lot of power but holy pants I don’t give a damn when music sounds this magnificent.
It’s like the headphone simultaneously drank a litre of peyote and licked the surface of a small star. ELECTRIC.

 

[Roderick]

Hi Jussi.
The quotes got mixed up somewhere along the line I do own the Sundara and absolutely adore it.
BUT I think I realised something. Maybe the Takstar does sound like it measures? All those dips and peaks, together, actually amount to that strange yet wonderful sound it has.

Cool, I thought I remembered something wrong. Hard to keep track... I don't even remember my own headphones. Your idea of it sounding like it measures is interesting. I'm still calling it a lucky accident. If that weird peaky mess is infact the actual curve how people hear stuff... It would be a revolutionary. I'm too much of a sceptic to believe that.

 

[Miiksu]

@Miiksu that dip at 8khz on one of your measurements... I had it too. Would be cool If you could do the waterfall plot. I suspect itse a peak with ringing instead of a null. It just appears like dip in measurements.

No ringing there. Only 800-900 Hz has slight ringing. Otherwise its damn clean. I like the sound of this because its clean and may be boring to someones but the pinpoint accurasy for this headpones is expectional good. For gaming I will recommend this and for any kind music too if u equalizer it to more flat.

Only the tape on the middle and no eq done.

 

[Roderick]

No ringing there. Only 800-900 Hz has slight ringing. Otherwise its damn clean. I like the sound of this because its clean and may be boring to someones but the pinpoint accurasy for this headpones is expectional good. For gaming I will recommend this and for any kind music too if u equalizer it to more flat.

Only the tape on the middle and no eq done.

That is insanely clean. Was this after or before mods? Edit: can't read. Do one without the tape?

 

[Miiksu]

That is insanely clean. Was this after or before mods? Edit: can't read. Do one without the tape?

This is without any mod. I have done only tape on the middle and that oval foam u see in the picture.

Left side


Oval foam ring on the edges. Thickness 3mm.

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

Cool, I thought I remembered something wrong. Hard to keep track... I don't even remember my own headphones. Your idea of it sounding like it measures is interesting. I'm still calling it a lucky accident. If that weird peaky mess is infact the actual curve how people hear stuff... It would be a revolutionary. I'm too much of a sceptic to believe that.

I’m not sure I explained it properly before either. I think the brain somehow equals out those peaks and valleys. If you follow the frequency response in a straight line, without too much up and down, you actually get rather close to the official frequency response posted by Takstar...and that is far closer to what I’m hearing through Preben Diego (he got a name yesterday comprised of Denmarks own Preben Elkjær and of course Diego Maradona). Yet it still retains that ‘weirdness’ that reminds me of tubes, which is why I plugged it into the Valhalla.
I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this level of sound quality...but I think it’s the amp because I just plugged in my Sundara and wow. It’s just as brilliant if not a teeny tiny bit better. Preben feels ever so slightly v-shaped, so perhaps I’ll prefer his dribblings whenever I feel the urge to rock out or bump my head.
The price to performance ratio of this headphone is the best I’ve encountered in this hobby yet. It is almost ridiculous.

 

[Miiksu]

I can't really compare this to any other headphones really because I have only Superlux headphones in my hands and one planar, that one is Ukraine vintage TDS-16 Its also interesting small planar and cheap but its not clean on upper frequencies as some new dynamic drivers but for the price its very good value.

My music setup is PC > USB > Musiland 03 US Dragon > Optical > XiangSheng DAC-01 V10. DAC and original opamp is changed to LME49990.

 

[Roderick]

To put some perspective to the hype... Take Adele"when we were young". With hf580 it is just splendid. However with lcd-3 bass is quite distant. As If some dude stand by the stage to play it, like he did. Adele's sound comes on so full, so nyanced, especially at quiet parts that hf580 can't match it. From quiet to epic moments, one can sense the emotion. Lcd-3 makes better space between the band and background singers. And that piano, I can well see him playing and thinking "playing for Adele, don't screw up, Kids to college, hit the note, hit the note". And he/she playes it to perfection. With hf580, it is just a piano. The all three dimensions, layers, emotions..

I love hf580 but it's not a $2000 headphone. And I know, most of the price is just bs marketing. But it's not all horseshit.

Edit: but think of it like this. I'm actually seriously comparing a $200 chi-fi planar to Audeze's high end model. That is a compliment in itself.

 

[stimuz]

To put some perspective to the hype... Take Adele"when we were young". With hf580 it is just splendid. However with lcd-3 bass is quite distant. As If some dude stand by the stage to play it, like he did. Adele's sound comes on so full, so nyanced, especially at quiet parts that hf580 can't match it. From quiet to epic moments, one can sense the emotion. Lcd-3 makes better space between the band and background singers. And that piano, I can well see him playing and thinking "playing for Adele, don't screw up, Kids to college, hit the note, hit the note". And he/she playes it to perfection. With hf580, it is just a piano. The all three dimensions, layers, emotions..

I love hf580 but it's not a $2000 headphone. And I know, most of the price is just bs marketing. But it's not all horse****.

Edit: but think of it like this. I'm actually seriously comparing a $200 chi-fi planar to Audeze's high end model. That is a compliment regardless of how I like the sound.

planars are cheap to make. youre comparing a properly priced planar to a premium priced one.

 

[stimuz]

its such a versatile headphone.

 

[heavyharmonies]

planars are cheap to make. youre comparing a properly priced planar to a premium priced one.

Actually, to correct slightly, HEADPHONES are cheap to make in general. What you are paying for is research, tuning, and in most cases the lion's share: marketing and promotion.

Regardless of how much they actually cost to produce, what matters is how they compare to other headphones on the market of similar technology, both those cheaper and more expensive.

It's early on, and there are very few data points and anecdotal reports as of yet, but indications thus far are quite positive from a value perspective.

 

[stimuz]

Actually, to correct slightly, HEADPHONES are cheap to make in general. What you are paying for is research, tuning, and in most cases the lion's share: marketing and promotion.

Regardless of how much they actually cost to produce, what matters is how they compare to other headphones on the market of similar technology, both those cheaper and more expensive.

It's early on, and there are very few data points and anecdotal reports as of yet, but indications thus far are quite positive from a value perspective.

i feel like you really overestimate the r&d on headphones. agree with marketing, but its mostly extremely greedy profit magins.

 

[Roderick]

greedy profit magins

That is the sad truth. Even though there is some to be gained with expensive headphones paying thousands for headphones does not make much sense when thinking rationally. It's not even about diminishing return at some point. Audiphiles are easy to rip off. I know, because I'm one of those people. $100 for earpads, 200 for headband, $500 for wood cups. I'ts crazy how there even is a market for that kind of stuff.

Anyway... I just wanted to mention Audeze vs hf580 because I don't want this thread to enter hype hyperzone. Eventually things tend to escalate to a point where people start comparing some affordable headphone X to a totl stax rig they heard somewhere. Hype feeds the hype, impressions become distorted and people in the thread start to resemble a bunch of drooling cultists. Not saying this thread is like that but in two months it might well be.

So yeah... Expensive headphones are stupid but luckily most of the time you get something in return for the extra investment.

Sorry about this off topic nonsense. Don't mind me...sometimes I just ramble without contributing anything. Sorry. I'm off to enjoy the hf580 now!

 

[stimuz]

Anyway... I just wanted to mention Audeze vs hf580 because I don't want this thread to enter hype hyperzone. Eventually things tend to escalate to a point where people start comparing some affordable headphone X to a totl stax rig they heard somewhere. Hype feeds the hype, impressions become distorted and people in the thread start to resemble a bunch of drooling cultists. Not saying this thread is like that but in two months it might well be.

On the flip side, when you pay an amount you feel financially like most people with $600-$3000 headphones you tend to rationalize the purchase more than something that costs $180(or less), especially if you feel that the cheaper purchase makes other parts of your collection redundant. Either way, hope the OEM for the drivers keeps making exciting new stuff, even if its a pain in the ass to discover what its in.

 

[Hal Rockwell]

This is without any mod. I have done only tape on the middle and that oval foam u see in the picture.

Left side


Oval foam ring on the edges. Thickness 3mm.

Are there two layers of foam? - a black oval piece that covers the center of the driver and a grey ring to cover the edges?