[Shane D]

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[Shane D]

Set a new "endurance" record today. Sat in my lazy boy at 10:30-11:00 this morning and put on my Bee's. I am now going to bed at 12:30. Counting little breaks and such, I listened to these for 12 plus hours and have NO discomfort at all! Wow.
Oh yeah, I enjoyed the sound a lot too.

 

[Philimon]

Hello @Shane D the only other owner of Bee. Very exclusive club and now more exclusive because Bee is no longer offered by Nectar. Im guessing Nectar lost a good chunk of money / time on Bee driver prototyping. shame

Stock pads (perforated) vs Ebay sheepskins (non-perf, angled).:

The sheepskin are more comfy due to larger ear chambers. Sound-wise: more soundstage possibly due to less tunnel-effect of the shallower and wider ear-hole eBay sheep pad. EQ required. Id like to try pads with even wider ear chambers.

Ill try comparing against HE6se (with its own aftermarkets pads) later to see if Bee has any discernable advantage.

 

[Shane D]

Hello @Shane D the only other owner of Bee. Very exclusive club and now more exclusive because Bee is no longer offered by Nectar. Im guessing Nectar lost a good chunk of money / time on Bee R&D. shame



Stock pads (perforated) vs Ebay sheepskins (non-perf, angled).:


The sheepskin are more comfy due to larger ear chambers. Sound-wise: more soundstage possibly due to less tunnel-effect of the shallower and wider ear-hole eBay sheep pad. EQ required. Id like to try pads with even larger ear chambers.

Ill try comparing against HE6se (with its own aftermarkets pads) later to see if Bee has any discernable advantage.

Are you bothering with the velcro or just going for the friction fit, like the Ambrosia's? 100mm right? Have you had any songs/bands/albums that did not sound right, but the new pads fixed or changed that?

I just did my own planar showdown and the HE6se V2's come out far ahead of the Bee's and another new acquistion, the Quad ERA-1's. But of course The V2's need a special amp partner to be special. For me that is the iFi Pro iCAN. And it also helps the Bee's with some bass boost and even more with the 3D sound effects. I always found the 3D switch on iFi's to be kinda useless, but it really does make a difference with planar's, to me.
I have them up for sale right now on CAM, but if they don't move, I might try some Brainwavz pads.

When these are on, they are very nice. But I find them not great for some ranges. Female vocals for instance, which is a biggie for me. They do well with the grinders, but not so much with the wailers. I find these great with a lot of rock and a fair bit of pop. I am guessing they would be great with EDM and Hip Hop. They are the very definition of a dark headphone. I am currently trying to move many headphones and a few amps. I have been accumulating Way too much stuff.

PS: I think I will be keeping the Ambrosia's. It really is a well done headphone. It doesn't seem to have any party tricks that will wow you, but a very nice all round sound. And they take a bit of bass boost nicely.

 

[Philimon]

Are you bothering with the velcro or just going for the friction fit, like the Ambrosia's? 100mm right? Have you had any songs/bands/albums that did not sound right, but the new pads fixed or changed that?

Friction fit. Approximately 100mm. Pretty much all music sounded wrong and still does. The pads didnt fix anything outside of possibly improving soundstage and comfort. EQ required.

I just did my own planar showdown and the HE6se V2's come out far ahead of the Bee's

I am expecting subtle advantages at best from Bee. But do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? Unlikely is my guess.

What I found disappointing about Bee’s design was the denser than expected front-side grill. Supposedly the purpose of single-side magnet array was to allow the front-side output to be clear(er) from obstruction but the relatively dense grill seems at least as oppressive as a magnet array. I suspect the design was for simplicity’s sake. One benefit though is lighter weight but not worthwhile if fidelity is the priority.

 

[Shane D]

Friction fit. Approximately 100mm. Pretty much all music sounded wrong and still does. The pads didnt fix anything outside of possibly improving soundstage and comfort. EQ required.


I am expecting subtle advantages at best from Bee. But do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? Unlikely is my guess.

What I found disappointing about Bee’s design was the denser than expected front-side grill. Supposedly the purpose of single-side magnet array was to allow the front-side output to be clear(er) from obstruction but the relatively dense grill seems at least as oppressive as a magnet array. I suspect the design was for simplicity’s sake. One benefit though is lighter weight but not worthwhile if fidelity is the priority.

I find that sometimes it sounds like something is covering the driver, but there is nothing there?

The majority of my music sounds great, 75% or more of it. But then out of the blue, it will sound muffled or distorted. And then it might clear up the next song. I am not sure that it is completely frequency related.

Curious to hear what you come up with.

 

[Philimon]

I just did my own planar showdown and the HE6se V2's come out far ahead of the Bee's and another new acquistion

HE6se (stock) a little too bright. Bee (w/ ebay sheepskin) a little too dark. Between those two evils I would choose the latter. That's probably the nicest description I can make for Bee atm.

HE6se (stock) elevated highs at times were fatiguing or unpleasant which is a deal breaker and negates other merits 6se may possess over Bee. Bee can also be fatiguing in that it puts me to sleep due to depressed highs. I feel both headphones are improved with aftermarket pads. More on 6se VS Bee later... I have to write HFM Audivina loaner impressions now (spoiler: prefer Bee to Audivina).