[plakat]

I haven’t yet found any of the high end closed backs, with frequency responses that bested my few favorite older closed back monitors:

1. BeyerDynamic DT250 channel-fixed, with felt rings and Yaxi ST-Pad-2-LR’s. Yaxi-2’s + felt rings make them circumaural, keep their great neutral mids and lower treble, yield slightly more air, and keeps nearly all of their shockingly great sub extension.

2. SONY MDR-V6 with BeyerDynamic DT250 Velour pads. Dt250velour pads tame the V-6 sibilance some without killing the bass like many other velour on-ear pads). I didn’t like the Yaxi-ST-Pad-2’s on any Sony’s as it decreased their bass too much, and amplified their sibilance.

3. SONY CD900ST with Yaxi ST-PAD-original. With stock pads, and Yaxi-2’s, they’re too bass shy, with the original Yaxi-ST-Pad, they’re much better, nearly identical with a needed tasteful-boost in lower bass.

If anyone has any recommendations for larger, better-staged, faster, more resolving closed-backs which have an overall neutral, leaning mid&upper-mid&lower-treble centric frequency response, I’d love to check them out.

The Austrian Audio Hi-X60 might be worth looking into for a neutral signature with good mid/treble clarity, or the Hi-X55, which adds a bit more focus to to upper mids. Both sound quite spacious but not unnaturally so.

 

[tarikuz]

Impressive post!

 

[Terriero]

Regarding Nighthawk/Nightowl: not going to buy one after selling all I once had several years ago, but how is the long term experience with the elastic parts (headband extension mechanism as well as those spiders fixing the cups to the headband)? I know the AKG mechanism failed after several years, and the elastic bands were hard to change there...

I recently felt an itch regarding the Z1R... looked around a bit and they seem to be sold out with several weeks expected delivery everywhere in EU. Given their age, I'd not be that surprised if a new model was on the horizon.

Recently had a close encounter with the new Shure Aonic 40. Nice headphone overall with a pleasing sound signature and good build. Unfortunately the headband proved problematic to me, it left me with a hotspot on top of my head due to its shape and rather minimal padding, so I sent it back. Anyway, I probably wouldn't have used it much... trying to keep my current set in rotation is a challenge already Anybody tried the new SRH840A already?

I have ordered the Shure SRH 840A and should be here in two weeks or so... And you know I'm very sensitive to comfort in headphones, so I'll report about.

 

[mobbaddict]

I haven’t yet found any of the high end closed backs, with frequency responses that bested my few favorite older closed back monitors:

1. BeyerDynamic DT250 channel-fixed, with felt rings and Yaxi ST-Pad-2-LR’s. Yaxi-2’s + felt rings make them circumaural, keep their great neutral mids and lower treble, yield slightly more air, and keeps nearly all of their shockingly great sub extension.

2. SONY MDR-V6 with BeyerDynamic DT250 Velour pads. Dt250velour pads tame the V-6 sibilance some without killing the bass like many other velour on-ear pads). I didn’t like the Yaxi-ST-Pad-2’s on any Sony’s as it decreased their bass too much, and amplified their sibilance.

3. SONY CD900ST with Yaxi ST-PAD-original. With stock pads, and Yaxi-2’s, they’re too bass shy, with the original Yaxi-ST-Pad, they’re much better, nearly identical with a needed tasteful-boost in lower bass.

If anyone has any recommendations for larger, better-staged, faster, more resolving closed-backs which have an overall neutral, leaning mid&upper-mid&lower-treble centric frequency response, I’d love to check them out.

You could try to score a used Audeze Sine, for me they work very well as a neutral headphone once you change the stock pads for circum-aural pads. Out of the three you have I used to have the CD900ST which was exactly my kind of sound (balanced and intimate) but lacked the speed of my electrostats. With planars you get a big jump in resolution.
The Ether CX might another candidate with a bit of pad rolling but the polarizing reviews always put me off.

 

[Chris Kaoss]

I have ordered the Shure SRH 840A and should be here in two weeks or so... And you know I'm very sensitive to comfort in headphones, so I'll report about.

So your closed back journey still continues?

Who saw that?

Enjoy your ride, my friend.

 

[Deaf Dee]

There are two Denon AH-D9200s in the classifieds if you like what you've read about them (you know there is a lot of praise for them in this forum) at 1000 € and 850 pounds. The problem is that you can't return them if you don't like it's signature...

I love them for rock, right now listening to Queen, after enjoyed a lot King Crimson.

As a pretty big Focal fanboy, I’m curious if used Radiances would be a good fit for you. There were several pairs for sale in mint condition for sale around the holidays, so I’m sure more will appear.

My musical preferences are similar to yours. The Radiance is a warm (warmer than the Focal “house sound”) headphone, which works well with neutral/precise amp/source. I loved it, with my only minor complaint was that my sources skewed it a little TOO far to the dark mid-bass side. But unless you’ve been deliberately trying to skew your setup that way, you should be fine. A good alternative is the Celestee. I have not heard it, but it is tuned to the Focal general sound, which should mean: Dynamic, clear, fairly detailed without letting treble get too hot. Forward, very “live” mid-range.

The only complaint I’ve seen about Focal is “a metallic timbre”, but I’ve not had that experience at all with more warm-than-neutral amps and an organic-sounding digital source. I just bought a pair of ZMF open-backs, and I can hear the different timbres, but they are simply different rather than “good” or “bad” to me…

Best of luck, happy to answer questions, though at this point I am all set with Stellias as my final closed-backs, so any exact comments about Focals will be using them as reference.

At or around the $1,000 mark, the choices really boil down to your sonic preferences.

Choose the Denon AH-D9200 if you like well-textured bass, a general balance to the signature, and a bright and prominent treble region.

Choose the Focal Radiance if you want something that's a tad warmer, heavier in the bass, and slightly thicker in tone.

Choose the Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed if you enjoy planar bass with a good kick in the lows, coupled with a sparkling, but inoffensive, treble region.

All of these headphones are portable to a degree; the AEON 2 Closed is the stellar pick in this particular regard. It is also, easily, the most comfortable of the bunch.

Technicalities-wise, the AH-D9200 resolves better than the other 2; it is capable of producing a good amount of micro-detail.

So I decided to get a Aeon 2 Noire from a b-stock, should arrive this week.

Seems it could be the start of a journey in the amazing headphone world

Thank you all for the advices!

 

[Terriero]

So your closed back journey still continues?

Who saw that?

Enjoy your ride, my friend.

I tried the Beyer DT 150 in the past and I loved them, aside from the comfort issues I had (the clamp pressure of the ear pads was too much for me and the headband almost produced to me headaches...). After trying the Sony Z7s I decided to get rid of my Senn HD 555s and DT 150 because I found both of them extremely uncomfortable comparing to the Sony' pillows

So, I want to try another studio closed back and one member from here that has a lot of experience recommended me the Shure 840, and then I saw the newer version with updated headband (in comfort and durability areas)... At the same time, I'm trading my Denon AH-D9200s for Sony Z1Rs... So, yes, the journey continues

 

[Chris Kaoss]

Studio closed backs? ?

Well, if I ever have the opportunity to have a fly to your location, I'd take the SEM-5 with me.

Well, it's a kind of Princess Leia look, but the comfort is unmatched for me by now, despite the weight of them.
Not for bassheads, for sure, but for people who love wide headstage and insane clarity.
Classic and live performances are just phenomenal, imo.
And the pads are huge and soft.

There's a lot more out there than you can imagine, I'd say.
Gonna be a really long "journey".
So, " Don't stop, believing".

 

[GREQ]

It's been a week since the JVC HA-SW01 has been shacked up with me, so a few impressions are in order.

I do realize this is an extremely niche product for the reason that these are an Asia-exclusive, so it seems to go with JVC's best stuff these days.
So if anything I hope this quells some of your curiosities.

First of all, the Build Quality of these headphones is as far as I can tell, exactly what you would hope for around this price point.
Materials, fit, engineering and wood finish all appear to be top notch.
I do have some reservations about the quality of the headband inner-padding. It seems to be the kind of pleather that might suddenly start shedding in 3-5 years, but you really never know.

From looking at photos of this headphone it's not immediately clear that the vertical swivel is provided by circular metal gimbles.
The black and shiny metal rings around the wood are actually circular gimbles connected at the center on the horizontal plane.
The rest of the headband assembly appears to be plastic.
All joints are quiet, no creaking.
Cable is braided cloth and does make scratching noises when you move.

The drivers appear to be modified versions of the driver used in the JVC HA-MX100-Z (and both HA-MX10-B and HA-MX100-V).
The first and only 40mm drivers ever to use real wood.
In my opinion, this appears to be a decision taken by JVC, not because there was any serious advantage to using wood, but as a another step in their search through innovation.
Unlike many other companies that have stagnated and settled for the relative safety of mediocrity over the years, JVC continues to try new and crazy things, without ever stopping to ask if they should.

Comfort
For me, this headphone easily provides top-tier comfort and can stay on the head all day.

Sound
The only headphone worth making a direct comparison with the HA-SW01 is the JVC HA-MX100-Z.
For full disclosure, my personal HA-MX100-Z is warmer/bassier than stock as I'm using aftermarket MDR-Z1000 pads.

If the MX100-Z is the close to 'harman neutral' impactful studio detail monster, the HA-SW01 is the warmer, more relaxed 'whiskey and fireplace' version.

This seems to be exactly what JVC was going for with the whole 'wood' thing. Trying to make a smoother more 'natural' sound.
I think these give the impression of sound you might get from extra-large bookshelf speakers with paper-cone drivers.

To my ears, these are siblings, with different personalities.

HA-SW01 is essentially the polar opposite of the HA-DX1000.
SW01 has an intimate sounstage, whereas the DX1000 is expansive.
SW01 is warm and fatigue free, while DX1000 has everything 'turned to 11'.

The other area where it might be easy to criticize the SW01 is the 'psychological' detail.
I find that warm tunings always have a tendancy to sound less detailed than a headphone with a solid 10kHz peak, not because it is necessarily less detailed, but that's just the psychological effect of the tuning; and this headphone is no exception.
If like me you don't need a significant artificial treble spike to satisfy your pseudo-detail needs, they sound just about as detailed as top-tier headphones.
Mostly, I just appreciate the unique contrast it gives to all other headphones I own.
It seems to force smoothness and feeling of 'luxury'... coaxing me to just relax and enjoy the music slowly.
It's difficult not to feel that way when every time you put them on, you're greeted by wood on the outside AND INSIDE!

Isolation seems to be better than average.

Comparisons
I took out a few headphones today to make comparisons, but basically everything else I own just paled.
Both Sennheiser Momentum and M2 AEBT sounded like toys beside it.
Magnat LZR980 made a better effort but wasn't quite as detailed, with slightly mushy bass.
Satolex Plum hdh0297 actually shared a few tonal characteristics with SW01, but ultimately suffers from ear pads that are too big and cause some mid bass distortions.


In the end, it made no sense making these comparisons.
If anything it's a testament to just how good the JVC HA-MX100-Z is, as just like the HA-SW01, they are better suited to comparisons beside only top tier headphones.

 

[plakat]

I tried the Beyer DT 150 in the past and I loved them, aside from the comfort issues I had (the clamp pressure of the ear pads was too much for me and the headband almost produced to me headaches...). After trying the Sony Z7s I decided to get rid of my Senn HD 555s and DT 150 because I found both of them extremely uncomfortable comparing to the Sony' pillows

So, I want to try another studio closed back and one member from here that has a lot of experience recommended me the Shure 840, and then I saw the newer version with updated headband (in comfort and durability areas)... At the same time, I'm trading my Denon AH-D9200s for Sony Z1Rs... So, yes, the journey continues

I was tempted to follow your example and started looking into the Z1R (again)… those ear pillows are just wonderful, and I remember them quite well from years ago when I had them on loan for some days. Strangely I do not remember the sound except for a rather emphasized bass. But then I found Tylls review of old:
https://www.stereophile.com/content/sony-mdr-z1r-sealed-over-ear-headphones-page-2
I think I’ll pass and just keep my D9200

 

[Mhog55]

I know one of these is an open back, but can anyone c the Magni with the Elex? Is the Elex equally as forward, aggressive, and sometimes punishing and fatiguing to the ear drums?

 

[Ryan84]

Do you guys think the Audeze Penrose wireless headset (with dialed in EQ) would stack up against a pair of Beyer Dynamic DT700 Pro X(with a DAC)?
Probably a poor comparison, since it's a wireless head'set' vs a headphone that's nearly the same price.

 

[Terriero]

I was tempted to follow your example and started looking into the Z1R (again)… those ear pillows are just wonderful, and I remember them quite well from years ago when I had them on loan for some days. Strangely I do not remember the sound except for a rather emphasized bass. But then I found Tylls review of old:
https://www.stereophile.com/content/sony-mdr-z1r-sealed-over-ear-headphones-page-2
I think I’ll pass and just keep my D9200

Yes, if you are good with the Denons for the music you like, I think is the best decision to keep them and don't go for the Z1Rs... When I found an album which paired well with the 9200s I had a marvellous experience.

 

[utdeep]

Wasn't Tyll's review of the Z1R the beginning of the end for him? It contradicted some of the other reviews, upset sponsors, and then made him question his hearing?

I miss that guy. Thanks to this thread, I'm rocking the Aeon Noire and considering the Liric.

 

[Alien HP]

Yes, if you are good with the Denons for the music you like, I think is the best decision to keep them and don't go for the Z1Rs... When I found an album which paired well with the 9200s I had a marvellous experience.

I think some songs may sound too bright with the D9200. Vicious Games by Yello, for example.