[arielext]

Progress has been made.

the chair is an upgrade!

 

[Terriero]

Progress has been made.

I love your desk and the place you have chosen for it... Even, the landscape is spectacular... But, I miss your little baby in the pic!!! (yesterday, my wife said to me that if not were for her age, she would go for the third baby -I suppose with me as the father -)

 

[waveSounds]

the chair is an upgrade!

Ha it sure is!

I love your desk and the place you have chosen for it... Even, the landscape is spectacular... But, I miss your little baby in the pic!!! (yesterday, my wife said to me that if not were for her age, she would go for the third baby -I suppose with me as the father -)

Aw thanks dude. With how things are right now I keep saying to my wife that there's currently a 1% chance of me having another. She's a really, really fussy, unsettled, colicky baby. It's been tough. Evenings are hours and hours of high pitched, intense screaming with no means of consoling her... just the way she is unfortunately. We also found out the other day that she has hip dysplasia so is now in a harness for 11 weeks to try and set the hip joint in its socket. The poor little thing. We're going to need more than the 6 months of burn in that Nostoi recommended! I'll try to get a pic of her next to my 900s for the next snap, if I get my timing right that is, and locate the 1.5 minute window of calmness she has a day to do so

 

[arar]

Progress has been made.

Cozy spot. This is completely off-topic, but do you happen to remember where you got that big ass mouse/keyboard mat?

 

[easo91]

After having them for 2 years, I feel the need to gush about my Audeze EL-8 closed backs. I bought them new for $331 while all the retailers were clearing out their stock. This has to be my single most favorite headphone I have ever come across. Prior to it, I’ve been mostly an open-back fan, but these have become my daily driver.

I’ll get the negatives out of the way: they are fairly heavy, the headband can create a hot spot on my crown, and the ear pads are a bit shallow and can put pressure on your ears after a few hours. The headphones are extremely seal dependent and moving too abruptly will cause the sound to sorta blow out for a second while the pressure readjusts. I don’t trust the plastic housing for the adjustment mechanism and have wrapped them with duct tape to protect against failure. I don’t think they’ll actually fail, but I want these to last as long as physically possible. There are proprietary cables that you have to hope Audeze continues to stock for years, because these have been out of production for a while now and aftermarket cables are absurd for this headphone. As of right now, stock cables and pads are still available, I’ve bought extras for when the originals eventually wear out just in case. Also at MSRP originally of $799, these weren’t exactly a deal a launch.

However, if you can look past that, you get one of the most engaging, neutralish headphones I’ve ever heard. Tuning-wise, these are a very mid-focused headphone. These are tuned with a more forward upper mid-range similar to what I feel like the akg k7xx line is going for, but winds up sounding less shouts/boxy, or maybe think grado’s sound minus the insane sibilance. Combined with the the excellent transient response planar drivers have, and distorted guitars and heavy synths sound incredible on these. I have not found a headphone that makes loud aggressive rock sound better. The bass is…a bit odd. For classic rock and music that is mid bass focused, you might almost think this headphone is bass anemic. It’s there, but it’s not really forward. However, switch on R&B, or anything electronic with a lot of subbass, and suddenly these things start to have a little rumble. I’ve never experienced a bass quite tuned like this and imagine it will not be to everyone’s liking, the bass goes all the way down to 20, but subbass seems to be tuned above the mid bass and depending on the track will need a boost. The treble is great, airy but not harsh. They will reveal bad recordings, but will make good masters shine.

Soundstage is fine, better than a lot of closedbacks, but you can do better with an open back. The isolation is incredible actually, I was shocked how much ambient noise they block passively and because of that the amount of micro-detail I could hear in recordings. They are more power hungry than their specs would make it seem, they claim 30 ohms and to be sensitive for “mobile” use, but I need way more power than I thought to really push these. I can’t imagine anyone in their right mind trying to take these on the go.

There are days where they feels too aggressive for me, like if I want to chill out and relax, and am looking for some HD599s to serve that purpose, but for when I want to actively listen, and get pulled into the energy of a recording, these are what I go for. If you happen to see them on the used market for a reasonable price, they’re definitely worth a try. It’s a really fun headphone.

 

[waveSounds]

Cozy spot. This is completely off-topic, but do you happen to remember where you got that big ass mouse/keyboard mat?

Cheers! It was off Amazon a couple of years ago, the same order link now comes up with a plain black mat but it's the same size. You should be able to find quite a few in that size on there if you want something a bit more jazzy.

 

[Joaquin Dinero]

After having them for 2 years, I feel the need to gush about my Audeze EL-8 closed backs. I bought them new for $331 while all the retailers were clearing out their stock. This has to be my single most favorite headphone I have ever come across. Prior to it, I’ve been mostly an open-back fan, but these have become my daily driver.

I’ll get the negatives out of the way: they are fairly heavy, the headband can create a hot spot on my crown, and the ear pads are a bit shallow and can put pressure on your ears after a few hours. The headphones are extremely seal dependent and moving too abruptly will cause the sound to sorta blow out for a second while the pressure readjusts. I don’t trust the plastic housing for the adjustment mechanism and have wrapped them with duct tape to protect against failure. I don’t think they’ll actually fail, but I want these to last as long as physically possible. There are proprietary cables that you have to hope Audeze continues to stock for years, because these have been out of production for a while now and aftermarket cables are absurd for this headphone. As of right now, stock cables and pads are still available, I’ve bought extras for when the originals eventually wear out just in case. Also at MSRP originally of $799, these weren’t exactly a deal a launch.

However, if you can look past that, you get one of the most engaging, neutralish headphones I’ve ever heard. Tuning-wise, these are a very mid-focused headphone. These are tuned with a more forward upper mid-range similar to what I feel like the akg k7xx line is going for, but winds up sounding less shouts/boxy, or maybe think grado’s sound minus the insane sibilance. Combined with the the excellent transient response planar drivers have, and distorted guitars and heavy synths sound incredible on these. I have not found a headphone that makes loud aggressive rock sound better. The bass is…a bit odd. For classic rock and music that is mid bass focused, you might almost think this headphone is bass anemic. It’s there, but it’s not really forward. However, switch on R&B, or anything electronic with a lot of subbass, and suddenly these things start to have a little rumble. I’ve never experienced a bass quite tuned like this and imagine it will not be to everyone’s liking, the bass goes all the way down to 20, but subbass seems to be tuned above the mid bass and depending on the track will need a boost. The treble is great, airy but not harsh. They will reveal bad recordings, but will make good masters shine.

Soundstage is fine, better than a lot of closedbacks, but you can do better with an open back. The isolation is incredible actually, I was shocked how much ambient noise they block passively and because of that the amount of micro-detail I could hear in recordings. They are more power hungry than their specs would make it seem, they claim 30 ohms and to be sensitive for “mobile” use, but I need way more power than I thought to really push these. I can’t imagine anyone in their right mind trying to take these on the go.

There are days where they feels too aggressive for me, like if I want to chill out and relax, and am looking for some HD599s to serve that purpose, but for when I want to actively listen, and get pulled into the energy of a recording, these are what I go for. If you happen to see them on the used market for a reasonable price, they’re definitely worth a try. It’s a really fun headphone.

Thx. I've always thought the EL8 models looked really cool, and I've been tempted to score some just for that reason. If they happen to sound good too . . .

 

[plakat]

Progress has been made.

Progress? I still see only two headphones

Nice place though.

Sorry to hear that your youngest family member is not that satisfied with standalone life on earth (and that's before she came to know tax reports and the other fun things...). It will get better soon I'm sure.

 

[Nostoi]

Ha it sure is!



Aw thanks dude. With how things are right now I keep saying to my wife that there's currently a 1% chance of me having another. She's a really, really fussy, unsettled, colicky baby. It's been tough. Evenings are hours and hours of high pitched, intense screaming with no means of consoling her... just the way she is unfortunately. We also found out the other day that she has hip dysplasia so is now in a harness for 11 weeks to try and set the hip joint in its socket. The poor little thing. We're going to need more than the 6 months of burn in that Nostoi recommended! I'll try to get a pic of her next to my 900s for the next snap, if I get my timing right that is, and locate the 1.5 minute window of calmness she has a day to do so

Congrats on the scenic set-up - looks calming and much needed.

But sorry to hear of the newborn situation. I remember this phase very well (almost in a visceral way). The inconsolable crying through the night is especially gruelling on so many levels - inconsolable for your child and for you both as parents. Sorry to hear of the hip issue, too.

You'll hear if often, though it is true - it will definitely get better and what you're experiencing now will become a memory (my wife and I also totally committed to only one child, btw). In my experience, those first 6 months are brutal and quite frankly I was very glad when there was a transition from newborn to an actual reciprocal being who can partly communicate his desires/needs/joys/pains in a semi-meaningful way.

I hope you have family nearby to take over in the day when you need to rest. In the meantime, hang in there and be sure to find at least a few minutes for yourself every day!

 

[Shane D]

I bought yet another closed back this morning. I have been reading and seeing some good reviews for the new HE-R9's from HiFiman. Looked doable for $599.00 and I was always looking for more info. I saw an open box for $449.00 and thought hard about it, but didn't bite.
On a different forum someone posted last night about a sale for $369.00, but the link on their site didn't work. I emailed them last night and they replied this morning with a working link. For $369.00, I think I can afford to experiment.

 

[Mhog55]

I bought yet another closed back this morning. I have been reading and seeing some good reviews for the new HE-R9's from HiFiman. Looked doable for $599.00 and I was always looking for more info. I saw an open box for $449.00 and thought hard about it, but didn't bite.
On a different forum someone posted last night about a sale for $369.00, but the link on their site didn't work. I emailed them last night and they replied this morning with a working link. For $369.00, I think I can afford to experiment.

Definitely report back on this one. Everything I've read has been a mixed bag, except for the thunderous low end. The only thing that keeps me from grabbing it, is the comments regarding the reverb and reflections from the cups.

 

[Shane D]

Definitely report back on this one. Everything I've read has been a mixed bag, except for the thunderous low end. The only thing that keeps me from grabbing it, is the comments regarding the reverb and reflections from the cups.

I figure at $369.00, why not? I am riding the high of my HE6se V2's for the long weekend (Canada), so I went for it.

 

[llysender]

Definitely report back on this one. Everything I've read has been a mixed bag, except for the thunderous low end. The only thing that keeps me from grabbing it, is the comments regarding the reverb and reflections from the cups.

Ah that would be me, R9 needs quite abit of burn in, took about 4 days of break in for the bass to sattle in my case. Very clean after that which was kind of disapointing since I kind of bought it for that dirty bass but boosted clean bass is also good.

 

[Shane D]

Ah that would be me, R9 needs quite abit of burn in, took about 4 days of break in for the bass to sattle in my case. Very clean after that which was kind of disapointing since I kind of bought it for that dirty bass but boosted clean bass is also good.

I already have a few bassy closed backs, but am always looking for something different/better.

 

[plakat]

I've been to High End in Munich this week, and I think I tried out that Hifiman with those cups that remind me of the old Sony R10 for a short time. It does have a lot of bass, but those cups are much too large and its not as balanced as e.g. the D9200. I'd never buy any Hifiman model though, that constant churning out of new models gives me the feeling of wasting money for something that won't live long and doesn't have any support rather soon.

I did not try out much there, most models were simply not that interesting. I do like my bass, and I don't want to have to engage massive electronics since I want my setup to be as mobile as possible. Unfortunately Beyerdynamic did not exhibit this year, so I could not try out the T1/T5... but I tried the Liric, and although the Meze guys are really nice and we shared some drinks I won't get one: comfort is really good, sound is nice, but its a bit too power hungry and does not go deep enough for my taste (with the Apple Lightning dongle, mind you).

What surprised me was the DCA Stealth, which I'd exepcted to be rather bland after what most review said. It is not, and I'll actually give it another try. But it is much too power hungry for a mobile setup, so I probably won't get one either. This one I did try with some desktop amp though. Excellent comfort, and very lightweight. I love its folding concept.

I also checked out the DCA Aeon 2 Noire, which also has excellent comfort like the Stealth, but does not go deep enough for my taste (again with amplification provided by the exhibitor). I did not try that one with the Apple Dongle since I won't consider getting one.

Another one: that T+A offering, I even forgot its product name. Questionable comfort due to a much too small headband (it rests on the sides of my head, with an arch above where it does not touch my head at all...). Quite missing in the upper midrange and not worth the money.

The Raal Requisite: while an interesting driver, the overall construction is still very home-made. Plus its tonality was very off to me. There was another prototype with the same driver, and that one did sound quite good. Not mobile though, since the driver has a crazy low impedance and needs a transformer to work with normal amps. So no, I won't get one either.

Other things I ignored:
ifi GO Bar -- why should I pay that much for a simple dongle DAC?
HEDD -- just too heavy, plus its open...
any crazy electronics
Cables... there were even cable bridges or high rises... what should I say? Plus those totally crazy power cables with plugs that look like they are just made to destroy wall sockets.
Mojo 2 -- still charging via Micro USB, adding an EQ (which I'd never use). Too bad, I'd have considered a smaller Mojo with a less complicated interface concept, but adding another button with its own color scheme, plus keeping the dimensions identical otherwise, doesn't work for me.
and obviously tons of other things... I don't need to try another Focal e.g., and the Stellia does look as ugly in person as it does in pictures. That brown...