[helloh3adfi]

The Hifiman Sundara also don't have lateral movement, so why do they have angled earpads? I thought it would give better seal, because the head shape is a bit angled?

 

[waveSounds]

@helloh3adfi Well the Sundara earpads are circular so it doesn't really matter where you have the angled part, it'll still fit on the cup. The 1540 has oval pads so the angled part will only fit properly on either the front or the rear. It's up to you though, you can try to stretch them so they fit on, but it'll be a challenge.

 

[helloh3adfi]

I see. So that's why the Sivga Robin headphones also have no angled pads. I'll try the Shure. It's a shame how many headphones don't have swivel in all directions.

 

[Joaquin Dinero]

The stock Shure 1540 earpads are among the finest, most comforting earpads I've ever had the pleasure of placing over my ears. I even bought another pair to put on my Final Pandora 6 because they are that awesome. If I could get a pillow made out of those earpads I would. Just sayin'

 

[AudioDuck]

The stock Shure 1540 earpads are among the finest, most comforting earpads I've ever had the pleasure of placing over my ears. I even bought another pair to put on my Final Pandora 6 because they are that awesome. If I could get a pillow made out of those earpads I would. Just sayin'

Agreed. The only ear pads that come close: Focal Radiance’s Pittards leather pads and the ZMF suede pads.

 

[us.classic]

Heavily considering the Shure 1540 and Sony Z7M2 — they retail for the exact same price here… any advice?

Looking for a comfortable set of closed-backs with a pleasing tuning (subjective, I know!).

After a few days I find the Shure 1540 more enjoyable overall. The Sony Z7M2 has a very clear and strong upper end that sometimes hurts my ears. Note my ears are old and deaf above maybe 8-9K so usually I like some extra clarity such as with Bose but the Sony I find too harsh up there and lacking down low compared to the Shure 1540 which, after some initial burn in strike a great balance and provide very enjoyable listening. I like them better than the DT 177X Go as well. I take back what I said about outside talking isolation as they are on par with the others in my collection.

 

[oknenir]

Hmm, thought I'd find a pair of cheap closed-backs that are good enough for me and say I'm done with full-sized headphones, but now I'm intrigued by the SRH1540s.

How do they handle mids, vocals especially? I need vocals in particular to be full-bodied, maybe even unrealistically so, and pushed forward. I still like a warmer, darker signature since I like bass and I'm sensitive to treble, but more than anything, I'm starting to realize that I need a good body, even thickness to the mids.

edit: actually wouldn't mind closed-back recs under let's say 500 along those lines, if you've got them--leaning towards warmer and darker with a forward or "intimate", full-bodied mids, especially vocals. Want to hear those singers inside my head!

I've had these Shures and they're the most... well, let's say they I didn't like them because of the mids sounding recessed. The bass was too much of and not fas enough. The treble extended, very delicate and refined, without being even close to harsh. I auditioned them prior to purchase using some Solar Fields and the treble impressed me so I took them. Then later I realized they sound so unengaging (to me), no joy at all. I wouldn't recommend to someone who's after mids.

P.S. no intention to offend the fans of the headphone, just a word of caution for @arar

 

[arar]

I've had these Shures and they're the most... well, let's say they I didn't like them because of the mids sounding recessed. The bass was too much of and not fas enough. The treble extended, very delicate and refined, without being even close to harsh. I auditioned them prior to purchase using some Solar Fields and the treble impressed me so I took them. Then later I realized they sound so unengaging (to me), no joy at all. I wouldn't recommend to someone who's after mids.

P.S. no intention to offend the fans of the headphone, just a word of caution for @arar

I doubt anyone would find offense in that, it's a very subjective hobby so it's important to hear as many impressions as you can if you can't audition the thing yourself (like I can't, in this case). Thanks for posting your thoughts!

At this point I think I'll probably just grab a pair of K371's and EQ them to taste and hopefully that'll be that for me, at least for now. Nothing seems to be just right for me, going by online impressions. The Beyerdynamic T5.3s sound like they'd be by far the closest, but those tiny ass earpads are absolutely killing me. Would imagine they wouldn't be very comfortable.

 

[Sp12er3]

Huh I guess itd not gell with me after all, neutrally polite is a tuning I don't like, one of those I most remember is OPPO PM3. K702 too have some that nature, they just sounds... Boring.
After an Audio Technica ADX5000 Purchase it might be time I let go of the Z7, I've been trying to make up reasons to use it more, but with the Z1R, M70x and DSR9 Around, I'm pretty covered for any and all scenarios.... Sure would miss it's great build tho, its so nice even to just hold and play around with in my hands.

 

[AudioDuck]

I've had these Shures and they're the most... well, let's say they I didn't like them because of the mids sounding recessed. The bass was too much of and not fas enough. The treble extended, very delicate and refined, without being even close to harsh. I auditioned them prior to purchase using some Solar Fields and the treble impressed me so I took them. Then later I realized they sound so unengaging (to me), no joy at all. I wouldn't recommend to someone who's after mids.

P.S. no intention to offend the fans of the headphone, just a word of caution for @arar

No offense taken- I just wanted to note that source and amplification will GREATLY influence the sound of any given headphone, including the Shures. And, of course, our ears differ!

 

[Lelouch]

Hi everyone,

I'm recently considering upgrading my headphones from the original MrSpeakers AFC that served me very well for the past 5 years. I bought the FiiO M17 two weeks ago and I realized how under-amped were my Aeons. Coming from a Fiio X5ii, I rediscovered them!
But I started to feel like the Aeons became the limiting factor in my setup and being old, I had to strap them in various places to keep the sealing stable so I'm looking for an upgrade matching the M17.

I live in Japan so there are only few ways to get overseas brands, making it difficult to compare myself and a big reason I'm asking for help here.

Yesterday, I went to a local audio dealer in Nakano and tried some models I had in mind based on everyone's comments and reviews for high-end closed headphones.
I used the M17 in Enhanced DC mode for testing.
Headphones tested: Audeze LCD-XC 2021, Focal Stellia, Meze Audio LIRIC and Ultrasone 15 Veritas.

Personal tastes:
- Balanced presentation but not dull sounding, bass impact and clarity over bass amount.
- High detail retrieval and wide soundstage.
- Vocals quality is very important to me.

TLDR: The Stellias made all other headphones looking limited in dynamism, detail retrieval and personal "enjoyability"

Audeze LCD-XC 2021:

I overall enjoyed the sound but couldn't get into in-depth analysis because they were too heavy and the clamping too strong for me...

Focal Stellia:

I saw many reviews praising them so I was expecting them to be good but I didn't expect to be amazing from the first few seconds of listening.
They are very comfortable, more than my Aeons or other headphones in this post.
Sound-wise, I realized what was my Aeon sound signature after A/B testing for the first time in 5 years, the Stellia are more 3D space based, which I felt the soundstage was narrower than the Aeons but everything was so lively, the bass so punchy and present that I felt my Aeons were totally dull. Somehow, the Stellias manage to keep everything clean in the mid and treble despite delivering the clean bass, while delivering the details and separation I loved with my Aeons. I “enjoyed“ the music so much!
OTOH, I was sometimes feeling the bass is too present for me and the soundstage spheric boundary too present compared to the Aeons where I didn't feel restricted. But making these limitations so enjoyable for what happen within there is a big feat!

Meze Audio LIRIC:

My mistake was to directly A/B test them with the Stellias coming from the Aeons. I felt they are quite similar to the Aeons (I realized they are planars after testing) and didn't feel a big change. The Stellias instantly biased my perception and I didn't feel like going further in the analysis for something that didn't give me the "Aw!" moment.

Ultrasone Edition 15 Veritas:

Great bass but too much bass for the sensitive person I am regarding the overall presentation so I didn't give it more than few minutes of listening.
(I was limited in time for auditioning...)

Initial Conclusion: If I finished my research there, I would buy the Stellias without hesitation but I really want to compare to DCA Stealth, Aeon 2 Noire and ZMF VC.
No availability for any of these in Japan so I would appreciate so much if these cans owners could give some feedback!

P.S: I heard about the Rognirs for the first time in this thread and they look great but I need something portable...

 

[catom]

Hi everyone,

I'm recently considering upgrading my headphones from the original MrSpeakers AFC that served me very well for the past 5 years. I bought the FiiO M17 two weeks ago and I realized how under-amped were my Aeons. Coming from a Fiio X5ii, I rediscovered them!
But I started to feel like the Aeons became the limiting factor in my setup and being old, I had to strap them in various places to keep the sealing stable so I'm looking for an upgrade matching the M17.

I live in Japan so there are only few ways to get overseas brands, making it difficult to compare myself and a big reason I'm asking for help here.

Yesterday, I went to a local audio dealer in Nakano and tried some models I had in mind based on everyone's comments and reviews for high-end closed headphones.
I used the M17 in Enhanced DC mode for testing.

Personal tastes:

Balanced presentation but not dull sounding, bass impact and clarity over bass amount.
High detail retrieval and wide soundstage.
Vocals quality is very important to me.

TLDR: The Stellias made all other headphones looking limited in dynamism, detail retrieval and personal "enjoyability"

Audeze LCD-XC 2021:

I overall enjoyed the sound but couldn't get into in-depth analysis because they were too heavy and the clamping too strong for me...

Focal Stellia:

I saw many reviews praising them so I was expecting them to be good but I didn't expect to be amazing from the first few seconds of listening.
They are very comfortable, more than my Aeons or other headphones in this post.
Sound-wise, I realized what was my Aeon sound signature after A/B testing for the first time in 5 years, the Stellia are more 3D space based, which I felt the soundstage was narrower than the Aeons but everything was so lively, the bass so punchy and present that I felt my Aeons were totally dull. Somehow, the Stellias manage to keep everything clean in the mid and treble despite delivering the clean bass, while delivering the details and separation I loved with my Aeons. I “enjoyed“ the music so much!
OTOH, I was sometimes feeling the bass is too present for me and the soundstage spheric boundary too present compared to the Aeons where I didn't feel restricted. But making these limitations so enjoyable for what happen within there is a big feat!

Meze LIRIC:
My mistake was to directly A/B test them with the Stellias coming from the Aeons. I felt they are quite similar to the Aeons (I realized they are planars after testing) and didn't feel a big change. The Stellias instantly biased my perception and I didn't feel like going further in the analysis for something that didn't give me the "Aw!" moment.

Ultrasone 15 Veritas:

Great bass but too much bass for the sensitive person I am regarding the overall presentation so I didn't give it more than few minutes of listening.
(I was limited in time for auditioning...)

If I finished my research there, I would buy the Stellias without hesitation but I really want to compare to DCA Stealth, Aeon 2 Noire and ZMF VC.

No availability for any of these in Japan so I would appreciate so much if these cans owners could give some feedback!

P.S: I heard about the Rognirs for the first time in this thread and they looks great but I need something portable...

You can pad swap on the Focal headphones and end up with a pretty noticeable difference. I guess that's true of any headphone, but I have a pair of the Elegias and putting leather Stellia pads from Dekoni (the limited edition ones) on them made a huge difference in the bass department. The stock pads are suede with perforations I believe. They're comfortable and nice for a different tuning as they're going to let more air in/out. I prefer the leather pads for the bass.

I would imagine you probably couldn't exactly demo that pair of Stellia with different pads, but I would bet you could find a variety of pads to help tune it closer to what you're after and maybe EQ the rest of you still find it lacking.

There's of course other Focal headphones as well if you wanted a cheaper pair to take a chance on with a pad swap. If you like the Focal house sound, it may be worth seeing if you can find others to demo. I haven't compared any others to the Elegias to be honest, but from what I've read they have a similar signature or "house sound." I think you do get a lot of dynamic punchy bass from them in general. The different models will vary a bit and the higher end ones using different/better material for the drivers.

I actually don't EQ the Elegias at all after the pad swap. They are one of my favorite headphones. Very forward and engaging. Not fatiguing, but very present and dynamic. It's nice that you can easily swap pads on them (they just pull off and push back on) because you can adjust the sound a bit with relative ease that way.

 

[Alexzander]

Hello @Lelouch !

From my personal experience:
1. M17 won’t have enough juice to properly drive DCA Stealth - I won’t use them other than with stationary amp
2. Rognirs could be portable but due to wooden cups are limited to indoor use only.
They are also noticeably lighter than XC.
In terms of SQ they are on par or better than Stealth - depending on your preference (but only with non-perforated pads).
3. Stellia is inferior to both Stealth and Rognir in soundstage and details retrieval, also for me bass is bloomy.
4. Noire are fun V-shaped tuned model but dynamics is below average making them very specific pair. Also details retrieval is below every other headphone on your list. M17 will drive them properly only in DC mode.

Hope this helps!

 

[catom]

Uh oh, look what came in the mail today (early no less). Thanks @John Massaria !

I've only had like 15 minutes of listening time today unfortunately. Work was too busy, but so far they're very smooth. Definitely wide soundstage for a closed back too! I'm going to find out just how wide tomorrow when I can listen some more. I also want to swap it's stock cable, I'll try some others I have on hand.

 

[helloh3adfi]

@catom Congratulations for the great mod you received. Can the earcups of that Hifiman swivel on vertical and horicontal directions?