THE COMPOSER OPEN BACK FLAGSHIP by AUSTRIAN AUDIO

[jamesjames]

I have been wondering about this as well. I have noticed that the Composer in many of the cases where people weren't impressed was being run off the full score one. A month or two ago I finally heard the Composer on that amp and, yeah, I think the composer sounds so much better on my Icon Audio amp. I find the full score one makes the treble much less appealing, and that is already the weaker part of the Composer's overall sound. For example, another amp, which I use quite successfully with the anni23, is the Schiit Jotenheim 2. It is also a class AB amp. I was using it a lot this summer because it runs so much less hot than the Icon. And some of my posts that people got all weird about because I wasn't happy with the Composer treble were made during that time. When fall came and I moved back to teh Icon, gosh the Composer was so much better (and more holographic). I found when I heard the Full Scoer One it has a lot in common with the Jot (except price) soundwise. So, the Composer still doesn't have world class treble to my ears on my gear when I use the Icon, but it is a significantly better headphone on the Icon than either the Full Score One or the Jot. In fact, I find the Composer sounds better on the Questyle m15 than the Jot or Full Score One, even though it is less resolving on the dongle.

So my theory about why so may people seem so underwhelmed is in part because they aren't hearing the Composer on right amp. The other reason is the price but I don't want to inflame certain people all over again.

Yes, I'm inclined to agree the amp can make an appreciable difference with the Composer. I think it always does a good job - so I don't really understand extreme reactions against it - I would have said it does a good job whatever one's personal quibbles might be. But I too think also it's good enough to benefit from higher quality sources and amplification.

 

[headstef]

Yes, I agree musical preferences often seem a factor in headphone preferences. I guess this often involves a 'built in' sense of what sounds 'right' when it comes to the music in question - and so headphones designed to accurately reproduce the sounds of acoustic instruments might not do so well with electronica. I must admit I have no idea what listeners to electronica, for example, are looking for in headphones, as there's no 'natural' reference point. With classical music I know what the instruments sound like, and I know how those sounds can be affected by venues - more or less 'close', more or less 'dry', more or less resonant. I'm constantly comparing what I hear thru phones to my memories of concerts and recitals - and that's what determines whether the phones seem convincing, or satisfying (ie, good). To my mind, satisfying phones must be able to present dissonance as well as euphony. I want phones that let me decide whether a recording or a performance is good or bad. I think good phones expose bad recordings and performances. As I see it, it's not the job of good phones to make everything sound good. I want high fidelity.

Very well put, I agree 100%. It has puzzled me in the past why people sometimes fail to recognize some obvious virtues of a given headphone, only to find out later that they listen almost exclusively to genres that don't include the sensitivity of singing voices or acoustic instruments. That said, I must say however that with my best headphones I find that my electronic music CDs also sound their best.

 

[noplsestar]

Very well put, I agree 100%. It has puzzled me in the past why people sometimes fail to recognize some obvious virtues of a given headphone, only to find out later that they listen almost exclusively to genres that don't include the sensitivity of singing voices or acoustic instruments. That said, I must say however that with my best headphones I find that my electronic music CDs also sound their best.

I my opinion the Composer is great with all genres. I studied classical music (timpani, vibraphone etc.), then Jazz Drums, also engineering/mixing, then I was playing in alternative pop/rock bands and lastly in a folk band. So I should know how a violin sounds, how a snare drum sounds etc. There are headphones that sound great with some genres, but only the (more or less) neutral, balanced ones fare well with all genres. My taste in music varies from folk to jazz to some classical music and further into electronica and pop and rock and soul, well, in fact almost every genre except death metal and reggae
I spent many days in studios recording music and listening to albums on studio monitors. The Composer comes closest to those monitors. That´s my opinion. It shows the music as it is, no "softenting" here, which I like. They respond very well with up stream gear. So in fact you just have to find the right source, the right DAC, the right amp. This headphone is also responsive to upgrade cables. I very much enjoy the Composer with my Arctic Cables Aeris, which enhances the resolution even more, with a more lifelike presentation of the mids and extended, but never piercing highs and even more convincing lower mids/bass. So this is a surgery tool. We should be lucky to have the possibility to listen to such a technical but musical gem.

 

[Nomax]

So now I'm even more than satisfied with Score One than I was at the beginning

NOMAX

PS.I found out something a good week ago...now I also understand Paul why he built this amp like this
(Let's see who can also figure it out......and until then, I'll sit back and relax)

 

[jamesjames]

I would have guessed the Composer was pretty good with most things even vaguely musical, so it's interesting to read that's the view of others. Even so, I'm no longer surprised when I read strong reactions against phones I think are good. As I've said before (apologies), I don't think all listeners are looking for remotely the same thing with phones - and certainly not what strikes me as good, natural, realistic, convincing, etc. And it seems to me that's fair enough - and probably the best argument I know against unqualified statements about the 'best' phones on sites like this ...

 

[noplsestar]

Hey guys, last night was the first time I played around a bit with the earcup´s lateral adjuster. Until now I only thought about it from the perspective of comfort so as you know there are 4 possible adjustments and I mostly used it one notch to the left (like it came when I bougth it) because I thought that fits the shape of my head best.
Anyhow, as Nomax claimed some pages ago that he hears a difference when only changing one earcup, I started trying that out and put the left cup in position 1 and the right cup in position 4 and vice versa. And I definitely heard a slight difference here. But that doesn´t mean I liked it.
So I began testing with some of my test-tracks and put both cups in position 1 and then changed them during listening (headphone was always on my head). So this is what I found out:

In position 1 (where the cups are straight) the driver seems to be farthest away from my ears (speaking about 1 mm or so here ... can´t be much more I guess). Where in position 4 the driver seems to be nearest to my ears (as said above, probably 1 mm nearer than with position 1). In position 4 (where the cups are tilted) the lower mids come forward which results in a more direct and meaty presentation where the position 1 is the more "polite" one where the voices are farther away.
So in position 4 (in my case) the male voice got meatier and more natural. This is a pleasant surprise as the tilting didn´t effect the other frequency spectrum. At least not on my head.

So I urge you to take your favourite test tracks and listen closely to the voice when changing from position 1 to position 4. I am confident you will hear it immediately. Also electric guitars etc. get more meaty.
Finally I decided to settle for position 3 (as told above before I had it in position 2).

Just play around a bit. Of course all our heads are a bit different. So your mileage may vary of course.

 

[FiGuY1017]

Just really enjoy these, perfect tuning and incredible imaging w/Marley Mkii, bass .... don't want to take them off my head

 

[baseball8793]

can someone here who owns both the Composer and ZMF Verite Closed and or ZMF Bokeh Closed compare the sound differences and which one you liked more?

 

[Quadfather]

Does anyone know how Composer plays balanced on Lotoo GT2?

 

[musicday]

Does anyone know how Composer plays balanced on Lotoo GT2?

I imagine it will be fantastic. My favourite headphones at the moment.

 

[noplsestar]

Does anyone know how Composer plays balanced on Lotoo GT2?

Never heard the GT2 but I had a LGPT in possession. And sold it after some time again. Too sterile sounding IMO. Preferred the good old Calyx M back then by quite a margin (sound wise). So I would say it could be a good match but it’s probably not a no brainer. You would have to test it if you like its sound.

 

[FiGuY1017]

These offer what a summit level headphone has to offer imo and that's the ability to immerse you in music in a multi layered, detailed sound. Thats the biggest difference to me in a high end headphone maybe like my T5.2 or Ether 2 and a summit level headphone like a Susvara or Composer, to break that first level of space, that really gives it that immersive sound you don't want to put down. Really a special headphone imo

 

[baseball8793]

is the he1000 stealth a summit level sound would you say?

 

[FiGuY1017]

These offer what a summit level headphone has to offer imo and that's the ability to immerse you in music in a multi layered, detailed sound. Thats the biggest difference to me in a high end headphone maybe like my T5.2 or Ether 2 and a summit level headphone like a Susvara or Composer, to break that first level of space, that really gives it that immersive sound you don't want to put down. Really a special headphone imo

Never heard the stealth but had the v2 not to far off I'd say refinement is the biggest difference between that gap. I.e for me going from Hekv2 to Susvara was definitely a couple levels up though, just more refined, better layering from what is already a excellent experience with the Hek. Not sure how much the stealth closes that gap. Of course alot of it is opinion so there's that. You may get it and say it's summit to you, and who care what others think about it

 

[baseball8793]

between the he1000 stealth and the composer--does the composer do anything alot better and overall does the composer have more detail?