Ok here goes, never thought I would be posting in this thread, but I HAVE TO.
I will treat this post as a sort of worklog thing where ongoing changes and further impressions that occur will be mentioned constantly. Let me be the guinea pig.
See Break-in Changes Edits at bottom of post.
*****FYI = Initial post impressions on sonics finished ~ the 2 hour point
******
I just got these in tonight and have run them for only about 2 hours so far, after the first 15 minutes or so they have really tightened up.
Before you think , what the heck is this, erase that immediately from your mind and read on. These are NO JOKE.
Been on for
3 4 5 6 hours straight now.
QFX H-200
"Q Bass Seal" no idea what that is but it sure works.
32 ohm/1khz
105 db/mw
20-20k ( typical non-representative rating )
200 grams
1.2 m flat anti-tangle cable ( black version states 1.5 and a screw on adaptor will soon find out )
NO that is NOT a mic on the cable it is a volume slider! Got a scare at first because factory set at zero.
Memory foam pads
"High quality piano crafting varnished cups"
Air quilted headband
They certainly didn't skimp on box quality either wonder why I had not heard of them before. Thick cardboard and magnetic flap.
A brief story on why I got these:
First I should state that my primary love is with orthodynamics-mostly vintage, and the majority of my stuff is that ( very few of those have not gone under the knife for tweaking ), with dynamics and electret/full bias electrostatics and a few IEMS making up the other ~%50.
Initially I got these as simply a donor shell/housing for some Yamaha HP-50 orthodynamic drivers, since they are a similar colour scheme and I did see them used in another orthodynamic build that houses a top notch modded driver setup.
It really bothered me after trying them beause there is NO WAY I will be putting them under the knife. Which means I will have to order
another brown version for the transplant, and likely also another black version
as a spare. This will also give me future driver spares from the brown donor shell
Insanely itchy trigger finger on 2 more here.
YEP couldn't handle it anymore=Ordered another black one, and a brown one. Black one says it comes with a screw on adaptor. Hope I'm not crazy, but I have been told otherwise.
Worst case scenario I have some comfortable shells to throw drivers into later
FIT:
Decent comfort
Memory foam pads seems to conform a bit better as they heat up and the top headband padding also. I have the adjusters out to the max. They are very light.
They do stick out a bit as in the overall appearance is a bit wide.
ALL IMPORTANT SOUND:
BIG TIGHT BASS! and out of a 40 mm driver I was not expecting this at all.
I was expecting some sort of boomy muddy mess, however it is the exact opposite here
Punchy,
tight,
fast,
big,
decent tactile rumble.
Not a "one note bass"
Now take
that and add in ( another surprise here )------>
spacious wide clear sound, things seem to have a fantastic distance in them and also any tracks with a
trailing off effect are most excellent = being closed I really have no idea how they did this since most headphones I have opened up have LAME damping in them ( opened up nearly all of what I have ) I will be opening up a set soon and can show pics. Only way I could ever get similar type of effects like this tuning up things is with Twaron Angel Hair, a boutique-audiophile type acoustic filler.
There's a fair number of posts using it in here since it has been spread around amongst a few members now.
It's one of those AIRY spacious type sounds( BUT STILL VERY FULL AND SOLID ) that when I talk out loud I can hear my voice much less than I expect I would given the impression of space in the sound. ( make sense?) Daunting . Deceptive.
So the HIGHS and DETAILING:
Damn another real surprise here. Given the obvious bass focus.
Detailing is awesome here. Highs are present without sibilance, YET, the detailing is there and the highs are very fast and clear also.
They are in no way murky/occluded so far, or overly inflated -like some companies do to artificially give the impression you are getting highs, then your eradrums feel like they have had shards of glass blown into them. Not so here.
So clear, spacious, details/highs present to the point where sibilance starts
yet just a hair below that to make them perfect.
Once again don't think of them as lacking or "muddy". Certainly details are
very apparent at this point even off in the background.
I realllly hope they do not warm up during break-in.
SO I would recommend one of you to grab one, or best thing maybe try one somehow, just so I can rest asured I am not crazy. ALSO unsure if these are old discontinued stock or still current.
I saw online that Bestbuy US , Walmart US, and Staples US have them listed.
I am used to doing endless orthodynamic dampings and mods, as well as a few dynamics also, so I seem to understand a fair bit of what I hear in things even though I rarely review things, I just had to mention these. Reviews bother me because trying to describe sound is always such a subjective description, So I hope it was easy to understand what i am "talking around" here, since honestly you HAVE to try them firsthand then you will see what I mean...
Also I own so many cans I don't list them anymore. Think lots, then think lots some more, maybe even some more...that means lots.
So this is obviously a preliminary impression, can't see that it will change much if at all, unless these do a serious 180 on me during break-in, and I can't see that happening since bass usually tightens up not the opposite. Maybe the highs will drop out a bit.
BTW no idea what happens with EQ I don't bother with that.
Tried on Colorfly C3 and IHIFI 812V2 Daps, no amp needed. Will also try them on a Dynamic Super A full-sized integrated, and a Cowon D2 where I might try eq stuff.
Portable amps also.( customized recapped PA2V2 = Elna ToneRex and Sanyo Oscon, one that shall go unnamed as of now for reasons to be disclosed later
and incoming C&C Xo2 )
Feed these nicely , and they will fed YOU nicely, so far anyhow.
G.I.G.O. principle but probably no need to state that in here.
Wait till you see the price on entry on these things
Not going to mention the price because to me that is irrelevant and people tend to judge and get preconceived notions based on that.
Way I see it if it sounds great, then it sounds great on that alone not judged against cost biases. Headphone is a headphone.
I have some old dusty low cost stuff that simply ruins many things.
Ok guys n gals posting this sucker up.
PHEW. One more pic for the road.
BREAK IN CHANGES EDIT:
1 - Highs seem to have definitely smoothed off at the 5 hour mark, details are still
reasonably apparent. I will have to take these off now after 5 hours here and check them with fresh ears tomorrow.
Bass I feel is still worthy of this thread ( see post below )
Going to have to try out a few more tracks all over again.
The highs here have smoothed out quite a fair bit. Bass of course is still large as ever. Highs had better not drop off more ( but that is not what this thread is about I need to realize sorry :0 ), maybe I need to give them a rest for the night.
LATEST with mod pics.
First of all I have to say these need a tiny mod to clean things up, but it is fast and variable depending on your tastes and what you use as far as material over the rear bad-ass-bass hole in the driver magnets.
^^^^^Pads are mounted on a ring that slides out of cups on 3 posts, snug fit so need a sharp edge to pry it a bit. This is good no excessive pads removal.
Angled driver there.
3 outer screws holding baffles onto cups, these also need to be press fit during mod trials and seem to seat/snap back onto posts well so no need to keep toying with screws and stripping things while figuring out what is what inside for mods over the bass port holes.
Super fast to do a mod trial, like under 5 minutes to open and close.
^^^^^^First I saw the excessive size of the driver rear bass port holes, the actual holes measure 4mm across! Crazy!
There appears to be a rubber ring seal there also maybe for vibe control? Or is that an extra magnet also I have no idea.
This obviously contributed to the over the top bass and loss of details from both overblown bass as well as letting the driver fly so free.
So mod trials as follows with results:
Trial #1 = Reduce hole size
I took a disc of double sided tape and with a hole punch reduced the rear opening by 1/2 to 2mm.
It still had the lack of high details and the bass toned up a bit not worhty though, as things were still obscured by the over the top bass excessive bleedover.
Trial #2 = Completely block the hole with 3m Micropore Tape
I covered the hole entirely with some Micropore tape to establish a lower end of bass levels and see if the bass was so extreme this would the the key. At least it gave me a baseline of how far not to go damping those holes.
Things were brought right forward as far as details yet the bass was subdued too much, at least for this thread intention. More of a neutral sound I guess.
Trial #3 = THE ONE Creatology Felt disk damping secured in place with ring of double sided tape ( hard to see the blue felt the white ring shows the size of the double sided tape ring )
I cut a small ring of double sided tape and then stuck down a disk of Creatology felt to damp the entire thing and slow the bass backwaves into the cup rears.
This has brought up details enough to be intelligible and adequate, actually very nice and near perfect for their overall signature and presentation.
The entire bass has tightened up a bit and the lost details from the large stage have now been exposed( I bet the felt
also acts as a minor reflector )
It still retains it's basic character of a very large stage sound, but everything is now there more or less within this.
Stock form was not good at all in this regard.
It must also be acting as a sort of reflector a bit, as well as uncovering the stuff from under the big bass bleed.
Normal tracks are more bass enhanced, and man when something is there in the track that is bassy it shows up.
Creatology felt is one of the options that is readily available to most folks ( Micheals Craft Stores ) which is why I used it.
Of course someone could use other similar materials, so long as the permeability of it was similar.
Someone could easily vary this sound according to taste a bit with slightly thicker or thinner versions of felt.
All you have to do to determine this is hold it up to a light so you can see how porous it is in any given piece. then you have a guideline of sorts.
Possible additional things to try out or do :
***Toy around with effects of some cup filler, cotton tends to bring up highs at a certain rate, but can also absorb some resonances. This would bring out more details if wanted. ( I usually use special acoustic filler, but not really needed in this as -is ) Use some polyfill?
*** line the inner baffle face with Dynamat , this should add some bass tightness/slight db increase, maybe 2 or 3 db. I will do soon.
***try some different felt thin felt type materials instead of Creatology thin felt sheets. ( I have some Arctic Bamboo material that I use in all sorts of mods will try that later.
BASS LEVELS should be slightly tweakable according to preference if you find a slightly thinner felt/fabric/
Anyhow this is definitely an all around improvement,
and really double-sided tape and Creatology felt
is dirt cheap, just like these cans at the moment!
Also SUPER EASY and FAST to try it out and do it up.
=====I did notice that the felt in the bulk bag of sheets I bought is slightly thinner than the individual sheets you can buy, not sure why.
BTW they do look rather goofy worn, just be wary of that.
I don't really care. The black version still looks really slick in person.
For my tastes I would not want any more bass
It's variable a bit though the mod. Dynamat next to bump it up.
I would think at this cleaned up stage it should be EQ able now.
These are now something that I would pick up and use when I need a bit of a fix ( big sound stage with decent bass ), whereas before they sat there looking sad.
So to reiterate, they kept the same sig of wide stage, bass is cleaner and tighter now, still
decently big without obscuring the rest, and details are now exposed to acceptable levels for me.
You can feel the notes BTW.
their overall smooth approach coupled with the large stage is something I am not really used to, I've always gone for sort of the opposite.
Can let them do their thing and relax into these though. It's just me. Preferences and all.
If I try a slightly more porous felt ( still Creatology but from the bulk bag ) I will check back in.
Also with Dynamat results.
And I do feel some cotton might be needed to bring trebles up slightly.
