[jatinder]

In answer to some of the questions posed above:

1. I do not find the treble in the R10 or Orpheus to be a problem at all - I would not describe them as being bright. I also do not get any wierd "echoey" effects with either.

2. During the meet, bangraman & I played a selection of standard CDs and some SACDs (through my modded Marantz SA-1). We didn't play any vinyl cos compared to CD it's a PITA (especially with my short fat sausage-like fingers

3. The SA-1 fed the FidAudio Quintete - which was then wired up to the Angstrom, Orpheus and the SR-007 and occasionally the Emerald instead.

4. We also played the dynamic headphones mostly from my Angstrom one-box amp and for a short time from the ANT Emerald. The Qualia sounded brighter out of the solid-state Emerald when compared to the all-tube Angstrom.

5. The treble through the qualias was sometimes truly grating (with CD & SACD). This effect was lessened (as was the high-frequency reverb) when the position & seal appeared to be correct - these effects were still very much there though.

6. I found the bass & midrange on the Qualia to be excellent - very similar to the Orpheus. Now, given [5] above, and/or the use of an equalizer, I'm pretty sure that the Qualia could be a real contender - if the high-frequency reverb/echo type thing goes away. Maybe it needs more burn-in or maybe it's a bad driver or two.

--Jatinder

 

[bozebuttons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jatinder In answer to some of the questions posed above: 1. I do not find the treble in the R10 or Orpheus to be a problem at all - I would not describe them as being bright. I also do not get any wierd "echoey" effects with either. 6. I found the bass & midrange on the Qualia to be excellent - very similar to the Orpheus. Now, given [5] above, and/or the use of an equalizer, I'm pretty sure that the Qualia could be a real contender - if the high-frequency reverb/echo type thing goes away. Maybe it needs more burn-in or maybe it's a bad driver or two. --Jatinder

1. I agree with this as I have both setups.
2. The Moon Audio Black Dragon cable eliminated the reverb echo effect
on the 010s you can read some impressions from the last NYC-minimeet at immtbikers.

 

[bangraman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bozebuttons 1. I agree with this as I have both setups. 2. The Moon Audio Black Dragon cable eliminated the reverb echo effect on the 010s you can read some impressions from the last NYC-minimeet at immtbikers.

That's interesting to hear. However it's still going back for repair as I don't want a headphone which requires a third-party upgrade to be acceptable.


I presume the Moon Audio cable fudges quite a lot of treble in that case?

 

[stevieo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman That's interesting to hear. However it's still going back for repair as I don't want a headphone which requires a third-party upgrade to be acceptable. I presume the Moon Audio cable fudges quite a lot of treble in that case?

i must admit that i did not like the qualia at 1st listen & they got worse as they burned in. so i left them running non-stop for about 4 weeks more before giving them another listen. i was still not crazy about them until i received the moon audio black dragon cables & things changed in a dramatic way upon 1st listen. i don’t what the cable change really did but it obviously fixed what i did not like about the qualias. maybe they were a hair on the high side or echoey in the mids. i can not pin point my displeasure with the sound exactly except to say that the new cable changed all that dramatically within literally 2 seconds. but, i still had problem related to a cold & unnatural sound.

the qualia is unacceptable with the stock cable even after burn-in. it becomes an excellent headphone with a replacement cable not merely an acceptable headphone. the qualia is a great headphone with a pos cable. i found that the qualia needs 1100 hours of burn-in with a good burn-in cd with plenty of bass like michael jackson’s thriller. quick comparisons with other headphones made the qualia sound cold & sterile. i also needed to change the tube combinations in my single power amp many times to find a nice set. the least likely tubes produced the best results.

it took a while of listening for the qualia to grow on me & grow it did – big time. i found the qualia unnatural sounding to my ear. but, i put away all my other cans & listened to the qualias exclusively for 3 days of 12 hour sessions. what i found unnatural all along turned out to be the depth of detail & clarity like none i have ever heard before in a headphone. i was drawn into the music for hours on end hearing things i never heard before, not in live performances or with other headphones listening to the same recording. there is an overwhelming amount of info to be heard with the qualia that more than makes up for it’s seeming neutrality and lack of emphasis in any area. i think that the new info overload is what the problem was until my ears & brain adjusted to an all new sound.

you should pass on the qualias if you can not justify throwing the pos stock cable in the trash & replacing them. these cans take a great deal of listening to get to where i was able to appreciate the excellent detail. i have heard things in every recording i am familiar with & it is like listening to a recording for the 1st time. the familiarity with the recording is not the same. it is an all new experience. now, the 1st thing i ask myself when i go back to my nice comfy old familiar headphones is “where’s the detail?”. the detail is not necessarily “musical” at 1st as it is a lot to absorb all the new info. these phones need serious burn-in as do the ears to acclimate to a very new & different sound. i have been sucked into the attention to detail & clarity which the qualias offer & have gotten past the part where my brain found the sound unnatural. these cans take time & patience but it will pay off.

 

[dannyandelyse]

Stevio.....Does this mean I get to take the Moretto off your hands?
dan

 

[stevieo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannyandelyse Stevio.....Does this mean I get to take the Moretto off your hands? dan

not a chance, amigo!

 

[jatinder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieo ... it took a while of listening for the qualia to grow on me & grow it did – big time. i found the qualia unnatural sounding to my ear. but, i put away all my other cans & listened to the qualias exclusively for 3 days of 12 hour sessions. what i found unnatural all along turned out to be the depth of detail & clarity like none i have ever heard before in a headphone. i was drawn into the music for hours on end hearing things i never heard before, not in live performances or with other headphones listening to the same recording. there is an overwhelming amount of info to be heard with the qualia that more than makes up for it’s seeming neutrality and lack of emphasis in any area. i think that the new info overload is what the problem was until my ears & brain adjusted to an all new sound. ...

Hi Stevieo,

I'm not so sure that "depth of detail & clarity" might be mistaken as "unnatural". It is precisely the detail & clarity that makes recordings more natural. Neither am I sure that this needs some accustomisation - if it's done properly. Many people also confuse brightness with detail & clarity.

"Detail", imo, is all about extracting every bit of information from the source and prortraying it *accurately in relation* to the rest of the signal. It's when it's portrayed somehow out of sync (level, timing etc) with the rest of the signal that it turns into information overload for the brain.

Just my 1p's worth (or 2c's worth given the current exchange rate

--Jatinder

 

[stevieo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jatinder Hi Stevieo, t's done properly. Many people also confuse brightness with detail & clarity. "Detail", imo, is all about extracting every bit of information from the source and prortraying it *accurately in relation* to the rest of the signal. It's when it's portrayed somehow out of sync (level, timing etc) with the rest of the signal that it turns into information overload for the brain. --Jatinder

i agree. the details are about accuracy. i find the qualia very accurate to the recordings, good & bad. i just find so much more detail with the qualia than any other headphone i have had time with. that took be back at first because i was just not used to it with or without headphones. natural all of a sudden seemed unnatural. the closeness to the recording was magnified. the qualias are like having hearing again after being hard of hearing. all the recordings i listen to with the qualia sound as if i never really heard them before.

 

[Zanth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jatinder "Detail", imo, is all about extracting every bit of information from the source and prortraying it *accurately in relation* to the rest of the signal. It's when it's portrayed somehow out of sync (level, timing etc) with the rest of the signal that it turns into information overload for the brain.

I agree 100%. This is a very big mistake often made.

 

[bangraman]

The Qualias do seem to be very detailed, that's undoubted... but at this time, I'm not convinced they're on an otherworldly plane when compared with the other top drawer phones. It's the nature of my Q010 that the tonal balance seems to make it, as I was telling jatinder, impossible to put a near precise measure on just how detailed it is, because a lot of the 'detail' that it serves up is Ety 4S "Detail"... Jacked-up trebles and problems caused by that resulting in the false impression of detail.

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman I presume the Moon Audio cable fudges quite a lot of treble in that case?

Nope. I had Stevieo's Qualia in my rig for a couple of weeks, and got adjusted to the sound. He brought them back with the Black Dragon a week or so later. It took about five seconds to realize that the Black Dragon took the headphone to a different performance level. Mids and lows were richer, without diminishing the highs, or the sense of space. This wasn't subtle to me. My reservations about the Qualia vanished.

All of which makes me wonder what a recabled R10 would sound like...

 

[bangraman]

Would anyone care to lend me one of these cables for a few days? I'll pay shipping both ways, quickly audition it and send it right back.

 

[bozebuttons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman Would anyone care to lend me one of these cables for a few days? I'll pay shipping both ways, quickly audition it and send it right back.

Your best bet would be to contact Drew at Moon Audio as I doubt to many have the Black Dragon Cables around other then the one stevieo has,maybe 1 other member that I know ordered one.

 

[dannyandelyse]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieo not a chance, amigo!

I had to try.............
Dan

 

[Rob N]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jatinder We did try placing a Musical Fidelity X-Tone in the path to help equalise the Qualia. Here I found them to be listenable when I set the upper rolloff to 5KHz and the "slope" to -10dB. I think that these settings are quite extreme. --Jatinder

-10db on an x-tone is extreme I have one of these which I used to use and the most 'cut' I needed for any phone was about -4 to -5db