[up late]

yeah some folks do.

that claim is marketing spiel imho. it's still a fine can tho.

 

[Fririce0003]

lol
You *really* hate the the HD800 don't you?
But that's OK ,we all hear differently.
Anyways i hope the Abyss is not much better than HD800 because i will never be able to afford it anyways haha, 5000$ is just too much(for me).
You can buy speakers for that amount , that will blow your mind.

I wouldn't be quite so sure about a $5000 or even $10000 speaker system beating an abyss rig. My speaker rig is by no means endgame but it still isn't bad. Vienna Acoustic Klimt the Kiss speakers, Auralic Merak Mono's, Headamp GS-X as a pre or the pre out from the WA234 (very musical and detailed, but single ended) and the rest of the system the same as my headphone rig. I can earnestly say my speakers only see use when I'm cleaning my room or have people over, they can't touch the musicality and detail of the abyss. The only area they come close is imaging and they only have a slight edge in soundstage due to having a physical soundstage.
Keep in mind I also lived with the HD800 for 2 years before the abyss. While it throws a allude detailed soundstage it isn't natural comapred to speakers or live, it just seems etched and straining for the two. They still sound good, great given the price. But after hearing the abyss and upgrading to my speaker rig I could never go back.
But that's just me personally. For me, compare to speakers the price of an abyss rig is a steal!

 

[deuter]

I wouldn't be quite so sure about a $5000 or even $10000 speaker system beating an abyss rig. My speaker rig is by no means endgame but it still isn't bad. Vienna Acoustic Klimt the Kiss speakers, Auralic Merak Mono's, Headamp GS-X as a pre or the pre out from the WA234 (very musical and detailed, but single ended) and the rest of the system the same as my headphone rig. I can earnestly say my speakers only see use when I'm cleaning my room or have people over, they can't touch the musicality and detail of the abyss. The only area they come close is imaging and they only have a slight edge in soundstage due to having a physical soundstage.
Keep in mind I also lived with the HD800 for 2 years before the abyss. While it throws a allude detailed soundstage it isn't natural comapred to speakers or live, it just seems etched and straining for the two. They still sound good, great given the price. But after hearing the abyss and upgrading to my speaker rig I could never go back.
But that's just me personally. For me, compare to speakers the price of an abyss rig is a steal!

Speakers is also a lifestyle thing, my wife would hate me if I sit with headphones on all day.

 

[wink]

Quote:mulder01

  But the Abyss does sound realistic - it's just that the detail isn't shoved down your throat.  I would liken the experience to putting on a pair of glasses and not realising you had bad eyes until just now - all the detail that you never noticed before is now there, but it's presented to you in a nice seamless way so that you can enjoy and appreciate it.  
 
Imagine you are sitting in a park, birds chirping, kids playing, dogs running around, joggers going by, then a maintenance guy goes past with a lawnmower.  On the Abyss, the lawnmower going past sounds like a lawnmower going past.  On the HD800, there is a crazy person that comes up behind you, puts your arms behind your back, puts his other hand around the back of your neck, and pushes your head right next to the lawnmower motor and yells at you "See!  It's a lawnmower! Do you hear it!  Sounds like a lawnmower, hey?!"  and I'm like yes, I know, this doesn't make it any better, please let me go.

On a good system the lawnmower sounds like it's revving flat out because that's what it's doing..
With a more forgiving headphone in the same system the lawnmower sounds muted when it should be roaring as it cuts the grass just around where you're sitting.

 

[mulder01]

@Fririce0003 Those are some sexy lookin' speakers man!
 
@wink nah, the mower was at least 10m away

 

[Fririce0003]

Speakers is also a lifestyle thing, my wife would hate me if I sit with headphones on all day.

Hahaha, very true. I have both the fortune and misfortune of not having a significant other. So headphones is a non issue for me.
Could get the wife a set of her own and try rig up a microphone feed to cross into the signal to enable conversation.

@Fririce0003
Those are some sexy lookin' speakers man!

@wink
 nah, the mower was at least 10m away

They are very nice to look at and nicely musical, not the end word in detail though. Pre amp choice made a large difference, GS-X is more analytical while the 234, so musical. I get as much weight and bass from the 234 and Kiss as I do with the GS-X, Kiss and JL Fathom F113. But the 234 is much more smooth and better integrated.

 

[wink]

Quote:mulder01

 @wink nah, the mower was at least 10m away

Check your chewed up picnic rug.........  

 

[up late]

don't see much point in comparing cans to speakers and vice versa. one is personal audio and the other isn't. and trying to justify spending over $5000 on cans by comparing them to speakers that cost around the same seems kinda silly to me for the same reason.

i've heard the abyss and was impressed. i've also heard some speakers costing about the same or a little less and was just as impressed. different strokes as they say.

 

[mulder01]

Yeah the speakers and headphone comparison is a little bit like apples and oranges.  However, they both play music and are both fruit respectively.  They're not the same but there are definitely similar qualities.
 
Anyone have any CanJam impressions?  Favorite amp?  Vs the HE-1k maybe? 

 

[up late]

sure - like comparing cars and motorcycles which perform a similar function in fundamentally different ways

 

[isquirrel]

Messed around with the Abyss getting the fit just right with a marathon 15 hour listening session yesterday. 
 
I have been a vocal critic of the Abyss, my experience so far with them is that the fit is absolutely critical and its just not possible to get that right unless you are able to play with them over a month or so. I went from thinking there's not much bottom end to literally an overwhelming amount of bass performance by incrementally moving the ear pads away from my ears. Its a weird feeling because they just hang on your head just brushing your face.
 
I highly doubt anyone at a show or even a store auction would get anyway close to getting a handle on the best fit for them and that would explain the disparity in the commentary about them. They are absolutely like a good pair of loudspeakers where placement is critical and that takes time in my experience.

 

[up late]

rubbish - i had no problems getting a good fit in store with the ear pads lightly touching my ears. there was ample bass but it wasn't overwhelming. there's no need to obsess over the fit of this can - just follow the manufacturer's recommendation.

 

[rgs9200m]

Has anyone tried a different cable on the abyss?

 

[mulder01]

  Messed around with the Abyss getting the fit just right with a marathon 15 hour listening session yesterday. 
 
I have been a vocal critic of the Abyss, my experience so far with them is that the fit is absolutely critical and its just not possible to get that right unless you are able to play with them over a month or so. I went from thinking there's not much bottom end to literally an overwhelming amount of bass performance by incrementally moving the ear pads away from my ears. Its a weird feeling because they just hang on your head just brushing your face.
 
I highly doubt anyone at a show or even a store auction would get anyway close to getting a handle on the best fit for them and that would explain the disparity in the commentary about them. They are absolutely like a good pair of loudspeakers where placement is critical and that takes time in my experience.

 
 

rubbish - i had no problems getting a good fit in store with the ear pads lightly touching my ears. there was ample bass but it wasn't overwhelming. there's no need to obsess over the fit of this can - just follow the manufacturer's recommendation.

 
 
I have to agree with isquirrel on this one.  I got mine to have a pretty nice gentle seal the whole way around my ear, and I can change the bass response quite a bit by adjusting them so there's a slight gap in front of my ears.  When I first got them, I had the gap mostly under my ears and that's a different sound again (I can't remember specifically how).  Sure, in the shop, nobody has an ideal fit and they still sound great, but when you have more time to play, and a quiet room, and have lived with them for a while, you realise you can tweak the sound a bit by adjusting the fit.  I would liken it to moving loudspeakers around a bit at the front of your room - the difference isn't night and day, but if you want to spend the time to fiddle around with it and tweak it to your liking, you can.

 

[up late]

you can change the sound of any can by adjusting its position but to say that it's unlikely that anyone will achieve the optimal fit without weeks of experimentation is ridiculous imo. surely it can't be that hard and i doubt that the manufacturer designed it to be. when i tried it the sales guy told me to have the ear pads just touching my ears which i did. it was straightforward enough. there was no obvious imbalance in the sound. the can sounded great and i enjoyed the experience.