[purrin]

  ^ The diaphragm seems a bit out of control.

 
Keep in mind GE's timescale is short and he also uses smoothing and FFT window rise times which are a bit too lengthy for this application (this tends to smear things)
 

 
Here's another look. The 9k ridge is an issue, but albeit a minor one. But otherwise the decay from 2-9k is extremely fast.
 

 

[MacedonianHero]

^
 
Keep in mind, regardless, this is pretty poor performance when compared to other headphones that cost significantly less.  

 
 
http://en.goldenears.net/15149
 
http://en.goldenears.net/22602
 
among others.

 

[ultrabike]

You mean like the SR009 MH?

 

[MacedonianHero]

  You mean like the SR009 MH?

See the ones I listed. 

 

[ultrabike]

I think there are tradeoffs there MH

. AFAIK the Abyss does better in mid-bass non-linear distortion, while maintaining better bass extension and balance than the STAX line up

.
 
Also those CSD control issues can to some extent be mitigated through equalization, but non-linear distortion is another story

.

 

[MuppetFace]

Before the Abyss was even released some folks were insisting the diaphragm was supposedly going to be unstable, that it was going to practically fly out of the assembly under duress, that there was going to be a ton of distortion. Having talked to people who actually have experience with planar magnetics---both in the industry and out---personally I'm not remotely worried. So far as I can tell the design choices that went into the Abyss were deliberate, the result of one philosophy over another, one target over another.
 
You can cherry pick things to suit whatever point you're trying to make. It ultimately amounts to looking at trees instead of the forest. There are plenty of other headphones that do very specific things better than the Abyss----the HD800 is a better detail extractor, the R10 renders strings with more character, the SR-007 has smoother highs---but the Abyss offers a pretty compelling combination of strengths for some folks. Personally, no other headphone has a bass response as well controlled yet visceral as the Abyss to my ears. No other headphone mimics the sound of a good speaker setup as closely as the Abyss to my ears. No other headphone has an overall FR balance quite like the Abyss (similar to modified T50RPs like the Paradox and some of the HiFiMan models) while performing as well in areas like detail extraction to my ears. Additionally, the Abyss sounds great to me when driven from a $500 vintage speaker amp. The SR-009 on the other hand requires an amp in excess of $2k.
 
As far as the whole "this isn't acceptable for X amount of money" thing goes... please. Trying to argue for what's acceptable in summit-fi is like one madman condemning another because the voices in his head aren't conjugating properly. We justify things to ourselves in any number of ways, and cherry picking certain measurements is just another example, be it to convince others (or really ourselves) that a certain product is great or not. Honestly I think it's a little telling when the most vehement objectors to the Abyss in this thread---and other threads---are the same few people who haven't even listened to it.

 

[purrin]

nvm

 

[warrenpchi]

My thanks in advance to everyone that stays civil, and who refrains from making personal comments. 

  Also...
 

 

[up late]

there's summit fi and then there's stratos fi. the abyss and sr009 are a big leap in price over other totl cans. if you're willing to fork out the cash for them i figure you won't be settling for a budget source and amp.

don't see the point in judging this or any can on the measurements alone. but the measurements look pretty good to me anyways. would love to give it a shot.

 

[MuppetFace]

if you're willing to fork out the cash for them i figure you won't be settling for a budget source and amp.
 

 
Don't tell that to Purrin! He's planning on driving the Abyss with the Schiit Vali ($120) LOL.

 

[up late]

well we've all gotta start somewhere I guess. the abyss should scale well if he ever gets the itch to upgrade.

 

[x838nwy]

well we've all gotta start somewhere I guess. the abyss should scale well if he ever gets the itch to upgrade.

The Vali would be over-kill. I recommend the fiio e1 as a starting point. Quality amplification right there.

 

[wink]

I recommend the Starving Student for that mean hungry sonic signature......

 

[rudi0504]

Before the Abyss was even released some folks were insisting the diaphragm was supposedly going to be unstable, that it was going to practically fly out of the assembly under duress, that there was going to be a ton of distortion. Having talked to people who actually have experience with planar magnetics---both in the industry and out---personally I'm not remotely worried. So far as I can tell the design choices that went into the Abyss were deliberate, the result of one philosophy over another, one target over another.

You can cherry pick things to suit whatever point you're trying to make. It ultimately amounts to looking at trees instead of the forest. There are plenty of other headphones that do very specific things better than the Abyss----the HD800 is a better detail extractor, the R10 renders strings with more character, the SR-007 has smoother highs---but the Abyss offers a pretty compelling combination of strengths for some folks. Personally, no other headphone has a bass response as well controlled yet visceral as the Abyss to my ears. No other headphone mimics the sound of a good speaker setup as closely as the Abyss to my ears. No other headphone has an overall FR balance quite like the Abyss (similar to modified T50RPs like the Paradox and some of the HiFiMan models) while performing as well in areas like detail extraction to my ears. Additionally, the Abyss sounds great to me when driven from a $500 vintage speaker amp. The SR-009 on the other hand requires an amp in excess of $2k.


 


As far as the whole "this isn't acceptable for X amount of money" thing goes... please. Trying to argue for what's acceptable in summit-fi is like one madman condemning another because the voices in his head aren't conjugating properly. We justify things to ourselves in any number of ways, and cherry picking certain measurements is just another example, be it to convince others (or really ourselves) that a certain product is great or not. Honestly I think it's a little telling when the most vehement objectors to the Abyss in this thread---and other threads---are the same few people who haven't even listened to it.

Hi MF

I am agree with you , I have some high end headphones like Stax sr 007 mk2, sr 009 , Audeze LCD 3 , Sennheiser HD 800 , Bayerdynamic T1 and
Fostex TH 900 .
That Abyss has the closest SQ to my home speakers

Minus : Abyss is power hungry

With my high end portable amps can sing very good but not to the high end level SQ
Like with my Theorem 720 DAC and Alo Rx 3 B + Cyberlabs Class dB 2

With my tube Pre Amp T + A P 10.2 high end home audio , I can hear the strong point
From Abyss 1266 the SQ reproduction is the closest to home speaker .

IMO

 

[rudi0504]

My best portable set up with Abyss 1266:

Source : iPhone 4 s
Dac : cyberlabs class dBo , 2.00 Vrms
Amp : RSA the Intruder
Cable : Moon audio silver dragon v1 mini to Lod