[up late]

"let's try one more time..." weight is a significant factor with the abyss, regardless of how well it is distributed. i'm not alone in noticing this as others have also remarked upon the abyss's weight at this forum and elsewhere.

thanks for the lesson on the physics behind the headband design, but i have already acknowledged that the weight was well distributed in an earlier post, however, it doesn't eliminate it. when i auditioned the abyss, i found it to be a heavy and cumbersome (but not uncomfortable) headphone. comparisons with the other models that i mentioned earlier made that even more apparent.

 

[jlbrach]

I have the Phi and have used or own pretty much all of the high end HP's....the Phi is bulky a little odd and takes a little getting used to but the way it distributes its weight it is actually quite easy to wear for extended periods.Also because their is little clamping force on your ears it doesnt fatigue in that way...the trick to the Phi is finding a position and ear cup setting that allows it to rest comfrtably,once you do it is no more difficult to wear than other HP's......

 

[up late]

i have acknowledged repeatedly now that the abyss's weight was well distributed, it exerted no clamping force and it was not uncomfortable to wear. however, i maintain that there are other totl headphones (including models that i own and others that i have auditioned) that are noticeably lighter in weight, not as unwieldy, more comfortable and therefore better suited to longer listening sessions.

headphone comfort is an important consideration for me, especially in the high-end market segment. i don't want to feel encumbered or weighed down by a headphone because i find that it can detract from the overall listening experience. that's partly why i don't own a totl planar magnetic headphone.

i note that at 330 grams, the diana is almost half the weight of the abyss. i think that's a tremendous achievement by jbs labs. if the headband and ear pads are comfortable, and it exerts minimal clamping force, then i imagine that folks will hardly notice that they have it on save for the music, and that's a good thing imo. i'll definitely be giving it an audition.

 

[mulder01]

i note that at 330 grams, the diana is almost half the weight of the abyss. i think that's a tremendous achievement by jbs labs. if the headband and ear pads are comfortable, and it exerts minimal clamping force, then i imagine that folks will hardly notice that they have it on save for the music, and that's a good thing imo. i'll definitely be giving it an audition.

JohanGao, This is a good point - if the diana can offer a fair chunk of what the Phi can offer, at (a bit over) half the weight and price, maybe it's worth waiting for that...

 

[FLTWS]

I have the Phi and have used or own pretty much all of the high end HP's....the Phi is bulky a little odd and takes a little getting used to but the way it distributes its weight it is actually quite easy to wear for extended periods.Also because their is little clamping force on your ears it doesnt fatigue in that way...the trick to the Phi is finding a position and ear cup setting that allows it to rest comfrtably,once you do it is no more difficult to wear than other HP's......

That's why I plan to give the 1266 another go after spending a week with it last year. For some reason I experienced a disconnect between the video's instructions and how I was applying them. Pretty sure I had them set up too firmly so as to give a securely positioned fit like most phones I have or have auditioned. The centrifugal aspect of the Princess Leia hairdo design had me adjusting for maximum clamp pressure and seal.

The Diana would be a "must audition" also for me.

 

[Beolab]

I run a very similar mod on my Original Abyss. creatology foam covered in thin felt, seems to stop some of the upper mid reflections (hard reflective baffle is not ideal IMO). Lower mids are better but still the weak point of the headphone.
I haven't filled the gap with blue tack because my creatology foam fills the gap well enough.

Hard wiring and rewiring of Abyss with OCC is another mod I have been considering..

Interesting mod to reduce reflections, i wounder if leather would be the better alternative instead of the felt material. Have you used double sided tape or how have you fastened the felt?

What is your point of view Joe S?

 

[Xecuter]

Interesting mod to reduce reflections, i wounder if leather would be the better alternative instead of the felt material. Have you used double sided tape or how have you fastened the felt?

What is your point of view Joe S?

I tried leather, it worked more to absorb sound and didn't fix my reflection issue. The felt works to diffuse reflections rather than minimise them.
I 3d printed the baffle shape of the abyss and used a scalpel to cut different thicknesses of foam and felt with adhesive attached, until I found one that suited me the best.
It's a really harmless mod, I've had a few friends compare OG Abyss with and without the mod, and they all prefered with the mod.

Some measurements were done on another forum with this mod, however the thread was archived and can't be accessed anymore. The measurements were fairly positive if you are into that sort of thing..

I will test my mod with phi soon.

 

[JohanGao]

JohanGao, This is a good point - if the diana can offer a fair chunk of what the Phi can offer, at (a bit over) half the weight and price, maybe it's worth waiting for that...

Yes, I was keep an eye for Diana also... waiting for more impression and review to come.

 

[AxelCloris]

I've had to clean up some of the recent posts in this thread. Please keep the posts within our Posting Guidelines.

Thank you everyone for your help in keeping the thread running smoothly.

 

[MacedonianHero]

So these arrived today:

Abyss Phi. I was so impressed with them at TAVES last month when I covered the show for Headphone.Guru (and mentioned my impressions here too), I recently bought myself a pair from the good folks at Woo Audio (amazing customer service BTW). So far they are what I remembered; that's to say, spacious, transparent, authoritative and dynamic. While the original Abyss were very good headphones, I felt the treble (and to a lesser extent the mids) held them back from true greatness. Well, out of my DAVE / GS-X MK2, the Abyss Phi's have really kicked things up a few notches in these two areas and retained some of the very best bass & sound staging out of any headphone money can buy.

 

[drew911d]

Took my phi to the az meet, for the few hours I could stay, some few people had a chance to get a good impression. Wish I could have stayed longer. Really wish I could try Dave with them. As it was, I was really impressed (mind blown) with a yggy setup with lots of power and signal conditioning and also very, very much liked the Eddie Current Balancing Act fed from a PS Audio DAC. Way different setups, but I couldn't know which I prefer without hours and hours of sampling both. Everybody that could try the phi in the short time I was there liked them. Awesome.

 

[Thenewguy007]

So these arrived today:



Abyss Phi. I was so impressed with them at TAVES last month when I covered the show for Headphone.Guru (and mentioned my impressions here too), I recently bought myself a pair from the good folks at Woo Audio (amazing customer service BTW). So far they are what I remembered; that's to say, spacious, transparent, authoritative and dynamic. While the original Abyss were very good headphones, I felt the treble (and to a lesser extent the mids) held them back from true greatness. Well, out of my DAVE / GS-X MK2, the Abyss Phi's have really kicked things up a few notches in these two areas and retained some of the very best bass & sound staging out of any headphone money can buy.

Is the Abyss the reason you got rid of your Stax?

 

[draytonklammer]

I wish I knew when I could upgrade my Abyss to the Phi.

 

[Xecuter]

I wish I knew when I could upgrade my Abyss to the Phi.

Sell OG abyss and buy phi. Making noise here isn't going to move you up the list.

 

[draytonklammer]

Sell OG abyss and buy phi. Making noise here isn't going to move you up the list.

It's not about moving on the list. It's that I barely even know my position in said list.