[kawhia]

Interesting. 500 dollar for two new TC drivers is not what I had expected. That gives me peace of mind. Thanks. However, this also begs the question if that is the actual price for the drivers, or if people get a discount on replacement. Otherwise it is a great margin

 

[nogi replicant]

$500 is a great price for replacement (out of warranty) drivers, and I hope they keep it to this price. I expect that price represents a genuine offering of customer service to those that have already shelled out the $$$ to own an Abyss (a costly outlay), and is not intended to be a means of making a significant profit - but more about goodwill. The cans as new are very expensive, but given the price they have set I expect it is what they feel the market will bear, and it is relatively in line with a number of other flagships. The actual price of the drivers and components (to produce a unit) is impossible for us to know (and I hope they make a good margin after the R&D investments and I expect they made F*ck all money in at the start), but we should not be concerned with that (imo - unless of course you can somehow produce your own Abyss lol). The focus needs to be on percieved value to the consumer, not cost to produce. In saying this I (of course) have no idea what their margin is, I hope it is excellent, they deserve it. No way I would have the balls to go out and start my own audio business, esp when your first product looks like the neck brace apparatus out of Fight Club.

 

[kawhia]

$500 is a great price for replacement (out of warranty) drivers, and I hope they keep it to this price. I expect that price represents a genuine offering of customer service to those that have already shelled out the $$$ to own an Abyss (a costly outlay), and is not intended to be a means of making a significant profit - but more about goodwill. The cans as new are very expensive, but given the price they have set I expect it is what they feel the market will bear, and it is relatively in line with a number of other flagships. The actual price of the drivers and components (to produce a unit) is impossible for us to know (and I hope they make a good margin after the R&D investments and I expect they made F*ck all money in at the start), but we should not be concerned with that (imo - unless of course you can somehow produce your own Abyss lol). The focus needs to be on percieved value to the consumer, not cost to produce. In saying this I (of course) have no idea what their margin is, I hope it is excellent, they deserve it. No way I would have the balls to go out and start my own audio business, esp when your first product looks like the neck brace apparatus out of Fight Club.

Agreed. What matters in the end is how their product compares to similar priced products in the market, resp how much better it is in the customers perceived value compared to cheaper products. And to me, paying list price in Europe, it is worth every penny any day of the week.

 

[nogi replicant]

Agreed. What matters in the end is how their product compares to similar priced products in the market, resp how much better it is in the customers perceived value compared to cheaper products. And to me, paying list price in Europe, it is worth every penny any day of the week.

Agreed. This level of service/assurance is so important given the $ we shell out to play this game. From my personal experience, you can trust Abyss, Audeze, and Chord, and I am sure there are others. In contrast Mytek is the worst customer experience I have had in my life, and not just in audio (and I am middle age).

 

[jlbrach]

when I compare HP's in the high end price category customer service becomes a huge issue for me

 

[SoundJedi]

That is what I thought. But Abyss have assured me multiple times through this process that the drivers they have installed on my black frame are TC drivers.

That is correct. My red Diana Phi got the TC driver treatment last year and recently another Phi I acquired had to go back to Abyss. The drivers were similarly replaced. It came back today and it sounds just as good as the first pair.

This isn't a TC, it's a Phi/TC hybrid and it's my favourite Diana signature of them all (my crazy Diana adventures are well documented on this forum). Also kudos to the @Abyss Headphones team for a quick turnaround. A pleasure to deal with them.

But my overall favourite Abyss is now this bad boy. It's a 1266 Phi (not CC/TC, the second iteration). It has the best bass I've ever heard from any pair of HPs for my own taste (TC included). An incredible sound all around and of course the majestic sound stage to go with it all. A night at the club .

 

[Tchoupitoulas]

It's a 1266 Phi (not CC

I've got the 1266 Phi, too, and love it. I also have the CC pads, which I believe is what accounts for the audible differences between the Phi and the Phi CC (the other difference being cosmetic, with the ceramic coating, right?)

I had a fun but embarrassing and accidental discovery last night. Tired after a long day, I forgot I had the Raal compensation barrels - which provide a bass boost for the SR1a earspeakers - plugged into the back of the amp when I was listening to the 1266. I was lying back in the chair (again, I was tired), and kept thinking the bass was so much richer and thicker, that it had to be the headphones resting at a different angle or something. I only realized my mistake later on. Oops.

In any case, the additional bass sounded damn good, not as tight, a bit more bloomy, but really fun. I'd not thought about adding more bass into the 1266 - why would you given its already outstanding bass response! But I suspect these headphones would take to EQ surprisingly well.

 

[SoundJedi]

I've got the 1266 Phi, too, and love it. I also have the CC pads, which I believe is what accounts for the audible differences between the Phi and the Phi CC (the other difference being cosmetic, with the ceramic coating, right?)

I had a fun but embarrassing and accidental discovery last night. Tired after a long day, I forgot I had the Raal compensation barrels - which provide a bass boost for the SR1a earspeakers - plugged into the back of the amp when I was listening to the 1266. I was lying back in the chair (again, I was tired), and kept thinking the bass was so much richer and thicker, that it had to be the headphones resting at a different angle or something. I only realized my mistake later on. Oops.

In any case, the additional bass sounded damn good, not as tight, a bit more bloomy, but really fun. I'd not thought about adding more bass into the 1266 - why would you given its already outstanding bass response! But I suspect these headphones would take to EQ surprisingly well.

You are correct, the CC version seems to be mostly a cosmetic revision with different pads. I wish I hadn't seen this, now I'm gonna be hunting some pads .

 

[nogi replicant]

@SoundJedi - Yes you are right. Abyss have confirmed that the TC drivers in the old frame do not make the headphones an official set of TC's, but are indeed called TC Hybrids. My set has the OG headband (with the cool metal style Abyss writing on it + plus a dodgy O-ring replacement job I have done), and super broken in CC pads (ultra comfy). I am really loving the sound of this set now. I love that they are back from the dead, and for some reason I am finding the sound more pleasing than I did the actual TC's I owned for 2 years (not sure if that is real or a figment of my imagination).

 

[Dim666]

I'm going to try out a pilot pad but I've found this solution to be comfortable and not at all expensive! !

https://a.co/d/7OATezi

 

[Ragnar-BY]

Got gingerbread from my wife for my birthday

 

[listen4joy]

A Review.

 

[stemiki]

Got gingerbread from my wife for my birthday


Happy Birthday!

 

[dubharmonic]

just wanted to bring attention to this post from some time back.
this is actually a really nice EQ. i flip back and forth between this EQ and mitch's filters (neutral).
i feel what the EQ above does is it brings out the mids really well and solves the recessed echoey hollow sound with vocals. it also takes some edge/zing off the top and at the same time not mucking about with the low end too much. the EQ also preserves dynamics quite well; otoh my experience with the filters, although it is definitely more pleasant sounding, but it can occasionally sound a tad bit flat too. Filter 3 (bass/treble extension) doesnt sound as good to me as filter 1 (neutral).
with the EQ/filter, either is better than without IMO.

if you haven't given the EQ above a go, please do. it is free and easy to compare with and without.
plug in the values to Roon, pull down the preamp gain line to -3dB so all the peaks are below 0.
save the setting as eg TC EQ.
then clear all settings (reset) and start with a blank sheet with no EQ.
go to headroom DSP section and apply a -3dB headroom. save setting as eg TC no EQ.
play some music and just flip back and forth between the saved settings.

Thanks for refreshing the EQ topic, I had forgotten to try it the last time I saw it. I prefer stock overall, thought reducing the 1100 Hz range does help the honk in some poorly recorded tracks.

For reference, I'm using a 1266 TC / stock cables / base WA33 / AudioQuest Mackenzie / Holo Audio Spring 2 KTE

 

[PhazeCrive]

Interesting review, however I disageee with the part about the "bass frequencies making their way out of the headphone and back in through the gap."

Headphone bass is very minimal. Headphone bass needs to be trapped by the earpads to even be noticed. This is why you can't hear bass until you actually put the headphone on (and why it rolls off with a gap.) If there is no material to trap the bass, you will not hear it, as far as headphones are concerned. So there is no realistic way for the bass to come back in a noticeable amount.

That said though, the sound going out of the TC and coming back in certainly applies to the mid and high frequencies. If you can hear the headphone playing music when it isn't on your head, then every sound that you CAN hear from this point will make its way back in when you do wear it. He totally got that backwards. Every open headphone does this, including speakers.