I have been talking about doing this to many on this forum for awhile now, but due to a couple of setbacks and delays I just only recently got my hands on all the gear I wanted to test and compare. So, now that I've had all this for some time, here are my thoughts on some of the most popular sound gear currently on the market.
Before I start with actual impressions, just a few notes for context:
- I have been in this hobby for close to 10 years and have become really active in the past two (pandemic will do that to you). Before owning the gear I am discussing, I've owned many others, including Meze Empyreans, ZMF Verite Closed, Kennerton Rognir, Hifiman HE100SE, Focal Stellia, along with mainly portable or semi-portable gear (Hiby R8, Ibasso DX300, Shanling M30) and more. Once I got stuck at home though I decided to get more stationary equipment and to try out the best for each. I also demoed a lot of other gear this year before settling on these contenders but it would take too long to get into everything.
- Like many here, I listen to all genres, but mainly rock, acoustic, classical, soundtracks and EDM. Most of my listening is done in Roon and recently HQPlayer. I have all my music stored on an i9 NUC currently connected to a Sonore Ultrarendu for streaming. I am not the most knowledgeable audiophile by far, but I've spent enough time listening to music on different gear that I know very well what I like and why. But please don't expect a very technical review, this will not be one.
- Finally, just wanted to say that this is my way of paying back a little of all the amazing knowledge, insight and advice I got on this wonderful forum, as well as my deep appreciation of all fellow headfiers who helped me along this fabulous journey. A special shout-out to the awesome headfier and dear friend OneEyedHito, who spent so much time giving me tips and also assisted me in getting close to half the gear on this list.
Okay, enough rambling, on with the show.
1A. Hifiman Susvara
This is the one I probably need to talk the least about, since it has been covered so much already. Suffice to say, all the hype is justified, as this is the one headphone that for me does
everything right: looks, comfort, durability, and of course sound quality across the whole spectrum. Other HPs might have specific strengths but this one balances all of them beautifully. Sure, the bass could be a smidge stronger, but with the right amp (see below) it can shine there too. It was also, among all HPs I've tried, the one that allowed me to appreciate the differences in my chain the most. Yes, it's not cheap (don't pay retail though!) and yes it needs
very good amplification. But it rewards you with the best sound for all music genre in my opinion, except maybe the 1266 which admittedly I have not tried.
1B. Audeze LCD-5
It's a great headphone, and if I didn't own the Susvara I would probably choose this to keep. The comfort and looks are slightly better (even with the clamping which is real but manageable) and the sound is very well rounded. It has presence, bite. resolution like crazy and a nicely shaped soundstage. It's also easier to drive than the Susvara, and it trades blows when it comes to pure enjoyment, especially with harder hitting music like rock or EDM. One thing that didn't really do it for me though is that it works better with certain music genres than others. Music that calls for fast attack and slam will shine on this, but then music that needs a more laid back approach will still feel very strong so there's not as much modulation in the sound (to my ears at least).
1C. Susvara vs LCD-5
I really wanted to prefer the LCD-5. It's a great HP and while not cheaper than the Susvara at street pricing, it would need less amplification so less $$. But try as I might I couldn't get it to sound as effortless and emotional especially for orchestral and acoustic. Music sometimes had a bit more presence and the bass was definitely stronger on the Audeze, but I felt as if the music was presented to me rather than the sensation of losing myself in it that I have with the Susvara. Also, while easier to drive, the LCD-5 still benefited from better amps and DACs so knowing myself I would have still spent as much as I would on the Susvara chain. But still, as much as I prefer the Susvara, I can say that on one will ever regret owning an LCD-5.
2A. Enleum 23r
This amp is really, really something special. It absolutely shines with hard to drive cans like the Susvara, but it also gives you all the control and power you could want for any other HP. Even though I didn't try it, I heard it's also amazing with speakers. It's built like a tank (the extra feet def are nice too) and while I was using it I always felt that I was getting the absolute best rendition of my music, no matter the genre. The soundstage is as wide as can be, the resolution, timbre and layering are perfect, and as I was saying before, it's the one amp that remedied any issues the Susvara could have with bass. It basically makes any can, DAC and piece of music shine, and I could not find a single fault with it.
2B. Ferrum Oor + Hypsos
This is another very special amp, provided you use it with the Hypsos power supply which definitely adds a considerable amount of precision and body to its sound. It is one of the most neutral and effortless amps I've heard, and has this ability to make itself invisible in the sound chain while at the same time getting the most out of each component. The one sound quality that is always evident is a sense of refinement, especially in the upper registers, that allows music to really breathe and occupy the correct space in the soundstage. Without the Hyspos it's nice but not as good as other amps. With the Hypsos it really sings and it gets everything important about music just right.
2C: Oor vs Enleum
This was the most difficult choice of this comparison. I went back and forth so many times between the two, and could really not choose a winner easily. After using them for many weeks though, I would have to give the tiniest edge to the Enleum as far as rendering bass and having a slightly wider soundstage. If the prices were the same I would probably have kept the Enleum for those reasons, but they were not.
3A. Holo Spring 3 KTE
I know this has been written before, but whoever said that all DACs sound the same has not listened to the DACs like the Holo. I almost went for the May but most users seem to agree the Spring is very close for half the price, so the Spring it was. I was immediately impressed by the natural dimension that music acquires with this DAC. Everything sounds just... right. It's also a great DAC for soundstage, timbre, and lower register impact. And the cherry on the top is pairing it with HQPlayer. Roon already sounds awesome on it, but when HQplayer is used to upsample music or convert to DSD, well let's just say interesting things happen. Combined with the beautiful case construction, the awesome preamp module and the perfect USB implementation, this is a special DAC in more ways than one.
3B. Rockna Wavelight
Another pearl of a DAC. I had a Naim Uniti Atom before this and I thought I was getting really good sonic results (it's still an amazing machine for what it offers). But once I got the Wavelight all my music went up several notches and I finally got what I was missing. Like the Spring it also has a massive but natural soundstage, pinpoint instrument precision and a refined but never boring quality, that just allows the listener to be immersed in the music. Construction is also stellar and it too has a great preamp section. The one slight knock is that the input bitrate is capped at 384 PCM and 512 DSD so I couldn't experiment with it like I did with the Spring and HQplayer. But then again the internal upsampling filters are so good on this that it kind of makes up for it.
3C. Wavelight vs Spring
Maybe I should rephrase what I said before about all DACs not sounding the same. Cheap DACs and pricier DACs definitely
do not sound the same, however after a certain price point DACs don't sound bad, just different. This is the case of the Wavelight and the Spring. With either of them, I never for one moment felt as if something was lacking vs the other, just that they gave me an equally superb but slightly different presentation of audio. The Wavelight was slightly more ethereal and laid back, the Spring somewhat more assertive and present. But I'm talking minute differences here, just like the Enelum and the Oor.
Conclusion: There can be only one! (of each)
Ok so time to wrap this up, I could go into much more detail for each but then this post would become unmanageably long. I am happy to give more specific info to anyone who wants to know, just reply to this thread or send me a PM. So, with all that said in the end, I will be keeping the Susvara, the Ferrum Oor and the Holo Spring. Again there was absolutely nothing wrong with the other gear, but when it came time to choose the Susvara sounded better for my preferences, the Oor was very close to the Enleum for roughly half the price and the as for the Spring, it allows me to enjoy music now but also change it up in the future when better upsampling algorithms come along. Taken all together it's not an inexpensive chain by any means, but it's also not the craziest gear, and I feel like I've reached an
extremely nice level of sound enjoyment and I'll be content for a long time to come. Now of course, more and potentially better gear will come along and might make me rethink this but that's the Head-Fi world right? Or, like Omar would say in the Wire, “All in the game yo, all in the game.”
