[haquocdung]

Sub. Interested in extensive review with Paradox vs. Mad Dog / LCD2.2 or even Fostex TH900

 

[preproman]

Quote:

Sub. Interested in extensive review with Paradox vs. Mad Dog / LCD2.2 or even Fostex TH900

 
 
I guess anything can be compared - but to a 2K headphone?  I'm sure it will be done.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

 
 
I guess anything can be compared - but to a 2K headphone?  I'm sure it will be done.

TH900 like most $1k~2k headphones, is just a hi-fi flavour, the actual price differences don't mean much more than vanity/finish/exclusivity/branding.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

TH900 like most $1k~2k headphones, is just a hi-fi flavour, the actual price differences don't mean much more than vanity/finish/exclusivity/branding.

 
 
Yeah that - I agree.  But also in the case of say LCD - their ortho driver is much larger than the fostex.  But what the hech does that mean - right.

 

[paradoxper]

The Paradox is hermetically sealed. 

 

[chrislangley4253]

I'll be using the ODAC and O2 and foobar2k playing mostly flac.

Lets see how they do

Firstly, they are crazy comfortable. The suspension headband and pads are totally on point. However, they are a bit heavy, and a bit hot.. A problem pretty much every headphone of this type has, so no biggie. I'm just comparing them to the ultra light and cool magnums.
 

 
Sound Impressions
 
*edit*

My initial impressions sucked. See Post 100.

 

[DannyBai]

Thanks for including me flysweep!!

 

[tim_j_thomas]

Here is a re-post of my initial review of Paradox (serial #8):
 
A couple of days ago was an early Christmas, as when I returned home from work a package sat upon my porch.  Carefully opening revealed a present from from Santa LFF - a brand new set of Paradox T50RP headphones!!!
 
I only have one thing to say about the Paradox's:  HOLY SH_T!!!!  These are without a doubt, the clearest most resolving headphones I have ever heard.  Although I've listened to this CD dozens of times with my HD580's, K701's as well as Grado RS-2 and from my speakers, I am hearing sounds I have never heard before -- the intake of breath, subtle nuances to the decay of cymbals, etc.
 
In addition to sounding crystal clear (I can think of no better way than to say the headphones simply get out of they way of the music), they are very comfortable.  Most likely due to the large suspension band, after a few minutes on my head, I forget that they are even there.
 
Fantastic job!!  I could not be happier.
 
I've listened to the Paradox for over a year now and my opinion of them has not changed. In fact it has grown!  I have compared them again to my HD-580's, K701s, and Grado RS-2 as well as HD-650's and Grado RS-1s.  In my opinion, the Paradox are better in almost every way.
 
The only thing I can say is that the HD-580's are a bit more comfortable and I wish the Paradox were open instead of closed.  (I can't listen to closed headphones at work.)  While the HD-580's are good headphones, I know immediately upon putting on the Paradox when I get home from work, that they are a better set of cans.
 
 
As a proud owner of Paradox, I can only say to those waiting -- it will be worth the wait!!!  The more I listen to the my Paradox, the less I listen to any other headphones I own.  I have taken my pair to work, and now rarely listen to headphones at home as my HD-580s and K-701's simply do not compare.
 
As a final comment to how much I love these headphones - I have placed an order for second set!!

 

[dBel84]

I hope to hear the paradox soon, it is of interest to me that you find them neutral but not natural and I can only surmise is that your natural is tonally coloured as a neutral headphone should portray all the natural tones of an instrument. I do not own magnums, but would describe them as tonally coloured. 

 

[Radio_head]

Quote:

 
The Paradox definitely has less bass than the magnums. Now, I don't think this is inherently a bad thing, I recognize the magnums are colored and I'm totally okay with a neutral bass response.. But, it really felt the paradox were lacking a bit even for a "neutral" set of cans. I had problems making out the details in the low end on some tracks, they were just buried under the mids and highs it seemed. I had to really crank up the volume to hear some of the lower stringed instruments and I  didn't like that. I will say the bass hump on the magnums is a bit more noticeable when compared to the paradox, but I don't think the paradox is quite -right- either. Maybe some EQ could help remedy this, I didn't really care to mess with it though. I knew I wasn't interested in the cans after the issues with the highs not sounding right. I might be tempted to mess around with EQ'ing the bass down a notch on the magnums though.

Which version of the Magnums were you using?  I find this interesting as every version I've seen measured has essentially no bass until the 80-100 range, while the paradox extends all the way into the sub-bass region.  I wonder if what you're hearing is the tipped-up midbass which is exaggerated compared to the mids on the Magnums.  This would make, say a cello's mid-range stick out in a mix, but would fail to even register the bottom few notes that a cello or bass could play - I guess it depends how the instruments are used in your music of choice.  Another possibility is higher distortion in the bass of the Magnums which can lead to some feeling it more "substantial" (and natural come to think of it with music with lots of distortion) while cleaner bass can be less pronounced and "leaner" sounding.  

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

I hope to hear the paradox soon, it is of interest to me that you find them neutral but not natural and I can only surmise is that your natural is tonally coloured as a neutral headphone should portray all the natural tones of an instrument. I do not own magnums, but would describe them as tonally coloured. 

 
Yeah, sounds about right dBel84. I figure it has something to do with the fact that headphones have such small drivers and are so close to the head. By all means, a flat "neutral" speaker makes sense.. But, I honestly don't think a flat headphone will ever sound right to me.

*edit* 

Until they did. LOL

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

Which version of the Magnums were you using?  I find this interesting as every version I've seen measured has essentially no bass until the 80-100 range, while the paradox extends all the way into the sub-bass region.  I wonder if what you're hearing is the tipped-up midbass which is exaggerated compared to the mids on the Magnums.  This would make, say a cello's mid-range stick out in a mix, but would fail to even register the bottom few notes that a cello or bass could play - I guess it depends how the instruments are used in your music of choice.  Another possibility is higher distortion in the bass of the Magnums which can lead to some feeling it more "substantial" (and natural come to think of it with music with lots of distortion) while cleaner bass can be less pronounced and "leaner" sounding.  

V4's in limba cups. How many magnums have you heard? I don't really trust graphs much.
 
Both are extended plenty on the low end. Yes, I was talking about the midbass hump that most grado/magnums possess when I said more bass, but also the lower bass. I don't think the bass on the magnums sounds distorted, but you are free to think whatever you want.
 
The problem I had with the bass was not it's lack of coloration, it was the fact that I couldn't hear some of the low end details on some of my music. Feel free to tell me it's my music's fault. I don't care. It is what it is, I like my magnums a lot and I didn't care for the paradox much. I did my best to explain why.

*edit*

The Paradox has gobs of extension on the bass, and the bass in general is very on point. I don't know what I was smoking (or maybe listening to, or maybe it was the pads being squished).

 

[Radio_head]

I only tried the V3's, so I guess it's always possible things have changed since then.
 
I have no idea what music you're listening to, and am not "blaming" anything on it.  I do have certain tracks that I use though to evaluate different frequencies that I know are contained therein.  For instance, this album contains a pipe organ that has a 32 foot pipe with a 16hz fundamental.  I know exactly how far certain instruments in the mix can extend in that case, and feel comfortable making qualitative statements about presence of sub-bass based on performance - (incidentally, no headphone showing rolloff like the earlier magnums has ever passed the sub-bass test, for good reason - its just not there.)  One thing some ortho-listeners talk about is feeling like they're hearing a "wall of sound", which perhaps can be a bit harder to pick specific instruments out of as easily as a dynamic headphone.  This is (some feel) a shortcoming or orthos in general, and is present in varying degrees in those I've owned (LCD-2/3, HE-500, Thunderpants).  
 
I'm not discounting your impressions, and I have no horse in this race as I do not currently own either of these headphones.  I just like getting a feel for what can be extrapolated from one person's impressions to another, and what are purely preference.

 

[Smoke Signals]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrislangley4253 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I don't really trust graphs much.

 
 
Quote:

 I honestly don't think a flat headphone will ever sound right to me.

 
So you don't trust objective data and you don't like your music to sound how it was intended?

 

[preproman]

It's objective to a point.  Yes, if the graph says it did that at this point - then yes it did it.  But on what amp, with what DAC.  Was there a converter of some kind.  To many variables.  
 
I don't let graphs tell me what I'm suppose to hear.  I let my ears tell me that.  
 
He doesn't like a flat headphone - that's understandable.  Maybe he likes a more fun headphone with some color to it.  Nothing wrong with that.