THE WATERCOOLER HEADPHONE EDITION – Headphones, Amps, DACs, and desktop/home audio related – a freewheeling discussion of gear, impressions, music, and musings.
Oct 12, 2024 at 3:11 PM Post #3,916 of 5,601
Jazz lovers...

Listening to Sarama Joy's latest album, "Portrait", which was released earlier today (actually my second end-to-end listen to this album today). What an incredible singer.

Some of you may remember me sharing my impressions from seeing her live in NYC earlier this year. If you ever get to sdo that, I can't recommend that enough. Meantime, I rejoice in each new release. What a generaltional talent.

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Been listening to it almost nonstop since it dropped yesterday. I think it's the best recorded realization of her talent yet.
 
Oct 12, 2024 at 3:18 PM Post #3,917 of 5,601
Question for the WC HE thread...
I am going on well deserved vacation soon, which includes LONG flights, and my question is:
For people that are mostly headphones users - what do you take for long flights? Headphones or are you "scaling down" to IEMs?
If headphones - which are your flight companion favorites?
Also, when flying - I am mostly watching TV shows / movies. For me, that helps pass the time faster than music.

When answering, keep in mind I am flying coach... :grimacing: So no 150 sq. ft. luxury for me! 🤷‍♂️
If it's a long flight, I prioritize noise canceling over everything else. Especially since you are mostly using for tv/movies. In which case it really is only sony and bose overears. Everything else doesn't kill the plane noise as well. I currently use Sony WH1000M4. I like the way they sound better than the bose. But both the bose and sony sound quality are consumer-fi not head-fi.
 
Oct 12, 2024 at 3:33 PM Post #3,918 of 5,601
Tried to get into jazz, might just me listening to the wrong stuff. I feel like I'm missing out on some really top music.
 
Oct 12, 2024 at 3:40 PM Post #3,919 of 5,601
Question for the WC HE thread...
I am going on well deserved vacation soon, which includes LONG flights, and my question is:
For people that are mostly headphones users - what do you take for long flights? Headphones or are you "scaling down" to IEMs?
If headphones - which are your flight companion favorites?
Also, when flying - I am mostly watching TV shows / movies. For me, that helps pass the time faster than music.

When answering, keep in mind I am flying coach... :grimacing: So no 150 sq. ft. luxury for me! 🤷‍♂️
On flights convenience (wireless) and ANC are top priorities. You have to compromise on sound anyway, compared to your home system. I usually travel very light, so TWS IEMS for me. (Headphone cases are too big.) I tried a bunch of Sony, Sennheiser and Bose ANC headphones and IEMs. Unfortunately, all sound pretty bad with boomy bass, but it can be a manageable compromise on flights only. I recently bought a Technics AZ80 which is by far my best sounding TWS so far. I still have to use a little EQ on it, but it is actually surprisingly decent for the price. Better than any other TWS IEM I tried for a similar price.
If I had enough room for headphones (case), I would probably get a Mark Levinson 5909. Sometimes I see open box/hardly used ones for £450. Another thing to consider is comfort. Most TWS IEMs get uncomfortable after 2-3-4 hours. Headphones less so.
Years ago, I also flew with Chord Mojo/phone/IEM combo. But that is a bit cumbersome and also already a compromise versus the sound of my home system, so why not get comfy and wireless? Never looked back. This little Technics works just fine on my flights, I am happy with it. To me it has a better-balanced sound than the usual ANC headphones from Sony and Bose. If I go headphones route once again, that will be the Mark Levinson. (Better than Bathys in many ways.) I really dislike the boomy XM4, XM5, Bose QC35/700 and Sennheiser ANC headphones. There is no one universal answer, the choice depends on your traveling habits, money you are willing to spend and sonic compromise you are willing to make.
 
Oct 12, 2024 at 3:40 PM Post #3,920 of 5,601
Tried to get into jazz, might just me listening to the wrong stuff. I feel like I'm missing out on some really top music.
Start with this:

http://open.qobuz.com/album/c5j10hi0dcnva

IMG_8114.jpeg


And then progress to this:

http://open.qobuz.com/album/0060253764852

IMG_8113.jpeg
 
Oct 12, 2024 at 3:55 PM Post #3,921 of 5,601
I feel like I'm missing out on some really top music.
Jazz is such a vast field to explore. I fell in love with Jazz '70s...years ago and have never explored much anything else (from Jazz).
Except Miles Davies, Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, Ela Fitzgerald...try with Keith Jarrett, Al Di Meola, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin...Michel Petrucciani...and so on and so on... Hmm...even he is not considered to be a jazzist, but could be...the one and only, the great Paco de Lucia, he might open some chakras for you :)

Good Luck!

Cheers!
 
Oct 12, 2024 at 4:01 PM Post #3,922 of 5,601
Oct 12, 2024 at 4:38 PM Post #3,923 of 5,601
Question for the WC HE thread...
I am going on well deserved vacation soon, which includes LONG flights, and my question is:
For people that are mostly headphones users - what do you take for long flights? Headphones or are you "scaling down" to IEMs?
If headphones - which are your flight companion favorites?
Also, when flying - I am mostly watching TV shows / movies. For me, that helps pass the time faster than music.

When answering, keep in mind I am flying coach... :grimacing: So no 150 sq. ft. luxury for me! 🤷‍♂️
IEMs. IEMs all the way. So much less space needed, and with your great choice of IEMs in your collection, you can’t lose. 😊👍
 
Oct 12, 2024 at 5:32 PM Post #3,924 of 5,601
How do we feel about Chi Fi products? I've been looking into the Topping DX9 as an amp and DAC to feed the WA33/WA22 tube amps, but not sure if I should hold out for a Ferrum stack. This review on the Topping DX9 look very promising, has anyone had experience with this one?

https://soundnews.net/reviews/sourc...eview-unleashing-15-years-of-sonic-expertise/
I love "Chi-fi", I own a Holo stack & Susvara, and chinese manufacturers are driving the IEM market in particular forward at a pace that is remarkable for ANY segment. That said, I have owned Topping products in the past and found them very middling. They perform "fine" with objectively impressively low distortion. I have also never found a Topping product to sound particularly good. Their secret sauce seems to drive down distortion (and price) at the cost of "musicality".

China manufactures many of the best products in the world - but you get what you pay for. In the west, people often associate "made in china" with poor quality, but that is only because American/European importers buy the cheapest crap they can find so they can mark it up 10x and sell it to American/European consumers. But if you are willing to spend a bit more on up-market Chinese products you will find they usually provide way more value per US dollar than almost anything else.

That said, my personal opinion is that every Topping product I've tried is overpriced for sale direct from China AS IF it were "imported crap" marked up 10x. YMMV.
 
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Oct 12, 2024 at 5:34 PM Post #3,925 of 5,601
If you're curious about jazz, here's something I found to be really interesting. This is a good group of musicians turning a Nirvana classic into a jazz tune. Personally I love it, I hope you dig it too.

 
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Oct 12, 2024 at 5:40 PM Post #3,926 of 5,601
I love "Chi-fi", I own a Holo stack & Susvara, and chinese manufacturers are driving the IEM market in particular forward at a pace that is remarkable for ANY segment. That said, I have owned Topping products in the past and found them very middling. They perform "fine" with objectively impressively low distortion. I have also never found a Topping product to sound particularly good. Their secret sauce seems to drive down distortion (and price) at the cost of "musicality".

China manufactures many of the best products in the world - but you get what you pay for. In the west, people often associate "made in china" with poor quality, but that is only because American/European importers buy the cheapest crap they can find so they can mark it up 10x and sell it to American/European consumers. But if you are willing to spend a bit more on up-market Chinese products you will find they usually provide way more value per US dollar than almost anything else.

That said, my personal opinion is that every Topping product I've tried is overpriced for sale direct from China AS IF it were "imported crap" marked up 10x. YMMV.
It really depends on which industry you are talking about. iPhones are assembled in China but many of their parts are imported into China. So “made in China” can be confusing.

For me, things that are entirely made in China often has quality control problems. I am on my second Susvara after my first one had a driver failure after just 1 month of purchase. HiFiman sent me another one, new. Though no complete driver failure, the soldering on them are flimsy so the audio cuts out if I move my cable too much. HiFiman told me this was their last “new” one they send out for me and subsequent ones will have to be refurbished. I guess I’ll just have to be extra careful.
 
Oct 12, 2024 at 5:51 PM Post #3,927 of 5,601
Controversial opinion alert, but in my recent listening sessions, I am increasingly gravitating towards the Focal Clear OG instead of the Focal Utopia.

PXL_20241010_034123051~2.jpg

Let me explain why I think this is the case. I am not a "graphs guy" and those of you who have seen question the Harman methodology in my YouTube videos will know this, but Focal headphones do graph well, so let me try to explain using graphs.

Focal Utopia Frequency Response Measurement.png

Focal Clear Measurements Frequency Response.png

Tonality: First and foremost, the Focal Clear has almost 2 decibals more subbass than the Utopia and on listening, this somehow comes off as much more! The Clear sounds quite flat to me in the bass to be honest, or in other words, very well extended, which makes for an exciting rendition of kick drums, bass guitars, and so forth. Both headphones are known to punch hard, however, and that is said to be an outcome of the Focal driver excursion abilities, although the punch doesn't necessarily "appear" in graphs.

I find myself enjoying the less-filled out upper mids of the Clear OG (note the relative lack of meat in the 4-6 Khz range) because I can be sensitive to this region, especially when I have not slept well the night before. Meanwhile, the Utopia is more evenly filled out in the 2.5-5 Khz range. That being said, the Utopia upper mids, especially vocals are ever-so-slightly pushed back in the mix, relative to midbass, and relative to the Clear OG, and it still doesn't lack clarity, which is testimony to the resolving capabilities of the Utopia driver. I personally prefer the more intimate presentation of the Clear more.

When it comes to treble, while the Utopia eschews mid-treble presence, basically being quite dark in the region, it still has a 6 Khz peak. The Clear however has a more balance series of peaks at 6 Khz, 8 Khz and 10 Khz, which to me, provide more attack to guitars, more shimmer to instruments, and air in vocals and in the ambience. Overall, these peaks are nothing dastardly and on an absolute level, the 6 Khz peak of the Utopia has far more energy relative to the rest of the presentation which can be irksome. The Clear, on the other hand, more energy around 10 Khz, bu again, nothing dastardly, and I appreciate the treble performance of the Clear.

Technicalities: Technicalities-wise, honestly, either headphone works fine for me. Yes, the Utopia resolves finer details more evidently; on certain tracks with the right equipment can convey a better sense of stage, both in terms of depth and even width, to a degree. But in terms of macrodynamic contrast, especially in regard to "bass slam", owing to the stronger subbass presence of the Clear, I actually find the Clear more complete in its presentation. With most source chains, I find the Utopia to be "wanting" in this area. I just miss the subbass presence here and it begins to become a deal breaker for me. The Utopia's 6 Khz peak certainly aids to a sense of sharpness of snare drum hits, but it can be a bit zingy sometimes, and makes the Utopia incessantly source-picky.

Looks-wise, I find the latest iteration of the Utopia to be a bit overdone. I preferred the OG Utopia aesthetics because I found to be more congrunet in the minutae of its design language with the rest of the Focal family. It actually looked like what a Focal flagship should look like. Whereas the 2022 version looks like a "forced" upgrade, and perhaps not just aesthetically. Although, there isn't a chasm of tonal difference between the Utopia OG and the Utopia 2022, I much preferred the presentation of the OG, which sounded more alive in the treble for me.

So that's it from me for now, comparing two well-worn headphones, but I still enjoy revisting the golden oldies, and getting re-acquainted with them.

PXL_20241010_022106231.MP.jpg
I can see this - I think it just depends on what you are indexing for. Utopia is AMAZING from the midbass through upper treble, but lacking a bit in sub-bass and arguably a little bit bright (I do not personally find Utopia bright in any way, but I know that many do). I can easily see how Clear's better sub-bass and richer presentation could be read as "better". But Utopia's magic IMHO is its mid-forwardness and crystal clear detail. As evidenced by the "upgraded" Nutopia, when you mess with the OG's tuning balance in literally *ANY WAY*, you are only messing with perfection. Utopia is perfect in what it is - nothing does that special thing Utopia does better than Utopia does it. Unless of course you are looking for something else entirely, i.e. Clear. :wink:
 
Oct 12, 2024 at 5:59 PM Post #3,928 of 5,601
Fun anecdote:
I had a Stockholm work trip immediately following CanJam SoCal and my purchase of a new pair of ZMF headphones, so I was carrying my new Bocote LTD Caldera Closeds with me.

Major plus though: My father (83 y.o.), who lives in Norway (where I grew up), came by train to Stockholm and spent a day and a half with me the weekend after my work meetings. And the first evening we had a ZMF/Sony (WM1A DAP) listening session over sparkling wine in his hotel room!

He’d heard A LOT about my obsession- erm, hobby, but has never had a chance to hear my gear since I’m in the U.S. and he is now too old to travel that far comfortably.

But he loves music, and was almost moved to tears by the Caldera Closeds. Between songs, he exclaimed “I didn’t know headphones could sound like this, and convey the emotion in the music at this level!” After another song, he noted “now I understand why this is a cherished hobby for you.”

Priceless, and well worth carrying a ZMF flight case around. 😁

The rest of our visit together was exceptional as well, but that was a special moment.

I LOVE THIS! To make a very long story short, I have come to realize in adulthood that while he does not realize it, my father is an audiophile and that's where I get it from. A moment like this with him would be EVERYTHING, and seeing yours makes me very happy. :)

Question for the WC HE thread...
I am going on well deserved vacation soon, which includes LONG flights, and my question is:
For people that are mostly headphones users - what do you take for long flights? Headphones or are you "scaling down" to IEMs?
If headphones - which are your flight companion favorites?
Also, when flying - I am mostly watching TV shows / movies. For me, that helps pass the time faster than music.

When answering, keep in mind I am flying coach... :grimacing: So no 150 sq. ft. luxury for me! 🤷‍♂️
In-ear TWS, specifically the ones with the best ANC, sound quality be damned. So, Bose. 🤷‍♂️ Tbh, the same goes for my daily commute on the NYC subway.

If only the best ANC and the best sound quality / tuning could come in the SAME PACKAGE........ :wink:
 
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Oct 12, 2024 at 6:12 PM Post #3,929 of 5,601
Tried to get into jazz, might just me listening to the wrong stuff. I feel like I'm missing out on some really top music.
I could digress on this for hours, but in a nutshell the key to liking/loving jazz is understanding that jazz is all about capturing a moment "in the pocket" where everything jives and everything is in sync and everything JAMS. 🤘 Keep in mind jazz is always recorded live with the musicians playing off each other to find that perfect "pocket".

Start with Art Blakey "Moanin'", Miles Davis "Kind of Blue", and Dave Brubeck "Time Out". Close your eyes and just get inside the groove. If none of those appeal, jazz just may not be for you.
 
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Oct 12, 2024 at 6:27 PM Post #3,930 of 5,601
If none of those appeal, jazz just may not be for you.
Great recommendations!

I will also say that some more modern jazz groups, like Matt Jorgensen +451 can be appealing still… (I love both, but covers of Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter” that rivals the original hits different)
 

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