[ThanatosVI]

I'm still assessing it, but a certain expensive German headphone is approaching disappointment status for me. I'm still breaking it in, so I'm not gonna call it a full disappointment yet, but these headphones are definitely approaching that. It's mainly due to it's absolute failure with hip-hop and songs with a steady, low and deep bass line.

Whatever, it's easy to drive, and does everything else pretty well, but it doesn't have any aspects that differentiate itself from other headphones. I'm going to give it a few more weeks, and then we'll see if I keep it out sell it.

I'm really interested to reproduce the issue.
The Solitaire P is excellent with bass heavy music, even EDM and Dubstep.

Can you post a Song link (Youtube or tidal?)

 

[Ciggavelli]

I'm really interested to reproduce the issue.
The Solitaire P is excellent with bass heavy music, even EDM and Dubstep.

Can you post a Song link (Youtube or tidal?)

It’s pretty much most rap albums. I’m going to listen later and I’ll post a good example

 

[ScornDefeat]

I'm still assessing it, but a certain expensive German headphone is approaching disappointment status for me. I'm still breaking it in, so I'm not gonna call it a full disappointment yet, but these headphones are definitely approaching that. It's mainly due to it's absolute failure with hip-hop and songs with a steady, low and deep bass line.

Whatever, it's easy to drive, and does everything else pretty well, but it doesn't have any aspects that differentiate itself from other headphones. I'm going to give it a few more weeks, and then we'll see if I keep it out sell it.

That's disappointing to hear, as I am quite interested in trying these. It seems most people actually praise the bass as being its strong point, too, which makes this even more surprising!

 

[Ciggavelli]

I'm really interested to reproduce the issue.
The Solitaire P is excellent with bass heavy music, even EDM and Dubstep.

Can you post a Song link (Youtube or tidal?)

So, albums with a lot of sub-bass, like this album (make sure to get the "chopnotslop" version) display what I'm referring to with the poor bass.

There is normally a lot of sub-bass on the track (it's constant in the background). It takes a very thorough listening to even pick up on the sub-bass I'm talking about on the Ps (for me at least)

 

[ThanatosVI]

So, albums with a lot of sub-bass, like this album (make sure to get the "chopnotslop" version) display what I'm referring to with the poor bass.

There is normally a lot of sub-bass on the track (it's constant in the background). It takes a very thorough listening to even pick up on the sub-bass I'm talking about on the Ps (for me at least)

Gonna listen to it later on, let's see if I can reproduce this

 

[Blaithin]

I'm still assessing it, but a certain expensive German headphone is approaching disappointment status for me. I'm still breaking it in, so I'm not gonna call it a full disappointment yet, but these headphones are definitely approaching that. It's mainly due to it's absolute failure with hip-hop and songs with a steady, low and deep bass line.

Whatever, it's easy to drive, and does everything else pretty well, but it doesn't have any aspects that differentiate itself from other headphones. I'm going to give it a few more weeks, and then we'll see if I keep it out sell it.

When I read "expensive German headphone," first thing that came to mind was the HE-1, and I thought, "Damn, that's pretty baller." 2nd paragraph took the wind out of that assumption. "Easy to drive" is not an adjective I would not readily use for any of the orpheuses. I've honestly never seen an HE-1 for sale outside of the sennheiser order page compared to the plethora of old orpheuses floating around.

 

[Ciggavelli]

When I read "expensive German headphone," first thing that came to mind was the HE-1, and I thought, "Damn, that's pretty baller." 2nd paragraph took the wind out of that assumption. "Easy to drive" is not an adjective I would not readily use for any of the orpheuses. I've honestly never seen an HE-1 for sale outside of the sennheiser order page compared to the plethora of old orpheuses floating around.

Hahaha. Maybe one day. Though, I think I would go the Hifiman Shangri-La route instead. The HE-1 can only be used with 1 make of headphones (Senn’s own). With the Hifiman uber setup, you can use other headphones and the Shangri-la headphones can be used with other amps. Though, I guess if one has HE-1 type of money, they could probably buy both.

 

[number1sixerfan]

Hahaha. Maybe one day. Though, I think I would go the Hifiman Shangri-La route instead. The HE-1 can only be used with 1 make of headphones (Senn’s own). With the Hifiman uber setup, you can use other headphones and the Shangri-la headphones can be used with other amps. Though, I guess if one has HE-1 type of money, they could probably buy both.

I didn't realize this at first. Was silly of me to think the HE-1 had a universal plug. After hearing the SGL and seeing the jump in performance I was ready to sell my other headphones to fund the HE-1 lol.. only to realize you have to use their amp after reaching out to my dealer. I'm not a fan of headphone amps from headphone manufacturers so I don't think I'll ever get to try them. I don't at all doubt that they probably sound great, wish I could give them a try.

 

[Blaithin]

I didn't realize this at first. Was silly of me to think the HE-1 had a universal plug. After hearing the SGL and seeing the jump in performance I was ready to sell my other headphones to fund the HE-1 lol.. only to realize you have to use their amp after reaching out to my dealer. I'm not a fan of headphone amps from headphone manufacturers so I don't think I'll ever get to try them. I don't at all doubt that they probably sound great, wish I could give them a try.

I don't actually mind that the amp is from an HP manufacturer. The HE-1 is a true statement product, after all. Its marble exterior is also matchy-matchy with the foyer of one of my properties sooooo...

In any case, I looked through sennheiser's patents and saw quite a number referring to the research and make that went into the HE-1. I saw some for the shang-Rila but nowhere near as much... But what can you expect? Hifiman doesn't have that kind of research money to throw out the window for a probable net loss statement product.

Strangely enough, hifiman's recent patent direction has been involving car audio tech. There were so many patents for that. No wonder we haven't gotten a brand new version for most of the stuff. The man smells money elsewhere.

 

[number1sixerfan]

I don't actually mind that the amp is from an HP manufacturer. The HE-1 is a true statement product, after all. Its marble exterior is also matchy-matchy with the foyer of one of my properties sooooo...

In any case, I looked through sennheiser's patents and saw quite a number referring to the research and make that went into the HE-1. I saw some for the shang-Rila but nowhere near as much... But what can you expect? Hifiman doesn't have that kind of research money to throw out the window for a probable net loss statement product.

Strangely enough, hifiman's recent patent direction has been involving car audio tech. There were so many patents for that. No wonder we haven't gotten a brand new version for most of the stuff. The man smells money elsewhere.

Not a knock at all against the HE-1 overall. I'm on the record saying I'd love to try it. I'm also on the record saying that headphone amps from headphone manufacturers come at a premium price to performance ratio. There's no doubt in my mind that a DIY T2 or TOTL commercial amp will perform at similar/higher levels at a fraction of the cost. But only a comparison could confirm, my only issue is overpaying for the amp. The same is true with the Shangri-La. I would not have the headphone if I had to buy their amp, I'm very fortunate I could buy it separate.

But I do get the collector/statement product aspect, I definitely do. And there's plenty of people into that kind of thing. Again, if offered separate, I'd buy the headphone alone without question.

 

[Blaithin]

Not a knock at all against the HE-1 overall. I'm on the record saying I'd love to try it. I'm also on the record saying that headphone amps from headphone manufacturers come at a premium price to performance ratio. There's no doubt in my mind that a DIY T2 or TOTL commercial amp will perform at similar/higher levels at a fraction of the cost. But only a comparison could confirm, my only issue is overpaying for the amp. The same is true with the Shangri-La. I would not have the headphone if I had to buy their amp, I'm very fortunate I could buy it separate.

But I do get the collector/statement product aspect, I definitely do. And there's plenty of people into that kind of thing. Again, if offered separate, I'd buy the headphone alone without question.

Just for the record, I'm not at all trying to convince you to buy the HE-1. I'm also not saying it's "superior" to everything sonically just because of price. I've spent far, far more on speakers...enough to learn the lesson that price means very little in terms of audio performance...That and finding out audio quality was never what I was looking for in the first place because its pursuit ran counter to my significantly greater love for music. The obsessive need to focus on the sound eventually killed my enjoyment of music altogether for more than half a decade. Most people spend their lives on that treadmill, I've since gotten off of it. Only irony is that I'm pretty much back where I started.

 

[number1sixerfan]

Just for the record, I'm not at all trying to convince you to buy the HE-1. I'm also not saying it's "superior" to everything sonically just because of price. I've spent far, far more on speakers...enough to learn the lesson that price means very little in terms of audio performance...That and finding out audio quality was never what I was looking for in the first place because its pursuit ran counter to my significantly greater love for music. The obsessive need to focus on the sound eventually killed my enjoyment of music altogether for more than half a decade. Most people spend their lives on that treadmill, I've since gotten off of it. Only irony is that I'm pretty much back where I started.

I hear you and really appreciate this response. I'm of the same mindset and this fully resonates with me, even just from a headphone journey alone lol. Really looking forward to your impressions once you have the HE-1

 

[Ciggavelli]

Just for the record, I'm not at all trying to convince you to buy the HE-1. I'm also not saying it's "superior" to everything sonically just because of price. I've spent far, far more on speakers...enough to learn the lesson that price means very little in terms of audio performance...That and finding out audio quality was never what I was looking for in the first place because its pursuit ran counter to my significantly greater love for music. The obsessive need to focus on the sound eventually killed my enjoyment of music altogether for more than half a decade. Most people spend their lives on that treadmill, I've since gotten off of it. Only irony is that I'm pretty much back where I started.

The same thing happened to me with custom gaming PCs. I got so obsessed with graphics that I was sli-ing gpus, messing with every setting to maximize my fps and also play at the highest resolution. I got to the point that playing a new game was a hassle because of minor flaws in the graphics and constant tweaking. I had to step back from gaming for a bit because it was no longer fun

 

[Blaithin]

The same thing happened to me with custom gaming PCs. I got so obsessed with graphics that I was sli-ing gpus, messing with every setting to maximize my fps and also play at the highest resolution. I got to the point that playing a new game was a hassle because of minor flaws in the graphics and constant tweaking. I had to step back from gaming for a bit because it was no longer fun

Tell me about it. I'm here with an i7-4790k and a GTX970 because I can't be bothered to open up my PC anymore. Every time I open it...it's like a SATA cable dies shortly after, and I have to open it again and manage those damnable cables again...Really should just get someone else to do it for me (but man-pride hahaha)

I can't be bothered to do all that unnecessary work if I only seem to watch videos; listen to music; and play low-spec low-time req indie games from itch.io.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Gonna listen to it later on, let's see if I can reproduce this

@Ciggavelli I tested the Song now several times with both the Solitaire P and Empyrean for reference.

It seems fine to me.
On the Empyrean the Bass is more in your face, as it is usually the case.
On the Solitaire P it's more spacious and the Bass feels like from a good subwoofer (except that you can't feel it), a powerful Bass Fundament without overpowering the rest (while it it slightly dominating On the Empyrean, but the Empyrean has elevated Bass anyways)

From 1:30-2:00 the bass line stops mostly, I guess this is in the Song like that.
The Bass line starting at 2:00 is mighty impressive On the Solitaire, well textured authorative and strong.

all my testing has been on my Octave V16.
While the Empyrean has more quantity as expected, it was cery obvious and strong Bass On the Solitaire as well.(especially after 2 minutes, loving that part)