[572217]

Just a general comment.

Anonymity changes people’s behaviour. Some do things, they would not in a circle of friends or family, as their reputation would suffer. We are humans at keyboards here, sharing a hobby. Attempts at hurt are despicable.

Luckily, this forum has an ignore feature. So each abuser only gets one shot.

 

[alekc]

TOTL disappointments from today:

1. Niimbus US 5 (non-pro version): noises/scratching sound when touching and moving volume pot is a complete disqualification at this price tag. Further while this is very transparent and powerful amp with wide sound stage, I failed to hear anything that would moved me in any way. When comparing with T+A HA-200 only single track sounded indeed better (more dynamic) on Niimbus than on HA-200. While sound signature feelings are subjective, the fact that volume pot designed is broken is a fact. Very disappointing especially from product from Germany.

2. Abbys AB-1266: tested with Envy and Full Music tubes for those who care. Fitting them on my head was a disaster. I guess there are other amps that can have better synergy than Envy with Abbys cans but overall expect for weird look, they offer very little for the price especially if you are listening to classical or jazz music. Those who love a lot of bass, especially artificial one will like them more I suppose. I would never exchange T+A Solitaire P or P-SE for AB-1266.

 

[vonBaron]

Envy is one of the worst amp to pair with 1266.

 

[theveterans]

Envy is one of the worst amp to pair with 1266.

Nothing beats Focal Clears with Ampsandsound Nautilus to me. Such a horrible paring making Clears sound like a $20 headphone lol

 

[chesebert]

TOTL disappointments from today:

1. Niimbus US 5 (non-pro version): noises/scratching sound when touching and moving volume pot is a complete disqualification at this price tag. Further while this is very transparent and powerful amp with wide sound stage, I failed to hear anything that would moved me in any way. When comparing with T+A HA-200 only single track sounded indeed better (more dynamic) on Niimbus than on HA-200. While sound signature feelings are subjective, the fact that volume pot designed is broken is a fact. Very disappointing especially from product from Germany.

2. Abbys AB-1266: tested with Envy and Full Music tubes for those who care. Fitting them on my head was a disaster. I guess there are other amps that can have better synergy than Envy with Abbys cans but overall expect for weird look, they offer very little for the price especially if you are listening to classical or jazz music. Those who love a lot of bass, especially artificial one will like them more I suppose. I would never exchange T+A Solitaire P or P-SE for AB-1266.

Don’t blame you for being disappointed. Niimbus=lake people, which is solidly midfi so not even TOTL material in first place.

 

[AnyDave]

TOTL disappointments from today:

1. Niimbus US 5 (non-pro version): noises/scratching sound when touching and moving volume pot is a complete disqualification at this price tag. Further while this is very transparent and powerful amp with wide sound stage, I failed to hear anything that would moved me in any way. When comparing with T+A HA-200 only single track sounded indeed better (more dynamic) on Niimbus than on HA-200. While sound signature feelings are subjective, the fact that volume pot designed is broken is a fact. Very disappointing especially from product from Germany.

2. Abbys AB-1266: tested with Envy and Full Music tubes for those who care. Fitting them on my head was a disaster. I guess there are other amps that can have better synergy than Envy with Abbys cans but overall expect for weird look, they offer very little for the price especially if you are listening to classical or jazz music. Those who love a lot of bass, especially artificial one will like them more I suppose. I would never exchange T+A Solitaire P or P-SE for AB-1266.

FWIW, on the 590 non-pro I had on loan, I found the scratching sound was because the volume knob was physically mounted too close to the chassis and it was scraping. I fixed it with an allen wrench and it never scratched again. This could also easily be fixed by a cheap nylon washer to create a little bit of space.

 

[hakunamakaka]

There's definitely an improvement in resolution going from Clear to Utopia. IMO the Clear doesn't really outresolve stuff like the HD650, at least not in the upper half of the FR, but the Utopia definitely does. It's also less metallic sounding than the Clear (OG), has a wider and more open stage, and better imaging with real depth.

At the same time, not everything is peachy in Utopia-land, the tembre is still metallic and weird and IMO a step behind the OG Clear, the highs are fatiguing at least in the OG version (haven't heard the new one yet), there's a bit of sibilance and overall performance just isn't up there with the price. Though if you buy used around the $2k mark I think that's closer to its real value.

A very nice headphone despite its flaws, I wish I liked it more, but I couldn't listen to it for more than 30 minutes at a time due to fatigue and eventually sold it. I also preferred the various Stax stuff I had lying around. It is kinda like a super HD600, but also more flawed.

OG Utopia to be used as main and only headphone is not a good option as it can really get tiring sometimes.I do enjoy it with the certain music where dynamics and speed of these drivers really shines. Utopia 2022 will be a better bet for most of the folks, especially if they plan to have only one headphone. Metallic timbre is more obvious on older release, but it doesn't bother me as I mainly used it for electronic music. I was comparing OG to 2022 release and older version actually outresolves 2022, except bass

I can definitely understand that this heapdhone might not be for everyone, but to me it's a perfect tool to enjoy the music when I'm ready to be excited. For casual listening I mainly stick with Denons.

 

[Metalingus]

Seems like ABYSS takes the crown of most dissapointments. Never seen a ZMF in this thread.

 

[572217]

Same for me. The Abyss was over–resolving to the point of being fatiguing and the ergonomics are a joke.

 

[TheRunningIr0n]

Seems like ABYSS takes the crown of most dissapointments. Never seen a ZMF in this thread.

There are some here and there but the last time a ZMF was mentioned, Zach swooped down from the heavens and wrote a multi-paragraph rebuttal amounting to "most people like it and you must be doing something wrong". No one wants that kind of heat on them from a manufacturer over a negative impression.

 

[michael2v]

Seems like ABYSS takes the crown of most dissapointments. Never seen a ZMF in this thread.

I wonder how much price point plays a role. I absolutely love my Diana V2--the fast, deep sub-bass, the clean and coherent treble, clear without being peaky--but I also purchased them used at a very reasonable cost relative to MSRP (well below even the warehouse sale price). The pads also make a huge difference for me, the original fenestrated pads are just right, but the new leather pads take a lot of the life out of them (despite Abyss stating that most users prefer them), so ergonomics seem highly individualized as well. I'm still itching to try the Atrium though!

 

[chesebert]

There are some here and there but the last time a ZMF was mentioned, Zach swooped down from the heavens and wrote a multi-paragraph rebuttal amounting to "most people like it and you must be doing something wrong". No one wants that kind of heat on them from a manufacturer over a negative impression.

ZMF can do no wrong and Zach must be worshiped by all. I have had my share of heat from Zach and his loyal followers. Same with the Watts/Chord Dave crowd.

 

[KaiFi]

There are some here and there but the last time a ZMF was mentioned, Zach swooped down from the heavens and wrote a multi-paragraph rebuttal amounting to "most people like it and you must be doing something wrong". No one wants that kind of heat on them from a manufacturer over a negative impression.

Well, no one came after me when I said ZMF has the worst pad-swapping system in the world. Actually, I didn't say it quite like that, but I say it now. It's horrendous. I remember when I thought Sennheiser was bad. It's always taken me 15+ minutes to change the pads on my Atticus all while feeling I was about to rip the pads in the process. And the Bokeh is apparently even worse (which I recently ordered--I obviously like ZMF headphones, but let's be honest about changing pads on them. It's bad.)

 

[theveterans]

Seems like ABYSS takes the crown of most dissapointments. Never seen a ZMF in this thread.

ZMF always sounds great and are tuned safely

 

[alekc]

Envy is one of the worst amp to pair with 1266.

@vonBaron I will not dispute this however the amp has nothing to do with overall design and comfort of the headphone during listening. The idea of cans "floating" on top of your head is complete disaster for me. BTW: I have been listening with Sonnet Morpheus as DAC and I think I understand why you liked it. Very close to my WaveLight, just a bit different tuning so it comes down as matter of taste which one select in terms of SQ.