[MetroBBOY]

Having a quick listen with my iPhone & Fiio E11.
 
Not as harsh as I thought. A hint of sibilance but not prominent. Highs certainly sparkly though. 
Thankfully the mids are quite present, I would say on a neutral scale (compared to AD900)
 
Without the E11, these are ice cold, giving that metallic sound signature. The E11 is adding a hint of warmth for sure.
 
And yes there is BASS! Nicely textured with body and smooth extension. Its Ultrasone punchy (not AD900 punchy). 
It will never have authoritative slam like the Pro 900, but I'm appreciating the quantity so far.
 
Just documenting a few things from a fresh 1 hour perspective. More to come.
 

 

[krod3003]

Quote:

Having a quick listen with my iPhone & Fiio E11.
 
Not as harsh as I thought. A hint of sibilance but not prominent. Highs certainly sparkly though. 
Thankfully the mids are quite present, I would say on a neutral scale (compared to AD900)
 
Without the E11, these are ice cold, giving that metallic sound signature. The E11 is adding a hint of warmth for sure.
 
And yes there is BASS! Nicely textured with body and smooth extension. Its Ultrasone punchy (not AD900 punchy). 
It will never have authoritative slam like the Pro 900, but I'm appreciating the quantity so far.
 
Just documenting a few things from a fresh 1 hour perspective. More to come.
 

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[santsant]

@MetroBBOY
 
cool!!
 
waiting for more impressions
 
---------
 
 
btw i just borrowed my friend's hd650,,
 
and some quick impression compared to my pro 2900.. despite their differences in tonality and presentation,, they are suprisingly share some similarities..
 
 

 

[colmustard]

 
Quote:

btw i just borrowed my friend's hd650,,
 
and some quick impression compared to my pro 2900.. despite their differences in tonality and presentation,, they are suprisingly share some similarities..
 

 
Blasphemy! btw what amp are you using

 

[BournePerfect]

Well they are definitely smooth-sounding, no sibilance, and a warm presentation. All of which are why I say the 2900s are a lot different than the 900s.
 
-Daniel

 

[MetroBBOY]

I will agree that when using my E11, this signature brings a bit of warmth, but compared to straight source > 2900, I could describe it as a touch on the cool/clinical side.
 
Its currently on a 30-32 hour burn in phase. To the best of my ability, there isn't any sibilance to speak of. Mid vocals are still around the same in terms of presentation, and bass hasn't done any funny things like disappear intermittently (like my Pro 900) I like the bass output so far.
 
I let my mate have a listen (he's used to listening on closed headphones with his DJ studio work) and he was appreciative of the difference with the extra clarity of open headphones.
 
I really need to invest in a good amp like the Matrix M Stage or similar. Very curious to see how well it will scale with a better amp.
Quote:

Well they are definitely smooth-sounding, no sibilance, and a warm presentation. All of which are why I say the 2900s are a lot different than the 900s.
 
-Daniel

 

 

[MohawkUS]

I will agree that when using my E11, this signature brings a bit of warmth, but compared to straight source > 2900, I could describe it as a touch on the cool/clinical side.
 
Its currently on a 30-32 hour burn in phase. To the best of my ability, there isn't any sibilance to speak of. Mid vocals are still around the same in terms of presentation, and bass hasn't done any funny things like disappear intermittently (like my Pro 900) I like the bass output so far.
 
I let my mate have a listen (he's used to listening on closed headphones with his DJ studio work) and he was appreciative of the difference with the extra clarity of open headphones.
 
I really need to invest in a good amp like the Matrix M Stage or similar. Very curious to see how well it will scale with a better amp.


 

You don't want to run them off a portable player, thats for sure. Just for the hell of it I tried running mine off my sansa fuze. I won't do that again, the midrange was gone. I was left with only highs and lows, it almost felt like I turned on a kareoke EQ or something, the vocals were GONE.
These headphones are very hard to describe, they manage to be cold, warm, clinical, and musical all at the same time. Its like they are refusing to pick a side, and I'm planning to get an amp to push them over the edge into the cold, aggressive category.

 

[MetroBBOY]

The E11 does a great job for its price point, but as I said I'm lusting after a decent desktop amp.
 
What kind of price range amp are you thinking mate?
 
 

 

[MohawkUS]

I'm planning on getting an Audio GD C2.2 and experimenting with their OPAs to get the sound I want. My Essence drives them pretty good, but it struggles at times.

 

[d3xtro]

Oh YES! I just bought these, they sound fantastic, and with an Esssence STX . But I think they could sound better with an amp. I have a question. I have my impedance set to High Gain, and I mostly have to up the volume to around 50% to be loud enough for me.. except with Foobar2000, and ASIO driver , 40% with FLAC files. So I am thinking of trying another amp. so what would be best to drive these, that's not too expensive? E7 / E9 ? I may be able to spend a little more though. up to around $200ish . Thanks!

 

[MohawkUS]

Oh YES! I just bought these, they sound fantastic, and with an Esssence STX . But I think they could sound better with an amp. I have a question. I have my impedance set to High Gain, and I mostly have to up the volume to around 50% to be loud enough for me.. except with Foobar2000, and ASIO driver , 40% with FLAC files. So I am thinking of trying another amp. so what would be best to drive these, that's not too expensive? E7 / E9 ? I may be able to spend a little more though. up to around $200ish . Thanks!

Hey, . I'm running the same setup as you, I would suggest running on normal gain levels and turning up the mixer to 100% for each channel. I've found this to sound the best, make sure to keep your volume under 35 unless you want to go deaf though .

These will sound better with an amp, you will want something like the M-Stage for that price range I think. I'd suggest waiting a bit for them to burn in before buying a dedicated amp though, when I first got them I was planning to get an amp to tone down the highs, and now that they are settled in I'd like a little more in the highs. Seeing as you already got the Essence, don't buy the e7/e9 combo, no reason to buy another DAC right now. You'd be best served spending your budget fully on an amp.

They sound great with the essence, but I sometimes get a feeling that something is missing from the sound, and my essence struggles when I'm blasting really heavy black metal.

 

[d3xtro]

ah cool, I set it to max. It's better but I still have to turn it up to about 40%. strange. Maybe I am actually going deaf lol. Or all this time i've been used to listening at way too high volumes D:. it's actually worse now with foobar2000, very weird. fine with everything else? Not sure why that is.  Also i'm pretty new to this card, and expensive headphones .

 

[MetroBBOY]

Congrats d3xtro.
 
I'm looking at the Matrix M Stage, but I probably won't be able to buy anything until after paying some bills!
 
If you get it before me though, would love to know what the combo would sound like.

 

[d3xtro]

Quote:

Congrats d3xtro.
 
I'm looking at the Matrix M Stage, but I probably won't be able to buy anything until after paying some bills!
 
If you get it before me though, would love to know what the combo would sound like.

Giving in. going to buy the M-Stage tonight guys . just over $260, I can just afford it lol! gonna be broke for a while,  but should be worth it I hope!! 

 

 

[MetroBBOY]

Nice mate! Keen to hear your impressions.