I also live in a market which isn't served directly by VZR (Canada) but I was able to acquire a pair through Amazon.com with fair brokerage and shipping fees. Still waiting for my Schiit Hel 2e to arrive to test them out with an amp. So far, I've just been driving them from my Realtek sound card on my motherboard.
The soundstage does seem wider than my Mobius/Penrose, with a very strong bass presence in music as described by others. I'm not going to touch any EQ for now. I'm still breaking in the pads, haven't received the Schiit Hel 2e that I plan to drive them with long-term, and I'm still getting used to the sound signature anyway. I don't really play competitive games like R6 Siege so much these days, but I found the sound stage to be quite immersive when playing Hitman 3.
My friends say that the microphone sounds great on Discord, even better than the Mobius I would normally use in USB mode. It doesn't have the fancy active noise cancellation that Maxwell has, but in my relatively quiet environment (private home office) it isn't necessary, especialy with software noise filtering such as the Krisp filter built into Discord.
The inline microphone in the cable is a nice touch of convenience for quick calls that come in. A Maxwell-style array of microphones built into the earcups might be more convenient and sound better when the boom is not connected, but that would add significant complexity to the design and IMHO defeat the purpose of these as a simple, durable analog headset. Again, these are primarily for desktop usage for me, and the boom mic is only ever a drawer away from being attached, so not a significant issue for me. In fact, I might even consider a replacement cable without the inline mic and mute switch, if the slight amount of bulk on the cable ever bothered me.
Comfort is good, although I find the earcups stuffier and hotter, even in the chilly weather this fall. I'd also be interested in knowing whether replacement earpads would help with this, and how that would impact sound quality/signature.
Build quality is top notch. The full metal headband construction gives me confidence that these won't snap at the earcups like has been known to plague Mobius/Penrose, and the direct drivers should be more tolerant to abuse than magnetic planar drivers in general. I don't expect to use these out and about so much, since I enjoy the convenience and features of my TWS earbuds for portable usage, but I would expect these to last many years of full-time work/personal usage. The only part that gives me hesitation with respect to user-serviceability is the retractable suspension headband, and I'm unwilling to disassemble my new headphones to see how it works!
I've also wrapped this headband (pleather?) with a knitted headband sleeve to protect it from skin/hair oils, but the sleeve I'm using is a bit too small - does anyone know of a sleeve which perfectly fits this headband?
The soundstage does seem wider than my Mobius/Penrose, with a very strong bass presence in music as described by others. I'm not going to touch any EQ for now. I'm still breaking in the pads, haven't received the Schiit Hel 2e that I plan to drive them with long-term, and I'm still getting used to the sound signature anyway. I don't really play competitive games like R6 Siege so much these days, but I found the sound stage to be quite immersive when playing Hitman 3.
My friends say that the microphone sounds great on Discord, even better than the Mobius I would normally use in USB mode. It doesn't have the fancy active noise cancellation that Maxwell has, but in my relatively quiet environment (private home office) it isn't necessary, especialy with software noise filtering such as the Krisp filter built into Discord.
The inline microphone in the cable is a nice touch of convenience for quick calls that come in. A Maxwell-style array of microphones built into the earcups might be more convenient and sound better when the boom is not connected, but that would add significant complexity to the design and IMHO defeat the purpose of these as a simple, durable analog headset. Again, these are primarily for desktop usage for me, and the boom mic is only ever a drawer away from being attached, so not a significant issue for me. In fact, I might even consider a replacement cable without the inline mic and mute switch, if the slight amount of bulk on the cable ever bothered me.
Comfort is good, although I find the earcups stuffier and hotter, even in the chilly weather this fall. I'd also be interested in knowing whether replacement earpads would help with this, and how that would impact sound quality/signature.
Build quality is top notch. The full metal headband construction gives me confidence that these won't snap at the earcups like has been known to plague Mobius/Penrose, and the direct drivers should be more tolerant to abuse than magnetic planar drivers in general. I don't expect to use these out and about so much, since I enjoy the convenience and features of my TWS earbuds for portable usage, but I would expect these to last many years of full-time work/personal usage. The only part that gives me hesitation with respect to user-serviceability is the retractable suspension headband, and I'm unwilling to disassemble my new headphones to see how it works!
I've also wrapped this headband (pleather?) with a knitted headband sleeve to protect it from skin/hair oils, but the sleeve I'm using is a bit too small - does anyone know of a sleeve which perfectly fits this headband?
