[Salted Peanut]

@jsmiller58 I can’t make a comparison because I haven’t listened to the Maxwell. But what I can, is tell you that the VZR still blows my mind and is still the only headphone I use for music listening. For me the treble isn’t harsh at all, in fact I have EQ’ed the mids and treble a bit up with my Chord Mojo 2.
We all hear differently. This hobby is so subjective, so if you have the possibility to demo the VZR I really think you should.

 

[AlwaysForward]

Saying the VZR is for footsteps is silly. That has no reflection of the design whatsoever. Audeze had a “footsteps” setting on the mobius that sounded like TRASH. Just because spatial audio has better footstep imaging, doesn’t have any bearing on how this sounds.

Footsteps tuning is a frequency response curve used in traditional direct firing drivers, without spatial imaging, to highlight frequencies associated with a sound.

The VZR has better footsteps because it has spatial information. It’s not like a headphone with game tuning. It’s a headphone with speaker like presentation.

The comment harsh treble is an oddity in all of the ways these have been described anywhere on the internet. N=1, the overwhelming consensus is a smooth treble.

 

[Comix]

I have both the Maxwell just got it two days ago and the VZR the VZR is way better but the Maxwell works better in some games.

I messaged Brainwavz they said the DT 770 Beyerdynamic ear pads will work on these. So I'm going to try those
since the Stock Pads are way too hot.

 

[AlwaysForward]

Can someone give a comparison of the Maxwell and the VZR? This is for music only, not for “purity” but a bit of fun V-shape Frequency Response. Thanks!

I understand the question eliciting the tuning but any answer is frankly useless to the question behind the question, which is “what do they sound like” or maybe “are they fun”?

Because Crosswave is a new transducer, is very difficult to describe as the video review a page or two back mentions.

The tuning itself is reference with warm mids. But it slams way harder than the Ultrasone Signature X while remaining studio neutral. So it’s more fun than a well executed harman bass shelf tuning, IMHO.

 

[AlwaysForward]

I have both the Maxwell just got it two days ago and the VZR the VZR is way better but the Maxwell works better in some games.

I messaged Brainwavz they said the DT 770 Beyerdynamic ear pads will work on these. So I'm going to try those
since the Stock Pads are way too hot.

Never tried the Maxwell but famously helped fix the noise floor in the Mobius in that thread. Mobius was fine. I didn’t ultimately jive with it long term and sold it.

VZR is just a different Tier. More directly comparable to an LCD when it comes to sound. I've lived with an LCD 2-4 for about a year and the VZR. I'd take the VZR every time, purely for sound, price no object (and I can certainly afford both).

 

[AlwaysForward]

@jsmiller58 I can’t make a comparison because I haven’t listened to the Maxwell. But what I can, is tell you that the VZR still blows my mind and is still the only headphone I use for music listening. For me the treble isn’t harsh at all, in fact I have EQ’ed the mids and treble a bit up with my Chord Mojo 2.
We all hear differently. This hobby is so subjective, so if you have the possibility to demo the VZR I really think you should.

+1 it takes more than an afternoon to take in what these things are doing because it’s so different.

Once it clicks, you realize that all this time headphones have been chasing the speaker like experience with tunings and transients which, while important, fail to achieve the desired effect of being like sound in space.

Literally most of the conversations about optimal headphone quality have been chasing the thing that these actually deliver on.

“Obviously headphones just can’t do that speaker Magic but…” is not an applicable qualification of performance here.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Still crossing my fingers, one day us europeans can pick up this headphone too without having to ship over seas.

The tuning itself is reference with warm mids. But it slams way harder than the Ultrasone Signature X while remaining studio neutral. So it’s more fun than a well executed harman bass shelf tuning, IMHO.

This line intrigued me a lot as I've been searching for a M-Audio Q40 replacement that I've been using forever, so far the the Ultrasone Signature X comes closest that I'd currently use if this Q40 snaps on me (it's a lot of plastic as far as the headband part goes so it's just matter of time). The Signature X with the new bigger default pad is bassier than Q40 but the Q40 has a better "slam" or dynamics or how you'd picture it, it really gives life to kickdrums the way I feel the kicks, not just hear it. The Ultrasone also delivers on the "feel" part but it delivers with slightly less finesse with cost on the rest of the sound as the Q40 does it with more transparency, it seems hard to find this kind of impact versus not hearing the bass (but just feeling it). The Q40 I use for mastering EDM music as well as it sounds balanced in the highs and mids to me just the way I personally like it and the feel to the bass just makes it easier for me to dial in the right amount bass as I typically start feeling it when the amount is just about right, like I do with 99% of retail released major record releases. The imaging is also another aspect I'd rate Q40 higher than Signature X, the Signature X has very wide soundstage but not the very best imaging but I feel Q40 having more rounded sphere to the soundstage, limiting the stereo width on the Signature X to 98~99 from default 100 on the RME ADI 2 fs DAC is actually preferable as I prefer that more rounded soundstage that sorta gives the illution of better depth, not many closed headphones give me good sense of depth but often a rather wide soundstage, oval-shape that my mind doesn't comply with that well.

 

[AlwaysForward]

Still crossing my fingers, one day us europeans can pick up this headphone too without having to ship over seas.



This line intrigued me a lot as I've been searching for a M-Audio Q40 replacement that I've been using forever, so far the the Ultrasone Signature X comes closest that I'd currently use if this Q40 snaps on me (it's a lot of plastic as far as the headband part goes so it's just matter of time). The Signature X with the new bigger default pad is bassier than Q40 but the Q40 has a better "slam" or dynamics or how you'd picture it, it really gives life to kickdrums the way I feel the kicks, not just hear it. The Ultrasone also delivers on the "feel" part but it delivers with slightly less finesse with cost on the rest of the sound as the Q40 does it with more transparency, it seems hard to find this kind of impact versus not hearing the bass (but just feeling it). The Q40 I use for mastering EDM music as well as it sounds balanced in the highs and mids to me just the way I personally like it and the feel to the bass just makes it easier for me to dial in the right amount bass as I typically start feeling it when the amount is just about right, like I do with 99% of retail released major record releases. The imaging is also another aspect I'd rate Q40 higher than Signature X, the Signature X has very wide soundstage but not the very best imaging but I feel Q40 having more rounded sphere to the soundstage, limiting the stereo width on the Signature X to 98~99 from default 100 on the RME ADI 2 fs DAC is actually preferable as I prefer that more rounded soundstage that sorta gives the illution of better depth, not many closed headphones give me good sense of depth but often a rather wide soundstage, oval-shape that my mind doesn't comply with that well.

when you try them, you'll realize you've been looking for speakers in headphones this entire time

 

[jsmiller58]

when you try them, you'll realize you've been looking for speakers in headphones this entire time

I was tempted to pick up the VZR but then in one of the videos I watched the YouTuber showed the frequency response… I know that FR is not everything, and I know that it is hard to draw conclusions just by studying a graph, but in my experience the graphs can give me a good sense of tonality and timbre. I have lots of headphones and IEMs and feel safe in saying if something does not “look right” to me it won’t sound right to me… of course it it “looks right” to me there is NO guarantee that it will sound right to me. So looking right to me seems to be a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for it to sound right to me.

I stress in all of the above “to me.”

 

[AlwaysForward]

I was tempted to pick up the VZR but then in one of the videos I watched the YouTuber showed the frequency response… I know that FR is not everything, and I know that it is hard to draw conclusions just by studying a graph, but in my experience the graphs can give me a good sense of tonality and timbre. I have lots of headphones and IEMs and feel safe in saying if something does not “look right” to me it won’t sound right to me… of course it it “looks right” to me there is NO guarantee that it will sound right to me. So looking right to me seems to be a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for it to sound right to me.

I stress in all of the above “to me.”

That’s fair and valid reasoning. I’m also experienced enough to be able infer things from graphs.

It just doesn’t map here, in my experience. The acoustics are so different that the pinna gain is probably unnecessary to compensate for, for example. Because the acoustics give the ear the information it expects, so no compensation.

Analogy thinking with a new paradigm is just not effective. I respect your opinion and decision.

Amazon has a 30 day return policy. It’s literally risk free to try if you’re curious enough, that’s what I did. I expected to send them back but here I am, a Crosswave acolyte a year later.

 

[jsmiller58]

That’s fair and valid reasoning. I’m also experienced enough to be able infer things from graphs.

It just doesn’t map here, in my experience. The acoustics are so different that the pinna gain is probably unnecessary to compensate for, for example. Because the acoustics give the ear the information it expects, so no compensation.

Analogy thinking with a new paradigm is just not effective. I respect your opinion and decision.

Amazon has a 30 day return policy. It’s literally risk free to try if you’re curious enough, that’s what I did. I expected to send them back but here I am, a Crosswave acolyte a year later.

Yeah, I was thinking of using Amazon's generous return policy to check these out...

 

[b0lt 0ns]

If anyone was looking to get a pair I'm going to be listing mine up for sale pretty cheap as I only use open backs or IEMs these days.

 

[AlwaysForward]

If anyone was looking to get a pair I'm going to be listing mine up for sale pretty cheap as I only use open backs or IEMs these days.

This could be a great opportunity for you @RPGWiZaRD

 

[Avean]

Very curious about these. Just come across videos on them and the reaction from reviewers i really trust makes me want to buy them NOW!
I am using HD700's now and enviroment noise is not an issue where i sit but i guess with closed back design comes good bass as well? I can EQ the HD700 to give some bass but not "punchy" bass. If they give the same directional sense as the HD700's with comfort AND bass this would be my dream headphones i think.

 

[AlwaysForward]

Very curious about these. Just come across videos on them and the reaction from reviewers i really trust makes me want to buy them NOW!
I am using HD700's now and enviroment noise is not an issue where i sit but i guess with closed back design comes good bass as well? I can EQ the HD700 to give some bass but not "punchy" bass. If they give the same directional sense as the HD700's with comfort AND bass this would be my dream headphones i think.

You should try them, I think they are really aligned with your desires