[Giogio]

Hello dear Head-Fians,
 
after long tests and comparisons, I have finally written my review of the XTZ Headphone Divine, which goes more in detail than what already said in the comparison with the Parrot Zik 2.0.
Feel free to ask.
 
You may also want to give a look at the opening post in my Huge Comparison Thread (see signature), where you will find info about how I test, and what I have tested.
 
And if you have tried the Divine already, let us know here what you think of them.
If you did not try them, you should! They are imo the best On Ear BT Headphone on the Market right now, soundwise.
 
EDIT: new review by @Brooko available HERE.

 

[HajLender]

Hi, could you compare them to some wired headphones? What price category would it be if wired? Thank you.

I am looking for wireless headphones. I have tried the JBL E40 BT priced 99 EUR. To be honest, those were a huge disappointment, no bass no mids no highs - like a phone speaker from 5 meters. I just hope that the wireless headphones are not so low level in general.

 

[Giogio]

Hi, the answer is no and no.

No, I cannot compare to wired. I am not fond of wires.
No, wireless are DEFINITELY NOT so low level in general.
And if you see my comparison thread (see signature) and have a look at my list in order of overall excellence, you can see at which position are the XTZ and at which those JBL.
And I have been generous lately and pushed them up a bit in the ranking.
 
Have no fear and buy the XTZ. If you do not like them you have 60 days money back guarantee.
You have nothing to loose, only the possibility to get to know how good can wireless headphones sound.
Will you use them with PC or mobile?

 

[HajLender]

I am going to use them mostly with iPhone and iPad (while other sleeping etc) and sometimes with Mac. Unfortunately the city where I live is not ideal for trying headphones - those JBLs were the only ones available for listening   
Not easy to find myself a satisfactory headphone, I wanted originally cheap up to 100 EUR (now understand that is not possible), not too big (on ear), stylish design and hassle free (used only couple times a month).
With XTZ I am a bit afraid of the DSP stuff - I am lazy to play with it, I want to play it fine just out of the box.

 

[Giogio]

If you are used to good wired headphones you will need to pay a LOT more than what the XTZ cost, to have something you MAY like out of the box, and you will have to try a lot of headphones, or find a place (like my comparison thread) where people can help you narrowing down the choices, which anyway does not guarantee you will like the suggested headphones.
Anyway, you may have a false impression of the DSP on the XTZ, they did all the job for you, you just have to click on one button. You do not need to configure anything.
In my review there are screenshots which show clearly that the only thing you need to do is clicking on "reference" to have the neutral balanced sound loaded, or click on "boost 1" (or 2, 3, 4) to have the boost profile active. Like if it was a preset in an EQ, you know, those players with EQ and those presets "rock", or "pop".
It really could not be easier.
 
You do not need to leave anywhere else than at your place, you order, they ship, you do not like, you send back, simple.
 
Now, if you use iOS and MAC, you have the Dirac sound (you will need to pay the extra 20 for the Dirac Audio Processor for Mac, that one is not free, but it is very much highly recommended). So you can be sure that the quality is the maximum possible.

 

[HajLender]

I see you really love those headphones
Could you tell me where would you rank it in your mega list without DSP? I am listening to music which is not stored on my phone directly - tidal, NAS, etc. so I think that the DSP function will not work with those...
 
BTW I am leaning toward these headphones more and more... 
Thank you

 

[Giogio]

Sorry, I was sure I had answered.
Yes I like them a lot.
 
For your question, you find the answer in their description in my lists in the Huge Comparison. I say exactly where I would place them without DSP.
And in the review you can read how they sound without DSP.
Yes, the App for Mobile Phones only works with music stored in the phone. The (optional) software for PC/MAC works with anything played, no matter if stream or stored.
If you will only use them without DSP, well, they kind of lose some fascination, but they are still a very good headphone.
In that case anyway, depending on your musical tastes and preferences in sound signature, and budget, there may be something else which you may end enjoying more.
 
 
A guy posted that he wants to sell his Divine. You may want to check, at the end of the Huge Comparison thread

 

[Sonic Defender]

After about 4 hours of listening I am pretty impressed. The build quality is nice, not luxurious, but frankly if there was a compromise to be made due to cost I would rather have better sound and less luxury in the build. Regardless, the build is decent. Not solid feeling like the PM3, but those are exceptionally well built.
 
The Android XTZ DSP app at this point does not support ALAC which sucks (I e-mailed XTZ). According to Brooko the iPhone app does support ALAC so I expect they may patch the Android app soon.
 
The sound is surprisingly spacious feeling. I wouldn't say it is very wide, or deep, but it is certainly adequate with I think better than average depth for a closed design. They do sound strained a little at high volume, but I am playing Deadmau5 on full from my DP-X1 so the little drivers are being asked to do a lot. Overall they are handling the demands nicely, the strain is barely perceptible and the distortion is quite modest considering. Still, the Divine I think is happiest when not driven very hard. I have just dropped the volume down a little and the Divine is much happier.
 
For reference, I am now using Ref at -5db gain. The DP-X1 supports aptX so I am hearing the Divine with it. It pairs very easily. I do sometimes get little pauses, like a tenth of a second, not enough to bother me much, but they do occur.
 
The bass is solid and pretty tight lacking the rumble in sub bass, but still getting down pretty nicely. Again, this is a 40mm driver so you can't expect miracles right? I would have to say that I am quite happy with the low frequency capabilities. There is a little boom and bloom, but again I play loud and these are closed so we need to be realistic. The mids seem nice as well, but at this point I have been listening to music with accentuated bass quite a bit so I can't really gauge the mids as of yet. Mind you I am listening to one of my reference songs now by Holy Cole, One Trick Pony from the album Romantically Helpless. Her voice is well balanced and smooth so that is one test that the Divine is killing. Vocals in general seem quite effortless.
 
I really like the treble, quite well extended and again, well integrated into the signature. Cymbals and strings have nice shimmer and I have yet to hear any sibilance. Snare cracks are sharp but not grating. The treble is actually very smooth and articulate, especially considering that it isn't rolled off. I think imaging and instrument separation is very good, excellent in this price point even.
 
Comfort is pretty good, slightly better than my V-moda XS or M80. There is a slight sensation of pressure, but frankly I never really enjoy on-ear as I'm fairly sensitive and I used to actually get pain from the XS. That said I don't think I could wear these (or any on-ear for more than half an hour). If these loosen up a tad that would be better, but still, given how sensitive I tend to be I bet many people wouldn't have any complaints with the comfort. Position is important to get the best seal and they are less easy to get quite right than I thought they would be. They aren't as difficult as the XS was, and once you get used to how they feel getting the right spot is pretty simple. I've just been spoiled with the PM3 as my portable.
 
So for $179 plus shipping these are a star of value and are right up there in my mind for sound quality to price with things like the 400i and the DT 880, SR225i. The Divine I suspect will be staying. Just being free of cables is awesome. I won't be getting rid of the PM3, and I suspect it will still get much of my head time, but it won't be based on sound quality (although I do think the PM3 is the better sounding of the two, but that might change after more time with the Divine). One factor for me is that the Divine won't be loud enough for me on older material that is dynamic and mastered quieter. Still, that isn't a big issue as I don't listen to a great deal of this type of recording. My Steely Dan is a little quieter than I prefer, but still loud enough to engage me.
 
I would have to give the Divine a 7.5 out of 10 for sound quality and say 7 for build and comfort. Again, the build and comfort is quite good for the price point so you could make a case for it being closer to 8, but I think as a relative rating against other portables I have owned the 7 fits. I would give the PM3 a 9 for build and comfort by way of comparison. Money well spent. I may even get the desktop software just to try the additional DSP. Oh snap, I can't, my old Dell doesn't have Bluetooth.
 
Edit: The 7 out of 10 on audio quality is actually in my mind a very good score considering the Divine is constrained by driver size and the power. I just wanted to say again for comparison I would give the PM3 an 8, maybe 8.5 for audio quality.

 

[Sonic Defender]

I am doing this as a separate post to make the thread seem more active! Tricks. I find the Divine to really respond to change of position on the ear. The good news is they stay put, but you need to find the right fit. I thought I ha the position dialed in but I now find when I push the pads back a little, in my case the pad overhangs the back of my ear by say 1/4 of an inch; when I do this the bass became even more prominent. So much so that I now don't use Boost 1, I have gone to reference and so far the bass is solid and full.

 

[Giogio]

It's an amazing detailed job you are doing there!
Yes I also use Reference a lot now.
But, with some music I just need more bass, like boost 3.
Although on the Desktop DAP I notice that there is a more notable decrease in the clarity of highs when passing from boost 2 to 3, so I tend to use 2 and add EQ with Foobar.
 
The bass does not really lack rumble though. With the right material, some EQ, and the boost 3, you will have enough rumble.
But, yes, they are more on the punchy side.
Anyway, as said, some fine details will only come out with the desktop DAP.
But the good new is that they are working on the Dirac for Android.
And, the ALAC thing is being investigated.
 
So, what about rooting, what advantages brought to you?

 

[Brooko]

My thoughts - http://www.head-fi.org/products/xtz-headphone-divine/reviews/15349

 

[Giogio]

Well well, I am happy to see that I am not the only one loving these headphones.
 
Did you notice any difference between the quality of sound with the Android App (XTZ proprietary algorithm) and the iOS one (Dirac algorithm)?
What about the desktop Dirac DAP? Didn't you try it?

 

[Brooko]

Yep - definitely love it Gio - an amazingly detailed, clear and well balanced sounding headphone.  I just wish it was circumaural.
 
I tried the X7 and iPhone 5S but didn't put in a comparison, because it was too long switching to and fro trying to A/B (dropping bluetooth on one, reconnecting on the other) - so i didn't think it would be that effective.  I only just now thought of doing it wired.  Might need to try that later.
 
And no, I didn't get the desktop app, so couldn't test it.

 

[Sonic Defender]

I did get the desktop Dirac, but currently only use it with my KEF speakers. I'm glad my R300s match the XTZ S-800 monitors that many of the filters are built for with the desktop software. Frankly, at least for the speakers, I don't prefer the filters. The one I like the most is called Punch, but all it seems to do is significantly pump up mid-bass, but quite a clean boost, while also reducing the treble. It is very easy to turn the filter on and off while playing music without an interruption in the playback stream so I have tested it quite a bit.
 
When I first turn on the filter, for a few seconds the sound seems muddy, but that quickly changes and you notice the richness of the sound with vocals and strings moving quite a bit more forward. This is of course well done, and mostly pleasant, much like using the loudness function at quieter volumes. It does come at a cost as the treble goes well back so detail is sacrificed in favour of warmth. When you defeat the filter, right away everything sounds thin and bright by comparison, but as with turning on the filter it takes a moment to adjust. I was able to basically do this with a parametric EQ boost of 2000khz, and 3000khz of 1.5db. What I favour about this is that there is no drop in treble. I am sure the filters correct more than simple frequencies, but I can't say that they offer enough benefit to be worth using more than what I can do with the built in parametric EQ in JRiver.
 
I will be getting an external Bluetooth transmitter/receiver as my Dell music server doesn't have Bluetooth capability. I am thinking it might be fun to have the divine filters to use with the headphones. The other thing that in my mind would not make the software worth the $49Euros is that there really aren't many filters, some of them don't  seem to be practical, and you can't at all adjust the filter. One filter s-800 Wall, when it is active your speakers just get boomy and congested as I assume it simulates moving your speaker closer to a wall? It does seem that you can load up to 4 filters at a time, but with no information on what they each do you could easily be making more of a mess, but getting your brain hooked on DSP dope. I tend to not even really use an EQ much, but that isn't really for any other reason beyond laziness. Not to mention, there is no global EQ that is useful so even making and saving multiple custom EQ settings still requires turning them on and off....... I would rather just get used to the sound of the system and accept it for what it is and just listen to the music. If a song or album is so flawed that I can't listen to it without adjustments, I'll just ignore it as I have plenty of music I like that doesn't need to be adjusted.
 
With the Divine Android pseudo Dirac (I do have all the filters with my app version) I really like Ref and Boost One. The other boosts I found made the bass get very grainy and distorted quite quickly with only a little gain applied (-4db). Now that was with the amp on full, which I have to have with the DSP on as it significantly drops the volume to have adjustment headroom. As well, given that I also play some bass intense electronic music it is clear that those extra levels of bass must be for very quiet listening, or to correct songs with very poor bass. I haven't any idea how I could use these additional bass boost levels with the Divine as I heard significant distortion quickly. I'm not sure what to say there, but I will test those boost levels with the 400i as I suspect it could handle the extra bass better being larger planar membranes.
 
But for the Divine, Reference and Boost One with modest gain is excellent for my style of loud listening.

 

[Giogio]

Yes, the Android App tends to distort bass with Boost 2 and 3 if you listen to bass heavy stuff like EDM. Although with gain at -6 I was ok.
I will tell XTZ to check on that, but as I wrote on my review, this App is temporary, they are supposedly looking for a good programmer to make the Dirac for Android.
The Desktop DAP has got a clearly better sound than the XTZ proprietary algorithm on the Android App. And the iOS App uses the Dirac algorithm but apparently the desktop DAP uses a newer one. So, Brooko, if you like to listen to music with PC/MAC, I suggest you contacting XTZ for the DAP. You need it.
Sonic, you see all filters for all products, but you should only use the filters made for the product you are using.
This is confusing, I told it to Anders. People will think, like you did, that the filters are not working well or distort. This is not true. Anders told me they will change this so that filters will be organized in folders for product or things like that.
I have also suggested adding EQ or other ways to customize the sound but they are afraid that people would mess things up and make them guilty. I disagree, but, we'll see.
Anyway now I believe the EQ on the Desktop DAP may not be needed, because people can use the EQ of their player (I use lot of stuff on Foobar, including a binaural file made by the Technical university of Cologne which is the most brilliant free spatial improvement I am aware of).
So, on the DAP you do not need more than one filter, the reference, and that alone is worth the whole money.
Talking of money, the Dirac DAP for PC/MAC costs only $20 if you order it together with the headphones. And it is worth each single penny.
I personally feel it is worth 49 too. It corrects also the Impulse Response, which is as much (if not more) important than the Frequency Response. And you do NOT get that with EQ.
Brooko forgot to mention this in his review I think. Btw, Brooko, what about linking this thread on your review?
So, that's what a manager of Dirac wrote me about their IR correction:

 When the driver will reproduce a short transient the driver will not (due to laws of physics) stop immediately when the incoming signal stops, you get a overshoot of the driver with subsequent ringings. You could say that the sound pressure is proportional to the driver membranes acceleration which in its turn is proportional to the level of the incoming signal. We then add a short time delay (a few ms) so we can start accelerating the driver with a meticulous calculated opposite overshoot of the ringings while the original transient is coming in, and then create a near perfect transient as a result.
Now, this theory is known and can be done by almost anyone. But as with cooking food and a given recipy, there is a big difference in the end result depending of what chef you use.

I asked him what would be the practical audible effect of IR correction.
He wrote:

 Typically improved sound stage, tighter bass, more clarity and transparent listening experience, with less listening fatigue.

 
 
Brooko, for the A/B, you can leave the BT on on both sources, and just manually disconnect the Divine from source A and manually connect it to source B. It takes less time than turning BT on and off.