[betula]

(haven't heard the E3 and the other new DCA, but i don't think they come even close tbh)...

IMO the E3 is a league below the CC. The new DCA I am pretty sure is a nice option for $1K, but I doubt it is direct competition.

 

[s2kphile]

Didn’t watch it, but if that’s the case then it’s “unfortunate”, if I’m being generous.

These headphones scale wonderfully. Driven from the the WA23 they are excellent, driven by thr AIC10 they are spectacular. They can definitely be driven off way smaller and way cheaper amps, and driven very well. But I would not try to drive them from my MacBook.

One can take a race car and drive it on a dirt road, but that doesn’t make I’d the right use case, and it certainly won’t let you appreciate the car’s performance.

What’s the matter with him?? Why go out of his way to do this? Nonsensical to say the least.

This makes the whole review obsolete.

I wouldn’t even bother watching the video any further upon the revelation that a MacBook Pro was used as the source.

LOL. I mean, it's not incredibly hard to drive, but it's still a TOTL planar that needs some juice.
I normally skip to the sound section immediately nowadays, because that's what's interesting to me and i don't think reviewers will typically hold back a headphone with gear - because, well, they are reviewers and should have some experience.
I think the CC sounds fabulous, in every single aspect, bass (allthough i could have a bit more slap, but when the song calls for it, it's all there), midrange (vocals are incredible and only one step below Unveiled / Valkyria for me, which is a very high praise) and treble (overall not obtrusive, but with some airy sparkly highs, rather dark otherwise, but not too dark).
I think it's a really good allrounder, it doesn't sound (that much) like a closed-back, and it's by far the very best closed-back planar that exists (haven't heard the E3 and the other new DCA, but i don't think they come even close tbh)...
Is he completely disregarding the amp / DAC influence? A commenter posted that the stock cable is not that great and holds it back, to which he replied that he is a non cable-believer... I mean... Just listen to a TOTL headphone or IEM with a very cheap generic cable and then swap to a very good one and you should hear the difference, i don't know what to say...
Please don't tell me that he is also a non-believer when it comes to DAC's & amps, especially for somewhat hard to drive headphones. I guess for IEM's it is much of a lesser factor, but even then the difference can be quite big...

He does mention that its better to drive with an powerful amp but it is not required.

He uses HD600 as a comparsion for driveability. I agree HD600 sounds good via a portable DAP, but it sounds way better with a proper amp. Tubes come to mind.

 

[Exekuhtor]

He seems like a guy that values midrange intimate sound and midrange timbre over everything else, like a true "HD600 is endgame" person. Not saying that's wrong (it is though!), everyone has their own preferences...

 

[s2kphile]

He seems like a guy that values midrange intimate sound and midrange timbre over everything else, like a true "HD600 is endgame" person. Not saying that's wrong (it is though!), everyone has their own preferences...

I am curius to see his review on the Bokeh and Atrium since he has a squigly for them. I would assume those would get higher marks especially the Bokeh since its easier to drive and they are more midrange focused.

 

[idairyou]

He does mention that its better to drive with an powerful amp but it is not required.

He uses HD600 as a comparsion for driveability. I agree HD600 sounds good via a portable DAP, but it sounds way better with a proper amp. Tubes come to mind.

For every headphone that gets high praise from everyone there's always that one problem child.

 

[Lyssky]

He does mention that its better to drive with an powerful amp but it is not required.

He uses HD600 as a comparsion for driveability. I agree HD600 sounds good via a portable DAP, but it sounds way better with a proper amp. Tubes come to mind.

He answered my question stating that he was using Hiby R5 G2 as primary source. That’s max 475mW. Not bad though not enough. But even he uses a powerful amp maybe his thoughts won’t change due to his tastes, dunno.

 

[CFGamescape]

This makes the whole review obsolete.

This is the same reviewer that used the JDS Labs Element II and iFi Diablo X for the Mod House Tungsten...

 

[CFGamescape]

Please don't tell me that he is also a non-believer when it comes to DAC's & amps, especially for somewhat hard to drive headphones. I guess for IEM's it is much of a lesser factor, but even then the difference can be quite big...

He flat out states he doesn't believe in source gear.

 

[betula]

This is the same reviewer that used the JDS Labs Element II and iFi Diablo X for the Mod House Tungsten...

He should probably stick with IEMs. He said that's his main interest. Or get some proper desktop gear to drive TOTL headphones. One would think a reviewer does his research before publishing an opinion. These are kind of the basics.

 

[goldwerger]

This is the same reviewer that used the JDS Labs Element II and iFi Diablo X for the Mod House Tungsten...

oy

 

[idairyou]

This is the same reviewer that used the JDS Labs Element II and iFi Diablo X for the Mod House Tungsten...

This guy is not just any problem child, he's the kid Junior from the 90s film Problem Child.

 

[Exekuhtor]

This is the same reviewer that used the JDS Labs Element II and iFi Diablo X for the Mod House Tungsten...

He flat out states he doesn't believe in source gear.

Wait what?
Ok then, time to unsubscribe and move on i guess.

 

[zach915m]

If you watched his review he said his source was a Macbook Pro.

Didn’t watch it, but if that’s the case then it’s “unfortunate”, if I’m being generous.

I wouldn’t even bother watching the video any further upon the revelation that a MacBook Pro was used as the source.

He flat out states he doesn't believe in source gear.

Sorry guys - I didn't realize this and will make sure to do more research next time before sending headphones out. The Caldera Closed does indeed need a bit more juice than the open version as well due to it having the low-pass filter in it, so even more reason a computer wouldn't be able to drive it well.

 

[drbusner]

The Caldera Closed does indeed need a bit more juice than the open version as well due to it having the low-pass filter in it, so even more reason a computer wouldn't be able to drive it well.

Thanks, Zach. It is a phenomenal closed-back. Do you have any specific recommendations--rough voltage/current/output impedance thresholds--to make the CC sound the way it should in light of the LPF?

 

[idairyou]

Sorry guys - I didn't realize this and will make sure to do more research next time before sending headphones out. The Caldera Closed does indeed need a bit more juice than the open version as well due to it having the low-pass filter in it, so even more reason a computer wouldn't be able to drive it well.

I've always liked that you aren't afraid of bad reviews, unlike other companies (I'm not singling out other headphone manufacturers here) that curate reviews and only send out samples to folks who only give their product positive reviews or try to cut out a media outlet for giving the product a bad review a la Nvidia.

In this case SuperReviews testing methodology is just plain wrong. If you feed anything that is electrically conductive (even a lightbulb) too much power or in this case not enough power, it will affect performance.

Even if all you care about is how something measures on a graph source gear matters.

So, in this case not sending out review samples to SuperReviews in the future is a good thing.