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If I didn't have the Hekse, I'd definitely have the Arya. Though it's a bit more relax and less in detail retrieval than Hekse, it has a very nice tonality. Paired with CMA 12, it's superb.  Since I already have the Hekse, there's no point in me having the Arya. So off it goes back to my son tomorrow. 

 

2 weeks ago, I have not heard of Questyle CMA Twelve or I may have heard of Questyle but I just didn't give it much thought. When I was at Minidisc 2 weeks ago, I didn't even ask to listen to it with LCD-4. Instead I chose the Auris Nirvana and that is a 10 grand amp. ?

 

CMA 12 now pairs beautifully with my planars of LCD-3f, LCD-X and Hekse as well as my HD800. It's a keeper. The problem is I still have 3 other tube amps that I refuse to part with. ?

 

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Well things don't last long with me. Questyle CMA 12 last just 2 days. It will go to Peppy as he so wanted it badly. I have bought a v280 instead as I wanted to still use my Yggdrasil. More to come. Glad I have no New Year resolution !

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9 minutes ago, bruc3 said:

 

2 day summer fling/romance, short and sweet.

 

 

Could stay with me forever if I change my mind. The synergy with Hekse is amazing. Likewise LCD-X, HD800 and Arya.

 

Bruce come by my house for a listen with those headphones and my WA22. You will be tempted with the Hekse. ?

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I thought the HD800S would be my end game, but barely 2 Months have passed and the bastard upgradtitus bug has hit me again.

 

Lately I have been yearning for a taste of the ZMF house sound, and pretty much decided on getting the auteur, since it seems to tick the boxes for being fairly neutral with emphasis on upper mids.

 

But after reading some comparisons from headfi here between the Auteur vs ADX5000:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zmf-auteur-thread.862918/page-277#post-15929959

 

This has suddenly sparked the sweet memories I had when I auditioned the ADX5000 at minidisc, did I make a mistake picking the HD800S over the ADX5000 haha...its been haunting me in my dreams.

 

I got a feeling if I get ADX5000 it will likely make my HD800S redundant. The Auteur would be a better contrast to the HD800S, but my loins still burning for ADX5000. To be honest I actually want both Auteur and ADX5000 omg...fml


I likely can only afford 1 big headphone for 2021, Auteur or ADX5000  hmmmm......?

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Odyssey said:

Bruce come by my house for a listen with those headphones and my WA22. You will be tempted with the Hekse. ?

 

I fear if I listen to the WA22 it will make me want to buy one and then I will only blame you after that. I don't think adding the Hekse into the mix will help with my upgradtitus right now either haha.

 

Still waiting to get my HD6xx back, I was suppose to receive it on Thursday but the courier stuffed up the delivery and it got re-routed so looking like it should arrive Monday now.

 

Also getting a balanced cable made by MediocreEngineeringInc @Bengineer

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10 minutes ago, bruc3 said:

I thought the HD800S would be my end game, but barely 2 Months have passed and the bastard upgradtitus bug has hit me again.

 

Well, if there's any consolation atleast it's better than the sidegraditis I've been getting constantly hit with hahaha

 

Talking about ATs, I'll have an original AD2000 coming from Japan very soon. I'm pretty keen to hear what they're like!

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11 minutes ago, bruc3 said:

 

I fear if I listen to the WA22 it will make me want to buy one and then I will only blame you after that. I don't think adding the Hekse into the mix will help with my upgradtitus right now either haha.

 

Still waiting to get my HD6xx back, I was suppose to receive it on Thursday but the courier stuffed up the delivery and it got re-routed so looking like it should arrive Monday now.

 

Also getting a balanced cable made by MediocreEngineeringInc @Bengineer

First I'll set your expections very low. Then I'll deliver on those expectations.

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1 minute ago, virtua said:

Talking about ATs, I'll have an original AD2000 coming from Japan very soon. I'm pretty keen to hear what they're like!

 

I assume its used?

Don't think its possible to get these new anymore.

 

Apparently the original AD2000 had the sweeter sparkly/airy mids (AT so called house sound) compared to the current AD2000X.

 

I actually owned the AD2000X a few Years back for a short time, but regrettably sold it due to upgradtitus that time too. There is some magic with female vocals with AT headphones. I am actually a fan of AT house sound, hence why I am yearning for the ADX5000, but want to try ZMF also to see if it suits my preference.

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1 minute ago, bruc3 said:

 

I assume its used?

Don't think its possible to get these new anymore.

 

Apparently the original AD2000 had the sweeter sparkly/airy mids (AT so called house sound) compared to the current AD2000X.

Yeah, I managed to find a really nice boxed example of one on Yahoo Auctions Japan recently. I think they haven't produced the original since the AD2000X came out.

 

From what I hear the AD2000X seems to be a lot more neutral tonally vs the AD2000, and has significantly brighter treble (some have described the AD2000 as having a slight roll off) and better bass extension. I also think someone mentioned resolution being a little better on the AD2000X. But everyone speaks really highly of the AD2000s female vocals and musicality and has a bit of a cult following. Given that I listen to a lot of female vocal driven music, I had to get a pair to see what all the hype was about for sure

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I've move on from 3 ZMF headphones. Not that it's bad. In fact at one time, I would talk about no other headphone but the Verite LTD Pheasant wood. However the Hekse has taken all my time now. Literally 2 days have gone by without doing anything but listening to music. 

 

I was going to say the CMA 12 is good as the WA22 but sadly it's not .. for me. I was listening with Hekse and CMA 12 for a few hours and it was so good but now with WA22 turn on, there's just that magic there. Like it's literally squeezing more out of the Hekse. 

 

WA22 is not my best tube amp. Studio Six, GOTL are marginally better than the WA22 in my opinion of course. However the WA22 with the right tubes (think 5998) can play ball with those 2 other amps. Of course if you put the best tubes in the other 2 amps, then the difference gets bigger. 

 

Neil has my Studio Six now with all my best tubes but he has just as many other tubes amps but one pair of ears just like me !

 

@bruc3 there's no backing out now that you're in unless you check in to AA. ?

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2 hours ago, Odyssey said:

Well things don't last long with me. Questyle CMA 12 last just 2 days. It will go to Peppy as he so wanted it badly. I have bought a v280 instead as I wanted to still use my Yggdrasil. More to come. Glad I have no New Year resolution !

I think upgrading your Iggy to Unison would be a good resolution for 2021. Wider sound stage, less digital, wonderful musicality.

 

My 2 cents ?

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34 minutes ago, bruc3 said:

But after reading some comparisons from headfi here between the Auteur vs ADX5000:

Read reviews and impressions but nothing like trying it out for yourself. You can come to a different conclusion and that's not wrong. Your ears are always right.

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1 minute ago, virtua said:

 Given that I listen to a lot of female vocal driven music, I had to get a pair to see what all the hype was about for sure

 

Sounds like you have similar preferences to me, the majority of my music involve female vocals pretty heavily and the AT sound always gives that lovely airy sound to female vocals (hence the designated AD name standing for "Air Dynamics" in their headphones).

The HD800S sometimes just lacks the sparkle to female vocals in some songs, and I tried EQ bit more upper mids in but it just sounded very artificial.

 

Its a pity, I feel AT seem to be moving away from their house sound tuning and trying to go more for a neutral tuning which has lost some of the appeal.

 

I suspect the ADX5000 probably even loses out to the AD2000 when it comes specifically to female vocals, but have not compared side by side directly to confirm this.

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1 minute ago, Niktech said:

I think upgrading your Iggy to Unison would be a good resolution for 2021. Wider sound stage, less digital, wonderful musicality.

 

My 2 cents ?

I humbly disagree. I have Schiit Eitr and have no need for Unison no matter how much more improvement others say. I love Yggdrasil as it is and see no reason to upgrade what I consider 'just right' to me. I have friends who share the same sentiments. However it's 3 years old now so maybe on the 4th year, I'll do it and get 2 additional years warranty. ?

 

Then I'll regret doing it haha.

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8 minutes ago, bruc3 said:

Sounds like you have similar preferences to me, the majority of my music involve female vocals pretty heavily and the AT sound always gives that lovely airy sound to female vocals (hence the designated AD name standing for "Air Dynamics" in their headphones).

 

I am into female vocals too .. alot. Eva Cassidy, Norah Jones, Randy Crawford, Tong Li etc. Also rock, jazz and classical, indie haha. Depends on my mood.

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4 minutes ago, bruc3 said:

 

Sounds like you have similar preferences to me, the majority of my music involve female vocals pretty heavily and the AT sound always gives that lovely airy sound to female vocals (hence the designated AD name standing for "Air Dynamics" in their headphones).

Definitely, I picked up my A900X incredibly cheap used just by chance, and I wasn't really expecting to love them since they're a bit lower end compared to my other headphones. But they just present vocals and soundstage in a special way, let alone for a closed back. Everything is very delicate and airy, the treble is present but rarely sibilant, it has great speed too. It's a very euphonic sound in general. This pair really got me hooked onto the A/AD series Audio Technicas.

 

I would love to hear a pair of the ADX5000 because I can imagine they're wonderful, being able to get top of the line level resolution with that Audio Technica house sound would be awesome.

 

I can definitely hear you on the HD800S though, they're definitely less coloured but can come off as a bit clinical because of that. On the other hand they do a lot of things right and are just about the last word in soundstaging and detail. But I could definitely see the ADX5000 giving you just enough of that HD800S quality while mixing in a bit of that AT magic as well.

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The original AD900 was my first expensive expensive headphones :P That was like 2005? Around then sometime. They were excellent. Maybe I'll foray into the AT sound again. What's the pick of the bunch.

 

I just bought a T5p Gen 2 to try too. Heard praises. May or may not stay 

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7 minutes ago, Bengineer said:

The original AD900 was my first expensive expensive headphones :P That was like 2005? Around then sometime. They were excellent. Maybe I'll foray into the AT sound again. What's the pick of the bunch.

 

My first ever "audiophile" headphone was the original ugly purple AD700 (upgraded from some crap 7.1 surround sound gaming headphone lol), was no looking back after that. 

Its a pity seems ever since AT started releasing the 'X" designated models the build quality dropped for their headphones, even the the AD1000X build quality loses to the original AD700 I think. 

 

I actually never tried any of AT closed back or "wood" models, bit curious about trying the new ath-awas. Also always wanted to hear the original AD2000, hopefully @virtua can give us some impressions when he receives his.

I guess pick of the bunch would be their current TOTL open back ADX5000 or wood closed  back ATH-AWKT?

 

 

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