General Headphone Chat

[Bengineer 1,093]

So 12m is too long? Fk! I'll undo this braid and start again.

[Bengineer 1,093]

Alright alright. Once all the crap comes, will make myself the following;

 

1.3m to 1.4m 4-wire silver plated litz braided cable (have copper litz coming too)

Furutech or Rean 4pin Mini XLR (Empyrean) - Furutech looks nicer, but ultimately they sound the same for a large difference in price

Heatshrink splitter to keep as light as possible

4.4mm Pentaconn @ amp end (copmact balanced, but not near impossible to solder like the 2.5mm trrs ones)

 

Then a 4.4mm female socket to 4pin XLR adapter, 20-30cm long

And a 4.4mm female socket to 6.35mm stereo adapter, either straight or right angled plug depending on what tube amp I get

And then maybe a 3.5mm version of the main cable for the Z1R, but thats less important

 

Then you end up with a shorter cable with 4.4mm for running off a DAP on holiday or on the lounge, and the two adapters to leave plugged into your main amps, without the bulk of the 4pin XLR to 4pin Female XLR setup

 

I had figured out how to do the above using Lemo (or Hirose) connectors, keeping it balanced and lightweight and compact, but then figured whats the point, just use 4.4mm then you have a working cable from the get go.

[Bengineer 1,093]

After watching this I think I'll change my approach to cable making. I've been making them too simple, not enough things or buzzwords.

 

 

[eLicky 105]

Some years ago there was a crazy cable maker / company called 'Coconut Audio', if you goto Google images and search you'll see some old photos, super expensive super bizzare with special crystals and all this magic going on, they were also extremely expensive. There was a website you could buy them and promo vids on youtube but the owner went silent and removed the website, videos and basically vanished. Around 2014-2015 it was.

Well worth googling the company name still.

[BlueOceanBoy 482]

2 hours ago, eLicky said:

Some years ago there was a crazy cable maker / company called 'Coconut Audio', if you goto Google images and search you'll see some old photos, super expensive super bizzare with special crystals and all this magic going on, they were also extremely expensive. There was a website you could buy them and promo vids on youtube but the owner went silent and removed the website, videos and basically vanished. Around 2014-2015 it was.

Well worth googling the company name still.

Looks like it could have a number of uses, not all of them HiFi.....

[eLicky 105]

7 minutes ago, BlueOceanBoy said:

Looks like it could have a number of uses, not all of them HiFi.....

This ones more your style mate.

[Ccollins 117]

2 hours ago, BlueOceanBoy said:

Looks like it could have a number of uses, not all of them HiFi.....

Maybe it’s just me but I’m thinking that regardless of whatever other uses it may be fit for it will still need plugging in

[Bengineer 1,093]

8 hours ago, Ccollins said:

Maybe it’s just me but I’m thinking that regardless of whatever other uses it may be fit for it will still need plugging in

So is it anal-ogue or digital?

[ColdsnapBry 20]

Anyone know a place in NZ that can repair Grado headphone wires? Asking for a friend.

[Bengineer 1,093]

1 hour ago, ColdsnapBry said:

Anyone know a place in NZ that can repair Grado headphone wires? Asking for a friend.

Got any cable makers there?

[ColdsnapBry 20]

3 minutes ago, Bengineer said:

Got any cable makers there?

Naw, I don't think so!

[Bengineer 1,093]

1 hour ago, ColdsnapBry said:

Naw, I don't think so!

What happened to them?

[GregWormald 1,910]

7 hours ago, ColdsnapBry said:

Anyone know a place in NZ that can repair Grado headphone wires? Asking for a friend.

If the wires broke off inside the earpiece it's a pretty simple repair. I did my pair of 80s myself, and I'm not a tech at all.

[Bengineer 1,093]

Just got some Switchcraft Mini XLR in. Seem well made and not flashy, much like the rest of the range.

 

So if you're wanting something that isn't as cheap as the Rean or expensive as the Furutech, its a good option. $13 a piece.

 

They come in two variants, the "L" in one of the model numbers just means the rear rubber strain relief doesn't come with it, so will accept a thicker cable.

 

The strain relief version has about a 3mm opening, I think the L has a 6mm.

Edited April 14 by Bengineer

[Metal-Fan 91]

Not the best sounding headphone in the world but this new variant certainly looks the goods.

 

Edited April 14 by Metal-Fan

[barbz127 151]

What would you say is lacking with the Empyrean?

[Bengineer 1,093]

11 minutes ago, barbz127 said:

What would you say is lacking with the Empyrean?

Depends what you compare it to I guess.

 

Certainly isn't convincingly beaten by anything across the board. As a complete sound package, and engineering/comfort/build package, is thoroughly impressive.

[BlueOceanBoy 482]

Empyrean is a really nice package and is right up there as the "have only one headphone". Impressive bass, smooth mids and nice treble extension. It's a very well made and comfortable headphone and suits many genres. Easy to drive well to. Like any HP, there are always aspects that could be better. Better imaging, clarity and separation maybe? It's got a better soundstage than Utopia for example but not as wide as HD800s. It's easier to listen to for long periods unlike Utopia or some other planars. If anything, for me, it's not what's lacking, it's what's too much. The bass bleed into the mids on some tracks, sometimes leaves a muddy impression and can make the Empys sound a bit too smooth.

Overall, I think it's right up there with Utopia, ZMF VO/VC and D8000. It's only when you get to LCD-4, Abyss, Susvara and Stax 009 that you get more......and they are a lot more $$. YMMV.

[Metal-Fan 91]

5 hours ago, barbz127 said:

What would you say is lacking with the Empyrean?

 

A little background is in order to support my comment I suppose.

 

My preferred genre is metal and the Meze for me (demoed for an hour) is too slow, a little muddy and too smooth. It struggles to keep up. My DT1990's and TRX-00 Ebony's sound better to me for my musical tastes. I would go as far as saying that the Ebony's are just perfect for metal. They knock it out of the ball park. They cost 600.

 

In addition I don't think any headphone is worth 5 grand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 15 by Metal-Fan

[Bengineer 1,093]

58 minutes ago, Metal-Fan said:

 

A little background is in order to support my comment I suppose.

 

My preferred genre is metal and the Meze for me (demoed for an hour) is too slow, a little muddy and too smooth. It struggles to keep up. My DT1990's and TRX-00 Ebony's sound better to me for my musical tastes. I would go as far as saying that the Ebony's are just perfect for metal. They knock it out of the ball park. They cost 600.

 

In addition I don't think any headphone is worth 5 grand.

I cannot get around this comment

 

I think to comment on the Empyrean you need to try it for longer. There isn't a single quality of the DT1990 or Ebony that is better than the Emprean, apart from price. Bass quality, resolution, speed, refinement, timbre, tonal balance. All far better on the Empy than either of those ying and yang options.

 

I'm happy youre happy with the Ebony though, thats doing better than most of us down the rabbithole. I should have stopped at the 6XX and Bottlehead Crack.

 

I listen to a lot of metal and heavy too, Empy does just fine. The D8000 Pro with EQ was better, but didn't have the comfort of the Empyrean and *needed* EQ. Emprean does ok without.

[sakabatou 310]

5 hours ago, Metal-Fan said:

A little background is in order to support my comment I suppose.

 

My preferred genre is metal and the Meze for me (demoed for an hour) is too slow, a little muddy and too smooth. It struggles to keep up.

 

<snip>

 

3 hours ago, Bengineer said:

I cannot get around this comment

 

I think to comment on the Empyrean you need to try it for longer. There isn't a single quality of the DT1990 or Ebony that is better than the Emprean, apart from price. Bass quality, resolution, speed, refinement, timbre, tonal balance. All far better on the Empy than either of those ying and yang options.

 

<snip>

I wonder whether the amp used to drive the Empyreans for your demo contributed to your impression?

Edited April 15 by sakabatou

[Bengineer 1,093]

I think when you get so used to your own headphones for so long, it takes more than an hour to realise what it is.

 

Like people rave about the Argon MK2 or MK3 models, the T50p mod. It has impressive bass impact, but damn its hard to enjoy past that

[Metal-Fan 91]

On 15/04/2021 at 3:22 PM, Bengineer said:

thats doing better than most of us down the rabbithole.

Mate, I very nearly went down that hole, got to the precipice, was going to jump wallet first, then I found myself!!

Edited April 16 by Metal-Fan

[Bengineer 1,093]

6 minutes ago, Metal-Fan said:

Mate, I very nearly went down that hole, got to the precipice, was going to jump wallet first, then I found myself!!

 

That's no criticism of you great people, it was then I found that I was a pragmatist and that nobody was reinventing the wheel.

If Audeze was trying to reinvent the wheel it would weight 200kg.

[Dr_Kevy 23]

On 06/04/2021 at 7:12 AM, Bengineer said:

Alright alright. Once all the crap comes, will make myself the following;

 

1.3m to 1.4m 4-wire silver plated litz braided cable (have copper litz coming too)

Furutech or Rean 4pin Mini XLR (Empyrean) - Furutech looks nicer, but ultimately they sound the same for a large difference in price

Heatshrink splitter to keep as light as possible

4.4mm Pentaconn @ amp end (copmact balanced, but not near impossible to solder like the 2.5mm trrs ones)

 

Then a 4.4mm female socket to 4pin XLR adapter, 20-30cm long

And a 4.4mm female socket to 6.35mm stereo adapter, either straight or right angled plug depending on what tube amp I get

And then maybe a 3.5mm version of the main cable for the Z1R, but thats less important

 

Then you end up with a shorter cable with 4.4mm for running off a DAP on holiday or on the lounge, and the two adapters to leave plugged into your main amps, without the bulk of the 4pin XLR to 4pin Female XLR setup

 

I had figured out how to do the above using Lemo (or Hirose) connectors, keeping it balanced and lightweight and compact, but then figured whats the point, just use 4.4mm then you have a working cable from the get go.

 

Yes please! I have the shorter Meze cable with the 3.5mm termination. But for some reason, their silver cable (which is 4 pin XLR) is just super long it hangs on the floor. Shorter cables are cheaper too. How do you find the sound going to Silver plated Litz braided vs copper vs Meze's OEM cable?

 

I've said it before but the Empy's scale and (like all TOTL headphones) can be source / DAC dependent. It's about the entire chain, not just the headphone at the end. No, you're not going to get Utopian clarity and wide, detailed soundstage of the HD800S. But as an all rounder, the Empy's do remarkably well. My preferred pairing for the Empyrean is currently the Hugo2/2Go setup with ROON. They sounded amazing from the 430HAD also, warmer and more musical. The latter pairing would go better with rock/heavier music styles.

Edited April 15 by Dr_Kevy

[Bengineer 1,093]

I have thought about giving the 2.5m upgrade cable the snip snip. Make a shorter cable and several adapter ends.

[Bengineer 1,093]

Being in the construction industry, it is important for me to protect my hearing onsite. That is why, the incoming products are NOT hifi, but are ear protection. Make sense @rand129678 ?

[rand129678 391]

19 minutes ago, Bengineer said:

Being in the construction industry, it is important for me to protect my hearing onsite. That is why, the incoming products are NOT hifi, but are ear protection. Make sense @rand129678 ?

 

Expense Claim APPROVED.

 

(A bit of a dodgy approval since all your 'hearing protection' appear to be open-back but these are just details... we won't tell HSE hey !)

Edited April 16 by rand129678

[Bengineer 1,093]

18 minutes ago, rand129678 said:

 

Expense Claim APPROVED.

 

(A bit of a dodgy approval since all your 'hearing protection' appear to be open-back but these are just details... we won't tell HSE hey !)

Ah, didn't you read the purchase order.

 

64 Audio U12T and UM Mest Mk2. Going to A/B them to find out which one offers the most hearing protection.

Edited April 16 by Bengineer

[rand129678 391]

2 minutes ago, Bengineer said:

64 Audio U12T and UM Mest Mk2

 

Looks legit to me.

[Bengineer 1,093]

The 64 Audio offer a M15 (residential construction) and M20 (heavy industry) hearing protection modules.

[seadog 97]

I made the mistake of listening to the Hifiman Susvara yesterday. The best sound I’ve yet heard from headphones.

 

Now trying to work out how to get a pair. The amp they run it off for the demo. was a SPL Phonitor Xe and they adjusted a dip switch under it to , I assume, give it more grunt/headroom.

I’m running a GSX-Mini, enough amp for a Susvara or am I looking at the GSX big brother - the GSX - as a minimum for these ? I’ll eventually get the Chord Hugo TT2 and if the 6.3mm output won’t drive them , the XLR amp. output surely would ?

Edited April 21 by seadog

[BlueOceanBoy 482]

11 minutes ago, seadog said:

I made the mistake of listening to the Hifiman Susvara yesterday. The best sound I’ve yet heard from headphones.

 

Now trying to work out how to get a pair. The amp they run it off for the demo. was a SPL Phonitor Xe and they adjusted a dip switch under it to , I assume, give it more grunt/headroom.

I’m running a GSX-Mini, enough amp for a Susvara or am I looking at the GSX big brother - the GSX - as a minimum for these ? I’ll eventually get the Chord Hugo TT2 and if the 6.3mm output won’t drive them , the XLR amp. output surely would ?

Hey Seadog,

There's some great info on Headphone community  https://forum.headphones.com/t/hifiman-susvara-over-ear-planar-headphone-official-thread/2293 and Head-Fi.org on amp pairings for Susvara. Plenty of amps will drive them but only a few will drive them well. YMMV.

 

[seadog 97]

Ah, cheers for that, I shall reserve a spare few hours to read up.

[BlueOceanBoy 482]

17 minutes ago, seadog said:

Ah, cheers for that, I shall reserve a spare few hours to read up.

Let us know what you're thinking of settling on - lots of views here!

[Bengineer 1,093]

2 hours ago, seadog said:

I made the mistake of listening to the Hifiman Susvara yesterday. The best sound I’ve yet heard from headphones.

 

Now trying to work out how to get a pair. The amp they run it off for the demo. was a SPL Phonitor Xe and they adjusted a dip switch under it to , I assume, give it more grunt/headroom.

I’m running a GSX-Mini, enough amp for a Susvara or am I looking at the GSX big brother - the GSX - as a minimum for these ? I’ll eventually get the Chord Hugo TT2 and if the 6.3mm output won’t drive them , the XLR amp. output surely would ?

Silly man. 

 

@kior22 - Any input on Susvara pairings?

[Dr_Kevy 23]

Did you listen to them out of the 430HAD? The 230 didn’t drive them well enough. The phonitor I thought wasn’t as clean and warmer than I like (that said, I was listening to Utopia also) and think you can get a much better amp. 
 

Driven well, susvara are the best headphone I’ve auditioned. Driven badly, even from a $3000 amp without enough grunt, they are “hmm I can do better” GSX mini will probably drive them but I don’t know how well ... 

 

Chord TT2 is a serious investment! 
 

Sorry for encouraging you to listen to the Susvara. I’m also contemplating a pair. I was going to bring my WA11 and Hugo2 in and see how badly they sound out of them. But I see a Naim or Simaudio amp in my Future.  Has anyone even tried the Susvara in a transportable setup. 

Edited April 21 by Dr_Kevy

[Bengineer 1,093]

8 minutes ago, Dr_Kevy said:

.  Has anyone even tried the Susvara in a transportable setup. 

Not yet, I tend to take my 1266 on the train, and my HE-1 to the beach.

[Ccollins 117]

5 hours ago, seadog said:

I made the mistake of listening to the Hifiman Susvara yesterday. The best sound I’ve yet heard from headphones.

 

Now trying to work out how to get a pair. The amp they run it off for the demo. was a SPL Phonitor Xe and they adjusted a dip switch under it to , I assume, give it more grunt/headroom.

I’m running a GSX-Mini, enough amp for a Susvara or am I looking at the GSX big brother - the GSX - as a minimum for these ? I’ll eventually get the Chord Hugo TT2 and if the 6.3mm output won’t drive them , the XLR amp. output surely would ?

I have read that (generally) the gsx mini runs the susvara fine. Not fantastic or superb but fine/well. 
i am guessing the bigger brother would better as it has more power. But is it maybe due for a makeover?

 

the bakoon 13r gets some very favourable mentions on headfi. 
 

i found the v280 lacking in power for it. 
 

my niimbus us4 has me very happy with my susvara and i am not in search of another amp. Though that it the money expensive amp that i have ever heard so my comparisons are minimal. 
 

project86 (john granberg) on headfi , when reviewing the niimbus says that that is the best amp that he has heard with the susvara - that causes me to eventually buy it. 

[Bengineer 1,093]

How many people have the Susvara!

 

Haven't even seen one in real life