4x6 shootout: Piety / Phon 2 / Liq Gold X / 3FN vs Mini S / JAR 660 / LCD-X / Verite O / PMx2 / HE-6

So recently I got my hands on some new toys and thought about writing up impressions, except then there were too many things in front of me (first world problems right?) and the task was just too much because who has the time for that? So instead I decided to make a grid and do a rapid(-ish) fire impressions and scribble down the first things that came to mind.

I *mostly* put on a single set of headphones and rotated through amps over several songs back and forth. There might be a touch of up and down but no promises. Impressions done over three listening sessions on three separate days, at least one repeat of each headphone on different days. Sometimes my impressions changed from day to day and I would squiggle my notes a bit. My hearing ain't infallible, blah blah.

Rankings are purely subjective and at times a coin toss.

I might do another table but focused on an amp at a time and rotate headphones. Maybe.

Argh someone help me out, how do I create a table? I've done it accidentally before .
Uploading as an image for now...
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Amps: Nitsch Piety, SPL Phonitor 2 (balanced tap off the back), Massdrop Liquid Gold X, Nitsch DSHA-3FN

headphones: ETA Mini S, JAR 660, Audeze LCD-X (2021), ZMF Verite Open, Audio Zenith PMx2, Hifiman HE-6 (OG 4-screw early edition modded)

Source: laptop w/JRiver, into RME Babyface Pro FS -> (optical)-> SPL Mercury dac,
Preamp: SPL Phonitor 2 to the other amps

cheat: Piety fed directly from RME Babyface Pro FS, because in my previous tests when doing the optical conversion into the Mercury those two dacs are super close and I have a hard time telling them apart

Level matching: by ear, because I don't have time to break out the multimeter each time for this

Songs used (MP3's of varying quality because I'm a heathen):
Aloe Blacc & Joel Van Dijk - I Got The Blues
Janis Joplin - One Good Man
Carolina Chocolate Drops - Why Don't You Do Right
Lenny Kravitz - American Woman
Lorde - Royals
Robin Thicke w/Lil Wayne - Tie My Hands
Harold Faltermeyer - Axel F
ZZ Top - La Grange
Louis Armstorng - Snake Rag
La Charanga Habanera - Ese Soy Yo

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reserving for maybe if I do another table or updates

 

Nice write-up, @Armaegis. I'll have to try some of these new pieces at our next meetup.

This write up makes it seem like you don't really like HE6 all that much, even though I know you still regard it as the GOAT. Without running it off a a good speaker amp, do any of these other headphones steal its crown in your opinion?

 

The HE-6 is a stupid power hog that needs more than any of these amps can give it. I've just been too lazy to bring out the big speaker amp.

Among all the other pairings in this grid, the standouts for me are the ETA Mini S + DHSA-3FN, and the
ZMF Verite Open + Phonitor 2.

I'll also give the nod to the JAR660 on the Piety. While other amps were slightly better in other areas, the Piety was the overall winner and if the newly announced Pietus keeps to the same flavour but gives more oomph, I suspect that will be a knockout combination.

I couldn't really get behind the LCD-X, and the PMx2 and HE-6 are unicorns so they don't really hold much weight beyond being my own personal reference points.

 

Nice write up, very interesting way to read impressions! thank you

 

Oooh boy... so I got my hands on a brand new iFi iESL and iCan Pro. I think trying to expand on the table above is gonna be pushing it for size/comprehension though. I don't even have electrostats lol, but the iESL is kinda rare enough that I jumped at the chance when I saw one and have borrowed a friend's stax.

I guess I could start a separate thread.
edit: oh wait, probably better to piggyback on Marv's iESL review thread. I totally forgot about that one; geez I even have multiple posts in there. I'll get to it later this month when I've had more time to form impressions.

 

Is your LCD-X 2021+ version or before?. I have exactly the same impressions for LCD-X 2021 on Liquid Gold X and Phonitor 2 except low energy on Phonitor 2 in bass.
1. LGX: Lowering pre amp by -6dB and turning up LGX volume improves the detail retrieval.
2. Phonitor 2: I had a chance to compare LCD-X < 2021 with 2021, and new pads bring a bit more energy to lower end.

 

Hopefully over the xmas break I'll get a chance to do the inverse table which involves mostly swapping headphones per amp. Then repeating on the next amp, etc.

Am I worried about my prior listening impressions affecting the next writeup? Nope, because the advantage/disadvantage of this style of listening with so many combinations is that I have the audible memory of a goldfish.

The LCD-X is 2021, pads in excellent condition.