Raimei Templar

It does not have a wide soundstage at all, its nearly the same width wise as HD6xx series, but the imaging and depth are both outstanding and significantly better than the 6xx et all. HD800 would win in soundstage size, but in imaging pretty sure S5x would hold its own. I would say the S5x is more accurate than the HD800 because it does not sound artificially wide the way the 800 can.

The bass extension probably has to do with the size of the driver. If you had a small ortho driver like the size of the 6xx series, I wonder what it would sound like

Please write up a review for us! We’ve got a loaner coming. :)

I agree! Cool company. I’m super happy you’re supporting them. :)

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts later. I really like Rok's approaches explained in the videos. Very curious about S5, too.

I ended up picking up the closed version after the loaner... comparing it to the loaner mini-c now. I really like the ollo cans...

DMaa closed up shop a few years ago, so they are pretty rare to find these days, particularly in good shape. Will give impressions just for fun as it cant be bought easily anymore.

What does the mod consist of?

The earpad dust filter is removed and replaced with some kind of mesh, and some dampening materials are placed on backside of driver housing. It is quite simple overall.

And as always while FR does tell a lot about whether or not a pair of transducers might work for someone, I'm more curious about how reactive those fancy new diaphragms might be since that liveliness could well overcome that upper midrange dip (which looks fine per my preferences, but those are def niche).

Both measurements were with brand new earpads, though its not yet known how the 660v2 will react with worn pads. I agree the HD600 gets actually better with worn earpads, its the reason I would lean towards recommending the 600 vs the 650, it actually sounds nice with worn pads so you dont have to replace them often. 650 (and 660s even more so) gets dark with worn pads.

Where is his commentary that he still prefers the 650/600?

Nvm, found it: https://forum.headphones.com/t/sennheiser-hd660s2-open-back-headphones-official-discussion-thread/20379/7

don't worry, it will probably be hot garbage. when it comes to new sennheiser, i'm of the guilty until proven innocent mentality.

For that price I'll buy myself a Waifu

Agree @brencho, weather prediction is 95% chance of hot garbage. Without Axel Grell there should be zero expectation it'll do anything special. It's like a "technically excellent" engineer remixing Dark Side of the Moon.

I never have, but I do have mine plugged into a power strip/surge protector so that's likely helping matters. Perhaps also compromising performance but that's not a level of nervosa I'm going to entertain

Next time it happens, unplug the input from the back of the Piety to see if it is coming from internal to the Piety or external. If it happens when first turning on, it could be the regulators settling. Also check how much incoming power you have coming in from your power outlet.

Nothing yet - I think deoxit gold also cleaned the pot static up. I'll switch from Vali 2++ to Piety tonight.

Not exactly on point, but I've owned all three versions of the DT880 and kept the 600 ohm. It sounds the best with my tube amp on high gain.

Geshelli J2( OG 9026 version) into the Jot is the most " correct" sounding amp dac combo I have heard. Everything just sounds amazing.

"not as unique"

Aaaaaargh!

/pedant

@Thad u go gurl!

Lucky with extreme persistence I have managed to get it real close to 2.2, so its good enough, but man I hate turning on a monitor and having everything be epic washed out, I hate that every "gaming" monitor I have tried has done this.

TBH I won't tolerate a VA panel at all at this point. Though that basically leaves me @ 28" or < 4k ips or 43+" oled for "good" panels.

Good being 144hz+ and not awful ghosting / ovedrive settings. Though I guess I haven't looked in a few months.

I like VA contrast, though the gamma shift is annoying. I am not that sensitive to ghosting though as long as its got a decent overdrive, doesnt bother me. This one is 240hz which more than makes up for VA slowness.

I hate IPS glow which is why I am reluctant to get one again, I managed to find one 5 years ago that had almost none of it but that is rare. Will be nice when OLED is actually affordable.

All I find is, sounds clean, transparent, definitely not any different from any other amps, PLZ NO BULLY REDDIT/ASR. It never ceases to make me sad that people get chewed out for saying how an audio device, a thing designed to produce sound actually sounds to them.

I continue to maintain that the K612 is still the best headphone in the AKG K-lineup.

Oh yeah, I used to be quite a fan of it. I wrote about it in the K712 thread.

I remember getting downvoted on Reddit like mad for saying that the drop to 32ohms impedance and the comments about NOW ITS GONNA HAVE MORE BASS were real bad signs, with everyone telling me I was a dumbass and it was gonna sound amazing. Feel quite vindicated!

I have tickets and a tour (elderly parents will be joining me) booked for Japan this Fall (rolling the dice that they will actually let us into the country by then). I have some free time in both Osaka and Tokyo at the end of the tour so maybe I can sneak away for a bit to check out E-Earphone. Might have to settle for the headphone section of a Yodabaishi since there was actually family interest in seeing one.

Yodabashi Umeda (Osaka) used to have a quite big section for listening actually, but I havent been for awhile. Had a lot of stuff you usually dont see in Japan like Dan Clark/Mr.Speakers and the Audioquest Nighthawks at one time. Its massive and has everything including restaurants in it, so I imagine your family could find something they are into.

Just realized I butchered Yodobashi...oops. Last time I visited the Akihabara one in 2016, it was an OK selection, but mostly budget to mid tier headphones (at least to someone here). But still cool to see so many in one location. I also saw a refrigerator that was swipe to open and it blew my mind. Can't wait to go again.