Klipsch Heritage HP-3 Headphones Preview

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by purr1n, Sep 15, 2017.

  1. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

    Pyrate Banned
    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,455
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Way too v shaped for me. I'll pass
     
  2. musiqlovr

    musiqlovr Almost "Made"

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2017
    Likes Received:
    312
    Trophy Points:
    53
    Location:
    NJ USA
    ****Super Best Audio Brothers and Sisters****

    I have accepted and started a new job at Onkyo and Pioneer. My new position is General Manager of Product. I will be creating a new strategy and product roadmap for many categories for both of these amazing brands. And of course including Headphones.

    In a few weeks I will have much more to share.

    Really want to say thank you to everyone here, the amount of love you guys have shown me is tremendous and I look forward to working with all of you on some new stuff soon. I’m full of ideas and of course I’ll share the journey with all of you!

    Steve
     
  3. frenchbat

    frenchbat Almost "Made"

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,369
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Grats on the position. You've got some work ahead given pioneer's recent track record.
     
  4. Darren G

    Darren G Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2017
    Likes Received:
    589
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Pennsylvania, PA
    Thanks @musiqlovr - I'll be buying the HP3s at some point, as the product checks my boxes. I don't always rush to buy the latest greatest thing the day it comes out, but I want them.

    Pioneer/Onkyo is fortunate to have you. Your passion for quality product, and seeking feedback from others... Rock On!
     
  5. WNovizar

    WNovizar Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2016
    Likes Received:
    191
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Grats @musiqlovr on landing on Onkyo/Pioneer team! Hopefully you can provide feedback for next version of SE-MASTER1.
     
  6. 9suns

    9suns [insert unearned title here]

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,754
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    EU
    Congrats @musiqlovr !

    Considering Master 1's sound quality...you have TONS of work to do, but you're the right person, I'll keep an eye on those new products
     
  7. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,300
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    SoCal
    Congrats Steve! We are all super excited to hear what you guys are working on.

    I think what this community wants most of all is that elusive HD650 upgrade under $1k. If you build it, they will come.
     
  8. Daveheart

    Daveheart Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jan 10, 2017
    Likes Received:
    566
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    I did all of my listening to these with and SFD-1 mkii (stock) fed by an Eitr. I used the Magni 3 that was also in the box briefly but did most of my listening out of my Torpedo III (lo Z setting). It didn't seem like the impedance would be a good match for the Sonnet in the other room, so I didn't even give that a shot.

    For small group jazz, the bass boost wasn't quite as noticeable as I thought it would be. Bill Evans's Waltz for Debby, Dexter Gordon's Go, Cannonball's Somethin' Else, and the George Benson Cookbook all sounded fairly natural. There was a bit of sizzle on the highs, but sometimes I like that; the bass actually sounded fairly well balanced to me. When I moved to big band, there a few tunes that bugged me. It still souned find on bass guitars, but there were a few recordings I had that had a kick drum tuned with the plain thud impact common in the late '80s (especially some North Texas big band recordings from that time). The thud impact of that style bass drum was definitely louder than expected and highlighted that end of the "V shape". Also, even the bass guitar was too much on some newer big band recordings from the Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band.

    Moving on to Rock, I put on Hot for Teacher as I'd guessed that it would exacerbate the kick-drum issue, and I was right. That being said, Van Halen's debut album was fine. The bass and drums were a bit too much for me on the Tool that I played (mostly Aenima). Dark Side of the Moon didn't really present any annoyances; though the bass was a bit more than I'd like, it wasn't as apparent as it was on Aenima.

    I didn't find it to be a great match with most of the classical I played: Synphonie fantastique, Finlandia, and Shostakovich, Mahler, and Beethovens' 5th Symphonies. It may match better with smaller chamber music selections, but with full symphonic recordings, it was just a bit too much.

    I also tried to put the HP-3 through the same "Beatles test" that @Ringingears did and found that his comments regarding George and John being back in the mix on Here Comes the Sun and Dear Prudence respectively were on point.

    While I listened to plenty of other Beatles tracks, I bounced between the HP-3 and my HD650 on these two tracks specifically, and he was definitely right. Good call.

    Outside of listening to them, the fit and finish it great. I only have two complaints.

    1. The top headband tends to get uncomfortable for me; however, I should note that I'm basically bald. Pretty much anything with leather sitting on the top of my head irritates me these days. The THX00 and Emu Teak treat me the same way. I'd imagine if I actually had some hair it wouldn't bother me.

    2. The Y split on the cables is way too far away from the actual termination at the cups. If it's actually hanging straight down, the Y-splitter is sitting somewhere around my navel when it seems like most would set it up to sit a couple inches below the collar bone. As I've a habit of using custom cables anyway, this wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.

    Overall, I find that I like these, but not really enough to justify dropping the cash on what would ultimately be a change of pace headphone for me.
     
  9. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2016
    Likes Received:
    8,802
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Tejas
    I've currently got this on the loaner tour and I agree with much of what @Daveheart said above.

    I'm going to talk about my experience in terms of what I noticed about some specific songs. My usual setup is PC/FLAC->RPi/D+Pro->Modi Multibit->Vali 2->HD6XX. I tend to prefer a sound on the laid-back, darker side.

    I definitely hear the extension on both ends over the 6XX. At times the treble energy can be a bit much for me with the Vali 2 as can the bass. I noticed that this isn't nearly as much so with the Magni 3. In all cases where I found the treble to be too energetic on the Vali 2 I didn't find that to be the case on the Magni 3. That probably just means it's sending less detail along in the extremes but to me it was a decent synergy for a low cost amp.

    Bjork's new track Arisen My Senses gets pretty messy in the treble in general and it actually felt a little messier through the HP-3 than 6XX. I assume because it's just picking up more of the details in that trebly mess.
    On Allison Krauss's Paper Airplane the treble energy from the acoustic guitar was a bit much for my tastes. I listened to this again after I'd been using the headphones for a couple of days and I was a bit more accustomed to it though I still prefer the 6XX presentation there. Krauss's voice sounded fantastic through the HP-3 on this one. It hit a sweet spot for sure.

    On some vocal tracks with female voice that were singing in the slightly lower end of the range I found that they felt a bit more recessed than with 6XX such as Amber Rubarth's voice on the track Hold On from her Chesky album Sessions From the 17th Ward. Headstage is fantastic in these headphones though and this binaural album shows it off.

    On Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven from Unplugged I found one little nitpick that happened on some live acoustic sessions and that was as Clapton plays his Ramirez classical guitar he was rhythmically hitting the body with the heel of his hand and that sound is exaggerated here in the bass region. This was something I found happening on some other acoustic recordings as well that was a little distracting. I would say that generally folksy acoustic music is not in the wheelhouse of this headphone but you probably already knew that.

    There were some exceptions of course. Charles Mingus's Live at Antibes is one of my favorite jazz albums of all time and it sounded great here. I did notice the moving back of some of the headstage as others have noted. I typically perceive Mingus and his upright as being to my left but it seemed a little more rearward in the HP3. Really enjoyed this album through the HP3's soundstage overall though. There is a lot going on there as Mingus moans, claps, talks, etc... throughout the recording.

    I listened to a little rap on these and it sounded great if the recording is good but the HP3 will not allow you to escape the bass distortion that is so prevalent in many rap songs.

    Two recordings that really shined in particular were King's X's Dogman and Yes's Drama. This is no coincidence as both of these bands feature an upfront bass player with a meaty but midcentric overdriven bass tone. Drama has really never sounded so good and ballsy as it does through these headphones both with Magni 3 and Vali 2. HP-3 totally kicked ass here. They really lend a nice girth to the famous bass tones of Doug Pinnick and Chris Squire.

    Overall IMO these headphones aren't the jack-of-all trades that the 6XX/650 is and they can be a tad too eager in the treble and bass for some music. Detail retrieval and headstage are the two things that stick out to me the most and as Marv said this should be really pleasing to bassheads who also want that technical ability.

    Comfortwise they're great. Kinda heavy but they sit well. My ears get slightly hotter than 6XX but not horrible and I would expect that when comparing semi-open to open headphones.

    The packaging on these is something. I mean I'd read about it before but when you see it and feel the heft in person it is somewhat shocking. It's nice that they come with a heavy stand and an extra cable as well.

    I will definitely enjoy the rest of my time with the HP-3's but if I were saving for a headphone in this price range this sound profile wouldn't be my particular cup of tea.
     
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2017
  10. luximal

    luximal Made things right

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2015
    Likes Received:
    234
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Markham ontario
    Klipsch Heritage HP-3 review

    [​IMG]
    Chain: Decware mini torii > Audial model S mk2


    The Hp3 is a somewhat of a disappointment. It’s not a bad headphone, but I don’t think it’s better than some much cheaper headphones like the hd 650 let alone being worth 1200.

    First the good stuff, Microdetail is good, macrodetail is great, dynamics are quite good and the blackground is nice as well. There a bass and lower mid boost, which gives a nice thickness and weight to the sound. Staging is pretty good as well, there’s a good amount of depth and width.

    There are 3 main issues with the headphone however, first it lacks openness and air despite being semi open, it’s closed sounding enough that covering the vents with your hands on the headphone doesn’t change the sound at all. Second the upper mids sound pretty veiled. It doesn’t exactly sound sucked out like an elear, but when combined with the lack of openness, there’s just not much mid range clarity. Third, there’s a narrow mid treble peak that’s causing some tizz. It’s not bad enough to make the treble unlistenable, but it does make it sound unnatural. I’m guessing it’s there to give some presence up top and to counteract the lack of air.

    Despite being overpriced to hell, I found the weighty dark bassy sound somewhat enjoyable once I got used to the lack of clarity. It might be a good flavour can I guess, but I found some of the cheaper cans I own like ma900 better. Yes, it has thinner mids and bass and the treble is rough around the edges, and the sound stage is also a shallower than the hp3. But I find the mid range clarity to be fantastic and it’s very resolving. Plus it pairs well to the slightly warm and bassy cth.
     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2018
  11. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2017
    Likes Received:
    11,035
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Philippines, The
    Extra impressions no one asked for:

    Laptop (USB)>Bifrost Multibit Gen5 USB>iFi Micro iDSD (amp)/Fostex HP-V1 prototype

    So I got these beauties in the mail last night. More accurately, the forwarding service I used got them yesterday after which they eventually found their way to my door. Used, so I'm thinking @Bigferret did all the hard work of burning them in (if you believe that sorta thing).

    Quick aside: the packaging is lovely but sweet Lord is it heavy. I got charged twice what I did for the friggin Bifrost in shipping and handling, and lugging the damn thing around feels like exercise almost. VERY early impressions after a few hours of critical listening and revisiting various bits in my music collection (subject to change with time):

    ******************
    Mids recessed, definitely v-shaped, but not in a terribly bad way. I checked out the Beatles tracks mentioned above, can confirm vocals on some tracks are less than engaging. This appears to be the result of the midrange dip, only exacerbated by a grey, filmy "texture" over the midrange that adds a grey-ish haze, of sorts. Definitely less clarity than the X00 Ebony (oh hey, more ebony), but that's about the only advantage the Fostex has over these.

    Stage is both deeper and wider than the Fostex, with image crispness and resolution being the best among any can I've had at home; while I did have an HD650, known here for its remarkable resolving capability, I feel the rest of my rig fails to do it justice (read: rig is mid-fi at best). I nearly jumped out of my skin listening to the opening of Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal— the breathing sounded as if there were someone right next to me. It didn't help that I had my eyes closed and was lying down on my bed, against the wall.

    Incidentally, I disagree that covering the vents does nothing to the sound: there is a very audible loss of "fullness" to the sound and a boxing-in of the sonic image when I cup my hands over the (very pretty) grilles.

    The Klipsch's bass emphasis isn't obvious unless the material has a big bottom-end to begin with. London Grammar's Oh Woman, Oh Man has some parts where the low end bleeds right into the mids and smothers it in goo, but honestly it's not as bad as Marvey or Tyll's measurements might suggest (even when pressing the cups against my head to get a better seal). The entirety of RHCP's Blood Sugar Sex Magik is amazing, but Kiedis's voice sounded somewhat tiny relative to everything else going on, which to be fair was rendered well.

    Sinatra's rendition of Blues in the Night is perfect on these, by the way. The absence of the lower midrange dip, common to biodynas it seems, really helps the Chairman's vocals shine. Goo Goo Dolls' Iris and Panic! at the Disco's Golden Days, on the other hand, are just about unlistenable at higher volumes. To put it very politely, it felt like this Porker is trying to shank my eardrums with a mustard-coated, rusty ice pick during both songs' choruses. Thankfully the treble stabbiness doesn't activate too often, though it's very bad whenever it does.
    ******************


    TL;DR Love the sound but both the bass and treble can be absolutely damaging on certain songs, latter more than the former. Textures and imaging are all ridiculously good compared to other cans I've owned (which isn't exactly a high standard but was worth mentioning). Also, the build and aesthetic on these are marvelous; if I were rich I'd just get these as bookshelf eyecandy.

    Being not-rich, though, I'm still keeping them but will be working to tone the treble down a smidge (or thirty). Besides, I need to get a proper tube amp for these too :|

    Oh, and yeah, Carly Rae Jepsen's E.MO.TION was still pretty bad, though not as bad as the Fostex was on I Didn't Just Come Here to Dance, which was nice.
     
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2019
  12. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2017
    Likes Received:
    11,035
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Philippines, The
    Quick update for all 3 other people across the globe who own these headphones, the headband doesn't appreciate heat and humidity much (so LOL at living in a tropical country):

    [​IMG]

    Easy enough fix with superglue, but hopefully nothing else falls apart. Also mildly disappointed the stitches on top apparently serve more aesthetic purposes than functional ones.
     
  13. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jan 10, 2017
    Likes Received:
    8,974
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Denver CO
    Home Page:
    Super glue is going to become very stiff and brittle. Take a look at the glue they use to bond leather in shoes. A super tiny bit goes a very long way, and would be a far superior fix for that.
     
  14. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2017
    Likes Received:
    11,035
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Philippines, The
    Thanks for the save! Prevented me from going full dumbass :))

    Figured I might as well add on some quick after-nearly-a-year impressions:

    Edit: I'm on the fence about treble. In most cases it's perfectly tolerable at my usual volumes, but there are times when it becomes genuinely irritating. Chalking it up to volume pot twist-happiness, listening to crappily-made music, and listening fatigue perhaps.

    Build is stellar even considering the above-mentioned headband concerns— dropped these on the knurled bits of a dumbbell and they came out intact apart from some cosmetic damage to the cups and grille surround, and the cable's survived loads of cat attacks besides general wear and tear. That includes transportable use; I'm the kind of person who actually uses full-sized cans outside sometimes, yep. Not while walking though, that's kinda risky.

    Interestingly where the treble was a massive problem before, it's quite tolerable now. Whether that's due to hearing damage (curse you, McCormick!), the physiology of my ear, or the fact that my normal listening levels are significantly lower than my evaluation/demo levels (low enough to disappoint Hands and a bunch of others I imagine), I've no idea. Still find it sharp but almost never consider the treble painful nowadays at usual volumes, even on the tracks I called out in my last impressions post. It's a different story when I get twist-happy on the volume pot though— zazz and zap.

    The bass doesn't bleed over into the mids like on the HD650— I don't consider the HP-3s a warm headphone by any stretch of the imagination, but there's an occasional thinness, and more importantly a slight nasality and closed-ness, to vocal presentations when listening to bass-heavy tracks. Timbre can right itself well enough with bass vents between the baffle and pads in place, though, and the HP-3s sound far more normal then (I've stopped using dense foam because they don't really last very long, I've got little cardboard squares from a Starbucks coffee sleeve in their place, mainstream hipster that I am).

    Instrument and vocal textures are somewhat smeared v. more technically proficient headphones like the TH900 or HD800. Maybe comparable to HiFiMan HE1000v2 based on store demos out of an iFi Pro stack? They also fall behind the HD650 in microdynamics somewhat— the Klipsches push subtle elements of the mix to the foreground, making things sound oversharpened and occasionally unnatural-sounding. For how pronounced the bass can be though, I don't hear these as particularly confused-sounding headphones; they're light on their feet, and I might just be due for another listen but they might actually be ekeing out more finesse in complex passages than even the TH900.

    Soundstage is slightly elliptical, depth being more impressive than width, and there's no breaks in the tapestry (i.e. no three-blob-effect). The DT880s are wider by a hair, but they're already pretty ridiculously wide in staging for how shallow it sounds. Imaging is far more precise and with better directionality than on HD800, at least on mediocre systems like mine where I've always thought the Senns amorphous. One major shortcoming of the headstage is that unlike loads of other headphones, I don't actually feel it manages to envelop me, that is to say, it seems to stop a few degrees short of either side of my head, likely a consequence of the stage being pushed so far back. Trailing decays are more noticeable on HD800 and TH900, but initial attacks are beautifully, ridiculously visceral across the FR on the Klipsches, enough so that I don't actually mind how decay seems very slightly truncated relative to the HD800.

    I've actually found the Klipsches to sound remarkably "flat" on some tracks, which is really damn surprising. Could be inherent to the source material but most of what I listen to is poorly mastered shite anyway so it reflects my use case. Either way, I've insufficient experience to determine whether the dip in the upper midrange is what robs the headphones of liveliness or whether it's just a result of how tightly regulated airflow in the cups is (rear vent filters are pretty restrictive), but there are times when it sounds to me like the Klipsches display a lack of dynamism, as if they don't quite manage to put as much weight into each punch as they might've been inclined to. I can kinda see how that might fool people into thinking that these might pass as "reference", bollixed FR aside. Note that lack of dynamism does not mean that these aren't a fun listen still, and the sheer resolution you get with these even at moderate listening volumes is very impressive— you get a real sense of "room" to things, even with the midrange recession occasionally shoving things to the back of the mix and making them harder to catch.

    Have had the opportunity to demo these out of nicer upstream components, I will say that I look forward to the day I might get to take home something like a BW2 or anything technically competent because of how well these do with suboptimal pairings like the ZDT Jr./HP-V1— former had loosey-goosey bass, though also laughably good soundstage, while the latter is too warm, almost make the Klipsches sound like Nighthawks. Almost. Gross detail out of both systems (sources are iFi Micro iDSD and Bifrost Multibit circa 2015) are pretty unremarkable, but again could be due to upstream stuff. The headphones do impart a good sense of air and presence, which I attribute to the fake stage expansion.

    Leather bits were stiff as a corpse to begin with, but after loads of use they wear in and become quite plush. Given how heavy the cups are it's actually pretty easy to shift center image around when moving my head, as I'm occasionally wont to do when listening to more exciting tracks.

    In summary they're not really worth retail but I'd say are competitive in the ~$1000 category, definitely nicer than the Elears per my preferences. The fancy packaging might be worth the premium for some though it's useless as a carrying case for how fragile it seems. Do note that I've not tried a lot of headphones, especially newer ones, and have no useful speaker experience at all.

    The headphones are not neutral by any stretch of the imagination and the lack of liveliness (not defined here as a function of frequency response but instead a function of dynamism) might be a deal breaker in itself, but they're alright for daily drivers depending on what you listen to and whether you're willing to apply some simple mods. Attack and sheer resolution are bonkers good, even out of lackluster sources. Absolutely stellar for low volume listening, so I guess I'm keeping em until I can afford something better in a few years, like an Aeolus or Verite.

    P.S.
    Aftersales support is nonexistent if you buy used, aftermarket pads aren't a thing as far as I can tell, and I've not been able to find a place where I can get spares, wasting the fact that they're easily swappable. The leather used is durable though so I'm not overly concerned about longevity. Shame though, since I'd love to sacrifice pads to try and experiment with so the treble spike might lose some of its edge.

    I'm still pissed that Klipsch let Steve go before they got the opportunity to release new pads for an alternate flavour; that's one area I can easily tell ZMF whoops butt even having never gotten ears on any of their newer cans.

    ADD— I eventually settled on a 1.8" felt disc front filter to tame the treble for when I want a more relaxed listen. It adds some fuzz to the bass so that sucks, but attack and texture remain pretty damn good. 6-ish kHz region is still harsh when listening at higher SPLs (Sinatra's Swing Easy had some irritating sibilance), but the controlled 8kHz+ is balm for my ears.

    Stock (ORANGE) v Felt Disc (BLUE) SBAF Compensation [pending fine-tuning with more normal-sounding headphones]. AVERAGES of multiple measurements:
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2019
  15. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2017
    Likes Received:
    11,035
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Philippines, The
    Yes I'm likely the only one who still gives a bother about these headphones, but just wanted to contribute that while mass loading the baffle with Dynamat Xtreme does seem to have helped tighten up bass response somewhat, the effects are largely negligible and could well be superseded by less bloomy upstream components.

    It seems to me that the area immediately surrounding the driver assembly has a fair bit of dampening applied to it out of the box, which would explain why the bass is pretty damn tight to begin with despite being so elevated relative to the rest of FR:

    [​IMG]

    Though whomever was working on this seems to have been rather enthusiastic in applying. What irks me is that the other side doesn't have a big ol gloop of whatever this is in it and I'm not willing to risk ripping wires to pieces getting this stuff out:

    [​IMG]

    Lastly, figured it'd be worth noting:
    • Baffle is secured to cups by screws going through that orangey-copper-coloured ring. Screws are TORX T5H (https://i.imgur.com/QQIw4Sc.jpg)
    • The outer ring with branding is affixed to the wooden cup with HEX screws, something smaller than HEX 1.5 (which I don't have so left it well alone) (https://i.imgur.com/0lycDju.jpg)
    • Those small copper screws on the ring holding the mesh in place are a perfect match with HEX 2.0 but DO NOT BOTHER TRYING TO UNDO THESE. I had the first screw head I was working on snap immediately off with just a bit of torque and was forced to superglue it back in place (the one that got effed up: https://i.imgur.com/tT91x33.jpg; https://i.imgur.com/8UeHyNK.jpg). Think something similar happened to at least one other person, maybe @Eudis Fernandes? If experimenting with rear dampening, might do well to focus more on the paper on the inside of the cup instead, replacing or removing it entirely (https://i.imgur.com/05nlpaL.jpg) since that may make a bigger difference.
    • The swivel hinges are secured with Phillips head screws, PH00, but they were pretty firmly affixed and I wasn't in the mood to break these any more than I already have so I didn't try undoing any of them.
    • A HEX2.0 might work at the gimbal/headband join, but it wobbled a bit and I didn't have any other larger sizes available; I wasn't willing to strip any heads so maybe someone with a wider array of HEX screws can chime in.
    • The headband itself is just glued together, as per an earlier post. Stitches along top are purely decorative. Heat gun or hair dryer may help, but also could ruin leather finish. Have leather polish or fancy shoe oils handy; I like Saphir Renovateur but it's on the $$$ side IMO. Haven't dicked around with this too much.
    • The baffle is constructed of ABS plastic, which I know to be durable as f**k-all (it's the stuff LEGOs are made of). Specifically ABS-GF30 meaning it's "30% glass filled", which seems a good balance to keep its shape and maintain impact resistance*. (yes there is Dynamat gunk visible, I made sure to clean it up after snapping this pic: https://i.imgur.com/zKj6zBR.jpg)
    • The bits securing the gimbals to the baffle are labelled [PC+ABS], which I interpret to mean it's a polycarbonate+ABS plastic blend, i.e. more resistant to impact, frictive force, and general mechanical wear. Not sure this is the exact blend they used but might offer some insight: https://www.resinex.co.uk/polymer-types/pc-abs.html. Labelled "1" for R side and "2" for L side. (https://i.imgur.com/woIzptU.jpg)
    • The edges of the gimbals are supported with a medium-density foam, probably to aid in vibrations? Yes there's a bit of hair/fur/whatever in the shot, I made sure that the insides of the cups were as clean as possible before putting everything back together, haha: https://i.imgur.com/PbgcnpB.jpg
    • The front ports are covered with various bits of pretty low-GSM, highly porous paper to regulate airflow. Will look into what covering these up might do, though I doubt it's anything particularly wild or that hasn't already been covered here: http://www.brentbutterworth.com/headphone-voicing.html. Seems to me some of the strips of paper are thicker than others, curious how these correspond to positions of the vents on the baffle (https://i.imgur.com/b30DtQ5.jpg)
    Did not perform any irreversible mods on the HP-3s including ripping the paper filters out because I rather like these headphones and cannot afford to buy a replacement pair, even used, if I f**k em up :)) Hope this is at least somewhat useful though. As for me I don't disagree with the general FR trend, would just like bass quality closer to TH900 and maybe a few dB less treble, haha. For now, front filters or EQ helps.


    *http://www.matweb.com/search/datasheet.aspx?matguid=85bef074f23f49fcbd928b0fc8807a55&ckck=1
     
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2019
  16. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2017
    Likes Received:
    385
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Poland
    I like those cans. One of my customers just recently had these with him so I auditioned briefly and quite liked what I've heard.
     
  17. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2017
    Likes Received:
    11,035
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Philippines, The
    Their voicing is kinda niche I think, but they definitely have big-boy resolving capabilities which is surprising since, at least in my very limited experience, this tends to happen more often with high-impedance dynamics (e.g. Senn HD800) than low-impedance ones, though I might call the TH-900 an exception too if I had more time to evaluate it. I think loads of concerns about treble being harsh and bass being tubby come primarily from cranking the volume high enough to bring the middle/upper midrange to the same level as with most other cans, which given the FR balance brings bass and treble to insane levels. Or pairing with mushy-warm amps to alleviate treble concerns but inadvertently worsening bass quality (headphone's pretty sensitive to source, even cables make an obvious difference FFS).

    Once you get used to the mid suckout (i.e. stop blasting these at high volumes), it actually gives a nice sense of "fake depth" to things. I operated on a bit of a hunch and did overlays between the HD800S and the HP-3 off Marv's flat plate rig, results were more or less what I expected, which is a vaguely similar rough profile (but with thiccer bass and less smooth top end):

    [​IMG]
    Red+Green>HP-3; Purple+Yellow>HD800S
     
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2020
  18. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2017
    Likes Received:
    385
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Poland
    Thanks. t might be a bit odd to ask, but if you had to pick between HP-3 and HD800S, which one would you go for?
     
  19. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2017
    Likes Received:
    11,035
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Philippines, The
    Haha, well I've tried the HD800S around a lot and have had a modded HD800 at home for a few weeks— if they both cost the same I'd still go for the Klipsches maybe. The Senns are less weird about microdynamics, are more resolving, and have smoother, though still elevated, treble, but the images and soundstage are both more diffuse than I'd like and they're just not as enjoyable to listen to, really.

    HD800(S) wins, no real contest, for classical and acoustic, but I'd pick the HP-3 for everything else, and still like em for those two genres besides.

    Crap I'm turning into a basshead.
     
  20. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,279
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Bird-watcher's paradise
    Then you have to get rid of those 600s.
     

Share This Page