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Mr. Speakers Ether

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by velvetx, Nov 9, 2015.

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  1. Colgin

    Colgin Friend

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    Believe it or not, not everyone loves the HD 800. I have tried repeatedly to love the HD 800 and have heard it on numerous different mid-fi and high-end/TOTL setups. I always came away with respect, but not love. And as an AKG fan who can tolerate the brightness of their cans I cannot understand why I don't like the HD 800 more. But for as much love as they get here, almost everyone here seems to mod their HD 800. I have never heard a modded HD 800, only stock. I hope to hear several HD 800 setups at the NY meet this coming weekend so, as always, I will keep an open mind and will actually be optimistic towards the HD 800. With so many on the used market at reasonable prices I am always hopeful that the next listen will be the time I fall in love with them, but that has yet to happen.

    For me, it is not brightness per se that turns me off of the HD 800. I think it is that it has a diffuse sound and that does not seem to work so well for me for rock music (about 75% of what I listen to with the rest being primarily jazz with just a bit of classical). But for some reason I do like my AKG Q701 and K7xx. Maybe the price differential has something to do with how I feel about those for rock music versus the HD 800.
     
    Colgin, Nov 10, 2015
    #41
  2. TMRaven

    TMRaven Friend

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    I could listen to HD800 stock and never mod them. I use EQ though. As to listening to stock HD800 without EQ, I could for a while, but after a while it'd get tiring listening to such a thin sound and only listening to very few genres or recordings that complement it well.
     
    TMRaven, Nov 10, 2015
    #42
  3. Judeus

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    Well since the ethers are going up on the WOF taking eq into consideration I feel it's fair to compare it to a modded or eq hd800. So again why would anyone want the ether over the hd800? What does the ether do better? To me it's just a failed copy cat attempt and more expensive at that.

    Imo ymmv
     
    Judeus, Nov 10, 2015
    #43
  4. No_One411

    No_One411 Fired by Jude

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    Well, I was planning on putting mine on tour, but @Audio Zenith was interested in an exchange. I don't wanna give him a headphone that a lot of people are gonna touch for possibly half a year or so and do really like his PMx2. Decision, decisions...

    My Ether was supposedly handpicked and investigated by Dan after my experience with the Primes, but I won't say anything else.
     
    No_One411, Nov 10, 2015
    #44
  5. kapanak

    kapanak Canucklehead - Friend

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    Valid points, yes. However, it is the best attempt at copying the HD800 yet, especially on the Planar side of technology. So, that deserves a bit of attention. Also, it is comfortable and doesn't weight as much as a tablet, which also deserves to be recognized. I think I agree with Tyll's new WoF.

    SR-009 - HE-1000 - HD800 - Ether - HD600 (though I'd add HD650 back in there, but his wall, his opinions) - HE-400S - X2 (I'd get rid of this too).
     
    kapanak, Nov 10, 2015
    #45
  6. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    I thought you were more or less on point with the review, and I agreed with most of it. Especially the slightly lean, slightly bright comments. The EQ portion was interesting, though I feel like there are headphones with a similarly good response and even lower distortion (save for maybe bass distortion in some cases) that would also work well. Or, perhaps, they have an inherently better response and overall technical performance without needing EQ. You probably already know I'm going to suggest the HD650. :) I guess that's what it comes down to for me...I have a hard time thinking of things the Ether does better than the HD650 when both are driven properly, save for, again, maybe lower bass distortion or less of a mid-bass bloom.
     
    Hands, Nov 10, 2015
    #46
  7. Judeus

    Judeus Facebook Friend

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    Ya id say that is a good wall, I'd put the hd650 along with the hd600 as a matter or taste and id replace the ether with the he560. I'd probably put a port modded 007 along with 009 as a matter of taste as well.
     
    Judeus, Nov 10, 2015
    #47
  8. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Ew, no, not the HE560! So bright, ears bleeding! Give me the Ether any day over that!
     
    Hands, Nov 10, 2015
    #48
  9. kapanak

    kapanak Canucklehead - Friend

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    Good riddance for Audeze products on the wall. Until they get their shit together and address the product variability, build quality, weight and pricing their products suffers from, and that's not even to mention the dark, warm, full house sound that isn't very audiophile, they don't deserve a place on any top headphones list, especially not the WoF.
     
    kapanak, Nov 10, 2015
    #49
  10. Judeus

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    Ya they have shrill high treble which can be an issue for some music but it can be fixed with grill mods and or pads. They are only 900 though and for that I think they are a bargain
     
    Judeus, Nov 10, 2015
    #50
  11. Judeus

    Judeus Facebook Friend

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    Also I should probably mention I am not to bothered by treble anomalies. I am more annoyed by bass mud.

    Only cans that's treble really bothered me was the a kg k812. Any time there was a "s" sound, it sounded as if someone was frying up some bacon
     
    Judeus, Nov 10, 2015
    #51
  12. drfindley

    drfindley Secretly lives in the Analog Room - Friend

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    100x this. Everything the Ether is good at (save ergonomics), the PMx2 is better at.
     
    drfindley, Nov 10, 2015
    #52
  13. drfindley

    drfindley Secretly lives in the Analog Room - Friend

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    Absolutely shocked. We need someone willing to do the z28 mod here so we can give it a test here.
     
    drfindley, Nov 10, 2015
    #53
  14. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I don't read any criticism about Dan here. The only criticism I see here is against Dan's headphones, which are different from Dan. At Changstar, until the recent blow up with the Alpha Primes, Dan's headphones were given the kid-gloves treatment for years. No one at Changstar made a big deal about the ever changing sound and revisions of the Mad Dogs. A lot of people let the Alpha's treble hardness and glare slide without much comment. I think there was a lot of graciousness extended toward Dan before the Alpha Prime incident, and honestly, I think Dan brought a lot of the nastiness down on himself over there. And I don't see Ravi buying a third pair of Alpha Primes with his own money amounting to bias against Dan, but rather a desire to cut through any bias one way or another.

    We have motto: prove us wrong. I don't think Dan's done that with the Ether. Ether is a good headphone, but not $1500 good.

    The HD800s without modifications are unlistenable to me. There's reason why they have been called face-tweeters.
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2016
    purr1n, Nov 10, 2015
    #54
  15. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    After rereading my post I apologize as you are right, there isn't any criticism directly about Dan (poor choice of words). I will leave it as there is definitely a history regarding previous iterations of Mr. Speakers headphones which could be the reason for some bias. Maybe I am way off base here and reading into something that isn't there.

    I have definitely enjoyed reading what everyone has said as many of the points made are definitely relevant. Definitely old school CS making itself known. Of course new people feel free to chime in :)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 1, 2016
    velvetx, Nov 10, 2015
    #55
  16. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Or cheat using EQ. EQ works well on the HE560. No so much with the HD800s.
     
    purr1n, Nov 10, 2015
    #56
  17. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    I'm just one of those guys that really dislikes using EQ if I can avoid it. Never does it for me like a stock or physically modded headphone that puts out a response I like for some reason.
     
    Hands, Nov 10, 2015
    #57
  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Hey don't look at me for bringing up EQ.
     
    purr1n, Nov 10, 2015
    #58
  19. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    We were actually looking at you to do a writeup about EQ... Guess that is out of the question :(
     
    velvetx, Nov 10, 2015
    #59
  20. Judeus

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    Eq is bad mkay
     
    Judeus, Nov 10, 2015
    #60
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