The ultimate closed isolating headphones (reduce)

Amen, my good man !

 

@Claritas yeah I'm sure that's true, especially after hearing about these good Fostex models. Driver technology has probably improved a lot lately, I remember I'd actually been looking for closed cans a few years ago, and someone suggested me the X1s as I wanted decent bass with a bit of an airy presentation so I took that instead.

 

Well said. A positive result of the Beats popularity is an increased market for headphones resulting in some fantastic products being released. Which is a benefit to us all.

I recently upgraded my reference closed headphones to the Oppo PM-3 and couldn't be happier with their performance. They are wonderfully neutral with a very nice frequency and impulse response. I have let a couple of audio engineer colleagues listen to them and they were just as impressed as I am with their sound. This type of performance from closed headphones was simply not available several years ago, especially at this price.

 

The ath-a2000az looks interesting.

 

Anybody took the newish Sennheiser 630VB for s spin?

 

@VooX would you mind sharing a few of your impressions with them ? I'm sure there are enough curious users here. How would you rate the high frequencies and also what are you pairing them with ? I haven't seen many PM-3 reviews around here and it would be nice to have, innerfidelity probably has one of the few in-depth reviews.

 

@8man I am on a theatre gig now in tech rehearsals so my days are long. I have a couple of days off this week and will try to write up a review in a new thread. It will also give me a few days to listen to my PM-3 as I have not used them for a few weeks.

 

Back in the market for a closed back. I have the Mad dog 3.2 which is fine but my pair has noticeable distortion with vocals and in the midrange. Now i'm looking for a end game reference (neutral) closed back. I was looking into getting an omni from ZMF but I don't think I can swallow that price. Plus the omni, TH-X00, 650 thread kind of changed my mind about their technical ability. How is the Enigmatic audio Paradox? Better than the TH-X00?

 

I beg to differ, if he's hearing distortion with the Mad Dog he will most likely hear it in any T50RP variant.

 

Thank you for the recommendation.

 

Does the paradox not have lower distortion?

 

I made the suggestion that he dont't buy another T50RP mod if distortion is objectionable. All of them have high-ish distortion in the mids.

Distortion profiles from either stock or modded T50RPs are all over the place, nothing consistent. See for yourself:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/MrSpeakersMadDog2014.pdf
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/MrSpeakersMadDogA.pdf
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/EnigmaticAudioParadox.pdf
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/FostexT50RPDIYModifiedLFFParadox.pdf
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/FostexT50RPDIYModifiedLFFnosocks.pdf
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/FostexT50RPDIYModifiedLFFwithsocks.pdf
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/FostexT50RPMk3.pdf
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/FostexT50RP2011A.pdf
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/FostexT50RP2011B.pdf
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/FostexT50RP2013.pdf

That said, my go-to headphone is a self-modded T50RP, I made it sound great to me, distortion and all.

Many people here recommend the Paradox, maybe there should be one in the loaner program?

 

Thank you for the info. I have been aware of the distortion plots for the t50rp mods but since a lot of people here recommend the paradox I figured distortion hasn't been an issue. That would be awesome if there was a loaner program for the paradox.

 

What is your budget for the headphone?

 

I also noticed mid/vocals distortion with my modded T50RP mk3 on certain tracks/passages that I hadn't heard before. I then listened with HD650s and ZMF Blackwoods and the distortion is there but less pronounced. So for me, what I'm hearing seems to be in the actual recording, but is exacerbated by the T50RPs.

I heard one of the Omni tour units and the mid-bass hump was too much for me. I'm happy with my Blackwoods (Purplewood Ltd. Ed.). Sub-bass with ports all open is definitely boosted, but 2 or 3 plugs in makes them sound pretty "neutral". Zach can tune to your preference and 1 free retune is included. The current price is lower than when I bought mine last year. You've got 2 weeks to try them out. Sorry if this sounds like a sales pitch. I took a gamble on them and really like them, though admittedly I've hardly listened to them since I got my HD650s (but this is more due to wanting to get to know my new toy better, than not wanting to listen to the ZMFs). Technically, the Blackwoods can't keep up with the Senns, but they're a very pleasant phone to listen to, and have deep controlled sub-bass if you want it (ports open).

 

Well I was going to buy an omni so I guess $1000 would be an accurate amount.

 

Yeah I was considering the blackwoods but apparently they don't have air so it kind of put me off to buying it.

 

I'm still not completely sure what "air" means. HF's glossary says, "Spacious. Open. Instruments sound like they are surrounded by a large reflective space full of air. Good reproduction of high frequency reflections. High frequency response extends to 15 or 20 kHz." I can't really hear much beyond 15kHz, so maybe I don't notice it. My HD650s definitely sound more "open" than the Blackwoods, but I'm not sure if it's more treble extension and/or the tonal quality of an open construction. The Blackwoods do seem to have slightly more treble roll off.

The ZMF frontal damping can be played around with to get more highs, but Zach's "secret recipe" (fiberglass, melamine, TP) tames the driver peaks. When I asked him about removing some of it to get the highs of the Blackwoods more like the Omnis, he said, "I'm not sure removing it on the Blackwood would make the treble sound like the Omni, as internally they are different, and they measure different in that area too. The OmniI was able to tune in a flatter/more linear treble because I got rid of the 8-10K peak in the t50 driver more than in the Blackwood."

I guess a really good all-around neutral closed headphone is hard to make.

 

Air to me is the 12-20kz area. My hearing drops off after 18.5-19kz, somewhere around there, so when a headphone has rolled or shelved upper treble it's very noticeable. It was the first thing I noticed when I first played music through my mad dogs. Yeah I guess it is. I guess closed isn't what I should be looking for then. I guess i'll buy an HD650 before I decide on an end game closed back.

 

A well sealing set that sounds like HD650's? The Momentum.

Straight from my 5S or iPod Touch they sound kind of loose and the sound stage isn't really there. This is very evident in the low basses, that don't really appear without some amping. But, just a cheapo amp with low output impedance (like my Fiio E7) helps them a bunch. Surely they are mainly made for on-the-go listening, small size + pretty aesthetics. In comparison there are lots of similarities to the 650's in the sound sig, IMO.

But, if you don't have problems with full sized pairs, go for them instead. DT1770 and SRH1540 would be something I'd try for very good 'n closed headphones.