Headphones, got any favorites?

Thanks Mike. He was a good man and had a good long life. Hard worker and taught us how to be men and take care of our family's through his actions. We will miss him but also celebrate his life.

Was not meaning to be a downer.

I got an opportunity to put the iSine 20 through their paces on the trip. Very nice. Sort of like these planar magnet ear phones hanging off the side of your head that you forget are even there. Quite impressive in every way. The LCD-i4 take all the design elements of the iSine's and bring it to the LCD-4 level. Rather amazing.

I am thinking that I will probably sell the Focal Clear (hardly used) and the iSine 20 since the LCD-i4 are so good. They also sent me the optional Cipher cable with the LCD-i4. I am going to check and see if it will fit the iSine 20 (I think it might) and if so I will include it with the iSine 20 since I will never use a iApple product. I guess it is suppose to really up the game on these IEMs when used with Apple products. I use the Audeze with my Astell&Kern so I definitely do not need this cable.

PS... I just checked. The Cipher cable does fit the iSine 20 perfectly. This is the cable that Audeze sells for $120 for their IEM planar magnets to use with Apple products. It actually includes a built in DAC and all reviewers claim that it makes iApple products sound pretty good as portable music players with the iSine ear phones. It also works with specialized software designed for these Apple products.
 
A quick follow up. I had the Audeze LCD-i4 on most of the day yesterday. Besides sounding amazing they were comfortable. They did not bother me what so ever wearing them for hours. Other then the cord hanging down I believe I would have forgotten that I had ear phones on even. Yes, to get this level of comfort you need to use the provided ear hooks. The current hooks have been redesigned to go around your ear somewhat and are called curvy ear hooks.

I have never been able to use any of my previous headphones for hours on end without discomfort. Even the MrSpeakers Ether which I considered the most comfortable headphone that I had previously owned.

Sound wise, these are breaking in a bit and I have to say they are better then any that I have previously owned; the MrSpeakers Ether, the Sennheiser HD800S, Audeze EL8, Focal Clear, McIntosh MHP1000, KEF M500, Audeze iSine 10, Audeze iSine 20; or heard at our audio club can jam, HiFi Man HE1000, Audeze LCD3, etc. The bottom line these little planar magnet ear phones are amazing and the best personal listening speaker that I have ever heard.

Besides being insanely light and comfortable they are very open sounding with great imaging. They have fantastic highs and vocal range but what surprises me the most is how solid and deep the base is. They do not have the "boxy" sound that most headphones have, especially IEMs. I do not know how else to describe it but I feel like I am surrounded by music. Very impressed and I will be putting my Focal Clear and Audeze iSine 20 (their closes baby brothers) up for sale. (Both are now listed on The Fish Market)

https://www.audioshark.org/showthread.php?t=16887
https://www.audioshark.org/showthread.php?t=16888
 
Wanted to try Balanced on the AK player. They claim balanced is a huge difference. Since I just sold the Focal headphones and had a little funds available, I figure lets give it a try. Not a ton of choices out there.

Moon-Audio makes a "Silver Dragon" cable that appears to be quite good, so I decided to give it a try. Audeze LCD-i4 connectors on the headphone side and 2.5" balanced connector on the DAP side, for "For AK Players". I am looking forward to listening to this cable.

So far I am loving the AK DAP with the LCD-i4 planar magnet earphones! Hoping the new cable takes the combo to an even higher level!

Since I am currently very satisfied with my 2-channel system, concentrating on the DAP and earphones seems to make a lot of sense to me!

Been very busy at work and listening to some great tunes makes the day go much faster for sure!!!
 
My favorite ones are the Kennerton Odin V2 that i own and the Hifiman HE-1000SE that i will purchase next month.
Paired with Chord Hugo 2 great combos.
 
I wanted to put in an update on headphones. I really like the sound of the Audeze LCD-i4 but having them for almost a year there are some things that were bugging me. The case is one in that these are not usable without the ear hooks but with the ear-hooks attached they no longer fit in the Audeze case. I picked up a little Pelican case that works but kind of a pain to carry, and hard to protect the expensive cable in the case etc.

I also found that ear-buds are irritating to me when listening to them for any longer time frames. I have been torn because the LCD-i4 are really good sounding and amazingly small.

I have always heard that Abyss are one of the absolute best sounding headphones in the world. The biggest issue has always been their bulk, from what I have read. This is why they designed the Diana, as a smaller thinner Abyss. The original Diana's were supposed to have been great but the 1266 were considered much better. Anyway, they released the redesigned Diana Phi using the same drivers as their higher model. Anyway, I have a pair in bound! They are supposed to be fantastic for both home use and with a portable!!! They come with cable adapters for either use.
 
I have used 3M headphones for years and they have never disappointed. If you have the budget, I would recommend you go for Bose or Sony.
 
I believe Bose headphones for music top out at about $380. Bose has always been a solid line of transducers (speakers and headphones) but have rarely been considered audiophile level products.

Audiophile headphones are in a slightly different league then the Bose and most Sony, although Sony does produce a couple highly rated hi-end cans.

The Abyss on the other hand are ultra hi-end headphones. The AB-1266 Phi TC sell for $4995 - $7995 depending on package. They are hand made in Buffalo New York. However, like most ultra hi-end audiophile headphones they are rather bulky.

View attachment 28414

The Diana Phi use the same drivers but are built to be smaller and lighter and suitable to be used in home headphone setups or with hi-end portable players. They are consider one of the true state of the art headphones that are also fairly compact and portable. They also are hand made in Buffalo and sell for $3995.

View attachment 28415
 
The Abyss arrived today. After two albums I can say, without reservation, these are the most comfortable and by far the best sounding headphones I have ever heard!

Headphones I have owned, for comparison; the McIntosh MHP-1000, Audeze EL-8, KEF M500, Sennheiser HD800S, Mr Speakers Ether, Focal Clear, Audeze LCD-i4. I have heard other high end head phones, especially at our audio club can jam event, but none come even close in my view!
 
Randy Myers said:
The Abyss arrived today. After two albums I can say, without reservation, these are the most comfortable and by far the best sounding headphone I have ever heard!

Headphones I have owned, for comparison; the McIntosh MHP-1000, Audeze EL-8, KEF M500, Sennheiser HD800S, Mr Speakers Ether, Focal Clear, Audeze LCD-i4. I have heard other high end head phones, especially at our audio club can jam event, but none come even close in my view!
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Those are terrific cans! Congrats!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Mine are the bronze color (brown, don't know why they call them bronze :)). They are gorgeous, and built. Carbon fiber, leather, ceramic, aluminum, etc. Nice canvas and leather bag. They just reek of quality... so to answer Joe's original question in this thread. Really simply.. get a pair of Abyss, either the AB-1266 Phi TC or the Diana Phi! And made in Buffalo!

Emmmm... sorry, Joe's thread was the other one :D, still the answer remains the same!
 
hey guys, don't want to go off topic here but I just started a new thread+posted my review of the 64Audio A18T CIEM. This is a gorgeous piece and one that I am proud to own. It's also an attempt at writing a more thorough review so any feedback is appreciated. I have another review on the way when my Taiko Extreme gets here. That will be more detailed and hopefully discuss some sample tracks. Also, I am not paid to review - just something I like doing.
 
All I have is a pair of Grado 125s that I might use once or twice a year. I will never use any Ear Bud types as I don't care for pushing dirt into my ears.
 
Shadowfax said:
I will never use any Ear Bud types as I don't care for pushing dirt into my ears.
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I concur. I was very impressed with the sound of the Audeze LCD-i4, but I found that the ear bud design was rather irritating to me. Much happier with an on ear/over ear design. The Abyss are really amazing so far!
 
I have been listening to the Abyss at work the past couple of days with my portable. I think they are loosing up and really showing their sound. The bass is tighter and more present then I have ever heard in headphones. Also high frequencies are simply superb! Open with amazing details on every instrument. It is like having some really nice speakers strapped to your head. But, they are also very comfortable, more so then any other ones I have ever owned including the Sennheiser and Mr. Speakers.

So far really amazed by the Abyss, both sound and quality of construction!
 
My buddy dropped the Bryston back off to me today. After several hours of listening to music, BSing, comparing vinyl and digital versions of various albums, and a few, ok more than a few glasses of cognac we decided to check out the Abyss cans with the Bryston... Dam... what a combo... the Bryston headphone amp is as good as it gets... and the Abyss... simply wow...
 
I really like the Sennheiser Momentum M3 AEBTXL headphones, you can choose wired or wireless connection, wonderful sound and great design.
 
MrSpeakers Voce on Blue Hawaii Special Edition. Dan also turned me on to some nice Phillips NOS tubes.

At my office I use Focal Utopia balanced with a Violectric V281.

Electrostatic is so precise, dynamic a bit warmer.
 
Bones13 said:
MrSpeakers Voce on Blue Hawaii Special Edition. Dan also turned me on to some nice Phillips NOS tubes.

At my office I use Focal Utopia balanced with a Violectric V281.

Electrostatic is so precise, dynamic a bit warmer.
Click to expand...
I just replaced Audeze LCD-4’s with Utopia’s. I loved the sound of the LCD-4’s but the design was poor so far as managing those heavy things. They were always sliding off my head.
I still have an HD-800 S. I also have the Violectric V281.
I’m replacing the Utopia’s cable with Nordost Heimdall 2’s. I can share the extension with the Heimdall’s on the HD-800’s.
 
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