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dalethorn

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Posts posted by dalethorn


  1. This is an earbud, so the expectations will be low. The tonality is definitely better than the Apple earbuds (not earpods), but not as good as the Yuin PK2 (and likely the PK1). I wouldn't be inclined to review an earbud as-is, but with the magic of parametric EQ, it sounds very hi-fi except for the deep bass, which can't be recovered any way that I know.

     

    http://rockgrotto.proboards.com/thread/11081/fiio-em3-stereo-earbuds-review

     


  2. Here's a nice small headphone that's a snug around-ear fit for my average-size ears (might not go around larger ears). The astounding thing about this headphone is the sound. The bass is very similar to the famous M100, in quantity and quality both, but going up from there the rest of the range is more natural with this 1More MK801. Hopefully other users will test it out...

     

    http://www.mymac.com/2016/02/1more-over-ear-mk801-headphone-consumer-and-audiophile-review/


  3. This headphone has as much build quality as it does bling, and the quality is fantastic. But the sound is somewhat muffled, and burn-in didn't change that. But, because of the amazing physical quality for less than $90 USD, and because the simple bass reducer setting found in Apple players (as well as other devices) renders the sound very good for portable use, I recommend it highly on condition of using the player's bass reducer setting. Well worth checking out in my opinion.

     

    http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/community/threads/xiaomi-1more-mi-on-ear-stereo-headphone-review.4341/


  4. Taking a break from the very low-budget headphones and reviewing the Philips Fidelio X2 (which I missed in the initial intro), I was actually surprised at how good the X2 is. You'll appreciate the X2 if you've been using small plastic headphones like I've reviewed recently, even when you carefully EQ those small headphones, because Philips corrects the X2's resonances or other sonic anomalies with a much larger and better build, etc. I paid $199 at Massdrop, which is one heckuva deal.

     

    http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/community/threads/philips-x2-around-ear-open-back-stereo-headphone-review.4337/

     


  5. Another unusual product - a very light plastic headphone - so light that it needs no headband padding, and yet this headphone has a near-reference signature for monitoring etc. The reference signature doesn't always mean perfect tone quality however, but still it's fantastic I think for under $30 USD.

     

    http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/community/threads/audio-technica-sj-11-on-ear-portable-stereo-headphone-review.4334/


  6. And here's the best of Edifier, in one sense anyway - though the H850 has a more classic neutral bass, both the H840 and H850 share an excellent midrange and treble. But should you prefer the warmer bass, say, half to 2/3 the strength of a v-moda M100, at 1/6 the price of the M100, here for your consideration is the H840:

     

    http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/community/threads/edifier-h840-around-ear-budget-audiophile-stereo-headphone-review.4332/


  7. Here is a very nice on-ear headphone that sells for $28 USD, in the U.S. It should be available world-wide. The downsides are 1) Very lightweight and plastic, with a possibly fragile non-detachable cable, and 2) A neutral-to-light bass response. All else is good to excellent.

     

    http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/community/threads/edifier-h650-on-ear-portable-stereo-headphone-review.4328/


  8. Here's a Beyer I missed - I've had the Custom One Pro(2), Custom Street, DT48(4), DT770-32, DT1350(4), DT1770 Pro, T1, T51p, and T90, but this is the first T70p for me. I like it - a lot. It has a strong midrange emphasis, but overall very hi-fi with the Tesla drivers. It's not an ideal on-the-street portable, in that isolation is compromised if wearing glasses, and insofar as when pulled down around the neck for ordering coffee or schmoozing with people, it bumps against my chin. The cheaper Custom Street has no such problem. I like the comfort better than the T90, but it's easily as comfy as the T1 or DT770.

     

    http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/community/threads/beyerdynamic-t70p-around-ear-portable-stereo-headphone-review.4327/


  9. Here is a delightful little portable headphone from Beyerdynamic, and unlike most of their other low-end portables, this is a real (made in Germany) Beyer with their famous earcup forks and all. The signature is much flatter than the Beyer mini-Teslas (T51p, DT1350, ....), with better extension on both ends - I love it.

     

    http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/community/threads/beyerdynamic-custom-street-on-ear-stereo-headphone-review.4322/


  10. Followup: I got a 1.5m replacement cable (Cardas) made for my DT1770 Pro by Charleston Cable Company, who build custom cables from quality name-brand stock. My requirement wasn't to change the sound, but rather to make it more convenient to carry around. Nevertheless, the sound changed slightly as follows: The midrange gained a little in openness and clarity, the highs above 10 khz became more extended without changing the treble balance, and the bass tightened up without losing strength and impact. I listen to a lot of jazz with upright bass playing, and the tonality and realism of those plucked strings is better than anything I've heard in memory, including this year's sessions with the Audeze LCD2 planar headphone.


  11. Another unique and best-of, with these differences: Very near neutral/flat, but not bright or treble-peaky, and bass solid from top to bottom (really). Plus, the best upper-harmonics reproduction I've heard outside of the Sennheiser HD800. Highly, highly recommended.

     

    http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/community/threads/beyerdynamic-dt-1770-pro-around-ear-stereo-headphone-review.4311/


  12. Here's a really nifty small IEM/earphone I got from First Harmonic, which sells for around $49 USD in the U.S. (not sure about anywhere else). Anyway -- nicely made, aluminum earpieces, 5 sets of eartips, clean and well-balanced sound, great value I think.

     

    http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/community/threads/first-harmonic-ieb6-earphone-iem-ear-canal-headphone-review.4304/


  13. I've read reviews of Music Hall components for years in Stereophile, and the manufacturer's comments in the back of the magazine, containing entertaining banter between the reviewer and manufacturer. I was hoping for a hi-fi or mid-fi headphone from these guys, and my expectations came up short. A light bass impact, some very slight treble peaks, or a modest treble rolloff - any or all of these can be had in many headphones that sell for $200 USD or less. In the case of the DE-BE however, the sound required significant EQ to be usable for hi-fi listening indoors or out, and so this is an "EQ review" that's intended only for people who are OK with using equalizers.

     

    http://rockgrotto.proboards.com/thread/10834/music-portable-stereo-headphone-review

     


  14. This is my first Grado 'woodie', excepting any Grado headphones where the wood parts are inside of the earcups only. I describe the sound compared to the SR325e, since I don't have a sense of how any of the Grado 'RS' series sound. This is a very good headphone, but be aware that some of the $650 USD price is because of the limited material from that Brooklyn tree.

     

    http://rockgrotto.proboards.com/thread/10824/grado-brooklyn-stereo-headphone-review

     


  15. A quick followup on the AQ Nighthawk review: I've been measuring the relative response of headphones using an equalizer and several sets of test tones - not as an absolute against what sounds "flat" to me, but in comparison to numerous other headphones including some flagship models. I've found that in most cases, the lower tier headphones (especially portable types) have a lot of treble recess, whereas the so-called flagships are generally bright and peaky in the upper treble.

     

    I've mostly been using the Audioforge iOS app for estimating those responses, because it has a WYSIWYG interface with immediate results, and a simple frequency response shouldn't vary between devices that output the digital data directly to audiophile-quality amplifiers.

     

    However, whereas I measured the Nighthawk (using Audioforge and the Oppo HA-2 DAC/amp) as having a 4-5 db emphasis between ~150-400 hz and a 4-5 db recess through most of the treble, I measured only plus/minus 2 db using Foobar2000 on a WinXP computer with the Microstreamer and Dragonfly-1.2 DACs, to get the same balance as with the iOS devices and the Oppo DAC/amp.

     

    I wonder then how many users are not getting the better sound that's provided by computers playing through USB mini-DACs such as those I mentioned, or even better, using dedicated desktop headphone amps. Could it be that the high efficiency of the Nighthawk is encouraging a lot of use with portable devices? I don't know. I also don't know why the Apple music players would sound worse when used with DACs such as the Oppo, the v-moda Verza, or the Beyerdynamic A200p, but my results are pretty consistent.

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