Beyerdynamic Amiron

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by YtseJammer, Dec 15, 2016.

  1. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

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    Funny.

    I've mostly rocked solid state gear over the years. Financial setbacks forced me to sell some of my pricier stuff so I'm sort of midi now.

    In addition to owning the R70x and DT1990 Pro, I have also demoed and greatly enjoyed the Ether Reg/Flow , Modded HD650/600, Utopia, E-MU Teak, Modded HE400i, LCD-X, Audio Zenith, Shure 1540 and ZMF Omni.

    The issue is that I don't think many of the usual suspects will take the DT1990 or Amiron for a spin after hating their previous products for so many years. I'm in the same boat, disliking Beyer's tuning overall but I'm glad I gave the DT1990 a shot and I'm excited to see where they go with future headphones.
     
  2. chakku

    chakku Friend

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    It's hard to put any faith in Beyer's new products when every new revision or headphone comes with the claims that highs are tamed and the headphones are made warmer, head-fi hype the f**k out of it and claim they've fixed all the treble issues, somebody goes and measures them and everyone comes to the realization that they're the same shit.

    I think SBAF have given up on them after the last glimmer of hope was wasted on the DT-1770.
     
  3. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

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    Strange, I mostly liked the DT 1770 but I like the 1990 way more.

    The Shure 1540 is a better closed headphone than the DT 1770 though and its $100 cheaper.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2016
  4. Mystic

    Mystic Mystique's Spiritual Advisor

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    Only two Beyers I've ever felt was a good value was the dt880 600ohm (only when paired with a warm source since it still has some treble issues) and the dt150, which doesn't even really sound like a Beyer.
     
  5. Grahad

    Grahad Guest

    Won't be surprised, it's his livelihood. I had manufacturers tell me "I want honest opinions" and never come back after I was critical.
     
  6. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Yeah, the trouble is, we've been here before. Beyer and their apologists endlessly claim that they've unfucked their shit for reals, and produced headphones with sane treble- "this time it was right, this time it would work- and nobody would have to get nailed to anything".

    Until one of the usual suspects listens to these and measures them, I am pretty sure that most of us won't even bother to give them head time, unless we happen to stumble across them at a meet or show. Once you've been bitten a few times, you become disinclined to use your time and money on something that is almost certainly a bust.

    Obviously, I'd be delighted to be proven wrong, but shan't hold my breath.
     
  7. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

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    Ok, I get that, but what headphone companies have a perfect track record? None that I can think of. Honestly, most of the companies we discuss here have had fair share of hits and misses. Is Sennheiser perfect? Nope. The HD700 is crap and even their critically acclaimed headphones are noticeably improved by simple mods. The HD800 series is annoyingly amp dependent. How much is it to ask for an update to the 600 line? That design is 20 years old at this point. Surely they learned some stuff since then. Hifiman? Nope. Their build quality fluctuations drive me nuts. I loved the 400i but I was unimpressed with the 560 and Edition X. Audeze? Again, some of their headphones sound stunning, others are pretty forgettable. The EL8 series was pretty disastrous and from what I recall, they make product revisions without telling anyone so its hard to know sometimes if you have the most recent version. Fostex? God No. Their best headphone is a Massdrop collab that pretty dramatically outperforms their Summit Fi headphones that are like 5X the price. Audio Technica is all over the place. Has AKG released anything of note recently? Sony dips in and out of relevance and last time I checked, they don't have much under $1k worth recommending. Focal is off to a good start with the Elear and Utopia but I remember their first releases being very underwhelming. I don't think I've ever heard someone recommend an Ultrasone. How are they still in business? I guess Stax has been pretty consistently good. So has Dan at Mr. Speakers and Zach at ZMF. Again, I never would have gone for the Beyer if I hadn't demoed it at a show. Thats why I wish there were more brick and mortar stores to try nice headphones. You are pretty much shooting in the dark unless you have deep pocket friends with similar tuning preferences who are willing to steer you in the right direction.
     
  8. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Welcome to SBAF.
     
  9. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

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    Pretty much. I know Headfi is anathema here but there is some good info to be found if you learn to filter out the rabble. Not sure about r/Headphones. Haven't spent much time there.
     
  10. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    Closing the loop on this:

    "@ZoNtO I don't do pay-to-play. I have a background in journalism and always tell it how it is, or in the case of audio reviews, as my ears hear it. I received no compensation for this review and did not get the product for free. I had the Amiron for 30 days to demo and decided whether I wanted to write a review or not. I am expected to pay retail for the unit."
     
  11. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Sadly, given the transports of completely uncritical ecstasy, I'm not sure I believe or trust a word of it, @zonto. A proper reviewer will always find something to hate, no transducer is perfect, not even the holy Utopia. It's even more of a stretch with anything Beyerdynamic. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, and all that.

    Maybe I am just one of those bastards who'll distrust everything, after being bitten once by the Head-Fi shit machine.

    However, thanks for posting a follow-up, interesting!
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2016
  12. Grahad

    Grahad Guest

    Notice nothing was mentioned of the continuation of the manufacturer-reviewer relationship. Loaners get forgotten, better terms and conditions get applied, et al.
     
  13. thesoundapprentice

    thesoundapprentice New

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    Hello all, I am the reviewer in debate and the founder of The Sound Apprentice (blog and Instagram). I noticed quite a few entries to my blog from this thread, so I wanted to check it out. Glad I did, because now I have the chance to address a couple of things I have concerns about. I know audio is quite subjective, and everyone favors different types of reviews and listening impressions, but I get worried when my integrity comes into question.

    Hopefully my responses will at least clarify a few things about me even if you don't favor my approach to sharing my hi-fi experiences or like the same things I like.

    1. I do not have a "manufacturer-reviewer" relationship with Beyerdynamic, or at least I didn't before the Amiron was sent to me. I received a review unit because I had expressed interest in the headphone on another reviewers Instagram account. Beyerdynamic then contacted me through my Instagram and offered me the Amiron for 30 days. There were no set terms, like that I had to write a review or post X number of photos or anything of the sort. In fact, the only stipulation was that I had to return the unit in 30 days or else I would be billed the full retail amount. They even sent me an invoice a week before the trial ended to remind me to return them. (Talk about a bunch of cheapskates.) I have no idea if they will ask me to review another product or offer me something to demo again. This was my first time being in contact with Beyerdynamic outside of having to send my old T90 in to get a driver replaced under warranty.

    2. I genuinely liked the Amiron, and that is pretty clear in my listening impressions. As I stated, I owned the DT990, T90 and have plenty of time with the T1. Key word is owned. I sold them because they were too bright or strident. The Amiron, to me, is a different animal from Beyerdynamic and one that really did everything I wanted in a headphone. Apologies for coming off as too excited by it, but I just dig it.

    3. It's important to understand that my reviews are MY personal listening impressions and experiences in hi-fi. If you were a regular reader or looked into the "About" section on my site, you'd learn a little bit more. But, my point here is that what I hear may not be what you hear.

    4. I DO NOT only write positive things about the items I review. Take my reviews of the Massdrop x HFM HE-350 and Synergistic Research MIGs, for examples. Honestly, normally I do have something to nitpick about a product and mention it, but the Amiron didn't really have any faults for me, especially at its price point. If I had to pick something, I guess I would say the cable is a bit lackluster, but nobody wants to talk about cables.

    5. I think someone said The Sound Apprentice is my livelihood. I assure you, it is not. I started it as a hobby and it remains a hobby. First and foremost I enjoy good music and trying new gear. Second, I started the blog to share stories about the things my uncle tries to "teach" me about being an audiophile because he is one of those stereotypical snobby gear heads that (thinks he) knows all things audio, so I always try to work that into my reviews and posts for some comic relief. Third, I rarely get to keep products sent to me for review, and most of my reviews are of products I have purchased myself. Fourth, I have not and do not have any paid advertising or posts on my site up to this point. In full disclosure, I am looking into ways to generate some income for the site so I can invest in a better platform than Blogger and modifying free templates, but that will never change my approach to audio reviews. I very much believe in integrity. As I responded in another question, my education and background is in journalism where ethics and integrity were key points of focus (although you'd never know that's a thing in journalism based on most of the media today). In my personal and professional work, I do not write articles or reviews that skimp on honesty for the benefit of ad dollars. I am a business writer and editor and I also do freelance work, that is my livelihood. If I were to be a liar or fraud it could impact all of the work I do.

    Happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability.

    Cheers,
    Derrick
     
  14. thesoundapprentice

    thesoundapprentice New

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    I find the Amiron and HD800 to be very different. The Amiron is warmer and more intimate in how it presents the soundstage and vocals while the HD800 is much cooler and clinical sounding and the treble is way edgier without mods, IMO. I prefer a warmer/darker sound though. At the time, I owned the LCD-X and HD800 and ultimately decided to sell the HD800.
     
  15. SSL

    SSL Friend

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    Two things:
    • I'm entirely not sure, after reading it, "what you hear". Maybe things were lost in translation, but your impressions to me were thin on actual information and instead dealt in very broad strokes. Lots of flowery audiophile language ("pianos full of gusto"!?). Again, maybe we're on different wavelengths and this means something to someone.
    • The repeated quotes from Beyerdynamic blur the lines between your impressions and their vacuous marketing speak. That more than anything makes the review seem biased.
    Have you heard the T1 2nd Gen?
     
  16. thesoundapprentice

    thesoundapprentice New

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    I selectively chose to highlight two quotes from Beyer because it highlighted what they were trying to accomplish with the Amiron and I was in agreement that they achieved that mission. Sure their words are more marketing speak-ish, but the point is the same.

    Gusto is another word for vigor. When I said pianos are full of gusto, I was basically saying that it is a full-bodied sound that invokes more of an emotional connection to the music, whereas with my past Beyerdynamics, the mids were a bit lifeless for my taste. So, yeah, different approaches in describing sound in this instance. It's very hard to communicate in a way that makes everyone happy because this hobby is so subjective, so I end up writing in a way that makes me happy first.

    I only have experience with the original T1. I was not a fan at all so I never bothered with the revision. Like many, I became very turned off by what Beyerdynamic was putting out. If not for some of the photos and comments I had been seeing about the Amiron, I probably wouldn't have wanted to give it a chance either, but it ended up being a surprise. I haven't gotten a chance to try any of the other new Beyers yet, but from what I read, and heard with the Amiron, I don't think they will hit the mark for me.
     
  17. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

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    I'm going to pick these up and give them listen.
     
  18. chakku

    chakku Friend

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  19. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

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    Measurement wise they look very similar but almost everyone who has heard both thinks the Amiron has the more pleasant treble presentation. HD650 fans will probably dig the Amiron while Elear fans will prefer the DT1990 most likely. I'm going to try both side by side to see which I prefer.
     
  20. Skyline

    Skyline Double-blindly done with this hobby

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    I would LOVE to try these.

    Beyerdynamic got me started in this crazy hobby. I miss my 1350s sorely and had the 880s in my stable for ages.

    An HD650 competitor would be nice.
     

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