ZMF Omni (vs. TH-X00 and Nighthawk)

Woodie Shootout

So coming in I had an idea of what was going down. I pretty much had the Omni's sound nailed down from the past 2 weeks. The rest were new/different (tweaks on both HD650 and Nighthawk) but I still had an idea from previous listens. The big variable was Marv's TT/cart which is what we did all of our listening on. No comment on that for now.

In simple terms I think the THx00 was the most impressive in that listening session and system. I had actually forgot how much bloomier the HD650 was (compared to HD600). While it did deliver the most microdetail and overall resolution, the sound was quite slow and syrupy really. I am starting to wonder about the Messiah's glorious HD650 mods but I am assured that it improves things so....yeah. THx00 beat the HD650 with a more dynamic and lively sound, with technicalities that were close to (or above) the HD650 all around.

THx00: Less bassy than I was led to believe. Great balance. Good forward mid and immediacy. Treble not the smoothest, but within my tolerance of acceptability. It stands out because it has great dynamics and is not compressed in both the micro and macro ranges.

Omni: Larger helping of low bass than the rest, but bass is slower and less capable than dynamic counterparts. Excellent separation and articulation in the treble, that is further reinforced by wide staging capabilities. What holds the Omni back more than anything is that T50rp haze (or veil, or congestion, or midrange distortion, or unresolving disposition, however you hear it).

Nighthawk: Sucked out mid coloration is immediately noticeable. It's the sort of thing that you catch in the first 5s of listening and makes your eyes go wide. Other than that this is a great headphone. Like Marv talked about, it takes some skill to "hear past" the tuning and examine what the driver/design is capable of. And this driver is capable of a lot of good, but it's all hidden behind this weird sound. What a shame

Folks should keep in mind that I am not a basshead and tend to dislike overly bassy headphones.

Also should mention I left Marv's place by essentially trading an Omni, 2 HD800's, and a TH02 for a pair of his Paradox hint hint winky wink

 

Tallying up the totals:

1st: THX00 with 58 points
2nd: HD650 with 57 points
3rd: Nighthawk with 55 points
4th: Omni with 52 points

Now Head-Fi can confirm with science that THX00 is the officially and technically and musically more transparent headphone than the HD650.

 

It's official! The THX00 has dethroned the HD650! The hype train has transcended warp speed and created its own black hole that will suck Head-Fi from within!

On a more serious note, really looking to hear that combination of clarity and macrodynamics.

 

Walnut cups on the Omni?

 

The way I see/read this the HD650 win. Reason being: mids and coherence/tonality. From personal experience they can sound very transparent (significantly beyond mid-fi) on a high-end rig in the most critical FR area. Which is quite something for 300$ (on recent sale) HPs.

The THXXX seem to win for bass-approved all-arounder mid-fi semi-closed HPs.

 

Thanks for the comparisons Marv!
Though I'm still very happy with the Omni, this shows me that I should continue to audition other phones in the future to see if I can improve my setup in the future. I'm really glad that the TX-X00 is in the mix now because more competition is never a bad thing - especially competition at such reasonable prices!

Thank you massdrop for instilling some sensibility into the retail world of headphone audio. I read Dr. Bian's comments on headfonics regarding why he priced the HE-1000 at $3000 and it basically was "other retailers are doing it and we know people will buy it." He even dared to say it was a good value. Ugh...

 

So far with the Walnut Omni I'm inclined to take the Blackwood over them. The Omni are much less fatiguing and seemingly more balanced, but the Blackwood are far more lively. Would love to compare them all to the Tx00.

 

FWIW, the Blackwood is my favorite of Zach's headphones too. He really hit it out of the park with that one.

 

@purrin is using the AD&D levels of audiophile! Beyond level 40 are gods and demi-gods. Magic (mids) become all important.

The TH-X00 looks great on paper, better than the Omni, which is limited by the T50RP drivers falling off a cliff in the higher treble. So I'm getting the Fostex just lacks the still unsurpassed speaker like tonality of the HD 580/600/650 and the insane scaling factor of Sennheiser's 600/800 series drivers to give audio epiphanies on various recordings?

 

The Blackwood are my closed headphone end-game right now. I am in love with those, though I still love the Vibro. The Omni with walnut aren't immediately astonishing me, but I'd love to hear them with African Blackwood.

I feel the Omni, with Walnut, are more relaxed/similar to the PM-x2 actually, though brighter. Still non-fatiguing at normal listening volumes for me. The Blackwood are super fun to listen to but a bit fatiguing after 2 hours.

If I had to pick the ZMF in order I'd go Blackwood (African Blackwood) -> Vibro (Red Maple) -> Omni (Walnut)

I think the Blackwood made me feel the most involved, while the Vibro offered the largest range of options in tuning. The Omni are great, but with the walnut wood they seem to be a mix of polite in the lower regions while having a sharpness to the upper treble region.

 

You guys are crazy. Omni is better than Blackwood and Vibro by a mile in my book. Although, again, I'm not one for Zach's "house sound" in the first place FWIW

Post updated

 

Every day I read this forum, I regret buying the HD600 over the HD650 Then the X00 comes along, and now after joining the drop and reading these reviews, I'm glad I have the HD600

 

There's actually not that much actual difference in the bass/lower mids frequency response (1 db at most) between the current HD 600/650 on average. The HD 600 is just every so slightly v-shaped (if you can call a +2 db lower mid peak to a +3 db or so lower treble peak a v) causing the current HD 650 to sound bassier when ABing on the same setup. Upgrading within the 580 -> 600 -> 650 line isn't worth it unless you have black driver HD 650s.
http://superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/sennheiser-hd650-love.44/page-2#post-1478
The TH-X00 looks like a great closed compliment. Does it need amping?

 

Seems legit.

 

I had the Blackwood and feel that the blackwood is lacking bloom in the upper midrange and middle midrange. It also isn't as open sounding as the Omni. FWIW I have the blackwood Omni and hear a bit of glare in mine. However there is no way in heck I would take a blackwood or stock hd650 on speedball and crack over it. Simply because I find the imaging and separation to be on point and much better. The walnut version is said to be a middle ground.

I would love to hear a modded nighthawlk though. That sounds right up my alley. Or a modded hd650 for that matter on a killer rig. The hd650 has my favorite balance to date.

Those spider graphs though!!! What an easy way to visualize comparisons. If the THX00 comes close to the OMNI then it is a Giant killer.

 

yes it wood!