Impressions of HEDD headphones for your head thread

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by Philimon, Jul 21, 2019.

  1. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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    Any idea whether the Headamp GL or Shortest Way amps would have enough juice to do these things justice?
     
  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I missed that detail. WTF? Why does Jude post uncompensated measurements here when he's posted compensated measurements everywhere else. Why would anyone do that? It only causes confusion.
     
  3. Phantaminum

    Phantaminum Friend

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    The specs on their site put it at 87db per mW at 42 ohms. Seems like the Asgard 3 and Jot should run it fine but those two won’t have enough power.
     
  4. Sunflower_sutra

    Sunflower_sutra Acquaintance

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    You got the same impression as me! recently had a luxury listening session in a store with these LCD-4, utopia and meze empyreans, lcd-4 were my fav and they didn’t compare. I wasn’t actually aware of the price difference as there was no price of them so may have been overly critical but the weight is a real issue and how hot your ears get.

    was listening to a jazz song that I know very well recorded by Rudy Van Gelder so is a live recorded session great test track to use but normally clear separation of instruments in it as every band member has there own microphone but found that the piano really got pushed into the background. Also on complex passages where lots of instruments where playing at once it was hard to separate the background instruments. However on vocal clarity was nuts it beat them all! There was a part were could hear a band mate had faintly joined in with the lead signing. Had never heard that before. Could be great headphone to eq these problems out.
     
  5. Bloom

    Bloom MOT: Bloom Audio

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    Very helpful! Thanks, Alan. I'm eager to hear it myself but fairly worried it won't even fit on my disgustingly huge head. I've read that it doesn't adjust that far.
     
  6. netforce

    netforce MOT: Headphones.com

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    Hedd came to the store yesterday and I got some new impressions. Listened single ended on the McIntosh MHA150 with some of my own music from Qobuz.

    My biggest gripe at NAMM Show was the treble response. Now that I could actually hear the HEDDphones at my more moderate volume, the treble response smoothed out and was much more pleasant to listen to. My ears got a bit hot at NAMM and I was able to listen longer and didn't have the same thing happening.

    Was a little slammed yesterday so didn't get a chance to try it out on more amps or even hear it balanced. The MHA150 on high gain didn't have issues driving them and was quite nice.

    They said, as it looks now, their first production run is all claimed for the next month and a half. The unit they brought they took back with them to go on to travel to their next destination. Likely will be the same pair they are going to use at CJ NYC.

    Side note, we might be getting some of their studio monitors/tower mains for demo. Should be fun to have those in the shop.
     
  7. m17xr2b

    m17xr2b Friend

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    Even if I'm on preorder for almost a month now I've check out a demo one. A surprising experience.

    The german build quality has some chinks in its armour on close inspection. I'm all about the detail and might be nitpicking but I like to know the smallest detail of any product I'm purchasing.
    1. The earcups tilt as one would expect yet it uses the cup as a stop...and cheap soft plastic, scratchy scratchy:
    [​IMG]

    2. Earcup protein leather quality is questionable. This one already started to loose shape and curl. The quality itself feel far below a Audeze or Empirian. I'm hopeful it will last long yet won't be surprised if it starts to tear, it's very thin. The depth is misleading, there's about 1cm more between the fabric and the driver. I would like an optional shallower pad, just like the prototype.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Not sure what's going on here, mistake while sticking?
    [​IMG]

    3. Headband doesn't extend far enough. I was sure it wouldn't be an issue as the prototype was fine yet this production model is about 0.5inch or so too short and clips my earlobe. I think with the second batch they're planning to include a longer one but it's speculation at this point. I'm baffled about this flaw. Might be the reason for the delay.

    4. While trying to adjust the headband to a more comfortable position I couldn't help notice it likes to fart. Very sensitive to positive or negative pressure causing the foil to move, crease and sound quite worrying. Trying an Audeze next to me, even being brutal about it, no such issue. I know some earlier HifiMans had this and to a lesser extent the LCD-4s. Disappointing to leave this issue present since the prototype and not even mention it in the manual. I just hope it won't cause failures and surprised no one else reported it. Being fairly careful one can avoid it.

    Sound impressions:
    Some 20K dac, bryston bha-1, balanced copper silver plated cable:
    I just smiled politely and waited a respectable 5 minutes before leaving. Quite nasty and harsh, no weight to the low end, large-ish soundstage, horrible tone. I don't know WTF.
    Sony WM1A on high gain, max volume.
    A hail mary attempt, even if far from adequate amping I was able to gauge the performance better than the desktop setup.
    Low end still has potential and is what I'm looking for, deep extension and linearity.
    Soundstage felt wide but very upfront, very much to my liking for this headphone. Good enough detail but I know it's capable of so much more.

    I'm still keeping my preorder, even despite the small quality issues I think there's potential on a synergetic and capable setup. Still flabbergasted of how bad the dcs, bryston setup was. I felt I was hearing USB fuckery more than anything.
     
  8. m17xr2b

    m17xr2b Friend

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    I waited a long, long time for this moment, a huge thank you to @nick Giraffe Audio for making this a reality and the stellar communication.
    [​IMG]

    Once they warmed up to room temperature I was able to start, comfort first:
    - headband extension is too short and it doesn't look like anything will change from HEDD. The only way I can get me ears to fit is to tilt the headband far back but it feels weird.
    -clamps hard, this wouldn't be an issue with the large plush pads but...they don't tilt forward enough so the lower half of the pads pressed harder than the upper half. The uneven spread can be felt after an hour.
    -still heavy, not sure why I could tolerate the LCD-4 without strain but these were a challenge. After a few hours it felt like taking tight socks off after a long day, the sense of relief.
    For someone less cranially endowed with a strong neck these would be above average comfort wise.

    Foil noise...it's worse than I thought, even at the slightest movement such as turning your head an inch at moderate speed and you'll hear the AMT foil as well as when adjusting, or any other movement with them on. It's particularly annoying when using two monitors on quiet tracks. This can't be good long term and doesn't feel like a quality product.
    The whole point is to have the experience and forgetting about the physical object, here I'm reminded every time not just because of ergonomic issues but the constant noise of the foil.

    HEDD managed to overtake Hifiman for the worst cable included with an expensive headphone. It's just a piece of stiff wire that retains its shape. An exclamation mark, ampersand, infinite symbol, anything is possible and the cable will mostly retain that shape and be forever nasty looking.

    Everything can be forgiven if they sound the same as the prototype, the one that started the hype, super deep and extended bass, very sweet and natural highs.

    Low end has extension with the best of them, the lowest of lows will be reached yet it punches less that I expected. Somewhere between LCD-3/HEK and LCD-4 being closer to the former. I'm not feeling air moving whatever tube setup or amp I tried, SS, hybrid or DHT.

    Mids are weird. From the newcomer perspective they're very clean, lack texture, have a slight veil/suckout in the upper side that sticks out. Being critical as mids cannot have flaws in my book they're plain dull, wholegrain plain rice when compared to senns or MySphere. LCD-2 to LCD-3 mids, again closer to the former from memory.

    Highs are far better and may be the strong point, even with a slight spike that can get harsh in certain condition they're extremely natural and smooth. Easily overtake the LCD-4 yet I can't think of a similar can due to the unique presentation. Not the last word in detail yet the extremely clean while natural treble results in some pretty stunning imaging.
    Not as sweet as I remember from the prototype yet the stage is bigger, quite wide actually but lacks depth.

    Scaling is a problem, they do but only just. I couldn't get the tone right or close to regardless of tube combo and going from cool to extra warm made little difference, quite stubborn. I actually think this is a positive as they'll have the same ballpark sound on lower end amps so no need to spend on amping. The project ember, tube hybrid did a fine job and wasn't left wanting.

    Overall I'm disappointed, I wanted the prototype, the increased stage does nothing to me. My magnet enhanced 650s with dekoni leather pads punches harder, and even with the downsides from the non stock pads they're still above the hedds due the scaling on the Stellaris.

    Even so I can't think of another headphone for less than 2K I'd take over it if I was in the market for such a thing. The LCD-4 is easily a better headphone but twice the price. Yet those natural highs, speed, extreme cleanliness, deep extension are in an upper class than the price would suggest. The bland mids, lack of texture, average punch, so so stage and disappointing scaling besides the ergonomic issues and cheap plastics are why they're priced at what they are. I'll wait for V2 or a better one. I do want an AMT from HEDD, just not this one.

    P.S. found out why the demo ones had the weird imprint on the pads, no wonder when the resting state is pressed against each other. Here you can see the reason for the limited tilt, it hits the connector.
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2020
  9. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    It is just too thick, or inflexible silver, or both. I blame orfas.org and impressionable HFers for these kinds of cables.
     
  10. netforce

    netforce MOT: Headphones.com

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    Little note, HEDD is actually addressing the headband extension. They are going to be making it a little longer and that is coming out with the next batch I believe.

    Should have one of the new HEDDphones in either late next week or early in the following week. It should have the longer extension. The older length was little small fitting for me for my average size noggin.
     
  11. m17xr2b

    m17xr2b Friend

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    That's the thing, this was the latest release, received this week from HEDD, the ones that should have had the extension fixed. Also many suppliers in the UK have got stock now with I imagine the same short-ish headband, as they didn't fix it yet it'll be a lot harder to exchange, send individual new headbands. HEDD has growing pains, once it's a mature product I'll revisit.
     
  12. animus

    animus Almost "Made"

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    I'll drop my 2 cents on the HEDDphone in here since this thread seems to be gaining a little more traction as more and more people get access to the production model. As I am a rando and don't really talk about full sized headphones all that much, feel free to discard my impressions if I come off as too shilly or otherwise suspicious.

    The first time I heard the HEDDphone was around last year at Canjam Shanghai. I was impressed by it, enough to want to buy a unit. I have preordered my own personal unit based on a demo of the final production model at a local store, so bear in mind that I am a bit biased.

    Now, having said this, what do I think the HEDDphone does well? It hits fairly hard, sounds dynamic driver-esque (this is a big one for me because I despise the bass presentation of planars), has a very clean and uncolored timbre, has great dynamics, and is tuned competently. Bear in mind, this is not a headphone you buy because of the tuning like say HD650 or Auteur. The HEDDphone's tuning is somewhat center midrange and upper midrange forward, depending on source gear. The particular issue with the HEDDDphone's midrange is that it has a Stax Lambda or Utopia esque midrange hump around the 1khz range that sounds... well, weird. This can be fixed with source gear, but it's important to note that the HEDDphone is indeed picky with setup, particularly tonal balance. At least it doesn't hiss like a snake out of the wrong amp like Utopia does.

    The presentation of HEDD is upfront, aggressive, and almost closed in. Many people I know have commented that the staging sounds small. I disagree on this, it is certainly non-diffuse, but it does not lack width. Some claim it lacks depth, I have yet to try it with the proper source gear to evaluate this. But it is worth noting that due to the sheer width, I have my doubts that the HEDDphone's stage can ever truly be proportional in width and depth.

    Having said this, the reason the HEDDphone appeals to me is because it strikes a balance of being aggressive, having competent dynamics and timbre, and being tuned well enough. It's not the best in class at any of those things, but it manages to do all of them without any major detractions in any department for me. I can't think of a headphone I'd rather buy instead of it. But it is important to note that it's really not the niche shock and awe headphone that the Socal prototype was. This iteration of it is more of a slow burner that does everything well enough without compromising very much anywhere.

    Also, regarding the headbands: as of right now, the reason why HEDDphone preorders are delayed is exactly because of HEDD's retooling of the headbands. No consumer purchased unit right now has the retooled headbands, I can't say if the Canjam NY one has it because I'm not telepathic. Expect the retool headbands to be released in the second batch coming March, which is when I will be receiving my unit.
     
  13. taisserroots

    taisserroots Friend

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    "We used a measuring stand Brüel & Kjær 4153 - Artificial Ear / Ear Simulator (IEC 60318-1),"
    [​IMG]

    Measurements from the Russian "prosound" site.
    Although there are issues with their placement.
     
  14. PacoTaco

    PacoTaco Friend

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    My favorite part about any graph with a DT770 measurement is how the FR always looks like a two year old drew it.
     
  15. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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  16. ald0s

    ald0s Facebook Friend

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    I tried these in Sydney briefly last week. Positives included clean, powerful and well controlled bass that dug low and didn't muddle the lower mids and tastefully rolled off treble - just a bit. Personally I like a bit more extension and shimmer but that's just me. It was also driven by a Moon DAC/AMP mega box that I didn't love so YMMV.

    Instant non starter though because as said above, not enough headband extension for my melon and just so bloody uncomfortable after 20 minutes. Seriously, these could sound 10x better than my favourite headphones and I wouldn't buy them, the clamping force and inability to tilt the pads at all without affecting the seal gave me the glazed over look of a lobotomy patient - I was literally squinting. I have a size 63cm head (I know this from getting a custom Akubra for school decades ago) so it probably won't be as bad for you.

    Mid range was wonky. Funnily enough I found the upper range a bit scooped when others have said its forward in that area, maybe my hearing has been ruined by too many Funktion Ones in my youth, who knows.

    Anyway - hard pass.

    @m17xr2b I don't know how you can say its the best headphone under 2k for your beautiful Stellaris when it doesn't even scale well, what a waste. You could have 6XX for $250 and they would probably make me cry with happiness off your rig.
     
  17. Hammy

    Hammy Friend

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    Are there any measurement graphs of the HEDD that show impedance and phase? Does the HEDD have a flat impedance and flat phase like a typical planar magnetic?

    The only measurements I've seen have been for frequency. Nothing for impedance or phase.
     
  18. Firegon

    Firegon New

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    I've managed to listen to HEDDs about a month ago and to be honest - to me they were good, but I expected more. Used SuSy Dynahi tweaked for HE-6, so hopefully power wasn't an issue ( never really had to crank above 12 o'clock ) ... but who knows.
    To me, the sound was high quality and very balanced, nothing really stood out, nothing was lagging behind. Haven't heard the wonky midrange, but at the same time - I tend to focus on midrange-light music, so maybe I've just missed it. So all in all - one might say, that as an allrounder, they are pretty good right?
    Well, there were two issues.
    First of all, I found them more ... screechy than my modded HE-6. What I mean by that, is that the detail is certainly very clear and noticable, but in the chinese sabre way. It might obviously be a problem with my DAC - If I ever gather funds for rockna, I may test that again. But I have tried Rad-0, modded HE-6, HE1000 and D8000 with my setup and HEDDs were certainly the most exhausting in the way they presented it. Quite similar to Utopia tbh. Maybe it simply means they need a bit more tube'y magic.
    Second of all, the soundstage is straight up weird. I'm not saying bad - but it's different. The music is presented on a flat surface in front of the listener. It's basically a wall of sound. One might say it's "speaker-like", because it really plays in front of the listener, but at he same time there is very little depth or 3d feel.

    I might be awfully wrong, but to me the flaws I've mentioned are probably what people enjoy. Even on a lower end setup, You'll hear a lot of detail ( just like with Utopia ) and even on a lower end setup You will have this speaker-like presentation. As long as there is enough power of course. But higher end systems or even good synergies that don't break the bank can give You similar outcomes, presented in a more pleasant, coherent and organic way. Then again, who knows what HEDDs can do with good synergy.
     
  19. ogodei

    ogodei MOT: Austin AudioWorks

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    I'm seeing an awful lot of these on the used market, at least 5 right now in the US alone. Weird because HEDD states they have a 365 day return period and I don't think the final production run has been much longer than that.

    Why not return these to HEDD instead of selling? Have people been getting these at discounted prices or something?
     
  20. Tchoupitoulas

    Tchoupitoulas Friend

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    Is this something offered by HEDD Audio itself or a policy specifically by headphones.com? That dealer is distinctive for its return policy, which applies to all of its sales, I believe (described here). I don't see other dealers offering it for the HEDDphone.
     

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