Omnivorous headphones?

While I usually can't be arsed to swap headphones when switching genres, I really, really like the Stax SR-5 for air guitar-ing.

 

Well, that's really interesting. I wasn't expecting so many omnivorous cans

That's a good sign IMHO, means that the average SQ of many cans (current and old) is really high, so that many cans can really be omnivorous in terms of music, very good for us

Until I bought Utopia I reached a point in which I even divided the setup based on genre, MSB Analog+Halgo+HEK for jazz and some classical and Auralic Vega+Taurus+HE6/HE500 for everything else. looking back, it was really too extremistic

Now I'm happy and listen to music instead of listen to the setup so I think that an omnivorous cans can really be a very satisfying point, which permit to concentrate on music.... and that should be the final result of this hobby, right?

 

In my guess, we have to consider several hidden assumptions

1) Most people are building their own rig based on headphone-first approach. This may imply the rigs are the most synergistic with their primary headphones, sometimes exclusively.
2) Switching cost is somewhat high in headphone listening. On the contrary, loudspeakers can be easily switched with aid of pre-amps or selectors.

For me, both 1 and 2 are applied

 

For the record, HD600. Might not be end-game, but at my age, financial situation and aural health, it is probably going to be the end of my game.

I'm happy. It is more than midfi to me, and certainly moist.

 

For a while for some reason I felt I wanted a complement to the HD800. I owned TH900 and HD800 at the same time, and while I listen to a lot of metal/rock/industrial-type music I ended up using HD800 for everything. While the TH900 has moar bass, which is sometimes nice, the superior clarity, resolution, soundstage and imaging of the HD800 were just too much to give up. I then auditioned pretty much everything and bought a Stax SR007+727. I felt it was the best complement to the HD800 in the sense it had similar technical performance with a different sound signature.

But then the problem is the SR007+727 is about $2.5K. At the time my HD800+amp was also about $2.5K. Well, its kinda stupid to have two $2.5K systems when instead you could have one $5K system (e.g. HD800+445) that will give you much better sound quality for everything.

I've since switched from HD800 to Utopia, but the point remains: from an overall sound-quality and enjoyment per $ perspective it is best to channel all funds into one primary system with one high-end headphone.

 

yep, that's exactly one of current thoughts in my somewhat limited brain
but this means also that on top of an omnivorous cans you must also find an omnivorous amplifier (not so easy IME) and dac/source (well, maybe that could be easier). things could be unexpectedly more complex rather than easier

 

Modded HD800s is omnivorous. It can be tonaly HD650 like as mentioned before. Next HP for me is HD800M. It's that simple.

 

In all this tuning, something should sit the hell still. Just like a comic needs a straight man, I would prefer to do all my "tuning", or call it "coloration" in one device. I don't want to try to offset a "warm" DAC with a "resolving" amp or try to offset a face tweeter with "tube bloom". Because then, when you change phones, it is all inappropriate again. What starts out as "seeking synergy" devolves into a frustrating spend-fest. Right now I have settled the DAC - the Yggdrasil. It is a solved problem. How it gets fed signal is a bit up in the air right now. It is further congealing that a highly tunable preamp is needed to pair up with a "straight wire with gain" amplifier. The pre-amp might be the Freya, or it might be something else. I am old enough to wish it had a balance knob and a couple of tone controls (and a freaking power switch on the front Jason!). Maybe a high quality "vintage" pre? I am not in the camp that "true audiophiles" listen with everything in a flat state. My old ears have been assaulted for 64 years with everything from guns to race cars and need a bit of HF boost. The left one has tinnitus and doesn't hear as well as the other one. And yes, some cans need help in different places. Possibly the amp is a Benchmark AHB-2 with suitable step-downs for efficient phones. Or is it the Schiit Vidar? Will Schiit have to stop launching new products when all of the bizarre names are used up? All these things I dunno.

It reminds me of my time tuning motorcycle suspensions. People would say they wanted "progressive" springs because it was the buzz, but the interaction of the spring rate increasing with displacement made it impossible to tune the rest of the suspension because there were other tuning elements also adding progressivity depending on the speed and displacement of the axle. I wanted the spring rate to stay the same so that I could tailor the response for each characteristic in one place. I think the same thing is needed here. The DAC needs to bring all the music to the table that the recording engineer either purposely or absent-mindedly stuck in the track - adding, subtracting, or emphasizing nothing. The pre needs to manipulate it however the hell I want it to to suit either my own failing ears or the next set of god-cans. The power amp needs to take this optimally tailored signal and apply gain and impedance matching as necessary to drive the outputs. If it turns out that it takes more than one amplifier connected to the pre to cover a range from IEM's to HE-6's, well, that is likely to be so.

Sorry, but I feel better now.

 

+1, on all counts.

 

Well, that's exactly what some people call a hobby!

Each to their own. Like you, I don't view that as fun thing to do. And, as I said on a thread about those long, thin, connecting things, if one wants to change the tone, there's a tool for the job, especially as so many of us are listening from computers now: EQ.

But really, each to their own. If I'd had more cash, I would have had more audio gear, at least in the past.

 

I'd be interested in that for my sextett and a pair of DF's I'm looking at on Craigslist. Got a link?

Try those SZ2000's with brainwavz velours. I sent my SZ2000 to takato14, and he got EXTREMELY good results from those pads.

 

Interesting..never thought of trying them with velours. I am running them with alpha pads now, awesome bass and very comfortable, like it much better than the 55x pads that everyone raves about.

 

brainwavz velours clean them up a TON and make the FR more tolerable.

 

Just got a pair of Pioneer Monitor 10's in yesterday. Picked em up off of eBay for $60, and I can already tell they are one of the most well tuned headphones I've heard. Definitely a good omnivorous headphone, I think.

Some impressions:

-Less midbass than HD600 and not as much slam, but much better extension.

-Flat until 1k, then a bit of shout from 1-2k, then good until the mid treble where it dips out a bit.

-Treble is still quite smooth regardless of the mid treble dip.

-Good extension above 10k. Lots of air

-Cleaner sounding in the mids than my HD600. None of the 600's glare, just slight shout at 1-2k.

-Less presence at 2-3.5k than the HD600.

-Similarly great to the 600 tonally. Slightly darker and less natural sounding to me though. Probably the 1-2k shout and less presence from 2-3.5k.

-Very open sounding with 3D imaging

-Good dynamics.

-About as much detail as the 600

-Great isolation. About as good as the Senn HD280.

1971... How?