I think the biggest beef I had with the Arya and the Ananda was the length of the ear cup. It had a tendency for myself to drop down or above the ear, never really set in one place comfortable for a long period of time. Plus I think the Arya ended up with a hardware warranty issue within a couple months. I’d rank them lowest for the headband. Good sound, on par with competitors. Funny, I still found them more comfortable than the focals.
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I miss those Eikons from time to time. I think that being spoiled with the impact and slam of ZMF headphones has made it harder for me to love planars so far.
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That would be my next issue if I picked up the lcd-x would be to eq them. Which would peak my interest in the Lokius to boost the bass and take the edge off the upper range if necessary. That ruins my point of putting the kibosh on spending…
Which I shouldn’t even bring this up but the Taboo has xlr input and it’s balanced, so I’m curious (bad when I’m curious) how the Bifrost 2 xlr to Lokius xlr to Taboo would sound. The pre amp gives a small bump but honestly, I think that chain would sound good without the pre amp. Here goes the wheels turning again…
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Nothing.
Except for a few over $2k, I find that the kind of sound planars give aren’t to my preference, the comfort is crap, or some other issue or quirk put me off them.
Just adding this as a data point for you. You may end up finding that you not like planars.
Seems like the most important quality of a headphone isn’t to be considered? I guess I don’t understand why.
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I like this response. I makes me want to forget this new direction and enjoy the Eikons, calling it good, sticking with putting the kibosh on spending.
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Seems like the most important quality of a headphone isn’t to be considered? I guess I don’t understand why.
I just wanted to hear other people’s opinions of their favorite as opposed to what they think would be my favorite, if that makes sense.
I appreciate your opinion, it’s a useful datapoint for sure. It’s similar to how I felt about closed backs under 1k. I just didn’t really like anything enough to keep them until I hit the Eikon.
@ProfFalkin is correct here. At or above the Sennheiser mid-fi tier all things in audio shift to preferences. One can talk about durability and fit and build quality and accuracy or timbre, but those are explanations of preferences.
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Here’s a different thought. I like the Audeze LCDi3. Under $1K, it’s sort of an IEM, but the planar drivers are clearly farther outside the ear than typical in an IEM, plus they don’t need to seat tightly.
I find them very comfortable. @ProfFalkin doesn’t like any planar “headphones” under $2k, but these are more sonic devices. Caveats: best in an Apple environment, and you probably won’t feel neutral about them, either like or dislike.
I’m curious, @ProfFalkin , have you tried any of beyond iSine 10 Audeze with Cipher cable? I picked up the iSine 20 used and liked them enough that I bought the LCDi3 from - what’s that place again? oh yeah, headphones.com. I like their return policy, even though I’ve never used it.
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I’ve re-formatted the question as a topic:
Now, not as buying advice, but simply everyone’s opinion. Personal preference welcome!
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I’ve only tried the lcd-3, but I absolutely loved them for their sound and their build.
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Audeze LCD-X. Check out Andrew’s review:
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Yeah, I don’t see enough about the LCD-3. What do you love about them?
Given @QuasiSpecies’ target I’d suggest the same.
I’ve been checking the Shanling line out, impressive. I am looking at the Shanling M6, AK25, and the FIIO 11 LTD.
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I got to audition the M6 Pro 21 the other week through a loaner tour on another forum. I’ve not posted impressions there yet - so it would be bad form for me to comment here now - but I’d be happy to share a link to the impressions once I’ve posted them (this weekend, I hope). I will say that it’s well worth considering.
The A&K house sound seems to be on the warm side, from what I’ve read online and from what I’ve heard myself with a couple of their DAPs (I own the AK Jr.). The Shanling struck me as being more neutral, perhaps tilting slightly bright, in case that’s of any help to you.
Good luck!
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Hi @Tchoupitoulas how’s the build quality and overall finnish of Shanling Daps in general?
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I am not @Tchoupitoulas but I own a couple of their DACs (admittedly lower en models like the M0 and M2X but I prefer non android DACs).
I found both DACs to be good for the money, however, I have had issues with the M2X. The volume wheel kept jumping so I sent it back (to a local seller) under warranty and they had to send it back to Shanling in China. They exchanged it for a new one and I got it back a couple of months later but it started to experience the same issues after a week or so.
I returned it again and it was again sent to Shanling in China, via the local seller, who have again replaced it with a new one (even though they said that a reflash of firmware fixed the problem), but I am yet to receive it back and I sent it in around March I think.
I am not saying this as a complaint about Shanling (nor the local seller) as I know that stuff shipping backwards and forwards between Spain and China is a pain lately and they consolidate as many items as possible in one shipment, but I thought I would share the experience.
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Currently, my go to headphones are the VC and an HD600 out of a THX AAA 789. I have the full kit for a BH Crack for over a year now, but I seriously can’t find the time or space to tinker with it and build it with a 2 year old running around the house. So instead of expanding into tubes, I figured I should pick up a pair of great planars.
My only experience with a planar is a Mobius, and I’d love to pick one up that vastly improves over that. Looking for these strengths:
- Highly resolving
- Excellent slam and bass detail - I LOVE this about the VC, but I feel its midbass slam and detail outdo its subbass. Any planars that get close to the feel of a subwoofer in the room?
- Decent stock tonality
- Comfortable
- Good enough to drive out of a THX AAA 789.
After reading around for a bit, it seems like RAD-0 will be a great choice in this price bracket. Any others I should consider?
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If you love the VC you’ll love the Rad-0 imo. I would have to go dig, but I’ve seen other’s comment that the VC is a dynamic Rad-0 and I have to agree. I had both, and kept the Rad-0 because I thought the Rad-0 had an extra something to it (maybe because the Rad-0 is an open back or a slightly more fun tuning?).
As for your list:
- Highly resolving - Rad-0 has pretty good detail, and I believe reviews from others more knowledgeable than me back this up.
- Excellent slam and bass detail (I LOVE this about the VC, but I feel its midbass slam and detail outdo its subbass) - Rad-0 is known for it’s slam, and it’s a planar and very much has that planar style bass which I find to be very textured and detailed.
- Decent stock tonality - Same as #1, many have said the Rad-0 is so good because it’s stock tonality is great and doesn’t really need to be EQ’ed.
- Comfortable - I’ll concede here that the Rad-0 isn’t known for world beating comfort. It’s not the lightest, and the stock headband would benefit from a suspension strap. Having said that, I find that adding Dekoni nuggets to it helps a good deal. I wear mine for hours with little issues. I have an Ether 2 which is much much lighter, and while I prefer it’s level of comfort I don’t feel like I’m punishing myself by not using it.
- Good enough to drive out of a THX AAA 789 - Rad-0 is very easy to drive.
As an added comment, for 3k you can work with the Rosson team to make your own custom Rad-0 ring color/design wise. They’re lovely to deal with and I had a great experience working on mine with them.
Everyone else keep me honest here!
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Thanks a ton for the input. Do you feel that owning both will end up being redundant? I do like to have different cans to have different experiences (hence why I love the HD600 for certain types of music). If it’s fairly redundant, I almost see it like spending money on more of the same (which is essentially a waste since I only have one head lol).