I guess it depends what you’re looking for, they are similar sounding to my ear, but the Rad-0 definitely has a growl/bite to it that the VC doesn’t, which makes it a great set of headphones for rock, metal and more aggressive electronic music. I moved on from my VC mainly because I didn’t have a ton of experience in the space and wanted to expand into different sounding headphones and DACs/amplification. In hindsight, I wish I had kept both because I love my Rad-0 and having a closed back that was so similar would be nice to have when a situation calls for a closed back.
Having since tried other Planars like the Ether 2 and D8000 Pro, the Rad-0 meets 90% of your criteria, and while others would meet it to varying degrees or in different categories, it depends on what you’re willing to trade off and how important those 5 bullets are to you if you’re looking for something different to the VC’s sound.
Makes total sense actually. Having a similar tonality and detail for closed vs open is nice. Also, I am indeed looking for something with a bit more bite on aggressive tracks and bass heavy stuff.
A good test for me is actually “My Shot” from Hamilton. On a system with great bass slam (like speakers and a sub), the THUMP of each beat hits you in the chest and gives a ton of weight to the meaning of that song. It’s completely missing on a weak bass headphone like the HD600 and only marginally present even with a bass shelf on the VC.
Just so I don’t sound like a total Rad-0 shill, I’d recommend you seek out the Rad-0 reviews from Resolve, Torq and Chrono on the review section of Headphones.com for other opinions on it. I believe they’ve all heard a VO or VC so there are some good comparisons there for you to get a better sense of what you would be getting into there.
If there is one thing I don’t like about my Shanling M5s, it’s that volume wheel. I imagine it’s the exact same hardware as the M3X. I kind of think it’s a design flaw and not defective.
The one on the Q1 is better. No major complaints with that one.
I was impressed, for the most part. The M6 Pro I had on loan was the titanium gold one. The finish was lovely, no flaws, and it was a beauty to look at. I’d probably get the black gold one for myself, though. The screen is curved, which is cool, I guess, and the resolution was nice - and perfectly fine.
The volume wheel didn’t seem to be particularly robust. I can see why @SenyorC and @InvisibleInk have had problems. Also, I had issues with the gradations of volume adjustment with the native music app with the (admittedly sensitive) Andromeda 2020.
The plastic cover for the SD card didn’t feel very durable. You have to slide a fingernail under it to prise it open, and I’m not sure it’d hold up for long without the plastic getting scored accidentally.
I have reservations, then, about the DAP’s durability and would hesitate to recommend it unconditionally. But I don’t think it would stop me from getting one.
Oh wow congrats! Now I’m anxious to hear if you like it, I feel like I’m invested at this point (and going to feel bad if you don’t haha). What color did you end up going with?
I’m looking for some advice about how to stream my music. Now that Apple ate Primephonic, I use Apple Music on my windows desktop → VB Audio Cable → AccurateSound’s Convolution Filters via its HangLoose Convolver → Bifrost 2 → SR1a.
This has two problems: 1) I can’t get far enough from my desktop to avoid hearing its frequent fan use, 2) for some reason, I can’t get Mitch’s filters to work properly: I get lots of crackling, sometimes it starts right away, sometimes it takes a few minutes to get started. (My best guess is that it has something to do with VB Audio Cable and my computer. I’ve talked to Mitch extensively about it and he’s flummoxed.)
Does anyone have an economic solution that will get me away from my fan and able to use the filters? My only guess is paying for Roon (which I have no other need of) and using my ipad.
Many thanks as always. I always appreciate the great advice I get her.
This is a major concern for me. To be without something for 2 month’s at a time would drive me mad. I aren’t intending to buy anything but was just curious. Thanks @SenyorC.
I think the Rosson ($70) or Arctic (Core series or for a huge stretch the Prisma) fit my price range well enough (around $150 or less). Which one would you recommend?
Is there a way or rule of thumb for working out how well a headphone will respond to equalizers?
e.g. Planars typically respond better?
For now, I’m just looking at what headphones have closest FR chart to what I think I’d like and look comfortable. Then I was going to equalise them to fine tune the sound to how I like.
In a very general way due to their characteristics you’re right, planars respond better to EQ in comparison to dynamics.
Among planars Audeze’s are the ones that you can fine tune better.
I think most planars EQ far better in the mid and treble than they do in bass. On many of the ones I’ve tried (especially my old LCD-2) it’s like they just physically resist being EQ’d more than +3 or 4 db. (And yes, that is with an equal -dB gain to prevent clipping.)
@mechkbfan - In short I don’t think planar headphones are the miracle EQ phenomenon that everybody makes them out to be. Basically, it’s grossly overstated. I think it’s just as much of a crap shoot on those as it is on dynamic headphones.
Equing over 3 db means you bought the wrong headphone for you, IMHO.
Bass response is harder to modify the mids and treble for sure, at least on planars I’ve tried.
My reply was a general one.
For sure we don’t have any miracle headphone, nor between planars nor between dynamics.
And for sure there are some dynamic driver headphone that can be EQued better than planar counterparts.
That said I just don’t EQ my headphones except if you consider tube rolling EQ
Thank you for your hints and for demystifying false believes Prof.
I basically had a short list of headphones that interested me. For example, TH900’s and Eikons. However given my listening tastes, I’d either be tuning back the treble on TH900 (at least from the anecdotal comments I’ve read) or slightly increasing the sub-bass on Eikon’s. The 3-4db comment is interesting one, so I’d like to see how much an impact that has on my existing headphones.
But I at least got my answer when assessing next headphone purchase
