Its been 2 years since I heard the Stellia, so hard to compare really to the Elegia. Best I can do is to the Airpods and the Empyreans. I just struggled to see that the Elegia were clearly better than the pods. At that point, its a no go for me. But its like I noted before, I might not be good at telling good from great headphones. My headphone history is pretty weak. I have only ever had <$30 IEMs, <$100 gaming headsets, Phillips SHP9500 (gave to my dad), Empyreans (currently have), Stellias (had for a month and returned 2 years ago), FIIO FH7 (collecting dust), and the Elegia.
I know the Empyreans get hate from hardcore folks, but this is one of the most subjective hobbies you can find. I LOVE the Empyreans for the overall experience and for my music. I love that every song sounds great on it to me. I love that its made to a standard above anything I have held (limited). Its each to their own and not going to let someone else opinion ruin that for me.
And I had a similar experience when I bought an Elegia last year, as a travel version of my Stellia. The 2 headphones have a completely different sound, and if you’re used to a warm headphone like the Stellia or Empy, the Elegia sounds anemic in the bass. I tried giving it to my teenage son, who never turns down free stuff, and he handed it back to me a couple of hours later, complaining about the lack of bass. It is subjective, and presumably a lot of people liked the Elegia.
You said that you had an unopened Clear MG. Did you try it? I haven’t heard a Clear or Clear MG, but I did replace the Elegia with a Celestee as my travel headphone, and that sounds more even-handed across the frequency range, so I would imagine that the Clear MG will sound much more to your taste than the Elegia.
What kind of 4 pin XLR connector does Hart Audio use for their termination? I have two of their 4-pin XLR interconnects to hook up to my Jotunheim 2, but they have an issue where the sound in my right channel cuts out whenever the wire is moved slightly or wiggled where the connection point is. This is an issue for my Aeon Noire and other headphones, and I can’t tell if the connector is Neutrik or another kind of 4pin. I’m thinking I may need to invest elsewhere, what is the connector that ZMF uses for their 4pin OFC cables?
Oh, good Lord, man: That’s tough. There are SO many good bands across those genres. But if you want to know, my Mount Rushmore of bands is:
The Clash
Led Zeppelin
Oasis
Drive-by Truckers
Other bands I dig: U2, The Doors, Sam Fender, Foo Fighters, Goat Girl, Wilco, Whiskeytown, Talking Heads, Rolling Stones, Noel Gallagher, The Who, The Verve, Nirvana, The War on Drugs, Radiohead and more – the list is endless.
Whelp, this messages literally motived me to pop it open and try it out. Oh man, sooo much better than the Elegia. Yea, this was what I am expecting to heard different wise when comparing $900 (elegia’s original price) or $1,200 headphones with these to $250 apple IEMs. I am going to spend the next few days letting my mind taking these in. Initially, the tonality is so much more complete, reminds me of the Stellia’s. The stage is still pretty narrow but at least sounds like a soundstage vs being in my ears. The detail is nuts. I am trying to work with these on and they are distracting as hell. I can’t tell if I love all the detail or if its too distracting.
Tell me a story about Dekoni nuggets.
The Edition XS I just got is too loose and I’ve read other folks mention using them to improve the fit.
I’m guessing they rely on adhesive, how good is it? On the other hand, how easy are they to remove/reposition
They do rely on adhesive, and they are easy to remove and reaffix. Don’t know how well they’ll stick to the newer, rounder, headband. You could try a headband cover instead.
I find Sennheiser HD 6XX to be non-fatiguing with rock, mainly because it’s incredibly forgiving of bad recordings, which seem to be common in rock and pop due to the loudness wars.
But my favorite headphone with every genre right now is the HiFiMan Edition XS. A lovely can and great value at $500.
IIRC some people over on HF have been using them. My biggest concern would be regarding removing them - don’t want to have them rip the headband material.
I do have one of the Beyer type snap on covers, but its not remotely big enough to snap closed, even without the extra padding
Every component will change the sound characteristics of your system.
So the idea is, depending on the kind of sound you are looking for, you chose your components.
And I highly, highly, recommend that you EQ your 99 Classics (or any headphone for that matter), to bring them to your liking. Don’t settle for the EQ settings you will find here or in other sites. Use them as a base and then experiment. Make the ones that sound better to you.
I owned Meze 99 Classics and Moondrop Starfield, not Aria. Ran both straight from phone and through either iFi hip-dac or JDS Labs Atom+ stack. I never noticed that much of a sonic difference with amplification because both the 99 Classics and Starfield are ridiculously easy to drive.
EQ will make a far bigger change in the sound of the 99 Classics than any source gear. They’re very bassy headphones, so many people use EQ to tame the bass. I’ve always thought, “Well, if there’s too much bass, buy a different headphone instead of EQing,” but to each their own!
which sound is warmer, not harsh or bright, treble bothers my ears, looking at buying a new Dac. Was Looking at SMSL DO200, SU-9, Loxjie D50 or the D1se, i have an SMSL SP200 Amp.
