This is the thread for measurements and discussion of the new HEDD Audio HEDDphone D1, an open-back dynamic driver headphone retailing for $800 at Headphones.com.
Check out our reviews of this headphone done by Resolve on YouTube, as well as by myself on our blog The Audio Files.
Below you’ll find measurements of the HEDDphone D1 done on our Brüel and Kjær Type 5128 HF-HATS.
Thanks!
More even in the upper region, more quantity in the lower region and same mid region as HD600!
Looks like a winner. I am pretty sure quality of this new driver will surpass the HD600.
Let’s see/hear what is going on in the “musicality” department of the new D1.
After I watched the review from Resolve, I would say that D1 is the definition of a “studio near field monitor” headphone.
Measurements look great. Weight is disappointing vs hd6xx. Praise for serviceability is a bit iffy given how small and new of a company HEDD is. $800 is a bit much for something that’s just slightly better than a 25+ year old sennheiser while weighing about 40% more.
I might take a look at it once it’s available on the secondary market.
After I watched the review from Resolve, I would say that D1 is the definition of a “studio near field monitor” headphone.
Honestly yeah, I feel there wasn’t enough time to go into it in my review so I just mention it at the very end, but this is also probably the best “mixing headphone” I could reasonably recommend (if the end-user really doesn’t want to EQ, that is).
Thankfully I’m pretty weight tolerant so I find it quite a bit comfier than HD 6X0, which has too shallow of pads, a stiff but smaller surface area headpad, and insufficient earcup rotation for my head.
Re: serviceability… perhaps it is that the bar is in hell. But also, HEDD isn’t that small. I’m reasonably confident that the same company that offers a 5-year warranty on their headphones (and has for a while, iirc) will be able to support this one… though they may end up selling more of these than they initially expected 
$800 seems about right given the difference I’m hearing and the fact that it’s more comfortable/premium feeling. Much worse headphones cost much, much more after all 
I am missing a bit the advantages of TPCD drivers vs conventional dynamic drivers.
Yes, it is an exceptional well tuned headphone, but wouldn’t this be also possible with a paper cone driver?
Were does the TPCD driver excels in perceived sound quality (and not in marketing speech) over the other dynamic drivers?
Advantages of the TPCD driver would for me justify the price difference to e.g. an HD600, HD490Pro or ATH-R70xa.
How does it compare to the Sennheiser HD 550? Those curves looks very similar to me.
Yeah, you’re right about the bar. I think I was comparing it to the Senn, which to be fair is an extreme outlier.
A bit off-topic, but @listener can you please share your “ideal” EQ profile with the HD 800 that you mentioned in your review?
Thank you!
I’m personally not of the opinion that my specific profile has any use to people, because its very tailored to the idiosyncrasies of my head.
That said, a rough guideline would be Diffuse Field with a -5 dB high shelf with a Q of 0.4 placed anywhere from 500 Hz to 1000 Hz. That’s basically the target my EQ is aiming for, but with treble changes that are again, specific to my anatomy.
Main difference is smoothness of treble, HD 550 is better in the 10 kHz area for me but considerably worse in the low treble, having quite a rough, sandy treble presentation (typical of the 5 series). I don’t have the measurement in front of me but if they look close, they don’t sound close.
Don’t you mean -5 dB high shelf?
Thanks you for your answer!
Is there something one can do with EQ to counter de sandy treble of the HD 550? Will a well judged cute on 5-6khz do the trick or is it more a hardwar-issue? Is de new D1 worth double the price?
GRRRRR yes, sorry edited 
Thanks for catching that.
Definitely addressable with EQ, will just need to identify the peaks above 4 kHz with a sine wave generator. I like Owliophile.com for that.
FYI, the tool is offline atm since they’re figuring out some guardrails.
An excellent review! I’d love to see a comparison between the HEDDphone D1 and the Hifiman HE600, since (in the United States, at least) they’re both selling for $799.
I currently own, and love, the Focal Elex, and it seems from the review that the HEDD D1 and Elex are slightly different flavors of the same icecream. I love the promise of these headphones, mostly because, as resolve mentioned, they’re an ideal platform to EQ to personal tastes.
Based on you’re experience with both the D1 and Elex, if I’m EQing both to my preference, is the D1 a significant improvement over the Elex? I’m generally a V-shaped heathen, if that helps I like the mids pulled back a little bit, which is part of why I love the Elex, both with and without EQ.
A 600 series with better bass sounds a lot like the 660S2. How do these hold up against the 660S2 @listener ?
If you want to boost the bass a lot, the D1 is definitely a better candidate. The Elex will hit the excursion limit in the bass first, so it limits how loud you can listen after adding a bass boost. Without EQ though, the Elex does sound more focused towards the low frequencies by comparison, though still on the neutral end of things.
I would reckon the comparison that makes sense would be between the D1 and the HD 490 Pro. The HD 490 Pro actually gets a slightly higher overall grade for neutrality over the HD 650 from Sonarworks. It seems like the D1 and the HD 490 Pro both closely adhere to the Harman curve.
The D1 definitely seems like a excellent option.
