The manufacturer claimed that the HEDDphone doesn’t need any burn-in/break-in. There’s a least one post to that effect on Head-Fi, though I am much too lazy to go find it.
I have to disagree with the manufacturer on this one. While I rarely find break-in to be much of a thing (it’s never turned something I don’t like initially into something I do, nor been the “night/day” level changes that many claim), I do hear differences with the HEDDphone.
Bass-level has come up a bit. The top end is less excitable, and the sibilance I was consistently hearing in some tracks is gone. And the rattling/crackling I was getting with a couple of bass-torture tracks has gone away entirely.
That’s the awesome thing about this hobby is that it can always get better! How does that phrase go, something like ‘if best isn’t good, better gets better’… or something to that tune(?) Amazing how the HEDDphone may be able to improve even more with burn in!
Oh and for the DAP pairing, I presume that was just a test pairing just for the sake of trying it, although most would generally drive it with a heftier amp. Oh also do you share any of my sentiment that the HEDDphone benefits from the tube saturation of tube amps? Especially OT / transformer coupled ones?
It was intended to see how well it worked from a reasonably powerful DAP a) for those people that only use DAPs as their source, DAC and amp but don’t use IEMs (there are quite a few of them) and b) for people like me that like to go sit on the deck and listen with full-size cans and/or that want something transportable but without the need for duplicate rigs or setting up/tearing down desktop rigs constantly.
I still need to try it with the Cayin N8, and there are more powerful DAPs available also, but the SP2000 is more powerful than most of what’s out there and that’s not going to be enough.
That’d greatly depend on the tube amp and tubes in question, as well as listener preferences. I don’t see that there’s a universal standard there.
Personally I think a little roll-off on the top end and bit of midrange lushness makes them more enjoyable and less forthright for simple “listening for pleasure”, but it doesn’t improve their technicalities.
If you’re actually pushing tubes into saturation, the extra harmonics will thicken, and maybe sweeten, the sound some - though the HEDDphone are resolving enough it may not be purely beneficial (hard to say, without hearing the amp and tubes in question).
They’re a relatively poor match for most OTL amps due to the HEDDphone’s low impedance and high current requirements and low sensitivity. That’s sort of the trifecta-of-things-you-don’t-want-with-an-OTL amp!
So by default, they’re going to match better with a transformer-coupled tube amp than an OTL one.
Can confirm, these did not play well with the BHC, they were better with the Cayin Ha-1amkii but still not my preference too much wonkiness with the distortion with both…
But, I surprisingly actually like the pairing with my Cayin N6ii (A01) it loses some of the “oomph” but not enough to dislike the pairing lol
This is good to hear. For portable or transportable use around the home to the balcony or to the roof top, I will use the N6ii. If necessary, I can add a portable amp (iDSD Black Label, Mass Kobo 424, or original Hugo). Or do you think the DX200 with AMP8 will be a better match?
I haven’t heard the Ibasso DAPs…so can’t comment on those. But if they are similar or more powerful than the N6ii than you should be good for basic listening enjoyment.
I spent a bit of time with these and the Cayin N8 DAP today.
First, you absolutely need it in high-gain mode. There’s no headroom on the volume setting in low or medium.
In SE via either solid-state or tube outputs, while the sound is good, similar to the SP2000, you’re hitting about the same level of output at max volume. Which is to say while it’s perfectly enjoyable, albums with lower signal levels (i.e. not modern super-compressed stuff) will have you at max (100) volume to get to 80-85 dB of output.
Via the 4.4mm BAL output, you still need high gain, but have a little more leeway. Here I was at about 90-92 on the volume scale, but could certainly listen at 100 without discomfort or worrying about my hearing.
So, perhaps a bit better than the SP2000 … but I would think twice about pairing the HEDDphone with these DAPs if that was my only source/amp.
Oh, I should clarify my above statement about the N6ii…I use a 4.4mm balanced cable with the HEDDPHONE, and on high gain…probably would have been good info to have…sorry about that! But, I still think the best experience w/the HEDDPHONE is on a desktop solid state, any distortion just gets magnified un-enjoyably so when trying to add tubes…at least with the tube amps I have access to.
Just gonna add my quick impressions of heddphone after about a week or so. this is from perspective of 1.5 years elex owner who’s
been looking to upgrade for a while. i dont own other high end headphones
Heddphone dynamics are great. A lot of upgrades path from the elex in the price range of hedd sacrifice the elex dynamics for other things but not the case here.
Heddphone has smoother and more detailed treble. it doesnt have the exaggerated edge of elex. I find heddphone less fatiguing as a result but it is not laid back by any means.
i would say hedd timbre is better than my elex, trx0 and mobius. Not too metallic, plastic or hazy.
Heddphone has a bit more upper bass. bass not as lean as elex. I like elex’s bass tuning a bit more.
Heddphone sounds much bigger and center image is just as, if not more intimate than elex. Yet, total width is much greater.
imaging, seperation seem much better. Some of it may just be the advantage of the total greater stage.
zero issues with weight but I could really use more room on the headband. I can’t get a perfect seal on both ears. you can feel the ear pressure and hear driver crinkle, kinda like audeze when the seal is perfect.
i can reproduce the weird rattling buzzing issue but only with sine sweeps. Never heard with music so far. I tried the typical bass tracks and tried jerrobeam fenderson spirals, which was the closest thing to sine waves in music form i am aware off. Still a bit worried though and would either like a confirmation from hedd that the behavior is normal or maybe get my unit looked at once hedd has caught up with preorders.
overall, while i prefer elex tonality a bit more, hedd is not far behind there and is ahead in every other area. The only thing stopping this from being my new daily driver is the slightly short headband.
Got our HEDDphone demo back from @TylersEclectic this weekend and figured I’d may as well pair it with the freshly unboxed RME ADI-2 DAC fs.
First off, I missed the HEDDphone. I’ve been using the LCD-2 for the last week and while I do quite like it it can’t compare to the HEDDphone. The staging is simply fantastic and I’m not usually a detailhead but it just does detail very well.
Paired straight off the amp of the RME, it does feel like there’s a little less headroom than with the SPL Phonitor X but it’s also been a month since I heard that combination so it’s hard to say that with 100% certainty.
The weight isn’t as noticeable now as it was the first time around (wearing Audeze headphones for a week straight may be the cause of that though). I’m one of those people who never had a fit issue with the HEDDphone so no headband issues for me. No rattling or buzzes from the demo unit either so that seems to have mostly worked itself out in the few units that were experiencing it.
This unit will be making it’s way over to the iFi Audio booth at CanJam NY and HEDD will also have units available there as well, paired with some SPL gear.
Have you switched the phones output on the RME to “High Power” mode?
It still won’t match the headroom of the Phonitor X, but it’ll help some.
(You can also turn on “Auto Ref Level” in Phones mode, and that’ll both flip some internal attenuators as well as automatically engage “Hi Power” once you reach a certain level).
Yup it’s in High Power mode currently. It’s been a while since I’ve listened to the HEDDphone themselves though so any changes in sound should be taken with a grain of salt until I spend some more listening time with them.
We’ve got the RNDAC back in the office as well so I was going to do some A/B between the RNDAC and RME this week
I decided to take the RME ADI 2 with me, when we go to berlin and yearly 1 week eastern sea trip with my wife in april/may - have to audition the HEDDphone!
wonder if it would make any sense to add my THX AAA 789 for pure power or is it degrading the RME ADI 2 DAC fs (4493) line out signal in any way?
@Torq Ian, would you mind, telling me what your opion on the RME ADI 2 DAC + THX AAA 789 chain for the HEDDphone looks like? I would highly appreciate it.
I plan the SPL Phonitor Xe purchase for the end of the year. In the meantime both units are all I have.
Edit:
I did a bit of research on the HEDD homepage and found a store in munich, who is listed as a distribution. Called the shop owner and he is more into speakers lately.
He now asks HEDD for a demo unit and gets back to me
This store has SPL Phonitor X to demo and I can bring my RME and THX to audition the HEDDphone
I’m guessing the RNDAC will pair particularly well with the HEDDphone. The HEDDphones’ slightly exaggerated micro-dynamics should get tempered by their slight muting in the RNDAC. Not to mention, there’s more grunt available.
And it’d be interesting to see what you think of them with the DIP switches in their default (all ON) positions, vs. with switch 3 OFF - particularly in regards to stage and imaging.
