Some additional thoughts on the HEDDphone after two weeks and change with them … but I will say, in summary, that if you’re in the market for headphones anywhere around this price point you should go out of your way to hear these …
Sound & Performance
I don’t think I’ve had any major changes in my overall perception here, absent those that could be ascribed to “break-in”, since my first post on the matter.
I wouldn’t change my description of their basic tonality, though bass levels came up a little bit. Treble is a bit more refined. There is no more “shoutiness”. The sibilance I was hearing is gone. And the minor bass-rattle I was getting with a couple of specific test tracks no longer occurs.
Measurements haven’t changed for me over the last couple of weeks, except about a dB or two in the bass, which could also be attributed to difference in pad compression, placement on the measuring rig, etc.
My assessment of how they project stage and their imaging ability, is also unchanged.
Value & Positioning
With a few notable exceptions, for things like ZMF’s Vérité, Auteur and Aeolus and the Rosson RAD-0, I cannot name an open-backed headphone under about $2,500 that I’d take over the HEDDphone. And I’d take the HEDDphone over the Meze Empyrean or the HiFiMAN HE1000 series, including the SE, as well.
The HEDDphone is priced extremely well for its performance and build.
I still don’t really think of it as a “giant killer”, but I do think it will quickly earn a legitimate place among the giants (I’d say it largely already has for me). I also think it is going to wind up being pretty disruptive - provided HEDD Audio can get production up and address the headband/yoke length issue.
Due to the effects of price on perceived performance and desirability/exclusivity, I do have some concerns that said disruption could turn out to be manufacturers simply bumping the prices of their “next” models in this arena, without necessarily delivering better value/more performance, in order to “move them up market” perceptually.
Power Requirements & Amplification
Using the HEDDphone with a variety of DAC/amps, DAPs and amplifiers has shown that they do respond well to having lots of clean power on tap. You can get to fairly high replay levels without too much effort, but the sense of authority and effortlessness in their delivery is lost when not suitably juiced.
If your amp can deliver about 1 W into 42 ohms, you’re in the sweet-spot; less and you’ll start to notice with more dynamic music and higher listening levels (and be towards the end of your volume dial’s range with quieter recordings), more and the returns diminish fairly quickly.
You do NOT need to break the bank to drive these well.
The $99 Schiit Magni 3+ or Heresy (or the original Magni 3) all have ample power to get the job done here. The Liquid Spark also has plenty of juice. Another budget favorite, the JDS Labs Atom is a bit less than ideal here, and the Archel 2 Pro I would say just doesn’t have the juice to do these justice.
Otherwise, any of the “THX” amplifiers, pretty much everything from Schiit (particularly the current offerings), most of the desktop “Drop”-branded amps (not the EC ZDT Jr though, this is another case of me not liking that with lower impedance cans*), the iFi Micro iDSD Black Label and so on will more than get the job done.
Best solid-state amplifier pairing I’ve heard with them so far is the Phonitor X.
I would steer clear of any amplifier or DAC/amp with more than a couple of ohms of output impedance, as that really screws up the bottom end, and they generally do not pair well with OTL amplifiers either.
The RME ADI-2 DAC fs, and the Chord Hugo 2, present excellent pairings here. Though both would benefit from a little more power (enabling “High Power” mode on the RME unit helps) for more dynamic music when listening at higher-levels.
They sound fantastic directly out of the Hugo TT 2 (on high-gain) and DAVE.
Single-Ended vs. Balanced Drive
The HEDDphone definitely benefits from balanced-drive.
They’re excellent single-ended, but going balanced will help exploit their high resolution, adds some depth to the stage, exploits the lateral imaging better and, in most cases, you’ll get more power - which they very much do like.
While they ship with a single-ended cable, any cable for Audeze, Meze or ZMF headphones will all work properly here.
Comfort
This is still an issue, but not as much as it was initially. Nothing here that would stop me buying them again, but it certainly could be better.
I don’t know if it is because the headband is compressing slightly with use, or I’m just getting used to it, but it takes longer now before I get a hotspot from it - usually about an hour (versus less than half an hour initially). I would still like either more adjustment on the yokes, or longer yokes, as I have to have them fully extended. And along with this, a few more degrees of vertical tilt-range would help too.
The weight, itself, doesn’t bother me. I am, however, still more aware of them when I move my head due to where the weight sits and the effects of inertia. I figured I might become less aware of that over time; I haven’t.
Deafening Silence
It has been interesting to see that the activity in HEDDphone threads, across multiple forums, has essentially fallen off a cliff … and did so within about the first week of the first customers receiving their units. I’m not concerned about this, and would attribute it to several factors:
-
Much of the chatter up until release, was the usual self-reinforcing hype and speculation, mostly driven out of either limited exposure to non-final units or, oddly enough, from people that have never heard the HEDDphone at all. This sort of thing naturally dies out once a product is shipping and owner feedback has started to show up.
-
Said actual owner-feedback has been largely consistent and generally very positive, with what minimal differences that are being expressed primarily being attributable to varying preferences, systems and how individuals assess value. There’s not a lot of disagreement to fuel debate.
-
Of course, not that many units, relatively speaking, have made it into the wild yet, so the amount of owner-feedback is relatively limited at the moment. And as more of that shows up, I expect the more conversation will pick up again.
-
The headband/yoke issue probably has those that weren’t already set to pre-order waiting to see if/how that is addressed, or waiting to try them to see if will be an issue for them personally, before jumping in.
*I very much enjoy the EC ZDT Jr, so don’t get the impression I have an issue with it. I just don’t find it pairs well with low-impedance cans … even using the Low-Z output.
