Well its day two with the Hedds and I have already come to a conclusion that they are really very good. Even with the weight and the need for a good amp to drive them due to their relatively low efficiency.
I am not going to paste a ton of pix, you can see the pix at the start of this thread…mine look the same. The exception would be I have the newer headband with the more extension positions available over the first ones.
So here is my experience:
(apologize for any mis-spellings)
Let me first star out stating I am a headphone addict, one who likes to listen to music with all kinds of transducers hanging off my cranium, small , medium and large…always searching for that perfect reproduction of sound in my head…doing this since the days of Senn HD414s and Koss Pro4A’s…been a long ride. So this leads me to the HEDD Headphone with their speaker technology engineered into a set of headphones for the low cost of $1899!
In the past year I have owned and experienced 30+ amps, dacs and headphones. My latest love is the Focal Clears from Focal. One of the best dynamic set of headphones ever, IMO. The wonderful tonality they exhibit is spectacular to me. Then along comes this HEDD AMT thing…
The specs are:
Efficiency: 87dB SPL for 1mW
Frequency range: 10HZ - 40kHz
Impedance: 42 ohms
Weight: 718 g
Connector : Mini XLR
Cable: 2.2 meter with a 1/4" phono plug (6.3mm)
I usually wait for several months before jumping on new technology when its applied to headphones. The version I have is the lastest with the new headband extension improvement. The driver didnt change with this minor comfort update. These are huge and heavy headphones, yup no getting around that. So I was worried that this might be an issue and for me it turned out not to be! Yeah! They fit my oval head nicely work very well with my reading glasses. No issues with the big thick soft pads.
The design is really simple looking. Elegant to me. Big to me. The first time my wife saw these on me she thought NASA might have hired me for a shuttle launch! They spent a lot of time getting the headband big enough to help distribute the weight, for me it works but others have liked the sound but returned them due to the fit and weight. So the advice here is to audition these first. I would tell you that with any headphone at this price level. Makes sense.
These are open back headphones. They leak a lot of sound. So note that. They are not portable. My HEDD’s are nicely finished, excellently built, solid and weighty. According to my seller, there are earpad replacements, no pricing yet.
The ribbon like transducer is folded many times and sometimes you will hear a slight crackling sound when positioning them, this is normal. I only hear this when first putting them on without any sound and I dont hear anything while I am listening or making a minor headphone shift on my head.
Even though the headband is well designed it does not make the 718 grams disappear…the size and heft are felt. But its not as bad as some have stated IMO. I had one two hour session with no issues.
Some reviews and reviewers tout these as a TOTL headphone and compare with others costing more and even comparisons to electrostatic cans. I found these headphones to be very fast, lightning fast transients…ridiculously clear. For less than $2K they IMO are a true value that stand right up there with the best.
So how do they sound and does the weight that some tout as really detrimental play into the overall listening experience?
First of all the headphone has what is called a full range AMT driver, which allows for a very large set of dynamics to be experienced during the listening experience…I am shocked how well these cans work with recordings that have are recorded with a wide set of dynamics. When you listen to a well recorded song, a live performance its like magic…from one end of the spectrum to the other…its all there good or bad. Its like your there on stage.
Listening closely the natural decay of instruments is uncanny real and this adds to the “like live” or “being there” experience.
A prime example of this is Eva Cassidy, her live cd at Blues Alley…so mouth watering clear, clean and like your there. Excellent.
This HEDD headphone has no warmth or added anything for me…its all about faithful reproduction of what inputted into it, the “ole garbage in garbage out” addage. In spades…the AMT drive is designed for accuracy and precision…and it delivers here. Its a very neutral headphone. *But when comaring to the Focal Clears, I do notice some "warmth or thickness added…more below).
It has an uncanny resolving power, all the small stuff comes out, all of it. You instantly will tell if a recording is mediocre or well done, painfully and brutally so. They IMO are very well balanced. The bass is not over exaggerated, nor are the highs accentuated…its all good. When there is bass its there, mids, vocals are spot on, lifelike again if well recorded. Being such a neutral headphone its more of “quality over quanity” is brought out. HEDD seems to have gone after a more neutral and accurate tuning…many times its like your with the band on stage…in Spyrogyra, Freetime, song Freetime in the opening there are small finger cymbals that ring out and throughout the song…hardly ever noticed them with other headphones and with the HEDDs there they are!! Uncanny.
This brings me to piano and how hard it is for this to really sound natural and the decay of the notes…this headphone reproduces piano like"awesome dude"…listening to Albert Lee, Gagged But Not Bound, the piano is sooo real and nice. FLIM and the BB’s, George Winston’s December is excellently reproduced. Acoutic music matches this headphone very nicely.
The strings on some of the old Beatles tunes like Hard Days Night remastered and I’ll Be Back…the guitar strings, vocals and reverberations are reproduced and make you feel your in the recording studio…10/10. MY Focal Clears are really nice here as well. But these HEDD’s just take the cake here. Uncanny.
These arent the easiest to drive with their relatively low efficiency. But I have only used the SE provided cable and with a Schiit Jotenheim, Schitt Lyr 3 they were driven very well. I tried the older Schiit Magni 3 for $99 and it also was able to drive these with aplumb. I also used a highly modified old O2 amp, with 3x the current and higher voltage and it drove the heck out of these cans…My favorite was the Schiit LYR 3…but have many more amps to try.
Soundstage and imaging are also first class…wide yes, like a real orchestra across the stage well no, but close. With small bands and more intimate settings its again like being there in the band at times. Uncanny. The depth of the sound, front to back was really noticeable, Bill Whithers, The Best of Bill Whithers, Steppin Right Along…I am in front of Bill, and I can visualize to the rear and the sides…again. Uncanny.
If you want to experience real live music and have instruments sound like instruments as you hear with your ears…these will fill the bill. Anything thats in the music recording you will hear, clearly, precisly, tonally accurate…Uncanny.
These may not be the TOTL killers that some would like them to be, but they are in the running with some of the best out there…heavy yes but IMO worth the price of admission. Uncannly good.
Listening to some more jazzy modern day type of Chet Atkins, yes Chet Atkins for you millenials…President of RCA records famous discoveries of Tommy Emmanual, Dire Straits, Marty Knofler etc…the presentation is so alive and real. Al Dimeola, Kiss My Axe, Global Safari…"Open de-lightful, airy depth of the musical presentation, wow its so “deep” in the sounstage…so very, very clear. No distortion, no sibilance…very well balanced.
The one thing with these TOTL types of headphones is they will allow you to discern any other weakness or issue in your audio chain more easily than lesser resolving headphones. Its a joy and terror to go from one song to another to discover greatness or mediocrity.
Watching the designers video, its mentioned that the reason for the large headphones (spacing) was to add the distance from your ears to the actual transducer to aid in the soundstage etc…well it works. With this and the phenomenal resolution from that fast transient characteristic makes these cans well…Uncanny!
I sent a note to HEDD about replacement earpads and they responed overnight and indicated yes there will be replacement earpads for sale. Pricing not known at this time.
So my beloved Clears have been topped by these respects, but that does not make them ho-hum…they still rank IMO as one of the best examples of a dynamic driver headphone. Its just the HEDD goes even farther with a totally new transducer as far as a realistic experience…
Going back and forth between the Focal Clears, the HEDD’s out resolve the Clears, but not by much. The Clears actually sound abit thin compared to the HEDDS, and the overall sound is abit more “clear” with the Clears. Its like the HEDDS actually have a slight warmth compared to the Focals , even though this is supposed to be a very neutral headphone. The HEDD soundstage is just nicer to me…a bit more open…just a bit wider to me. Both are excellent cans and both provide an excellent musical experience…It seems that the HEDD’s have to have more “emf” applied to sound as “clear” as the Clears are. I think this is a factor of efficiency…The Clears are so easily driven by most amps IMO and yes I know there are some amps out there specifically designed to drive Clears due to the mechanincal design and suspension of their transducers…
The question here is if you only could have one, which one would it be??? Gosh thats a tough question but IMO it would be …wait for it…the Clears. Yes. OMG how could that be with all the positives on the HEDDs? Well they cost less (if you get a good deal…and I did $999)…and they are easier to drive. Even though I like the HEDDs very much and will keep them, the Clears still shine even against the upper tier headphones. They are like a nice worn pair of shoes that fit well and do everything so very well. They are my taste.
So I still highly recommend the HEDDs. What they really bring to the table IMO is a wider, more open soundstage. Great for live performances. They deliver and uncanny (have I used this word before!) airiness…makes it like your in the room or on the stage hearing all the room reverbs, sounds bouncing off the walls etc. Like sticking your head into the recording studio and being there. The only negative thing is the weight and fit for some. I am really happy with my short experience so far…written during day two of owning them…
So dont be afraid of new technology, the HEDD’s are really a very special headphone that gets most things right…totally enjoy them. Another reason why I own more than one set of headphones!
Alex
:>)
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. In music, any rear sounds appears to be just behind my earlobe.
motion). Its a thing i involuntarily do whenever I’m seated and it annoys the wife immensely when we’re on the couch. Now this does not happen every single time i start to bounce my heel but, 50% of the times the hinge (the left side) will always rattle against the housing of the headband making that clinking clanking metal in metal sound which is very annoying. I guess its a matter of training myself to stop doing it but for i prefer my things to adapt to me rather than me adapting to it, if only the there wasn’t any excess space in around that hinge or the tolerance wasn’t too loose it wouldn’t have been an issue.
