Been gone for few days, not listening at all…a mini vacation…so we started out with a comparo of the Tuba against the Lyr 3…with Clears…
So just put back the HEDDS and once again…WHAM transformational experience…the Tuba is ok, but just lacks the EMF to make the HEDDS sparkle…the Lyr 3 works VERY well with the Hedds…
Back in love once again!
:>)
Alex
Sweet, I am looking forward to giving the Heddphone a listen with my LYR3/Bifrost2 combo so far I have been evaluating them with my reference amps A90/SP200THX and D90 Dac.
Finally back to the HEDDs with the Schitt Jotenheim…and Capital Area Audiofest Demo CD from many years back…
OMG 10/10 good…
Time for a good cold beer and smile some more!!
:>)
Alex
This pairing IMO has that something really special even over the Lyr 3 which I really like as well…dont know what it is, but the etheral euphonic soundstage, the tonility and realism is just sooo sweet…
I am looking for some advise here regarding HEDDphones.
I am based in Sydney, and unfortunately dont have the privilege to demo them. But reading a lot about them and trying to create a sonic response from what @Torq said and what @Resolve Andrew’s review and also how highly @John_William talks about it.
Brief background and context:
I L-O-V-E HD800s & Utopia after that. I tried Empy and did not consider it as $4500 AUD (here in Aus) headphone at all. Did not like them compared to D8000 pro at ‘that price’ .
I have HD800s + TH900 MK2 + Verite Open.
Does HEDDphone have the capability to unseat the HD800s ?
Does HEDDphone have the same level of details as Utopia (with a bigger soundstage than Utopia) ?
Does it have more oomph in bass (I am no bass head, but 800s are lean) than 800s ?
And lastly;
I have a Denafrips Ares II DAC
&
Auralic Taurus MK2 Amplifier.
Is this combo good enough to get the best out of HEDDphone ?
(e.g. ref… 800s are run at 10’o’clock, and Verite Open run at 9:30-10 '0’clock on my setup… Going to 11 is very loud and 12 , I cant bear for more than a minute)
Trying to gather as much info as i can, before spending $2500-3000 AUD on it, as I am flying blind…(yes the conversion and taxes with shipping to US from headphones.com will cost me somewhere around that in my currency).
Thanks Everyone.
Wow, this is a hard / easy one for me as an owner of the HEDDs for a few weeks and someone that had the HD800s here for a week and sent them back because they were too thin, not enough bass for me and what my listening profile is…
I have stated this in many of ny experiences with the HEDD’s, I use a Schiit Jotenheim mostly with a balanced cable on high gain and the experience is 10/10. Abosulutely superb.
Can it unseat the hd800…much talk on this and most state the soundstage on the 800 is still “better” or larger than the HEDDs…IMO the HEDD’s soundstage, maybe as not aswide, but it is really wide laterally and the imaging and ability to seperate instruments and placement is as good as and even better than the 800s’
Bass, which some state they think they need 1-2dB below 60 hz or so to more closley match the Harmon curve, I find it does not need that to please me. Its not a Boomy or has a bloated or exagerated bass at all…when its there (Fanfare for Comman Man, Kettle Drums, Brian Bromberg. Bass Cello, Wood and things like low frequency organ music below 30hz, when cranked up the Bass is just blanking SUPREB. Period. Over and Out. That good…
They are very fast, transients are electric fast…resolving, very much so, anything thats in a recording you will hear.
I have the Focal Clears, and never had the pleasure to listen to Utopias…but most folks indicate they are equal to the detail retrieval of the Utopias. They are as good if not better than the Clears IMO.
Your amp should be able to drive these from what I can tell…on the Jotenheim with balanced at 9 oclock on high gain the vol position is at 10 oclock and its loud. 85 db…on high gain its 8 to 9 oclock.
The immeddiate thing with the HEDD’s is their “realistic” open live soundstage or experience…its like speakers in you head.
They are just a very different sound from the Focals and any other headphone…
The only negative thing IMO is the weight and fit…some have real issues with these things.
I am very fortunate to not have any fit or hot spots, and use these as my daily drivers now and the Clears are just sitting there asking me “why?” LOL
Good luck with your choice!
Alex
I’d say the HEDDphone is a side grade to the 800S. But you must know that the 800S is one of my favorite headphones of all time. And I don’t think they sound thin at all. It just depends on whether or not they’re being driven properly. It also doesn’t have to be an expensive chain to get them to sing.
I have driven them with a THX 789 amp, with the Drop SDAC balanced Dac (running balanced), and then the 800S connected with a balanced XLR cable. I’m telling you, you will get excellent bass with just medium gain and less than 12 o’clock on the volume pot. You will also get crystal clear mids and treble and a ridiculously wide soundstage.
And the most important part is that the 800S is very light and comfortable. The comfort and ergonomics was the dealbreaker for me with the HEDDphone. I was a part of the first batch though, so I don’t know how much better they are with the longer headband. So in conclusion, I would not feel any need to own the HEDDphone if I already owned the 800S. But that’s just my opinion. Hope that helps!
Thanks @John_William , so bloody very much mate.
In Australia I just scored an 800s on specials for $1500 AUD & the HEDDphone brand new here is $3000 AUD
Even open box is going to cost me $2500 landed with taxes here from Canada.
So either ways 60-100% increase in price compared to HD800s…
whereas US Canada I think 800s & HEDDphone , are the same price.
Puts things in perspective for me 
Interesting comments which I respect…I bought a set of open box 800s for $999…a great deal and really wanted to like them…but me and my expert listener ( my wife) both agreed compared to many cans I already have they were not worth the retail asking price and the overall sound IMO was thin on the bass end…and I have or had 20+ amps here in house when I had them…maybe its possible the open box cans had an defect but the well know vendor didnt think so.
One of the reasons I wanted to try and like the 800s was the wonderful experiece with the HD 600s…so that really wide open soundstage that many really like with these cans is what I was hoping for…but alas it eluded my ears.
One of the minor negatives with the 800s is that the soundstage is often “too wide”…??
It once again goes to show we all hear differently and I do want to try a set of 800s once again to see what I missed…that said there is no way I would part with the Hedds, which worked very well for me right off the bat…
My Hedds are the second batch with the longer extensions, but that doesnt make them any lighter for sure.! lol and I dont use any extensions for the first round would have been a good fit here as well…
Thanks for sharing!
Alex
I’ve been loving my new HEDDphone for about 10 days now and thought I’d share a few observations.
I’ve read many “impressions” of the soundstage and I find it odd at the variety of opinions. Some say it’s intimate. Some say it’s the widest they’ve heard. Many say it’s 3D, but folks have described it as 2D in this very thread. This variance of opinion is on a different level with the HEDDphone (ever hear a trusted source say the HD800 has a closed in soundstage?).
I think the physical shape of the driver/ear cup/pad configuration along with the fact that this is the first time many of us have heard a full range AMT causes one to have a unique experience with this headphone.
I found that, at first, it felt like I had sound coming into my ears from 4ft tubes attached to each ear. It was so wide and not very cohesive. I believe in brain burn in and the HEDDphone definitely takes some brain burn in due to these physical factors.
But once my brain has sorted things out, it was astounding. The stage is wide, deep, and intimate, whichever the music dictates is needed.
I also think of “3D” differently now. I used to think 3D meant that I could easily hear the layers of instruments, in a front to back orientation. Now, after hearing the HEDD, 3D has a new and more accurate meaning. With the HEDD, elements actually jump forward toward you and you can almost touch them, very much like a 3D movie. This, I’ve never in a headphone before.
Oh, and a cable upgrade made a considerable difference in presence of the lower frequencies. I’m using a Corpse Gravedigger and it’s phenomenal.
Thank you for your impressions!
I am absolutely with you on the range between intimacy and wideness, with the HEDDphone.
It’s the most outstanding feature of it, for me, besides other headphones I have listened to.
May I ask what DAC/Amp you use?
Thanks @MartinTransporter! I am using the Yggdrasil A2 fed via DigiOne Signature’s coax (using Roon) or a direct connection from my phono stage. I’m using both the V200 and the Liquid Platinum. I use crazy cables both balanced and SE. But my impressions hold true when simply using the iFi micro iDSD BL.
My current stable also includes HD6xx, HD800, Clear, Arya, and Solaris (iem). But I’ve heard and owned many other brands/models. I have not heard Stax, RAD-0 , the Empyrean, or the SR1a, however.
One more note on soundstage. I’m also a vinyl junkie so I primarily use my Mercury Living Presence albums to assess soundstage (well most things really). This headphone sounds like I’m at the conductor podium in front of the orchestra. I wish everyone could experience this with a professional group, because that is exactly the goal of this HIFi journey, for me. I always wanted my friends and wife to hear what the music sounds like from the stage. And there is no better place on the stage than the podium!
thanks for sharing!!! I love my Clears and Hedds…both really super fine here…
My HEDDs after many amps are 99% plugged into a Schiit Jotenheim, balanced with a custom cable I made with Canare cable, very flexible, works very well…for some reason I like the HIGH gain setting with the Jot with the HEDDs…they are ok with the LYR 3, but the JOT for me has that magic.
Use the Lyr3 with the Clears 99%. (and Hagermans Tuba)
Alex
oh that is a very nice chain
and yes, the need to let our friends and family hear our setups is strong in me, as well.
I’d really love to read your comparison Arya vs HEDDphone in the future, if you are willing to share it with us. The Arya always comes back to my mind. I had a short listening session with it and have now no chance to compare both.
I read Andrews review and saw the Videos, though as much as I align with his impressions for most headphones… it is very inter to learn from other sources:
Ah. I forgot to mention that I also have the Lyr 3, but being SE only, I have that in that main 2 channel system running out the Mon Out on my preamp. It’s my vinyl head amp atm.
So, remember the whole driver excursion noise thing with the Clear? Well, on mine, if I run the Yggy - Lyr 3, the Clear bottoms out very easily. I’ve long neglected my Liquid Platimum, and maybe I’ll get more into that later, but the LP is my favorite amp for the Clear (I find them fatiguing without the right match).
Ah the Arya. The almost perfect headphone. This would easily be my choice for a desert island headphone except for one flaw (I’ll get to that in a minute).
The Arya has a wonderfully pleasing FR that straddles fun and neutral. Sure, the bass is a little much at times and the highs can be a bit shrill. But recording/mastering variance is much more to blame than the Hifiman tuning IMO. The soundstage is fabulous. The fit and comfort are also fabulous. The resolution is fabulous too. But…
The Arya has millions of colors of resolution, but they are all shades of the same color (blue to me).
This is better illustrated with an example. If you have Tidal, then listen to these two tracks that are consecutive on this album.
The first track is a quartet of rackets (fascinating period instrument) with a side drum. Next is an immediate segue into another variation with woodwinds and strings being the focus. Crank up the volume and this transition should sweep you away with the color change! I actually get goosebumps on the HEDD and the HD800 (especially for this). The Arya (yawn) falls flat. It’s like all the instruments have very little timbral difference. This is what they mean by “dry” I think. Or at least this is the worst side effect of a dry presentation.
Interesting I mainly use Clears with the Lyr 3 as stated above and never heard the driver excursion noise…guess I just dont listen that loud?? I usually set SPL with a meter and test tone for 75 - 86 dB and note the volume knob and try to keep aware of this for the sake of hearing damage…
Alex
thank you toobuzz!
I have to listen later/tomorrow as my wife got me forced to watch “the case collini” with her.
The dry overall timbre is what I also experianced with the Arya out of a Questyle CMA 400i, which is with other headphones not the case out of the DAC/Amp.
I am going to write back later!
I should clarify. The driver excursion on the Clear is really only an issue when I’m running through the test tracks like “Why so serious”, etc. The HEDDphone being so new, I’m going through all my test tracks and comparing them to my existing headphones. I generally either don’t listen that loudly or I don’t listen to those tracks.
Understand, I can make any speaker run into its physical driver limits. headphones and in my 2 ch setup…its easy to do.
99 % of music we listen to at safe listening levels wont come close to reaching these physical limits…
Today for the first time I plugged in the HEDDS into my Hagerman’s TUBA EL84 OTL amp. The specs indicate it doesnt have the power to really drive these cans really well.
Well…i played a bunch of stuff…using the HIGH output jack which is not necessarily HIGH gain…but the volume is definitely louder than with the LOW output jack…
The amp was able to drive the HEDDS to a very loud volume and really worked pretty well.
The Beatles Abbey Road, The END drum stuff was magnificant.
After several familiar demo tracks things looked pretty good, the TUBA is like a real great SS amp…very clean, very transparent and runs “wide” open with a logrithmic potentiometer…so you have to get over 12 noon with the HEDDS to really start enjoying what the HEDDS really can do…
The sweet spot is betweem 12 noon and 2 pm on the vol knob…it only takes a small movement to totally change the amplitude…which brings me to one of the very BEST experiences I have had in a long time with the HEDDS (or any headphone for that matter)…and ranks up there with some of the very best experiences.
The HEDDS have that ability to make you feel that your there, and the imaging and articulation is stellar IMO…
So a tune not so familiar with this artist, Don McLean, the Don who sings American Pie…came in rotation, it was Roy Orbinsons, Crying…OMG its a live recording, the singular guitar string picks was the BEST. The imaging, voicing, was one of the best every I have ever heard…the bass kicks in and its awe-dropping clear, firm, whole…mouth watering…OMG I cant state this enough…it ranks up there as one of the best overall experiences I have ever heard in headphone land…I went back and re-listend three more times and confirmed this was indeed what I was hearing…
Try it you migh like it!!
