It’s been a week (and a bit) of doing more headphone listening than on speakers. I attribute this more to having new stuff* to play with than anything else:
(Okay, so only SR-009S are new this week … the SR-007 MK2.9 were last week …).
Still running mostly off the iFi Pro iESL, but now fed from the Chord Étude and Ultima 5. Those amplifiers have distinctly different signatures to the HSA-1b. They’re also MUCH more powerful, and need ~25 dB of attenuation, and the Pro iESL set to either 96Ω or 64Ω. But its a combination that’s as good as I’ve heard this side of a KGSSHV Carbon or BHSE - and the signature might even be preferable to some (if not the technicalities).
Some possible movement from Sennheiser on the HE-1, as a result of a Head-Fi article and me posting my lack-luster HE-1 pre-sales experience there. We’ll see where that goes. I’d given up on the HE-1 specifically, and not doing much headphone listening now either, so it may just be a case of “the horse has bolted” at this point.
Full-size headphone purge still has to happen. I imagine the listing for that begin this weekend. I have a good idea of what that looks like. I am barely using headphones at all, due to being able to run speakers whenever I want, so the obvious candidates to go are the closed-back stuff - followed by specialty pieces.
Likely-listing-line-up is as follows:
ZMF Eikon (Bloodwood):
Love them, on multiple levels. There’s still a certain magic to the bio-cellulose driver. Always been something of a guilty-pleasure. Didn’t get the head-time they deserved pre-Florida, and it’s just too hot here to do closed or semi-closed cans when I don’t need to. VERY likely that I swap/trade to an Auteur (for the bio-driver), if I stick with more than one headphone.
ZMF Aeolus (African Blackwood/Brass):
They’re glorious, and fit almost every taste, genre and scenario, but they’re also the least-used ZMF headphones I own. Which is ironic, because they’re probably the most agreeable (tied with Auteur) of the ZMF line-up for the broadest audience (and maybe the best “My first ZMF” offering).
Sennheiser HD820:
For a while, these were my favorite closed-back cans. I still think they’re extremely enjoyable, and I absolutely love the build and engineering. The glass-backs are absolutely unique. I want to keep them just for all the non-audible cool-factor elements. But closed-backs just aren’t a good fit here.
Focal Stellia:
Replaced the HD820 as my favorite closed-back. Fantastic build and presentation. Thoroughly engaging performance. Maybe Focal’s best-overall headphone (certainly, for me, their best overall tonality). Love the colorway, even if I was very skeptical at first. Thoroughly exploited their ability to be driven by pretty much anything. Hedging hard on these. If they weren’t closed-back, but still sounded the same, I’d probably keep them … but … Florida …
…
Other possible near-term casualties of my headphone-malaise:
LB-Acoustics MySphere 3.2:
It was a relatively easy choice for the 3.2 vs. the 3.1. They’re remarkable in multiple dimensions. Focal Utopia rivaling/beating speed/detail. Superlative micro-dynamics and resolution. Closest thing to the SR1a you’ll find for imaging, stage and openness - that can be driven off normal gear (even good portable stuff). A bit fussy on fit. But mostly out of place in my renewed speaker-focused listening and having committed to portable/transportable listening being one DAP and one set of IEMs.
Rosson Audio Designs - RAD-0:
>95% of the technical performance of Audeze’s LCD-4, with no need for tonal correction, much easier to drive and with the most interesting and varied (and compelling) aesthetic (this side of speciality ZMF stuff) of any headphone currently on offer (IMO).
If I didn’t ALWAYS have EQ and serious power available (for the LCD-4) in any situation where I’d be listening to a headphone of this physical magnitude, the RAD-0 would rein supreme.
But I do … so …
HEDD Audio: HEDDphone:
Still love the sound of these, even if they didn’t top all the other flagships for half (or less) the price. They do some things that you can’t find elsewhere at any price. Only letting them go because I have the V1 (short yokes) and either my head has gotten fatter or I’ve become more sensitive to the way they fit … and I’ve not yet been able to get the yokes changes by HEDD.
Entirely possible I’ll sell (relatively) cheaply and by a V2 (longer yokes; only change).
*All stuff I have heard, at length, before … so think of “new” as a “re-visit”, with some other parameters/components changed.
