Well can now say that I will be selling the HEDDphone and keeping the sr1a. This is what I expected to happen in the long run, a zillion reviewers can’t be wrong, but luckily I don’t think there’s likely anything like confirmation bias at work.
First, the sonic profile of what I’m hearing is changing rapidly. Perhaps this is due to the fact that I’m burning in with pink noise for over 8 hours per day. I think it is more likely due to my ears/brain adjusting.
Now in a/b comparisons of the sr1a and the HEDD, it’s difficult to say which I enjoy more for pleasure listening. They are different. The HEDDphone is still a traditional headphone, the sound comes from inside my head, whether or not I use CanOpener for cross feed. The tuning is a bit U-shaped. This is all incredibly pleasant, immsersive, and eveloping mind you, while still being revealing. But the sr1a provides other pleasures. With a tiny bit of bump in the bass when the wings are part of the way open, it can be just as full as the HEDD, but with the sound coming more in front of your head than within it. I wouldn’t say the pleasure is fully speaker-like, it’s kinda its own thing, between speaker and headphone.
When it comes to analytical precision rather than pleasure listening, the sr1a wins hands down. I think one reviewer described it as an audio microscope, and I see why. I feel like I am hearing everything that’s there in whatever full immediacy and transparency can be provided. And damn its fast.
One thing I am now starting to hear which I hadn’t before is the resonant enclosure in the HEDD, and how it muddies the bass a bit. Not having to worry about that with the sr1a makes it a clear winner for studio reference purposes.
I’m still currently using a high-shelf to tone down some of the spiky-ness of some of the highs, otherwise my ears are still getting fatigued, but much less than they had before. So long as I match it with my reference tracks, I have no concerns there, and even if I always need to roll off some treble, I’m not concerned so long as it does what I need it to by matching my reference tracks.
I’m not going to say this replaces headphones for pleasure listening, for whatever that’s worth. But eq is able to sculpt the sound here in a very transparent way. I’m running it through the linear phase eq in Logic, which is super flexible and clean, and the way it takes eq is super clear, I feel like I can sculpt it to sound like what I want, starting from a very clean canvas.
I’m pretty amazed how much what I’m hearing is transforming by the day in favor of the sr1a. Damn impressed. Not to say the HEDD isn’t great, as it clearly is, but for my needs, sr1a wins out. As a studio mixing tool, wow, like I said, microscope for audio, a clear investment in the future. I’m glad for this much cash it comes in a very sturdy case.
I can see a tube amp before the Jotunheim being a nice way to warm it up if I want that (though I’m unclear on precisely what is involved in stacking amps in such a way, though I figure it must be possible), and perhaps a Loki as well.