The Audiophiles' Lounge

Gonzovision

tedpan wrote: »

Cheers, I'll have a look now.

I bought them a few months ago after reading a lot of praise online.

Weren't for me, used them for a few weeks. Thought the mids were overly recessed and treble a bit harsh.

I had Sennheiser Momentum in ears before that and were much better balanced to my ears.

They're probably grand for the 40 odd euro they cost, but I think they were just overhyped.

Sheeps

Gonzovision wrote: »

I bought them a few months ago after reading a lot of praise online.

Weren't for me, used them for a few weeks. Thought the mids were overly recessed and treble a bit harsh.

I had Sennheiser Momentum in ears before that and were much better balanced to my ears.

They're probably grand for the 40 odd euro they cost, but I think they were just overhyped.

I found that the treble calms down a bit if you replace the silicone tips with foam tips.

tedpan

Cheers for the info guys. I ended up sticking with Sennheiser and bought the IE40 pros, a 'good enough' all rounder for not a lot of money. They arrived by UPS earlier, similar size to the IE8's, comfortable with decent sound. Although the cable is definitely not as nice and to me the soundstage and bass is just not as good. They'll l do the job for a year or two..

fafy

fafy wrote: »

Did a lot of research on dacs & headphones, but not quite ready, to invest a lot in a desktop dac, so went with a Beyerdynamic Bundle, the Amiron Home + impacto Universal - mini dac, for €620 all in, delivered to Parcel Motel, as they won’t ship to Ireland. The DT 1990 is probably a better buy, but this bundle will give me access to Amazon Ultra HD, without additional equipment.

As the above, will only sort out my digital needs,
If anyone has any recommendations for a good headphone amp for vinyl playing, i’d appreciate any thoughts on this.

https://europe.beyerdynamic.com/brad.html

Wow, i expected this combo to be good, but using them with Amazon HD, is quite incredible. Theres a large selection of Ultra HD on there as well, and definitely makes a difference.

Sheeps

Gave myself something to look forward to at the end of the year. Ordered a 789 THX from massdrop. It's arriving in November.

fafy

Sheeps wrote: »

Gave myself something to look forward to at the end of the year. Ordered a 789 THX from massdrop. It's arriving in November.

Nice one, i came across that model, when looking for a decent headphone amp, Looks good, but assumed there would be exise duty & vat, and extra shipoing, which could add another 50% or so to that price, as its a US import ? They did have an EU shop before, but not seeing it now.

Sheeps

fafy wrote: »

Nice one, i came across that model, when looking for a decent headphone amp, Looks good, but assumed there would be exise duty & vat, and extra shipoing, which could add another 50% or so to that price, as its a US import ? They did have an EU shop before, but not seeing it now.

Not sure, but if it gets picked up by customs it'll be likely be a charge of about €80 on the amp and €30 on the DAC, they'll both be shipped separately.

I've ordered a bunch of stuff from China and it's never been picked up by Customs, so fingers crossed.

cnocbui

Sheeps wrote: »

Not sure, but if it gets picked up by customs it'll be likely be a charge of about €80 on the amp and €30 on the DAC, they'll both be shipped separately.

I've ordered a bunch of stuff from China and it's never been picked up by Customs, so fingers crossed.

If it ships with a tracking number from the US, you will get slugged for the VAT. The Chinese bulk ship stuff to Europe and probably under declare the value, then they post from within the EU, often from the Netherlands, hence no VAT. Occasionally they will direct ship and lie about the value and nature of the goods.

Something I bought on eBay from the US got nabbed and sat in customs for nearly 2 weeks and eventually I had to send customs a screenshot of the Paypal and ebay item page because they didn't believe the valuation.

If Anpost deliver and collect the tax, they will likely also charge a €10 fee, so it will be even more.

fafy

cnocbui wrote: »

If it ships with a tracking number from the US, you will get slugged for the VAT. The Chinese bulk ship stuff to Europe and probably under declare the value, then they post from within the EU, often from the Netherlands, hence no VAT. Occasionally they will direct ship and lie about the value and nature of the goods.

Something I bought on eBay from the US got nabbed and sat in customs for nearly 2 weeks and eventually I had to send customs a screenshot of the Paypal and ebay item page because they didn't believe the valuation.

If Anpost deliver and collect the tax, they will likely also charge a €10 fee, so it will be even more.

My last experience was, the items (2 vinyls) arrived all fine, then a few days later, got an invoice from Fedex, the goods were valued at $65, it was €45 in Excise duty and vat, Which included an “admin charge of €10” and shipping was $ 45 -- never again.
You pay Excise and vat, on The goods + shipping combined value.

cnocbui

fafy wrote: »

My last experience was, the items (2 vinyls) arrived all fine, then a few days later, got an invoice from Fedex, the goods were valued at $65, it was €45 in Excise duty and vat, Which included an “admin charge of €10” and shipping was $ 45 -- never again.
You pay Excise and vat, on The goods + shipping combined value.

Only €10 fee from Fedex - you're lucky! I remember €20. As you say, never again. After that I insisted on USPS with a preference for unregistered. They mostly used the presence or absence of a tracking number as a sort criteria to filter packets for tax assessment. Normal untracked mail doesn't get lost and tracking and 'urgent/express' actually slows mail and parcels down.

Gonzovision

Pulled the trigger on a set of Hifiman Aryas last night. Very excited.

Gonzovision

Gonzovision wrote: »

Pulled the trigger on a set of Hifiman Aryas last night. Very excited.

Would love to get a shot of those. I have the HE4XX's but i have the Sundara's on a wishlist along with a set of 1990 Pro's.

Sheeps

Deleted User wrote: »

Would love to get a shot of those. I have the HE4XX's but i have the Sundara's on a wishlist along with a set of 1990 Pro's.

What do you think of the 4XX's?

Sheeps

Sheeps wrote: »

What do you think of the 4XX's?

Yea, they're really really good. Though i've heard the Sundara's are even better.

Gonzovision

Deleted User wrote: »

Would love to get a shot of those. I have the HE4XX's but i have the Sundara's on a wishlist along with a set of 1990 Pro's.

I've spent the last few weeks trying to decide between them, LCD-X and Focal Clears, seems to be compromises with each, and I think whichever of the 3 I got I'd probably be happy.

Gonzovision

Aryas finally arrived, bit of an ordeal to be honest, but that's a different story.

Quick initial impressions -

Build quality, much better than I was expecting. I think I'd read so much about poor Hifiman build quality I was expecting flimsy plastic, toy headphones. Pleasantly surprised.

Comfort, a step up from anything I own, I really like the large egg shaped cups, clamping pressure is fine, can wear them all day without any issues.

Sound, never experienced anything like the clarity and instrument separation. For me it's jaw dropping. Overall they sound very natural, really good bass extension, it just keeps going and has a lovely subtle rumble.

Was slightly concerned about treble, hearing people found them overly bright, but definitely no issues there, they sound very natural and not fatiguing in the slightest.

Absolutely delighted with them

fafy

Gonzovision wrote: »

Aryas finally arrived, bit of an ordeal to be honest, but that's a different story.

Quick initial impressions -

Build quality, much better than I was expecting. I think I'd read so much about poor Hifiman build quality I was expecting flimsy plastic, toy headphones. Pleasantly surprised.

Comfort, a step up from anything I own, I really like the large egg shaped cups, clamping pressure is fine, can wear them all day without any issues.

Sound, never experienced anything like the clarity and instrument separation. For me it's jaw dropping. Overall they sound very natural, really good bass extension, it just keeps going and has a lovely subtle rumble.

Was slightly concerned about treble, hearing people found them overly bright, but definitely no issues there, they sound very natural and not fatiguing in the slightest.

Absolutely delighted with them

Nice, came across them on my search, great reviews all around, but outside my budget !

Just bought an almost new, Quad Vena 2 for £515, will use this as my main headphone amp with my new Beyerdynamic Amiron cans, not the ultimate choice, but its a very flexible solution for me, and has a phono preamp + 2 other analogue inputs, and a decent DAC & Integrated amp combined. Has bluetooth as well for the odd occasion i might use that feature.

Gonzovision

fafy wrote: »

Nice, came across them on my search, great reviews all around, but outside my budget !

Just bought an almost new, Quad Vena 2 for £515, will use this as my main headphone amp with my new Beyerdynamic Amiron cans, not the ultimate choice, but its a very flexible solution for me, and has a phono preamp + 2 other analogue inputs, and a decent DAC & Integrated amp combined. Has bluetooth as well for the odd occasion i might use that feature.

I haven't tried them but the Amirons look quality.
Hadn't come across the Quad Vena 2 before but looks like it has a perfect range of inputs and outputs, let me know what it's like. What were you using as an amp previously?

I'm currently using a Schiit Heresy which is fine, but I'm not getting the best out of the Aryas with it, they are bloody hard to drive.

I tried them with the little Btr5 and had to set the volume to 60 on high gain to get decent volume, but the sq fell off a cliff.

Would like to have the ability to use them in living room or upstairs so considering a new headphone amp for the desktop setup and moving the Heresy.

Only one I've really looked at is the Topping A90 to pair with my E30 and go balanced, but have spent enough for now

fafy

Gonzovision wrote: »

I haven't tried them but the Amirons look quality.
Hadn't come across the Quad Vena 2 before but looks like it has a perfect range of inputs and outputs, let me know what it's like. What were you using as an amp previously?

I'm currently using a Schiit Heresy which is fine, but I'm not getting the best out of the Aryas with it, they are bloody hard to drive.

I tried them with the little Btr5 and had to set the volume to 60 on high gain to get decent volume, but the sq fell off a cliff.

Would like to have the ability to use them in living room or upstairs so considering a new headphone amp for the desktop setup and moving the Heresy.

Only one I've really looked at is the Topping A90 to pair with my E30 and go balanced, but have spent enough for now

Amirons are for home use only, and that's exactly what I wanted them for. I got the "Impacto" Universal which is basically a mini dac, if I am not listening in main listening space, and they can be plugged into mobiles and laptops. The volume is fine at max, but is not for serious listening.

I have an old but excellent Sony amp for about 30 years, its an ES range amp, but it may not last the next 10 ! The phono pre-amp went a few years ago, so got a Cambridge Audio preamp box. It's still going, and have been using it for playing vinyl and cd's.

Only started using the Vena 2 today. So I have only used it so far, with a MacBook, outputting Amazon HD, into the Quad, and used Amiron headphones with it, very pleased, it has some serious power to drive them, way ahead of the Impacto, but Impacto has its uses when you are out the back, or in another room, or away on holidays etc. Another reason I went with the Vena 2, is it is a one box solution. Looked at Schiit, but you can't get them new right now, and even a two box Dac/Head amp won't tick the boxes for me, as Vena 2 does way more.

The Vena 2 has a great selection of inputs, and chose it as it has both analogue and digital. It's a mid size, but is deceptively heavy. It also has a phono preamp, and Blue Tooth, which I also tested today, but I prefer wired connections, find them much better. It has a remote for volume and source selection, and on/off. The Vena 2 also has a much better headphone output setup than the original Vena.

There is a newish Vena 2 PLAY as well, has a few extra bits but its about 800 Sterling.

Will hook it up to the Sony amp later this week, and see how she goes, with Vinyl.

Sheeps

Managed to get my grace balanced sdac through customs without any vat being charged, so im hopeful for the THX 789. Was going to get a pair of Sundaras last night, but ended up purchasing the HD6xx instead. I may come back to the Sundaras, but for now I'm hoping this ends my series of lock down impulse buys.

Gonzovision

Sheeps wrote: »

Managed to get my grace balanced sdac through customs without any vat being charged, so im hopeful for the THX 789. Was going to get a pair of Sundaras last night, but ended up purchasing the HD6xx instead. I may come back to the Sundaras, but for now I'm hoping this ends my series of lock down impulse buys.

Is it October or November I think you said for the 789?

That'll be some set up in fairness.
What do you have the Grace paired with at the moment?

I'm still deliberating on a new amp, I was all for the Topping A90 but I'd be feeding it from an E30 through RCA which apparently has ground loop issues.

Then Schiit launched the Mangius for $200 and the balanced specs look great.

I'll hold off anyway until I see some reviews impressions of it online.

Sheeps

Gonzovision wrote: »

Is it October or November I think you said for the 789?

That'll be some set up in fairness.
What do you have the Grace paired with at the moment?

I'm still deliberating on a new amp, I was all for the Topping A90 but I'd be feeding it from an E30 through RCA which apparently has ground loop issues.

Then Schiit launched the Mangius for $200 and the balanced specs look great.

I'll hold off anyway until I see some reviews impressions of it online.

Should be shipped in October, but Drop are saying there's a production run at the minute, which is grand given that the HD6XX wont be shipped until September at some stage.

The grace sdac is running into a GoXLR mini for the moment. The amp isn't too bad. I've a pair of low impedance headphones so it's quite clean. I only output music to the sdac, and use the dac in the goxlr mini for comms, system sound and microphone in.

Romero

Picked up a bargain HD 660S in CEX today €230, didn't have box or the balanced cable but not to worried seem to be brand new pads fine and headband, what a lovely sounding headphone so much detail. Much prefer it then the 58XX. Also picked up the speckled grey 600's need to get a new headband and earpads for those. Pads are out of stock on the Sennheiser site and believe any 3rd party mess with the sound so will wait.

Nice. Good price for the 660S. I never think of going into that place when i see one.

Romero

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Nice. Good price for the 660S. I never think of going into that place when i see one.

I missed out on 600's on Adverts and just checked the CEX and found a set for some reason when I checked 660's same store had them, both in same store so decided to drive from Dublin to Athlone to the store, now bought my Fiio portable amp down to test them, but due to Covid I couldn't even touch them shop assistant just held them up for me to look at. So just took a chance on them. I've a feeling the 660"s might have come from someone who worked in the Sennheiser factory in Tullamore. 600"s might have as well at some stage but we'll used. Drivers are fine I'll just replace the headband foam and the earpads as they are worn.
This headphone hobbey is very addictive

Hah. Tell me about it. I've managed not to buy a new pair in a while now but i'll probably treat myself at Xmas seeing as the year has been a write off.

Arghus

Being looking at investing in a new pair of headphones and I can't decide between the Sennheiser Momentum 3 or the B & W PX7. A friend of mine recently picked up a pair of the Sony XM4s and is raving about them, but he seems more taken with their noise cancelling ability, which doesn't really matter so much too me. Sound quality is king really.

I was going to pull the trigger with the B & W, but then I started reading about what people had to say about the Momentum 3s and, as usual, I'm now confused. Anyone have experience with either or even both?

I have XM3's and love them for out and about use. They were a bit boomy out of the box but i EQ'd that right out and they now sound fantastic.

I remember i was going to buy the Senny's before i got the Sony's but i think i read that the ANC is always on which i wouldn't be a fan of.

Ivefoundgod

I have the Momentum 3s and they're really nice. ANC isn't always on, theres a switch on the side of them to turn it on and off. Really good sound, really slick operation as well, syncs really nicely with my iPhone. Just open the headphones and they power on and connect straight away to the iPhone, same way my Airpods do.

I'm told the ANC isn't as good as the Sony or BOSE but the sound is more important to me and they excel there. I would like to give the Sonys a try though given they are almost universally lauded as the best of this type of headphone.

Arghus

Thanks for the replies.

I'm not really that concerned about whether something is wireless or has ANC it's really a question of what's the best in terms of sound quality, and is portable, in and around that 350 or 400 price range.