Quite possibly went up in price, the 1266 did.
I guess the Diana TC came out and they upped the price on the other 2 as well? Sheesh… Probably will never buy a brand new Abyss headphone, but thats kinda crazy since they are already quite pricey.
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CMV: Bass Ported DTC >>>>>>>> 1266 TC
Bass port = just shove some shit you have laying around between the pad backing and the frame.
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Haven’t heard the dtc so I can’t really comment, but if you have tried both and much prefer the dtc, why bother trying to change your view on it after you’ve already decided which you like more?
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More of trying to convince people to try bass ports on diana cause they fix a ton of common diana issues imo. But realy thats just me trying to say im bored in a meeting and shit posting
Added pics btw
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Just folded up some thick paper cut out from an ad. Cheers to you sir 
like a club in my head
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Makes a shocking difference tbh
Be sure to play with placement and size of the port as well. Make a suprising difference if you change tge width
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So the first time I tried the air gap thing on my Diana V2, I did it by rotating the pads (putting the thick part to the upper-back quadrant instead of the lower-back quadrant) and the bass got pretty loose and it wasn’t quite my thing.
However, doing it that way opened up the air a huge amount, whereas this version where you introduce a relatively small air gap by wedging something under the pads has been much more agreeable for me.
First off, comfort-wise, it’s much better. The headphone really doesn’t feel any different than it would if it didn’t have the gap.
Also, it doesn’t hurt the bass quality too much and it elevates the bass in a way that I really like: it’s mostly only boosting the sub-bass frequencies, so it still sounds pretty clean. (From what I’ve seen on graphs and stuff, the increase is around 40-80Hz. I’m aware that the bass port should also negatively the very low frequencies, like 20-40Hz-type stuff, but I honestly don’t listen to much music that has that kind of low bass in it.)
Also, I have no idea why this would be true, but with the bass ports, the layering/separation in the stage seems to be better. I mean, I’ll take it, but I have no idea why the air gap would change that about the headphone, so I find myself wondering if it’s actually because I changed some cabling around recently or some other reason, lol.
Anyway, I’m still giving it time to decide if I like it, but first impressions are positive!
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just fwiw, I notice a marked increase in sub-bass with the port. You open the gap too much and you get a crazt drop but will just a small opening I notices sub becoming more prominent than stock. If you are finding the bass boost to be too much try using a narrower piece of material. If found that narrow and flatter = less bass but keeps the image depth while taller + wider = more bass but less image depth
I also agree here. I think it has to do with removing the air loading (read damping) of the driver allowing for better detail. I noticed a pretty marked increase in layering as well as stage depth (though not a ton more width tbh)
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Some random thoughts on Diana V2: I feel like these are kinda expensive for the sound quality you get. I bought my Diana V2 used for ~$2100, and at somewhat comparable prices, I bought my MYSPHERE 3.1 for ~$2500 used, and I could get a Utopia or HE1000se or Infinity MK2 for ~$2300 used.
Don’t get me wrong, the Diana V2 sounds great: it’s nice and detailed and I like the sound signature, but I also feel like there’s something a smidge emotionally dead about it. Songs that can move me on the MYSPHERE can leave me more cold on the Diana V2.
I dunno, I feel like I paid a bit of a premium to get something that’s small and light and comfy and portable, but when I’m at my desk, I don’t really use them all that much. (I also have no plans to sell them though, so I dunno, it’s a weird not-quite-buyer’s-remorse emotion that I’m doing a poor job of communicating.)
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I somewhat agree. The Diana V2 is definitely worth what it is priced at both new and used, but when you start looking at what you could also get in that same secondhand price bracket it becomes not as compelling unless you really need something smaller and portable. Both the Utopia and Mysphere just straight up outclasses it in most regards technicality wise. But with the V2 you do get a more forgiving set source wise, as it’s not nearly demanding of amp and dac pairing as the aforementioned two are.
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My impression of my first 30 minutes with the 1266 connected through the Superconductor dual 3pin XLR to a standard WA33 (low impedance, high level settings) and Spring 3 KTE for the DAC:
Oh my god the bass is addictive.
Love the speed.
Detailed and clear (sounds crisp compared to what I’m used to with Susvara and ZMFs).
I definitely understand why it was described to me sometimes as the bad boy of the TOTL. From the industrial design to feeling on the head to the sound signature it’s definitely more aggressive than my other favorites.
Treble might be a bit too much for me but requires further listening to really tell.
Thought I’d feel a bit more punch and slam tbh
I listened mainly to trance music and bass oriented stuff since that’s what I bought them to try with but further listening I’ll try other genres as well.
I feel like I had good fit, air gap was present and cool effect on sound. They do feel like they might fall off a bit so will see if change anything later. They’re a tad heavy to my liking so clearly not for long listening sessions.
So far these might be my go to for short in your face electronic sessions. Time will tell.
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Sold.
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Play around with the fitment… I space mine about as wide as possible and then toe them in. You don’t want a tight seal like normal hps if you’re looking for max bass impact.
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They do break in a bit, though it’s not night and day.
I never really found the treble excessive, though I do find it’s presentation off, after spending a lot of time trying to work out what I was hearing, I think higher frequencies on the 1266 are somewhat compressed (it’s most obvious to me on the way hi hats present, the decay is unnatural), which is probably why people hear a lot of detail there.
But the overall presentation is appealing. And I enjoy mine when I pull them out, been listening to them for the last week or so.
You can adjust the amount of Bass by varying the airgap, open it enough and it will get totally out of control, and very flabby. You literally “just” want to break the seal.
I use 10 and 2 for the pads, as wide as the headphone will go and very slightly toed out, but you need to mess wit the pad positions and toe to find what works.
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Hi everyone,
Are there any upgrade cable options for the 1266 TC other than the JPS Superconductor that are worth it?
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Same budget level? Ive seem people positively speak about the totl kimber as well as prion 4 for them on HF but i havent tried either combo so big grain of salt
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Generally I thought the SC is kinda the way to go, the prion4 to me is too bright and intense, not tried the Kimber on it though. I will say that briefly trying the lazuli nirvana I thought that was a solid step up from the SC and offering more things I like, but ended up still tilting balance too far for my liking and wasn’t as good of value in this case
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