That makes sense. I guess fingers crossed that new kerry mini-T2 bridges the gap a bit (since I cant justify the size of a T2 even more so than the cost tbh). and yah, it seems like a small enough market where the inconsistency is much more obvious than normal headphone amps (where there are enough options you can just write off a bad for the price amp/the used market figures it out)
ah, that totaly makes sense. I realized recently that I probabaly want a dac with vol control too just to gte some more volume play on my amps (found myself prefering DSP volume control over whatever this trash is in the otherwise great liquid crimson)
A very weird one, but anyone heard the TakeT H2+? TBH they just look weird as hell and the fact that traformatic apparently made an amp for them kinda piqued my interest
I’m not sure there is one at a similar technical level.
What specifically are you looking to retain from the Susvara.
The Utopia probably has what you want from a Bass standpoint, but if you don’t have the right amp for it, it can come across bright.
D8000Pro has the best Bass reproduction of any headphone I’ve heard, in terms of texture and presentation, there are certainly bassier headphones, and ones with more Slam.
I wouldn’t really call either Susvara like, the Susvara reminds me more of Electrostatics than it does other planars or dynamics. But your not necessarily listening for the same things I am.
I would actually retain everything but I would add some bass texture. I am not sure why I always feel like I need more there. So maybe the D8000 Pro would be a reasonable option to try. How are the mids on D8000 Pro compared to Susvara? With utopia I am not sure I am on right path with chain as I will stick to Platauf and will sell Vio probably in few weeks. I have to say Paltauf so far plays very nicely with all I tried on it but I also know Utopia is super picky.
I don’t want to replace my Susvara. Just looking into some other headphones I might give a try if I have some funds to play around with. Maybe I pick up somehting like mysphare eventually as that seems to be so different from everything else that it makes me want to try it and it should be nice on Paltauf from what M0N mentioned.
I’m a huge MySphere fan, and if your not looking for Bass extension, with the Bass frames, I think it has good bass texture, and it’s very dynamic.
The D8000 Pro has decent midrange can come across a bit recessed at lower volumes.
My quick 2c on the various TOTL’s I own
Susvara is all about low volume dynamics, speed and resolution, reminds me of electrostats
1266 is all about sub bass and slam, have to be able to get passed the some what artificial presentation.
Utopia is really good on the amps I use, Typical focal staging, and dynamics on the DNA it really is a special headphone
D8000Pro bass texture and presentation is exceptional, stage can be a bit hyper focussed.
MySphere 3.1 - presents like a pair of really good nearfield speakers (note I didn’t say stages), all about dynamics and timbre, in the latter it’s a tough call between it and the Susvara.
I personally rate them
Susvara/MySphere
Utopia
D8000 Pro
1266
But if you love bass slam and dynamics, I could easily see someone put the 1266 at the top of their list. And rating the Utopia that high requires you have an amp with some synergy.
so this is what I am curious about. I have no chance to have speakers in my place but if mysphere can pull such presentation I bet it would be worth traying.
The more I listen to Susvara the more I can appreciate this and that is why I don’t plan to get them off my head in near future.
any recommendations in terms of amps paring? I remember @M0N mentioned those are not so picky in terms of chain but for sure there are some preferred options
They aren’t overly picky, they are quite sensitive, so you have to be a bit careful if the amp has a ton of power, it can be difficult to get enough volume range.
I like them on the DNA Stratus, I use them SE on low gain, it’s 3 ish W of power mean your looking at maybe 0-2 of usable range on the volume dial, it’s not really an issue with the Stratus, because the pot is very good, but if your amp has low volume imbalance, you’d be looking for a passive pre.
Utopia has the same issue but worse.
I ran through a bunch of amps when I first got them, I don’t really remember any standouts outside of what I use daily, I do remember, some lower quality tube amps getting sloppy with them, and the LAu having issues with too much power.
I’ve not heard the stealth so can’t comment there. But assuming good source gear for any of them, my personal preference would be 007 MK2.9 >>> VC >= VO
I think the 007 perform on a much higher level than the verites in most all aspects, but I can see some potentially preferring the verite, but I wouldn’t.
Really going to come down to what you prioritize, the amount you want to invest in source gear, and what you have already, hard to fairly rank otherwise in terms of an all rounder since that’s something people look for different things in
Honestly, these are all over the place. Is there a reson you picked them specificaly? The stealth is pribabaly the best as an all arounder but it needs more juice than sus to have any real form of slam
Because you hear such great things about them all individually(maybe not so much Stealth?), but not together. Good to see where they stand, at their varying prices, technologies and ages, too. I don’t even think I could decide which Verite to pick, from reviews… Would have to hear both. (But now I can see that both are likely inferior to 007 and Stealth)
I mean you’ll mostly hear great things about a lot of high end headphones of all types, just depends on where you look. There’s so many great options out there regardless, it’s really going to be a challenge to pick anything until you really nail down what you like and what you want out of a new pair, and also figure out the direction you want to go with source gear
Hello! I have a friend here who wants a headphone for music and entertainment. He’s got a general budget if 200 but said he has wiggle room for up to 350 USD. I verified that he dosent do IEMs because of fit issues. Dosent really have a sound signature preference developed etc etc. Any recommendations? I’ve never really had many closed backs and certainly not at that price range
I know that the beyerdynamic drop closed back exists as an option but don’t know about anything else.
Does your friend have any source gear, or is this like headphone jacks and Apple dongle kinda use case?
EDIT: For closed-backs, I know some people like the E-MU Walnut and the AKG K371 (I didn’t love the Walnut and haven’t heard the K371), there’s also monitoring options like the Sennheiser HD25 and Sony 7506. Maybe a used Focal Elegia could land under $350? (I haven’t looked, but I know they were $400 new on Adorama for a while.)
For open backs, there’s always the Sennheiser 58X, not sure what else is sub-$200 and will run off anything. Koss headphones?
