They used to be more prominent back in the day but others caught up and have exceeded them. Those $3500 cans they sell now are maybe equivalent to a $1000 headphone from somewhere better.
I wouldnt buy them now but back when i was looking their lower tiers were pretty nice and many places offered aftermarket mods for them.
Alright, I’ll try LCD-X and AWAS for sure, but I’m not sure what the 3rd one should be… I’m hesitant about Denons and Dan Clark stuff :\ Rather than trying RT, AEON 2C and NOIRE, I think I should only try the 2C or NOIRE(and skip the cheap stuff), but I wish there was an option that stood out more than the Denons & DCs. They all kind of seem problematic, outside of Stealth.
Would Fostex/Denon be a better choice than AEON 2C or NOIRE?
ADX5000 likely won’t have The Bass.
AWKT…? WP900? 
E-mu Teak!
When I read about AWAS, 2 headphones come to mind. How does AWAS differ from HD600 and R70x…? Bass, enjoyment, warmth, extension, soundstage & imaging, timbre/tonality, detail, etc.
AWAS is a closed back, the HD600 and R70x are both open back.
From my understanding, the R70x is AudioTechnicas interpretation of the Sennheiser HD600.
They share some characteristics like high impedance (spiking into the >800 Ω range) and have a somewhat similar sound (
I never had HD600’s on my head).
So LCD-X 2021 came in today… Good detail, great tone, decent/OK spatial performance/depth, great bass texture/reach/impact, but there’s definitely some annoying treble hot spot(s), and the overall sound is rather flat(like most/all planars?!) until the sub-bass kicks in. I think it’s an ‘EQ-or-sell’ situation, and I’m just gonna get rid of it; too quirky of a sound.
I would like more treble refinement(no hot spots, more resolution & effortlessness), better spatial performance, and a less flat sounding lower end.
AWAS incoming tomorrow, and I am HYPE’D! Will it finally be a keeper…? Stay tooned!
Wow, AT with respectable bass…?! I would say this is a fuller, better balanced version of their standard ‘vocal-emphasized’ signature, with slightly less emphasis than AD700X/900X/1000X.
Good:
Bad:
Hm, these don’t pass the test for me. Too bright and shiny. Is WP900 treble significantly smoother than AWAS…? I probably shouldn’t bother, and maybe re-try HE6 before reaching the 007. The Stax upgrade itch grows, with every dynamic/planar headphone disappointment I continue going through. . . .
The AWAS bright? this is such a relaxed HP but with excellent detail and a nice bottom end…What is your chain again? I’m finding it difficult to believe you found the AWAS bright. I have played this HP on many a different combo of gear and can’t ever think of a single time i found them bright. Sorry, i don’t usually contradict folks on their own experiences but I’m really surprised by your conclusions on this one.
The AWAS is a is a bit on the warmer side, heck i find it non fatiguing. 
I can test AWAS 3 other ways: straight out of my phone(need to order 6.25mm-to-3.5mm adapter), use optical cable instead of coax, and from my phone into Gungnir. I can’t use USB directly from PC to Gungnir, because Schiit is anti pre-Win 10 support, so I could try a different DDC.
============
[25% PC vol + 37% Winamp vol]
Out of Pixel 5a’s 3.5mm, VLC/stock player MP3/FLAC (single-ended)… (waiting for 6.35-to-3.5mm adapter)
Out of Pixel 5a’s 3.5mm, into 3XP via RCA (XLR/SE)… Sounds about the same, but lower quality.
Out of Douk U2 via optical instead of coax (XLR/SE)… Sounds the same as coax.
Out of Pixel 5a into Gungnir (USB) into 3XP (XLR/SE)… Sounds pretty damn similar.
Douk (coax) → Gungnir (RCA out) → Douk U3 Mini (6.35mm)… A little thinner sounding. A little smoother / less intense/harsh. Small difference VS normal setup.
Douk (coax) → Gungnir (RCA out) → BasX A-100 (no jumpers)… Smoother, noticeably bassier, and less clear/distinct sounding, but still retaining almost all of the brightness.
Douk (coax) → SMSL Sanskrit 10th Mk2 + my 2nd best PSU (RCA out) → 3XP… Sounds maybe a decent bit smoother, and even, but still about the same brightness.
PC (USB) → SMSL Sanskrit 10th Mk2 + 2nd best PSU (RCA out) → 3XP… Things sound more compact. Less dynamics and depth. Flatter. Treble not as emphasized. A small improvement for peak reduction, but a loss for depth and general SQ.
So you’re using the Windows digital volume control? If so, have you tried switching modes to use 100% Windows/WinAmp volume and instead using the 3XP’s volume pot?
Typically, using digital volume control like in Windows will end up degrading sound quality, as it begins to drop bits as it gets further from full line levels.
Don’t think I’ve tried this, exactly, but I have always been told 3XP sounds BEST in power amp mode. I was using the volume knob for a bit, before I found out about PAM. I use my IEMs with PAM, at like 7% PC vol, and FD7 sounds just amazing at any volume, I’d say.
I don’t have direct experience with the 3XP, so I couldn’t say for sure, but I’m guessing this is primarily the case when used with a dedicated pre-amp of some sort as opposed to digital volume control from Windows, iOS, Android, etc.
If you are on Win7 you will also be unavoidably using the old windows sound stack which is auto leveling and auto mixing your sound out. It’s not very good at it and it will be altering the sound your PC is feeding your gear for the worse. Your best option will be to use something like Foobar and a direct to soundcard ASIO driver.
To counter/test this, I suppose I should play files off my phone again, into Gungnir, this time without being in power amp mode(with phone @ 100% vol), and see if there’s any change. Unless Android/whatever does the same things that Win7 does.
If you are ok with the WIn 7 sound stack altering the sound you might as well just go all in and use an EQ program to make it sound how you want? Pre win10 sound stack was all kinds of janky. Win 10 and on is much improved but it still hides a lot of functionality that would be great to have for hifi.
So what do I need to get a full quality source…? A DAP doesn’t sound like the way. Maybe pick up some decent CD player? I dunno…
A raspberry pi would do it for you. Linux sound is much more direct to sound card which is why it is a very popular solution. On a linux system if there is one program playing and one sound card then in general it won’t be applying any software mixing to it. Your phone is a good stand in while you decide what to go for, as at this point it is likely a better source than a Win 7 + winamp solution.
I could try installing Win10 on a separate partition/drive, see how that sounds, before I throw in the towel on AWAS. Maybe try some affordable DAP, as well. Don’t know anything about the Pi stuff.
If you have the funds you could buy a streamer instead of making a pi one. They come ready out of the box with apps and so on.
One thing I think is worth considering is that your personal taste may lean warmer than most and what you are looking for is not going to be possible with hardware alone. EQ might be the easiest and cheapest solution for you long term and save you a whole lot of chasing something that might not exist for you? Pretty much the whole reason EQ exists is for this!
Yeah, I guess we’ll find out, once I get to SR-007 
I’ve definitely come across several sounds I like in the IEM world, but headphones are just such a terrible mess… I will re-try HE6se V2, and possibly XS. HE6v2 had 2 stand-out things about it, when I last tried it; great tone, and no stupid treble peaks. My previous amps just couldn’t do much for it last time, and the original HE6 (and LCD-3) are still the best 2 I’ve ever heard. Maybe LCD-4, since then, but Stax just seem to be above and beyond these mere planars and dynamics. It’s certainly my least explored area, as well, never even having heard above a Modi MB + 252S + L300 LTD yet…! 
These are on my fatigue-free list, pretty sure:
HD600/650/660
HyperX Cloud 2
Sundara
R70x?
LCD-2/3?
MDR-MA900
Fidelio X2?
HE400se?
Mobius?
Fwiw, I found it only worthwhile to use with a quality preamp otherwise, I personally wouldn’t bother with it. Also, I find low gain to be lacking in performance so i would only use it on med gain or high gain (if needed).
