Yamaha thread, YH-5000SE / YH-4000 / YH-C3000 / HA-L7A / HA-3000A

I do like them on the Radiance but the focal stock was really bad. Seeing how lacking they are on other headphones makes me curious of what else i may be missing or is it just a good matchup on one and bad on another.

@hifiDJ

2 Likes

It better not be a model higher than their current flagship…

1 Like

Dont worry it’s not. It’s 2 models higher.

2 Likes

We got names! YH-4000 & YH-C3000 targeted to release later this year…

1 Like

I have no need for a closed back but… Considering how much attention to detail and engineering Yamaha put behind their yh5k… Count me in!

2 Likes

Im quite surprised with the impressions from the review you linked.

It makes me think even tho the numer in the name is lower, the quality must be comparable to what would be a closed version of YH4000.

Id love to know youre thoughts on these cans.

Id also love to audition any of them, specially YH5000.

I have a theory, if the yh4000 and c3000 really end up having a similar SQ and cost maybe Yamaha is working on a YH c5000, because if yh4000 and c3000 really are on a similar tier and price then it would have made more sense to call them c4000 instead of c3000.

Idk, maybe there’s not a strong market for very hi-end closed backs. Only the audio technica comes to my mind.

1 Like

Looks like the closed back is confirmed to use a zylon composite dynamic driver and cups made out of German beechwood. Could this be the same material they use on their ns5000 loudspeakers? Cool, if so.

The other open back looks to be a stripped down version accessories wise but has a different air filter and ear pad. Guessing a tuning difference, hopefully more forgiving source gear wise as a good alternative to the yh5k.

HA-3000A (dedicated head amp) has been teased! Looks kinda small so maybe it’s not their big boy no expense amp just yet.

1 Like

According to this, $1699 for the closed and $2499 for the open. I think that’s a great price, assuming performance is good. Personally, I think the yh5k pricing with its performance more than proves itself, but I guess we’ll see with the new ones!

1 Like

The closed back looks really cool. I’m hoping to see more impressions of these. All the closed back name 3000 that I tried I really like too like the Sony MDR-CD3000 and ATH-L3000. 3000 might be a lucky number.

1 Like

I’ll probably purchase it when it comes out next month. Will be able to compare to the verite closed. I don’t need a closed back but…

2 Likes

The 4000 sound like they might be good. Less treble and probably less ear gain than the 5000.

2 Likes

It’s been interesting comparing both the 4000 and 5000 (I’ll use 4 and 5 to differentiate from now on lol). While they share the exact same driver and have nearly identical specs, they both take a very different approach; these are two completely different headphones!

Just a few sessions so far…

The 4 and 5 are very similar when it comes to how they present texture (including the closed back) and they have almost the same kind of resolution capabilities and speed (same driver so probably not that surprising). But I would still put the 5 a slight level above the 4 for three main reasons: bass, space, and energy. These three attributes are what makes the 5 such a top tier reference headphone over the 4. I’ll come back to this a bit later…

Tonally, the 4 is immediately more intimate and laid back over the 5. It has more mid bass punch, midrange weight/richness, and a tempered high end compared to the 5. Not a dark or mellow sort of treble, but one that doesn’t draw attention to itself. It’s as clean as the 5, but what it lacks is the kind of air, extension, and forwardness that the 5 can produce, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing depending on the music you listen to. The 4 is the more balanced sounding out of the two, but it’s also the more coloured one. The main takeaway here is that the 5 is a “lean in" kind of sound, while the 4 is “laid back” …

Now back to those three attributes…

Bass

While the 4 has more punch in the mid bass, it doesn’t extend as deeply as the 5 when it comes to the sub bass. I wouldn’t call the mid bass on the 5 lacking in any way either, it’s just that the 4 has more of it. The caveat, however, is a slightly “stuffy" low end, meaning the 4’s bass is not as clean as the 5’s. So when listening to a bass drum, bass guitar, or the lower octaves of a piano, for example, the texture and delineation of those low notes gets slightly blurred on the 4, while the 5 would sound noticeably cleaner. This following part is conjecture on my end, but I think that’s mainly due to those stainless steel filters on the 5 versus the 4’s PET filters for regulating pressure within the cup housing. The stainless steel is more porous allowing that air pressure to escape easily, which then leads to noticeably cleaner sounding bass on the 5. I’d be very interested to hear a more technical explanation from the engineers, but an educated guess will have to do for now.

Space

This part is basically how the 5 extracts the ambiance within the recording, how it’s able to provide extra insight into the distance between a voice or instrument and a microphone, and even the size of the venue. The 4 doesn’t really do that. While that certain quality isn’t essential to music enjoyment, I think it’s one of the reasons why the 5 is so damn impressive. Again, I think it goes back to those filters they use for the 4 and 5. The 5 has nearly zero isolation, it’s like the cups were “unveiled" or something (hopefully you got the joke lol). The 4, by comparison, blocks off more ambient noise like a semi-open design, but I use that term loosely. When I put my hands over the cups with music playing, the distance needed between my hand and the cup before it starts negatively affecting the sonics, is greater on the 5 than on the 4. This means that the 5’s filters allow for greater air permeability over the 4. Anyway, that’s just my observation.

Energy

You know that surrounding energy you get from live events? The 5 has it, the 4 doesn’t. I don’t have much of an explanation or description for this, it’s just the feeling I get every time I listen to the 5. Perhaps it’s the extra treble energy, air, or what not but that’s missing from the 4. In addition, the 5 can extend farther both ways so its micro and macro dynamics are perceptibly greater than the 4, not by a huge margin though.

The 4’s secret weapon over the 5

Now it may seem like the 5 has everything going for it, and it does… for my personal sound, at least. But the 4 has something over the 5 that may be a winner trait for many, aside from the much cheaper price. Simply put, it’s forgiving. Both in source gear and music recordings.

I paired the 4 with my MacBook (I was just burning them in) the other day using its stock cable and honestly it sounded fairly decent. That’s not to say it didn’t scale well with my main system, but I think it’s a bit agnostic in what you plug into it, at least compared to the 5. The 4 still sounded like the 4 on my MacBook versus main system. I also tried the 5 on my MacBook to make sure I wasn’t tripping and yeah, it sounded horrible. Mids sucked out greatly and bass that was just pure disappointment. I was done after the third song, it was a bright and lean experience. The 4 in particular had a pretty mellowed out treble response when paired with the MacBook but that’s about it, it was still listenable.

When it comes to actual music playing, the 4 is considerably more forgiving with poorly recorded music over the 5. That’s not to say the 5 makes things unlistenable, but garbage in garbage out. It won’t sugarcoat things and will do its best to leave things uncoloured. With the 5, you end up slightly picky when choosing your songs. The 4 makes things sound good and is the “flavor pick" between the two. Rock and acoustic sound particularly impressive on the 4. Plenty of body and punch that lets you just enjoy the music, regardless of how poorly recorded it was, and I revisited a bunch of my older songs because of this trait.

(Exaggerated to prove my point) To wrap things up, the 5 is the best at fulfilling the stereotypical audiophile dream–maximum technicalities while still being “musical," big stage, big bass, big dynamics, awesome at low and high volumes, no compromises… but on particular tracks. The 4 gives a :fu: to all those, forget about cables, tweaks, gear… I’ma-take-this-music-and-make-it-sound-good, just-relax-and-listen… oh, and-it-just-so-happens-that-I-perform-pretty-well-too kinda vibe!

8 Likes

Bravo :clap: this post was particularly well written and so very informative w/ genuinely useful information across the board. I’m envious and want to steal your brain and ears for myself :joy:

2 Likes

I appreciate the compliment! I wouldn’t mind swapping places so I can get a taste of all the toys you have in your house :grin:

1 Like

I’m currently in Japan and made the typical mistake of visiting one of their biggest audio stores, E-Earphones in Akihabara.

Since I can’t find Yamaha anywhere to try, they had it there and I was like its time!!!

I tried most things but the ones that really catched me, Fostex 909 (amazed with the bass and black and space capabilities). Atrium Open surprised me how enjoyable it was and preferred it over the calderas but really was missing alot of technicalities, the 909 was a better done Zmf with technicalities if you know what i mean, and now I need one specially for that rich and tight at the same time bass delivery.

Utopia 2022 was great and nice, but when you hear the subbass on the planars it just loses, makes it an inferior experience, other than the subbass it was great.

Sorry @M0N but D8kp DC was absolutely meh, compared it with the normal D8kp and D8kp still the better hp even the new pads felt like an offroad tires on my ears, the DC was a less fun LE (too reference sounding but nothing special unlike d8kp). Susvara on a gimped setup there still beat it in everything.

But after all that it was Yamaha’s turn, @hifiDJ you finally add a new member to your club of 1, now we are 2! :joy:

Man this thing, i never heard black background like this, and the space capabilities ufff, things pop out and move in a way i was smiling the whole time and didn’t want to take it off. Timber of instruments are soo real specially the wooden things.

And the subbass, the subbass alone is worth it here, it has that clean subwoofer effect, you can hear all the micro details beneath that subbass. This headphone is now my Number1 :sweat_smile: oh and im buying one! It kind of combines things from my fav headphones all in one like 1266 susvara utopia, its a nice cocktail I miss it baaadly. I felt the tuning was made just for me, from top to bottom. Thankfully its not “that dry” sounding.

i might sound hyped up but its really really good and easily beats any hp i tried, well all of them.

How come new is 3200$? Because of the Yen value these days? That’s better than used prices no? If its a good value ill just grab one instead of used.

9 Likes

Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t there 2 versions, the DC and DC Pro? Or is it one? How did the pro vs non pro dc compare if you happened to listen to both?

I guess that’s nice for me though in that I’ll just pick up another D8KP lol

1 Like

That’s awesome to hear, glad you ended up with a good experience!

What was the chain you listened to with it? And which pads did you use?

Yeah I believe that’s the reason why. Good price for what you get imo.

1 Like