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Headphone Impresssions from Recent Travels (Part 1)

By Sajid Amit, Amplify

(Originally published by Audiophile Style)

I recently traveled to India where I was a part of 4 or 5 audiophile meets in two different cities. The largest meet was organized by Sennheiser in Gurgaon at their HQ. And what a wonderful meet-up it was. Other than various Sennheiser headphones, and others audiophiles had brought with them, I got to hear the HE-1!

I also spent some time listening to headphones at Headphone Zone in Mumbai. HPZ is India’s largest audiophile store, to my knowledge, and the flagship headphones they have on display, are quite diverse and impressive.

For reference, I personally own the Hifiman Susvara, Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC, Raal SR1a, Stax 009S, and the Focal Stellia, and have the Audeze LCD5 incoming.

What follows are my impressions on all the headphones I listened to on this trip, in no particular order, some for the first time, and others, for the second or third. I also hope to soon update my ranking on the first post here.

So here goes.

SennheiserIE 900:

The IE900s are really impressive monitors. They were the best IEMs I heard on this trip. What stands out about these monitors is their fast, snappy, detailed, and pretty hard-hitting bass and infinite treble extension, without, for me, ever being bright or sibilant. Also surprising is how good the midrange is on this IEM, despite being a tad recessed. The entire presentation still sounds natural. There is plenty of detail, staging is wide, aided by the V-shaped FR, dynamics are solid, and timbre is pretty good. The only shortcoming worth pointing out is the cable is total janky junk.

HIFMANHE1000 V2:

I didn’t like the HE1000 V2 a lot. I know many love the V2, but to my ears, they were bright and the dynamics reminded me of the Susvara – too polite for my ears. Politeness can be a desirable trait if the entire presentation is like the Susvara’s – smooth, flowing, organic, etc., which can lend itself well to genres like classical, acoustic, jazz, etc. However, I wasn’t sure what genres I would listen to the HEKV2 with. I thought the staging was not noticeably wide or deep; imaging was fine; and detail retrieval was very good, but overall, I wasn’t a fan. It sounded like a brighter, slightly bassier, and a less technically-adept Susvara with those oval caps I never liked, lol. But the owner, a good friend of mine, likes his a lot, so that's what matters. Not my cup of tea.

FOCAL Stellia:

The Focal Stellia are my current favorite closed-back. I was a fan of the HIFIMAN HE-R10P when I first heard it, probably because it was a reasonable complement to my Susvara, which was my only TOTL headphone at that time. But once I bought the Abyss TC, and got used to it, it made the HE-R10P redundant. Comparing the Stellia to the R10P, the Stellia has a far better tonality. The Stellia's bass is elevated and is great fun; the midrange sounds natural; and the treble is forward without ever being in-your-face, grating, sharp, or peaky.

Dynamics are outstanding, as is Focal’s wont. The headphone stages brilliantly for a closedback with great layering and imaging. It, to me, sounds like a flawless headphone, with outstanding aesthetics. The unequivocal weakness is its stock cable which is janky and an area of contention could be its timbre, which can sound metallic in the treble. I quite like it, because percussion instruments sound great, lol. I bet this is the first time someone has made an argument in favor of Focal's (slight?) metallic timbre!

Sennheiser HD820:

I was not a fan of this headphone, so I won’t spend too much dwelling on why. It had a nice midrange when you first listen to it and a decent sense of staging and imaging. But there is serious wonkiness in the tonality. It is a muddy-sounding headphone with clear bass bleed and a strange implementation of the presence region, causing it to sound boxy, unclear and congested. It is a classic reminder of how hard it is to build flagship level closed-backs. All the more reason to appreciate the Stellia.

The HEDDphone:

HEDD Audio’s headphone was a mixed bag. Yes, it is technically as proficient as people say it is, extremely hard to drive, and ridiculously uncomfortable for long-listening. I didn’t like the implementation of the cups or the yoke or the overall weight. Easily the worst headphone I have tried in terms of comfort. Look at how ridiculous I look with it, lol.

However, it is a performance-oriented headphone with an incredible treble that is detailed, silky, and enjoyable, and overall great detail retrieval and good dynamics across the frequency range. Other than its comfort, the HEDDphone has no faults. The midrange can be thin sounding but I know people who like the midrange because it is not overly lush. In sum, if you can deal with the comfort and don't need a lush midrange, it is probably a bargain at MSRP and even more so, at used prices, as the HEDDPhone tends to not hold value in the secondary market.

StaxSR009S:

I have a Stax SR009S incoming, and about to reach me in the next 2 days. I ordered a Stax SR009S and a KGSHHV Carbon because I wanted sufficient time with TOTL e-stats. And I am still hoping that off the Carbon, the 009S will please more than it did off the Stax amp and the Cayin DAC.

However, on this setup, the 009S was a rather mixed experience. It sounded smooth like the Susvara with similarities in tonal presentation, but was rather peaky on several tracks. The e-stat timbre is noticeable, which is fine with me – not the most natural sounding – but it’s nice for a change. In fact, estats seldom sound natural, because of a lack of the tactile quality that makes percussion on Stellia sound lifelike despite compromises on timbre. However, the SR009S speed is great, detail retrieval is flagship class (less than the SR1a), and staging and imaging are quite good, and commensurate with the price.

Audeze LCD-2 (Classics) and LCD-3:

I am not a fan of the older LCD headphones. I do have an LCD-5 incoming and I am extremely curious to try the CRBN, but this is inspired by the 2021 tunings of the Audeze LCD-X and the LCD-XC 2021.

As is well-known, the LCD-2 and 3 sound warm, creamy, inviting, with a nice midrange and decent bass, but I find them boring and lackluster after a while. Their technical performance is fine for their respective price points, but I enjoy the macrodynamic quality of a Focal Clear more than what these headphones offer, and the resolution, timbre and staging of the HD800 or an HD800s. The lack of energy in upper midrange, to me, is a serious drawback.

Audeze LCD-XC 2021:

The LCDXC 2021 is an awesome headphone for the price, especially given the closedback use case. That said, I much prefer the Stellia and even the Celeste over it.

However, the reason I call it "awesome" is that it retains the warmth and body of the LCD lineup with a more present upper midrange. The detail retrieval, staging, and imaging are all great for the price, but the Celeste, to me, has better macrodynamics, and overall, a superior tonality to the XC. The Stellia is a clearly better headphone than the XC, but you would expect that at its price point. A/B-ing between the XC and the Stellia, the first thing you notice is the sense of space and layering in the Stellia – very open-back-like.

That’s it for Part 1 of my two part series on headphone, IEM, and amp/DAC impressions. Will post Part 2 in a couple of days with impressions of Focal Celeste, Meze Empyrean, Meze Elite, Sony IER-Z1R, Shure KSE1200, Sennheiser Orpheus HE-1, Sennheier HD800s, and select amps and DACs.

Sources: Sony DMP-Z1 | Sony WM1ZM2 | Brise Tsuranagi Transducers: Campfire Trifecta + Effect Audio Centurion | Dita Perpetua + Dita Celeste | Aroma Fei Wan (Incoming) + PW Audio Orpheus YT Channel: Amplify Audio Show