Love them at times.
Have a couple older vintage ones from Koss, that are still quite listenable.
What is remarkable, is hearing things you do not "notice' with regular speakers.
I mean its there with speakers, but with Phones, you really hear everything!
Older recordings though, I notice often dropouts from the master tape for a split second and other anomolies at times.
Added a HK preamp and a Little Dot tube headphone amp w vintage tubes!
Source is still iPhone (for now) or tablet.
Looking at Tidal or using a mini computer as a source
Those Little Dot 1+ are a fun amp! I have mine paired with some Philips L2s with the same GE NOS tubes. Sounds fantastic to me.
Just a dude doing dude-ly things
"Temptation is the manifestation of desire which equals necessity." - Mikey081057
" I have always had a champange taste with a beer budget" - Rick88
"Just because the thread is getting views don't mean much .. I like a good train wreck doesn't mean i want to be in one..." - pitdogg2
"Those that don't know, don't know that they don't know." - heiney9
"Audiophiles are the male equivalent of cat ladies." - Audiokarma Member
Headphones have their place with me. Have a pair of Philips Fidelio X1 powered with a vintage Marantz 2220B receiver paired with a Sonagraphe SG-3 turntable with Ortofon 2M Black cart and LG-V35 phone with built-in hi-res dac for a home headphone rig. For work I use either a Sennheiser HD-595 or 1More Triple Driver in-ears paired with a Chinese headphone amp and LG-V35 while playing Tidal. A Little Dot 1+ or Schiit Valhalla will be on the way soon.
I do enjoy listening to headphones especially when I don't have time to warm up the all-tube main rig or when I have guests over and can't play the main rig at night. Having said that I do prefer to listen to the main rig over the headphone setups when I can.
I used to enjoy hifi headphones alongside my speakers, but then felt that a very nice speaker rig was better than a very nice headphone rig. I still kept my Klipsch X10i, Nuforce BE6i, and Phiaton Chord MS530 and listened occasionally or on trips, but if I was going to sit down and listen, I wanted the speaker experience.
However, I've been having to downsize the speaker rig as we moved to a small house and have been remodeling, so I have decided to go back to headphones.
Today I ordered a pair of Monoprice M1060 circumaural magnetic planar headphones to see if they can spark my headphone interest back. Being planar, I know they need more current than dynamic drivers, so I'll start off with the headphone amp in my NAD integrated and go from there.
I used to enjoy hifi headphones alongside my speakers, but then felt that a very nice speaker rig was better than a very nice headphone rig. I still kept my Klipsch X10i, Nuforce BE6i, and Phiaton Chord MS530 and listened occasionally or on trips, but if I was going to sit down and listen, I wanted the speaker experience.
I love my headphones and the thing is they are easy to get right. It took me a while to get my speakers right. Better source, better amplifier, better preamp, cables all that and now I cannot go to my headphones for serious listening. They sound great and I get amazed by their sound but it isn't the same experience to me as the big boys.
Now what I do miss is that sense of amazement and euphoria from the first time I listened to tubes (which was a headphone amp). I had never heard sound so realistic and up close.
I am sure those Monoprice will be nice, report back once you have had some time with them.
Just a dude doing dude-ly things
"Temptation is the manifestation of desire which equals necessity." - Mikey081057
" I have always had a champange taste with a beer budget" - Rick88
"Just because the thread is getting views don't mean much .. I like a good train wreck doesn't mean i want to be in one..." - pitdogg2
"Those that don't know, don't know that they don't know." - heiney9
"Audiophiles are the male equivalent of cat ladies." - Audiokarma Member
I just ordered a Schiit Asgard headphone amp (A 90-volt, cascoded JFET gain stage feeds a high-current Class A MOSFET output section) to power the M1060s up to 1Wrms, which will be fed by my HRT USB DAC. I should have both delivered this week and be able to try life without speakers!
With the monoprice return pending and selling off pieces of the speaker 2-channel rig, I ordered a pair of Fostex Dekoni Blue headphones. This is Dekoni's Fostex approved factory modded T-50RP MKIII semi-open back planar headphone. Max power on these headphones is 4w due to the low sensitivity, due I wasn't planning on using reference headphones as mobile anyway.
Schiit’s writing reminds me a lot of the old Mackie manuals:
What does Class A really mean?
For us, Class A means Class A—that is, the output stage of the Asgard is running its maximum current all the time. This is a real Class A amp, biased by a current source. It can never go out of Class A. Protip: running a Class A amp hard into a difficult load actually causes it to run cooler. Please note this is not an invitation to destroy your hearing. This is just a bit of trivia. We probably should be telling you to practice safe listening, use a condom, sign this disclaimer before you turn up Asgard, don’t use the lawnmower as a hedge trimmer, coffee is hot, blah blah, but we don’t roll that way.
So, this thing runs damn hot, like Asgard?
If by “damn hot” you mean 40-45 degrees C, then yes.
And you’re not concerned with that?
Nope. The entire chassis is a heat sink, and we’re running the outputs well within their safe operating area, even derating for the operational temperature. Sorry, some engineerese crept in there.
But it still runs hot!
And technically, that’s still not a question. If you want an amp that runs cold, it’s best to look elsewhere.
The nighthawks could be very easy to dismiss in a quick A-B listening session, I almost did. They are not an in-your-face headphone just very laid back. Because they are a conventional speaker they took around 80 hours to break in.
What makes the driver different than standard dynamic driver headphones?
It is a little conventional speaker inside (Nighthawks).
50mm Dynamic Biocellulose Diaphragm (so it says on the Audioquest Site). Rather unique cup/material construction and a vent that is supposed to control airflow. And a "split-gap" motor to drive the speaker. It's all on their site if you want to dive deeper
I misunderstood your post as stating that they are a different design than the standard headphone dynamic driver; which is very similar to the cone speaker.
I love planar and dynamic headphones, and both have a place in my listening as they produce music differently. I've never heard electrostatic headphones due to my budget, but heard they can be a top shelf experience.
There -- ahem -- isn't any nonbiological cellulose.
I mean, there are things you can do to cellulose, like acetylate it (cellulose acetate is an 'old school' kinda polymer), but the feedstock is still cellulose.
It does grow on trees.
And other plants -- the preponderance of cellulose in the biome is the reason why glucose is the single most abundant organic molecule on Earth.
I decided to add AKG Q701s to my headphone rotation. I owned a pair of the K701s when they were first released and loved them, so decided to grab a pair for different listening compared to the Fostex planars.
Althought on paper they are reasonably sensitive, they do benefit from an amp, so I’m excited to try them with the Asgard amp.
After listening to my new pair of Fostex Dekoni Blue planar headphones, it seems like they are the dynamic microphone to my AKG Q701s condenser microphone; if the analogy holds for the positive.
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
Comments
Funny this time of year all the people who sign up fro New Years stare at me with mine on, not ear buds I mind you.
I swear some of these people have never seen anything except ear buds...
Office: PC,EAR Acute CD Player,EAR 834L Pre,Northstar Designs Intenso DAC,PASS ACA Monoblocks,Denon UDR-F10 Cassette,Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers,SVS SB12 Plus sub,MIT AVt2 speaker cables,IFI Purifier2,AQ Cinnamon USB cable,Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: Antique Sound Labs Wave AV-8 Monoblocks,Tisbury Mini Passive Pre,Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38),Analysis Plus Oval 9's,Zu Jumpers,AudioEngine B1 Streamer,Klipsch RB-61 v2,SVS PB1000 sub,Blue Jeans RCA IC's
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated,Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer,Rotel RCD-1072 CD player,Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner,Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers,Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
When I pulled them out I got one of those REALLY BAD looks from her...
They never made it out of the car....
Have a couple older vintage ones from Koss, that are still quite listenable.
What is remarkable, is hearing things you do not "notice' with regular speakers.
I mean its there with speakers, but with Phones, you really hear everything!
Older recordings though, I notice often dropouts from the master tape for a split second and other anomolies at times.
B+W-Sold
Electro Voice EV-SIX
Infinity-Sold
Advent-Now gone
Yamaha A-S801
Yamaha RX-V377
Yamaha RX-A860
Yamaha RX-A3060
Harman Kardon Hk-350i
Harman Kardon Hk-........
Harman Kardon PM-665
Harman Kardon HK-775
Pioneer.......Stereo Receiver
Those Little Dot 1+ are a fun amp! I have mine paired with some Philips L2s with the same GE NOS tubes. Sounds fantastic to me.
"Temptation is the manifestation of desire which equals necessity." - Mikey081057
" I have always had a champange taste with a beer budget" - Rick88
"Just because the thread is getting views don't mean much .. I like a good train wreck doesn't mean i want to be in one..." - pitdogg2
"Those that don't know, don't know that they don't know." - heiney9
"Audiophiles are the male equivalent of cat ladies." - Audiokarma Member
I do enjoy listening to headphones especially when I don't have time to warm up the all-tube main rig or when I have guests over and can't play the main rig at night. Having said that I do prefer to listen to the main rig over the headphone setups when I can.
However, I've been having to downsize the speaker rig as we moved to a small house and have been remodeling, so I have decided to go back to headphones.
Today I ordered a pair of Monoprice M1060 circumaural magnetic planar headphones to see if they can spark my headphone interest back. Being planar, I know they need more current than dynamic drivers, so I'll start off with the headphone amp in my NAD integrated and go from there.
I love my headphones and the thing is they are easy to get right. It took me a while to get my speakers right. Better source, better amplifier, better preamp, cables all that and now I cannot go to my headphones for serious listening. They sound great and I get amazed by their sound but it isn't the same experience to me as the big boys.
Now what I do miss is that sense of amazement and euphoria from the first time I listened to tubes (which was a headphone amp). I had never heard sound so realistic and up close.
I am sure those Monoprice will be nice, report back once you have had some time with them.
"Temptation is the manifestation of desire which equals necessity." - Mikey081057
" I have always had a champange taste with a beer budget" - Rick88
"Just because the thread is getting views don't mean much .. I like a good train wreck doesn't mean i want to be in one..." - pitdogg2
"Those that don't know, don't know that they don't know." - heiney9
"Audiophiles are the male equivalent of cat ladies." - Audiokarma Member
One of the earlier ptp wired versions with upgraded pio caps
I disabled
Yes. I’ll do some listening tonight, and I’m letting it warm up and it gets HOT. (by class A design)
I disabled
What does Class A really mean?
For us, Class A means Class A—that is, the output stage of the Asgard is running its maximum current all the time. This is a real Class A amp, biased by a current source. It can never go out of Class A. Protip: running a Class A amp hard into a difficult load actually causes it to run cooler. Please note this is not an invitation to destroy your hearing. This is just a bit of trivia. We probably should be telling you to practice safe listening, use a condom, sign this disclaimer before you turn up Asgard, don’t use the lawnmower as a hedge trimmer, coffee is hot, blah blah, but we don’t roll that way.
So, this thing runs damn hot, like Asgard?
If by “damn hot” you mean 40-45 degrees C, then yes.
And you’re not concerned with that?
Nope. The entire chassis is a heat sink, and we’re running the outputs well within their safe operating area, even derating for the operational temperature. Sorry, some engineerese crept in there.
But it still runs hot!
And technically, that’s still not a question. If you want an amp that runs cold, it’s best to look elsewhere.
I disabled
What makes the driver different than standard dynamic driver headphones?
I misunderstood your post as stating that they are a different design than the standard headphone dynamic driver; which is very similar to the cone speaker.
I love planar and dynamic headphones, and both have a place in my listening as they produce music differently. I've never heard electrostatic headphones due to my budget, but heard they can be a top shelf experience.
There -- ahem -- isn't any nonbiological cellulose.
I mean, there are things you can do to cellulose, like acetylate it (cellulose acetate is an 'old school' kinda polymer), but the feedstock is still cellulose.
It does grow on trees.
And other plants -- the preponderance of cellulose in the biome is the reason why glucose is the single most abundant organic molecule on Earth.
biocellulose.
oy vey...
Enabler Extraordinaire
Althought on paper they are reasonably sensitive, they do benefit from an amp, so I’m excited to try them with the Asgard amp.
I disabled
My ugly mug but nice Blues