CHANGSTAR 2014 CANADA DAY (JULY 1) HIGH-END BUYING GUIDE Important clarification: Ratings used here are not like a typical star system where one star means shitty and four stars means great. Instead, we are measuring increasing levels of goodness, from one to four. If there's even one star (or pirate), that means it's a decent product. Only when the pile of smelly sh1t icon is used, does it that mean something is bad. Warning: For entertainment purposes only.

HD800 (conditional on mods and tweaks)

Some have called it a face-tweeter. Others have compared it to a german toilet (evidently, german toilets leave your sh1t over the water line so you can examine it more closely.) One thing most can agree on is that the HD800’s tonal response suits classical and jazz recordings, or recordings of natural instruments. These recordings tend to have a frequency spectrum which doesn’t light up the upper mids or treble. HD800s will push marginal recordings, i.e. those which are even the slightest bit bright, over the edge. In other words, the HD800 is a fricking bright headphone. We can argue all day long about this. All that I know is that speakers EQ’d at the listening position for the “ideal” response (as used in studios since for decades or per B&K optimal response graphs) will play back those marginal recordings as marginally listenable, not unlistenable.

The HD800 will need a amp. A dry clinical sounding solid state amp will do the HD800 no favors. People seem to like tubes with the HD800. Teton, Stratus, 4-45, BA, WA5 are good selections. Vahalla 2, Crack with the speedball, or even the Vali are good HD800 amps on the low end. Surprising the Sennheiser HDVD800 DAC/Amp combo unit works well with the HD800. Do not pair the HD800 with one of those tube amps which turn everything into warm gooey mush like the Leben or Cary. That would be like curing an oversteering RWD car by making it FWD. Tame the brightness and hard sounding treble glare with the Anax 2.0 mod and or EQ instead. The HD800 scales and scales and scales. We have not found an amp which has exceeded its capabilities yet.

While the HD800 does not have the best transient response, speed, nor cleanest sound, nothing resolves microdetail as well as the HD800. This is assuming you have the capable upstream gear, which most people do not and never will. Yup, not even the SR-009 and T2DIY combination (which I owned next to the BA and HD800) resolves more low level information. Although the SR-009 does many other things better, especially “getting out of the way” (lower distortion throughout) than the HD800. Finally, and I don't know if many people have realized this: the HD800 images so well because it's basically two drivers suspended in air slightly in front of your ears. It's not a perfect solution because the wire screen does tend to reflect sound back, thus resulting in what some people have described as an overly diffuse image. I don't have a problem with it, but the Anax 2.0 mod does help with this.

Schiit Audio Ragnorak

First some disclaimers. I live close to Jason and have visited his factories (from when it was a shack to now something much bigger). However, I’ve paid for the Schiit gear that I use.

I have heard several iterations of the Ragnorak at a few meets. Since the Rag has not been finalized, I will not comment on its sound. Please do not be a retard and think that this statement implies I am hiding something. To put things in perspective, the prototype of what is now the EC 4-45 (my primary speaker and headphone amp) took a lot of effort to make it sound good. And even then, some luck and alignment of the stars was needed.

That being said, I will report back if I hear any recent progress assuming I would be allowed to do so.

Fostex TH-900

A really good match with the Stratus or EC ZD. If you get a chance at a meet, definitely try those combos out. Avoid any solid state amps with any hint of sibilance. Other than that, the TH-900 is extremely efficient and will work from almost anything including built in headphone jacks on receivers and DACs. The TH-900 has lower treble spike. The extent of the spike is not as horrible as found on many of Beyers’ Tesla line headphones, but know that it's always going to be noticeable. The nature of the lower treble peak is difficult to describe. Not quite as glaring and hard sounding as the HD800’s treble peak. And not quite yet as sibilant as a bad sample of the Beyer T1. Sort of somewhere in between.

The TH-900 resolves microdetail moderately well. Where the TH-900 excels is with its very clean and clear sound. The low bass distortion coupled with a depression in the lower mids helps contribute to this. By the way, I forgot to mention the bass. The midbass is manageable, but the low to sub bass levels are quite insane. Fortunately, contrary to what most people may think, the majority of recordings don’t have significant bass energy that down low. The good thing is the quality of the bass is superb: tightly rendered with no mush. Think REL subwoofer for audio. Not "home theatre" subwoofer.

I would not categorize the TH-900 as a neutral or even relatively neutral headphone. It's a fun sounding headphone with a U curve response and very good technicalities. One of these days, I'll probably grab one (they are below 1000USD yet?) and run EQ to tame the bass and the treble spike. Despite it being a closed headphone, don't expect it to seal though. It's pretty leaky in that respect.

LCD-X

Dammit. I just don’t want to talk much about it. It’s a pretty good headphone I guess. LCD3 with appropriate venting mods or leaky pads or a good sample LCD-2 are better. It's important to note that the initial LCD-X (measurements here on this site) I received did sound thinner and with a sharper treble spike than the subsequent ones I heard from Warren or Darin. The two smileys represent the Warren or Darin samples. The LCD-X seems to be the most consistent sounding of the Audeze line. On average it's better sounding than most LCD-2s and LCD-3s. And no the LCD-X is not a neutral Audeze. While the timbre is slightly different, the frequency response is largely the same. The metal frame sucks compared to the wood of the LCD2/3.

One caveat. Although very efficient, the LCD-X's 22 ohm impedance is extremely low for a headphone and getting into speaker impedance territory. A low output impedance amp or an amp which will crank out decent current (but not necessary power) at 22 ohms is required. Otherwise the LCD-X will sound very soft and squishy. I actually had very good results with a portable Leckerton UHA-6.

LCD-XC

You think it’s as good as the LCD-X, until you hear the WTF honky midrange coloration. It’s not horrible, just distracting. Actually it's horrible. If you want a closed headphone with that awesome Audeze sub to low bass, you are pretty much SOL and need to deal with the funky midrange of the XC.

Audio-GD Master 7 (with Empirical Audio Off Ramp 5 via i2s)

Just another PCM1704 DAC if using the built in USB. Audio-GD has released several USB firmware versions which have incrementally increased the sound quality. But to be honest: whatever. The built in USB sucks and it would take 10,000 increments for it to match the OR5 via i2s.

Now let's start a pissing contest on which USB to SPDIF converter is best. No, let’s not because we are talking about USB to i2s converters. The Berkeley or Audeophileo USB to SPDIF converters cannot compete with the OR5 i2s implementation. I've heard them them all. DACLadder (God bless his heart) has developed an LVDS (HDMI) interface to replace the RJ-45 i2s on the Master 7. This goes a long way to taking the Ethernet cable (and HDMI cable) out of the equation. And please, the 99USD USB to i2s converter from China on eBay is not the same as the EA OR5. Don't be a retard and think that it would even come close.

Operating to its full potential, the Master 7 is quite special in that it combines the ladder DAC sound (smooth, liquid, lushness, tonal density) with modern technicalities (attack, hyper resolution, clarity). It would be difficult to do better without paying much much more, even taking into account the cost of the OR5. A few things I do not like about the Master 7: its separate panel construction, 120W energy suckage, extreme weight. If the chassis were constructed better, I'd put it on the Changstar loaner program.





Beyer T1 (good sample)

The question really is which sample? The T1s (and DT1350s) we got in a few years ago measured all over the place. It’s entirely possible Beyer has sorted out the quality issues. Really, this Tesla technology is not offering me anything better than the classic DT880 250 or 600 ohm versions. Basically the T1 has slightly moar bass and much more nasty treble. I thought T1 bass had a cavernous coloration to it compared to the DT880's bass. The DT880 mid-treble is slightly hot, but much smoother compared to the T1. I believe someone pointed out that there was no damping material in the cup, and this is probably why. I’ve heard third-hand that volume retailers get the T1 for $349 or something ridiculously cheap.

A good sample of the T1 is decent though, but still miles away, like 1000 miles, from a well setup HD800 based rig. The good thing is that the T1 tends to work with almost anything upstream.