CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS

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Author Topic: Enigmas  (Read 5213 times)

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JoelT

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Re: Enigmas
« Reply #20 on: January 25, 2015, 11:37:10 PM »

Anetode was super cool and let me demo his pair a few weeks ago - many thanks to him for the opportunity. Just getting around to posting some notes I took:

I was able to listen to the Enigma through two different amps, the Ragnarok and the Bottlehead S.E.X., Gungnir/Wyrd was used as a source for both. Like others, I also found them to be a bit warm with a tasteful bass emphasis, while simultaneously remaining articulate and not compromising detail. Great continuity of tone, and cleverly tuned for a slightly "colored" headphone. On the S.E.X., the sound was noticeably more laid back and gentle; very pleasant and relaxing. The Ragnarok woke them up, and the presentation was comparatively aggressive, while still being very smooth. Bass impact and body with the Ragnarok was holy-fuk powerful and very controlled. Electronic and beat-heavy music in particular was really visceral. For a closed headphone, the staging was surprisingly spacious, falling pretty close to the LCD-2 I used to own (based on memory); pretty awesome considering you get the isolation benefits of a closed headphone. All in all, I was very impressed. I personally prefer something a bit more neutral, but I'd absolutely recommend these for someone looking for a more laidback sound with slightly emphasized bass.

Congrats to LFF on a great headphone. These deserve more attention.  :)p1
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Bill-p

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Re: Enigmas
« Reply #21 on: February 01, 2015, 08:39:32 PM »

Well, I stole Ravi's pair just very recently.

Here are some confessions to the crime:
- Indeed a bit warm as stated. I have heard this headphone a few times already, but could never grasp its sound until now.
- In fact, sounds like it has a phat bottom end, with a fairly lean midrange, and very fast/detailed treble that rolls off pretty early.
- Midrange loses a bit of texture and articulation due to a dip around 2-4KHz (I'd guess a dip at 3KHz?). I think this region is really hard to get right, because too much and it'll break coherence, so... safe tuning is to push it down... a la Audeze, Senn's HD800, etc... Overall just a very slight "huh?" moment for me since I'm used to headphones that elevate this region.
- Bassy without much impact, but with good body. That's how I'd describe the bass here. It doesn't necessarily sound bloated either. I guess that's one of the other mysteries. In contrast, my ES10, which measures much less in bass, actually hits harder IMO.
- I can hear sparkles, and a wee bit of sibilance, so there is some energy in the 6-10KHz region. In fact, the "sharp" imaging, I think, can be attributed to a peak at around 10KHz. String instruments sound okay-ish, which means 4-6KHz isn't that elevated, but I'm sure as heck 4KHz isn't a dip because Eric Clapton's voice is just a wee bit raspy/grainy.
- Darkness can probably be attributed to either a sharp roll off starting at 10KHz, or slightly more decay in the bass region than usual.

But I may very well be talking out of my arse, as my impressions above don't really chime with any graph being presented here...

Hopefully will get Audeze LCD-2r2 (non-fazor) in soon, so that I can do a direct comparison.

Edit: couple of things on ergonomics: the leather band that's hanging loose actually does a disservice to this headphone IMO, because it has a tendency to slide around, is pretty hard to get right, and if it's not on right, clamping force may be tighter on one side vs the other, which results in channel imbalance. Wondering if taking it off will help with clamping force and all, but... this ain't my headphone (yet, until the police gives up on looking for the thief, hrah hrah hrah!), so I won't mess with it. Honestly, though, Ravi's pair is already very very very comfortable compared to ALL of the Enigma I have heard thus far. It might well be the most balanced pair, too.

On amping: I have found that some amps cause channel imbalance at high volume for some weird reason. Not sure if this is as a result of uneven impedance, or something else. Definitely not a power issue. The Leckerton UHA-6S Mk.II does excellent here... even on high gain at max volume, whereas on my iPhone 6+, and the TTVJ Portable Tube Hybrid, right side gets obviously louder than left at higher volume.

Kidding aside, this thing sounds good. Good enough that I'd consider stealing it for real! Or... well, place an order with LFF. I think I might prefer reddish cherry wood better than black suji. I'm just flashy like that. :)p1
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zerodeefex

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Re: Enigmas
« Reply #22 on: February 01, 2015, 08:54:20 PM »

Remove the comfort strap. I just put it on recently but I don't use it.

They actually slam a lot more with a meatier amp. Imbalance at volume is weird, haven't had much time with them since CEE TEE's long audition :)
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Bill-p

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Re: Enigmas
« Reply #23 on: February 01, 2015, 09:00:32 PM »

Well, comfort strap removed since I got permission. ;D

Immediate wow! It's like 1000x more comfortable. Much less clamping force.

Bonus: just did frequency response measurement with the output of the Leckerton. Guess what?



I'm surprised I got the FR almost spot on. This headphone actually sounds to me exactly like how it measures!

Oh, and ignore <100Hz. iPhone microphone sucks. Will probably build myself a measurement rig by summer or so... for more accurate measurements.
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