I was a part of the Omni loaner tour over at HF. Posted my subjective impressions there last night.When I signed up for the tour, I asked Zach if he minded if I also posted my impressions here. Of course he didn't mind. I seem to recall OJ having said somewhere that Zach told him there will be an official Changstar tour at some point. Anyway, maybe this thread can be the start of the Changstar record on the Omni.


Following impressions are based on listening with the GO450 as DAC, Leckerton UHA-6S.MkII as amp (high-gain implemented), and Spotify in offline mode as source since I’m currently without internet at my place. Because the UHA-6S.MkII served as my amp, I used the single-ended stock cable that came with the Omni. While the stock balanced cable would’ve worked with my EF-6, I’ve already packed that up so I can list it in the classifieds. The UHA-6S.MkII is my current reference amp for a reason. I prefer it to the EF-6 on several counts. My current reference headphone is the LCD-2.2. I also have an HE-500, HD800, Mad Dog and stock T50RP on hand. My taste in music leans toward the electronic, save for EDM – there are exceptions – and brostep.

Some non-sound related impressions. Weight seems right. I’m used to planars, however, so YMMV. Not too heavy but substantial-feeling, like you’re holding something that’ll last. Heirloom quality if taken care of. And you might want to heirloom them: These things are beautiful. Omnis arrived in lambskin; I switched to leather. Pads are plush but not overly so. I didn’t notice any sonic differences between the sets of pads. My primary interest was comfort. I’ll let others speak about “pad rolling”.

Overall, the comfort on these is outstanding. Easily on a par with the Alpha Dog, Paradox Slant and ZMF x Vibro. There’s a slight issue with getting the left cup to seal on my head. My head could be to blame, though, as I encounter this issue with other headphones. That said, it might be slightly more persistent with the Omni + cowhide pads. The lambskin pads seal perfectly. Strangely, of all the headphones I’ve tried, I think the LCD-2.2 might fit my head the best, with the possible exception of the HD800.

Omni is less isolating than the other T50RP mods I’ve heard. This isn’t surprising given its semi-open construction. Depending on the track playing, I could hold short, to-the-point conversations with a friend while we were listening together; he was wearing the HD800. I’m sure we were moderately yelling at each other. Also, the Omni soaks up a lot of power. I can max out the volume on my iPhone 6 without pain. It’s near or at the limit of comfortable but I can do it. This isn’t the case with, say, the LCD-2.2.

A few remarks on tonality.  While I wouldn’t say the Omni is a basshead headphone, the bass is excellent in quality and extension. When compared with the LCD-2.2, I have the sense of a slight recession in the mids. Voices seem a vaguely farther away. I’m not saying that the Omni has recessed mids; I’m saying that voices seem closer with the LCD-2.2, and perhaps fuller, more textured. An upshot is that the Omni is, from I’ve heard, completely free of glare in the high midrange, viz. in 5k-6k. The T50RP driver is supposed to have a tendency for glare. I could detect it on occasion with the Alpha Dog, though it was hardly enough count against that headphone. If you’re sensitive to glare in the high midrange, you needn’t worry about the Omni. The treble is relaxed without being rolled-off. There’s plenty of definition at 10k.

Some thoughts on technicalities. The HD800 is better at representing vast and distant sounds than is the Omni. That’s an obscure claim. It has to do with what might be termed the delicacy of a headphone. Vast, distant sounds are fragile and rich in information; it’s easy for this information – perhaps in the form of the felt texture of the sound – to get smoothed out, dulled. Of course, excellent treble resolution – e.g., in the “air” frequencies – contributes to this ability to represent vast distances, and the HD800’s treble resolution is unmatched in my experience. Let me give a concrete example. The synths – if that is what they are – that come in at 0:35 on Clark’s “There’s a Distance in You” from his eponymous album. (The significance of the title in the present context isn’t lost on me. This is an excellent track for testing a phone’s ability to render the timbre of vast distances. It’s also the shortest seven minute track I’ve heard.) With the HD800, you can hear how far away those synths really are. They’re not just quiet; they’re way off in the distance. This technicality might come at the cost of tonality: The HD800, while world class in treble resolution, is an almost unbearably bright headphone. I should point out that the low-end aspects of “There’s a Distance in You” sound much better on the Omnis.

Soundstaging and imaging are first-rate for a (semi)closed headphone. Among the headphones I have on hand, I would put the Omni between the LCD-2.2 and the Mad Dog with respect to width. The overall effect isn’t exactly holographic, but I suspect it’s difficult to get holographic imaging with (semi)closed headphones.

Greater bass impact/slam than my LCD-2.2 and HE-500, and greater than my friend’s Mad Dog. Given that I haven’t had the Alpha Dog and the Paradox Slant for several months now, I’ll forego a detailed comparison here. Suffice it to say, I don’t think the Omni is outshone by either. Bass impact/slam is only one aspect of an overall excellent transient response. This is a fast headphone. The transients aren’t as quick as with the HD800, but then, the Omni is a thicker-, fuller-sounding headphone.

Thanks again to Zach for putting this tour together! I’m honored to have been given the chance to listen to ZMF’s new flagship. It’s a solid piece of craftsmanship with a smooth, defined signature.