Audio Audiophile and gears

rdst_1 said:
Welcome to the audio world, where exactly this is what happens as incremental gains are very low.
So, unless you have already auditioned these HPs and now you can't go back to your 599s, I would say just ignore the urge to upgrade right now.
People ignore one important factor when they get enamored by the reviews and sales and that is the sound signature. What if the sound signature of these HPs is completely different from the 599s. Will then, they even feel like an upgrade. First take a look at the sound signature you like (which might be completely opposite of the majority) and then decide whether these upgrades suit you, or whether you are willing to change your listening style (which is also possible).
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Thanks man. Tbh there is nothing about the 599’s sound signature that i dont like. Currently very happy with the sound of my two gears - 599 and bl03 . Both are very inoffensive. So yes, my urge to upgrade is from the reviews more than anything else.

Your point is quite valid and make a lot of sense.
 
Deva is excellent, so is 598 ( forgot how 599 sounded... possibly little cleaner and narrower compared to 598)
Both have very inoffensive sound signature, but Deva is not as forgiving as 598. And Deva requires some power, with same amp ( volume adjusted) I possibly won't be able to distinguish between Sundara and Deva.
But for 11-12K Deva is a steal!! It's a very inoffensive yet detailed can.
I got the wired version, so can't comment on the blue mini.
 
Black_Hawk said:
I already ordered it. That and the HD599SE along with a Marantz PM5005 for an alternate Stereo setup.
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Looking forward to your comparison between the both, although Hifiman cans recommend burn in for about a 100hrs or so and personally, my HE400i are the only set of headphones which have actually improved noticeably post burn-in period.
 
quaratineinthesejeans said:
Deva is excellent, so is 598 ( forgot how 599 sounded... possibly little cleaner and narrower compared to 598)
Both have very inoffensive sound signature, but Deva is not as forgiving as 598. And Deva requires some power, with same amp ( volume adjusted) I possibly won't be able to distinguish between Sundara and Deva.
But for 11-12K Deva is a steal!! It's a very inoffensive yet detailed can.
I got the wired version, so can't comment on the blue mini.
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Thank-you for the input. I ordered both yesterday, the HD 599 SE and the DEVA. The 599 will mostly go to the girlfriend. I thought at 11k the DEVA was too hard not to get!

P.S. A little off-topic here but you mentioned in one of your posts only a few days back that your quitting TE for good but good to see you are back here again. Does anyone else use your account on TE because some of your posts don't line up with other posts you make and simply seem irrational at times.
 
Black_Hawk said:
P.S. A little off-topic here but you mentioned in one of your posts only a few days back that your quitting TE for good but good to see you are back here again. Does anyone else use your account on TE because some of your posts don't line up with other posts you make and simply seem irrational at times.
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Is it? I don't really know man...I leave my laptop and phone on my desk at office all the time.
And I never log out and just close the browser. But yesterday noticed, I was logged out!! Never happened before.
But in my office very few people write/ speak English. But my laptop is used by many people there for work..I really don't know..but it's scary!!
Did anything offensive came from my account?
Yes, I wrote about being done with the forum. But that was the last thing I posted and didn't check the thread before now ( now the thread is closed for good reasons) But I'm pretty sure I didn't reply to puns.
Similar thing happened in Twitter also ( now I don't use the app anymore and log out everytime)
Possibly some of the posts are edited, but there are few things I definitely didn't write.
Would have definitely replied to AMG's stone, baseball bat thing, but I wasn't checking the posts at that time ( as I was logged out from both from phone and laptop without my knowledge)
Yes, was pissed off for sure, but I'm not a kid.
Back on topic, Deva for 11k is possibly the best headphones one can buy. Specially like the brilliant single ended balanced connector.
I don't have any single ended 3.5 to pentaconn/ XLR cable, but it shouldn't be too difficult to get.
Imagine, for 11k you are getting a planar with balanced single ended connection which can be used as wireless headphones with blue mini!!
I have never seen anything like this, and Deva is possibly the most well built inexpensive hifiman without widespread QC issues.
Though hifiman planars don't do the bass as other typical planars from Audeze etc. They are not dark sounding at all!!
 
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quaratineinthesejeans said:
Back on topic, Deva for 11k is possibly the best headphones one can buy. Specially like the brilliant single ended balanced connector.
I don't have any single ended 3.5 to pentaconn/ XLR cable, but it shouldn't be too difficult to get.
Imagine, for 11k you are getting a planar with balanced single ended connection which can be used as wireless headphones with blue mini!!
I have never seen anything like this, and Deva is possibly the most well built inexpensive hifiman without widespread QC issues.
Though hifiman planars don't do the bass as other typical planars from Audeze etc. They are not dark sounding at all!!
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Exactly the reason why I wanted to try out both the HD599 and the DEVA so ordered both. I'm not a headphone guy at all because most of my life I have been inclined towards listening to music on speakers. I just like the way they envelope my room as I relax on my recliner. I won't even spend very long periods of time listening to music on these cans but I do intend to pick them up at nights for short listening sessions before I turn in. Also, I do want to know how planar HPs sound and the DEVA at 11k seemed a good way to do that.

Oh and one more thing, I bought a Marantz PM5005 for an alternate Stereo setup at home. I have read that the integrated headphone amplifier is very decent on the unit. I'm looking forward to trying that out as well.
 
Black_Hawk said:
Exactly the reason why I wanted to try out both the HD599 and the DEVA so ordered both. I'm not a headphone guy at all because most of my life I have been inclined towards listening to music on speakers. I just like the way they envelope my room as I relax on my recliner. I won't even spend very long periods of time listening to music on these cans but I do intend to pick them up at nights for short listening sessions before I turn in. Also, I do want to know how planar HPs sound and the DEVA at 11k seemed a good way to do that.

Oh and one more thing, I bought a Marantz PM5005 for an alternate Stereo setup at home. I have read that the integrated headphone amplifier is very decent on the unit. I'm looking forward to trying that out as well.
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Congrats on your purchase. I would recommend you to get a dedicated headphone amplifier in future even for casual listening, I had the PM6006 & soundstage was lacking & treble was highly rolled off when using the HP output in comparison to a dedicated HP amp I was using. There is a discernible difference in the performance and is worth getting a dedicated one.

P.S - Was running a Hifiman Ananda which are relatively easy to drive and the amp power would unlikely be the reason.
 
Yes, even these relative sensitive planars do need more power than dynamic drivers.
They ( at least Sundara and Deva) can be driven by a phone or entry level DAP to high volume but sounds thin.
But give them a little more current, they will change drastically.
I don't have any portable headphone amp, but with the desktop amp (A90) Deva literally rattles ( not in a bad way). Had read in reviews that Sundara and Deva don't have the typical planar sound, it's partially true, when driven adequately the lower frequencies do open up considerably with the typical planar bass thump, but they don't sound dark at all.
Wish hifiman had better quality control. They do the difficult things perfectly, but fail at minor issues.
 
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TheCoolerPlayer said:
Not sure about "better" as reviews seemed to say that the biggest difference between both was that Deva have a slightly warmer and more open sound compared to the more "analytical" sound of the HE400i. Some reviews said the Deva was more comfortable, others said otherwise.
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I kind of agree here, Deva with my tube amp sounds really good, for me it sounded way better than my DT990pros. Much more comfortable to wear them too. Listening to Sailing Ships from Heaven by Katie Melua makes me very happy :D

Even though the price dropped to 10.8k with discounts, I dont regret my purchase at 12k :)
 
Yes, Deva is extremely comfortable. Sundara's earcups touch my earlobes, but Deva's don't.
Never tried them with tubes.
Suggestion: Don't pair very bright ( treble heavy)cans with tube. Even the best of the tube amps are designed to add saturation at 5-8K ( the typical bloom effect of tube)
Though in theory harsh sounding cans should benefit from tube, but it's my limited experience that very V shaped cans like DT990 sounds worse with tube amps.
There are exceptions like NDH20 ( sounds fantastic with tube despite being a typical bright monitoring headphone), Focal Utopia ( don't have it, but heard it with tubes) and of course HD600
 
How different is HE400i 2020 from Deva? No comparisons I found online are conclusive.

I've used HD599SE in the past, only differences I felt were soundstage (better in 400i) and bass(599SE had more bass) but none of these are significant enough to choose one over another. 599SE felt a bit lighter and more breathable. I'm by no means a audiophile so please don't take these as a benchmark.

And one more thing, currently I'm using Fiio E10K as amp/dac, is it good enough or are there any better ones under 15k?
 
j3rwin said:
How different is HE400i 2020 from Deva? No comparisons I found online are conclusive.

I've used HD599SE in the past, only differences I felt were soundstage (better in 400i) and bass(599SE had more bass) but none of these are significant enough to choose one over another. 599SE felt a bit lighter and more breathable. I'm by no means a audiophile so please don't take these as a benchmark.

And one more thing, currently I'm using Fiio E10K as amp/dac, is it good enough or are there any better ones under 15k?
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Pretty accurate description. It's difficult to distinguish between HD598 and HD600 with onboard amps ( volume matched of course) and honestly I like the big soundstage of 598.
Things get slightly more apparent ( like 600 has much faster bass decay and slightly more precise seperation despite having a in the head soundstage) with powerful amps.
It's difficult to beat Fiio in price performance ratio.
Topping's L-30 isn't bad as an amp, A30 is very good and A90 is a complete overkill.
Not a fan of Schiit Audio, but many love it. D90/A90 is a great combo ( but very expensive under current circumstances)
Don't know much about portable DAC/ amps.
 
fLUX said:
Congrats on your purchase. I would recommend you to get a dedicated headphone amplifier in future even for casual listening, I had the PM6006 & soundstage was lacking & treble was highly rolled off when using the HP output in comparison to a dedicated HP amp I was using. There is a discernible difference in the performance and is worth getting a dedicated one.

P.S - Was running a Hifiman Ananda which are relatively easy to drive and the amp power would unlikely be the reason.
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Thank-you my friend. :)

I actually also have a Marantz PM6006 which is connected to my Dali Zensors at home. Regarding it's younger brother PM5005, it has a better integrated amp from what I have read than the 6006 so lets see. There's actually a pretty lengthy thread regarding the PM5005's HP Amp here:

Marantz PM-5005

Now regarding Headphone Amps I'm limited to these:

A Headphone Tube Amp
FiiO E10K
FiiO M3 Pro DAP

Will try the DEVA on all of the above and see which one it sounds better with. Should be fun!

In the meantime the Marantz PM5005 arrived today:

IMG-20210628-133838.jpg


IMG-20210628-133913.jpg


The shipment on top is actually a pair of MICCA MB42 speakers. The PM5005 will now get connected to these MICCA's for the time being and get warmed up. The plan is to transfer my Dali's onto this PM5005 and then have my PM6006 connected to new speakers which are going to be the Wharfedale Linton Heritage.

The MICCA's will then be powered by a smaller TDA-7498E amplifier and serve as an online radio streamer fed by a RPI. Talking about an RPI, I ordered this today from ROBU India:

Raspberry PI IQaudio DAC Pro
(The listing has some incorrect info on ROBU. This board comes with a PCM5242 chip which is a Burr-Brown.

Once this comes will install Volumio on the RPI and see how it goes.
 
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j3rwin said:
How different is HE400i 2020 from Deva? No comparisons I found online are conclusive.

I've used HD599SE in the past, only differences I felt were soundstage (better in 400i) and bass(599SE had more bass) but none of these are significant enough to choose one over another. 599SE felt a bit lighter and more breathable. I'm by no means a audiophile so please don't take these as a benchmark.

And one more thing, currently I'm using Fiio E10K as amp/dac, is it good enough or are there any better ones under 15k?
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The HE400i is not an easy to drive planar, they need sufficient amplification and Fiio E10K will surely not be sufficient. My first real foray into planars was with a HE560 v2 and I just had a Fiio E17, did absolutely no justice to them. Purchased a SS Class-A amp @18k and boy it was a different beast altogether. In comparison the newer releases mainly Sundara/Ananda dont need as much amplification as the older planars do

HD600 although is largely different from HD598 in terms of scalability. With onboard and starting range amps , the 600 might sound pretty shite and 598 might seem better. I owned HD 598 (the OG and SE) and found them to be little dull and devoid of any energy ( sounded same regardless of what the combination). The HD600 on the contrary scale tremendously with better amplification , its not a slight improvement but a night & day difference when used with tube amps and some SS amps too, I end up using the HD600 more than the Ananda in recent times with tube amp acquisitions and gets really addictive.
 
HD600 is the king in my collection with tubes. The main issue of 598 is the slow response ( if an open bass note is played it resonates for a long time) Regarding energy, give HD25 a try with any decent amp. That's possibly the fastest and most energetic headphones Sennheiser will continue to make.
The entire audiophile line will go to Sonoma with Sennheiser's name. But Sennheiser is clever enough to keep on manufacturing their pro studio headphones like HD25, 280, 300 etc.( though not for audiophiles, any minimal change in sound signature will just kill the workflow of producers, engineers)
Yes, it's day and night for crazies like us. BTW anybody paired Focal clear with tubes?
 
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