Audiophilepure

https://audiofi.net/2020/01/hifiman-ananda-headphones-planar-magnetic-magic/

Play some solo violin like Jascha Heifetz on RCA Living Stereo SACDs (his famed Brahms/Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos and Double Concertos albums, for example) and his bowing can be heard distinctly, even in front of a mass of instruments. In quieter passages, the emotion he coaxed out of his instrument was so palpable, you could close your eyes and almost believe you were listening to a live feed of the recording.

Transient speed from drums and percussive instruments was another plus. The snares from songs like The Raconteurs’ Steady As She Goes, Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love and Toto’s Rosanna really came alive with the Ananda.

http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/stax-sr-009s-electrostatic-earspeakers/

Next, the SR-009S proved to have greater transient agility and increased levels of dynamic expression relative to the SR-009. A track that showcases these qualities is ‘Stank” from Jamey Haddad, Mark Sherman, and Lenny White’s Explorations in Space and Time [Chesky, 24/96]. ‘Stank’ is a percussion extravaganza—at times delicate, but at other moments explosive, employing everything from high-pitched chimes and cymbals to low-pitched bass drums. The SR-009S navigated the track’s complex instrumentation and multi-layered dynamic challenges with effortless clarity and a sense of dynamic brio—as if relishing the chance to strut its stuff.

Finally, the SR-009S offers superior bass performance to the SR-009, both in terms of resolution and dynamic wallop. The ‘Lopsy Lu/Silly Putty’ medley from S.M.V.’s Thunder [Heads Up, 16/44.1] made this abundantly clear, as master bassists Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, and Victor Wooten took turns showing off their chops and the distinctive voices of their basses. Thunder is a serious low-frequency challenge, but the SR-009S tackled the track with an exuberant quality of dynamic swagger and punch the SR-009 could not have matched.”

https://www.headphone.guru/the-rosson-audio-design-rad-0-flagship-headphones-hifi-audio-with-a-huge-splash/

“Meanwhile, James Hetfield’s vocals were meaty, upfront and especially transparent; conversely, Kirk Hammett’s guitar snarled with a clarity and intensity that left me with a huge smile on my face! Now on to the bass – all I could remember thinking was “WOW”! Robert Trujillo’s bass notes hit hard and fast and were both impactful and taught. These headphones can do bass with the very best out there and will have your head rocking up and down in short order. Their ability to cast a wider and deep soundscape really dazzled me grabbing my attention from the outset and never letting it go”

https://www.headfonia.com/abyss-diana-v2-review/

“Every pair of Diana V2 headphones is machined, finished and assembled by hand in the New York facilities of Abyss Headphones. When you order your pair from Abyss you can also select the termination of your cable. Options are 6.3 mm or 3.5 mm unbalanced, 4 Pin XLR, 4.4 mm balanced or 2.5 mm balanced. One set of Diana V2 headphones retails for 2,995$ US.

For everyone who wants to tickle even more performance out of their Diana V2, Abyss offers an upgrade cable by JPS Labs for the V2, called The Superconductor HP. Retail prices of the Superconductor HP begin at 1,400 USD. We will also find out what improvements it brings over the stock cable later.”

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0120/Audio_Technica_ATH_AWKT_AWAS_Headphones_Review.htm

“The pads were soft on my head and the headphone was light and noticeable on the recording was inner detail and the beauty of the piano body with excellent inner detail retrieval. The sound was exceptional, and when I switched from the Mytek to the Auris Headonia, I noticed even more musicality coming from the body of instruments. The Mytek was exceptional but the Headonia was able to dig deeper, while both offered exceptional tonality of the piano and layering was exceptional with both amplifiers. The Auris, with the Marantz SA10, was three times more than the Mytek but differences were noticeable from the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge. I continued to be impressed with the AWKT’s ability to let me notice differences but still, both of the Amplifier/DAC combinations sounded exceptional.

Bass reproduction on the AWKT was good and offered excellent texture while digging into instruments with bass and the AT always felt balanced in the presentation. The sound was transparent and a little more on the bright side than the less expensive sister the ATH-AWAS which had a tendency to be more of a warmer sound both musical but with different sound signatures”

https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/zmf-verite-headphones/

“Tight, punchy, and definitive are few of many words that can be used to describe the Vérité’s low-end tuning. Slightly ahead of neutral, the bass is perfectly done with the right amounts of heft and slam to really make the listening experience a pleasurable one. The dynamic driver really does come into play with a great texture and weight that many planar models and electrostatic fail to recreate. It is nice to see (or rather hear) that the bass levels are not unrealistically elevated, but instead have such a natural timbre and depth that depict the realism of tracks. Compared to HiFiMAN Susvara and HE-1000 V2, the Vérité Open renders heftier slam and physical presence of bass, while the former two headphones have a more agile and intelligible bass line. The Meze Empyrean, on the other hand, is closer to the Vérité’s tonality with a linear and gently upward sloping sub- to mid-bass region. Both the Empyrean and Vérité have a pleasant low-end with the Empyreans sounding slightly more boosted and leaning more towards the smoother and warmer musical tonality. In “NICE” by The Carters, the low-end on the Vérité is represented with no bloom or bloating, but bass that stops on the dime with outstanding texturing.”

“The Ananda-BT gives you everything you expect from a world class pair of open back planar magnetic headphones with none of the drawbacks, no cables, and no headphone amp or DAC to worry about, you simply connect them via Bluetooth and start enjoying your music in all its high resolution glory. A molded plastic carrying case and USB mic are included for portability, phone calls, and gaming.

The Ananda-BT aren’t finicky, pray at the audiophile altar headphones, they go where you go! You’ll quickly fall in love their fabulous sound, untethered freedom of movement, and absence of sacrifices. I’ve used them for critical listening (god I hate that term), danced around my living room listening to Billie Eilish, made a fabulous red sauce streaming Pavarotti, and drifted off to a peaceful late night slumber with Windham Hill. These aren’t your father’s headphones, they’re easy breezy carefree sonic showstoppers you’ll be fighting to get back from your significant other. Recommended without reservation.”

https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/audeze-lcd-1-review

” do detect what I hear as a bit of a dip at 6kHz and again at just under 8kHz, but the treble is remarkably even up into the highest musically-useful frequencies. The very slightly-relaxed presence region doesn’t dip below the treble shelf, and this plays a big part in helping the treble sound very clear without sending things out of wack. Upper midrange/lower treble dips can sometimes make the higher treble sound too bright by comparison, but the evenness of the treble on the LCD-1 doesn’t have this issue. The slight dips I detected at 6kHz and other treble frequencies may help with with the simultaneous feeling of clarity and relaxedness of the LCD-1. The detail of this presentation is very good, though I can see some trebleheads craving a slightly brighter one just to feel they’re getting a last scooch of detail. I personally prefer a more even treble, and the LCD-1 delivers that in spades. The slightly relaxed upper midrange I mentioned also helps this feeling of simultaneous clarity and warmth.”

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2020/1/6/pfe0t36r7mdsmwndg7orfkkppcjqxs

“Moving on to a different genre, I played another CD rip, this time of Fritz Reiner’s 1957 recording of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition with the Chicago Symphony.  Often large dynamic orchestral recordings can easily reveal the weaknesses of headphones and speakers. With the Stellia’ I was left mostly impressed. Once again these headphones reveal a lot of detail, but they accomplish what many fail to do, keeping the detail clear while rendering loud and climactic passages.  Sometimes, when listening to big orchestral “hits”, the listener often is drowned in a “boomy” quality that blurs individual instruments and timbres. Percussion sounds very life like through the Stellia, particularly the crash cymbals. Low strings had a very open and resonant air around them. The soundstage was clear, but a bit on the close side for my taste.  I often felt like I was listening from the conductor’s podium rather than from the audience. Switching things up, I disconnected from the Arche amplifier and instead ran the Stellia unbalanced from the headphone jack on my McIntosh preamp. Listening to a few tracks over again, I did notice and ever so slight loss of refinement and details in the upper register, but also a tad more warmth and body throughout the range. I will chalk this up to difference in the amplifiers individual sonic signatures rather than any serious difference in how these headphones react to different amplification.