Headphones thread (show us yer cans)!

I will be attending, actually I will be working at the registration desk on Saturday morning and maybe Sunday afternoon.
Any other Roon users going?
By the way, a lot of the vendors use Roon for music playback at their booths. I suspect that this year there will be some Roon ARC as well.

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New headphones for 2023


Dan Clark Aeon2 Noire

To be driven by a Burson Soloist SL MkI taking input from the Tape-Out of the Sim Audio Moon i5 (which has no headphone output).

Had an extensive listen to these, the DCA Aeon2 Closed, Audeze LCD-X, the Audeze LCD-2, Focal Clear MG, Meze 109 Pro (thanks to Hifonix, Birmingham, UK)
Through a Burson Amp with a Naim Atom HE streamer (not quite the same as my NDS/555DR streamer but good enough for demo evaluation)

The Meze were extremely comfortable, but not quite at the races against the Planar Magnetics (& my existing B&W P5 Wireless, wired with Silver Litz cable), the Focal great dynamics but not the delicacy of the Audeze & DCA.
It was a tight choice between the DCA and the Audeze LCD-X (which were on offer at the time, so in the same price band, same as the Focal Clear OGs).
The DCA Aeon2 Closed & Noire needed more power to shine, yet the Audeze LCD-X had such great forward presentation and insight into the material easy to see why used in studios, but is that presentation liveable long-term and they are heavy?

The DCA give the same insight, just more laid back in presentation. Comfortable and half the weight of the LCD-X

Then Aeon2 Closed vs Noire with the Noire just taking the line with a better treble definition. However could have easily lived with either.

And back on my own system, out-of-the-box, yes, everything heard during demo is still there. Just need the 10ft VIVO Cable upgrade (ordered and in Irish customs) so will wait to run in together.

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With respect to my CanJam post above, there is even a CanJam playlist available. To access this playlist go to the Home screen in Roon and scroll down to the Playlists by Roon section then click on the “More” button on the right hand side. Scroll down again and you will find it:

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Santa came to town…and delivered these beautiful cans: Focal Utopia 2020 :sunglasses:

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You don’t need the Vivo cable.i think it’s overpriced for what it is and doesn’t look that good at all.

You could have someone make you a mogami cable that would be cheaper.

I had someone make me this cable for the Aeon Noire

The XLR plug is from furutech. The cable is copper with silver coating.

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Maybe, but I have it now and it seems a robust well built cable.
Currently being broken in, and will have to see how the sound changes over the next while.

I did look at 3rd party cables, and the range is vast from Copper, Silver-plated and pure Silver versions. Hard to know where to start, and what changes they bring to the sound & presentation.

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New Fiio M11 Plus in Roon Ready mode replaces my old stack of Pi, SMSL SU9 and Schitt Magni Heresy 3 and likely everything else headphone releated I have. Currently using the Meze 99 Classics that live in the bedroom, but it works well with my Elears and Shure 535’s. Looking at Meze 109 Pros and some Fiio FH9 soonish.

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My current home combo at present:

These DT 700 PRO X’s are great :smiley:

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My basic, budget friendly, headphone setup.
iPad 7th gen
NAD Viso HP50 headphones.

With this convolution filter loaded into Roon, it sounds great! I’d probably have to spend a great deal more for a significant upgrade. :+1:

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Here’s better shot of my ZMF Caldera with my ZMF wooden stand.

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Just got a second hand set of Sennheiser ie300 as good as new for £120 as left ear of my Shure SE425 is faulty so needed a cheap replacement as these are my out and about ones.

Not bad I think I prefer them over my Meze Rai Solos and give the SE535 a run for the money they also only a single dynamic driver. Surprisingly they pack a bit of bass which is surprising. Tiny too so fit in the ear nice and snug. Cable is a bit noisy though and of course it’s not standard MMXC as they have chose to recess it, why use a standard connector and then despoke it. Grrrr. There are ways around it but come on Sennheiser I expect better. But overall happy with how they perform with the M11 Plus.

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Some decent deals on some Focal models at Sevenoaks (UK) :-

Focal Headphone Deals

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Meze 109 pro are next on my list when funds allow.

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The Meze 109 are in a very competitive section of the headphone market. It will be interesting to see how they fare.

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They seem to be hitting above that market they are in though going by reviews.

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I was in Hifonix again this Saturday (14th)just gone, he has finally got a working coffee machine, (cost £5k apparently) tried about 4/5 different types whilst I was there.

Had coffee while I was there, just before Christmas.

What did you listen to?
Such a great selection to audition.

Haven’t really been a big headphone guy, but with guests in the house over the holidays, it was nice to listen without firing up the big stereo.

So I figured the next step was to build a little headphone shelf out of walnut to house the Schiit Asgard that I hadn’t really been using before that. Raspberry Pi running roon goes into the Asgard’s USB DAC.

Enjoyed it so much I upgraded my modest Massdrop/Senn HD6XX’s to some nice Grado PS2000e’s i found gently used on USAM. Lovely.

Sounds great, and I’ve started to use it exclusively in the mornings.

Was gonna get a headphone stand for the shelf, but I decided to make a little hanger instead. Better access.

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You are very modest. The little walnut headphone shelf is quite beautiful and the headphone hanger is a very nice touch.

I also consider the Massdrop/Senn HD6XX’s to be a couple of notches above “modest”. They are one of the best bang for buck headphones presently available. Glad that you are enjoying the Grados.

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Roon Ready on the Fiio M11 Plus with the excellent FH9 great DAP/IEM combination. I am using this more than my main headphone rig

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