NAD VISO HP50

[recstar24]

Thanks. The picture captures maybe 50% of its true ridiculousness. With my particular head shape it really looks like a square, the headband extends out that horizontally, similar to the way the akg1000 looks on most folks.

[shellylh]

Great review Ryan, makes me want to pick up a pair even more... perhaps after I recover from the holiday purchases.

[postjack]

Ryan, does the headband extend out pretty far? I'm always worried about cans that don't fit my big head well. 

 

I love the sound of my Fidelio but despite my headband bending attempts, I can't quite get it to be 100% comfortable. Too much pressure on the top of my head.

 

I've decided I pretty much need an adjustable headband for their to be any hope of a headphone being comfortable. The only "one size fits all" fitting mechanism that works for me is AT. I'm not super crazy about the sound of my W3000ANV but I've kept it around this long because its so damn comfortable.

[tin ear]

nice review and your pic has become a screen saver - thanks.

[recstar24]

Postie, the headband stretches out left to right about as wide as I have ever seen in a can, it's essentially horizontal and square like with the actual enclosures. My guess is the larger your head the more normal it looks like. Pointy heads like me plus bald equals ridiculousness. Comfort wise it's great, excellent weight distribution across the whole headband so it feels really light all across.

[blessingx]

Looks way better than the Abyss. 

[CarlSeibert]

I have a pair of these now. I'm impressed. Timbers are very good, something that mid priced close backs don't usually do for me. Bass is yummy. Resolution is very good across the passband. There's a tiny hint of 10 kHz bump and then drop off, but the treble is really very nice. I'm allergic to brightness and I'm not hearing any. There is a solidity to the soundstage that I really like. I don't hear any ringing or noises at all. Maybe that's a big part of it - blacker background and all that.

All around, I'm happy. They are becoming my portable headphones of choice.

I wish the headband was arched more. The squared-off business is a mystery to me. Maybe they were going for a certain clamping geometry? Maybe Paul Barton has an outrageously square head? Maybe Tyll knows what's up. Not a deal killer in any case.

[acidbasement]

Does the headband squareness affect the comfort?  I've got a bit of an egg-shaped noggin.

 

Sounds like a winner, otherwise.  I'm not sure I need a decent closed can, but I kind of want one, reading about this.

[Torpedo]

What about isolation? Good to fly or train travel? As shitty as Denon's?

[recstar24]

The headband squareness does seem to help with weight distribution and proper clamping and it is very light feeling and comfortable. It just looks ridiculous (refer to pic). My isolation test is go in bathroom, turn on fan, what does it sound like. Pretty good on my end.

[skullguise]

Comfort for me is slightly different.  Part of the earpads rest on my ears, I can't get them over it 100% so it seems.  I also have a short height from ears to the top of my head, and it's not a perfect fit that way either.

 

But still comfy enough to wear for several hours of listening during the day.

 

As for isolation, especially when playing: several folks have said it takes "more" to get my attention when they stop by my cube.  However, there is concrete flooring outside my cube, and I still heard hard heels on it as people walk by.  Certainly muted, but still audible even with music playing at reasonable volume.

 

But I agree with much if not all Ryan says about sound, it's really quite good, especially some decent soundstage for a closed phone.

Edited December 31, 2013 by skullguise

[Torpedo]

Interesting, thanks guys

[CarlSeibert]

I find the isolation to be pretty good, about on a par with generic shop ear protectors.

On my head. The contact area between my noggin and the top on the band could be a little bigger. (Which I think would happen if the band was a little curvier. ) it's not a big deal though, because the phones are fairly light.

[acidbasement]

Cool, thanks for the impressions.

[nopants]

Not sure if this was mentioned yet, but whoever's in the market for these headphones should try them out in person first. I purchased a pair online and ended up returning it because the headband had a tendency to retract on its own, even when on my head. 

[CarlSeibert]

Not sure if this was mentioned yet, but whoever's in the market for these headphones should try them out in person first. I purchased a pair online and ended up returning it because the headband had a tendency to retract on its own, even when on my head.

Good to know. Mine's fine in that regard.

[Dusty Chalk]

Lollers.  I bet that's annoying.

 

"Hey!  There's someone in here!"

[skullguise]

[Dusty Chalk]

I think it's making a statement.

[recstar24]

The headphones look better on my son

[blessingx]

Keep going smaller. 

[wink]

The real answer to the JPS Abyss. (which looks abysmal).

[Rotijon]

I tried the Hp50 today. Damn they sounded nice. Definitely way more comfortable than my momentums. Sounded more open then them to. Couldnt detect too much of ty'll better high's though. Probably need to try em longer.

The build seems really flimsy though.

[CarlSeibert]

I want to make a cable for my HP-50s.

 

Does anybody know the pinout for the 4-pole mini connector? For headphone-only use, that is. Could it be as simple as you can use a 3-pole plug if you don't need the microphone?

 

Then there's the matter of the 6.5mm "collar" around the jack.

 

I see some plugs that are necked down, presumably so they'll clear the openings in phone cases. Like this one:

 

 

or this one:

 

 

(both of these happen to be 3-pole. There are plenty of 4-poles ones on fleabay.)

 

Does anybody know if these are standardized and will all fit the NAD's collared jack?  I have a cable with the second example and it does seem to seat OK, but I can only find the plug on a Thai site that doesn't look like it's set up for international business. 

 

 

[CarlSeibert]

Actually, the ID of that collar on the headphone is 6.9 mm, not 6.5.

And it's 2.66 mm deep.

Also, with a multimeter and my existing short NAD cable (which is three conductor at the amp end and four at the headphone end) I can see that counting from the tip back, the first three contacts match. So a three-pole plug would ground both the last ring and the shaft connections. It seems logical that NAD would use the shaft as ground, which would suggest that a three-pole should be OK, assuming it clears the collar.

But assumption is the mother of all fuck ups. So the question stands )

Update: I found a planform photo with some dimensions in the eBay description of one of the plugs. Using the fine old method of holding a ruler against the screen of my tablet and doing a little arithmetic, it looks like there's three or four tenths of millimeter to spare on the critical depth of the "collar". So, armed with that and the notion that I can just use a 4-pole plug and make a pin for pin copy of the NAD cable, my immediate problem is solved. Or close enough to solved to risk four bucks and a couple weeks to get a plug from China.

Still, it would be nice to know if there's a standard of some sort for 'phone case friendly' mini plugs and what the four-pole pinout for cables with microphones actually is...

Edited April 23, 2014 by CarlSeibert