Laowei Posted March 16, 2018 Report Share Posted March 16, 2018 (edited) Given that HiFiMan engineering is based in China and uses parts sourced there, it may be cheap insurance on their part to raise resistors off the PCB and not risk letting the smoke out. Granted that is not the case in well engineered and produced products, like those from Molnir Audio of course. Edited March 16, 2018 by Laowei Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted March 16, 2018 Report Share Posted March 16, 2018 I hope they aren't sourcing resistors from the Shengzen market for a 50K$ setup. Well knowing Hifiman that would probably be the case... Seriously, how much would the upgrade cost be to teflon tube sockets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kung Posted March 16, 2018 Report Share Posted March 16, 2018 white pcb，looks cool... oh，does it have enough gain for the es amp? Perhaps，they have no need of nfb，do no negative feedback amplifiers sound better than those with negative feedback? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitigir Posted March 16, 2018 Report Share Posted March 16, 2018 How come we are talking about The Senior now ? The PCB picture is from the big brother. I don’t think there are any information on the Jr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaWolf Posted March 16, 2018 Report Share Posted March 16, 2018 Well hasn't been broken each time it's been shown? For all we know it's an empty chassis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 12 hours ago, Kung said: white pcb，looks cool... oh，does it have enough gain for the es amp? Perhaps，they have no need of nfb，do no negative feedback amplifiers sound better than those with negative feedback? White PCB's are an utter pain. I switched over for a while and...quickly went back to green. High gain and no NFB is a really, really bad idea, you need to stabilize the circuit. Whether this has enough gain, I'm not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wink Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 On 17/03/2018 at 8:18 AM, Kung said: white pcb，looks cool... (snip) 15 hours ago, spritzer said: White PCB's are an utter pain. I switched over for a while and...quickly went back to green. (snip) ...but ...but.... doesn't the white pcb let you more easily detect where the magic smoke has been released...? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted April 23, 2018 Report Share Posted April 23, 2018 So...Justin knows how to make me do crazy shit so I'm now the proud owner of a set of these. What strikes anybody holding these is just how fucking cheap they feel, they make even the old Jade feel well built in places. So let's start to examine them, I'll take some pics later when I have some time. The drivers are metal (copper?) mesh on a spacer ring. I'll get a better look at them when I take these apart. No solid dust covers on the back, clearly woven nylon so a huge fail there. The earpads are woeful... some odd mix of what feels like fake leather and cloth. They are also very badly fixed to the phones which means the baffle seal could be compromised. They feel ok on the head but are just so fucking cheap looking... They also smell like cheap fake handbags from China aka. a whole isle at Marshall's or HM... The headband is the standard HFM fair with the same fake leather headpad. These cost 6k$ so leather was out of the question? Seriously...no money left over for that? Very Sennheiser in 1991... The housings are aluminum and feel solid enough but they are not a one piece unit as Stax would do it. The back is a separate plate and how it fits with the rest of a the housing is a bit of a joke. No gap on the bottom...1mm at the top. Pure quality here. Now the for the best part, the cable. This thing is so fucked... Now the plug is a clone of the Stax one but they used the wrong pins (look identical to the old Jade pins) so they had to make a spacer which fits over the end of the plug to shorten the pins. Such quality and attention to detail... Now the actual cable is clad in the cheapest tech flex from the 90's that money could buy which makes it look a bit like something which would be shipped with a cheap computer PSU. You can see the wires through the techflex if you push it together and they are super tiny with transparent insulation. Not formed into a proper ribbon either so this is not good at all. I wonder if this cable would last a year with normal use, it's just that flimsy. I'll report later on the sound but spoiler...there are issues I don't hate them. 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaWolf Posted April 23, 2018 Report Share Posted April 23, 2018 Between this and the t8000 you have been duped into over 10k worth of impossible to unload gear ;/ Can't wait to hear your impressions on their sound. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitigir Posted April 23, 2018 Report Share Posted April 23, 2018 Well, for the technicality, it seems very crazy. Thank you sir! Eagerly waiting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted April 23, 2018 Report Share Posted April 23, 2018 I've been listening to them for the last few hours on and off getting to grips to how they sound. The system is a Carbon fed by the Denafrips Ares so just about as transparent as they come. Over all I quite like the sound, they are inoffensive which is something I'm a huge fan of. Any transducer should just get the fuck out of the way of reproducing the music. They are certainly a far cry from the turd which was the Jade in terms of sound so no major issues but still some small ones. The highs can be just a tiny bit too harsh, not like the 009's which are just aggressive. Here this is more of a slight sibilant edge where the recording is not perfect. The sound stage is perfectly find if just a bit distant and imprecise. It's far more subtle than say on the HE90, HE60 etc. and really depends on the recording how much you pick up on it. Bass....well the crap pads are really an issue here as they are just the standard Hifiman mount (i.e. 4 flimsy as all hell clips) and cost maybe about 1$ to make. The bass has nice presence but there is a dip in the upper midbass which makes them sound just a tad thin at times. I need more time with them but over all, not bad. No issues have cropped up, the drivers have no squealing and the coating seems solid with steady volume levels. They are also pretty comfy over all with my melon head. Now the stuff that annoys me...they stink, they stink real bad of that cheap pleather crap. I feel like I'm stuck in H&M hell with them on my head. The earpads and headpad have to go so does anybody know of any replacements for the Susvara? They seem identical so parts should be interchangeable. The cable is too short so the first job will be to replace it. I do have a nice 950 Stax extension which I could fit so that's probably what I'll do. 2 hours ago, SeaWolf said: Between this and the t8000 you have been duped into over 10k worth of impossible to unload gear ;/ Can't wait to hear your impressions on their sound. Don't remind me... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitigir Posted April 23, 2018 Report Share Posted April 23, 2018 (edited) Oh ghost, you are seriously thinking about buying Susvara to swap parts into Shangrila JR. ? The part where there is no dust cover would worry me. If it was priced like $1500-$2,000.....sure.....but for $4,500-$5,000 MSRP..... Even if I covered up the 009, it is just too open and vulnerable for fine dust to fly and get caught into it. thanks for the impressions ! At least the Voce is cheaper and has a proper dust cover in it Edited April 23, 2018 by Whitigir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaWolf Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 Now I am not in anyway implying that they are worth the price, but this does make me hope that some of the fullsize Shangrila headphones make it into the wild for impressions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimL Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 (edited) 13 hours ago, spritzer said: The earpads are woeful... some odd mix of what feels like fake leather and cloth. They are also very badly fixed to the phones which means the baffle seal could be compromised. They feel ok on the head but are just so fucking cheap looking... They also smell like cheap fake handbags from China aka. a whole isle at Marshall's or HM... The headband is the standard HFM fair with the same fake leather headpad. These cost 6k$ so leather was out of the question? Seriously...no money left over for that? Very Sennheiser in 1991... Well, they only cost $3,999, not $6000, so "obviously" there had to be some cost-cutting somewhere. Obscene profit is an integral part of the business plan, you know. Hey, at least Sennheiser used honest plastic - remember those bright yellow foam ear pads and black headband on the HD-414s? Edited April 24, 2018 by JimL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 11 hours ago, Whitigir said: Oh ghost, you are seriously thinking about buying Susvara to swap parts into Shangrila JR. ? The part where there is no dust cover would worry me. If it was priced like $1500-$2,000.....sure.....but for $4,500-$5,000 MSRP..... Even if I covered up the 009, it is just too open and vulnerable for fine dust to fly and get caught into it. thanks for the impressions ! At least the Voce is cheaper and has a proper dust cover in it No, the Susvara uses all the same crappy parts as this one so I need to find somebody to make real leather parts for these. These just stink, badly enough that I don't want to put the headphones on. I mean people who paid 6K$ for the Susvara can't be happy about this or are they all HF sheep without a clue? HFM claim the dust cover is "nanometer" for the best signal transmission but dust will always get through. 9 hours ago, SeaWolf said: Now I am not in anyway implying that they are worth the price, but this does make me hope that some of the fullsize Shangrila headphones make it into the wild for impressions. They are likely the same as this one or at least very similar. Same headband, same cable, same fake leather earpads but quite a bit more money... 2 hours ago, JimL said: Well, they only cost $3,999, not $6000, so "obviously" there had to be some cost-cutting somewhere. Obscene profit is an integral part of the business plan, you know. Hey, at least Sennheiser used honest plastic - remember those bright yellow foam ear pads and black headband on the HD-414s? The MSRP of the system is 8K$ and the headphones are 6K$. Have you seen them somewhere for 4K$? I was more referring to the HE90 parts, the finest quality vinyl used there for everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimL Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 Headamp has them listed at $4999 but Woo Audio has them listed at $3999. Don't know why the difference in price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaWolf Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 4 hours ago, spritzer said: They are likely the same as this one or at least very similar. Same headband, same cable, same fake leather earpads but quite a bit more money... Yea the pictures make the build look the same. I think we are long past hoping that hifiman will up the build quality no matter how far they escalate the price. The drivers for the big Shangri la look to be a fair bit larger and in a housing that resembles the HEK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 10 hours ago, JimL said: Headamp has them listed at $4999 but Woo Audio has them listed at $3999. Don't know why the difference in price. Maybe there is already a Mk2 looming? 6 hours ago, SeaWolf said: Yea the pictures make the build look the same. I think we are long past hoping that hifiman will up the build quality no matter how far they escalate the price. The drivers for the big Shangri la look to be a fair bit larger and in a housing that resembles the HEK. The drivers in these are circular so I guess that is the only real difference. The odd shape of the housings is just for show as circular earpads would fit perfectly. I do have some in mind which have similar height and might improve the sound quite a bit. I just need to get some of those hifiman mounting rings...or just glue the fuckers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinsettawong Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 Hi Birgir, Do you think that wire mesh stators make a difference in sound (in a good way)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 That's a loaded question but over all...no. In theory they should be the best, effectively open stators with a massive open area with none of the inevitable turbulence you get with hole stators. The downside is rigidity, how do you make them flat and make sure they remain flat when they are pushed hard (pun intended... ) . Since Stax are the only company which have tried these and have some engineering standards, let's take a look. So the first SR-X had mesh stators built into the same frame as the SR-3 drivers. They were tiny and had no support which caused reportedly massive issues so the Mk2 arrived very quickly. Then we have the SR-Omega. Large copper mesh on a resin frame and cartwheel spokes to try and keep it flat. Well anybody whose opened up an Omega knows how strong that resin is (it isn't) so after they were reborn (Stax that is) they tried aluminum cartwheels but that clearly wasn't enough given how very different the 007's were. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinsettawong Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 Maybe it’s worth trying to DIY a pair? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 It's always worth it to DIY something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitigir Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 1 hour ago, spritzer said: It's always worth it to DIY something. Like marriage ? And or proposal ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 Always... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin Posted April 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2018 On 4/24/2018 at 7:12 AM, JimL said: Headamp has them listed at $4999 but Woo Audio has them listed at $3999. Don't know why the difference in price. We just found out $3999 is going to be the price, and the official release will be next week. Some pairs got out early, and we were lucky enough to get a couple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.