HEDD HEDDPhone Review (headphone)

[m8o]

As someone with affected hearing from decades of overly loud music [speakers and headphones], I can attest to appreciating what that midrange peak gives. (I've come to learn that I like a 'W' curve to my headphones)

But that distortion. Wtf! ? I sure hope you get another sample to check. That seems broken!

Edit: More likely tho it is not and it just can't handle the volumes I need. I have listened to it for a while and I guess now I know why I found myself turning it down when I was blasting it.

 

[YSC]

70 dB vertical scale and very wide aspect ratio sure hides a lot of sins....

Sure for that, but the bass was much flatter in this (~3-5db down to 20hz) compared to amirm’s~7db? I remember in headphone measurement the bass is very seal demanding?

 

[nhatlam96]

I find these measurements a little different. The bass roll off is less. No treble craziness. No weird 750hz. How are the measurements so different?

 

[amirm]

Sure for that, but the bass was much flatter in this (~3-5db down to 20hz) compared to amirm’s~7db? I remember in headphone measurement the bass is very seal demanding?

Yes, as I noted I could not get a perfect mount on my fixture. The owner just gave me permission to remove the leather band so I may try it again.

Of note, Jude's measurements said that was a prototype he received. So maybe it is different than commercial units now.

 

[amirm]

I find these measurements a little different. The bass roll off is less. No treble craziness. No weird 750hz. How are the measurements so different?

Man, how do you read all those superimposed graphs???

His measurements actually correlate with mine. One key thing to look at is at what frequency the level is matched to the preference curve. I use 425 Hz. He seems to be using a lower frequency which shifts the whole graph. And with it, it makes it look like 750Hz is OK but the area around it are too low. This is a tricky thing about measurements and needs to be kept in mind. This is why I specifically document this but others do not, leading to confusion.

 

[dfuller]

Well, this is interesting. That bass distortion performance is outstandingly good - but what is going on in the upper mids? I know we've seen AMTs in full-on speakers do strange things at high volume (see the Adam T series 4k-ish super narrow, but super high spike) but nothing like what's shown here...

 

[YSC]

Man, how do you read all those superimposed graphs???

His measurements actually correlate with mine. One key thing to look at is at what frequency the level is matched to the preference curve. I use 425 Hz. He seems to be using a lower frequency which shifts the whole graph. And with it, it makes it look like 750Hz is OK but the area around it are too low. This is a tricky thing about measurements and needs to be kept in mind. This is why I specifically document this but others do not, leading to confusion.

Maybe its still seal or amp thing?

I am no engineer but wild ass guessing the amt unit is light and lacks structural strength as a dome or uniformity of force applied to a thin planar or electrostatic driver. For that maybe it need a perfect seal to create a uniform internal pressure response and less turbulence of air inside?

 

[pavuol]

Construction- and soundwise, these really look more like a "beta" version for wealthy brave audiophiles to try out..
Maybe this new tech needs time to mature (at least with headphone scenario), as we had seen in other fields in past. So in fact we need "pioneer premium price buyers"...

Spoiler: happy user

 

[thewas]

Personally I am not really surprised about the result for two reasons.

First its very difficult to tune passively/mechanically/acoustically a driver in a headphone enclosure to a specific and rather not simple target which is perceived as relatively neutral in a headphone, may it be DF, Harman or whatever. There is a reason that some not small companies have been perfecting this for decades and still usually are not perfect, it would have been much easier though with a DSP or even some passive electronic filters like @solderdude successfully makes, don't understand why the headphone market avoids them like it would be something evil, the equivalent would be a loudspeaker market with no crossovers.

Second I am always sceptical when I see manufacturers using "their own" AMTs as a unique selling point as they are actually easier to be produced on your own compared to a cone or dome driver and usually also do not offer any objective advantages.

 

[pavuol]

it would have been much easier though with a DSP or

I've investigated the bluetooth headphone segment very little but I have a feeling it is already present at some higher models..[?] (next to noise cancelling function). Hope Amir get to test some in future.

 

[thewas]

I've investigated the bluetooth headphone segment very little but I have a feeling it is already present at some higher models..[?] (next to noise cancelling function). Hope Amir get to test some in future.

Yes, almost all (irrelevant of cheap or not) bluetooth heapdhones use DSP (although usually not well tuned - WHY??) but the classic high end headphone market still sees it as evil and rather hopes solving the tonal problems with not expedient amp swapping...

 

[Robbo99999]

Construction- and soundwise, these really look more like a "beta" version for wealthy brave audiophiles to try out..
Maybe this new tech needs time to mature (at least with headphone scenario), as we had seen in other fields in past. So in fact we need "pioneer premium price buyers"...

Spoiler: happy user

Nice pic too

 

[pozz]

Personally I am not really surprised about the result for two reasons.

First its very difficult to tune passively/mechanically/acoustically a driver in a headphone enclosure to a specific and rather not simple target which is perceived as relatively neutral in a headphone, may it be DF, Harman or whatever. There is a reason that some not small companies have been perfecting this for decades and still usually are not perfect, it would have been much easier though with a DSP or even some passive electronic filters like @solderdude successfully makes, don't understand why the headphone market avoids them like it would be something evil, the equivalent would be a loudspeaker market with no crossovers.

Second I am always sceptical when I see manufacturers using "their own" AMTs as a unique selling point as they are actually easier to be produced on your own compared to a cone or dome driver and usually also do not offer any objective advantages.

Agreed with your first point.

Regarding the second. Klaus Heinz was Oskar Heil's protege. Heinz was the first to come up with a new AMT design (much to Heil's ire, IIRC). Other AMT designers followed in his footsteps.

AMTs do have some inherent advantages, like flatter impedance and phase, and better power handling and sensitivity. I'm sure I'm forgetting other elements and details. I don't recall the design having inherently better directivity, or any AMT-based speakers with especially praiseworthy directivity either. ADAM speakers weren't very focused on this element until very recently, for example (but then neither was the industry, to a large extent).

For headphones the directivity point is moot so the other aspects are definitely a plus. I think @pavuol was right when he said the HEDDphone design is more like a beta version. Perhaps the tuning involved in pushing the FR to full range causes similar break up related issues as in other headphone drivers and may be a reason for the distortion behaviour Amir measured. The enclosure cavity is also distinctly large and boxlike, and while I'm sure it helps the soundstage that the driver has space, some of the FR weirdness is definitely related to resonance and cancellations.

 

[thewas]

Regarding the second. Klaus Heinz was Oskar Heil's protege. Heinz was the first to come up with a new AMT design (much to Heil's ire, IIRC). Other AMT designers followed in his footsteps.

Yes, I know the history of his north Germanys (Arcus, ELAC) and Berlin studio companies past in which he was involved and respect it, still question though this unique selling point, especially at headphones as it shows, although I understand it from his market(ing) point of view.

AMTs do have some inherent advantages, like flatter impedance and phase, and better power handling and sensitivity.

I don't fully agree there, usually most AMTs have a larger footprint then a typical 1" dome (which shows usually also in the -especially vertical- directivity), the small AMTs for example cannot be crossed at 2Khz while this is no problem for a good modern 1" dome tweeter.

 

[Chuck S]

If you're using 'Equalizer APO':


For more info, see List of Amir's Headphone PEQ filters.

Thanks for this useful compilation. However, for the Focal Clear, the peak/dip filter at 11,319 hz should be +2 db. (You show it as -2.).

 

[YSC]

Construction- and soundwise, these really look more like a "beta" version for wealthy brave audiophiles to try out..
Maybe this new tech needs time to mature (at least with headphone scenario), as we had seen in other fields in past. So in fact we need "pioneer premium price buyers"...

Spoiler: happy user

can I say the hapaper use looks more attractive than the headphone?

 

[Carlos E. Ramirez]

I have a lot of headphones and these are one of my favorites, it's a shame they don't measure well, I thought they were better.
Thanks for the work you do, very informative.

 

[Tks]

I'm stunned. The bass performance I thought all manufacturers were incapable of realizing. Something that flat from a distortion perspective seemed to be an impossibility in my mind. Though unfortunately they had to sacrifice all other frequencies to get it. Like some sort of subwoofer.

Any chance the weight plays a role at stabilizing the entire driver itself to allow it to get this low in bass distortion performance?

 

[Ron Texas]

Very expensive and not so good. I think for now the Sennheiser 800 S remains the aspirational high dollar set of cans.

 

[parimento1]

I bought these based on the excellent reviews, then promptly returned them. The voices sounded hollow and distant and bass, treble and midrange seemed disjointed. I guess I see why.