Abyss Diana V2 Review (headphone)

[abdo123]

PS: I agree on the cable front, that's... not for me.

So basically, let me see if I summarized everything correctly.

You're okay buying products off scam artists, as long as it is not obvious that the specific product you bought is a scam?

How could you support such a company and practices to begin with?

 

[diddley]

@Assaf You can buy fan stuff here;
https://teespring.com/asr-clothes?pid=793&cid=103538

 

[Tachyon88]

@Assaf Headfi basically confirmed Amir results in which Abyss said they were happy with because they failed to provide their own measurements in the first place and when requested. So we have three in total so far and 2 of the 3 look more like what was measured here. I have a problem with how they responded more than the measurements, as an owner. I don't see how some people outright dismissing a 3k headphone over poor measurements would make you care so much, other than the fact that YOU like them out of 70 headphones. Its probably the fact that they do this without listening to them too. That is totally okay and if you like them dont let the measurements or peoples dismissal of the headphone keep you from enjoying them.

We would still have no measurements if Amir did not measure them. So he measured what can be measured, not to quantify everything about psychoacoustics that may be sorted in the future.

 

[WickedInsignia]

I'll finish by saying that the debate culture in this forum seems to converge around scoring points, belittling others and personal insults, and not a friendly debate in the pursuit of the truth, and for that reason I'll let you guys do your thing and have fun with my hobby elsewhere. It's a shame because there *is* a wealth of expertise here. Peace!

I have no reason to believe you came here to do anything other than stir up dissonance. Your first post was a direct attempt to discredit Amir's measurements based entirely on subjective experience. Your subsequent arguments are no more convincing and laced with personal grievances towards the skeptics.

To defend ASR: in my experience it is far more welcoming than what has transpired here. I personally don't have a lot of time for the type of subjective fluff I saw in other forums and won't exercise much patience around it. Most others here will exercise more restraint, but some of us know when their hard work is wasted on someone who was never interested in constructive discourse.

 

[WickedInsignia]

I'd bet good money that the Harman research group would readily admit that they have not produced the equivalent of heart transplants, mNRA vaccines, or embryo transplants. Science is about finding *new* information, implying that we don't know everything. To use one data point, looking at Google Scholar, there are 1660 hits for "headphones" in 2021. Over at the medical field, there are 7,730 results for "heart transplant", over 70,000 results for cancer, etc. I hope I don't actually need to cite additional data points to convince you that audio science is behind in our collective understanding than the medical field, or structural Engineering, or Compute Science, etc.

Since I'm here I'll answer to this excerpt:
This is a disconnected and negligible argument. Just because there is lesser perceived volume of research in audio does not mean it is lacking in comprehensiveness, nor does it imply that it relies more on subjectivity. In addition, selective Google results are hardly an indicator of the volume of information available on a topic, it just means that more people have cared to write about heart transplants than they have cared to write about headphones. You're equating search result numbers to our society's entire volume of understanding on a topic. This is lacking in awareness of how the internet actually works.

Beyond that, headphones are built utilizing knowledge garnered from engineering, biology, math and science. Headphone manufacture is subject to the same fundamental laws as anything else. It's like saying that because people search for computer science more than they search for iPhones, the science behind the construction and understanding of an iPhone is inherently weak. In actuality the science used to build an iPhone is not independent from the science used to build medical machinery, construction equipment or anything else that relies on the common fundamentals of technology science.

Lastly, that classic "We don't know everything". This is true, but we know a great deal about what forces directly affect our universe and our perception of it....so much so that we can actually determine the amount and quality of things we can not possibly detect (such as dark matter).
You're suggesting that there are things beyond our own understanding that make a major difference to the way a headphone sounds (contrary to the fact that virtually all sonic properties of a headphone are quantifiable), and perhaps inadvertently that companies like Abyss understand these mysterious forces enough to use it in the construction of a headphone.
Why, they are so well-informed that they have overcome the perceived lack of understanding you claim audio science suffers from!

That, Assaf, is what we here like to call "mystical thinking". I suggest it's something you become more wary of, lest you become the whale that manufacturers like Abyss thrive on.

 

[Racheski]

And that brings me to my main gripe about this whole thing - Amir produces measurements (thank you, those are useful!), and at that point dozens of people take it at face value, and there is no attempt at reflection, or any form of doubt when a result seems uniquely odd.

That's not what is happening, previously happened, or will happen. I can imagine drawing this conclusion if you are new and skim through this review, but what you don't see are the voluminous threads where the ASR community helped Amir develop the measurement methods for headphones.

 

[_thelaughingman]

You can never shake off snake oil believing giblets nor talk sense to one even when you present them with scientific facts that are as glaring as pointing to the sun.

 

[Tachyon88]

@WickedInsignia I think "dark matter" is a good analogy for snake oil cables. We know its there(placebo sound change), but we cant measure it.

 

[WickedInsignia]

The more I come across people convinced by snake-oil items such as expensive cables, the more I'm convinced that many people are broadly unaware of how effective placebos actually are, or how they work at all.
I think many people assume it to be a minor bias that can be overcome with a "trained ear". In truth it's an extremely palpable phenomenon created by the brain that is nigh on indeterminable from fact without proper investigation.

My favourite placebo story is the "migraine pill" test. Here's an excerpt from the Harvard Health Publishing website:
A 2014 study led by [Professor Ted] Kaptchuk and published in Science Translational Medicine explored this by testing how people reacted to migraine pain medication. One group took a migraine drug labeled with the drug's name, another took a placebo labeled "placebo," and a third group took nothing. The researchers discovered that the placebo was 50% as effective as the real drug to reduce pain after a migraine attack.

 

[Pearljam5000]

I'm submitting my deluxe version of Ab-1266 TC to amirm for review. Stay tuned guys.

Well?

 

[FullBright1]

For what it's worth, I've listened to 70~ headphones from $100 to $3,000 including ones that measure well, and to my ears the Diana v2 sounds the best. It's one step above the likes of the Verite, Empyrean, Focal Utopia, HD 800s, and every other headphone I've listened to.

To those that look at this thread and count Abyss out... Trust your own ears.

The issue with the "Charts are God" philosophy, is that this is a myth i= created by people who believe that they can hear though a chart or a graph.
= This is a "myth", as no such magic power exists.
Ears are not Charts, and Graphs are not the Law, regarding SQ.

Here is a better law for you..
1.) If you can't afford it, then don't hate it because you can't afford it.
2.) If you think it sounds good, then it does, and your money is well spent.
3.) A review, is an opinion, its not etched in Stone.

There is a reason that 99% of reviewers disagree with Amir's Chart is Truth, regarding the Abyss DV2 sonic value.
You should discover that reason, and you'll have learned something that matters.
The only people who agree with this Thread's POV< are the people on it, not including the few wise dissenters.

Your EARS are your truth when it comes to Headphone evaluation.
All others need not apply.

 

[_thelaughingman]

@FullBright1 A warm welcome to you, to the internet corner of objective audiophiles that believe subjective justification for poor quality should be called out. Troll away my friend.

 

[FullBright1]

@FullBright1 A warm welcome to you to the internet corner of objective audiophiles that believe subjectivity is not the crux or justification for poor quality. Troll away my friend.

You are claiming "poor quality", based on other's opinion.??? or have you owned this Gear?
Does any of that make you my "friend"?
Does that make me a "troll"?
Be smarter, choose personal experience vs lock step oblivion.

 

[_thelaughingman]

@FullBright1 Question to you is, do you even own these headphones? or are you just fanboy that seems to want to take a side because you seem to be butt hurt over the product being called out for its poor quality. You have only three posts on ASR and all three are on this thread with drivel towards other ASR members, if that doesn't smack of troll behavior i dont know what does. As for being smart, i have eyes and ears that have heard the headphones and my opinions are based off that.

 

[FullBright1]

@FullBright1 Question to you is, do you even own these headphones?.

You're asking the wrong question, as you have not realized that i have not said the Gear is good, nor have i said the gear is a fail.
Ive offered no personal opinion of the DV2.
See, Im not talking about the Gear, im talking about YOU, and you know who you are, readers.

What im telling you.....what im showing you, is that once you have authorized someone's opinion and someone's chart and someone's Website to be your REALITY, then you have become a failed drone, as a person.
Don't be a drone, Reader.
Think for yourself, instead,........ based on REAL WORLD experience, and you dont get that by reading someone's chart, graph, or bigoted point of View.
Understand?

Listen,
I can post 20 Review Links here by people who have owned everything, and some of them LOVE charts, and they all will completely refute this THREAD's Assassination of the Diana V2.
So, if i do that....does that prove im right?
= No.
And im not trying to prove im right.....Im only trying to get you to SEE YOURSELF.

 

[_thelaughingman]

You're asking the wrong question, as you have not realized that i have not said the Gear is good, nor have i said the gear is a fail.
Ive offered no personal opinion of the DV2.
See, Im not talking about the Gear, im talking about YOU, and you know who you are, readers.

What im telling you.....what im showing you, is that once you have authorized someone's opinion and someone's chart and someone's Website to be your REALITY, then you have become a failed drone, as a person.
Don't be a drone, Reader.
Think for yourself, instead,........ based on REAL WORLD experience, and you dont get that by reading someone's chart, graph, or bigoted point of View.
Understand?

Listen,
I can post 20 Review Links here by people who have owned everything, and some of them LOVE charts, and they all will completely refute this THREAD's Assassination of the Diana V2.
So, if i do that....does that prove im right?
= No.
And im not trying to prove im right.....Im only trying to get you to SEE YOURSELF.

Like I said in my last response. I have used my conclusions based on my eyes and ears and it is an informed opinion.

 

[amirm]

Your EARS are your truth when it comes to Headphone evaluation.

So you shop everything without any research? If so what are you doing on forums?

As to your opinion expressed is this a discovery you have made on your own that you think no one else has thought of or read about?

 

[Robbo99999]

You're asking the wrong question, as you have not realized that i have not said the Gear is good, nor have i said the gear is a fail.
Ive offered no personal opinion of the DV2.
See, Im not talking about the Gear, im talking about YOU, and you know who you are, readers.

What im telling you.....what im showing you, is that once you have authorized someone's opinion and someone's chart and someone's Website to be your REALITY, then you have become a failed drone, as a person.
Don't be a drone, Reader.
Think for yourself, instead,........ based on REAL WORLD experience, and you dont get that by reading someone's chart, graph, or bigoted point of View.
Understand?

Listen,
I can post 20 Review Links here by people who have owned everything, and some of them LOVE charts, and they all will completely refute this THREAD's Assassination of the Diana V2.
So, if i do that....does that prove im right?
= No.
And im not trying to prove im right.....Im only trying to get you to SEE YOURSELF.

The way I see it the charts are two-fold: frequency & distortion. Regarding the first, frequency response measurement, you're in for a treat if you like the sound of the headphone Harman Curve, because then you can easily EQ your headphone to that curve.....if you don't like that Harman Curve, then the frequency response will still tell you valuable stuff below 1kHz which you can use to EQ your headphone. And the second, Distortion....well low distortion is just more accurate & pleasant. Particularly the frequency response is the most important to know, but I'll agree that if you're one of the people that doesn't respond well to the Harman Curve then some of the value is lost in headphone measurements.....then you try & find different ways to use the information out there to EQ your headphone. But there's always something to be learned from the measurements regardless of who you are.

 

[amirm]

There is a reason that 99% of reviewers disagree with Amir's Chart is Truth, regarding the Abyss DV2 sonic value.
[...]
Your EARS are your truth when it comes to Headphone evaluation.

Putting aside the made up 99% number, why would you care if all you care about is your own ear? You seem to think other people's opinions matter if they agree with yours. But not, if they don't.

FYI I listened to this headphone so if my ears are the truth, what business do you have arguing with my conclusions?

 

[Tachyon88]

I would recommend looking at the users posts over at headfi to see what you're getting into.