Are you going to sell the XS if you get Arya? If you will then get the Arya Stealth. The HD800S is great for soundstage, but isn't as good for music as Arya. The Arya doesn't have the soundstage of the HD800S, but it's still better than a lot of other headphones.

Same. In terms of sound you have exchange soundstage for more details. Overall more bright signature

?

Pads are less than $20. If you search "Superlux HD672 pads" on AliExpress there's a bunch of options.

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I see, perhaps the Sheepskin one would have been a better choice.

Audioquest Nightowls are the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever worn - period, not even close. Weird, hate-it-or-love-it tonality, but takes EQ extremely well. Perfect marriage with the Qudelix 5K.

Blue Ella are some of the most unique planar headphones you can experience. They come with a built-in rechargeable amp, which means you can drive them on anything. They’re fairly comfortable to me, but the unorthodox design means YMMV. Pretty neutral, warmer with the on-board amp.

Neither of these are made anymore, as both Audioquest and Blue left the headphone game. If you can pick these up for $200-300 on the used market, I’d recommend them. Both retailed for $700 on initial release. I’d say they’re both about equal to the Elex/Ananda-tier of headphones in terms of technicalities, maybe slightly behind.

Meze Liric. Had to eq every other closed back, but the Liric are fantastic from start to finish even without eq

I have an edition xs and have been flirting with upgrading to the Arya but from what I’ve read there have been mixed reviews if it is worth it so I have held off for now

Hard to find the proper love for WP-900 here. They have a good following on forum somewhere can't remember but it's there. But not on reddit. True portable higher end cans.

My favorite of those i've tried are the hifiman he r9, just plain bassy fun with a huge soundstage and good imaging. Problem is: it's from hifiman with all the cons and none of the pros

I wish sony z7, denon 7200, monolith m1570c or dt1770 sounded like the r9

In the case of the THX 788/789 and comparing against the Liquid Spark, it wasn't until comparing here that this 'warmth' was noticed, just like what OP noticed. It is what it is.

Going a step further for shits and giggles, comparing the Liquid Spark to a Magni 3 (non +) with a Modi MB 2 as the DAC using a HE-400se. Attempting to volume match as close as possible with a dB meter stuffed into the earcups then sealed to measure. On to subjective listening, the Spark has a slight bump in bass by a dB or two and what sounds like smoothness going on in the treble, subtle but still noticeable. I don't think most will give a shit about the differences when comparing side by side and if you can/can't pick up on them, it's all good because at the cost of this amp you can still have your cookie and a pat on the ass.

As for the 'house sound', I don't have any other Cavalli gear to compare besides a Liquid Platinum to get a consensus on if 'warm/smooth' are subjective/objective traits that is shared across the product line and I don't care to find out but from the articles/reviews and using my own ears to judge with the LS, seems plausible enough. YMMV.

*shrugs*

A lot of the DCA headphones lack in dynamics, in other words they lack the punch and slam of say Focal headphones. My opinion (and that of many others) btw

VC has a bit more impact than the AC. I think the AC sounds more analogue with a bit more natural presentation. I think it sounds more organic than the VC. The bass is absolute bliss on the AC maybe even too much for some people, it is weighty and textured but may feel a little slow compared to the VC. I have Olive wood on my AC which is harder than the default wood that ZMF will release so that can contribute to the speed of the drivers as there would be more decay in softer woods. The suede pads can make the AC sounds cleaner and more accurate compared to the stock pads but I prefer the stock pads.

Neat! Thanks for the tip!

M1570C

If Sennheiser made a closed back HD560s that sounded basically the same (or at least same tonality, maybe deeper subbass extension, it would probably have smaller soundstage) I’d die a happy man. I currently use the 770s EQ’d to shit when I need closed back usage, but I’d love something that I didn’t feel the need to EQ (like the 560s) and that could be more portable (non-detachable coiled cable on 770 😭 it’s great on my desk but no where else) but still isolate nicely. I think I’d like to try the BeyerDynamic T70 - it’s pretty flat aside from the typical Mount Beyer treble spike

from my own take, compressed soundstage and lack of dynamics is the simplest i can put it.

detail is great and everything is soft except the treble

they take eq well and are the most comfortable headphones ive ever worn, which negates most of the con's for me

How does that compare to VC? My focus is female vocal, rap, bass. I have heard the AC has better female vocal cause it is more ‘organic’?

this is what i do

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Hey, right now I'm using the stock DT 1990 Foam, but only because they become sibilant with the Dekoni Elite Velours. If you find the stock 770 pads sibilant, I'd recommend trying the DIYAudioHeaven Paper Towel Mod. It's exactly what it sounds like, just cut out a circle of paper towel and stick it between the driver and the stock 770 Foam.

Paper towel is more precise than the foam because it's less drastic of a change, and you can add as much paper towel as you need until you find the sound you're looking for. It doesn't affect anything noticeably except for the peak in my experience.

I got the oval pleather pads from Brainwavz for the 371 and honestly they sounded pretty poor. I mean, the headphones still sounded *fine* but it coloured the sound far too much, and I need them for mixing purposes. I think Dekoni's 371 pads are specifically engineered to sound as close to 371 stock pads as possible so hopefully I can get those before my current stock pads wear out

What type of foam do you use? I love my DT770 and while I don't mind the sibilance at all, they can get a bit fatiguing in one long sitting.

The single best I've heard is Focal Bathys.

I've tried Aeon X Closed and K371 and both are far behind imo.

I can see someone still preferring to own the XM5's tho, which don't sound as good but have better noise cancelling

Thanks for the eq setup but i have a question, what's the name of the eq software? so i could try it