Yeah that Asgard 3 wasn't working correctly.

One of the first songs I always try on new gear is Superstition by Stevie Wonder. It has a wonderful amount of layers to the mix and picking out each individual sound makes me happy.

Hey I know that band! I saw them live recently in San Diego. The guitarist is super talented!

Give the rad0 a try - probably a used set to save about 1000 bucks. They're slammy, detailed and inoffensive. Super easy to drive too.

Right, but I’d wager it’s more fun pairing some Hifimans with V shaped planars like the 1060C and 1570s.

By the way, would you say the Edition XS is kind of the beginning of that Sundara + Bass journey or do we have to look at $1k+?

Generally, you would want to have matched tubes so that you can avoid channel imbalances (i.e. one side is louder/quieter than the other). So you're essentially paying a fee for someone to test, and match up the closest pair of tubes for the set.

It's entirely optional, and you can always roll the dice, but if you happen to win the one in a million chance of getting obviously mismatched tubes, it would be more of a hassle to get a matching set, after the fact.

Theoretically it should reduce your chances of having channel imbalance issues, especially with older tubes, assuming you’re buying from a reputable retailer. For newly manufactured tubes I wouldn’t worry about it.

Even in low gain the asgard should be able to destroy those cans lol. Most schiit amps are pretty OP when it comes to power

Good luck with your incoming HD58X! I found the HD58X to have richer, more engaging mids than the Sundara, but I did miss the extension and clean, textured quality of the Sundara, particularly in the bass. I think after hearing both, you'll be able to further narrow down what components you want in your "perfect" sound.

Do you have other headphones that you've tested on these amps? I could drive my X2HR to uncomfortably loud (not ear-splitting, but probably at least 85+ dB) levels out of a simple, USB-C dongle that outputs 1V. Sounds like something might be wrong with your headphones (or their cable) if they need such high levels of gain to get that volume.

Try a Hifiman HE6seV2 new for $449.

I think it fits your desired sound (but it needs mods to really shrine): visceral and dynamic with tactile and slammy bass, big stage and awesome detail and imaging.

I heard Mountains and the part you described is incredible. A grand, wall of sound, with huge dynamics and texture.

Definitely recommend building a setup around these insane headphones!

You can PM me for mods and tips. I love these headphones and wish more people would know how crazy they are :)

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HD560s have a typical 40mm driver and they have as much bass potential as a 40mm headphone of this particular type can deliver.

Sonys are a middle sized SEALED headphone. Such type of headphones have it easy to reproduce bass, but sucks at other things such as fidelity and comfort during heat.

The Senns are an open, hifi headphones. They focus on openness, fidelity and long listening comfort. The reason they don't have as much low end headroom is because of the pads they're using. These velour pads are leaky. The purpose of this leakyness is to 'drain' standing waves inside of the earcup and have some air circulation and not irritate your skin. This is paramout for sound quality and long listening session comfort. It's only limitation is the bass. If it's not for you, it's not for you.

The reason you hate it is because you made an uninformed purchasing decision.

only the cheaper hifimans don’t have bass

My biggest complaint with the Sundaras was the lack of swivel. My old noires were the most comfortable headphones I've worn though, not sure if the chassis is different than the aeon 2 closed or not

It'll blow them up in high gain, but normal gain is only useful for the IEMs I've been testing or higher sensitivity cans.

I've got the L30 IIs at about 30% when gaming (Playing Project Diablo 2 right now) and 90 - 100% when listening to music on Tidal on middle gain. The L30 has 3 gain settings (L/M/H) and Asgard 3 has 2.

taylor swift's new album

4tb? So like 10 songs?

That's odd then. The asgard should be able to power the X2HR with plenty of headroom

My thoughts exactly reading this post! To me. it's very hard to listen to any Focal after just listening to my Auteur.

what about 81-82 db

new filters are like 5 dollars and free shipping on shenzhenaudio if you wanna try

My turn to preach (and make your wallet sad).

I read your impressions and likes/dislikes post. From what I understood, you wanted natural timbre, good resolution, precision in soundstage, neutral or recessed mids, and no sibilance. The Auteur will do all of that, less the slam and bass presence (that's just not what the headphone is going for). While the Auteur is an EXCELLENT headphone, I don't think it's the best one in ZMF's lineup for your preferences.

When you get a chance, if you can find one at an event or HiFi store to try, you should try the Verite. Its beryllium-coated bio cellulose drivers slam like planars, but sing like dynamics. Everything is audible and discernible, yet nothing oppresses the ears. They are magnificent.

The only "downside" is that they achieve this comfortably listenable sound signature by "sucking out" the mids. It takes maybe fifteen minutes or half an hour to adjust to the effect, during which time it feels like you're working to listen for the mids you can hear are there, mixed in with everything else. But that's the key: they're still there. They're just not shouting over everything else. Once your ears adjust, the mids settle into place and you'll hear and enjoy them just fine.

And if you want more mids than the Verite offers and are willing to sacrifice some precision and slam to get it, look at the Atrium.

I think it's a combination of shape, size, clamp pressure, pressure distribution, and each person's anatomy. I was wearing my Sundara today and I found that the clamp pressure was actually worst on my cheekbones in front of my ears. The size of the Sundara's earpads places pressure on a part of my cheekbones that I'm sensitive to and thus causes more discomfort.

In contrast, my Shangri-La Jr is vastly more comfortable than the Sundara because the earpad is slightly larger, and hence the clamp pressure is distributed over a larger area, and the areas in contact are different, and those are areas that I am less sensitive to. Also, the SGL Jr has earpad swivel, which the Sundara lacks. This means that the earcup will swivel to more evenly distribute the pressure towards the back of the earpads rather than the front which makes contact with my cheekbones. In that sense, perhaps a headband replacement would work, as it could add the earcup swivel that's missing on the stock headband.

Unfortunately for me, I tend to find many headphones that others find comfortable to be uncomfortable on me. The Philips Fidelio X2HR was reviewed to be very comfortable, but I found it so uncomfortable from both a hotspot and clamp pressure that it made me see stars from wearing it, and I had to return it due to discomfort. The Aeon 2 Closed is also rather uncomfortable and causes weird pressure on my temple, despite not even resting on my temple. Focal headphones in general are incapable of properly distributing downwards weight across the top of my head, and immediately form a hotspot. I guess I have a narrow and pointy head, so many headbands don't have enough curvature to properly distribute weight across my scalp.

beat me to it