After coupling these with the Zen Dac 2 with bass boost, I fell in love with these. At least for now, I've put my Airmotive GR1s and Senni 600s away and these are my daily driver. Those over-sized earcups really give my music amazingly wide and spacious sound. What surprised me was the complete lack of smearing on my classic rock collection. I think Hifiman and drop made some magic here. Good review man. I appreciate it.
I have a larger than normal head, the "one size fits all" baseball cap doesn't come close to fitting. Just a slight pivot forward and found a very uniform seal. Great phone for $99!!! A perfect summer runner with fans blowing and head sweat. You have a smaller head, no clamp means bass shy and a treble lift.
One thing I would like to add. The R7DX can take a balanced cable. The Rode does not. Since I am waiting for the MT-604 to arrive, that makes a huge difference. If these could fold up they would be perfect. I concur with everything else you said. Loved this review (well, all your reviews) Also planning on getting the K371 as a budget travel headphone that I could enjoy.
I personally don’t have any problems with the headband, but I have a bit of an Afro. I got mine for $99 and for that I love them as a cheap, comfy, beater set for gaming sessions. But I like to collect headphones so idk if I would recommend them to somebody as their main set.
I'm glad to have read your comment. I'm looking for a secondary wired headphone strictly for gaming that are also closed back right now. And as such I'd like to ask - how is spatial directionality on these in games? Like if someone is on your 7 or your 6 or.... even your 5:30 to be precise - does the r7dx accurately translate it? 👀
I haven't tried them specifically for gaming, but for an affordable headphone, they do a great job of focussing the image and direction of sounds in the soundstage.
For context I have the Ananda as my main open back headphone. I also have the 560s. I bought these and got them at $99. I have the SMSL SU-8s ($199 at Drop) and the Douk P1(Waiting for the MT-604 to arrive) I have a big head, XL in most hats and motorcycle helmets, and these do barely fit, as in almost too loose. They are comfortable but they move with the slightest head movement. As for sound, I am blown away by how much I enjoy them for $99. At that price I think they might be the bargain of all time. Well, audio wise. I should say they still sound good running them right from my IPhone with the Apple 3.5mm dongle.
The headband on the R7DX lets it down. Even though I like the style the clamp force isn't the only issue. The pad depth is probably a bit too short for the headband as it tends to rest on the side of the head and doesn't allow the pad to make the best contact all the time. I headband swapped mine which in addition to a bit more clamp, it has a bit more inward tilt on the cup yoke so the headband doesn't touch the side of the head and prevent the cups from sealing. The bass went through the roof and immediately balanced things out. Before the headband swap Big Boi Kill Jill's triple bass hit was anemic, after it was thunderous. I also wish Hifiman wired the R7DX as trrs on the left cup like the Deva/Deva Pro, that would have made them a great combination with a Bluemini/Bluemini R2R. I don't think that change would have broken the bank either, seems like an oversight on their part.
I wondered about that with the TRRS option too. Would have been nice to give these the option to add the R2R dongle. That's interesting about the headband swap and makes total sense. I've got another headphone that I'm considering that approach with right now...
Great review and comparison! IMO, most folk entering the hobby are WoW'ed by detail and soundstage over tonality. They tend to prefer a bright, V-shaped sound signature. This is of course a generalization, but a decade ago my first 'audiophile' headphone the m50 WoW'ed all the mortals I knew (non-audiophiles). Looking back, I'd never recommend it to anyone as a starter set or otherwise. Vocals were muddy, the soundstage narrow, too much bass for some genres and it was sibilant. I think unless one is into a single genre, most people should start with something neutral like the K371 or SRH440 to build a solid baseline. I wonder how either of those compare to these Hifimans. I love my e3000 and I would love something with the same attributes with more extension on both ends, a tad less warmth and more texture, like the Meze's you are fond of?
I'm yet to try either the K371 or SRH1440 unfortunately so can't comment on those. I do agree that people are often drawn to the extra treble and the perceived detail.it brings. I haven't heard the E3000 yet either so I can't give you any specific parallels on that one. I hope to review more Final gear in the future though
Tough call. They have very different sounds, but both excellent. If you use a mic for comms, Rode now have the NTH-100M with integrated (detachable) boom mic.
