Ben Gramain

...and the FS is out on Head-Fi (along with the HE90 ).

Consider the thread truly crapped upon. I bow to your superior flinging abilities.

Bwahahaha

Had a think, nah. Will sell the 181.

Top *10* Balanced, unbalanced, no matter. Just as long as I don't have to buy the cables from Moon Audio

So many pretty (or not so pretty but just BIG) boxes out now that it is hard to know what to get. I am contemplating a partial return to dynamics. What are the top ten hubbub-causing high-end dynamic amps?

ARRGH this is a bad board for serial editors. Perhaps its good training I don't know. It's not much so I'll think about it. However it's likely to be not just one but two headphones I'd need to sell at a loss so I'mnot particularly tempted.

I'm this close to putting out an FS for them now. Regarding the K81, the de-FOTM'd consensus seems to be that the K81 is an OK phone for the money, and fills a niche to slap the HD25-SP around a bit. Is it worth it? The K181DJ is definitely not what I'm after and given my experience with the 181, I don't see how the 81 could best the HD25. My personal curiousity has been sated I think.

And I presume the regulars know who I am by now. I think it's a classy re-branding exercise

I can't say it's bad in absolutes. But I did pay the most I've ever done for a DJ-type phone so did expect something akin to the HD25 in terms of sonic ability. It doesn't deliver on that front. What it does deliver is possibly a more agreeable tonality for some compared to the Senn. It's less potentially shouty, way bassier (but in that "fast-food car park full of imports on a Saturday night" type of way) and definitely is not as sibilant. It is however as remarked before very much a somewhat wooly, diffuse "Japanese DJ-phone" sound although to it's credit the K181DJ has slightly more definition than most of the ilk. Now some might say it's not possible to tell this difference in quality on the move, but both phones deliver sufficient isolation (the HD25 in particular) in order to make that difference an issue. Of course, the problem isn't just the sound. It's the aforementioned attributes too. Huge-ass cups sir? Yes please! The 181 takes up just a bit less space than the HD25 when folded.

Que? No edits anymore? (EDIT: Ahh I get it, no more edits after a post is added) I forgot to add, it's twice the weight of the HD25, less isolating and less efficient.

I was referring to boodi's post, the last line. The rest... we can argue some other time

Not that usual for me to comment so soon, but I think I've heard all I need to using them throughout today after the accelerated burn-in. The K181DJ isn't in the Teutonic mould for DJ phones. It's Japanese... read: flab, slow response, somewhat diffuse, unfatiguing tonality. And that's with the bass boost switch off. With the switch on, you're bringing in a truckload of enclosure honk along with the upped bass. In terms of build and look, it's also very Japanese... It's basically a slightly more robust (and less willfully OTT blingin') Panasonic HDJ-1000. The bass is more impactful than the HD25 for sure, but the speed has gone out of the window. Mellower sure, but also less capable and more diffuse. Given those major tradeoffs I'll definitely say "OK, I'll live with the sibilance". I'm going to put them on accelerated burn-in for another two days. However I think I know driver behaviour well enough by now to know that there isn't anything major in the way of hidden potential of these cans. At least they're better than the MDR-V700DJ... but then, having paid twice what someone would for the V700's (typically ?75) for the 181 (?150) I'd expect it. I'd say they're reasonably entertaining, but perhaps too DJ-specific to warrant acquisition by the jaded headphonophile. A (caveat: properly driven) K271S is notably ahead in terms of SQ, although they're not what even I'd call transportable. I'm just heading outside to peel the cat off the road and apologise to it.

Curiousity run over the cat. One K181 on it's way.

It won't. At the most basic level, the codec as a whole is not in the same league and neither is the supply voltage. Sticking a pair of Black Gates on the Photo, the worst-sounding iPod to date (my only experience is since the 3G though) sounds a bit perverse to me, that's all I can say.

81 / 181 are different sizes?

Say "Ben Gramain" very quickly It's the new 'branding'

It would be kind of nice if there was more bass but clean, and a reduction in the sibilance that the HD25 is prone to every now and again. But I wouldn't want to give up the isolation.

Diamond buffers? I hope these are not used in the way to polish a turd as with the PPA. Have Headroom expanded their payment options? I did ask a while back if I could pay with a bank transfe from an overseas account but I got a reply with "no" I think.

Music budget is definitely not an issue, and variety thereof is not either.

So I am extremely fond of the HD25-1. They isolate as well as many IEM's, they sound OK, they're lightweight and can be ;iterally thrown in a bag with impunity. However for someone who has had more headphones and you can count on every appendage, I am getting 'samey-headphone-syndrome'. I want a change. The K181DJ is looking like the only competitor around at the moment that I haven't heard or had. I have just cancelled my order for a K181DJ as the supplier is being an arse. They told me it would arrive this week,, and this is after many, many weeks of waiting. A web seller have them in stock apparently and can dispatch next day. I am about to buy them, but if I buy something worse than the HD25 I will be a) miffed and out of pocket because I will probably give them away or sell them to a lowballer. Are they worse? Better? More / less isolating? More/less efficient? More durable? More portable? The questions might as well continue ad infinitum... Advice? Another phone recommendation? What should I do?

It is more likely that the 5G is better than the 4G and will not show anywhere near the same improvement. Certainly the 4G Photo is sonically the worst of the iPods to date by far. A pair of Black Gates isn't always the cure. PS. Spot the cunning name.