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Hifiman Edition 6 Headphones


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<old cranky dude mode>As a somewhat OG member of the crew from the original Orthodynamic Roundup thread (started by the true OG wualta on HF), I'm quite saddened by the state of orthodynamics today. They used to be a fun, cheap way of getting into the planar sound and learning about acoustics through modding, guided along by guru wualta himself, without the huge cost of electrostats. You could feel good about getting a good deal on some vintage headphones for like $50, spend a few more dollars for some felt, foam, and blue tack for modding, and get sound on par with dynamics costing a few hundred bucks. Now, they seem to represent everything that is wrong with the audiophile world. Maybe that's why wualta disappeared from HF a few years ago. :( </crank>

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I agree, which is kind of sad seeing how optimistic i was for the hobby when audeze started developing their first headphone, and everyone was hopping on the orthodynamic hype train.

There's still plenty of cheap orthos on ebay, but i guess part of the fun was actually unearthing and documenting all the obscure and forgotten phones nobody knew anything about, like PMB's, MB Quart's and weird Amfiton's.

Not to mention putting SFI tweeters in all kinds of ugly donor-phones, hand-sewing custom ear pads and trading felt across the world with other users (like kabeer, ludoo, smeggy and ericj.)

Those really were fun times.

 

 

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Couldn't have put it better, totally agree. :) On top of that, wualta's quirky humor combined with his seemingly infinite knowledge about lots of different things made that thread really special, along with some of the OG regulars. I feel bad for the people that are just getting into the hobby these last few years. Loving those Jecklins and Sigmas (I acquired my own, natch).... Teams Fuglyphone and Not Too Extreme Tweaking unite! Are those Ergos the AMT version? Really wish I could hear a pair, but most people wouldn't be caught dead wearing one let alone buying it so I haven't seen any at meets. :D 

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10 minutes ago, mypasswordis said:

Couldn't have put it better, totally agree. :) On top of that, wualta's quirky humor combined with his seemingly infinite knowledge about lots of different things made that thread really special, along with some of the OG regulars. I feel bad for the people that are just getting into the hobby these last few years. Loving those Jecklins and Sigmas (I acquired my own, natch).... Teams Fuglyphone and Not Too Extreme Tweaking unite! Are those Ergos the AMT version? Really wish I could hear a pair, but most people wouldn't be caught dead wearing one let alone buying it so I haven't seen any at meets. :D 

OT. Tyll recently found these new AMT headphones at the CES. Looks promising, and a lot more aesthetically mainstream:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/ces-2017-ess-laboratories-amt422-headphone-heil-air-motion-transformer#mktDmhgIUzFv4B09.97

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6 minutes ago, bjarnetv said:

nah, just the regular ergo 2 dynamic version. They sound ok, but not high end.

Haven't gotten rid of them due to their high novelty value ;) 

 

The sigmas were lent to a former friend, who never gave them back and refused to pay for them.

i still miss them...

I'd keep them for the same reason! 

Damn, so sorry to hear. That's really the worst of everything. Maybe you can find another pair one day and a better friend to share them with. I think they're coming back down in price when you can find them because they've become so rare that not a lot of people have even heard of them. The pro bias version with the L-Sig drivers is a lot more balanced in frequency response, if you're into that sort of thing. 

4 minutes ago, Laowei said:

OT. Tyll recently found these new AMT headphones at the CES. Looks promising, and a lot more aesthetically mainstream:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/ces-2017-ess-laboratories-amt422-headphone-heil-air-motion-transformer#mktDmhgIUzFv4B09.97

Very interesting, thanks... not sure why they decided on closed headphones for a dipole driver, but they are the original designers of the AMT so I guess they might know a thing or two. Will keep a lookout.

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Yup, the ESS phones definitely raised a "hmmm this could be cool" flag for me. And right on about wualta, he was the man. Hope he's ok. But then it's not just the ortho thread, it was HF as a whole. HF's sad evolution is pretty typical for a successful board that doesn't quite manage its transition into success right. The board becomes the place to be, all the techies and kids that want to be cool join up, and sooner or later the old farts look around and say "wait a minute, who are all these people and what are they talking about" and then they leave, helped along by management that values sponsorship over content.

When you find a good community, value it while it lasts, because it won't.

Bummer about those Sigmas...

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I was filled with nostalgia and googled fuglyphones... found an epic pic of the two fugliest headphones in existence, together in the same shot! Amazing. And surprisingly it isn't even Duggeh. 

f50a96ef48a905e56edd77fd3eda8cb1.jpg

Third ugliest goes to the Abyss so maybe the above guy could consider getting one if he doesn't mind spending $5000 on a half-finished piece of junk:

JPSLabs_AbyssAB1266_Photo_Main.jpg?itok=

And number four: 

500x1000px-LL-a27bcb4d_floatQA.png

Original Jecklin Floats don't even break top 5 ugliest anymore, amazing how fast technology moves!

Edited by mypasswordis
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13 hours ago, mypasswordis said:

Are those Ergos the AMT version? Really wish I could hear a pair, but most people wouldn't be caught dead wearing one let alone buying it so I haven't seen any at meets. :D 

I want to say Hirsch had a pair, but I don't think he kept them.  I think StevieO might've even gotten a pair.

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7 hours ago, wink said:

I have two Ergo AMTs and one earlier Taket H2 without the Batmanure Batpure tweeters.....  :D

 

....and, NO, you can't have them.........    :P

I would guesstimate less than 15 people in the entire world have both an Ergo AMT and TakeT H2. 15/7.4 billion = you are in the top 2.02 * 10^-7% of the planet!!! You can be the new leader of the Team Fuglyphone HC contingent. 

6 hours ago, Dusty Chalk said:

I want to say Hirsch had a pair, but I don't think he kept them.  I think StevieO might've even gotten a pair.

Interesting... wonder what happened. I think I talked to Hirsch about getting our Jecklin Float 'stats refurbished but I forgot for awhile and never contacted him about it after that. Mine still needs a refurb, I wonder if he had his done.

12 hours ago, spritzer said:

Ahhh the Jecklin QA... we really need to take one of those apart.  Some fucktard on HF is talking them up now but nobody is listening... 

:D yesss please do. $3000 is still too much for most people, including me, just to buy and open up. Especially when it looks like they bent a couple coat hangers, attached some scrap pieces of leather, and then called it a headphone. Probably why no one has done it so far. 

Edit: look at how uncomfortable everyone looks in this pic

7bb20508_ded4b968_IMG_5191.jpg

Edited by mypasswordis
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4 hours ago, mypasswordis said:

I would guesstimate less than 15 people in the entire world have both an Ergo AMT and TakeT H2. 15/7.4 billion = you are in the top 2.02 * 10^-7% of the planet!!! You can be the new leader of the Team Fuglyphone HC contingent

(snip)

Edit: look at how uncomfortable everyone looks in this pic

 

Leadership is an onerous position not to be taken lightly.    :rolleyes: (Listening to Trump's inauguration as I type).

Actually, the Taket is a very comfortable and light clamping headphone.    

Those dudes can't believe how comfortable and counter-intuitive the actual performance is compared to it's visual presentation....  :)

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13 hours ago, mypasswordis said:

:D yesss please do. $3000 is still too much for most people, including me, just to buy and open up. Especially when it looks like they bent a couple coat hangers, attached some scrap pieces of leather, and then called it a headphone. Probably why no one has done it so far. 

I mean the old Jecklin was just a bent piece of plastic attached to some Jantzen clone drivers but the new one looks to be utter shit.  Just look at those "amps" and the "transdyn" or what ever that shit is called. 

Hell even the old SRPP amp Ergo did is better than that shit and it holds the grand title of one of the worst amps ever designed. 

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Wow, I had no idea about the amps. Tried to look up the Transdyn and still not sure what it is, other than ridiculous. Makes you think twice about buying any of their Quad ESL stuff....

Edit: found the HF thread. That escalated quickly. :D Sounds like it's some method of loudness EQ based on loudness contours. 

Edited by mypasswordis
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Yeah the transdyn is an utter BS product but perfect for the true believers.  Get something that you have no idea about but is more expensive and thus...better.  The amps are just chip amps driving transformers so yeah...pretty bloody bad. 

I haven't checked on HF in a while...anything interesting?  :) 

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There was talk of something mk2 becoming something mk3 but I personally don't see the Omega 2 getting the treatment this time if it was already tweaked behind the scenes (pads) per people claiming current production Z3 are good.

On the other hand, I recall Stax acknowledged the tiny SR003 could be more ergonomic so there's hope something is being done there.

But indeed, nobody has a clue what will get released or when...

arnaud

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4 hours ago, spritzer said:

Yeah the transdyn is an utter BS product but perfect for the true believers.  Get something that you have no idea about but is more expensive and thus...better.  The amps are just chip amps driving transformers so yeah...pretty bloody bad. 

I haven't checked on HF in a while...anything interesting?  :) 

thinker had this to say:-

Quote

On the other forum Spritzer said   "Ahhh the Jecklin QA... we really need to take one of those apart.  Some ****tard on HF is talking them up now but nobody is listening... 

 

Actually i don't care what this golden ear fatman from Iceland is calling me maybe he is a good baker i don't know

 

 

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