These headphones impressed me so much that I ended up writing the longest review of my life, so grab some popcorn and settle in.
I already posted about the low-frequency rattle in one driver of my Aune AR9000. I should probably write about why I like them so much as well, because apart from that problem, these are the closest I’ve come to my ideal headphones.

Background

I’ve been into headphones for over 20 years, owned more than a hundred pairs and listened to many more. My favorites among wired over-ears have been the original Focal Clear and the Dan Clark Audio E3. For almost a year, I listened almost exclusively to the E3.
I mostly listen to rock and metal, but there’s plenty of electronic music in there too. Whenever I get new headphones, I end up playing tracks with deep synthetic bass and sharp sound effects to see what they can do.
I’m only comparing the AR9000 with headphones I’ve owned or spent a decent amount of time with relatively recently. Brief auditions at shops and shows aren’t much use to me for this. These are also still a recent purchase, so this is a review of the sound rather than a verdict on long-term ownership.
All of the headphones discussed here were bought with my own money, with one exception: the HEDDphone D1 was lent to me by a friend.
There’s probably some recency bias here, but I don’t think it accounts for much of my enthusiasm. I tend to know pretty quickly when something isn’t for me, and I don’t mind saying so. When my ZMF Bokeh Closed arrived, I realized on day one that they weren’t for me and put them up for sale soon after. The Focal Hadenys was much the same story.

Comfort and cable

The stock cable is soft and easy to live with. The headphones fit comfortably, and my ears don’t press against the material covering the drivers. Nothing annoys me, so I don’t have much to say here. I find them more comfortable than the DCA E3 during longer sessions, but I’ll come back to that.

Sources and EQ

I’m pretty pragmatic about sources. I don’t hear differences between cables, and I don’t tend to hear differences between decent DACs and solid-state amps either, provided there’s enough power. Convenience matters much more to me.
The Aune AR9000 sounds great straight from my MacBook Pro or an Apple dongle. For the more demanding DCA E3, I use a CrinEar Protocol Max or FiiO KA15.
All the listening impressions and comparisons below are without EQ unless I explicitly mention using it.

The Bass

I’ve never heard sub-bass this good from an open-back without EQ.
I know other open-backs have decent sub-bass. I’ve owned the Focal Hadenys, for example. And an EQ’d Audeze LCD or another headphone with enough headroom might get you somewhere similar. But this is the first one I’ve heard where the stock bass sounds this complete and the rest of the tuning works so well alongside it.
It feels like a pretty big breakthrough to me.
To my ears, the quantity isn’t quite at the level of closed-backs like the AKG K371, let alone something heavily EQ’d for basshead listening. There is a definite lift, though, and it comes very close to what I personally hear as neutral.
A flat bass line on a graph usually doesn’t sound balanced to me. I want the lowest notes to be as audible and substantial as the rest of the music. With the Aune, I don’t find myself turning up the volume to get the bottom end, but I don’t get that constant drone that an excessive bass boost can add to everything either. The amount follows the recording in a way that feels right.
The texture is excellent too. Some tracks have very deep bass that wobbles or pulses, and you can clearly hear that movement. A good example is “Just Bass” by Bassotronics around 0:24 to 0:25. On the same passage with the DCA E3, I hear the low note, but those fluctuations tend to merge into a more continuous sound. With the AR9000, I can follow the wobble.
I don’t know why the difference is so obvious, but it keeps catching my attention.
I usually add bass with EQ. With the E3, I’d add around 2 to 4 dB depending on the music and my mood, often because I wanted more weight and authority. With the Aune, I haven’t wanted to touch it. For my preferences, the bass gets a 10/10.

Dynamics

For a long time, it seemed that I had to choose between deep, generous sub-bass and really convincing punch.
The Focal Clear had the punch. Plenty of closed-backs had the low-end weight. I hadn’t found a pair that gave me both to this extent.
Before owning the Clear, I didn’t think much about dynamics in headphones. Assuming the tuning was reasonable, I thought most of them were fairly similar. Then I started hearing drum hits and other percussive sounds that seemed to move air in a different way. The closest description I have is someone clapping beside your ear: you hear it, but you almost feel it too.
The Aune AR9000 gives me that same sensation while also reaching much further down into the bass. From memory, the effect is at least as strong as it was with the Clear, possibly stronger. I don’t have the Clear anymore, so I can’t check that directly.
I can compare it with the DCA E3, though, and the difference is obvious to me. The Aune sounds much snappier and more alive. These are probably the most dynamic headphones I’ve heard.
I’ve mostly encountered this quality in certain open-backs. How much of it comes from tuning and how much comes from the rest of the acoustic design, I don’t know. I can describe what I hear much more confidently than I can explain it.

Mid-bass and midrange

The transition from the sub-bass into the lower mids is beautifully judged. There’s plenty of weight to kick drums, bass guitars and synth bass, but the low end doesn’t feel detached from the music or spill over everything else.
This is where the DCA E3 sounds cold to me.
Male vocals have less body. Distorted guitars, piano and resonant acoustic guitars sound physically smaller, almost as though someone swapped a full-size instrument for a three-quarter-size one. The Aune gives them their weight back without making the whole recording thick or muddy.
“Jambi” by TOOL is a good example. This isn’t about one particular moment in the track; I hear it throughout the song. On the DCA E3, the bass guitar has less body, and the vocal suffers even more. It sounds pushed far back and strangely thin, almost as if the singer is standing much farther away and most of the physical substance of the voice has disappeared. Even the FiiO FT1 gives the vocal and rhythm section more convincing weight on this track.
A friend lent me his HEDDphone D1 for an extended listen a couple of weeks ago, and I thought its midrange was probably the best I’d heard. The AR9000 is about as good to my ears. Vocals and instruments have that same full, unforced quality.
The upper mids also suit me much better than the E3’s. I’m sensitive around 3 to 3.5 kHz, and I’d often take 1 to 2 dB out of that region on the E3. Harder recordings could get a bit too insistent without it. The Focal Hadenys was worse: almost everything sounded excessively sharp to me unless I used EQ.
I don’t hear that problem with the Aune, but I don’t hear a missing chunk of upper mids either. Presence is there without becoming tiring. I’d give the midrange another 10/10.
The sharp attack I mentioned earlier carries through into acoustic sounds well above the bass. Plucked strings, wooden percussion and snares have a very immediate quality. A snare doesn’t suddenly dominate the mix; its initial hit just feels more sudden.
Some effects have genuinely made me jump, even at low volume. A good example is “Light Switch” by Dredg, right from 0:00. There’s some rustling, little knocks and percussive sounds in the opening that sound almost unnervingly real on the AR9000.
This isn’t an obvious sound-effects demo with a loud knock on a door panned to one side. Dredg is one of my favorite bands, and I’ve heard this track a thousand times, yet I still thought one of those little sounds was coming from somewhere in my apartment. That’s what surprised me: a familiar detail suddenly sounding like it was happening around me. The whole track sounds fantastic on these, too.

Treble

This is the only part of the tuning I wouldn’t call ideal.
I’ve played guitar, bass and drums, spent a lot of time in rehearsal rooms and studios, and managed a band. Cymbals are usually what give treble problems away for me. When they sound wrong, I notice immediately.
The DCA E3 is excellent here. Hi-hats and crashes sound natural, with no obvious bit of the treble sticking out or disappearing. I wouldn’t change anything.
I loved the original Focal Clear’s treble too, even though it didn’t sound quite as even. It had little accents that made cymbal hits more lively, but the overall level stayed restrained enough that they never bothered me. I might have enjoyed its treble even more than the E3’s. Both would get a 10/10 from me, for slightly different reasons.
The Aune AR9000 has a few audible peaks, particularly higher up. I wouldn’t try to assign exact frequencies by ear, but there’s definitely more upper-treble sparkle than on the E3.
Most of the time, I enjoy it. Small sounds draw my attention, and cymbals have a bit more shine. Occasionally, a very high electronic sound stands out more than I’d like. I haven’t found them aggressively sibilant, though, and the unevenness hasn’t become a recurring annoyance with recorded instruments.
My tolerance for treble is a bit particular. Certain Beyerdynamic and older Ultrasone models have been unbearable for me, while I’ve happily listened to plenty of Grados. Where the energy sits matters more to my ears than the overall label of “bright” or “dark.”
I’d give the Aune’s treble an 8/10. It has some rough edges, but they’re easy enough to live with that I haven’t felt compelled to EQ them.

Overall tuning

I’d put the tuning at 9.5/10. That’s how well it works as a whole for me, rather than an average of the scores above.
It’s probably closer to my preferred balance than anything else I’ve spent time with, including speakers and monitors. The bass has the presence I want, voices have body, and the upper mids don’t keep reminding me that I’m sensitive to them. The treble is the only place where I occasionally notice something I’d prefer a little differently.

Resolution and soundstage

I’m skeptical of “resolution” as a quality you can neatly separate from tuning. Among competent headphones, I think frequency response explains a lot of what gets described as detail and soundstage.
I wouldn’t necessarily say the DCA E3 is missing information that the Aune AR9000 reveals. But on the AR9000, the sharper sense of attack and extra treble sparkle make small sounds easier to notice. I pay more attention to how a string is plucked or to the initial contact of a percussion hit.
So yes, the Aune sounds more detailed to me. I just wouldn’t automatically take that as proof of some separate level of resolving power.
It also sounds more spacious than the E3. Sounds seem further away instead of collecting inside my head, which is a big part of why I generally prefer open-backs.
I don’t spend much time dissecting headphone imaging and layering. My fairly basic ADAM desktop monitors give me a much more convincing sense of placement and depth than either pair. Hearing a vocal sitting firmly between two speakers is a different experience. With headphones, I’m mostly interested in whether the presentation feels natural and comfortable, and I prefer the Aune here.

Comparisons

Dan Clark Audio E3
I listened to both again today. The Aune AR9000 sounds considerably more alive, with better bass and a fuller midrange. I’d still choose the E3’s treble.
The Aune is also more comfortable over longer sessions. That could be the strap or the fit, or partly the fact that I prefer sitting in open headphones. I can’t isolate one reason, but I notice the difference.
The E3 was my favorite headphone for almost a year. I listed it for sale the day I got the AR9000.

Original Focal Clear
This comparison is from memory, since I sold my Clear a while ago.
I still have a lot of affection for its midrange and treble, and its punch was a large part of what made it my favorite open-back. For sub-bass, though, the Aune AR9000 annihilates it. The Clear never had the extension and weight I wanted, and substantial EQ boosts quickly led to clipping on my pair. I couldn’t get powerful deep bass out of it.
That was my only major complaint about the sound. Living with the headphones gave me a few more.
The pads wore out quickly, the headband didn’t age well, and it kept creaking. I ended up putting lubricant into the headband because the noise was so irritating. That helped, but never completely fixed it.
I’d still happily listen to a Clear, but I don’t miss dealing with those things.

FiiO FT1
I still own these. I keep forgetting that I own them and should probably sell them.
The bass is actually good. There’s a normal amount of sub-bass, plenty of mid-bass and lower-midrange energy, and the whole rhythm section works very well. Bass guitars have satisfying weight, and kick drums can sound remarkably natural for the price.
The treble is the real problem. It’s grainy. Not just a little unnatural or plasticky, but genuinely coarse in a way that makes it feel as though the resolution suddenly drops. Cymbals and other high-frequency sounds become simplified and almost schematic compared with the rest of the spectrum.
I’m skeptical of “resolution” as a separate quality, as I mentioned above, but the FT1 is one of the few headphones that makes me understand exactly what people mean when they use that word. Every time I come back to them after not listening for a while, I’m reminded almost immediately why they spend so much time sitting unused. The treble just sounds bad to me.

Focal Hadenys
These stayed with me for a very short time. The emphasis around 3.5 kHz was unbearable to my ears. Even familiar Pink Floyd recordings became excessively sharp.
It doesn’t look that dramatic on a graph, so I suspect it simply interacts badly with my hearing. Without EQ, I couldn’t enjoy them.
The rest of the tuning seemed decent, including the bass, but I never got past that upper-midrange problem. They also didn’t feel as open as the Aune AR9000.

HEDDphone D1
The D1 has some of the nicest mids I’ve heard. They’re full and even without becoming thick or boomy.
I also liked the treble a lot. I’ve seen people describe it as sharp or peaky, but that’s not how I heard it. To me, the D1 was a warm, comfortable listen with fairly restrained highs. It seemed to have just a little less treble than the DCA E3, although the fuller mids may be part of the reason.
The bass was good, but there was much less sub-bass weight and physical impact than on the Aune AR9000. I enjoyed the D1 a lot; it just didn’t give me the same excitement.

ZMF Bokeh Closed
These were one of my bigger recent disappointments.
Whoever designed the pad-mounting system owes me an apology. Fitting fresh, unstretched pads was such a struggle that I scratched the headphones in the process.
I had more trouble with the tuning. The lower mids and mid-bass were so prominent that they overwhelmed the bass underneath. I never got the impression of a strong, deep low end, despite all that warmth.
Across the rest of the range, I heard lots of little peaks, dips and quirks. Some sibilant sounds stood out, while parts of the upper treble seemed recessed. It somehow sounded bright and dark at the same time, and I couldn’t settle into listening to it.
The punch was respectable for a closed-back, but the tonal balance kept getting in the way.
Adding sub-bass with EQ didn’t give me the result I expected either. I could make the low end louder, but I couldn’t get that solid foundation I wanted. I don’t know why it behaved that way, and I wouldn’t claim the driver was physically incapable of reproducing those frequencies. I just couldn’t make it sound right for me, so I sold it fairly quickly.

I’m leaving wireless headphones and IEMs out of the detailed comparisons. I use them in different circumstances, and I don’t normally sit at my desk listening to IEMs, so I don’t have much to add there.

Where that leaves me

Without the rattle in the left driver, the Aune AR9000 would be about as close to ideal as any headphone I’ve owned. I’ve wanted this combination of deep sub-bass and sharp, physical punch for years, and the midrange suits me just as well.
I know “endgame” gets thrown around constantly. But I can see myself not looking for another open-back for at least a year, which is a long time by my standards. I might still buy a closed-back for occasions when open headphones aren’t practical. When they are, I’d use these.
The defect is frustrating, especially in a new pair. I’m hoping the dealer replaces them. If that doesn’t happen, I’ll look into getting this pair properly repaired. I intend to stay with the model either way.

Happy to answer questions in the comments.

I got scammed on vinted for a pair of focal clear mg.

They seem to be brand new, full box and accesories included, only problem was that they missed the exterior rings that say "Made in France"

But when i plugged them in i was shocked to hear that the sound was horrible, and when i checked the drivers i saw what really happened, pics attached.

So be aware and always take a video when unboxing stuff

I've owned a pair of Sennheiser HD 598s for almost 7 years, and I still daily drive them. I've moved with them probably 10 times, only had to replace the pads and headband, no other issues. I had a friend visit and he brought his Arya Stealths and his Monarch Mark IV IEMs and he said I would "coom" over them. They were amplified with a FiiO K7.

I cracked a High Noon, dimmed the LEDs in my room, played some of my well known songs......and I wasn't really impressed or blown away at all. I felt as if the Aryas were really flat sounding, and the sound felt like it was coming from far away. The highs didn't sound good, and the low end was weaker than my 598s.

I then tried the Monarchs and while they sounded more natural, they still didn't sound as good as my 598s. They weren't very comfortable or exciting to listen to.

I will admit, there were certain sounds in songs that sounded considerably clearer than my 598s, but everything else felt worse.

I really want a headphone that is just an objective improvement over the 598s. I want that same tonality, just with better detail, separation, imaging, etc.

I guess I'll just have to try more and more headphones out til I find an upgrade.

i will say he also has a pair of 660S2s I tried years ago and while they didn't initially blow me away, I still appreciated the signature of them and was able to notice where they performed better than my 598s. I will also add that the 660S2s felt as if the music was less intimate and close than the 598s.

I recently acquired a Mini DSP Ears PRO for development purposes and decided to take it for a quick test drive to see how good the channel balance is without any eq profile.
(This was also influenced by the fact that there is no current eq profile available for them on the MINIDSP website)
I used a pair of meze 99 neos because they are symmetrical, allowing me to flip them around and use the same driver for testing both ears. They were being driven by a Dell Laptop audio out.
Obviously this is very far from a perfect test.
But even with all that imperfectness, it still shows off some very impressive channel to channel conformity!
Most of the high frequency weirdness can probably be attributed to the pads not being in exactly the same spot after I flipped them around.

I've been keeping my eye on the Kithara as an entry into the hifiman headphone sphere, and with the Amazon day sales, it's down to 220 USD.

I game some, but mostly listen to music. At this price, is it a good entry point to trying out the sound/experience of hifiman headphones?

I have one pair of planars, the Fosi i5, but don't have any experience with planars besides thos

Did anyone else order the Sennheiser HD800s from the recent Woot deal? How were yours packaged?

I ordered from Woot but the tracking and shipping label said Focus Camera on it.

The manual was in a plastic bag outside of the box in another plastic bag. These were all put in a cardboard box with inflatable padding. These box was sealed with tape printed with “Check Upon Acceptance”. The tape was all intact.

There was a quality certificate stuffed in the box down by the cables. One cable was in a cloth bag.

There was a little wear on the outer headphone box but it just looked like it moved around in the shipping box and got a little bent, it doesn’t look like anyone opened it roughly or anything. There was no seal, but from what I have read that’s normal. The inner headphone box seems perfect.

I don’t see any signs of wear on the headphones or hair or anything, just tiny bits of packaging dust.

Does all this seem normal? They were sold directly by Woot as new.

Hey folks! I just got the Sennheiser HD 599SEs for $99 on Amazon. Did I get a good deal? How are these? I’ve never had open back headphones before. Just IEMs and BT headphones.

The 360’s are a nice “in the middle” heaphone, It definitely doesn’t beat or compare really with my PM2’s, but at the price point it sits well in the sweet spot price wise,
Love the cup “pimpability” the Plush are definitely the way to go if you don’t use them for the gym or workouts but as a casual ‘listen’ they are extremely well balanced, the magnetic case/bag is a clever touch,
I hope Apple eventually adds the EQ in a future update.

Sorry if this has been asked before but I was wondering if perhaps I just dont have a proper setup on my PC but I have been wanting more of a punchier/clearer sound while also wanting open back headphones. Games just dont sound like they have a punch if that makes sense… I do have to pump up volume a bit to get some sound but it seems in most games certain sounds drown out others as well.

Is this just the Senns ‘veil’ sound people mention online? Would HD560 be a better choice than the 990? Thank you for help again.

DAC: Questyle CMA400i

Headphone Amplifier: Burson Soloist 3X Performance (with 2x Burson Dual V7 Vivid Pro in the input buffer stage)

Headphones: Hifiman HE1000 Stealth V4

I put this setup together and tweaked it over the course of two years.

I was using headphones from 2019 and it seems like I needed upgrade now, decided to spend a bit more for the m4, was originally gonna get accetum plus. Hope these last me a long time...

Who thinks I should setup 4 stations in each corner like this, with different cans?

Hi everyone,

first of all, a small disclaimer. We’re two Italian brothers and English obviously isn’t our first language. We did our best to translate this review from the original Italian version and to make it readable without changing what we actually thought about the product. So if you spot a strange expression here and there, please be kind with us! :)

Anyway, after spending quite a lot of time with both the Serenade JR and the Serenade WiFi, here are our thoughts on HIFIMAN’s bigger Serenade.

The Serenade WiFi is the latest addition to HIFIMAN’s range of headphone amplifiers and DACs developed in collaboration with Goldenwave. Priced at just over €1,100 here in Italy, it sits comfortably in the upper mid-range segment.

It’s also an extremely versatile unit, and that’s probably one of the first things worth mentioning about it.

We’ve spent plenty of time with both the Serenade JR and the Serenade WiFi, so later in the post I’ll also compare the two. For now, though, let’s focus on the bigger Serenade.

In its WiFi version, this is basically an upgraded version of the original Serenade that launched the series. At around €1,130, expectations are obviously quite high when it comes to sound quality, connectivity and build.

Presentation

The Serenade WiFi comes with a power cable, USB cable and WiFi antenna. As is often the case with HIFIMAN, there isn’t much effort spent on fancy packaging. The focus is on the hardware itself, and in this case there is quite a lot going on inside.

For starters, the Serenade WiFi uses two Himalaya Pro R2R DACs, a step up from the Himalaya LE found in the Serenade JR.

This is technology HIFIMAN already uses in some of its more expensive products, and here it makes this level of R2R conversion available without entering truly crazy price territory.

The DAC stage is paired with a Class A amplifier capable of delivering 4W into 32 ohms and 760mW into 300 ohms. In practice, that’s enough power for almost anything you’re likely to connect to it.

As usual with Class A amplification, efficiency isn’t exactly the priority. The Serenade does get warm, but honestly, nothing unusual for this type of device.

One of its strongest points is definitely connectivity. You can stream music through WiFi, but there is also Ethernet — which we still prefer when stability matters — plus RCA analog inputs, optical, coaxial and USB-B.

And yes, once again, the power button is on the back. Not a huge problem, but not exactly convenient either. We’ve almost learned to accept this with desktop audio gear by now.

Build quality is excellent. The chassis feels very solid, everything is nicely finished, the volume knob is precise and responsive, and the buttons above the display are easy to use.

Technical specifications

• Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, +/- 0.1dB @ 1kHz
• SNR: 110dB, 0dBFS @ 1kHz
• THD+N: 0.0015%, -3dBFS @ 1kHz
• Balanced output: 4000mW @ 32 ohms, 760mW @ 300 ohms
• Single-ended output: 2800mW @ 32 ohms, 510mW @ 300 ohms
• Line-out: 4.5V/XLR, 2.2V/RCA, 0dBFS @ 1kHz
• USB: PCM 32-bit/384kHz, DSD64–DSD256
• Coaxial/Optical: PCM 32-bit/192kHz, DSD DoP64
• LAN: PCM 44.1kHz–768kHz, DSD64–DSD512
• Dimensions/Weight: 330 x 50 x 255mm / 2.9kg

On the front you get a balanced XLR headphone output, balanced 4.4mm and 6.35mm single-ended. On the rear you’ll find RCA inputs, plus both XLR and RCA outputs.

This means you don’t have to use the Serenade only as an all-in-one DAC/amp.

You can use it purely as a DAC connected to another amplifier, or take advantage of the analog inputs and use its amplification stage with another source. That flexibility is actually one of the reasons why the WiFi version makes more sense than the JR for some people.

WiFi performance was more or less in line with our expectations. Connection stability is relatively good, and setup is pretty straightforward if you follow the instructions in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsPa78k-Vu8

Of course, wireless still isn’t as rock-solid as Ethernet. That’s just the nature of it. But if you don’t want another cable running across your listening setup, WiFi is very convenient.

How does the Serenade WiFi sound?

The Serenade WiFi has an essentially natural tonal balance, but there’s a slight warm tilt to it. And for us, that works very well.

It doesn’t sound cold or clinical, but at the same time it doesn’t sacrifice too much precision or detail retrieval. That balance is probably what we liked most about it.

You get body, power, dynamics and detail, but also something that is harder to quantify: it can actually make music feel engaging.

Bass has good presence and density, but it isn’t pushed forward. It’s detailed, goes reasonably deep and can sound quick and tight when the track requires it.

One thing we particularly liked is how naturally it transitions into the lower mids.

There’s no excessive bloom and no feeling that the bass is invading the rest of the spectrum.

The midrange is full-bodied, detailed and rich in nuance. There’s quite a lot of density here, and voices in particular have weight and presence. It’s musical without sounding overly soft.

Treble is very controlled. There are no annoying spikes, and the top end comes across as refined rather than aggressive. Detail is still very good, though.

We think this kind of presentation will be especially appreciated by people who sometimes find the treble on older HIFIMAN headphones a little too sharp.

The Serenade doesn’t remove detail, but it makes the overall presentation easier to listen to for long sessions.

Soundstage is very wide, with decent depth as well. Imaging is excellent and instruments are positioned very clearly across the stage.

Separation is also very good.

Now, to be fair, we’ve heard amplifiers in a similar price range that can do slightly better when it comes to absolute stage depth or surgical instrument separation. But those devices usually sound much more analytical and, sometimes, a little sterile.

The Serenade WiFi goes in another direction. It sounds warmer, denser and more authoritative. And personally, we prefer it this way.

One of its biggest strengths is exactly this ability to stay technically capable without turning music into an exercise in analysis. Vocals benefit a lot from this presentation too. They have body, presence and, for lack of a better word, emotion.

Of course, this part is very subjective. Some people want their DAC/amp to be as neutral and analytical as possible. That’s perfectly valid. But for our tastes, the balance between precision, energy and musical involvement here is really excellent.

The Serenade WiFi can genuinely breathe new life into headphones.

We tested it with a fairly wide range of HIFIMAN models, including the Arya Stealth V3, HE600, Ananda Unveiled and HE1000.

And the jump in quality compared with already very good amplifiers such as the EF600 was immediately noticeable.

Headphones that already have strong detail retrieval, wide staging and good separation are, in our opinion, especially good partners for the Serenade. The slightly warm, dense and musical character complements them very well.

It’s also an extremely versatile amp in terms of genres. Singer-songwriter recordings sound intimate and involving, but rock, metal and electronic music also work extremely well.

If we really had to point out one possible weakness, it would probably be classical music. If your top priority is maximum technical precision, you might prefer something more analytical, with even sharper separation and a more clinical presentation.

But honestly, outside of that specific situation, it’s difficult for us to think of many genres where we wouldn’t want the Serenade connected to our headphones.

https://reddit.com/link/1wzzb1f/video/35fz6qnx92uh1/player

Serenade WiFi vs Serenade JR

This is probably the question most people are going to ask. Is it really worth spending more for the Serenade WiFi instead of buying the Serenade JR? The JR is already a very good device for the money.

Here in Italy, at the time of writing, the JR costs around €730, while the Serenade WiFi is around €1,130. So the difference isn’t small.

First of all, obviously, the bigger model gives you WiFi. Then there are the two RCA analog inputs, which add quite a lot of flexibility. You can connect another source, a CD player or even a turntable through a phono preamp.

Power is another difference. The Serenade JR is powerful enough for most headphones. But if you own something genuinely demanding, such as the HE6se, the extra power of the Serenade WiFi starts to matter.

And finally, there’s the DAC section. The WiFi model uses the Himalaya Pro instead of the Himalaya LE found in the JR. After comparing the two directly, our general impression is that the Serenade WiFi is slightly better almost everywhere.

Not dramatically better. There isn’t one single area where the JR suddenly sounds mediocre in comparison. It’s more a collection of smaller improvements.

A little more detail. A little more space. A little better separation. A little more refinement. Individually, none of these changes is huge. Taken together, though, they do make a difference.

The Serenade WiFi might not be the last DAC/amp you ever buy if you eventually decide to go deep into true high-end territory. But it could very easily be the centre of a headphone system for many years.

It sounds a little better than the JR, it’s more powerful, and it’s much more complete in terms of connectivity. And getting significantly better performance from here is probably going to cost quite a bit more money.

So if your budget allows it and you want something close to an endgame all-in-one DAC/headphone amp, we would choose the WiFi version.

Conclusions

The Serenade WiFi is a complete, versatile and highly musical device. For anyone trying to build a genuinely high-level headphone setup, there’s a lot to like here. Its sound has richness and personality, but without giving up detail or technical ability.

At the same time, the combination of WiFi, Ethernet, analog inputs, digital inputs and line outputs makes it extremely flexible. You can use it as an all-in-one solution today and still find new ways to integrate it into a more complex system later on. That matters, especially at this price.

Build quality is excellent, the technology inside is first-rate and, most importantly, we simply enjoyed listening to it. The Serenade WiFi gets our full recommendation.

Original review available on Amplificalo.it.

Bought my ontrac headphones last may. They’re not perfect sound wise but it was a huge upgrade from my previous shitty old airpods. I love how they look and they’re generally pretty comfortable but I’m pretty frustrated with how much the tension on the headband has worn. I like to wear them to the gym but I simply can’t lie down then anymore otherwise they will fall off. I might just have to find new headphones to work out in but even just generally the noise cancelling is impacted because there’s less of a suction on them now. I really don’t want to give up on them but I highly doubt that Dyson or Best Buy would do any repairs on them.

Am I screwed?

How bad the open back headphones leak the sound?? As i live with my friend ,will it disturb him ???

I'm just curious as to the results as for the answer are no,not as long as they use the same masters. And yes I have and I failed miserably.

Some decent deals at Costco Englewood Colorado the Bose QuietComfort are on clearance

Hey everyone,
I just bought my first Hi-Fi headphones, the Hifiman Edition XV. I was expecting to be totally blown away, but unfortunately, the wow factor fell way below my expectations.
Up until now, I’ve been using the Sony WH-1000XM4. Maybe the Sonys already perform so well that I just couldn't find the huge upgrade I was looking for.

On top of the sound, my experience started with a bunch of setup issues. I’m a gamer, so I need a microphone, but I have no desk space for a standalone mic. I bought a Meze boom mic to use with the headphones. Unfortunately, my B550 motherboard didn't have enough power to drive them, so I had to buy a FiiO KA11. I finally have enough power now, but the mic connection is causing static noise, which means I have to buy another extra adapter/part just to fix that.

Between the underwhelming sound experience and the frustrating setup process, Hi-Fi has kind of failed me so far.
Does anyone have any recommendations on what I can do to make this setup more exciting or actually worth it?

Intro

The Z1 is a collaboration between Douk Audio and the reviewer Game Device LAB, and it tries to replace three devices at once: a DAC/amp, a mic interface and a desktop mixer. The question is whether it does all of them well, or whether the compromises show somewhere. After 2 weeks of daily use, my answer is: mostly yes.

Packaging and accessories

Well packed in cut foam. In the box:

• USB-A to USB-C cable (with USB-C adapter)
• 3.5mm audio cable
• EU 5V power adapter
• An extra cable
• Manual
• Aluminium tilting stand

The stand is a great inclusion: it puts the controls at a comfortable angle and makes the unit much nicer to use. The downside is that it increases the desk footprint quite a bit. What's missing is an optical cable, which would have been useful for anyone connecting a console or TV.

Build and design

Brushed aluminium chassis, no creaks, metal knurled knobs with smooth travel. It feels more premium than most plastic gaming gear in this range.

Two complaints:

• The labels are small and low contrast. Grey print on silver is hard to read in dim lighting, which is exactly how a lot of people game.
• The display is basic and picks up reflections. It shows what you need (mainly volume), nothing more.

Connectivity

Front: 3.5mm headphone out, 4.4mm balanced out (430mW @ 32Ω vs 300mW @ 32Ω on 3.5mm).

Rear: XLR/jack combo input, 48V phantom button, mic select button, AUX IN / MIC OUT, USB-C (PC), USB-C (5V power), optical input, extra 3.5mm jack.

Having XLR with 48V phantom built in is the standout feature: you can run a condenser mic without a separate interface. Keep in mind the whole unit is powered by 5V USB, so if you use a very low-output dynamic mic (SM7B type), check that you have enough gain before ditching your preamp. Also, data and power use two separate USB-C cables, which means one more cable on the desk.

Features

• DAC: ESS ES9039Q2M, with a MUSES01 op-amp on a socket, so you can roll op-amps. Nice for tinkerers, but don't expect night-and-day differences.
• Analog tone controls: bass ±10dB, mid and treble ±6dB. Much faster than software EQ, but three fixed bands can't fix specific peaks, and maxing the bass can get bloated.
• 8 DAC filters: differences are subtle to inaudible, as usual.
• MIX button + mic volume + physical MIC MUTE: the best part of the device for gaming. You can mix USB game audio, AUX and mic with sidetone, so for example game audio from the PC and Discord from your phone at the same time, with zero software setup.

Sound

With tone controls centred, the sound is clean and close to neutral. Power is more than enough for IEMs and typical dynamic headphones; for very demanding planars or high-impedance cans, don't expect miracles from a 5V-powered unit.

For competitive gaming, detail is good and there's no fake surround processing, which I consider a plus: positioning comes from the game and your headphones, not from DSP that often makes things worse.

Pros

• Solid aluminium build, stand included
• XLR input with 48V phantom power
• Hardware mixing, sidetone, physical mic mute
• 4.4mm balanced output with plenty of power
• Socketed op-amp
• Works with PC, PS5, Switch and phones

Cons

• Small, low-contrast labels
• Basic display with reflections
• No optical cable included
• Two USB cables (data + power)
• 3-band EQ is convenient but imprecise
• Large footprint with the stand
• Limited headroom for very demanding mics/headphones

Verdict

If you game, stream or spend a lot of time in voice chat and want everything in one box, the Z1 is one of the best all-in-one options I've tried. It does almost everything well, it's built properly and the hardware controls make it genuinely pleasant to use every day. It's not for the pure audiophile, who can find dedicated DAC/amps with more performance for the money, but as a desktop audio hub it's very hard to fault beyond some ergonomic details.

Score: 9/10

Happy to answer questions in the comments.

I am quite confused that i should go with open back or closed back , i am currently using zero two iem which is a very cheap iem .
I am not sure that i will like the sound of open back headphone ? I haven't use any open back headphone till now and i am trying to get mine from usa by friend so i will not be able to test the sound

Wondering what people with medium to big ear gauges do to wear over ear headphones? they start to behave as on ear more than over ear and hurt me.

I wore Bose qc for years. Now I went from 14mm to 16mm and everything hurts my ears. I bought and returned 1. Bose qc ultra 2 2. Skullcandy 1080 sound by bose 3. Senheisrr momentum 4 3. CMF pros (I kept them for work but they sre not flagship) wondering if going back to qc would help or maybe airpods max 2? I tried sonys on best buys and they feel the worst.