Ed Selley
Hi-Fi Editor
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2003
- Messages
- 12,046
- Reaction score
- 5,500
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- Age
- 43
IMO, Hifiman Arya are the best headphones under £1500. I wonder if these take them off the throne.
Having tested the Ayra fairly recently elsewhere, as far as I'm concerned, it isn't close but I say this as someone who has only truly liked a relatively small number of planar magnetic headphones.
"frequency response of 5Hz - 28Hz" I know it's a typo but it made me chuckle, the worlds first headphone subwoofer.
Great review. Would you recommend these to use with Naim Unity Atom??
@Ed Selley how is the Bartók crossfeed feature introduced in the software update? Headphones crossfeed is my new obsession
Off topic but I noticed you were using the Rotel Michi X3 for part of this review. I’m guessing a full review is coming but how any comments on how it performs as a headphone amplifier?
How does the overall quality and signature of the ClearMG compare to the Utopia?
Hi Ed, great review. I’ve recently been looking at second hand Utopia’s after reading all the reviews and wanting a bedside system. However, without being able to demo my concern is a few comments that it lacks bottom end, which as a big electronica fan wouldn’t really work. For reference I tried a pair of HD800S and they didn’t work for me.
How does the overall quality and signature of the ClearMG compare to the Utopia?
And others are firmly of the opinion that all headphones require EQ in order to play back the sound as the mastering engineer intended. I don't know where this anti-EQ thing came from, perhaps someone can enlighten me? EQ is used throughout the recording and mastering process, so why not during playback to account for the variances in the transducer, in the same way that a TV needs calibrating to a standard? And it's becoming increasingly accepted that we need to EQ our speakers to our room unless we go to town on room treatments, which most of us can't do. Perhaps in hifi EQ at the playback end somehow indicates that a piece of hifi isn't perfect, or heaven forbid, that it should adhere to standards that are thankfully now accepted in video playback but seem to be resisted in the hifi world. Interesting that there is also a Clear MG model as part of the Pro range. No idea what the difference is, apart from the Pro appear to be a bit cheaper! The Pro range includes well-respected studio monitors, which of course have in-built EQ controls.Some people believe that you are cheating when you use the EQ. @Steven are you one of them?
I used to be that purist person but changed my mind couple years ago. Tasteful application of EQ to maximise enjoyment is fineSome people believe that you are cheating when you use the EQ. @Steven are you one of them?
new to headphones, and spent many ££ trying to achieve the perfect stereo speaker setup. (neighbours can testify) However just discovered the benefit of headphones (generally listen to music on my own ) would these work with the ifi zen dac, or do you need something a lot more powerful to get the best out of them.
thanks
I have Focal Clears with Topping D90 DAC and A90 Amp, together they were about £1k, and you'd struggle to do any better. Absolute beast of a setup.When I was auditioning headphone amps I tried the original Clears at the dealers. Very comfortable and I did like the overall sound. Little brighter I thought than my Oppo PM1s and would maybe suit some genres better.
Daft idea putting a 3m balanced lead instead of a neutrik. £2.4K is a lot of money for the Arche. Don't mind spending the money for headphones but the amp is just too much.
@yorkshire rose Which pair of headphones have you got? I would recommend going to the Headphone Calculator we designed. Headphone Calculator | iFi audionew to headphones, and spent many ££ trying to achieve the perfect stereo speaker setup. (neighbours can testify) However just discovered the benefit of headphones (generally listen to music on my own ) would these work with the ifi zen dac, or do you need something a lot more powerful to get the best out of them.
thanks