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GrizzledGeezer
50
Dec 1, 2017
They arrived yesterday, and I'm pleased. They're so good I'm afraid to test them against the STAX Lambda Pro. (The STAX, with its hybrid amplifier and free-field equalizer, has advantages, but we'll get to that later.) I briefly compared them to the Yamaha YHD-1 ( which still commands a high price), but the Yamaha is slightly dark, and has a "hooded" quality. More on that later, too.
I tried driving the HE4XX directly from a Sony D-J75TR Discman (without its tuner/amp/remote), and it could play at a "reasonable" (but not ear-splitting) level. The Creative Labs E5 (another Massdrop purchase), through an optical connection, permitted higher volumes. Interestingly, the Sony didn't "lose" in this comparison. Because you have to jack up its volume all te way, crossover distortion (if any) in the output stage isn't obvious.
Perhaps the best thing I can say about the HE4XX is that there's nothing "musical" about its sound. It seems to be basically neutral, rather than euphonic, which is exactly what I want in any audio component. More thoughts, in greater depth, later.
PS: Are spare earpads available?
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