Bottlehead Forum
Bottlehead Kits => Mainline => Topic started by: ToneDeaf on August 15, 2018, 10:50:24 AM
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I'm new to headphones. I was waiting for the Senn. HD820 to come out. Then I was going to get them and a mainline. But the Mainline came up on sale so I bought it, and then got a pair of Senn. HD280's untill the HD820 came out. Now, I am believe it or not, very impressed with the sound of the HD280's .
There are, as expected, many contrary reviews coming out about the HD820's.
I can't find any place that sells high end headphones anywhere in my area. I mean anywhere. So before I jump into anything sight unheard, I'd like some opinions on different headphones with the mainline. My first choice would be the Senn HD820, but there is the Audeze LCD-XC, the Mr. Speaker Ether Flow C, and the Fostex TH900 II. I hope I got them all correct. I know the mainline works great with the Senn. HD800, but I need a closed back.
So lets have some opinions. On any phones, not just the ones mentioned. Thank you all very much.
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What part of the world do you call home? There may be a headphone meetup that you can attend to get a more general sense of what you like. Headphone preferences do depend a little bit on what you listen to the most, but I don't think you can go wrong with the HD-820 or a used set of HD-800S.
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I use Ether Flow C's. An upgrade from my Senn 600. I'm very happy with this pairing of the Mainline, but headphones are all so different, that for this kind of money you really should try to attend a headphone meet or show.
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I'm in Lancaster, Ca. That's about an hour in a half north east of L.A. I wish I had gone to Can Jam L.A. But it's a long drive and it was raining that weekend, so I didn't make it.
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Audio Element in Pasadena has some of the manufacturers you mention (but not all.)
Disclaimer: I am not associated with Audio Element, though I did buy a turntable from them.
Mary
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Thank you Mary. I will check it out.
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I use Beyer T90, DT1350, T1's 2nd Gen and Senn 600's all work wonderfully with the Mainline...if your on a budget the senn 600 for $280+- on Amazon is a great buy until you can save up for Senn 800s etc..
Alex
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I'm interested in this info as well. I've ordered a Mainline and would like to achieve the most synergistic pairing. Here is a list of the cans I have on hand: HD600 (which I use with my Crack/Speedball), Audeze LCD2C, Grado GS2000e, Grado RS2e, Oppo PM-3. I do wonder how the HD800S might sound, but can find little info about its use with the Mainline.
Joe.
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If you make it up to San Francisco, there’s a Sennheiser store where you can test most of their cans out. On their equipment, but still. I tried out the 820 there last week.
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The 800's are great with the Mainline. 820's aren't as quiet as other closed backs though. Still great but they are better at keeping outside noise out than inside music in.
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Get yourself to Torrance. The Source AV has a large selection of headphones, including many high end models. I made the pilgrimage last weekend and I spent a few hours there listen to stuff, including the HD820. Personally, I though the 820 was POS. It sounded like the midrange was echoing inside the cans. Yuck. Really, I would buy HD820 for $24, let alone $2400
For closed, I use Ether C 1.1 Fostex TH900 (with some MrSpeakers doggie treats inserts), or when I have no good reason, DT770. My wife like the HD598c, which I thing sound good.
For open I use the Utopia, the PMx2 (v1), MassDrop HD6xx (unmodded) or the Koss ESP950.
98% of the time I use the Utopia. IF I didn't have the Utopia I would probably use the TH900, just for the fun factor. The HD6xx, however, is excellent.
At work I use a home made SennGrado.
All sound great with the Mainline, except of course the ESP950. If you need isolation, the TH900 isn't great. If you are just trying to avoid a little sound leakage, the TH900 might OK.
The Ether C is very good as well, but for some reason it doesn't get any head time. Hell, nothing gets head time next to the Utopia.
For my tastes, what I have is what I consider the best for me. I've tried every other TOTL headphone, including HiFiman, Senn, beyer, Abyss, Sony, and Grado.
I have very little head time with the ZMF headphones. I tend to think Zach's stuff is warm, and I don't lean that way. You might like ZMF, and he sells some closed cans (I think). Also, if you like warm, try the TOTL Sony.
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I'm interested in this info as well. I've ordered a Mainline and would like to achieve the most synergistic pairing. Here is a list of the cans I have on hand: HD600 (which I use with my Crack/Speedball), Audeze LCD2C, Grado GS2000e, Grado RS2e, Oppo PM-3. I do wonder how the HD800S might sound, but can find little info about its use with the Mainline.
Joe.
I recently added a Mainline to my setup. I've had a Crack with Speedball for a few years. I have a pretty big collection of headphones from the Massdrop Senheisser 6XX and Sennheiser 600 which I bought for the Crack. I'm a long time Grado fan and I tried the planar magnetic world with the Mr Speakers Aeon Flow.
I can't say that other than the Sennheiser / Crack synergy which is all down to impedance, I don't think there's the same kind synergy with the Mainline, just differences in . Headphones are big on personality and much easier to switch out than speakers. So I think the advice here is very good. First listen to a variety of headphones, then try them out with a particular amp.
The Mainline is not the highest power headphone amp out there, so I tend to like my Grados or the Sennheisers when going louder, but the Aeons are incredible for listening really deeply in a mix at more moderate levels.
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My mainline will power the Ether C to levels too high to listen to. Might not power the HE-6, but should do fine with anything else.
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@jjvornov, thank you for your insights; very helpful. Like you, I really like the way the Sennheiser -- HD600s in my case -- sound with the Crack/Speedball. I'd like to bypass as much trial and error as possible and arrive at an end-game solution with the Mainline, if possible. I'm intrigued by the HD800S. Without occasion to audition a variety of phones, other than what I have on hand, it's difficult to know whether this might be a good match. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.
Joe.
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My Mainline and my HD800 are exclusive to each other now. I have the HD600 - not sure why they just sit in a box. I also have the Ether C Flow. I see a few people in the thread say the later sounds good with the Mainline but it's miles away from the HD800 with this amp. ( I actually sat or a few hours comparing them the other night ). In my opinion the pairing doesn't allow either the Ether C Flow or the Mainline to shine to their fullest. If I had to give up the HD800 I'd bring the HD600's out of hibernation. Not sure why this is ...
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I had the same question about what headphones. I got an open box deal from headphones.com. Focal Clear were 35% off. To me, they sound great. Headphones.com also have a good return policy if you don't like them.
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Well.....I have had these 1350's now for almost 5 years!!!
They have been sitting here mostly unused for years as other Beyers, LCD. Grados have come thru the door...
So tonight for some reason I said "hey self..you never have tried these 80 ohm cans with your Bottlehead Mainline!:...."
So here I am listening with them once again and boy what a nice homecoming!
They are working so very well with the Mainline on low impedance setting....
Wow the bass from these "tiny" things are just awesome.
Here is a review from the wayback machine:
https://kenrockwell.com/audio/beyer/dt-1350.htm#rex
Comparing these to HD 800's, Stax, and others!!!
Ha!
Great set of cans..with a great amp!
Alex
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Hello Alex.
Very interesting.. I am really happy with DT1770-Pro (250ohm) paired with the Mainline. They sound far better then with my HDV-600/Crack+SP/LD MK2/M1HPAP. If I should try to explain it some how, then the soundstage is wider and somehow more live-like and realistic. Id didn't know that the 1770 Pro could sound so good..
I received the HD820 early January and I have to say that I prefer them from Solid State HDV600 while the HD800S sounds SUBLIME from the mainline. There are some early observation so my opinion might change with time :D
On another note, I have some issues with isolation on the HD820, there feels like a small gap in front of my ears while I have them on and I am loosing some low frequency there. it gets fixed when I push them gently closer to my head. I am waiting for the pads to give in, if they wont then I will try Dekoni´s.
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I had the same question about what headphones. I got an open box deal from headphones.com. Focal Clear were 35% off. To me, they sound great. Headphones.com also have a good return policy if you don't like them.
I had a similar experience where I bought the Clears on a deal (Black Friday in my case) and I love them from the Mainline, but also from my solid state Massdrop THX 789. I've owned and reviewed the HD800 and HD800S (not yet tried 820s) and the Clears are vastly superior for my tastes, but that's because I prefer a more musical, richer sound and the Clears balance musicality and transparency / neutrality extremely well. I've been using the NightHawks for a long time with the Mainline and still enjoy some of their characteristics as much as I enjoy the Clears, but the NightOwls are also on the way so it will be interesting to see how they stack up as I think they might combine the best of both from what I've read.
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I finally got my Senn. HD820's . I bought my mainline a year ago on sale. Couldn't resist the sale price. Then when the HD820 came out, there were so many mixed reviews, I waited for the dust to settle. Oh, and for someplace to give a handsome discount on them. I bought a pair of Senn. HD280 to hold me over till I got the 820's. I thought the 280's sounded pretty good with the mainline. But now with the HD820's I am totally blown away. I know the mainline has enough hours on it to be broken in, but I only have about 30 hours on the 820's. so they might even get a little better over time. But so far I just love the combo. I built the mainline with no mods since it got such great reviews. But now I don't even know if I want to roll the output caps, it sounds so good as is. Loving the mainline and HD820's.
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Another happy Focal Clear user.
A magical combination of the Mainline and Focal's stock balanced cables to the Clear headphones!
Very musical, dynamic, detailed, rich, full frequency range listening experience. Highly recommended!
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The perfect storm: Longtime intrigue with the Focal Clears, available funds, good price and hearty recommendations from Mainline forum denizens. Just received these headphones and I can say with relative certainty they are the match I've been looking for. Thanks guys! ;-)
Joe.
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FWIW, I'm testing out my Mainline with Verum 1 planars and it sounds surprisingly good given the Verum's particularly low impedance (8 ohm).
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Campfire Audio Atlas here for now 😅 Sounds amazing and the hum is imperceptible almost when nothing is playing. My HD6XX are in storage and I'll have a listen with them soon and hopefully I'll be addin Meze Empyreans to the mix 😁
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This modification I posted for the Crack is also applicable to a Mainline if users are getting some noises that are digital in nature:
https://forum.bottlehead.com/index.php?topic=11676.0 (https://forum.bottlehead.com/index.php?topic=11676.0)
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So, I've been thinking about selling my Atticus headphones and as a sort of good-bye I plugged them in one more time into my mainline.... I'd forgotten what a great pair this is! The Atticus's combination of BIG SOUND and liquidity makes it a such a great pair with the mainline, especially if you're looking for a bit of a raucous experience!... I don't know if I can sell this...
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Anyone using Abyss cans with Mainline (Diana V2 in particular)?
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I have tried a lot of headphones, both mine and friends with my Mainline. My favorite headphone and the one that gets 90% of head time is my ZMF Vérité closed. My second favorite is the focal clear. I made the mistake of buying the Utopia because I liked the clear so much. It is an awful headphone IMO. The single most inaccurate headphone I have ever listened to. The Nighthawks are a great headphone, a little dark but eminently enjoyable with a Mainline.
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I thought I would jump in here to mention a couple of headphones not covered yet.
My main HP on the Mainline is the Focal Elear. These are very comfortable and have a well balanced sound - excellent mid-range (where we all live), good, accurate bass and treble. I'm not a bass head and I prefer phones and speakers that are not overly bright, so the Elear is a good fit for me. For a closed-back HP I prefer my VISO HP50s. I find closed-back phones and IEMs somewhat fatiguing due to the "hard panning" nature of headphones in general and the closed-back design in particular. The HP50s were designed to emulate an open speaker like sound.
I use a Senn HD600 exclusively on the Crack in my home office. These are the only high impedance HPs I have so I cannot compare other high impedance phones for either the Mainline or the Crack.
I have played around with the idea of a cross-feed circuit to minimize hard panning and make the phones more like open speakers. I use a Leckerton DAC with a cross-feed function with my IEMs and I can listen to them for hours without fatigue. Tracks that are mixed with speaker usage in mind can survive excessive or hard panning to some extent but head phones cannot. Luckily most audio engineers are aware of this and watch the level of panning knowing that our brains attempt to resolve a stereo signal to the center. If someone has experience with implementing a cross feed circuit in BH gear, please share with the BH community.