Good sounding headphones, but beware durability concerns. Even people who've babied them have had major failures, I believe it's the headband causing issues.
Best way, without jailbreaking, is to get a Qudelix 5K. It's by the man who made the ES100 that took the headphone community by storm several years ago. He split off to do his own thing, which was Qudelix. Really amazing little device and you can tweak everything through the companion app (also has a chrome extension that does the same). Then apply the oratory1990 EQ settings someone linked above. Or if you dislike the Harman target, use AutoEQ to spit out an auto-generated EQ profile for w.e target curve you like.
Apple has always had very little codec support for BT (AAC and SBC, and very rarely, ALAC), so if you use bluetooth, audio quality will take a hit. Whether or not that bothers you, is up to you.
If you dislike that, you can use it as a dongle (you just need to get your own USB C to lightning cable (or adapter) as they only provide USB A and USB C to C).
There's also the option of finding some way to velcro or otherwise stick the Qudelix to the headphones (these are closed back, so pretty easy to stick it on the sides or on top of the headband). If you stick it on the side, you can use the Qudelix's mic as a headset. Just be aware that the mic sucks (though a fun feature they added is that you can enable the mic while connected via USB).
Other optional longer term upgrades: you can get a balanced cable to connect to the Qudelix's 2.5mm output. Not going to get into details, but balanced essentially doubles power output because it has two in-phase signals instead of one (unbalanced)[boxcast.com]. Dedicated amps generally don't lack for power, and outside of very very long cable runs, EMI on unbalanced doesn't matter. But for portable devices, which are power limited, balanced provides a pretty large power benefit. Shouldn't need it for this pair, but harder to drive headphones would receive some benefit. Just never plug a non-balanced audio device into a balanced port.
You can also use the Qudelix 5K as your desktop dac/amp, or as a preamp (to enable EQ and other settings) to a dedicated amp. You would enable car mode for that; their website has great guides and the support team is very active on the forums.
I use mine for both on the go and on my desktop; I have a USB C cable fixed to my desk that I plug it into. Nice thing about doing it that way is that it'll always be charged for when you want to take it out for portable use. Though you can set it to charge from your phone (or not) or just use a portable charger.
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It's a joke since these are "audiophile". XLR is the preferred cable used to connect audiophile equipment like amps to sources. It's typically used by pro's since the distance and strength is unbeatable. RCA cables are unbalanced.
It's a joke since these are "audiophile". XLR is the preferred cable used to connect audiophile equipment like amps to sources. It's typically used by pro's since the distance and strength is unbeatable. RCA cables are unbalanced.
What Does XLR Connector Mean?
An XLR connector is a type of electrical connector used mostly in professional audio and video electronics cabling applications such as for stage microphones and other analog sound equipment, as opposed to home audio/video equipment using RCA connectors. It is characterized by a large cylindrical connector body, commonly with three prongs or pins, but other variants have anywhere from two to six pins.
This is also a good review to read if you're interested...
I bought mine for $400, and would do so again. Maybe I just got lucky. I've certainly not babied mine, having dropped them from nightstand height more than a few times. I also have a pretty large head. I don't keep them in a case. No headband issues for me, or really any problems with these.
They do need EQ, and I've always used a player on my android that allows me to load an EQ profile, or (more recently) used PEQ in roon for my headphone DAC endpoint (SMSL C200). There are better headphones out there for bass-heavy music or people who prefer "fun" sounding headphones. I listen to a lot of acoustic music where I want to hear vocals and details of the instruments, and for this the Elegia are great--especially since my S.O. doesn't want to hear my music while I'm listening in bed. If you don't need closed-back isolation, then you may find a better headphone with open-back design.
Seeing these for $300 makes me want to buy a backup for mine. There will likely come a day when these Elegias finally sell out and it will be difficult to replace with a similar quality per price with this feature set.
Careful with the back up I've been both rewarded and punished in electronics and hobbies for doing so. Even car collectors will buy a second 'loaner car' to strip for parts, a great strategy as long as you are in it for the long haul.
As long as the headphone is 80 ohms or below you should be able to. Generally speaking ~40ohms or less is preferred if you aren't using an Amp.
These are 35 ohms impedance.
You have to look at the sensitivity / efficiency too. Many planars have very low impedance but also very low sensitivity and will require an amp. The HE6 and Susvara are 2 of the hardest headphones to drive and both are well under 80 ohms. On the flip side brands like Sennheiser generally have very high impedance but also very high sensitivity and don't require all that much power.
Wow. I never would have guessed the response would have been this far off for such a "high end" name brand of headphones. This software looks like it would help a lot looking at that corrected curve.
Maybe I need to get into the headphone business! One can buy $40 drivers at Parts Express that are much flatter than these. Duct tape them to your ears and enjoy! LOL
I purchased these around 12/7 and they sound great out of the box for me without a need of EQ. What people like is subjective and you really need to audition headphones/speakers be fore you purchase them. If you don't like how it sound straight out of the box than you should buy them in my opinion. You can always tweak them after with EQ, if you deem necessary.
Ran these on my GraceDesign M920 and Burson conductor 3xGT
headphone noob here.. can I get suggestions for good Bluetooth headphones for teenager.. I want to spoil my nephews with a great pair of headphones. budget < $300
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Apple has always had very little codec support for BT (AAC and SBC, and very rarely, ALAC), so if you use bluetooth, audio quality will take a hit. Whether or not that bothers you, is up to you.
If you dislike that, you can use it as a dongle (you just need to get your own USB C to lightning cable (or adapter) as they only provide USB A and USB C to C).
There's also the option of finding some way to velcro or otherwise stick the Qudelix to the headphones (these are closed back, so pretty easy to stick it on the sides or on top of the headband). If you stick it on the side, you can use the Qudelix's mic as a headset. Just be aware that the mic sucks (though a fun feature they added is that you can enable the mic while connected via USB).
Other optional longer term upgrades: you can get a balanced cable to connect to the Qudelix's 2.5mm output. Not going to get into details, but balanced essentially doubles power output because it has two in-phase signals instead of one (unbalanced) [boxcast.com]. Dedicated amps generally don't lack for power, and outside of very very long cable runs, EMI on unbalanced doesn't matter. But for portable devices, which are power limited, balanced provides a pretty large power benefit. Shouldn't need it for this pair, but harder to drive headphones would receive some benefit. Just never plug a non-balanced audio device into a balanced port.
You can also use the Qudelix 5K as your desktop dac/amp, or as a preamp (to enable EQ and other settings) to a dedicated amp. You would enable car mode for that; their website has great guides and the support team is very active on the forums.
I use mine for both on the go and on my desktop; I have a USB C cable fixed to my desk that I plug it into. Nice thing about doing it that way is that it'll always be charged for when you want to take it out for portable use. Though you can set it to charge from your phone (or not) or just use a portable charger.
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For headphones, I'm happy with my Studio Max. My home audio can be the McIntosh and Revel 228Be's.
Wish I could understand what you said...but OK.
Or do I need some sort of external amp to drive these?
As long as the headphone is 80 ohms or below you should be able to. Generally speaking ~40ohms or less is preferred if you aren't using an Amp.
These are 35 ohms impedance.
An XLR connector is a type of electrical connector used mostly in professional audio and video electronics cabling applications such as for stage microphones and other analog sound equipment, as opposed to home audio/video equipment using RCA connectors. It is characterized by a large cylindrical connector body, commonly with three prongs or pins, but other variants have anywhere from two to six pins.
This is also a good review to read if you're interested...
I bought mine for $400, and would do so again. Maybe I just got lucky. I've certainly not babied mine, having dropped them from nightstand height more than a few times. I also have a pretty large head. I don't keep them in a case. No headband issues for me, or really any problems with these.
They do need EQ, and I've always used a player on my android that allows me to load an EQ profile, or (more recently) used PEQ in roon for my headphone DAC endpoint (SMSL C200). There are better headphones out there for bass-heavy music or people who prefer "fun" sounding headphones. I listen to a lot of acoustic music where I want to hear vocals and details of the instruments, and for this the Elegia are great--especially since my S.O. doesn't want to hear my music while I'm listening in bed. If you don't need closed-back isolation, then you may find a better headphone with open-back design.
Seeing these for $300 makes me want to buy a backup for mine. There will likely come a day when these Elegias finally sell out and it will be difficult to replace with a similar quality per price with this feature set.
These are 35 ohms impedance.
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Free EQ software available on phone and PC
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ialbitf...a.pdf?dl=0 [dropbox.com]
Maybe I need to get into the headphone business! One can buy $40 drivers at Parts Express that are much flatter than these. Duct tape them to your ears and enjoy! LOL
Ran these on my GraceDesign M920 and Burson conductor 3xGT
Get him the Sony WH-1000XM4's