Some of you would have seen me & Sachi to often bombard the headphone threads with all things orthodynamic. Today, I thought that I should start a dedicated thread & save the unsuspecting HFV members from our 'enthusiasm'.
Those who are interested are most welcome to join us here.
The details for orthodynamic driver principle are here
and the massive orthodynamic thread at head-fi.
In short these are planar drivers which uses a thin membrane with etched voice coil pattern & is driven by the magnetic fields of the superimposed magnets.
Some of you would be familiar with speaker implementations of planar technology - the magneplanars, Martin logan etc.
A defining feature of orthos for many of us has been there midrange. They have the most natural & organic mid-range that I have heard from any transducer. Most orthos even vintage ones get that part right even in there stock form & once modded they can be extended towards both ends of spectrum in a manner that is comparble to any of the top-end dynamics.
There are caveats though - most vintage orthos do not have the headstage of the modern dynamic headphones, also modding is not everyone's cup of tea even though most mods are pretty simple.
This is not to say that there aren't vintage headphones which sound good in stock form, Infact the venerable yamaha YH-1000 & Fostex T50 V1 are still regarded as one of the best headphones of all time.
Fortunately, We are now getting to see some new headphones being produced today :
1) Hifiman HE-5
2) Audeze LCS-2 : This recently introduced headphone is getting some rave reviews & is a top contender for best headphone of all time. I would love to own one.
P.S. @Sachi- I know you are cursing me for some blatant omissions but you know my position.
Those who are interested are most welcome to join us here.
The details for orthodynamic driver principle are here
and the massive orthodynamic thread at head-fi.
In short these are planar drivers which uses a thin membrane with etched voice coil pattern & is driven by the magnetic fields of the superimposed magnets.
Some of you would be familiar with speaker implementations of planar technology - the magneplanars, Martin logan etc.
A defining feature of orthos for many of us has been there midrange. They have the most natural & organic mid-range that I have heard from any transducer. Most orthos even vintage ones get that part right even in there stock form & once modded they can be extended towards both ends of spectrum in a manner that is comparble to any of the top-end dynamics.
There are caveats though - most vintage orthos do not have the headstage of the modern dynamic headphones, also modding is not everyone's cup of tea even though most mods are pretty simple.
This is not to say that there aren't vintage headphones which sound good in stock form, Infact the venerable yamaha YH-1000 & Fostex T50 V1 are still regarded as one of the best headphones of all time.
Fortunately, We are now getting to see some new headphones being produced today :
1) Hifiman HE-5
2) Audeze LCS-2 : This recently introduced headphone is getting some rave reviews & is a top contender for best headphone of all time. I would love to own one.
P.S. @Sachi- I know you are cursing me for some blatant omissions but you know my position.
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