sachi
Active Member
Oh in other news, I received my Wharfedale ID-2s yesterday..they are OK stock..will damp them shortly and see where I get.
Orthodynamic Headphones & all things planar
- Thread starter gurubhai
- Start date
Showoff !!!
Well the longer we wait for the TPs the greater the anticipation.
hyeah:Awaiting Harakiri's impressions as his Audio-gd Sparrow is quite similar to my Compass.
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iaudio
Well-Known Member
Thanks to Gurubhai I got to spend some time with the Yamaha Yh2 orthodynamic headphones. Cosmetically, though they look slightly worn here and there, they are in amazing condition for their age!
Start listening to it, and it will amaze you when you realize how advanced these must have been when they came out. They sound amazingly resolved, and have awesome tonality.
I had been using them with the headphone out of my pioneer a307 stereo amp, Marantz cd6003, akai cd-a30 etc. With the cd players there's just barely enough juice to drive the Orthos, yes they are power hungry
Opeth-Benighted: these hps being closed type, surprise you with instrument separation more typical of open backed cans. The only grouse I felt on this track was excess treble.
U.Rajesh-Saraswati: excellent tone and resolution,caught each fast note of the mandolin without breaking into a sweat. Howerver the bass guitar string weight and texture was missing. Yh2s dont seem to go too low.
Best of me: little thin presentation, maybe a feature of the recording, I didnt enjoy it.
arco luz-marantz test disc 11- track 2: good separation between violin and guitar, but again lack of string weight, not going low enough.
Hugh Masekela-Stimela(mp3): excellent build up, smooth sax and vocals.
akon-dangerous :Tried this just for kicks to see how it does with the popular music of this age. Less bass extension, highs bright-mids thin.
Massive Attack-Teardrop(flac): the crackling present along with the 'heartbeat' was very clear, OTOH it couldn't pick up all the nuances of gradient of the rhythmic string.
As you guys know, soon after receiving the yh2s I got my Audio technica ad700s. Till now, the only other headphone I had to compare with was the Audio Technica anc7 and honestly that never was a fair comparison.
The following songs I heard on both the yH2s and Ad700 back to back.
Dave Brubeck-Take 5: Detail level same on both, sax appears huskier/laidback on yh2, while on ad its more immediate, lush. Crack of drumsticks and such transients are more vigorous/startling on yh2.
Gustav Holst-Mars bringer of War: Yh2 detailed but slightly constricted. Cannot bring out full impact of lows.
Cornflake girl: Soundstage much better on ad700, whistling sound at start of song much more defined, vocal more warmer, while on yh2 vocals were recessed. Electric guitar chipping in along with piano is much more distinct in ad700 at about 4:20.
At the end of the day, the Yh2's have a slightly smoother, laidback presentation compared to the ad700s. But this decades old headphone (of closed design) gives the contemporary open backed cans a good run for their money even today and that IMHo is no mean feat.
Start listening to it, and it will amaze you when you realize how advanced these must have been when they came out. They sound amazingly resolved, and have awesome tonality.
I had been using them with the headphone out of my pioneer a307 stereo amp, Marantz cd6003, akai cd-a30 etc. With the cd players there's just barely enough juice to drive the Orthos, yes they are power hungry
Opeth-Benighted: these hps being closed type, surprise you with instrument separation more typical of open backed cans. The only grouse I felt on this track was excess treble.
U.Rajesh-Saraswati: excellent tone and resolution,caught each fast note of the mandolin without breaking into a sweat. Howerver the bass guitar string weight and texture was missing. Yh2s dont seem to go too low.
Best of me: little thin presentation, maybe a feature of the recording, I didnt enjoy it.
arco luz-marantz test disc 11- track 2: good separation between violin and guitar, but again lack of string weight, not going low enough.
Hugh Masekela-Stimela(mp3): excellent build up, smooth sax and vocals.
akon-dangerous :Tried this just for kicks to see how it does with the popular music of this age. Less bass extension, highs bright-mids thin.
Massive Attack-Teardrop(flac): the crackling present along with the 'heartbeat' was very clear, OTOH it couldn't pick up all the nuances of gradient of the rhythmic string.
As you guys know, soon after receiving the yh2s I got my Audio technica ad700s. Till now, the only other headphone I had to compare with was the Audio Technica anc7 and honestly that never was a fair comparison.
The following songs I heard on both the yH2s and Ad700 back to back.
Dave Brubeck-Take 5: Detail level same on both, sax appears huskier/laidback on yh2, while on ad its more immediate, lush. Crack of drumsticks and such transients are more vigorous/startling on yh2.
Gustav Holst-Mars bringer of War: Yh2 detailed but slightly constricted. Cannot bring out full impact of lows.
Cornflake girl: Soundstage much better on ad700, whistling sound at start of song much more defined, vocal more warmer, while on yh2 vocals were recessed. Electric guitar chipping in along with piano is much more distinct in ad700 at about 4:20.
At the end of the day, the Yh2's have a slightly smoother, laidback presentation compared to the ad700s. But this decades old headphone (of closed design) gives the contemporary open backed cans a good run for their money even today and that IMHo is no mean feat.
Thanks for the impressions iaudio.
The YH-2 are my most bass-light ortho but again I doubt that they have less bass than AD700 which are notoriously bass deficient.
The orthos need huge amount of current though to show up with there bass though.
Even Brendon mentioned a bass roll-off which didn't corroborate here with my findings on Xonar STX.
The YH-2 are my most bass-light ortho but again I doubt that they have less bass than AD700 which are notoriously bass deficient.
The orthos need huge amount of current though to show up with there bass though.
Even Brendon mentioned a bass roll-off which didn't corroborate here with my findings on Xonar STX.
iaudio
Well-Known Member
The pioneer hp out seemed to be quite powerful. For the same gain, where ad700 was played with vol at 10 o clock, yam was with 1-2 o clock.
^^ Actually their impedance tells us only half the story. These headphones are notoriously inefficient. 
So while my HD650 are 300 ohms, they are far more efficient and dont require as much volume as the YH-2s.
My amp is probably giving them enough voltage swing but not enough current which is what they require.
Without proper amping they sound rather brittle and thin.
So while my HD650 are 300 ohms, they are far more efficient and dont require as much volume as the YH-2s.
My amp is probably giving them enough voltage swing but not enough current which is what they require.
Without proper amping they sound rather brittle and thin.
I actually just did some calculations & Yamaha YH-2 needs about 3 times the power (in mW) to attain the same SPL as AD700 & about 2.5 times the power for HD650.
Now the interesting bit is that while the increase in power requirement over HD650 is due mostly to increased current requirement; the difference between AD700 & YH-2 lies in their voltage requirements, there current requirements being almost similar.
So while the proper amping argument still stands, in this case its not due to lack of current but voltage.
Now the interesting bit is that while the increase in power requirement over HD650 is due mostly to increased current requirement; the difference between AD700 & YH-2 lies in their voltage requirements, there current requirements being almost similar.
So while the proper amping argument still stands, in this case its not due to lack of current but voltage.
iaudio
Well-Known Member
If you dont mind can you share with us how you did the calculations?
iaudio
Well-Known Member
Great, I was just talking to Rallynut regarding the headphones reaching you. enjoy the orthos.
First would like to thank Gurubhai for the loaner program. Got a chance to listen to ortho headphones.
Please keep in mind,I listen to mostly mainstream "popular" music lot's of it not well recorded. Now for impressions.
The first thing which will stun you is vocals. Really great vocals! I have never heard anything like this before. Now I understand why titana on the other forum suggested me an ortho when I said I am most concerned about vocals. One needs to listen to these to know how good these are at vocals. No words can do it justice. Violen too sounds excellent and never heard violin this good. saxophone and flute too sound great but I really loved the violin. piano higher notes, guitar too sound good but not great. For a closed can soundstage is pretty decent, especially depth. Instrumentation seperation is good.
Highs aren't as detailed or extended as RE0 or a TripleFi . But it also isn't as bright as RE0. It's not dark in anyway just smoother than RE0. Sibilance isn't a concern with these. Many would find it lacking in bass for sure. Bass is tight controlled but you would always feel like EQing it a bit to make it more pronounced. Lacks impact for sure. Even RE0 is better in this respect.
These aren't detail oriented, and actually forgiving, not as forgiving as RE1 but not as horrible as RE0.
These do require a lot of juice. I generally hear my RE1 at 9-10 O clock. These, I hear at 2 O clock. Actually I could hear these at the highest volume provided on sparrow at 5 O clock. LOL.
If one has a good amp and love mids especially vocals, I think, ortho is a must have.
Thanks to titana(on E) for suggesting it, Brendon for suggesting only desktop amp can do justice to an ortho(now I easily get it!), and Gurubhai for lending it to me.
I need to ship it back to Gurbhai right? Can I do it on Wendesday?
Please keep in mind,I listen to mostly mainstream "popular" music lot's of it not well recorded.
Now for impressions. The first thing which will stun you is vocals. Really great vocals! I have never heard anything like this before. Now I understand why titana on the other forum suggested me an ortho when I said I am most concerned about vocals. One needs to listen to these to know how good these are at vocals. No words can do it justice. Violen too sounds excellent and never heard violin this good. saxophone and flute too sound great but I really loved the violin.
piano higher notes, guitar too sound good but not great. For a closed can soundstage is pretty decent, especially depth. Instrumentation seperation is good.Highs aren't as detailed or extended as RE0 or a TripleFi . But it also isn't as bright as RE0. It's not dark in anyway just smoother than RE0. Sibilance isn't a concern with these. Many would find it lacking in bass for sure. Bass is tight controlled but you would always feel like EQing it a bit to make it more pronounced. Lacks impact for sure. Even RE0 is better in this respect.
These aren't detail oriented, and actually forgiving, not as forgiving as RE1 but not as horrible as RE0.
These do require a lot of juice. I generally hear my RE1 at 9-10 O clock. These, I hear at 2 O clock. Actually I could hear these at the highest volume provided on sparrow at 5 O clock. LOL.
If one has a good amp and love mids especially vocals, I think, ortho is a must have.
Thanks to titana(on E) for suggesting it, Brendon for suggesting only desktop amp can do justice to an ortho(now I easily get it!), and Gurubhai for lending it to me.
I need to ship it back to Gurbhai right? Can I do it on Wendesday?
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Thanks for the impressions,Haraakiri.
Of-course the the YH-2 only give you a sampler of what these orthos can provide.
The highs are tunable to personal satisfaction & I think Brendon would vouch for that.
The bass is not a a strong suite of YH-1/2 but the the HP50S,NAD RP-18 & YH100(haven't heard for myself yet) have amazingly accurate & textured bass that one can only dream of in dynamic drivers.
May be the TPs would give you a better sample of that.
And yes these have to be shipped back to me, I shall pm you the address.
And this would conclude the YH2 loaner.
Of-course the the YH-2 only give you a sampler of what these orthos can provide.
The highs are tunable to personal satisfaction & I think Brendon would vouch for that.
The bass is not a a strong suite of YH-1/2 but the the HP50S,NAD RP-18 & YH100(haven't heard for myself yet) have amazingly accurate & textured bass that one can only dream of in dynamic drivers.
May be the TPs would give you a better sample of that.
And yes these have to be shipped back to me, I shall pm you the address.
And this would conclude the YH2 loaner.
great impressions haraakiri,they are neat cans for their era.am sure the tp's must be something as well!!!!
guru,as u say,am sure the yh2's are just a sampling of the 'planar' sound.can only imagine what the current offerings might sound like.sachi for sure is enjoying himself.cheers
guru,as u say,am sure the yh2's are just a sampling of the 'planar' sound.can only imagine what the current offerings might sound like.sachi for sure is enjoying himself
.cheers
iaudio
Well-Known Member
Harakiri, thanks for the impressions! Glad to know you too enjoyed them. Cant say how much I appreciate Gurubhai's initiative and generosity, in loaning these gems to us!
Nice impressions Harakiri.
Glad to know that you liked them just as I did. And yes you will be amazed if you hear the Yamaha HP-2s which have the same driver. It sounds like a completely different headphone.
A special round of thanks to Gurubhai again for initiating this loaner program. I really enjoyed auditioning his headphones and now I eagerly look forward to the TPs.
Hopefully by then I would have got my new amp which should do justice to the TPs.
Glad to know that you liked them just as I did. And yes you will be amazed if you hear the Yamaha HP-2s which have the same driver. It sounds like a completely different headphone.
A special round of thanks to Gurubhai again for initiating this loaner program. I really enjoyed auditioning his headphones and now I eagerly look forward to the TPs.
Hopefully by then I would have got my new amp which should do justice to the TPs.
sachi
Active Member
umm the TPs are sounding so good i am finding it hard to send it out. Fear not though, it will make its way over to Indian shores shortly. I might hang on to them long enough to take it to the Seattle meet on Oct 2nd though.
sachi
Active Member
Those looking for a kick ass source..snap this up immediately. I owned it previously.
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