Audeze CRBN Electrostatic Headphones

[zlobby]

Those cables don't look detachable...

Everything is detachable, even if only once.

 

[VSG]

Those cables don't look detachable...

E-stats pretty much never have detachable cables. The new STAX X9000 is the only one I can think of that does it.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Everything is detachable, even if only once.

Yerp. Funny story. Back when highend IEMs started to be a thing people knew about one of my friends was asking what a good portable audio solution was. I didn't want to go with something esoteric so I pointed him at the chord mojo and either etymotic ER4-P or shure 846s. He pretty much thought all of it looked stupid and silly as fuck. And to be fair, the chord stuff is "interesting" in how they do it, etymotic does look like the audio intrumentation company they are, and the shures look like a medical device. So he did the dumb and went with some like 900 buck sennheiser where the "replacement cable" did not replace at the IEM (I want to say this was the IE 800 but been a while) but halfway down with a 3.5 male into another female cable. You know how this turned out... a connection broke at the IEM and he had to ship them back! This happened repeatedly. Till I walked him into a good pair of other headphones that cost the same and didn't look so "medical" as my initial recomends with two pin connectors and sold him on "you don't have to pay shipping or for the cables and repairs you can just go buy one for 60 bucks or so and keep a spare".

I wouldn't pay over 30 bucks for anything that doesn't have detachable.

E-stats pretty much never have detachable cables. The new STAX X9000 is the only one I can think of that does it.

I'm aware it's not as common but they do exist and I wouldn't do it without one. But yeah it's generally one giant pricey system.

 

[Dr. Dro]

I only really have one word to sum these cans up and that is: Remarkable...

But at 29, do I even have the hearing acuity to make the best of these? I certainly don't have the money for them though!

Bless the Chi-Fi industry bringing affordable high end audio to the common man

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

I only really have one word to sum these cans up and that is: Remarkable...

But at 29, do I even have the hearing acuity to make the best of these? I certainly don't have the money for them though!

Bless the Chi-Fi industry bringing affordable high end audio to the common man

You do I'm in my 40s and I can hear the differences. Saying you can't is like that nonsense that the human eye can't see 240hz vs 120hz vs 360hz. You can, even as you get older. Because there's more too it than just raw specs. There are certain ranges of things at which things are felt more than observed. This is especially true in audio of things like sub bass. It's there, and you'll know it, but you don't really hear it and that's not just woo.

You don't need to throw this amount of money at it to get a "good enough" result though. Electrostatic is esoteric super high end stuff in general. A quality open backed planar set with a quality amp/dac pushing it and quality source files is going to clobber what most people have and be extremely noticable. Also not all that pricey and can be put together for about a grand.

 

[zlobby]

I only really have one word to sum these cans up and that is: Remarkable...

But at 29, do I even have the hearing acuity to make the best of these? I certainly don't have the money for them though!

Bless the Chi-Fi industry bringing affordable high end audio to the common man

I must admit that the Chi-Fi is able to produce way better own designs than most Hi-Fi brands. I'm so glad I found them, although I rarely spend money on earphone gear as I'm now already at endgame (no time to get into proper speaker setups).
Occasionally I purchase some little known Chi-Fi gem just to add it to my collection.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

I must admit that the Chi-Fi is able to produce way better own designs than most Hi-Fi brands. I'm so glad I found them, although I rarely spend money on earphone gear as I'm now already at endgame (no time to get into proper speaker setups).
Occasionally I purchase some little known Chi-Fi gem just to add it to my collection.

There's a bit of an issue with this though. The Chi-Fi companies that actually make good kit soon endup ramping up prices so that their good stuff costs as much as the Hi-Fi stuff it's competing with and is often of debatble durability and warranty. IE Hifiman's good stuff is up there in price and their lower end stuff is known to bit hit or miss on if it sounds how it should or if it just falls apart. You've also had scandals where some IEMs (KZ IIRC was the culprit here) come/came highly recommended with insane "specs" for the money... only for people to look into it and find out some of their drivers weren't even connected and it was all nonsense.

It's something you have to be careful with.

 

[zlobby]

There's a bit of an issue with this though. The Chi-Fi companies that actually make good kit soon endup ramping up prices so that their good stuff costs as much as the Hi-Fi stuff it's competing with and is often of debatble durability and warranty. IE Hifiman's good stuff is up there in price and their lower end stuff is known to bit hit or miss on if it sounds how it should or if it just falls apart. You've also had scandals where some IEMs (KZ IIRC was the culprit here) come/came highly recommended with insane "specs" for the money... only for people to look into it and find out some of their drivers weren't even connected and it was all nonsense.

It's something you have to be careful with.

Such is life.

When I first started with the world of high-end audio it took me months of reading reviews, forums and travelling around to listen to some gear live. It's a process, not a one-time job.

I admit it's overwhelming even for experienced and knowledgeable guys, let alone for newbies.

Now, since I rarely have the time for researching gear myself, I rely on guys like @VSG to do the heavy lifting for me. And since I'm already settled for variety of situations, I just enjoy my Sunday coffee with some reviews, occasionally sifting for some rare collectables.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Such is life.

When I first started with the world of high-end audio it took me months of reading reviews, forums and travelling around to listen to some gear live. It's a process, not a one-time job.

I admit it's overwhelming even for experienced and knowledgeable guys, let alone for newbies.

Now, since I rarely have the time for researching gear myself, I rely on guys like @VSG to do the heavy lifting for me. And since I'm already settled for variety of situations, I just enjoy my Sunday coffee with some reviews, occasionally sifting for some rare collectables.

But have you hit your end game?

 

[zlobby]

But have you hit your end game?

Aye, with headgear at least. I prefer them for their portability and versatility. I sure do miss the soundstage and rumble of speakers, though.

I've been tempted to tip my toes into speaker territory but together with room acoustics it's something I currently have no time for.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Aye, with headgear at least. I prefer them for their portability and versatility. I sure do miss the soundstage and rumble of speakers, though.

I've been tempted to tip my toes into speaker territory but together with room acoustics it's something I currently have no time for.

I topped out with the Dan Clark Audio Ether powered by Chord Hugo 2 for desktop and Questyle m15 with Moondrop Blessing 2 on the mobile side. I still get play stuff off and on but I don't feel the need to go higher on either now.

 

[zlobby]

De

I topped out with the Dan Clark Audio Ether powered by Chord Hugo 2 for desktop and Questyle m15 with Moondrop Blessing 2 on the mobile side. I still get play stuff off and on but I don't feel the need to go higher on either now.

Decent choice by all means, although I went in totally different direction.

But isn't this the beauty of it? Everyone can choose whatever they feel like and still be happy!
In spite of all the charts and reviews, if it is OK with someone, all is fine.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

De

Decent choice by all means, although I went in totally different direction.

But isn't this the beauty of it? Everyone can choose whatever they feel like and still be happy!
In spite of all the charts and reviews, if it is OK with someone, all is fine.

Yep, it is! Also since I buy from authorized dealers I'm used to that golden 30 day "try it out, if you don't like it, send back money back no questions asked" part of it. If I like it I usually buy some bullshit cables as well which contra the common viewpoint aren't made to milk money from rubes but more someone didn't like a cable and then went on a rampage and overbuilt the fuck out of a cable and then found out other people would like one as well. And when you look at the cost to build your own cable these boutique items quasi make sense. I'm going to stare angry at my Shure IEMS which once a year the stupid forming wire cuts out one of the headphones and I pay 40 bucks for a new cable. Then laugh at my 300 2 pin iem buck cable that hasn't had issues for a decade. Shit like audio quest is still nonsense but the custom built items that make no claims are legit. You do get what you pay for.

@VSG you ever reached out to Chord? They are in the UK IIRC and are one of the super top brands and their units crush most things. What's odd about them is they use FPGAs.

 

[VSG]

@VSG you ever reached out to Chord? They are in the UK IIRC and are one of the super top brands and their units crush most things. What's odd about them is they use FPGAs.

I reached out to them a few months ago but never heard back. Oh well, there are too many samples on my desk anyway. Case in point:

 

[zlobby]

Oh well, there are too many samples on my desk anyway.

You're slacking!

 

[VSG]

You're slacking!

More that I've submitted quite a few already but they have to wait to be published so there's a lot of delay.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

I............. don't like Focal. I'm not sure what it is but there is always a set I like in that price range and it's never the Focal.

 

[VSG]

I............. don't like Focal. I'm not sure what it is but there is always a set I like in that price range and it's never the Focal.

Well so far I am not sure the new Utopia is my favorite of the flagship headphones either. The Bathys has a good use case though with excellent drivers on top of decent ANC and wireless functionality. EQ is a must there for me but the app and EQ profiles stored on the device make it a non-issue.

 

[zlobby]

More that I've submitted quite a few already but they have to wait to be published so there's a lot of delay.

Excuses, excuses... JK, I know how it goes. Plus, even I won't enjoy a backlog of headgear reviews to read. They should be paced so that one is up in time for my Sunday coffee, every time. No pressure.

 

[VSG]

Excuses, excuses... JK, I know how it goes. Plus, even I won't enjoy a backlog of headgear reviews to read. They should be paced so that one is up in time for my Sunday coffee, every time. No pressure.

Unfortunately that's not my call to make. Of course I'd rather they all go up soon.

 

[zlobby]

Unfortunately that's not my call to make. Of course I'd rather they all go up soon.

Don't worry, we love you and we !