I used to travel to another city to check out some stores. it’s tough though because getting an impression of a headphone or an amp after a short demo isn’t enough sometimes. then after i browsed my country’s audio classifieds and noticed there’s a lot of people in my city and in my neighboring city that sells stuff, and very often it’s the same guys who buys new high end stuff and then sells it a few weeks later for a little bit off if they don’t like it. i connected with these guys and they’re good friends now. we hang out doing non audio related stuff, sometimes demo stuff at each other’s houses if they pick up anything new.

there’s audio people everywhere and yeah it might take a bit of work to make friends but they’re pretty cool people when they’re not keyboard warrior-ing it up on the Internet lol

i have the bottlehead crack. i also have a darkvoice and a popular hybrid tube amp in another room. my main solid state amp is usually the a90. could i tell the difference between a crack and the a90? yes.

the tube amp wasn’t meant to be as clear or clinical, but rather colorful and warm. i can tell right off the bat the tubes are not as clear, it has a slight haze to the treble but in exchange the sound is slightly wider like the sound fills the space a little bit more. the mids and the bass is slightly more dynamic and it’s just more appealing to listen to for pop/dance/r&b and a few other bassy types of music. it’s more of a chill listening experience rather than the analytical and pristine sound of a solid state which can sometimes sound a little sterile. it all depends on the genre and the recording and then what mood i’m in. for ease of use, i usually just use solid state as it doesn’t heat up enough to warm up my room or become a fire hazard, potentially. the novelty of tubes and the fun it brings is something everyone should try but in my opinion, don’t waste your time with hybrids. if you want the full tube experience, try otl. try it. yes, don’t buy it just find someone who has it and demo it because it’s not for everyone. and at least if they’re already down that rabbit hole of tube rolling, they can show you the extremes of going tube to solid state so you can decide for yourself if there’s a difference.

i have them. they’re pretty light on the type of bass that EDM, rap, pop or any of those typical genres expects of them but if you play something with low frequency it can pull a bit of rumble. they are neutral sounding, very detailed, wide soundstage and for acoustic or orchestral music they’re pretty good. even though they don’t have edm type bass, they can sound pretty good when you listen to a cello. they’re a little less dynamic than other headphones that it competes with though. i’ve had mine for maybe 8+ years and they’re still going strong. replaced the pads with some dekoni velours and they’re ok. mine are made in austria so i credit that to their longevity.

i’ve not tried the audio Technica that you have so i can’t really compare the two but the k702 i know well, and it’s surprising that they’re being described as bassy.

i liked them but i have the og andros in ceramic white and i prefer the classic sparkly mids and treble. these were a bit too warm for my taste as i didn’t have a problem with the bass on the og. they look nice though. i like how they smoothed out the lines. cable option looks great too. very nice.

xperia 1 v. i like the form factor, and i’ve been using the xperia since the xz2. the screen is great, has dual sim and memory card if i wanted. it has a headphone jack and ldac which is nice. pairs nice with my ecosystem at home, my car and at work.

xperia 1 v. i like the form factor, and i’ve been using the xperia since the xz2. the screen is great, has dual sim and memory card if i wanted. it has a headphone jack and ldac which is nice. pairs nice with my ecosystem at home, my car and at work.

if you have a shop to demo stuff and you took months to narrow down your search and eventually bought your endgame then sure. if you’re like the majority where you’re shooting in the dark by buying online based on other people’s thoughts, opinions and recommendations then no you’ll never be satisfied. i’ve got endgame stuff but it’s not a single headphone. shits not cheap either.

i was browsing through and a coworker of mine was like what the hell are you looking at?! i swear, sometimes in this hobby the stuff can look like the sketchiest kink alien sex toys or something to people who have no clue what they’re looking at 😂

great review though. OG classics have set the bar too high it seems which is a good thing for the hobby but not so great if upgrading was where you’re at. everything looks clean too.