[Condocondor]

Mine is coming on Saturday. I'm so exited.

After the first few hours on your head, please post your impressions right back here. I can't wait. Thank you!

 

[kadinh]

does anyone have the post explaining the differences between the ear pads?

 

[phoneslave86]

Here is a picture of some of the pads for reference. If you know the right name tell me and I'll edit this. This picture can you show you some of the different characteristics of some of the pads. I almost always end up using Perforated Luxury Leather or Fuzzy. It's been a nice learning experience and nice to have access to so many pads for relatively cheap as I got most of them with my XTC and didn't have to pay extra for most of them.

From left to right (1) Perforated Luxury Leather (2) Angled Fuzzy (3) Velor (4) Perforated Leather (Cut-out) (5) Cool Gel (6) Ultra Premium Micro Suede (7) All-Smooth Leather (cut-out)

 

[kadinh]

Sorry I should have been more clear…

I was wondering what the difference in sound they make. I remember John saying that they have different sound profiles but I don’t remember where it was.

 

[krenky]

Sorry I should have been more clear…

I was wondering what the difference in sound they make. I remember John saying that they have different sound profiles but I don’t remember where it was.

It is all about bass and seal. When you decrease the seal you will make the bass more prominent and you will hear more pronounced mids & highs. Sound will become clearer like overal but at the cost of bass loss. The best seal would have the full leather one so there will be the best bass happening. Then the other aspect is comfort. Different materials give different feel plus with more air flowing your around ears area won't be sweating.

 

[phoneslave86]

It is all about bass and seal. When you decrease the seal you will make the bass more prominent and you will hear more pronounced mids & highs. Sound will become clearer like overal but at the cost of bass loss. The best seal would have the full leather one so there will be the best bass happening. Then the other aspect is comfort. Different materials give different feel plus with more air flowing your around ears area won't be sweating.

Yea I'd add to that the absorbative materials like fuzz and suede dampen sound and can knock the edge off the upper. Perforations break the sound up some and pure smooth one might can guess.

The thicker the pad the more it can seal usually... For a pad to truly seal it needs pressure. Thin pads don't usually seal no matter what the material from what I've seen. Really smooth soft stuff seals better. Most low bass I've seen from the pads is the perf luxury leather.

 

[FinHifi]

Got my XTC Opens, bought second hand, did not like tuning(reference), contacted JM, and got a reply: Send it here for tuning, no charge.
So now my HP:s are on a way to USA. It is a bitch and a half to fill customs invoice, but got it done.
Will evaluate those when i get them back
It will be interesting to see how the tuning changes.

 

[krenky]

Found something great sounding while listening to the XTC closed.
The XTC sound exceptionally well with all kinds of genres but with any EDM they are phenomenal.
I have even enjoyed some orchestral music with them, just perfect all rounder.

1. Masayoshi Takanaka – All Of Me (1979)

2. Yello - live in Berlin 2016

 

[andrewchoppa]

Found something great sounding while listening to the XTC closed.
The XTC sound exceptionally well with all kinds of genres but with any EDM they are phenomenal.
I have even enjoyed some orchestral music with them, just perfect all rounder.

1. Masayoshi Takanaka – All Of Me (1979)

2. Yello - live in Berlin 2016

Agree completely!!

I listen to 50% metal, 49% hard rock and have given Infected Mushroom a go and it is amazing on them. Really good technical instrumental music from The Omnific is mind blowing on the 2.5s too- check them out (as well as Polyphia).

 

[phoneslave86]

Got my XTC Opens, bought second hand, did not like tuning(reference), contacted JM, and got a reply: Send it here for tuning, no charge.
So now my HP:s are on a way to USA. It is a bitch and a half to fill customs invoice, but got it done.
Will evaluate those when i get them back
It will be interesting to see how the tuning changes.

Good luck with your retune! I'd get more pads if you need them. At least need fuzzy and luxury perf leather it will give you some tunability if you don't have them already or tried them.

 

[rlawry]

I have also found the XTC to be sensitive to cable rolling as well. Cable rolling is perhaps not quite as effective as pad rolling but still an improvement.

 

[krenky]

I have also found the XTC to be sensitive to cable rolling as well. Cable rolling is perhaps not quite as effective as pad rolling but still an improvement.

Which cable do you prefer? I think the Copperhead sound slightly better to the OFC Litz one.
Have not tied anything else yet.

 

[rlawry]

Which cable do you prefer? I think the Copperhead sound slightly better to the OFC Litz one.
Have not tied anything else yet.

I didn't try the Copperhead (UPOCC copper?) as I already had a Synergistic Research Foundation cable that fits and it the sound with it was noticeably improved over the stock OFC copper cable.

I didn't try the Copperhead (UPOCC copper?) as I already had a Synergistic Research Foundation cable that fits and it the sound with it was noticeably improved over the stock OFC copper cable.

OOPS, make that an Arctic Cables Signum copper cable instead of the SR cable that I use on my Kennerton Rognir Planars. The AC cable on the XTC-C was better as this $400 cable uses UPOCC copper.

 

[phoneslave86]

So far I've used Gold (4.4, 6.35) silver (4.4, 6.35, xlr) and copperhead (3.5). It's unfair my notes here because I use them on a bunch of different things and don't have equal cables. Keep that in mind. I like all of the OCC cables and wouldn't miss the other after a bit of listening but I wouldn't want to go to a non-OCC cable it would be a downgrade. All of the JM cables including the Litz fall into the smooth and musical category to me. Smooth and musical is the way to go for me and many cables are not.

Litz cable doesn't have as black a background (which means less detail/resolution, soundstage, music in potential ect.) but is above average in smooth/musical vs. other cables. This cable knocks the edge off if you were breaking in a tube and didn't want fatigue. All of the OCC simply have a blacker background and are more intense.

Copperhead would be my 2nd choice overall if I had to pick one cable. Significantly more airy and detailed and lower noise than Litz, more intense and deeper stage. Seems to be musical, warm but reasonably balanced overall related to tones. Only used this in 3.5 and with adapters.

Silverhead has the silver effect but like some other silver cables it does trade off some frequencies in the bass and mids (extra obvious when breaking in). It's a nice refreshing swap for the silver effect so I like it but I'd probably pick the copperhead over it overall because the copperhead is maybe more balanced across the whole range of tones. The silver effect to me is like a lightening of the music from the middle of the mids upward, more energetic upper vibe that isn't necessarily detail but more like tone oriented. I have a harder time hearing pianos/vocals in a number of songs with silver stuff including this cable but I still enjoy swapping to this thing.

Goldhead is no doubt the best one for me personally. I think of it as a more neutral balancer. It's still nice and musical. Not only that but the soundstage can go even deeper than the others with even more lush and realistic mids. Vocals/pianos are even easier to hear in the fray. I think the timbre is the best overall as well.

 

[SolidSlug]

Has the frequency response of the XTC2 Beryllium 300 ohm been independently measured by anyone?