plakat
Headphoneus Supremus
Buying blind always carries a risk. There’s no single headphone that’s a completely safe bet. Can’t be I’d even say. And before someone mentions the HD650… I really dislike that one 
THE COMPOSER OPEN BACK FLAGSHIP by AUSTRIAN AUDIO
- Thread starter Nomax
- Start date
Most headphone shops have a good returning policy up to 30 days, if he doesn't like it he can return it, but I am sure he will love it.
You haven't mentioned if you heard the Composer and if you did, is there anything you like about at all?
I liked all but I loved nothing. timbre wasn’t there and soundstage isn’t there way to harsh for my ears. the erzetich Charybdis was way better for my likes and it’s the same price.night and day for my listening preferences.
Last edited:
FritzS
1000+ Head-Fier
......... And before someone mentions the HD650… I really dislike that one
At the Head-fi meeting in Vienna: The HD6xx confirmed my feelings about the Sennheiser HD6 series (I owned an HD600) - sounds too little rousing for my ears, ‘smooth, emulsionless’.
Contrary to this are DT1990, K812, Composer .... and the mod. HD800.
S Crowther
500+ Head-Fier
I have both and my experience differs.
This is from a post of mine on the Charybdis thread:
"I am still not sure I prefer these to my AA Composer.
The Charybdis sound smoother, creamier and are more revealing of detail and with a large sound stage but the Composer sounds more natural: I am listening to the performance not to a recording."
A lot depends on the set up. I am using a warm sounding Denafrips stack.
Yes I definitely agree the composer needs a warm stack. Tubes are almost a must. Sounds so great out of my warm bassy PB5 tube amp.
Quadfather
Headphoneus Supremus
I use wet wipes on my ears and the area around it before using headphones to prevent this.
jamesjames
500+ Head-Fier
Some time ago I posted some initial impressions of the Composer, comparing it to the HD800S, ADX5000 and K812. I said I thought the Composer was very good but outlined some reservations. Listening since without the distraction of A/B comparisons has made a difference - I must say I’m increasingly impressed.
I don’t think I was doing the Composer justice in terms of transparency. The HD800S has always been the benchmark for me, but I’m coming around to the view that the Composer is on equal footing. My sense is it’s equally good at delivering the transient cues which I think are critical to imaging and instrument timbre. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the way the Composer shifts gears between wide open orchestral spaces and intimate chamber music settings, as required by different recordings, while managing the difficult task of presenting realistic instrumental timbre. It’s a sort of ‘agility’ with presentation that’s unusual in my experience.
This was brought home to me when listening consecutively to two quite different recordings: Lisa Batiashvili with the Staatskapelle Dresden playing the Brahms Violin Concerto (Deutsche Grammophon, 24/96 download) and Kalev Kuljus with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra playing Oboe Concertos (Alba, SACD). The Brahms is enormous and powerful, the recording presenting a perspective well back from the orchestra. The Oboe Concertos are intimate chamber performances, with oboe mechanism and string noises quite evident. Both are beautifully presented in my view, but strikingly different. I found the finely blended, more distant tones of the orchestra in the Brahms as convincing as the stark, characterful contributions of the members of the small ensemble in the Oboe Concertos.
In addition to underplaying transparency, I failed to appreciate fully the combined effect of the forward midrange/low frequency balance. I don’t pretend to understand quite how the effect is achieved, but now feel it must be part of the seamless transition through the midrange into lower frequencies which helps with realistic imaging and timbre. On reflection, I wonder whether the leaner balance of phones like the HD800S, in completely removing any masking effect of sub-mid frequencies, presents the midrange in a way which is simply more exposed – and moving from one to the other takes some getting used to.
I should also mention that, to my ear, the Composer remains gratifyingly free of noticeable resonance issues.
I’m now in no doubt that I’ll keep The Composer.
I don’t think I was doing the Composer justice in terms of transparency. The HD800S has always been the benchmark for me, but I’m coming around to the view that the Composer is on equal footing. My sense is it’s equally good at delivering the transient cues which I think are critical to imaging and instrument timbre. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the way the Composer shifts gears between wide open orchestral spaces and intimate chamber music settings, as required by different recordings, while managing the difficult task of presenting realistic instrumental timbre. It’s a sort of ‘agility’ with presentation that’s unusual in my experience.
This was brought home to me when listening consecutively to two quite different recordings: Lisa Batiashvili with the Staatskapelle Dresden playing the Brahms Violin Concerto (Deutsche Grammophon, 24/96 download) and Kalev Kuljus with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra playing Oboe Concertos (Alba, SACD). The Brahms is enormous and powerful, the recording presenting a perspective well back from the orchestra. The Oboe Concertos are intimate chamber performances, with oboe mechanism and string noises quite evident. Both are beautifully presented in my view, but strikingly different. I found the finely blended, more distant tones of the orchestra in the Brahms as convincing as the stark, characterful contributions of the members of the small ensemble in the Oboe Concertos.
In addition to underplaying transparency, I failed to appreciate fully the combined effect of the forward midrange/low frequency balance. I don’t pretend to understand quite how the effect is achieved, but now feel it must be part of the seamless transition through the midrange into lower frequencies which helps with realistic imaging and timbre. On reflection, I wonder whether the leaner balance of phones like the HD800S, in completely removing any masking effect of sub-mid frequencies, presents the midrange in a way which is simply more exposed – and moving from one to the other takes some getting used to.
I should also mention that, to my ear, the Composer remains gratifyingly free of noticeable resonance issues.
I’m now in no doubt that I’ll keep The Composer.
Last edited:
nfandi
500+ Head-Fier
Nice to see you found your way home again after all that trouble-making elsewhere….
ps
FritzS
1000+ Head-Fier
Off topic ... is it this music?
.............
Lisa Batiashvili with the Staatskapelle Dresden playing the Brahms Violin Concerto (Deutsche Grammophon, 24/96 download)
https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/May13/Brahms_Batiashvili_4790086.htm
https://www.discogs.com/master/1584...apelle-Dresden-Christian-Thielemann-Johannes-
https://www.prostudiomasters.com/album/page/13153
.............
Kalev Kuljus with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra playing Oboe Concertos (Alba, SACD).
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8390585--concertos-for-oboe-oboe-damore
https://dasorchester.de/artikel/concertos-for-oboe-oboe-damore/
https://preview.highresaudio.com/de...telemann-bach-concertos-for-oboe-oboe-d-amore
https://www.prostudiomasters.com/album/page/18886
............
jamesjames
500+ Head-Fier
It is! Continuing off topic, another recording of the Brahms that I particularly like is by Isabelle Faust, with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra - Harmonia Mundi, 24/96 download. The smaller orchestra and closer recording give a different perspective. I find this and the Batiashvili recording better recorded and more satisfying than the older recordings mentioned in the musicweb review.
Last edited:
Users who are viewing this thread
