? + Voyager = warm and intimate sounding headphone

Hello Simon, good morning!

Unfortunately neither this Peter Gabriel song nor any Chroma Key is on Spotify .

CONTEXT AND SETUP

I am familiar with the first Turin Brakes album but not this song. I was totally unfamiliar with Dream Theater. My band once supported Erasure in 1986 but its a long time since I heard The Circus and possibly never previously through a decent HP setup.

Technical setup: Macbook pro > standard USB cable > Pro-ject USB DAC (USB powered) > 6 inch Atlas phono to 3.5 jack > Voyager (powered by USB from the macbook). High bit-rate Spotify streamed files which I believe are 320kbps in a proprietary format. 

I tried a couple of Smiths songs from the new Complete set which is also on Spotify and compared to the ipod/LOD/320kbps mp3 equivalents. I would say this test setup has a little more detail than the ipod/LOD but is a little lighter in the bass region.

I played the songs through in full in the same order on each can in turn. I did not use an SPL meter but from previous measurements, I’m confident that the average would have been around 78-82db with peaks up to 87db. I was certainly conscious to keep the volume as constant as possible and not too excessive.

SEQUENCE

Turin Brakes > Dream Theater > Erasure

HS 25 > SRH 840 > SRH 940

There are clearly lots of variables in play (incl cables) so please see this as impressions only - not a review!!!

SUMMARY

Somewhat to my surprise, all 3 cans performed very well on all 3 tracks, though all 3 IMHO are above-average produced/mixed/mastered. The SRH940 will show production defects more readily and possibly be less satisfying on other material.

If this had been my audition in a shop, looking for a home-use can where *maximum* isolation was not the imperative, I would have walked out with the SRH940, no question. 

SRH 940

The sound is intimate and engaging because the soundstage is coherent and well sized/shaped ('rectangular, landscape'… roughly 2:1 ratio). The detail and timbral accuracy is more convincing on all tracks by a margin vs. the other 2. The vocals at the end of Dark on Fire were quite sublime. I could readily visualise Dream Theater the band (though I have never seen them!) and my foot was tapping regularly through-out. In many respects, this is kind of what I would have expected because I have a very healthy respect and love for the SRH940. On less well produced rock tracks, though, you may well find it less satisfying.

THe SRH940 isolation is the weakest (velour pads vs. pleather on 840/hd25) but my son had the TV on quietly-ish in the room and it didn't bother me at all.

SRH 840

I think the 200 hours burn in on this can may still not be enough! It still has (rare) moments of glare. Care is required with volume setting. It has a more oval landscape-shaped soundstage of decent size. The gives everything a little more air and detail than the hd25. The mid-range and vocals are a little more prominent but the timbral accuracy for me is a little lower. Bass had a little more punch than the 940s but not a significant difference to me on these tracks. The mid-range is a lot less less convincing than the 940s. None of these tracks revealed the 840s mid-bass hump.

In terms of warmth and intimacy, the 840 scores lowest IMHO as the hd25 is more intimate in its soundstage and punch, the 940 draws you right in with its details and coherent presentation. If I had to narrow down to 2, I would remove the 840, though bizarrely, the 840 is (at home) probably the best ‘all-rounder’ on a wider range of material… if you don’t miss the hd25 punch/initimacy !!

HD25

This session has revised my opinion slightly, but only because the 940 was a surprise with these tracks via the Voyager. The HD25 presented all the tracks well including convincing acoustic guitars/cymbals and vocals from Turin Brakes and the most engaging guitars/keyboards during the last section of New Millennium. The double kick drum punch was enjoyable, even if the click/definition/timing wasn’t the best. Vocals on The Circus sounded a little recessed, but not fatally.

The HD25 soundstage is small and short. It has some width... approx ratio 3:1. For rock and other intimate material, this can be very effective. On other material it can still offer enough for space around individual instruments.

OVERALL

Most good studio/music stores should have 2 or 3 of these cans to try with your voyager. The presentations are quite different and your view of ‘warm and intimate’ is probably different to mine!

I hope these comments are of some use to help frame your evaluations… good luck with your search.

Best

James