Maybe not and that’s just how they sound normally because the ESS Id bet is just a rebrand from the same OEM as this headphone here:
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...e-ever-heard-and-why.11340/page-3#post-357320
I really like the sound of my ESS Heil AMT-1 tweeters. ESS now makes a hybrid headphone using AMT technology. It has a dynamic driver for bass, so it’s a 2-way headphone. Looks well made with walnut cups, real leather pads, metal hardware and removable cord. One complaint was that they are heavy - with all that wood, leather, and aluminum. However, all those premium materials make it feel very well built and high quality. Almost no plastic used.
ESS 422H Hybrid Headphones | ESS Laboratories, LLC
Has anyone tried these?
They appear to be on sale (direct or Amazon) at an introductory price of only $149. Not bad for a 32ohms impedance rated at 110dB/1mW.
Some reviews:
https://theaudiobeatnik.com/ess-422h-headphones-review-high-end-sound-at-an-entry-level-price/
ESS 422H Headphones - Reviews | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
ESS 422H Headphones Review | Headfonics
ESS 422H Headphones Review
I heard some reviews where they say it makes a difference if your model has the tweeter on top and the dynamic driver on the bottom. It’s interchangeable but makes a big difference. Mostly positive reviews. Also customer service seems to be very good too.
Here’s a sneak look at the insides from a Head-Fi post:
I see a single SMT cap as a high pass filter for the AMT and the dynamic driver runs full range.
I bought these headphones out of curiosity, but was quite unhappy with the sound, besides other things, and sold them. With some loss.
The sound was too closed, the heavy wood enclose was just too reflective, bouncing back waves messing up sound for me.
I am used to clarity of open back headphones and these in comparison were too boxy.
Not to mention heavy.
Highs were ok. But nothing special.
The spring in headband was strong and trying to squeeze my brain out, and even i do not use it much lately, i wanted to keep it.
So generally quite dissapointed with these, but they are not too expensive, so not much harm done. We learn by making mistakes.
Good afternoon everybody. Sorry for rebumping this sleeping thread, but I could just manage to buy a pair of NOS ESS 422H. When I learned about their short-lived existence, they were discontinued already, so I had to wait for a NOS unit to surface.
Frankly, after reading so many mixed reviews, I knew beforehand that they were not going to play any good, and indeed they don't, but my desire to own a pair of headphones with an AMT prevailed. The lack of trebles is so abysmal that I wonder how is it possible that such a product had been marketed at all by an experienced brand such as the one in question. I have tried most of the suggestions given in this thread, but to no or only partial avail:
1) reversing the headphone chassis - this actually caused further loss of trebles in my case;
2) inverting the AMT polarity - wether this had any percievable effect, the jury is still out; for sure it didn't "solve" the issue altogether;
3) adding a resistor in series with the dynamic speaker.
Tweak 3 had a clear and obvious effect on the sound, but unfortunately very far from fully balancing the trebles. I then tried to increase the suggested 10 Ohms, but when I got around 30 Ohms there still was lack of trebles but on the other hand the sound begun to get noticeably unbalanced between left and right channel. Uncreasing the resistor value even further seemed to have no longer any effect with the bass/treble ratio (which I fail to understand why, I have to admit) but further worsened the balance between L and R channels.
Did anyone made further tweakings to these headphones? I have in mind to try different voltage dividers in place of the simple series resistor and see what happens, but honestly I'm quite discouraged. If someone succeeded in rebalancing the sound of these headphones somehow, I'm... "all ears".
Frankly, after reading so many mixed reviews, I knew beforehand that they were not going to play any good, and indeed they don't, but my desire to own a pair of headphones with an AMT prevailed. The lack of trebles is so abysmal that I wonder how is it possible that such a product had been marketed at all by an experienced brand such as the one in question. I have tried most of the suggestions given in this thread, but to no or only partial avail:
1) reversing the headphone chassis - this actually caused further loss of trebles in my case;
2) inverting the AMT polarity - wether this had any percievable effect, the jury is still out; for sure it didn't "solve" the issue altogether;
3) adding a resistor in series with the dynamic speaker.
Tweak 3 had a clear and obvious effect on the sound, but unfortunately very far from fully balancing the trebles. I then tried to increase the suggested 10 Ohms, but when I got around 30 Ohms there still was lack of trebles but on the other hand the sound begun to get noticeably unbalanced between left and right channel. Uncreasing the resistor value even further seemed to have no longer any effect with the bass/treble ratio (which I fail to understand why, I have to admit) but further worsened the balance between L and R channels.
Did anyone made further tweakings to these headphones? I have in mind to try different voltage dividers in place of the simple series resistor and see what happens, but honestly I'm quite discouraged. If someone succeeded in rebalancing the sound of these headphones somehow, I'm... "all ears".
I have the Monoprice AMT headphone. It was on sale not too long ago for $300. Very interesting headphone especially for the price. The Hedd Headphone (2) looks at least comparable to my Mono-AMT but Hedd much more expensive.
ESS had a proper “full-range” AMT headphone way back in the day, guessing the 80s. Very rarely do they come up for sale, rare.
ESS had a proper “full-range” AMT headphone way back in the day, guessing the 80s. Very rarely do they come up for sale, rare.
Thanks for your message, I've tried it with both a full tube amp, a full solid state amp, as well as a hybrid tube/transistors CD player with headphone output; the sound shows the same evident treble issues with all. As written earlier it was no surprise as almost everybody in this topic lamented their evident lack of trebles, until some US citizens with no import/duty issues sent them back to ESS, where they had them "repaired" and apparently sounded wonderfully thereafter. However, it seems that nobody was able to explain in what did this "repair" consist.
I should do an impedance sweep of my headphones using DATS to see what kind of an amp this needs to drive it and if others with a version that lacks treble can also do a sweep. If the high pass filter was changed it would show up.
Looking at post 1 there is a single SMT cap for the high pass filter. I would bet changing this to an appropriate MKP film cap will do wonders.
I never took mine apart but now remote to and will swap the SMT for a film cap. Looking at the size of that cap, it’s probably no more than 1uF X7R ceramic. X7R is terrible for audio path signals.
Looking at post 1 there is a single SMT cap for the high pass filter. I would bet changing this to an appropriate MKP film cap will do wonders.
I never took mine apart but now remote to and will swap the SMT for a film cap. Looking at the size of that cap, it’s probably no more than 1uF X7R ceramic. X7R is terrible for audio path signals.
Mine is exactly as the one in picture, and it lacks trebles tremendously. The reason why I insist with it rather than simply trashing the headphone, is that the bass is instead excellent. If only I could rebalance the trebles, it may very well rank among my favourite headphones.
I haven't changed the capacitor so far as the lack of trebles is so abysmal that I doubt that a better quality capacitor could fix the issue: there are better or worse capactiors for each application of course, but none that can do miracles. If anyone who has experimented with the cap may suggest an appropriate value, I'll try to change it, although I can very hardly foresee any radical improvement.
I haven't changed the capacitor so far as the lack of trebles is so abysmal that I doubt that a better quality capacitor could fix the issue: there are better or worse capactiors for each application of course, but none that can do miracles. If anyone who has experimented with the cap may suggest an appropriate value, I'll try to change it, although I can very hardly foresee any radical improvement.
https://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/headphone-amp-impedance.html
Before you continue the repair, I suggest getting an Apple Type C to 3.5mm dongle, model A2049 specifically for $5-10.
I suspect the output impedance of your sources may be responsible for poor treble performance.
The dongle has less than 1ohm of measured impedance and outputs ~30mW@32ohm which is plentiful for this high sensitivity headphone.