Just picked up the Sovereign ESW9

[jcruiz]

I'll ask some girls to model Joma. Let's have another Sunday Bona meet, I'll bring some girls.

count me in on your bona meet guys.

btw, is the esw9 as big as the es10?

[Mochan]

count me in on your bona meet guys.

btw, is the esw9 as big as the es10?

ESW9 is a bit smaller. Sound is also quite different from how I remember the ES10.  As I recall the ES10 had a rather forward, vibrant sound. The ESW9 is a lot more laidback, with a tubey-sounding warmth.

Personally I prefer the wood finish of the ESW9 over the aluminum of the ES10, so I'm quite happy with it.

I'll set up a Bona meet soon, probably in a couple of weeks pa since I need to schedule the girls haha! Joma wants some models to go with my headphones, I will get him some models.

[Mochan]

Congrats bro Mochan, you're on a roll

Might want to donate some gear to me

Thanks bro, there's more to come!

[knowledgeofself]

Sorry for the necro. Just wanted to share. Maybe I could get some tips from those who own the esw9.

I've owned these babies for more than a week now. Burned it in for approx. 24 hours with pink noise, high/low frequency sweeps. To my ears though I don't find them that smooth. I actually find myself, unintentionally, reaching for the dt1350 more since sometimes I find the hi-hats and snares on the esw9 a little detached from the music, distracting if I may.

Don't get me wrong, I like 'em (except for the fact that mine had blemishes on the cups when they arrived from weemall  -irks me). I like the bass and the lovely vocals (especially with Adele's albums). But again with songs that have copious amounts of hi-hats, crashes, splashes, they remind me of my HD650 with a cardas cable - a combo I did not like.

So, does the esw9 need more burn-in time before they fully smoothen out? Is there an optimal positioning for these babies?

[Sforza]

Nope, they really do sound like that. Perhaps a bright amp might be able to help, but the reasons you just mentioned are the exact reason why I sold my pair, and they were already recabled with silver at that.
What you could do as well is pair it with another headphone with a totally different sound sig; something like a Grado or a DT880 or an SRH940 maybe. That way you'd get the best of both worlds.

[marcusd]

Sorry for the necro. Just wanted to share. Maybe I could get some tips from those who own the esw9.

I've owned these babies for more than a week now. Burned it in for approx. 24 hours with pink noise, high/low frequency sweeps. To my ears though I don't find them that smooth. I actually find myself, unintentionally, reaching for the dt1350 more since sometimes I find the hi-hats and snares on the esw9 a little detached from the music, distracting if I may.

Don't get me wrong, I like 'em (except for the fact that mine had blemishes on the cups when they arrived from weemall  -irks me). I like the bass and the lovely vocals (especially with Adele's albums). But again with songs that have copious amounts of hi-hats, crashes, splashes, they remind me of my HD650 with a cardas cable - a combo I did not like.

So, does the esw9 need more burn-in time before they fully smoothen out? Is there an optimal positioning for these babies?

I pair mine with the C&C X02 from time to time or an e11 for fun. I am ok with the top end for my personal taste to be honest and almost always pair it with the hifiman Hm602 and a amp of my picking from the ampery.

[knowledgeofself]

Nope, they really do sound like that. Perhaps a bright amp might be able to help, but the reasons you just mentioned are the exact reason why I sold my pair, and they were already recabled with silver at that.
What you could do as well is pair it with another headphone with a totally different sound sig; something like a Grado or a DT880 or an SRH940 maybe. That way you'd get the best of both worlds.

Wouldn't a bright amp highlight the things I have slight issues with (hi-hats, crashes, and splashes) bro?

Although I must admit that I was more bothered when I first listened to them out of the box since I expected an uber "smooth" sound. Now it's tamed down a bit but I guess I find it weird that I hear so differently from what others say. Compared to how I can related with others when, say, they talk about HP's I have like HD650, IE8, dt1350.

I've pondered on selling them too but the vocals on these and, as mentioned by Mochan, somewhat airiness to them appeals very much to my taste. Aesthetically it's a home run as well. It's just the sound of hi-hats, crash, cymbals that I'm not loving.

[knowledgeofself]

I pair mine with the C&C X02 from time to time or an e11 for fun. I am ok with the top end for my personal taste to be honest and almost always pair it with the hifiman Hm602 and a amp of my picking from the ampery.

[knowledgeofself]

quick update. Fiddled with the e11 and it somewhat addressed the issue but I never intended to use the esw9 with an amp. So... I fiddled with the placement a bit.

Positioned the headband to lean towards the back of my head (instead of having it sit on the middle part of the crown). Consequentially, i noticed that compared to how I previously position them, the driver holes(?) where the pads are are now totally cupped by my ears.

A/B'd previous and current position while listening to Clockwork by Up Dharma Down: the crash now hits lighter; the ticking drum machine hi-hats at the beginning of the song is now less prominent; the hi-hat of the drum kit now blends more with the music as a whole. Lost a bit of air though but no biggie.

I guess it's akin to fit and seal issues concerning some iem's where lose fit=more treble. I didn't expect positioning would be this fuzzy with the esw9 compared to the fuzzier dt1350.

[marcusd]

Technically being an on-ear the fit comes into play a bit more than over the ear headphones. I found that the ESW9 likes my left ear a bit less than my right ear but no biggie

[Mochan]

Incidentally, I traded my dt1350 for an esw9 as I preferred the airy, laid-back and bassier sound of the esw9. I didn't have an issue with the treble top end but dt1350 definitely has more sparkle up there. On the whole though I think the esw9 is the smoother sound.

And yeah, I didn't like the hd650 with Cardas either. Did you get to fix the channel imbalance though?

[knowledgeofself]

Incidentally, I traded my dt1350 for an esw9 as I preferred the airy, laid-back and bassier sound of the esw9. I didn't have an issue with the treble top end but dt1350 definitely has more sparkle up there. On the whole though I think the esw9 is the smoother sound.

I, on the other hand, wanted both worlds so I got the esw9 after acquiring the sparkly beyers. 
I do concur that the esw9 has a smoother warmer sound to them but there's something about the beyers that draws me in even though I consider them as the sonic black sheep among my gears. I might make a noob comparo between the two if I'm feeling up to the task since I usually get distracted with the music whenever I plan on making an impression. 

And yeah, I didn't like the hd650 with Cardas either. Did you get to fix the channel imbalance though?

I never bothered fixing the Cardas. I like the senn cables anyways. Might clip the senn adapters though and get rid of/find another use for the Cardas.

Technically being an on-ear the fit comes into play a bit more than over the ear headphones. I found that the ESW9 likes my left ear a bit less than my right ear but no biggie

Agreed on that. I'm hearing the esw9's smoothness even more now that I've fiddled with placement. I have to say though that the earpad size and clamp on the dt1350's feels less awkward in terms of placement, at least for me. 

[airwax]

I must say, sounds like I'm more intrigued by the girls in the photoshoot than the gears. But I've been in headphiles for so long that I still might choose the gear over the girls.