@tinbeo

the SHP300 is better than SHP80, every people who did a try in both phones agree SHP300 is better for audio mixing.

SHP80 is similar to: ISK HF2010/ Takstar HD2050

SHP300 is similar to: ISK HP 980/ ISK HD9999

but people don't know if the driver is the same in these phones.

Very Interesting Reviews comparing Arcano versus Superlux (also comparison with Philips):

REVIEW 1

Good news, I received the Arcano SHP80 these days and already gave some impressions of it, especially in comparison to the Superlux HD681 that I already have. I will leave here some considerations that I believe are important for anyone who is in doubt whether the phone is worth it or not and if it decides between him and 681.

Right away, it's worth a lot, especially if you focus on music and movies!

The first thing I would like to talk about is the finish and build quality: simply EXCELLENT for a handset of that price. When I received the same, I already saw that it was a product of a high quality of construction, superior, and VERY, at 681. The phone has the 'rods' of metal, which makes me quite calm as to the robustness of the same When suffering possible falls, for example. I know I do not need to worry about it. Apart from some details, I will speak more ahead with the next points.

Second, comfort: The pads are VERY comfortable, even my sister, as soon as she tried it, complimented her (she also wore my Superlux when I came here and moved my computer). My ears fit perfectly 'inside' the pads, without generating any kind of 'pressure' on my ears, which caused ear aches, discomfort, and even headaches when I used the 681. If I spent a few hours with the 681, soon had his ears red and 'throbbing' from the pressure generated from the pads on them.

With Arcano, I can spend much more time without any discomfort. The handset also has a set-up fitting, level in numbers, for the head, which makes it easy to 'decorate' the level you use on your head. This makes it easier for you when you need to adjust it again to the size of your head after someone else uses it. The fittings are firm, they do not get loose and change in level during use. Another thing is the rubberized "bow" (the part of the phone that is on top of your head, holding the handset), because the same way the pads, this rubberized bow (rubberized in the bottom - the part that is in contact with the His head) cushions the 'pressure' of the phone on the top of his head.

And now the most important: the Sound.

To be honest: in my opinion, Arcano is SUPERIOR, yes, to 681. I do not go back to the Superlux 681 because the Arcano is, at the very least, on the same sound quality level as the Superlux. It is very unlikely that you will find the 681 superior to the Arcano in this respect, not because 681 is bad, far from it, but the Arcano has succeeded in overcoming it.

The bass, midrange, and treble are all very good to hear and even more 'bright' than in 681 (I will not go into too technical details, otherwise an explanation would extend the text a lot), for one simple and important reason: Arcano is VERY realistic and faithful to the sound quality of what you are listening to. That's good and bad, I'll explain: if you listen to songs / movies / videos on YouTube or anywhere else the audio has not been recorded to the highest quality possible, you've heard recording noises, hissing, 'scratches' and other things because of the poor quality that recording was recorded on, but if you listen to music on a very high quality recording, you can be sure that the phone will also pass all that sound quality to you, studio. Do you understand what I mean?

Because it was a handset based on other professional studio-based headphones, the handset has absurd sonic fidelity. Therefore, the quality of what you will listen to will be strictly faithful to the recording quality level at which that audio / movie / video was recorded, as it is DIRECTLY related to the recording quality of that audio. So, if you take a video with poor audio quality on youtube, you will hear a lot of bad things, such as hissing and everything that has already been mentioned, but if you get a .FLAC (very high quality audio) audio file, for example, you will probably hear things that you have not heard before.

Example: there are videos that I can now hear the bass perfectly, something that did not happen with the Superlux, because the Superlux for not being as faithful as the Arcano, ended up 'disguising' several details like these, good or bad. This includes squeaks / noises, but also includes good things like this bass, in the example just quoted. Another example: there is an HD video of a song that I hear chirping on youtube, barely noticeable, but when I listen to the same version of this audio in Spotify, there is no hissing.

As for games, I'm playing everything I played quietly with Arcano, the most you will realize is that you will lose some of the sound stage (from where the footsteps come, the shots etc), but it is not absurd, nor precise To be frightened by it. Unless you are a professional player.

Summing up:

I recommend Arcano if you are a user who gives a preference to music and movies, especially if you are a more 'fancier' guy and you are accustomed to hearing things with a high standard of sound quality. Remember, with Arcano if you watch bad quality videos, you will hear bad audio, and if you watch super high quality videos, you will hear a super high quality audio. I also recommend for those who seek quality and, above all, audio fidelity, for example, those who work with recording.

In the case of ordinary users, who are not fans of games or music and movies and use the PC without worrying about these things, and also in case of players who are very worried about the sound stage (Again: only if you are professional it Will make some real difference), in these two cases I recommend the Superlux, as well as having a good sound stage, it also 'disguises' the details of music and movies, both good and bad details, as has already been said. That is, it is a handset that will suit well anyone looking for good quality, but is not worried if the level of sound quality is HIGH. Then he falls well.

I hope it was a little clear and that helps the guys decide which phone to pick up. Anything, you may ask.

Hug!

Original post: http://adrenaline.uol.com.br/forum/threads/impressoes-arcano-arc-shp80.570842/page-21#post-1072075061

REVIEW 2

I decided to register here in the forum to write an analysis about these headphones, even more because this topic was the main reason I bought them.

I've seen a lot of people here in doubt about buying the SHP80 or some Superlux, and since I already had both the 681 and the 668B, I thought it would be interesting to say what I think.

I bought the SHP80 on December 28th now and on the morning of the 30th it has arrived at home. I found it very fast, especially since I lived in SP and he came from Paraná. I'm using it with Xonar DG, which I have since I bought the Superlux 681 in 2013.

I was a couple of years with the 681 and at the time that was a huge quality change for me. But he found it extremely uncomfortable, he could not use it for many hours. Unfortunately his cable was being damaged over time until one side stopped working. That made me buy the 668B, which has the removable cable. From the tip of the YouTube channel "Z Reviews", I also purchased the velvet cushions for the 668B, which greatly improved the comfort.

I never found the 668B comfortable as I saw a lot of people talking. After a while, I started to force the rods out in order to decrease the pressure on the head. I made it to the point where he got really loose, and then I could use it right. Even so, it was not very comfortable, and that's why I decided to buy the SHP80.

In 2016 I heard enough music on the phone with the Philips SHE8000. When I was going to hear the same songs at home with the 668B, they just did not sound so good. Philips has a softer, softer sound to listen to, with the bass strong but still detailed. The people call it 'punch', and 668B did not have that for me. It also made me realize that I'm a bass head. I always thought I liked the neutral and detailed sound, but I missed that bass on the two Superlux. I just did not use Philips at home because it gets very uncomfortable after a while, slipping out of the ear and such.

Now in December, after about 2 years also with the 668B, I decided to tweak his equalization, in the program itself of Asus Xonar DG (with the drivers UNi). To try to emulate the sound of Philips, I increased the 'low-end' (low) and reduced the treble. As some should know, it is okay to not raise frequencies above 0 Db, so I made a curve down only.

The result saddened me even. In doing so, I realized that the 668B in the default setting sounds like it's coming out of a can. The highs are shrill and horrible. I know these trebles bring the details of the songs forward, but so far I can not believe I've been listening to something so bad for two years.

My EQ setup is not perfect, but it turned the sound on. It gets more muffled, of course, which made me have to turn up the volume, but now I could hear the bass and the high treble were gone. It was softer and easier to hear, less tiring. Some songs really changed for the better. It still does not compare to Philips on the questions I wanted, but it was another phone for me, and I was excited again to hear all my songs again. So much so that I almost did not buy the SHP80.

Anyway, in the end of year fever and also thinking about comfort, and reading everything I read in this topic, I decided to buy. And what can I say about it in a nutshell: straight out of the box, no EQ, no change at all, it sounds MUCH better than the 668B, even in the equalized version. And also better than Philips. In fact, I was amazed by the sound. My biggest fear was that they sounded the same as the Superluxes and it was money thrown away, but I was surprised.

First of all, a few caveats: they are not as comfortable as I imagined. They squeeze my head a bit and it bothers me, but I'm hoping it's because they're new, and maybe over time they'll soften more. And they have a more muffled sound than the 668B. I do not know if that's a negative point yet. All the details of the songs are still there, maybe even more than the Superlux, it's just that they have a different sonority.

I've never quite understood this thing on the sound stage, which says that the 668B's is huge and such, but I think I get it now, and maybe that's what I'm talking about. The SHP80 sounds good 'inside your head', while the Superlux seems to create an area between the headphones and your ear, which creates a more spatial, even more, aerial effect. I imagine this is a matter of custom or maybe even burn-in, if at all.

I could not tell which sounds better in this regard, because of the SHP80, even though it is more muffled like that, has an incredible sonority. It's really smooth even at high volumes - which is another good thing about it: the 60 Ohms impedance allows me to use the "Exciter Mode" setting of the Xonar program, which leaves it at a much higher volume than the Superlux, and that's something I needed on those headphones.

The bass of the SHP80 is absurd, comes to shake the head, but is not aggressive or anything, on the contrary, as soon as it enters a song it gives a very delicious sensation. I close my eyes with pleasure, haha.

Unlike many of you, I do not play CS: GO and neither multiplayer anything like that. I am more of single player games, like Dark Souls and etc. With the 668B I felt a great atmosphere in these games and could know the position of things and heard details from afar. I have not tested games with Arcano yet, but I imagine it has the same effect. Maybe I came back here later to say what I found.

And good, I think that's it. I am extremely happy with the headphones and have nothing to complain about yet. It would be much better if the cable were removable. If I knew how to make the changes to leave him like this, I would, but I'm afraid I'll ruin it. And though they squeeze my head, this is outlined by the great sound.

If I had to recommend one of the 3, it would certainly be the Arcano SHP80 first, followed by the Superlux 668B (I can not even recommend the 681 anymore, for all the advantages that 668B has on it). The 668B is very good, but needs some modifications to get better, like the cushions and maybe this equalization. The SHP80 already sounds much better straight out of the box (but I do not know if this is due to the Xonar DG), it has a higher volume, it has oval pads that fit the ear better and is more comfortable than the standard 668B, at least for me.

I can not even remember how I came to discover these headphones, but I can only thank everyone who posted here. If you have any questions, I'll try to respond too.

Original post: http://adrenaline.uol.com.br/forum/threads/impressoes-arcano-arc-shp80.570842/page-31#post-1072650409

Hope this helps.

Final Review about the SHP300 headphones (teste):

First thing to talk about is the bass performance, as it was my main complain about it. The velvet feeling is not due to headphones issues definitely. After listening different musics I perceived that the music producers intentionally introduces more bass in some songs to make these songs more appealing or dancing or captivating, powerful, impressive. Other songs just have the bass in normal default amount and does not sound velvet. I also compared two headphones and one in-ear phone and all of them shows velvet feeling for the same songs.

But yes, the SHP300 has a more pronounced bass and I concluded that this is welcome, because it shows all details of low frequency instruments which helps sound mixing. And you can decide the amount of bass you will put in your work.

Another thing very important is the analysis of vocals, mids and trebles to perceive if they have harsh or sibilance or piercing aspect. And again, the answer is the same, in some musics yes (but very little), in other musics no. And also same thing, when the SHP300 shows sibilance, the other phones and speakers also shows it. So it is the same conclusion, it depends on the music. I believe that the microphones used to get the vocals and instruments have a lot to do with this, and also the mixing equalization used in each song. At least on interviews and vlogs in youtube it is clear to perceive the microphones quality. When there is no sibilance in the voice of course the microphone is better.

So if you consider the SHP300 do not worry about velvet bass or harsh / piercing / sibilance in mids and trebles. The SHP300 is ok. If your audio mixing work does not shows these problems in the SHP300 is because your work is ok.

I think that people who are reading my topics are perceiving that I am getting familiar to sound behavior and more experienced because I am studying it. So in some moments it take some time for me to get the correct conclusions.

About the frequencies response I can say that the SHP300 is very capable in all frequencies. The audiocheck 20hz to 20khz tone audio is complete listened. All details of bass, mids and trebles are present, good and clear, without confusion or cluttering. And after lots of attempts to equalize and calibrate it, I perceived that it can be used in flat position, or just with small tweaks. Flat position is much better to perceive if your audio work is sounding good, because if there are imperfections, they will show up.

The headphones can reproduce sound without distortion even with computer volume in 100%.

So now after all these experiments I am confident that I can use the SHP300 for audio mixing without fear. This is a 56 usd headphones and it’s performance is impressive for the price. I took some time to perceive it because I did not have enough experience with sound, but after comparisons and study I perceived it.

About the construction, it is very solid. The cable is thick/strong and is connected and can be replaced (mini xlr), in the end it is P2 with P10 adapter, golded, with 3 meters long. In the headphones itself the cables are all internal, so no problem with cable breaking. And one thing that I like a lot: it is very confortable and lightweight, can be used for hours without annoyance. The foams surround all the ears and do not press them. The foams are covered with a soft syntethic leather which does not seem that will tear. And there is a soft arc over the head that you almost forget because it does not press the head.

For a low budget guy like me what more I can expect? I am satisfied.

Use it in flat position or use this equalization:

60=-9, 170=-7, 310=-5, 600=-3, 1k=-1, 3k=0, 6k=-3, 12k=-3, 14k=-1, 16k=0

Manufacturer specifications: 32 ohms (which is good for low power devices), 10hz to 36khz.

http://lista.mercadolivre.com.br/shp300

Sibilance is an outcome of issues overlooked during recording/mixing, not headphone quality; just listen to Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pills" album... horrible. Both good and bad cans will reveal this.

I did more music listening and I perceived that there are musics with lots of bass, and other musics with a better mixing where bass sounds pretty calibrated, so I think the shp300 headphones can be used for audio mixing and no problem at all.

The different artists and studios uses diferent equalization in their musics, so the shp300 is ok for perceiving the best equalization.

I am starting to believe there is nothing wrong with the headphones, I am starting to believe that some music equalizations are wrong.

The SHP300 headphones arrived.

I heard some different musics on it.

The sound is ok, clear, without confusion in frequencies, without harsh or sibilance in mids and trebles. I can identify all instruments and good voice.

The sound is good quality, very easy to equalize, with just minor adjustments in frequencies it gets ok. It is almost flat from factory with some more bass and some more mid-high.

There is just one thing that I don't know if can be bad at all... The bass frequencies are velvet, and if I lower them to try to remove the velvet feeling the bass intensity gets lower, but the velvet sensation does not fade away. So I need to get accustomed to this characteristic.

Best average equalizer settings (sound card software):
60=-9, 170=-7, 310=-5, 600=-3, 1k=-1, 3k=0, 6k=-3, 12k=-3, 14k=0, 16k=0

Final decisions:

Large Phone: for long time working in audio mixing and video editing: Arcano SHP300. Main reasons: 1-price: 56 usd. 2-good build construction 3-excellent customers reviews, most 5/5 and some 4/5. 4-replaceable cable 5-one review said that phones around 20/30 usd more expensive are not better in sound and construction to deserve the extra money. 6-some says it has a good flat response ideal for monitoring/mixing and shows all audio details 7-closed to avoid sound out. 8-large and confortable foams surround all the ear. 9-Best selling phone here in my country, seems to be the best buy. 10-similar to ISK HP980, ISK HD9999 and AKG K271.

http://www.arcanomusic.com.br/produtos/arc-shp300/196

http://produto.mercadolivre.com.br/MLB-706749841-fone-p-estudio-arcano-arc-shp300-alta-qualidade-baixo-preco-_JM

In-Ear Phone: for enjoy music and for small time quality comparison in audio mixing/video editing: KZ ZS5. Main reasons: 1-price: 32 usd. 2-good build construction 3-excellent reviews, awarded and 5/5 rated in bass/mid/treble. 4-interesting design using 4 drivers in each side. 5-do not fall from ear. 6-replaceable cable. 7-customers reviews says WOW for the sound. 8-need a small phones for portable and discreet situations 9-if I cannot get the best large phone, why not get the best cheap small phone?!!!

https://audiobudget.com/product/KZ/ZS5

https://pt.aliexpress.com/item/Original-KZ-ZS5-2DD-2BA-Hybrid-In-Ear-Earphone-HIFI-DJ-Monito-Running-Sport-Earphones-Earplug/32810404680.html?aff_platform=link-c-tool&cpt=1497989273681&sk=ny7YjeU&aff_trace_key=ccd3111ec46b4e71b38f208b5daee3ce-1497989273681-02659-ny7YjeU

@apefos

Unless you want to work in music studio requiring total silence closed headphones have inferior sound, it is just due to physics of too small space and too much reflections.

Btw instead of hours spent on selection of cheap headphones you can find any payable work and try to save on best ones.

I got a KZ ED9 to use with a Xduoo X3 DAP. It's very clear with adequate bass.

I just compared the KZ ED9 with the SONY-MDR-NW750N hi-res earbuds on a SONY DAP. The KZ ED9 actually sounds way better than the Sony Hi-res earbuds which cost 10 times more.. better bass presence than the Sony.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/SONY-MDR-NW750N-B-Canal-type-earphones-Hi-Res-sound-Noise-canceling-Black-New-/152019533904

( right, earbuds are OK for portable music or radio only! Earbuds always fall out, but a little gaffers tape will hold them in :) .. )

The most intriguing, surreal and fun part of reading earphones reviews is trying to understand a sound by reading words. I needed to do some google research and read about the words often used to describe an audio: warm, dark, bright, harsh, piercing, and so on... (type things like this on google: what is a warm audio?)

There are mixed reviews, some says astonishing, other says so so, other says bad for the same phones. Interesting thing is: sometimes a review say bad things and deliver a good grade/record number classification. Sometimes a review say good things and deliver a bad grade/record number classification.

Sonarworks has an interesting DAW plugin. They did analysis in many earphones and developed a "turn into flat"/"turn into calibrated" equalization plugin. In their website, listening the same sound with/without the calibration for a given earphone can show how much the given earphone differs from "ideal" earphones. They say there are not perfect earphones, even the most expensive will not be perfect calibrated due to the materials limits.

About the large over-the-ear phones, I was considering the Superlux, but people says it has a small amount of harsh in trebles. Sonar calibration shows a very downgrade in trebles to calibrate the Superlux earphones, so I concluded that this is true. Taking this into account I decided to give a try in the Arcano SHP20 phones because it is cheaper and has good customers reviews, and the more expensive Superlux are not perfect to deserve the extra money. I decided to get a large earphone to avoid hurting the ears with in-ear phones when using long time.

About the in-ear phones, here in my country the KZ are very popular and easy to find for reasonable prices, and the reviews are ok, so I decided to go for it. I need a small portable earphones for in the field audio monitoring, and an unobtrusive/discreet solution. So after reading a lot I perceived the KZ ATE to be the best choice. They do not fall from the ear, have good ambient sound isolation, and people says it sounds good.

I am very curious about the KZ ED9, because it has a more flat/balanced frequence response curve, two options for bass changing the nozzle, and reviews says it sounds astonishing. (some says the trebles are a little harsh but perfect at same time with great classification numbers). But two things are not adequate for audio recording monitoring: they can get loose from the ear if you move yourself, and they have open backs which can spread a small amount of sound to the ambient. If someday I can have the extra money to buy, I will give it a try mainly for enjoy music and maybe for using with a DAW software interleaving with the Arcano.

I found a very interesting website which provides tone audios for testing earphones. One of the most useful audios starts at 20HZ, start changing and goes up to 20KHZ, so you can perceive if your earphones can respond adequate to all frequencies.

Some links:

Audio tones for earphone test:

http://www.audiocheck.net/testtones_perceptualsinesweep.php

http://www.audiocheck.net/testtones_sinesweep20-20k.php

http://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php

Sonar earphones calibration plugin:

https://www.sonarworks.com/headphones

KZ ATE reviews:

https://www.audiophileon.com/news/kz-ate-review-the-best-budget-earbuds

http://www.thephonograph.net/kz-ate-review/

https://audiobudget.com/product/KZ/ATE

https://www.head-fi.org/f/showcase/kz-ate-in-ear-monitors.21174/reviews

KZ ED9 reviews:

http://www.thephonograph.net/kz-ed9-review/

https://audiobudget.com/product/KZ/ED9

https://www.head-fi.org/f/showcase/kz-ed9-tunning-nozzles-in-ear-headphones.20807/reviews

ARCANO SHP20 customers reviews and website:

"Excellent studio phone. High, good response in bass, mid and treble. Its constructive material, although it does not look good, is of excellent quality. Excellent cable with p2 and p10, comfortable foams, handle and does not stifle both ears. I'm going to do a review on youtube. Good buy, friends! It's worth everything!"

"The handset caters perfectly. Very good. / Very good great perfect quality. / 20 days using the headset, excellent! / Very good! High quality audio! Everything appears with a good definition. I recommend it! / The phone has a very good structure, an excellent quality for headphones of this price range, perfectly meets my needs."

http://www.arcanomusic.com.br/produtos/arc-shp20/193

http://produto.mercadolivre.com.br/MLB-718355868-fone-para-estudio-arcano-arc-shp20-alta-qualidade-_JM

If you are curious about the SuperLux:

Superlux HD681 and HD668b reviews:

Text review with measurements: https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/superlux-hd-668b-and-hd-681-headphones

Can get https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000FEG4TC/ref=dp_olp_used_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=used

Seems to be same as http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/3584/panasonic-rp-htf890-headphones/p1

shp80 is more expensive and hard to find, and I do not like the velvet around the ears, can be confortable but will get dirty soon...

I think I will decide between Arcano SHP20 and Superlux HD668b. Time to read and see some reviews and take a little time to decide.

Thanks a lot for all the tips.