No, you misread me. Any balanced amp will sound better in balanced mode than in SE mode. That's inherent in the design. However, balanced amps is mostly a dual mono design, and you need twice the number of parts. Instead they could (and should imo) use the resources on better parts in SE mode...

I doubt they'll make it balanced. Balanced is bs anyways. Just more expensive. Give me a powerful unbalanced amp any day.

Not hot at all

I agree And don't let the volume control fool you. It's designed to be like it is.

Does a good job with HE-6

I talked to the guy He said Rebel Amp is going to move the production to the US bc of the war. Thus, in order to keep costs down, they work hard on simplifying the design. So the Rebel amp will come back with a different internal and probably external design.

That's sad. Glad you got one 👍

Congratulations! It's a great amp, I hope they have a new batch made.

Nice write up, thanks for sharing. The Cadenza, Orchestra Lite and Quintet seems to be the top 3 and I agree, all are fabulous. The Quartet is pretty good too, I might add. The tuning switches are actually very well implemented

I recently did a write-up / comparison between the Kiwi Ears Quintet and the Simgot EA2000. Hope somebody will find it interesting or useful :) https://www.headphoneer.com/kiwi-ears-quintet-vs-simgot-ea2000-comparison-review/

Impedance switches works differently on different headphones. I've experienced the same with other amps.

+15 dB bass shelf 😂

EQ has its place but I like to judge them by the way they sound by themselves. If they respond well to EQ, that's excellent. But comparing headphones after EQ is getting really complex

Ah, your talking about them EQ-ed.

It will certainly drive the LCD-X easily

Well, I personally prefer the LCD-X to the Clear but it's definitely not in the league of the Utopia

Sony 1000xm3? Lots of music sounds better on less expensive equipment

Thanks. I think this hint of "metallic timbre" is an issue with all Focal headphones. It really does not bother me. I find some pad swaps to beneficial, but there's always a trade off. I have never heard a perfect headphone, though, there's always trade-offs. That's what makes us keep exploring :)

I'm trying out a series of Dekoni pads, going to publish a review relatively soon. They definitely affect the sound. But what you prefer will be a matter of taste and preference. As always :)

I just finished comparing the LCD-X to the Focal Clear MG, hope some will find it useful or interesting :) https://www.headphoneer.com/audeze-lcd-x-vs-focal-clear-mg-comparison-review/

Lcd3 is lusher, darker and sounds like velvet and honey; the LCD-X is more neutral. I love both

I found the Grado RS1X to be a somewhat sub optional match, good to see that it's not applicable to all Grados 👍

I just finished writing up a comparison between the Focal Clear MG and the Audeze LCD-X Hope somebody will find it interesting :)! https://www.headphoneer.com/audeze-lcd-x-vs-focal-clear-mg-comparison-review/

The Dekoni nuggets or something similar might work? Attach something soft under the headband to get the pressure distributed comfortably. This will also reduce the clamp because you will then have the headband in wider position. Worth a try?

Can you pick/rub all of it off? Exposing the underlying fabric. I've done that on several headphones There's tons of headband covers available in Amazon, AliExpress etc