Headphones

I've listened to both the double-sided and single-sided Tungstens, though at different events a month apart so I can't do a direct comparison. The Single-Sided version is hard to drive. It needs more power (particularly voltage) than a Susvara, which I was able to compare with at CAF.

Take this with a grain of salt, but I thought that non-feedback amplifiers didn't play well with the Tungsten. When I tried it on the HeadAmp CFA3, the amp was initially in zero feedback mode and I thought the vocals were way too upfront and the soundstage had width but little frontal depth. When I flipped the feedback switch to enable feedback, the vocals moved back and the soundstage opened up. It was not a subtle difference. I also tried the double-sided Tungsten with the Schiit Mjolnir 3 which also has a zero feedback mode, and I thought the vocals were too upfront there too, but I didn't check which feedback mode was used at the time. I wish I had been able to listen to it on my Ferrum Erco, as I've heard that Ferrum amps work well with it.

Sound-wise, I think it's good, with no flaws that stood out to me. It's darker than, say, a Hifiman Arya or HE1000, has more bass, and has a rich but mellow and not shouty vocal range. It's a bit like an old-style Audeze. In fact, I'd say that it sounds the most like how I remember the Audeze LCD-2 Classic that I demoed at a store once. Smooth, a bit bassy (but not bloated or boomy), but without the midrange tonal weirdness that the LCD-X has. I don't quite get the hype around them, but they're good headphones.