Taction Kannon

A

AVT

Supreme [H]ardness
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Aug 8, 2008
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https://www.tactiontechnology.com

According to Head-Fi, these are supposed to be some of the best bass headphones out there. Their main trick is psychoacoustics: they claim lower frequencies are perceived as vibrations by the skin in addition to the eardrum, and that using very finely-tuned haptics they can make a pair of headphones with more bass than anything conventional.

I'm intrigued, and if I was still living in the US I'd buy a pair, and either resell or return it if they weren't better than my Audio Technica Pro700mk2s. Unfortunately, I'm now in the UK, and customs duty isn't cheap.

Has anyone tried a pair? Are they legit?
 
Nobody?

Well, I ordered one because the promise of better bass is enticing. I'll report back with the results when it arrives.
 
Panasonic shockwaves were cool and these are supposed to make you game better. must be good! ;)
let people know what you think I guess...
 
I have them. For bass enthusiast I think they are definitely worth a look but for those who searches overall sound quality you will get your money's worth better in other options. I had to swap the stock pads as they were a bit small for my ears and didn't fully fit around my ears and soundstage was very in your face etc but it got better with the Shure 840 replacement pads and got also more comfortable and slightly better sounding too. They otherwise feel pretty solid despite looking a bit rugged.

Balance wise they are a bit on the warm side, the highs are slightly south of neutral but overall it doesn't sway that much from a bass enhanced but otherwise pretty close to neutral balance, there's no hints of sibilance at any time but also I find the resolution of highs somewhat lacking but female vocals sound pretty okay though nonetheless. I'd say ~$150 or thereabouts is a more fair comparison when it comes to sound quality. Turning off the haptic driver you get a sound that is a upside-down V response where the focus is around midrange and it doesn't sound that good (obvious lack of dynamics).

BUT, they are fun and the ability to get such bass experience especially for portable use without any need for fancy amps etc is pretty sweet and it did sound great straight from the phone at 75~80% volume. Unfortunately I mostly listen stationary and I wasn't that keen how the cable length to the controller isn't very stationary-use friendly and always comes in my way. So it's a bit nay-yay experience. I'm a retired basshead that started quite a few years ago look more into sound quality than bass quantity, I still like a hefty amount bass but it shouldn't come with a obvious sound quality impact. My favorite setup for some strange reason is still the M-Audio Q40 + digiZoid ZO2.1 amp combo (~$120 headphone + ~$150 amp but I prefer it even to the 6x expensier Ultrasone Signature DJ as it's more balanced in the mids/highs and the bass is more controlled). For some reason this combo just delivers such great bass response and sound quality at the same time, the bass response is like very similar to how Taction Kannons are with haptic feedback set to lvl 6 (middle) which is whereabouts you start to feel the bass response but for me that's enough, I don't necessarily want to feel like my head is about to be eaten alive by the headphones which Kannons do have capability of at the higher lvl haptic response setting. :p
 
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RPGWiZaRD said:
I have them. For bass enthusiast I think they are definitely worth a look but for those who searches overall sound quality you will get your money's worth better in other options. I had to swap the stock pads as they were a bit small for my ears and didn't fully fit around my ears and soundstage was very in your face etc but it got better with the Shure 840 replacement pads and got also more comfortable and slightly better sounding too. They otherwise feel pretty solid despite looking a bit rugged.

Balance wise they are a bit on the warm side, the highs are slightly south of neutral but overall it doesn't sway that much from a bass enhanced but otherwise pretty close to neutral balance, there's no hints of sibilance at any time but also I find the resolution of highs somewhat lacking but female vocals sound pretty okay though nonetheless. I'd say ~$150 or thereabouts is a more fair comparison when it comes to sound quality. Turning off the haptic driver you get a sound that is a upside-down V response where the focus is around midrange and it doesn't sound that good (obvious lack of dynamics).

BUT, they are fun and the ability to get such bass experience especially for portable use without any need for fancy amps etc is pretty sweet and it did sound great straight from the phone at 75~80% volume. Unfortunately I mostly listen stationary and I wasn't that keen how the cable length to the controller isn't very stationary-use friendly and always comes in my way. So it's a bit nay-yay experience. I'm a retired basshead that started quite a few years ago look more into sound quality than bass quantity, I still like a hefty amount bass but it shouldn't come with a obvious sound quality impact. My favorite setup for some strange reason is still the M-Audio Q40 + digiZoid ZO2.1 amp combo (~$120 headphone + ~$150 amp but I prefer it even to the 6x expensier Ultrasone Signature DJ as it's more balanced in the mids/highs and the bass is more controlled). For some reason this combo just delivers such great bass response and sound quality at the same time, the bass response is like very similar to how Taction Kannons are with haptic feedback set to lvl 6 (middle) which is whereabouts you start to feel the bass response but for me that's enough, I don't necessarily want to feel like my head is about to be eaten alive by the headphones which Kannons do have capability of at the higher lvl haptic response setting. :p
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback - it sounds like exactly what I want. I've found my ears are not super sensitive to sound quality, and I can't tell a $100 pair of headphones from a $1000 pair in just about everything except bass - perhaps because my hearing isn't as great as other people's.

On the other hand, I like lots of bass and listen to a lot of hip-hop and other music where it is important. I'm used to listening to speakers with a subwoofer, so I find my Pro700mk2s to be better than most other headsets I've tried which usually sound like they have zero bass. If these have more bass than my Pro700mk2s and sound quality is otherwise comparable, I'm going to be very happy with them. We'll see - I'll believe the tech when I try it.
 
They will definitely deliver more physical "feel the bass" experience than the Pro700mk2, it'll be night and day. Even if it's based on a haptic response, it doesn't feel or sound fake. It really feels like the real deal. There's only one negative aspect about this technology as opposed to bringing up "feel the bass" experience by amp bass boosting / EQing abuse (at which it works by feeling the raw pressure of the sound which is potentially also more damaging to hearing compared to Kannons which you can listen at very low volume, yet have bigass bass feel) and that is the haptic response seems to be best felt around 40 ~ 60Hz or so which is the most common range anyway. With EDM or hiphop etc that use constantly the same frequency in the track it will always bring the same visceral slam to the bass but if you happen to be like me a fan of Euphoric Hardstyle genre where the bass frequency is pitched at various frequencies during the "drops" and it can go up to 80Hz or so, you notice quite big difference in felt impact betweeen the lower and upper pitched kickdrum. My Q40 + digiZoid Zo amp combo brings me the same impact no matter of frequency of the kick. So for me this was a bit of a letdown. It's not the Kannons that don't handle the entire bass range (they'll vibrate just as furiously in the entire range when you hold them in your hand, yes literally), I believe it's just the higher frequencies means the tactile drivers have to vibrate faster and I suppose to the human skin/ear around 50Hz it's the most sensitive. The pad material & consistency and clamping force also play a big role in how well you feel it.

Still, this is only the first attempt from Taction company and they already have plans for an open-back version which should theoretically also bring sound quality improvements. It's a pretty good effort though as a 1st product entering the market from a kickstarter campaign and they have excellent service.
 
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Just got them.

Holy fuck - everything these claim to do - it's legit.

Ever since moving to London, I've had the deep misfortune of having no access to a subwoofer - not at home, nor in my car because I no longer own a car. But I damn well remember how my music is supposed to sound, in spite of listening only to headphones for many months now.

So I got the Kannons. After plugging them in, I listened for a few minutes. The sound felt normal, no big surprises, certainly no problems. Only unexpected thing was the sensation of something gently tapping my ears every time there was a bass drum. So I listened to a few songs.

And then I switched back to my Pro700mk2s. And that's when it hit me: essentially all of the bass in my music was completely, utterly gone - just not there. And at this point, I was shocked - the reason the Kannons did not surprise me when I first put them on is because after years of listening to music with a subwoofer, at home and in the car - they made the music sound exactly as it was supposed to - the bass was simply there in a way it isn't in any other headphone I've tried. I paid $500, international shipping, and UK customs duty for these - I would easily pay a lot more - though admittedly, after a youth of drinking and dancing, music without a subwoofer sounds dead to me, so I care about bass more than most.

In other words, when they talk about tactile perception of bass - this is not bullshit - it's real.

It is good that they include a control for the level of tactile bass. If you press the ear pads to your head with your hands, you hear a lot more bass - so aftermarket ear pads, how big your head is, and how stiff the headband is - these will affect sound in a very perceptible way.

The only downside - is that the tactile bass can be a bit "rougher" than with a subwoofer. The simplest way to describe it is that you will feel a bit of tap on your ears when a bass drum goes off - not felt with other headphones because it's not there, and not noticed with a subwoofer because your whole body feels it rather than just the ears. I imagine I will get used to this and it won't draw my attention after a bit.

100% absolutely recommended. If you really, truly care about bass - you will be stoked.
 
AVT said:
Just got them.

Holy fuck - everything these claim to do - it's legit.

Ever since moving to London, I've had the deep misfortune of having no access to a subwoofer - not at home, nor in my car because I no longer own a car. But I damn well remember how my music is supposed to sound, in spite of listening only to headphones for many months now.

So I got the Kannons. After plugging them in, I listened for a few minutes. The sound felt normal, no big surprises, certainly no problems. Only unexpected thing was the sensation of something gently tapping my ears every time there was a bass drum. So I listened to a few songs.

And then I switched back to my Pro700mk2s. And that's when it hit me: essentially all of the bass in my music was completely, utterly gone - just not there. And at this point, I was shocked - the reason the Kannons did not surprise me when I first put them on is because after years of listening to music with a subwoofer, at home and in the car - they made the music sound exactly as it was supposed to - the bass was simply there in a way it isn't in any other headphone I've tried. I paid $500, international shipping, and UK customs duty for these - I would easily pay a lot more - though admittedly, after a youth of drinking and dancing, music without a subwoofer sounds dead to me, so I care about bass more than most.

In other words, when they talk about tactile perception of bass - this is not bullshit - it's real.

It is good that they include a control for the level of tactile bass. If you press the ear pads to your head with your hands, you hear a lot more bass - so aftermarket ear pads, how big your head is, and how stiff the headband is - these will affect sound in a very perceptible way.

The only downside - is that the tactile bass can be a bit "rougher" than with a subwoofer. The simplest way to describe it is that you will feel a bit of tap on your ears when a bass drum goes off - not felt with other headphones because it's not there, and not noticed with a subwoofer because your whole body feels it rather than just the ears. I imagine I will get used to this and it won't draw my attention after a bit.

100% absolutely recommended. If you really, truly care about bass - you will be stoked.
Click to expand...

I already feel the same sensation with my M-Audio Q40 paired with a Digizoid ZO amp, roughly equal to lvl 6 on the bass dial with the Kannons but the Q40 have a lot better sound quality so the Kannons haven't gotten much use. Hadn't I already felt physical bass sensation on a pair of headphones I'd probably be praising the Kannons to no end even if the sound quality is a bit lacking for its price tag. The physical sense to feeling the bass certainly makes it a lot more engaging to listen.
 
RPGWiZaRD said:
I already feel the same sensation with my M-Audio Q40 paired with a Digizoid ZO amp, roughly equal to lvl 6 on the bass dial with the Kannons but the Q40 have a lot better sound quality so the Kannons haven't gotten much use. Hadn't I already felt physical bass sensation on a pair of headphones I'd probably be praising the Kannons to no end even if the sound quality is a bit lacking for its price tag. The physical sense to feeling the bass certainly makes it a lot more engaging to listen.
Click to expand...

I should try my Pro700mk2s with a much higher end amp for comparison. The Digizoid ZO is both not cheap and not widely available anymore.
 
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