I’ve given the KAM HP-1 roughly 100 hours of burn-in time and about 50 hours of listening time. The KAM HP-1 benefit from burn-in greatly in the bass regions. I’ve kept a listening log for my test tracks with notes that can be read

here

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R TL

The HP-1 are excellent headphones sonically and I find it hard to find any fault in the sound, especially at the price. The HP-1 are very clean sounding headphones with good extension in the lows and highs with a neutral sound that leans just a touch bright. Detail retrieval is on par with headphones like the Ad900 and while these are revealing of bad recordings the faults aren’t glaring as to make the recordings unlistenable, just enough to expose faults. Instrument separation and imaging are top notch, the best I’ve heard at this price. The only fault I can find with the HP1 is the lack of deep low end presence.

With the damping pads the sound becomes a bit warmer, but loses depth in the soundstage taking away some of the dynamics from the song. I prefer them without the pads.

Lows

When I first received these the bass seemed thin and lacking in punch, after initial burn-in I realized the drivers needed some time to stretch out. The bass is clean with good mid-bass punch and decent extension in the sub-bass regions though there isn’t much weight behind it. For songs that don’t emphasize bass I feel that the HP1 provides a nice punch giving kick drums a nice presence and bass guitars have nice presence in the mix. When listening to songs that demand heavy, deep, bass I felt that the HP1 lacked. The HP1 make even the deepest bass regions audible, but there’s no rumble. That’s to be expected though, the HP1 aren’t basshead headphones and those who are bassheads won’t likely consider these anyway. I can’t really ask for much more, the bass is quick, is clear, and extends nicely.

Mids

The mids are clean, full, slightly forward, and in the upper regions they tend to lean a bit bright. The mids are well done here, they certainly excel with vocal oriented music as I found vocals were pushed to the front more often than not. Guitars come off slightly forward with great clarity, certainly suiting the rock genre nicely as does the various stringed and woodwind instruments I experienced. There are little signs of added sibilance, though the HP1 heighten the sibilance in poorly mastered recordings. In recordings with good mastering the HP1 add no extra sibilance. The mids are done well, the vocals are a tad pushy, but these are clean and balanced nicely.

Highs

The highs extend nicely with only slight grain and a touch of brightness with no fatigue. Trumpets, saxophones and high pitched guitar notes are crisp with a great presence to them, but I never found them fatiguing except in the case of poor recordings with a bright sound to them already. These are fantastic highs and suit brass instruments very nicely.

Soundstage