$1k headphones

[etc6849]

If someone is looking for Audeze, HIFIMAN, etc... and doesn't mind waiting, I would suggest setting up an alert on one of the deal sites like slickdeals.net. Usually one of the bigger dealers will run a 40-50% off "open box" deal every other month and these deals always seem to get posted on slickdeals.net.

I just picked up some LCDi4's that were "b-stock" for 40% off. They are incredible headphones, and very unique. The bass distortion on these might be the lowest I have heard, but they were $1499 with free shipping and returns: https://slickdeals.net/f/11491659-a...ones-b-stock-229-more-free-s-h?src=SiteSearch

I am very impressed with the LCDi4's (never liked in ear headphones before); they are honestly on par with my Focal Utopia's in terms of clarity, and I definitely prefer either to my HD800's that I'm going to sell soon. I tried the LCD-3 headphones before and they lacked too much clarity for my taste. The LCD-4's were better than the LCD-3's, just too heavy for me to wear for extended periods. Returned both to Adorama (no issues at all). These LCDi4's are great, and I'm keeping them. They sound so phenomenal when hooked to my Benchmark DAC3 that it is hard to take them off.

 

[restorer-john]

I've made this same mistake with positive results. Back when I had some Stax, I listened to them with subwoofer on. If you have open headphones, I've even found running your main stereo rig at slightly reduced level was good. Primitive form of delay and diffusion I suppose.

Very strange effects can be had by positioning yourself in the speakers normal L/R sound-field and then physically moving (even turning around slowly) yourself with your headphones on. It's truly a fascinating exercise- especially after a few wines.

One needs to be relatively close to the speaker system or else the delays become too dominant. I call it ASP- analog signal processing.

 

[restorer-john]

Personally, I don't believe any headphones are worth $1k. It's simply a ridiculous amount for what are essentially small dynamic loudspeakers in a headband.

Electrostatics can justify a premium, but seriously, some of the prices bear no relationship to the cost of manufacture or materials content. I mean seriously, fools and their money are easily parted, but $4600 for STAX's top set? Come on.

Stax have been selling their various 'earspeakers' for as long as I can remember- I first heard them as a young child at an audio show. They were big, ugly and sounded like a pair of speakers strapped on your head. I recently heard a pair of multi thousand dollar Stax and sure, they sounded good, but simply not worth the money.

I like my various AKGs. The 601s and 702s are simply wonderful headphones and reasonable value for money.

 

[etc6849]

These new THX AAA chips look really promising for lowering headphone amp distortion, offering much better damping factor/driver control, etc... Something to think about if you want to lower distortion without spending 10x as much on headphones: http://www.thx.com/aaa/

Some measurements to compare:
https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AKGK702.pdf
https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/FocalUtopiasnA1BEHG003253.pdf

You can see the THD plots; there really is better performance, but I know I am very close to the point at diminishing returns on headphones. If the Focal Utopia's weren't below used ebay price when I bought them new, I wouldn't have as I hate losing money on stuff when I ebay it later. I would never pay a VAT on them and buy at retail, not worth it.

All I can say is the few end-users who seek that level of performance pay for most if not all the R&D cost it takes to get there. Any headphone offering ~.1% THD at 100dB is going to be expensive. But man, do they sound good on a decent headphone amp like my Benchmark DAC3. It is definitely higher fidelity than many speaker systems out there.

Personally, I don't believe any headphones are worth $1k. It's simply a ridiculous amount for what are essentially small dynamic loudspeakers in a headband.

Electrostatics can justify a premium, but seriously, some of the prices bear no relationship to the cost of manufacture or materials content. I mean seriously, fools and their money are easily parted, but $4600 for STAX's top set? Come on.

Stax have been selling their various 'earspeakers' for as long as I can remember- I first heard them as a young child at an audio show. They were big, ugly and sounded like a pair of speakers strapped on your head. I recently heard a pair of multi thousand dollar Stax and sure, they sounded good, but simply not worth the money.

I like my various AKGs. The 601s and 702s are simply wonderful headphones and reasonable value for money.

 

[Jacona]

Koss ESP950?
No experience but seems interesting

 

[cjfrbw]

I have never heard them, but the Koss ESP 950 by all accounts are very good sounding electrostats, and they have their own fan club. They seem to have gotten more expensive, as I remember them in the day being obtainable for headset and included amp for something around $400 used. They seem to be in the 1K territory now.

The vintage Stax stuff has gotten more expensive, too. I bought a pair of Stax SR 3 (with drivers upgraded to 5 status) for $80 several years ago, and they sound excellent, probably one of the best sleeper bargains in headsets extant that practically nobody knows about with the focus on the "new and shiny". They are kind of cool looking, too, and very well built with vintage bakelite earpieces and cords that look like the cords on the old fashioned electric irons. A bit bass shy, but with good amplification, the bass is there. All the vintage SR series, however, also seem to be fetching premium prices on ebay, or at least the ones I have browsed recently.

I'm partial to the "normal" bias models and also have a sample of the original Lambda, which I also bought for cheap. Those also sound great.

 

[rodentdog]

Massdrop has Focal Elex for $699.00. I am thinking about getting in on this.

 

[Grave]

IMO the point of diminishing returns for headphones is cheap Sennheisers so there is no point in spending $1000+ on headphones.

Do not buy Hifiman headphones, they have much higher distortion than cheap Sennheisers. Planar megnetic headphones do sound different to me, but not better.

Open headphones I have owned:

K7XX – bright and artificial sounding
DT 880 – bright and artificial sounding
HD 558 – bright and artificial sounding
HD 580 – bright and artificial sounding
HD 650 – balanced sounding
LCD-2 – dull sounding

The HD 650's sound near perfect to me. My only criticism of them is that they need more deep bass. I have them equalized +7 dB at 20 Hz. Their bass is flat that way.

 

[DuxServit]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum but have been lurking for a while. There's a lot of knowledgeable people here so I thought I would ask for your advice about headphones in the $1k class.

I listen almost exclusively to classical recordings. Maybe it goes without saying on this forum but I want a neutral, detailed sound that is true to the recording. I'm using a pair of Sennheiser HD650 at the moment but it feels like there is something missing in the sound of the cello, soprano and to some extent the violin.

What's your opinion on the usual recommendations like LCD2, hd800(s)?

I also listen to a lot of classical and jazz (trios). Highly recommend Stax, preferably the older Lambda series — now very affordable. No need to go for the expensive Stax SR-007 or SR-009.

I sold my Senn HD800 and other headphones, after I heard the Stax lambdas.

 

[mitchco]

If you are looking for the most neutral sounding headphone, based on scientific research, then you may like these at a very reasonable price: NAD Viso HP50.

 

[Grave]

The deep bass is way to loud in that Harman target curve. I have never heard headphones with a dip in the mid bass, but I am pretty sure they would sound terrible. Most headphones tend to have the opposite, a boost in the mid bass, which is fine as long as it is not too loud and "boomy".

 

[Dismayed]

I mostly listen to classical music, too. And I replaced my headphones, AKG K702's, with Focal Clears. The MSRP is $1,500, but I purchased them new from an authorized dealer for $1,200. They are wonderfully transparent, and they reproduce subtle harmonics beautifully.

 

[March Audio]

If you are looking for the most neutral sounding headphone, based on scientific research, then you may like these at a very reasonable price: NAD Viso HP50.

That's interesting. I would really like to listen to these Nads, they line up with my preference. See graph below. It's normalised at 1khz so the is some wriggle room as to how you could line them up. I hate hd800, no idea what people see in them

 

[March Audio]

If you are looking for the most neutral sounding headphone, based on scientific research, then you may like these at a very reasonable price: NAD Viso HP50.

If you want close to the Harmon curve, also the Oppo PM3 (which I also have) again another neutral sounding can.

https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/oppo-pm-3-competent-comfortable-mobile-headphone

 

[Hrodulf]

PM-3 is one of the greatest closed backs sans calibration. A tad shy in the upper octave, but otherwise extremely competent both sound and build wise. There is a catch, however - Oppo Digital has gone tits up and it’s almost impossible ot source replacement pads for these cans. Mine are starting to flake and our local distro has a hard time sourcing the pads. I have seen a Aussie distro selling white pads, but sadly they don’t ship outside Oz.

 

[Headphonaholic]

I own a pair of Mrspeakers Aeon Flow Closed and Hifiman Edition X V2. Both are fantastic headphones. The Aeons have a very flat/neutral response. The best description I can think of is that they give you just the facts. While the Edition X have a balanced but fun response. I use either depending on my mood. If I had to pick one I would take the Aeons since I think they are the most "correct" set of headphones but I think the Edition X would please more ears simply due to their more fun take on songs.

 

[Rod]

I just purchased the Meze Classic 99 for 20 % off on ebay. My opinion it needs eq in the upper bass area, it all depends I guess on how much someone likes that kind of bass, but once its eq'd it sounds great to me and looks fantastic with the wood cups. For 309 regular price its a nice headphone.

 

[jhaider]

IMO the point of diminishing returns for headphones is cheap Sennheisers so there is no point in spending $1000+ on headphones.

Do not buy Hifiman headphones, they have much higher distortion than cheap Sennheisers. Planar megnetic headphones do sound different to me, but not better.

While I am not familiar with the whole line, I can tell you Hifiman's HE400S model is a pretty sounding headphone. Very comfortable, too. Even more so than HD580/600/650. I use them more than any other in my office, which is where I do the bulk of my headphone listening.

That's interesting. I would really like to listen to these Nads, they line up with my preference.

I like the NAD HP50. They were my go-to hotel room headphones until Audeze iSine10 came along. They are as open as I have heard from closed headphones, and the spectral balance is well judged. iSine are smaller, even more open sounding (zero isolation though) and plug straight into my phone's Lightning connector. However, the HP50 could be more ergonomically sound. The pads are small and need more bolstering behind the earlobe to get a good seal. I would chalk that up to idiosyncrasies of my own head, but I have heard or read the same from multiple others. For the current price of around $180 they are pretty clear value leaders.

 

[JJB70]

I use Beyerdynamic T5p gen II headphones and like them a lot. I wouldn't have paid the full SRP for them but got a terrific "B" stock deal from the UK importer (£399). They're easy to drive and I get a perfectly satisfactory volume is I plug them directly into my smart phone (Sony Xperia XZ Premium), although the noise isolation isn't great given they're a closed back model. Despite Beyerdynamic marketing them as being designed for portable devices they don't fold and aren't really travel friendly, much more using with portable devices in the home rather than mobile use. They have a very deep bass and may be a bit bass heavy for some but for a closed back model they feel almost like an open back model. Given the high SRP some of the materials feel a bit low rent and they don't have that premium "wow" factor of other expensive headphones which are all wood or metal and leather (oddly, the much cheaper DT1770 and DT1990 feel more solid) but despite that the build quality seems very good. Removable cable, it amazed me that the gen I model did not have a removable cable. I find them very comfortable but that is entirely a subjective opinion.

 

[Morphine]

I just purchased the Meze Classic 99 for 20 % off on ebay. My opinion it needs eq in the upper bass area, it all depends I guess on how much someone likes that kind of bass, but once its eq'd it sounds great to me and looks fantastic with the wood cups. For 309 regular price its a nice headphone.

I agree, they are great headphones for the price, you have made a great purchase.

but I bought some iem that made me forget the Meze, the Akg 712 (both excellent) and my dear Dunu 2000j...
it's about the IMR R1 https://imracoustics.com/products/59884cfc71b0c811009787d0

the wow effect is immediate, they are incredible damn...
is how to have about 99 classics in your pocket, but even better.
the sound with the blue filters is very addictive, the scene is insane and the clarity in all the frequencies exceeds everything I heard before...