Best closed back headphone under $500

[AustreV]

Want pure, "cold" highs with polite bass get Azurys. Want smoothness and natural voice with rolled off bass* by default, take T70 and make easy TP mode to reduce 8k peak.(Used or 70p if not sure you can drive 250 Ohm on the go. (but I wont recommend low impedance for realisitic voice representation, it wont be that fluid. ). Want best bass and other fr on medium quality take Ultrasone Pure, but replace cable on some 20$ silver and swap pads on akg 371 velour. If you want most open sound in closed back format - grab SR7000. If non of that - get denon 7200 used, render everything more than just medium quality. Also Ft1 good to consider as most bang for the buck option.


Also you can find Noire 2 used under 500 in theory, but I wont recommend them, cause bass is too lean and slow, that critical and cant be fixed.

So the "best" will be that you prefer more or wich combo you need. I think there is no Harman closed back headphones under 500$ and even under 900$ that could be called really good or without huge several downsides or one extreme, like mentioned above. Even some Audeze Maxwell, or Dyson Ontrack got critical flaws, even if they measure very close to Harman, better than mentioned above. For example Maxwell are damn heavy - 500+ gramms, its just nonsense if you an averege person, not some sportsmen and also their driver is very fragile and breaks a lot. OnTrac are wireless without Hi-res codecs like Aptx and also weight a lot 450* and no wired measurments, but they could be used wired, but with 24bit limit 192khz. (its decent). So, yeah, closed back world its world of compromises and subjective taste in the end.

 

[patoulol]

Also Ft1 good to consider as most bang for the buck option.

Thanks, as mentioned earlier, I tested the FT1 and it keeps the ears too warm I think I have a problem with my warm ears, the best for me will be iems

 

[HalSF]

Want best bass and other fr on medium quality take Ultrasone Pure, but replace cable on some 20$ silver

Why?

 

[AustreV]

Why?

What why? Just try out any cable vs stock, its very bad quality.. Iam not snake oil fan, but I can clearly hear difference on any headphones Ive tried, but especially on these.
Best bass, well it is as it is, they difg deeper than 1770 mk1, they also got +2db from Harman 2015 on bass section, but important that most power/punch you get 1/3rd of bass region, not mid bass or near it like in most cases. Ive tried closedbacks (or semi- Focals)Ultrasone pro, Focal Elegia, Azurys, Radiance, T70, 177x, 770 pro x, 1770 mk1, mk2, 1990, a little- Noire X, FT1.
Btw T70 with new* foam pads from 1770 mk2 or mmx 300 (same if not mistaken) and 2 TP discs on central driver section, fixing "shouty" 8khz and make them very good option.

Btw Noire X was most boring experience from all of these. Whithout foam they where shouty much more than beyer 1770 mk1. On bisy tracks for example NIN it was unlistanable and painful. FT1 was much better. So, I guess they only suit for accurate monitoring and good for engeneering sound (mixing/mastering for example.).

 

[patoulol]

What why? Just try out any cable vs stock, its very bad quality.. Iam not snake oil fan,

you're on ASR here, you got the wrong forum, we're not on Head-Fi.org

 

[AustreV]

you're on ASR here, you got the wrong forum, we're not on Head-Fi.org

Music perception is a subjective experience, I wrote my own. You with your despotic tone do not contribute usefully.There is a lot of measurments that prove and show silver has better conductivity than copper, aprox. 3-6% better and thats a lot and you dont need to spend a lot to buy 20$ pure silver cable, thats fair price for asked 525 silver sample,18*0,08 , for its total weight for 1.5 meters.

 

[Overseas]

Denon Ah-D7200 go as low as 550 euro, 5200 much lower.

 

[patoulol]

Music perception is a subjective experience, I wrote my own. You with your despotic tone do not contribute usefully.There is a lot of measurments that prove and show silver has better conductivity than copper, aprox. 3-6% better and thats a lot and you dont need to spend a lot to buy 20$ pure silver cable, thats fair price for asked 525 silver sample,18*0,08 , for its total weight for 1.5 meters.

Spending $20 isn’t breaking the bank, but it’s still a premium for negligible gains. Blind tests show most can’t hear the difference between quality copper and silver cables. Your “subjective experience” doesn’t trump physics—prove it with data, not vibes.

 

[ZolaIII]

Music perception is a subjective experience, I wrote my own. You with your despotic tone do not contribute usefully.There is a lot of measurments that prove and show silver has better conductivity than copper, aprox. 3-6% better and thats a lot and you dont need to spend a lot to buy 20$ pure silver cable, thats fair price for asked 525 silver sample,18*0,08 , for its total weight for 1.5 meters.

As long as its good normal cable you are fine. Silver is last thing you want for it's oxidation properties in that and only that extent (longevity) I will give OFC a go. If it's in the sense of jewellery much more obviously but not in the sense what you will hear. Better invest in DSP (or don't, do it for free) and play with it.

 

[AustreV]

As long as its good normal cable you are fine. Silver is last thing you want for it's oxidation properties in that and only that extent (longevity) I will give OFC a go. If it's in the sense of jewellery much more obviously but not in the sense what you will hear. Better invest in DSP (or don't, do it for free) and play with it.

If I wouldnt heard anything changed in one side or another I wouldnt bother to have it or use, obviously. DSP cant change "character", you can boost or lower some regions, but its not solve all problems. Also auto EQ dont wok for me, I dont find it balalnced on many headphones, there is a lot of notes there. Even physical dampening works better in many cases, for example beyer 8k peak or Noire high region. Also you will get same result or more predictable if its "physical" mod when paired with lg v60 and pc and some guitar rig for example.
And its not about luxurity, I dont care about gold it or silver or platnim etc, cause nobody cares and will never knew it from side. So the only thing I care is "clarity" and clear signal without "harshness" if possible, if not Iam trying to fix it with pad materials, like velvet/velour etc.

 

[unpluggged]

So the only thing I care is "clarity" and clear signal without "harshness" if possible, if not Iam trying to fix it with pad materials, like velvet/velour etc.

Yeah, yeah. Silver cables sound clearer and shinier than dull copper cables. Just as metal tweeters are crisp and sharp and silk tweeters are smooth and soft, we have heard this kind of stuff for decades now.

pure silver

525 silver

Umm...

 

[ZolaIII]

If I wouldnt heard anything changed in one side or another I wouldnt bother to have it or use, obviously. DSP cant change "character", you can boost or lower some regions, but its not solve all problems. Also auto EQ dont wok for me, I dont find it balalnced on many headphones, there is a lot of notes there. Even physical dampening works better in many cases, for example beyer 8k peak or Noire high region. Also you will get same result or more predictable if its "physical" mod when paired with lg v60 and pc and some guitar rig for example.
And its not about luxurity, I dont care about gold it or silver or platnim etc, cause nobody cares and will never knew it from side. So the only thing I care is "clarity" and clear signal without "harshness" if possible, if not Iam trying to fix it with pad materials, like velvet/velour etc.

And did you play with it? Auto-EQ of course. Try to match HATS and ear model for both. When said play it's meant costume to your pina and ear chenel with functions like tilt and in high tap FIR form for example. You still avoid to boost anything and best use of tilt function is to minimise start to target difference (RAW/EQ curve), and it works for highs peeks surprisingly good. First thing to note is the limit of given analog transcoder (driver) and enclosure (design) capabilities. Second one is THD to psy how our hearing is sensitive. Third is target SPL to ELC. Nope DSP is not the magic stick, but it's best you can do if done properly.
Cable is bad if it doesn't do what it should, everything else is fine. I always say aim for a good cristal clear to you highs and that the rest is there which you can correct easier.

 

[patoulol]

Ignore this troll

Master Thread: Are Measurements Everything or Nothing?

If something inaudible it does not exist for me as a listener. But for some it may and in these cases you need to use statistics, involve more people in the same test. But you need some doubt at least in your subjective results to even start doing it. In simple cases you don't need it. Our...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Laika2]

Music perception is a subjective experience, I wrote my own. You with your despotic tone do not contribute usefully.There is a lot of measurments that prove and show silver has better conductivity than copper, aprox. 3-6% better and thats a lot and you dont need to spend a lot to buy 20$ pure silver cable, thats fair price for asked 525 silver sample,18*0,08 , for its total weight for 1.5 meters.

And why is 3 to 6 percent extra conductivity needed. If not you are just wasting money buying a garden hose to fill a shotglass

 

[DVDdoug]

Music perception is a subjective experience, I wrote my own.

Your perceptions, if real, could be confirmed scientifically with a BLIND ABX test. ...And you'd find that you're fooling yourself. ;_

You with your despotic tone do not contribute usefully.There is a lot of measurments that prove and show silver has better conductivity than copper, aprox. 3-6% better and thats a lot

Not audio measurements.

Is it a lot? Well, let's see...

22AWG (copper) wire has resistance of 16-Ohms per 1000 feet. That would be problem with a 1000-foot headphone cable and 32-Ohm headphones, and 6% wouldn't help.

But with a 10-foot cable its only 0.32 Ohms round-trip. With a 32-Ohm headphone, that's a 1% loss or about 0.09dB. That's "nothing" and improving it by 6% is still nothing.

And of course you could cut the resistance in half by making a 5-foot cable. Or get the 6% improvement by making it 6% shorter. Or going to 20AWG wire would reduce the resistance by almost 20%, beating silver.

But it's all totally insignificant.

 

[AustreV]

Your perceptions, if real, could be confirmed scientifically with a BLIND ABX test. ...And you'd find that you're fooling yourself. ;_


Not audio measurements.

Is it a lot? Well, let's see...

22AWG (copper) wire has resistance of 16-Ohms per 1000 feet. That would be problem with a 1000-foot headphone cable and 32-Ohm headphones, and 6% wouldn't help.

But with a 10-foot cable its only 0.32 Ohms round-trip. With a 32-Ohm headphone, that's a 1% loss or about 0.09dB. That's "nothing" and improving it by 6% is still nothing.

And of course you could cut the resistance in half by making a 5-foot cable. Or get the 6% improvement by making it 6% shorter. Or going to 20AWG wire would reduce the resistance by almost 20%, beating silver.

But it's all totally insignificant.

I can hear clearly quality* difference between 6.3 and xlr on Shanling em5 with same cable material and length. Lets see the difference: balanced output - 0.0009% vs 0.0027% on unballanced. Its 3x difference, but overall its less than 1 %.. I think people just not good at math or their gear or hearing is questionable, cause I have very medicore hearing.
And yes, bold font is convincing.