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best high end headphones (budget 3k)

GM3

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I'm sure the Expanse will run fine off something like a Schiit Magni. Most amps can handle 23 Ohms easily.

The issue with my Aeons is that they are only 12 Ohms and most budget amps just fall apart below 16 Ohms.
They just can't provide enough current and you get a lot less power compared to 16 or 32 Ohm loads.
1W just isn't enough for insensitive headphones like the Aeons.

All of that doesn't matter for the Stealth/ Expanse though; even budget amps like the Topping L70 will provide more than 5W at 23 Ohms
Ah ok, yeah I misinterpreted some comments about the Expanse being hard to drive..

But yeah the Magni at $110 is rated 16 ohms: 2.8W RMS per channel, and the Magnius at $200 bucks 16 ohms: 6.0W RMS per channel. So the entire notion that you need to spend 2000 bucks on amp these days sees far fetched. Wouldn't even the Magni at nearly 3W be ok with Aeons? Or Magius at worse? Anyway, $600 bucks schiit had 9W, which at that point should be able to drive pretty much anything...!

Hell, from ASR:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-l70-headphone-amp-review.39767/
Topping L70 Listening Tests
I started testing with my Dan Clark Expanse headphone using XLR connection. This is a low impedance and insensitive headphone which breaks the back of many headphone amplifiers. Not here. The L70 dominated it like nobody's business. In high gain, I did not dare to get anywhere near the max volume. There was so much power that it drove the right channel of the headphone into crackling with bass notes. Mind you, this was *at extremely* high volume level. Way past threshold of comfort. Yet, the L70 had more power left on the volume control! The sound and overall experience was exceptional with super detail and dynamics.
Weird, "low impedance and insensitive headphone which breaks the back of many headphone amplifiers.". Maybe there's something I don't understand about impedance....!
https://www.headphonesty.com/2019/04/headphone-impedance-demystified/
Headphone impedance is typically rated between 8-600 ohms, with a standard around 32 ohms becoming increasingly common. Audio source impedance is typically very low, often less than 4 ohms and approaching 0 ohms in many cases, but it may be as high as 120 ohms or more for specialized tube amplifiers, specifically output transformer-less (OTL) types.

In general, low impedance headphones (which we will hereby define as below 50 ohms) are designed to work properly with portable devices, as they can efficiently reproduce adequate sound quality and volume from a low voltage device.

Conversely, high impedance headphones (50 ohms and greater) usually require robust amplification to perform their best.

"No wonder it is difficult to imagine what the results will be when we consider pairing headphones with a source. We can make educated guesses based on the specifications, but until you try it, you can never really be sure."

To further complicate things, there is little consistency in headphone design with regards to impedance and sensitivity (even within a single manufacturer). There are low impedance headphones that are very inefficient and vice versa. Models with low sensitivity and low impedance. Other that are low sensitivity, but high impedance. High sensitivity, low impedance. Etc.

High Source Impedance and Low Headphone Impedance Problems
There are real issues with the combination of high source output impedance and low headphone impedance. While often only found in the extremes of OTL tube amplification, this scenario creates higher harmonic distortion and noise, a low damping factor, and bass roll-off.
ANYWAY, the L70 "The L70 dominated it like nobody's business.", so there you go. :D
 
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GM3

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I didn't that these were real products...
searched eBay and yep! .. there these were!

Around $500.oo.. N
Btw, these should be a serious consideration also, especially for portable use. The OP said that he has a gf, but I doubt that there's better p!_!55y magnets than these bad boys, and for most guys, that beats any sound performance consideration any day of the week. Nice pair of suspenders, very tight jeans, futuristic 90s sunglasses and these bad boys, a girl has no chance. No chance at all.. That's their real power/purpose.
 

staticV3

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The issue with my Aeons is that they are only 12 Ohms and most budget amps just fall apart below 16 Ohms.
They just can't provide enough current and you get a lot less power compared to 16 or 32 Ohm loads.
Like always, there are exceptions.
The L30 II can output 6.5V (=3.3W) into 13Ω before clipping:
Screenshot_20230323-160026_Chrome.png
Data is from Amir and Wolf.
 

sejarzo

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I have a different experience with my Aeon Noires.
The 5.5W@32Ohms of my A30 Pro are barely enough.
(Technically speaking, the Aeons only get 1.5-2W because the voltage of this amps and most other amps in that price range drops at the those low 12 Ohm of the aeons).

I‘m sure that the RME can drive the Expanse to good levels, but for an endgame setup I would want an amp that can provide even more power than that.

In the past few weeks, I bought a two-week old SMSL SH-8s for $110 on head-fi and a pair of mint Drop x DCA Aeon X Closed for $225 on usaudiomart. Even with a -6 dB preamp setting in Foobar to avoid clipping in convolver EQ, then another -3 dB on Foobar output volume to avoid potential interpolation overs in a Topping E30, the DCAS are loud and clear with the volume knob at 12 o'clock with high gain on the SH-8s.
 
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Sgt. Ear Ache

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maybe I should make this more clear im not ultra rich or anything I do have a good job I dont buy expensive foreign cars or Rolex watches I mean I could but why it would be money I should be saving for retirement im 35 I have a small moderate home since I was 25 I just paid off I have a reasonable amount of money in my savings right now 50k+ I dont drink or use drugs or really spend money on anything fancy besides taking my girl out to Ruth Chris once a month for dinner. I dont plan on having kids I have a technics record player and bookshelf speakers. I want a nice pair of headphones and amp to make them sound good. I dont spend money on much so I figure music being my favorite thing to spend some money on. I dont need to spend 3k on each item I was just wondering what's worth it for the little bit of extra money instead of going to Best Buy and getting some $99 dollar headphones. again I wouldn't want to spend over 3k on each just have funds if more I was looking at 2-4k for both before seeing prices and doing 3k each but it seems like you guys recommend a lot less expensive. sorry I dont know much time for me to live a little buy something nice for myself

Yeah I mean it sounds like the money isn't too much of an issue for you so you do you lol. BUT, you absolutely, definitely, 100% don't need to spend even half that amount to get sota sound quality for a headphone rig. 3 grand (total) will easily get you phenomenal sound plus boutique eye candy. Hell, I know for a fact $800 canadian will get you crazy good sound that would blow you away...because that's about what my own rig cost me and it blows me away every time I listen to it.

I don't believe you've addressed the EQ part of the equation yet though. Are you familiar with that aspect of the audio chain at all and if so do you plan to use it? Because it's highly recommended by most of us round these parts I'd say, and it would impact the recommendations. In fact I'm not even sure there's much point in us making recommendations if you won't be using EQ - unless maybe you can offer a pretty accurate description of the sort of tonal qualities you're looking for.
 
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bodhi

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Well, to be completely honest, the most sensible step is to get one of aforementioned 500€ "almost SOTA" headphones with simple and powerful DAC/Amp (I'd recommend Topping DX3 Pro+).

Anything above that is for sure wasted without some kind of experience in critical listening and multiple headphones from different price brackets. As said before even many serious hobbyists get only slight improvements from >1k phones. This is fine if you know it in advance and you can appreciate the mild improvements, but if you go from Sundara to Susvara without any experience of the magnitude of improvements it will be a rude awakening and might leave a sour taste.
 
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goldsoundz

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had to go away for work o I dont know much I dont have to spend this much lmao id rather not..I can easily learn about eq or not I could spend 2k on headphones 500 an amp im not sure just want some help not a bunch of comparisons to things is there a more friendly forum lol all I wanted was advice I said I had that much the Sonys n sens were like 2k only so just any help thx
 

solderdude

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Why the choice of closed headphones ?

What do you expect from > $ 500 headphones that cheaper models can not do ? Price and sound quality and even build quality are not one and the same.

Comfort and fit also are important. A high clamping force, small pads, adjustability of the headphone, availability of parts (pads, headband padding) are also things to consider when buying 'end game' unless you get bored and want something else when a new model comes out.

An amp should be able to drive whatever you connect to it. As this is headphone dependent (impedance and sensitivity) this can be anything in a large price range.
 

earik

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A while back, I was looking for some closed-back headphones and got all excited about the Denon D9200's based on a ton of glowing reviews pretty much everywhere I looked, but when I bought a pair, I couldn't stand them. I actually couldn't go longer than 30min without experiencing physical pain. Needless to say, those didn't stick around very long. My point is that you can't totally rely on other people's recommendations, because you're the one that has to listen to what you end up with, and what sounds great to one person might sound like nails on a chalkboard to someone else.

So basically, you have to find a way to listen before you buy. Or, do what I did and buy used and be prepared to turn around and sell right back if you don't like them. Or, alternatively, work with an outfit like Crutchfield who offers a 60-day return policy. You will probably need to go though a few and see what you like.

Anyway, you asked for specific recommendations....

I won't comment on the ones I didn't like, but just so you know, I went through models from Audeze, Denon, Sony, and finally ended up with Focal. At the end I had both the Utopia and the Clear here, and went back and forth between them for about a month. I ended up sticking with the Clears, even though they were the cheaper and supposedly "worse" ones, according to the experts. These were the original ones though - I haven't heard the new iteration. So I'd start there, and see what you think. They tend to get panned here on ASR since they don't measure as well as other stuff, but I love mine and would easily buy them again.

As far as amps go, I ran through a bunch of them with one of my previous headphones (Audeze LCD-XCs, which were fun, but 3x too heavy), and honestly, I couldn't really tell the difference between any of them. In the margins maybe, here or there, but practically speaking, you won't hear nearly as much a difference between amps as you will between headphones. Pick one that's got good build quality, has enough power for whatever you end up with, and that you think looks pretty sitting on your desk.

Final comment: don't pay any attention to the "all you need is $100 and EQ" comments. There's a huge difference between what a Focal Utopia and a random $100 headphone sounds like in *real life*, and no amount of EQ is going to change that.

Good luck (and have fun!).
 
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leManu

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Listened to a lot of headphones a the Montreal audio show in April. The best one for me were the Audeze CRBN. But I seriously couldn't justify the price tag. The law of diminishing return strikes hard at those level. I end up with a used pair of Stax L-500mk2 with a srm-252s amp that I bought used for 500USD. Couldn't be happier for the price. There is a lot of used Stax out there and if you like estat the are a steal. Plus there is mod for them to give them some extra bass if that's your thing.
 
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