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Best sounding closed-back headphone $500-$1,000 for a non-audiophile?

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PRL18

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With some headphones you can improve this. Some can't. It also depends on how loud you need it to go.


Pads can be changed for comfort but often also change the sound.


EQ should be based on the deficiencies of the headphone.
Tone control (usually only bass and treble) can be used to adjust the sound of recordings to your liking.


Not everyone prefers the Harman target but most do. It basically adds a bit of bass.
There are a few computer generated EQ's some seem to like. They aren't the same as one might expect.
Also those EQ's are based on measurements that may not be the same as your personal circumstances.


To some aficionados the difference is worth the extra cash. Some may even prefer the Elegia, others the Utopia.
There is no incredible difference (go to a store that has both) but there is a difference in sound (quality)

When you don't like the comfort of the Elegia I would suggest to look at something else than Focal.
Thanks a lot for all your answers!
 
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PRL18

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You are asking very though questions :)

While solderdure has given you the correct and analytical answers, let me attempt to give you a more laid back one.



Almost every headphone changes the tone of the sound they are supposed to reproduce, e.g. they produce some frequencies "louder" and some "quieter", which effects tone of what you are hearing. A mid bass heavy headphone might sound like a teenager kid lowering his voice pitch to impress the girls for example - you get what he is saying, but that is not how he normally sounds. Equalization is used to correct for that change introduced by the headphone, so that you can hear what it is supposed to sound like, and therefore you would normally have one set of EQ settings for one headphone.

People do measure how headphones change the tonality of the sound and share EQ settings for them, which you can find online and use. Most of them work really well if you use a reliable source, but by no means you have to follow exactly what you find online - you can also play around and see what you like. You can also have multiple EQ settings for different types of genres , unless you NEED them to sound "correct" that is of course (funny, writers, painters, sculptors would leave some of the meaning to the interpretation of the beholder, but for some reason, that is not the case with musicians and recording engineers - they get very upset if you don't stick to their intentions :) )

Yes, you can use EQ to add bass to a headphone. You would most likely be limited by distortion in that case, that is, add too much bass and it starts sounding weird, even less bassy at times. In my experience, a headphone is much more than just a Frequency Response curve some people here would like you to believe though. Will the headphone seal properly on your head, for example, is an important question to ask for a closed back headphone because if the cans are very sensitive to seal, and your glasses are breaking it for example, than say goodbye to your bass. solderdude talks about these in his reviews in good detail actually, recommend you to check those. Maybe there are some other reviewers who do as well - I don't know.

If you are getting serious with this hobby, my recommendation to you would be to get yourself a Quedelix 5K, which has a nice EQ function you can control from your phone, and go out to the store and try a bunch of headphones with and without EQ, increase / decrease bass, see what you like. Once you understand your own preferences better, it becomes much easier to get a sense for what you might and might not like, and don't worry about the price tags too much (i.e.. expensive is not always better, and not everyone needs a 1000HP car in their lives)
Thanks so much for your input. Very helpful! I'll keep playing with the EQ for abit
 

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Rja4000

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Well, there is a cheaper (<50%) Meze cable that will probably be even more convenient.
And I don't see any utility to the pad replacement, personally: the original ones are perfectly fine.

So probably you could get it for around $360 with a better cable, which is an amazing price (even without taxes).

I checked and they won't ship to my country though.
 

DRNNOO

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You might wonna recheck that....
1678331052109.png
 

bkdc

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Wow... that's like taking a page out of Dr Dre Beats! LOL.
 

Chrispy

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I only comment due the weird use of the term "audiophile". Hopefully you found something worthy in terms of performance, but that has little do with with audiophilia really. That you posted in this forum makes you an audiophile in any case....
 

Axo1989

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Wow... that's like taking a page out of Dr Dre Beats! LOL.

Not at all. Unlike ASR, Crinacle does a flat low-frequency baseline for those graphs (which would sound utterly bass-shy to me, and probably most people). The AirPods Max follow the Harman curve very closely there. I don't know about "best" per @DRNNOO but they are very good.

As the OP wants to listen from Mac and iPhone, I'd say give the APM a good listen. Assuming "non-audiophile" means not obsessed with hi-rez etc then they sound very good, have super-low distortion and do the spatial audio thing from Apple Music and TV apps as well. The sound-cancelling is very good also. As is the build quality. But as always, see how well they fit your head, and if you like the sound personally.
 
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Ilkless

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Hello,

I'm hoping I can get some help on choosing a nice pair of headphones.

First the disclosure: I'm not even close to being an audiophile. I hardly understand some terms as tight, controlled, fast response, muddy, decay, imaging, DAC, etc. without researching online. My best pair of earphones is a 1MORE Quad Driver In-Ear (there, I said it).

I wanted to buy a pair of wireless headphones that sounded amazing below $1,000. I almost went for the Focal Bathys until I read the Noise Canceling is always on and changing the battery will cost $200 once it dies. Now, I understand a wireless headphone will never sound as good as a wired one, or so I believe. Therefore, I changed my mind.

What I'm up to / looking for:
  • I enjoy mostly jazz, classical and pop music
  • Closed-back headphones, to avoid being annoyed by external noise or annoy others myself
  • Comfortable
  • Enjoy bass but no overpowering
  • Can be plugged directly to a phone (iphone 11) or computer (apple mac pro 2015) without the need of any intermediate apparatus (DAC or whatever), unless a miniature DAC exists that is both good and inexpensive
  • Ideally up to $500 but I'm willing to go up to $1,000 if there was a huge difference in sound quality
  • And the most important: The best possible sound within my above price range, including detail, soundstage and as many of the best qualities as possible

Is there a pair of headphones that you would recommend to a non-audiophile that just wants to listen to the best possible sound without getting into the rabbit hole to learn everything about it?

I guess a more tricky question would be if there is such a thing as an indisputable winner in these categories (up to $500 & up to $1,000) that audiophiles agree on?

Thanks!!!


I honestly think the Airpods Max will have you covered. Integrates perfectly into the Apple system, great build quality and haptics, and frankly Apple's R&D and manufacturing resources are incomprehensibly far ahead of specialist, boutique manufacturers. There will be some designs that edge out the Airpods Max, but those will be purist designs that require an outboard amplifier and don't come with noise cancellation (some are in fact open headphones).

If you're still interested:

- Audeze LCD-2C
- Drop x Dan Clark Audio Aeon X
- Austrian Audio Hi X-60
- Sennheiser HD6XX
 

DRNNOO

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Its not like I am speaking randomly but also I am not "the final say".... Once upon a time I wanted the best performing Closed back headphones I could find... I ended up with the Apple Airpod Max..........


These are $550
index.php

These are $899
LCD-2-Closed-Back-1024x459.jpg


A smooth but tilted FR, in favor of bass, is desirable even in loudspeakers. With a little eq, the bass response can be flattened. More importantly, if they are naturally bass heavy that usually means the drivers are bass, capable. If we were to match the Audeze Frequency Response to the Apple who knows what happens? Maybe they can't produce bass well and start to distort. Lets not ignore the low margin of error through and above 5khz.... The apples hold it together from 700hz-7000khz (critical zone) without any major peaks or nulls, just a tilt, in favor of bass.

The real game changer is the noise cancellation! Talk about effectively increasing Sound Quality. The Noise cancellation on the Apple headphones is scary good. I run heavy equipment for a living and when I'm on a smaller piece of equipment at work I sometimes forget to throttle down because I cannot accurately judge how loud the machine is. It made me respect the aspect of quietness and perceive how important noise floor is to the perception of the signal. I was blown away. The headphones are comfortable and during the work season I would get comfortable just wearing them for the noise cancellation, no music playing... It was like a "resort" for my ears, and after long sessions of noise cancellation, when I would take the headphones off, I would think.....OMG I can't believe how loud everything is. I must consider that the exposure of loudness conditions are ears, but after sitting in a very strong level of silence, and then taking off the headphones, its like being in a dark room for a day then coming outside into the sun, eyes squinting. These boys aren't the most found of rain though lol.

The cons for me; The DSP slightly boosts level in the S of the M/S. Not a deal breaker though.

At home I am normally on HD600, what has been my "holy grail" headphone for years, and I picked up some Moon Blessing 2's just to say I had a nice pair of in ear monitors. So its not like I am used to listening to junk. The bluetooth and long battery life are welcome. Talking on the phone works well with these, also.

If EQ is involved, like sonarworks headphone EQ, for example.... I just don't see any competition, given the lack of peaks and nulls, in combination with the noise cancellation.

I was born at night, not last night.... My 2cents




Beats Studio 3
raw-frequency-response-r-graph.png

Beats Solo3

frequency-response-graph.png
 
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Axo1989

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Its not like I am speaking randomly but also I am not "the final say".... Once upon a time I wanted the best performing Closed back headphones I could find... I ended up with the Apple Airpod Max..........


These are $550
index.php

These are $899
LCD-2-Closed-Back-1024x459.jpg


A smooth but tilted FR, in favor of bass, is desirable even in loudspeakers. With a little eq, the bass response can be flattened. More importantly, if they are naturally bass heavy that usually means the drivers are bass, capable. If we were to match the Audeze Frequency Response to the Apple who knows what happens? Maybe they can't produce bass well and start to distort. Lets not ignore the low margin of error through and above 5khz.... The apples hold it together from 700hz-7000khz (critical zone) without any major peaks or nulls, just a tilt, in favor of bass.

The real game changer is the noise cancellation! Talk about effectively increasing Sound Quality. The Noise cancellation on the Apple headphones is scary good. I run heavy equipment for a living and when I'm on a smaller piece of equipment at work I sometimes forget to throttle down because I cannot accurately judge how loud the machine is. It made me respect the aspect of quietness and perceive how important noise floor is to the perception of the signal. I was blown away. The headphones are comfortable and during the work season I would get comfortable just wearing them for the noise cancellation, no music playing... It was like a "resort" for my ears, and after long sessions of noise cancellation, when I would take the headphones off, I would think.....OMG I can't believe how loud everything is. I must consider that the exposure of loudness conditions are ears, but after sitting in a very strong level of silence, and then taking off the headphones, its like being in a dark room for a day then coming outside into the sun, eyes squinting. These boys aren't the most found of rain though lol.

The cons for me; The DSP slightly boosts level in the S of the M/S. Not a deal breaker though.

At home I am normally on HD600, what has been my "holy grail" headphone for years, and I picked up some Moon Blessing 2's just to say I had a nice pair of in ear monitors. So its not like I am used to listening to junk. The bluetooth and long battery life are welcome. Talking on the phone works well with these, also.

If EQ is involved, like sonarworks headphone EQ, for example.... I just don't see any competition, given the lack of peaks and nulls, in combination with the noise cancellation.

I was born at night, not last night.... My 2cents




Beats Studio 3
raw-frequency-response-r-graph.png

Beats Solo3

frequency-response-graph.png

That comparison is helpful, those Beats have their classic mid-bass boost, which I wouldn't enjoy, AirPods Max don't do that.
 

Rayman30

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That comparison is helpful, those Beats have their classic mid-bass boost, which I wouldn't enjoy, AirPods Max don't do that.

The Airpod max are fine, but you need to ask yourself what it is that you are looking for. I owned the Airpod Max for a good year, can I objectively tell you that they are trash with a measurement chart? no, but after owning a fair amount of closed backs, such as the Focal Elegia, and currently Audeze LCD2 Closed, and Austrian Audio Hi-X60... subjectively they do not hold a candle, the FR charts are great for knowing the tuning of a headphone, they do not represent how that headphone presents audio imo, otherwise we all would just buy the cheapest pair out there that measured well and this hobby would not exist. However, if you are after features, ANC, wireless etc, they are very good for that. If you are after elite sound quality, forget it, they aren't comparable to traditional headphones within the same price bracket. But comparing LCD2 Closed and Austrian Audio Hi-X60, both are fantastic for different reasons. Tonality, note weight and laid back sound for the Audeze, or more portability and better detail retrieval on the Austrian Audio, the ladder is easier to drive by a lot, and is a lot lighter. Focal Elegia are decent, detailed but I found them boring personally, I also found the Aeon RT Closed boring (Lacking impact, dynamics etc, think weather radio)

Note - I use EQ constantly, and have not been able to make the Focal Elegia or even Aeon RT Closed sound good to my ears, but I still prefer them to the Airpod Max.
 
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Axo1989

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The Airpod max are fine, but you need to ask yourself what it is that you are looking for. I owned the Airpod Max for a good year, can I objectively tell you that they are trash with a measurement chart? no, but after owning a fair amount of closed backs, such as the Focal Elegia, and currently Audeze LCD2 Closed, and Austrian Audio Hi-X60... subjectively they do not hold a candle, the FR charts are great for knowing the tuning of a headphone, they do not represent how that headphone presents audio imo, otherwise we all would just buy the cheapest pair out there that measured well and this hobby would not exist. However, if you are after features, ANC, wireless etc, they are very good for that. If you are after elite sound quality, forget it, they aren't comparable to traditional headphones within the same price bracket. But comparing LCD2 Closed and Austrian Audio Hi-X60, both are fantastic for different reasons. Tonality, note weight and laid back sound for the Audeze, or more portability and better detail retrieval on the Austrian Audio, the ladder is easier to drive by a lot, and is a lot lighter. Focal Elegia are decent, detailed but I found them boring personally, I also found the Aeon RT Closed boring (Lacking impact, dynamics etc, think weather radio)

Note - I use EQ constantly, and have not been able to make the Focal Elegia or even Aeon RT Closed sound good to my ears.

I have AirPods Max also. Plus a wired closed-back (Sony ZR1) and a wired open-back (Senny HD650) to compare. I'm not a habitual headphone listener, I use them mostly when I need to be quiet, or in the case of AirPods Max when I need not to hear external noise so much.

But as with speakers, I'm aware frequency response curves don't tell the entire story and I'm certain people have their preferences based on many sonic factors. Which is why the OP should listen for themselves if possible. Recall that ASR found the Max too dark, but I didn't so much: different age ears maybe, or different levels of discrimination? Also with headphones we have the influence of individual pinnae and ergonomic/comfort issues to consider.

But as with speakers, we have non-sonic factors. You did say "elite sound quality" which made me think of sighted bias audophilia.
 

markanini

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OP's asking for best, in an objectivist forum. It implies headphones fulfilling objective metrics. He's also asking for not overwpowering bass. This makes Airpods Max an unsafe recommendation. Per Harman research, most prefer headphones that measures with well filled in pinna area. Nothing "elite" about seeing the big picture.
 
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PRL18

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Curious to know what are your go to songs to test headphones. I like to listen to "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck Quartet and one of the Vivaldi's Four Season's pieces.
 
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PRL18

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The Airpod max are fine, but you need to ask yourself what it is that you are looking for. I owned the Airpod Max for a good year, can I objectively tell you that they are trash with a measurement chart? no, but after owning a fair amount of closed backs, such as the Focal Elegia, and currently Audeze LCD2 Closed, and Austrian Audio Hi-X60... subjectively they do not hold a candle, the FR charts are great for knowing the tuning of a headphone, they do not represent how that headphone presents audio imo, otherwise we all would just buy the cheapest pair out there that measured well and this hobby would not exist. However, if you are after features, ANC, wireless etc, they are very good for that. If you are after elite sound quality, forget it, they aren't comparable to traditional headphones within the same price bracket. But comparing LCD2 Closed and Austrian Audio Hi-X60, both are fantastic for different reasons. Tonality, note weight and laid back sound for the Audeze, or more portability and better detail retrieval on the Austrian Audio, the ladder is easier to drive by a lot, and is a lot lighter. Focal Elegia are decent, detailed but I found them boring personally, I also found the Aeon RT Closed boring (Lacking impact, dynamics etc, think weather radio)

Note - I use EQ constantly, and have not been able to make the Focal Elegia or even Aeon RT Closed sound good to my ears, but I still prefer them to the Airpod Max.
Ouch. I didn't have time to test any other headphone and I have 2 days left to return the Elegias if I wanted. Thing is I like them but never compared to any other good pair of cans. And some people have also mentioned LCD2 Closed and Austrian Audio Hi-X60. Also I find them a bit tight for me. Oh well.
 

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have anyone in this thread heard the Denon D9200?
It's been heavily discussed as one of the best closed-back headphones and I'm really curious about it. Granted, the impressions mostly come from people in forums like head-fi, steve hoffman, etc...
 
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