Fun Headphones and Fiio ft1

[rocks10]

Hi Everyone,

1) I will appreciate your recommendation for fun headphones:
- 400$ Budget
- Wired, Closed, Over or On the ears
- Used for listening to Rock music for fun, NOT for editing (not analytic, not flat)
- Used with Apple devices: iPhone, iPad....
- Guitars should be heard amazingly. Bass is important, but NOT to the extreme
- Excellent separation and wide sound stage

2) What do you think about Fiio ft1 on that matter? Are they good and fit my criteria?

Thank you very much!
Roy

 

[staticV3]

Hi @rocks10! Welcome to ASR.

In your position, I'd buy the HD480.

It has accurate mids and treble, ensuring your tracks won't sound weird.
And a nice bass shelf for the fun factor.

Sennheiser HD 480 Pro - Official Discussion & Frequency Response Measurements Thread

I’ve recently reviewed the HD 480 Pro on our YouTube channel (linked above), and to be brief: it’s cracked. Seriously, its so good it dampens my typical cynicism and makes me feel excited about headphones again. Anyway, below be the squiggles for my piggles: Clone 43AG-4 (KB0065 Clone + IEC...

forum.headphones.com

Don't worry about the whole "fun HiFi" vs "analytic studio" myth. This is not really rooted in reality.

What actually happens is that professionals create fun and enjoyable content on neutral gear, and by playing back said content on equally neutral playback gear, you get to experience the content at its best.

Think of it like filmmaker mode on modern TVs.

When you first experience DSP correcting a colored headphone, you'll quickly notice that the coloration that was supposed to reintroduce fun factor, actually just makes the sound weird, which breaks the immersion and spoils the fun.

 

[Redacted]

What is the source of the music? Are we talking lossless CD quality or MP3? Our iPads have headphone sockets so they use internal DACs but I know iPads and iPhones use external DAC for 'phones where there is no socket. I'm sure all DACs for this are good enough. I don't know what iPads or iPhones do with the music data between source file and the phones, such as up/down scaling or whatever. I'm just thinking about what the quality is of the analogue output you will get in your actual use case (not what is theoretically possible) and whether spending $400 on 'phones will provide a worthwhile benefit.

Speaking as a "good enough for the money" guy, I'd say your budget is more than double what it needs to be. I reckon all headphones will potentially sound different on each person's ears owing to ear shape, so reviews may not be ideal. If you play more than say, 3 tracks in one session, comfort will play a big part.

Measurements aside, I quite like my AustrianAudio phones - the sound is good enough, and I can wear them for 2 hours straight They are quite solid - alloy parts in stressed places, and even if I did step on them, I'd not blink and just order a new pair. I appreciate this is "counter ASR", almost subversive.

I'd buy from a supplier with a solid returns policy if you can't try a variety in a shop.

 

[rocks10]

What is the source of the music? Are we talking lossless CD quality or MP3? Our iPads have headphone sockets so they use internal DACs but I know iPads and iPhones use external DAC for 'phones where there is no socket. I'm sure all DACs for this are good enough. I don't know what iPads or iPhones do with the music data between source file and the phones, such as up/down scaling or whatever. I'm just thinking about what the quality is of the analogue output you will get in your actual use case (not what is theoretically possible) and whether spending $400 on 'phones will provide a worthwhile benefit.

Speaking as a "good enough for the money" guy, I'd say your budget is more than double what it needs to be. I reckon all headphones will potentially sound different on each person's ears owing to ear shape, so reviews may not be ideal. If you play more than say, 3 tracks in one session, comfort will play a big part.

Measurements aside, I quite like my AustrianAudio phones - the sound is good enough, and I can wear them for 2 hours straight They are quite solid - alloy parts in stressed places, and even if I did step on them, I'd not blink and just order a new pair. I appreciate this is "counter ASR", almost subversive.

I'd buy from a supplier with a solid returns policy if you can't try a variety in a shop.

Thank you for your answer!
Regarding your question.. The source are MP3 files, 320 kbps, saved on iPhone

 

[Redacted]

Thank you for your answer!
Regarding your question.. The source are MP3 files, 320 kbps, saved on iPhone

Nothing wrong with 320 MP3s - I may get banned from the ASR site, but having A-B blind tested MP3s synced against a CD, on their quality HiFis, almost none of my victims friends could tell which was which, sometimes preferring the MP3.

I digress... My point is, for listening to MP3s on a portable device, don't spend a ton of cash on phones (or DACs) - it's throwing good money away in a pursuit of a "better" that may be marginal. If however, the phones will also be used for so-called "high-end" listening, then fine, spend more. Good value and comfort is the key.

 

[Marc v E]

Hi Everyone,

1) I will appreciate your recommendation for fun headphones:
- 400$ Budget
- Wired, Closed, Over or On the ears
- Used for listening to Rock music for fun, NOT for editing (not analytic, not flat)
- Used with Apple devices: iPhone, iPad....
- Guitars should be heard amazingly. Bass is important, but NOT to the extreme
- Excellent separation and wide sound stage

2) What do you think about Fiio ft1 on that matter? Are they good and fit my criteria?

Thank you very much!
Roy

My 2 cents:

The output of an iphone or ipod ime is very clean and enjoyable.
I used in ears directly from an iphone that were super enjoyable and hifi.
Nowadays you can have very good quality for very little money

Regarding headphones, I had quite a few. Ime most really need a headphone amp to sound energetic and lifelike. Iirc there are some very good amps for on the go for around 85 or 100 or so. Same for a desktop dac&amp from topping.

In my experience Sennheiser was basically always good, with variations between models. Some sound a bit darker but much can be changed by eq.

To be honest my most used headphone for many occasions has been a wireless bose 35 ||. It's mainly so good for me because it meets my requirements so well: easy to move around with (no wires), good tuning out of the box, great to have on a plane due to noise cancelling, very light and sturdy. Only drawbacks are not so hifi bluetooth codec and the microphone could be better. Anyway, if you know where you're going to use it, even a good headphone that's not really admired as the best, can be the best fit for purpose.

 

[yourmom210]

Love my FT1. Easy to drive off an Apple Dongle. I personally only EQ that 3kHz dip a bit and shelf the treble (>5kHz) down a couple dBs.

But it’s great w/o EQ, as well. Bass is fantastic and doesn’t really bleed into Mids. And the slight bump around 1.5kHz works well for guitar/piano attack, etc. Very fun headphone in that it’s neutral/natural w well-done bass boost, and the 3kHz dip = relaxed.

The new HD 480 Pro looks great, too.