i've graciously been given a christmas budget of around 500$ and was considering some headphones that might be an upgrade from my current stable:
IEMS: ety er4sr (4 years), sony ex800st (6 mos)
full-size: my beloved hd600s, 18 years old and counting!
obviously i like all of these. the hd600s are laid back for classical. the ex800s punch way above their weight for poppy stuff, and the er4sr are flat flat flat. i like flat.
iems are my primaries because i use them at work for isolation.
my current headphone amp stable is the smsl m500, fiio a5 (currently at ASR to be tested -- i'm a big fan of the MUSES and wonder how they perform objectively)
i would stretch quite a bit and get custom UERRs, but that's a bridge to far unfortunately. the drop empire zeus universals seem interested as a stretch (with comply tips, i only use foam tips for IEMS); crinacle's measurements are positive, but tyll's less positive and crinacle has a big criticism of them as breaking up in the midrange.
the drop focal elexes also look interesting, as it seems like they take a similar position to the hd600 series. the hd660s also look interesting as slightly easier to drive, but there does seem to be some breakup at the high end from tyll's measurements that point to the hd600 as being more sennheiser of the sennheisers.
i know a lot of people are into planar magnetics now, but the primary characteristic seems to be more controlled low end, which i've never considered that important in a headphone.
i have an extremely competent loudspeaker setup with ruler flat response down to 18hz (except for the mid to sub crossover that i am constantly trying to tune..), so i'm looking for something pleasant to work to more than some kind of ultimate audio bliss.
i'm asking here because head-fi was something that was convincing as a teenager, but can no longer stand. most subjective reviews make me want to barf.
IEMS: ety er4sr (4 years), sony ex800st (6 mos)
full-size: my beloved hd600s, 18 years old and counting!
obviously i like all of these. the hd600s are laid back for classical. the ex800s punch way above their weight for poppy stuff, and the er4sr are flat flat flat. i like flat.
iems are my primaries because i use them at work for isolation.
my current headphone amp stable is the smsl m500, fiio a5 (currently at ASR to be tested -- i'm a big fan of the MUSES and wonder how they perform objectively)
i would stretch quite a bit and get custom UERRs, but that's a bridge to far unfortunately. the drop empire zeus universals seem interested as a stretch (with comply tips, i only use foam tips for IEMS); crinacle's measurements are positive, but tyll's less positive and crinacle has a big criticism of them as breaking up in the midrange.
the drop focal elexes also look interesting, as it seems like they take a similar position to the hd600 series. the hd660s also look interesting as slightly easier to drive, but there does seem to be some breakup at the high end from tyll's measurements that point to the hd600 as being more sennheiser of the sennheisers.
i know a lot of people are into planar magnetics now, but the primary characteristic seems to be more controlled low end, which i've never considered that important in a headphone.
i have an extremely competent loudspeaker setup with ruler flat response down to 18hz (except for the mid to sub crossover that i am constantly trying to tune..), so i'm looking for something pleasant to work to more than some kind of ultimate audio bliss.
i'm asking here because head-fi was something that was convincing as a teenager, but can no longer stand. most subjective reviews make me want to barf.