Help me pick my new headphone

[ElVatikan]

So, I'm currently using a wireless Pioneer headphones, not sure of what the model is because I got it as a gift a year ago, and I have been wanting to upgrade to a better headphones and I need help to choose.

I'm going to use this headphone to listen to music, so sound quality is what I'm looking for the most, I listen to all genres of music, but the main ones being rock and jazz.

As for budget, the highest I can splirge on a pair of headphones is probably $400?

Here are some headphones that peak my interest as I have heard them being spoken as good headphones, though feel free to recommend me others:

1. Shure Aonic 50, I quite like the idea of a wireless headphone but I've heard that the sound quality does not compare to wired headphone so this might not be the best choice.

2. HiFiMAN Sundara, I've read reviews and this seems as everyone's go-to headphone.

3. Sennheiser HD6XX, again, this seems like the go-to Sennheiser headphone, or maybe the HD600.

Do note that I live in Indonesia so it's a bit hard to get your hands on some headphones. Thank you for your attention and thank you even more for your help.

 

[JaMaSt]

At $400, your best bet is to explore IEMs. There are some really good IEMs being produced today that, for $400 and less, that can well out perform headphones at the same price.

 

[RoA]

A quick comparison between my headphones. All totally subjective and your mileage ... . All EQ'd in Roon.

Soundstage:
Best; Beyerdynamic DT700 ProX joint 2nd: Hifiman Sundara/Meze 99 Classic 3rd; Grado SR80X

Accuracy:
Best; Beyerdynamic DT700 ProX 2nd: Hifiman Sundara 3rd; Meze 99 Classic 4th; Grado SR80X

Most Accurate Bass;
Best; Beyerdynamic DT700 ProX 2nd Hifiman Sundara 3rd; Meze 99 Classic 4th; Grado SR80X

Bass Slam;
Best; Meze 99 Classic 2nd; Beyerdynamic DT 700 ProX 3rd; Hifiman Sundara 4th; Grado SR80X

Best Midrange;
Best; Beyerdynamic DT700 ProX, 2nd; Grado SR80X, Mezze 99 Classic 4th; Hifiman Sundara

Best Treble;
Best; Beyerdynamic DT700 ProX Joint 2nd; Mezze 99 Classic / Hifiman Sundara 3rd; Grado SR80X

Most Fun;
Joint 1st; Mezze 99 Classic / Grado SR80X 2nd; Beyerdynamic DT700 ProX 3rd; Hifiman Sundara

Most 'resolving';
Best; Beyerdynamic DT700 ProX 2nd Meze 99 Classic 3rd; Hifiman Sundara 4th Grado SR80X

Easiest to drive;
Joint 1st; Grado SR80X / Meze 99 Classic / Beyerdynamic DT700 ProX 2nd; Hifiman Sundara

Build;
Best; Joint 1st; Mezze 99 Classic / Beyerdynamic DT700 ProX 2nd; Hifiman Sundara 3rd; Grado SR80X

Comfort;
Joint 1st; Hifiman Sundara / Beyerdynamic DT700 ProX Joint 2nd; Grado SR80X / Mezze 99 Classic

Accessories;
Best; Meze 99 Classics ... then the others

None of the above are 'genre specific' they all play music! Its all about preference.

 

[luft262]

I recommend you get the HiFiMan Sundaras. Then get a good amp/dac stack like the JDS Atom stack. Then get the Wavelet app and EQ your headphones to the Harmon Curve.

Boom! At that point you've gotten 99.9% of what there is to be had out of headphones and there is no reason to spend more money!!!

 

[ugur38]

According to Google monthly minimum wage in Indonesia is between $130 and $320 depending on province. It would be hard to save money for buying headphones that you've mentioned so my recommendation is buy headphones which has better customer service and product durability. Hifiman headphones are known with their bad quality controls so I wouldn't recommend them.

 

[Lexxie]

Get some best $150-200 headphones and use the $250-200 for a headphone amp, with apple dongle.

Let me explain. Your quality of sound is only as good as the weakest part of your system. Some things show themselves weak right away (headphones and amps), so you improve those first. Others show later, such as DAC, power supply, and finally only if everything else is awesome, things like cables start to show.

Since headphones show first you're right to go for it first. But $400 with crappy amp is not as good as $200 headphones with $200 nice amp. Do you understand? It's called law of diminishing returns? $400 headphone is not 2x better than $200 headphone. It needs better amp, dac, cables, to really scale. Sure it's still better. But $200 headphones with $200 amp is going to be better than $400 headphones plugged into cheap laptop headphone jack.

I'm surprised no expert here told you this but they wanted me to do it. So yeah. DAC is important but for $9 you can get very clean but low power one from apple (USB-C to 3.5mm), then let the amp do the rest. Amp is more important than DAC.

OK this is where the experts should answer what's his best $150-$250 headphone and $150-250 amp...

I'm a freaky golden-ear at hearing but a noob at the actual products. So I followed lots of expert researches but don't have comparisons. But I can summarise what experts told me. I went with Sennheiser 58X + apple dongle + Zen Can.

I think apple dongle is a must, you can't afford a DAC with a <$400 budget, so just get a clean Apple input into a joyful amp. For headphone and amp, there are a good 10 choices of headphone and amp, not just 58X or Zen Can. That's what I decided on based on qualities I know I like.

Sennheiser 560S, 59- series, 58X, the Hifiman less than $200, that's probably where to look. For amps you have so many choices and I can only compare what I have now which is Zen Can. What can I say about it, it works better than I hoped for what I paid for it, and has buttons to give me good options without needing digital EQ and stuff which compromises the sound by letting your computer do "dirty mixing" and "resample".

 

[AnalogSteph]

I wouldn't hesitate to use a $100-150ish headphone amp with onboard audio or a decent $50-100 dongle if that's what it takes to fit a somewhat more expensive headphone into the budget. (The market for decent mains-powered headphone amps basically starts a little under $100, so you couldn't get one much cheaper. Once you have decent electronics, there is more to be gained by spending extra on headphones.) It would be important to know what equipment the headphones are supposed to be used with.

Comfort, sound quality, ease of driving and manufacturer support (spares availability etc.) are all going to be considerations in headphone choice.

 

[JanesJr1]

So, I'm currently using a wireless Pioneer headphones, not sure of what the model is because I got it as a gift a year ago, and I have been wanting to upgrade to a better headphones and I need help to choose.

I'm going to use this headphone to listen to music, so sound quality is what I'm looking for the most, I listen to all genres of music, but the main ones being rock and jazz.

As for budget, the highest I can splirge on a pair of headphones is probably $400?

Here are some headphones that peak my interest as I have heard them being spoken as good headphones, though feel free to recommend me others:

1. Shure Aonic 50, I quite like the idea of a wireless headphone but I've heard that the sound quality does not compare to wired headphone so this might not be the best choice.

2. HiFiMAN Sundara, I've read reviews and this seems as everyone's go-to headphone.

3. Sennheiser HD6XX, again, this seems like the go-to Sennheiser headphone, or maybe the HD600.

Do note that I live in Indonesia so it's a bit hard to get your hands on some headphones. Thank you for your attention and thank you even more for your help.

You won't go wrong with the Sundara at $300 US since it does almost everything well. You mention Senn/Drop HD6xx, so if Drop ships to Indonesia, also look at Dan Clark Audio / Drop Aeon closed X to be on sale for $379 (they do so off and on); pretty similar to Sundara sound when both headphones are equalized to a common target FR curve, but the Closed X is a modest notch better on resolution, separation, tight/clean bass, build quality. (I own both and have compared them extensively.)

I also own HD6xx and mids are nice, but the old design is kind of light on bass; and the bass it has does have plenty of bass distortion that just gets a bit worse if you equalize back in some of the missing bass. HD6xx doesn't hold up next to Closed X and Sundara on this score. Closed X has lots of clean bass, and you may want equalize the Sundara to add some back in; it has less bass out of the box, but unlike the HD6xx it handles bass equalization very well. To my ears, the Sundara has a bit more bass distortion but it lends a nice, euphonic resonance to bass guitar on some music; on some other music I like the Closed X for its very clean, undistorted, deep bass. (Some people have to make sure of a close fit of the Closed X to get the full benefit of their extended bass response; I have absolutely no problem with that myself, but I believe some others may have to be careful with a tight seal of their earpads.)
Note Sundara is open-back (not acoustically sealed off from environment), while Closed X is closed-back (acoustically sealed off). As a general rule, open-back headphones may sound more "open" but have less bass, and noise from env't may interfere; closed-back headphones are very quiet, and this may help in hearing fine details, and they may have better bass out-of-box; but may also be a bit more "damped", meaning less reverberant. (In the specific cases of the Sundara and Closed X, they sound more alike to me than not on this score but YMMV.)

Without equalization, both the Closed X and Sundara are already pretty close to the Harman FR curve, which is a good place for most people to start from in identifying the sound they like. As many others have said, doing a little with equalization adds more sound quality than spending a lot more $$ on hardware. The process also educates your ear as a music listener. (You can get started with equalization for free. There's plenty of advice around on how to get started. Doing it really well is a bit of an art, but getting to 2d base isn't hard, and there is plenty of guidance on ASR on how to get at least to third base with any given headphone reviewed here.)

[EDIT: PS you need a decent USB dongle or desktop amp to drive the Closed X. Lots of desktop units will work, but for a dongle, I use the nice Hidizs S9 Pro's balanced outputs and it works really well, whereas many other dongles might be underpowered. But balanced cables plus dongle would add ~$180 to the bill. So sorry if I pushed beyond your budget without thinking it through. That said, you might want at least a good dongle even for the Sundara, to get the most out of it, especially if you equalize and need some headroom. Sundara + dongle (balanced cable not neceessary) will run about $420 or so. If you listen mostly from your phone, not your PC, then substitute Qdelix 5k for the Hidizs, and you can equalize right from your phone (use same budget)].

 

[bodhi]

Nobody got fired buying Sundara, I can't find anything really wrong with it.

The HD600, 6xx and the like though... I think those just don't cut it, least of all at full price but even the Drop version just feels not worth it as your main headphone.

I will always have the HD600 for "reference" and I try them often, only for a few songs though and then it's back to storage.

 

[jtavy]

Try and go audition what ever you might intend to buy with the headphone amp you use. everything matters and no one knows your hearing like you. THAT is the biggest factor.

 

[Keith_W]

You need to make some other basic decisions before you choose a headphone:

- Open back? IMO these are the best headphones if sound quality is the priority because they give you a nice, wide, open sound. The downside is sound leakage - it will leak sound out and disturb people nearby, and it will leak sound in so not suitable for noisy environments.
- Closed back? Note as good as open back, but can come close. The advantage is better isolation from noisy environments. Disadvantage is that your ears will get hot because of the lack of ventilation.
- IEM? You get more performance for less money. They are also much more compact and as a rule, easier to drive so you can get away without a headphone amp. Disadvantage is comfort, some people don't like sticking an earphone into the ear canal. They take more time to get out and put on, the cable can get tangled, and it may suffer from microphonics. Also, the soundstage is not as wide as any over-ear headphone.
- Are you planning to use an amp with it?
- How important is portability? Are you going to use your headphone on a bus, for example? When you are doing exercise?

Another important point to note is that someone else's preference for headphones may not apply to you. The frequency response varies between one head to another, and the shape of your head is different (meaning that clamping pressure on their head might be different to yours). To me, it is very important to try a headphone before buying. Use the recommendations on ASR to narrow down a list of what you should and should not be looking at, but do not buy anything without putting it on your head first.

If you are willing to travel, you could go headphone shopping in Singapore. There are a lot of headphone shops to try .

 

[oleg87]

If you can get the HD6XX at something resembling its relative pricing in the US (where it undercuts the Sundara/HD600 by about $100) it is a terrific value. People could make better recommendations if they have some idea what you plan on running these headphones from.