In need of advice on headphones and sound in general

[TNHal]

Hi there,

I'm in pretty ... Sadly, urgent need of advice regarding sound and headphones.
I'll try to make this brief: Music has always played one of the most important roles in my life, so (good) sound is what I've always been after.
I think like three-ish years ago, I did some extensive research and ended up getting myself the AKG-K545 headphones. I instantly fell in love with the clear/crisp/true sound (hope I'm using the correct terms here), and I haven't looked back since.

Really. I've worn and played them to almost literal death in these three years. Now, for my birthday recently my girlfriend wanted to get me new headphones, and frustratingly that has become a more difficult thing than hoped or expected by either of us.

We went to a store (on Black Friday, birthday day...), crazy crowded, it was hard to get some good assistance from store clerks and to get past the horrible sounding overpriced popular recommendations (Beats, Sony, Bose). After some time I went with the Sennheiser PXC 550's.

Now having tried them for a day and a half, I kind of feel like they aren't what I hoped they'd be. Obviously it's hard to say, and from what I've heard sound is also a personal thing.
On the other hand, because I listen to a plethora of types of music, I feel like I'm most suited to sound that's 'true' or 'clear'.

So, thinking the PXC's might be a downgrade, I think I'll return/exchange them tomorrow. This will also be the last day that that's possible, as they're regarded as a 'hygene' product.


Well, here goes nothing. I hope I'm posting in the right part of the forum. I really need some general advice on sound and headphones in general, and on what headphones I should be looking at.

It's become so hard to try headphones as, like I said, only a select few I'm allowed to try on, sometimes not even with my own music choices, and that's even IF they have one available.
Not to mention storeclerks of course wanting to sell rather than providing me with what I need.

Did anyone here try the AKG K545's? With my budget of a maximum of €300,-, I'm sure it should be possible that now, 6 years later, I can get an upgrade over that one?

NC or Bluetooth aren't really a thing for me, never had it so I won't miss it. Wouldn't hurt I guess, except for maybe sound quality or price, so I'd rather not.

If I understand correctly, Open Back is for home listening. I'm on the road a fair bit so Closed Back is quite necessary I'd say, sadly.

Well, thanks so much for your time. I'll be back tomorrow to hopefully discuss what could be best for me, so I can return the headphones within 24h if that's what I choose to do!

 

[frogmeat69]

Maybe another pair of AKG cans?? The K553 : https://www.amazon.com/AKG-K553-Clo...176874&sprefix=akg+k55,electronics,159&sr=8-3

 

[TNHal]

Maybe another pair of AKG cans?? The K553 : https://www.amazon.com/AKG-K553-Closed-back-Studio-Headphones/dp/B078QVKNBR/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2JWN13ZOEWA6B&keywords=akg+k553&qid=1575176874&sprefix=akg+k55,electronics,159&sr=8-3

Thank you! Yes, I'll check out what AKG has to offer some more. I find all their types/subtypes and large amount af discontinued items confusing, but maybe their sound suits my needs.

They're a fair bit below my budget though, I can't help but wonder (and hope) if I can maybe get better ones by spending more.

 

[solderdude]

What's worn ?
The pads only or also the mechanism ?

why not use the EQ functionality of the PXC550 ?

 

[Webninja]

I have the PXC 550, and I liked them a bit more than the Bose Quiet Comfort, but they are good for podcasts and audiobooks. Comfortable, decent noise cancelling, but I didn't like them for music.

Purely objective, but my H6XX are much better for music. I know they get mixed reviews, but I also like the Nighthawks, and would like to hear hifiman or audeze or maybe the focals, but there is a lot of quality under $500 these days.

 

[VMAT4]

The AKG N700NC M2 (Wireless and Noise Canceling) is also available through Samsung. I'd try before I'd buy on these though. Price= $300 (U.S.).

 

[Tks]

Now having tried them for a day and a half

This is the first issue. You've acclimated to something else for years. This isn't just a problem in audio, but nearly anything. Sitting in a chair. Using a computer mouse. Newer keyboard of the exact same model. A different TV (even if it's 100% objectively confirmed to be better in all other aspects than your prior TV for example).

I had this problem when changing IEMs. Every single new IEM I ever try sounds always worse than the one I used before for a while. They exhibit this issue far worse than headphones simply because the differences between IEM's can be heard easier than headphones or speakers because noise of ambient (meaning natural ambient noise of your environment) is eliminated, and you hear more of the IEM sound being produced. And until a week or such later, only then do I feel like I've acclimated to the sound signature, and I begin to enjoy the sound even if I didn't prior.

Of course there is a limit to this whole "acclimation" thing. You can't really acclimate something that is instantly offensive. Like a headphone with treble rape. There's no amount of "acclimation" that can occur for me there (unless going tone deaf to that frequency range is a discussion point).

But I think issues like this are only issues because people don't know exactly what they want once they are unable to replicate prior reality. If you could give us the traits that made your older headphones more enjoyable, then we could attempt to try and find something with similar traits. I don't mean trait means "oh i like the sound of these" that's not a trait. A trait would be the frequency response, or amount of bass, or amount of distortion, or amount of volume, or amount of comfort. Things like that. But when you can't give us this, or we don't know the results other headphones currently have (like for instance if you were to give us frequency response, not all headphones have been tested for frequency response, so we're fucked when looking at some of them). Also on a side note, this is why this site is valuable, it gives us information that helps us make more informed choices. Not like the industry today with so few standards, they expect you to do stupid shit like being able to validly test headphones in a store and come out with a conclusive decision which is idiotic. And people who say "i don't listen to measurements" are deluded people participating in wilful ignorance. Somehow trying to rationalize an informed decision could ever be reached easier with less actual information given to them. Simply a logical impossibility.

The only way of doing things right, may be testing out headphones in your home for a week at a time. But since that's impossible for some people, then it's simply a case of "tough luck", and you need to lower your standard of request, or find another trait that matters to you.

 

[Patrick1958]

I still need to hear a noise canceling headphone that doesn' t kill the mids and treble detail.

 

[TNHal]

Hey again all, thanks a lot for the replies!
I'll try to answer your questions the best I can and will take your advice/specifications to heart in making my decision.

Small update: Managed to actually return the Sennheiser PCX 550's today, so the clock stopped ticking and I'm in a lot less of a rush now, luckily.

Now I'm able to take my time in finding the right new headphones for me, just the way I like it.

Also today I went to a pretty big electronics store, one of if not the biggest in the country I'm from and where I bought my previous pair... Gigantic letdown.
They had pretty few headphones I was interested in. All of them couldn't be charged, so couldn't be tested. The store-clerk I talked to was like, yeah, I'm sorry but I can't help you here.
Couldn't try headphones, already knew I didn't like the ones I COULD try. Very odd all-around.

@solderdude: I'm afraid I'm not sure what you mean by pads. The whole thing is being used, it's about the whole thing for me, not just the pads (ear cushion/pillow things?). About the EQ thing, that's partly why I jumped on the purchase of the 550's. I thought I could change it to my liking, which would probably be possible. However, going by what I've read online and what I experienced using them briefly, the fancy detailed EQ thing to warp the sound to your liking ONLY works on files on your phone, and very specific ones. FLAC won't work, Spotify won't work, and I just didn't find myself willing to change my whole music library and listening experience around to make 'lesser' headphones. Might sound harsh, might be nonsense, but I sadly didn't have enough time on my hands to make a well thought-out decision.

@Webninja: Yeah! By all means, I didn't think they were bad at all. Especially picking them up for the, I would say, pretty meager 177 euro's, they were definitely worth the price. I just couldn't help but think "My trash-looking headphones I rock now sound better AND I'm willing to spend 100 more to get even better ones.
The ones you mentioned interest me as well, though aren't they Open Back?

@VMAT4: Tried them actually, in an insanely busy shopping mall at that. I liked them, but there was such chaos around me and the cable kept tugging my head down which was rather annoying so I can't say I've given them a fair chance. Sounded good, as far as I could tell, but I feel like weren't worth the 300 euro price tag. I'd like to try them again to make sure, but in a more relaxed state of mind.

@Tks: I fully agree, and I'm sorry for asking such a broad question with such a short timeframe. Luckily the latter has been resolved, I'll try my best to make it easier for you to help me.
I think trying headphones for a week to see whether they grow on me or not will simply be impossible, but I'm obviously going to try to find stores that will let me try them out extensively in a relaxing environment. How can I be as objective as possible, without leaning as much to what my ears know and love?
I know my ears are deeply offended by harsh, in-your-face sounds. I love my current pair as they sound like a little 'further from the sound-source', which makes them super clear, as if you're standing back to have a good look (listen), if that makes sense.
The 550's I tried sounded pretty good, but I did find the highs too high. T's and S's in some of the hiphop I tested them on were too accentuated to my liking. From the all-favorite Beats and Sony I found myself really turned off by the fat bass sound. I felt like it drowned out other, more interesting parts of the music.
Sadly I'm still really fresh in the deeper ends of the music world. All I've done my whole life is listen, but I don't have a clue what 'treble' is, for example.

@Patrick1958: Right? The one appealing thing I heard about it, is that you'll damage your hearing less because by drowning out surrounding sounds you won't up your volume to still hear what's going on in the music. Though I'm not sure if that weighs up against simply accepting surrounding sounds, without feeling disorientated due to the NC effect (which I found nauseating). Above all, I listen for the music, and its quality. If it goes to shit due to some feature a headphone has, I think I'm better off without that feature... like Bluetooth.

But, that's why I'm here. I'm just hoping to be informed as much as possible before making my decision. I'll try to try out some things in the real world to back up my online resources here. Tomorrow I'll be visiting a shop in a nearby city that's supposedly catered to the more audiophile-oriented headphones. They have a lot of headphones in the higher pricing range of 500-2k+ euro's, though also some below that so I'm going to have a good look. A lot of interesting ones I heard mention online (HiFiMan Sundara) that I'm eager to try, though lots of them are Open Back unfortunately. But they say to feel importance in allowing the customer to take all the time they need to extensively test their products, which I'm really drawn towards. Also going to be asking for advice there, of course.


Thanks so far everyone, if you need further information from me to help me out here, please let me know. Unfortunately I'm not so good with the audio-lingo yet, but I'll try my best. Honestly can't wait what this headphone research will end up bringing me in the end.