• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Please, recommend headphones for listening to music with ENJOYMENT.

David James

Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2021
Messages
31
Likes
46
It seems to me that IEMs like that have really upended the market. Admittedly not everyone is as comfortable with IEMs as I am, but these days I wouldn't even think of buying a headphone unless I had Dan Clark money, which I definitely don't. We have never before had tremendously good sound for next to no money (really only the cost of the cheap IEM and perhaps a cheap dongle, since nearly all of us would have a phone in any case). It's pretty thrilling.
I completely agree about the great sound options for trivial money. I bought the Loxjie integrated speaker amp based on the review here and my experience with that was the same as what I described with the zeros. Crazy that its not even the best of them. And this IEM thing is just unbelievable nutso insane. A little cheaper, and saner, than the Oracle, Audio Research, Magnepan system that got me into hifi 35 years ago (but those things were sure cool!).

To update my recommendation for the OP, I only received these IEMs about 5 days ago so I'm still processing what my experience with them means for me, so I will now add that barring some change in the sound of the hd600 once I get my new headphone amp, I would not recommend the HD600 if you are willing to use IEMs. These $30ish IEMs sound better in almost every way than my hd600s. Jeez. I'm having trouble keeping them out of my ears (much to my wife's irritation). Now my biggest problem is that I want to buy more IEMs.
 

drewdawg999

Active Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2021
Messages
198
Likes
187
Location
Suburban Los Angeles
My highest recommendation goes to the Mod House Argon Mk3. It is really fun with this full and punchy bass and visceral impact and slam. I've had them a few months and they're just what I was looking for. I'm a sucker for planars and these are my current favorite, bettering my Audeze LCD-2 and old Hifiman HE-400. They do love some juice so I got them balanced with custom Periapt cable, driven by a THX 789, and it makes for a wonderful pairing.
 

IAtaman

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 29, 2021
Messages
2,409
Likes
4,165
I don't think you need new headphones, you need to play with the EQ to find what you like.

HD560S is not very comfortable out of the box indeed. But if your only problem with it is that its bass with Oratory1990 EQ is "lightweight", then add some 200Hz and see if that gives you what you want.

And if you hear a peak at 9K with Sundara that bothers you, just tune it down with a high Q filter.

descriptors2.png

And if the
 

David James

Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2021
Messages
31
Likes
46
I completely agree about the great sound options for trivial money. I bought the Loxjie integrated speaker amp based on the review here and my experience with that was the same as what I described with the zeros. Crazy that its not even the best of them. And this IEM thing is just unbelievable nutso insane. A little cheaper, and saner, than the Oracle, Audio Research, Magnepan system that got me into hifi 35 years ago (but those things were sure cool!).

To update my recommendation for the OP, I only received these IEMs about 5 days ago so I'm still processing what my experience with them means for me, so I will now add that barring some change in the sound of the hd600 once I get my new headphone amp, I would not recommend the HD600 if you are willing to use IEMs. These $30ish IEMs sound better in almost every way than my hd600s. Jeez. I'm having trouble keeping them out of my ears (much to my wife's irritation). Now my biggest problem is that I want to buy more IEMs.
Qudelix just arrived. I have to retract my statement above about the hd600. I've heard people say they respond well to improving the source. That seems to be the case. I'm using the crinicle setting for the hd600. They sound brilliant. Now its the hd600s i can't take off my head.

This is a great example of why measure stuff. And don't listen to people on the internet. :)
 

Dr Morbius

Member
Joined
May 4, 2022
Messages
16
Likes
18
3 weeks ago I got the Beyerdynamic DT990 250 ohm with a Schiit Vali 3 amp which is connected to a Bluesound Vault2 and when I close my eyes I am in heaven, no other way to describe it.
 

Robin L

Master Contributor
Joined
Sep 2, 2019
Messages
5,291
Likes
7,722
Location
1 mile east of Sleater Kinney Rd
I don't know if you can get Drop 6XX 'phones in Russia. They're essentially Sennheiser HD 650s, only cheaper. They are open back, very comfortable. Mid bass is good, but deep bass drops off. EQ can fix that to a limited extant. The overall sound is smooth and non-fatiguing. The Sony 7506 closed back cans are good value for the money, good bass and clear treble. Also comfortable and very durable.
 

Robin L

Master Contributor
Joined
Sep 2, 2019
Messages
5,291
Likes
7,722
Location
1 mile east of Sleater Kinney Rd
After 15 years of using them, I finally found "EQ + Powerfull Amp" to be the way to fix the lack of sub-bass in my HD650s.
I don't worry about that. I've got other headphones that go deeper into the bass (AKG K371, Philips Fidelio 2 XR). Actually, the AKG K371 is a good choice too. But with the music I usually listen to (Classical), deep bass isn't as important an issue as a smooth overall character. I don't recommend the Philips on account of their nasty treble.
 

kestrel4

Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2024
Messages
20
Likes
7
I don't know if you can get Drop 6XX 'phones in Russia. They're essentially Sennheiser HD 650s, only cheaper. They are open back, very comfortable. Mid bass is good, but deep bass drops off. EQ can fix that to a limited extant. The overall sound is smooth and non-fatiguing. The Sony 7506 closed back cans are good value for the money, good bass and clear treble. Also comfortable and very durable.
You can still get the Sennheiser HD-650 from Gear4Music.com in Europe for around EUR 230, which is a brilliant price.
 
OP
Another_Moon

Another_Moon

Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2021
Messages
48
Likes
45
Location
Tver, Russia
If anyone is interested in what I ultimately came up with: I had to listen more and get used to the Sennheisers, and then compare them in A/B with the Superluxes (immediately after the purchase I could not do this, because the Superluxes had a wire for E1DA for 2.5 mm and I had to buy it and wait until a new one for 3.5 mm arrives). The transition from worse to better is always not very noticeable; you quickly get used to it, but the transition from better to worse is felt sharply. In my case, too, due to manipulations with the purchase/sale of amplifiers and headphones, I did not listen to Superluxes for a long time, I only remembered that I liked it, and after quite some time, after getting used to the Sennheisers, I listened to Superluxes again. And I felt a deterioration in all respects: well, obviously in comfort, but this is so by the way, the sound is simply simpler in detail, in Sennheisers individual sounds can be heard right through, you feel the full texture of this sound, the stage is also wider and better positioning, low of course cleaner and deeper, and also what seemed to me to be an imbalance in the Sennheisers, after I put on the Superluxes, I realized that this was an imbalance in them, which I had become accustomed to over a long period of use). The technological dominance of the super-open driver with a lighter coil is obvious. Well, yes, all this helps to evaluate the mastering of tracks very critically, so many tracks seemed to sound worse. But in the end, of course, I stay with the Sennheisers, although the idea of “fan” headphones as such also exists, some Japanese, closed, with a paper diffuser.:) But this requires a certain budget;)
 

solderdude

Grand Contributor
Joined
Jul 21, 2018
Messages
16,053
Likes
36,440
Location
The Neitherlands
They differ in tonality, stereo imaging and comfort, some prefer the HD650, others prefer the HD560S and yet others may prefer a totally different brand/model.
One may adhere a bit better to research done on a specific test fixture. Your ears/brain may have a different preference. So what sounds best to the user is what they should go with not what others or science tells them they should like.

So while there is a technical difference, in the end, what the user/listener prefers is all that matters.
One can use measurements as a guideline/indicator but use your ears as final arbiter.

So 'better' does not apply here... just preference.
 

johny_2000

Active Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2024
Messages
109
Likes
44
Location
Suburb of Seattle

solderdude,​

Thank you. I understand individual preferences, it's just difficult to arrange a listening test of all headphones for the average consumer. I try to use some science, measurements, opinions to narrow down the search. For example, the HD 6x0 headphones have proven to be very popular in many groups around the world, for not all the money in the world.
 

IAtaman

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 29, 2021
Messages
2,409
Likes
4,165
Is Sennheiser HD 560S (2022) better than HD 650?
I like 560S better when both EQ'ed. Better spatial qualities. Without EQ, 560S sounds harsh to a group of people, so probably HD650 would be be the better pick in my opinion.
 

johny_2000

Active Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2024
Messages
109
Likes
44
Location
Suburb of Seattle
Fiio JT1 is 70usd and is getting a lot of good reviews.
Yes, I've seen this in product catalogs too, but here's what I see in the US store: “Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock."
I don't know if it's already sold out or if it's not being supplied here in the required quantity. Only Aliexpress / eBay show them in stock with direct shipping from China. But I won't go this route, because then it will be difficult to get support or return in case of a defect / don't like the product.

P.S. I've been testing FiiO FT5 for a week now. Still wondering.
 

Bleib

Major Contributor
Joined
May 13, 2021
Messages
1,346
Likes
2,397
Location
Sweden
Moondrop Joker
 
Top Bottom