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gowawa649

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Oct 23, 2020
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Hi everyone.

I want to upgrade to a newer pair of headphones, but am quite indecisive on which one to buy.
After using HyperX Clouds for a long while, a friend of mine gifted me his AD500x. Even tho they have pleased me quite well for a year now, I am itching for an upgrade/different headphone.

The headphones are bit too boring for me in terms of musicality and even while gaming it misses some punch in the lower frequencies. They are a bit too bass-light for me. Overall, they have been pretty good for FPS.

I will be using it for both gaming (shooters, mainly. But very diverse set of games) and music (Rock and heavy metal) while watching some youtube videos on the side. Basically, they will be my daily drivers. By no means do I want a headphone that is super competitive or anything. If it’s gaming performance is quite good with pinpointing footstep directionality and also have good musical performance, then “competitiveness” is something i can really leave in the ditch.

Sennheisers are not quite my cup of tea. The “Sennheiser Veil” is something I really dislike. I do not mind a bit of warmth to a headphone, but with Sennheiser I am just not a big fan of it. My main preference is V-shape, but i can stray away a little bit from that idea. A bit of treble and a bit of low-end is so far that seems to strike with me the most.

After a crap ton of searching around and asking in some discords, I have settled on 2 headphones: The TYGR 300R, which seems to get crazy praise. And the HE400i 2020 edition, which according to many is an awesome budget value too.

TYGRS seem to be quite a soundstage, V-shape king according to the limited reviews that are out there, but people also keep telling me that “Planars are so much better than dynamic drivers in terms of overall sound quality”, especially while AMPing them up and EQ’ing them a little bit. So I am really torn between the two. I will be buying the Schiit Heresy to power the 400i if I decide to buy that one.

Unfortunately there are not many people who seem to have both to compare it for me. Did anyone hear both and could possibly tell me which one you prefer or which one is better ?
 
You should check out the new Sennheiser HD560S. It's a fairly neutral reponse with good bass extension down to 20hz. It has a little treble emphasis, so definitely does not have a "veil."

For a warm sound with a slight v-shape and large soundstage, the new Philips X3 which is currently on sale on Amazon for $250. Reviews have been negative to it for not being the X2, and by comparing it to the HD6XX. It is neither of those headphones and should not be thought as such.
 
You should check out the new Sennheiser HD560S. It's a fairly neutral reponse with good bass extension down to 20hz. It has a little treble emphasis, so definitely does not have a "veil."

For a warm sound with a slight v-shape and large soundstage, the new Philips X3 which is currently on sale on Amazon for $250. Reviews have been negative to it for not being the X2, and by comparing it to the HD6XX. It is neither of those headphones and should not be thought as such.

Hey, thanks for the suggesiton I would look into it.

In terms of the X2 and X3, I have tried the X2 before and didn't find them "quality" enough for how people praise them. Bass felt bloated to me, soundstage was not as wide as people kept saying and the treble felt quite odd in some instances.

What is your opinion on my original question: The TYGR vs Hifiman?
 
Hey, thanks for the suggesiton I would look into it.

In terms of the X2 and X3, I have tried the X2 before and didn't find them "quality" enough for how people praise them. Bass felt bloated to me, soundstage was not as wide as people kept saying and the treble felt quite odd in some instances.

What is your opinion on my original question: The TYGR vs Hifiman?

I will just say again. The X3 is not the X2.

Have not tried the TYGR
 
i have not tried the tygr but owned the hifiman. They were my gateway drug into bigger and better.
I loved them.
After buying & selling > $25k in different headphones over the past 3 years i settled on the hifiman he1000v2. The best pair of all the $4k and below headphones I tried to my ears.
 
Hi.
Maybe I'm be late, but I just received TYGR's two days ago, and own for months Hifiman HE-4XX, the drop edition of the 400i, same driver, very close FR.
To answer your initial question, unless you don't plan to listen music with your headphones, go for 400i. The only sector where TYGR's are better, is soundstage and imaging. But these two are pretty decent on HE-400i (HE-4XX in my case). Actually, they're better than Sundara's for soundstage and imaging. Nice thing on TYGR's, they're very good in sub-bass region.
TYGR's have a decent V shaped tuning, but they're way too boomy to be enjoyable for music listening, they knock your eardrum on every kick, very fatiguing. They're also less resolving than HE-4XX. But they're pretty amazing for gaming and movies, due to their wide and raisonably deep soundstage, and precise imaging. I tryed some EQ on TYGR's, but they didn't like it in the bass region, I got some wierd resonances and trying to preserve their good sub-bass region when equalizing made the driver stalling. I also find than equalizing them messes up with the soundstage, wich wasn't as good as the original tuning.
HE-4XX (sould be the same for 400i) are good allrounders, you'll find them enjoyable for music, gaming and movies as well, with a bit of EQ they're pretty amazing for the price point. You'll find autoeq based on Crinacle and oratory1990 measurements, a custom EQ from oratory1990, and of course the EQ made by amirm when he did his review.
 
Maybe something different
Hifiman Sundara
AKG K702
 
Sundara are amazing (far better resolution than HE-4XX, micro details and harmonics perception are fantastic), bass light without EQ - but bass quality is better, tighter. Not a good choice for gaming though, imaging is better on HE-4XX. Soundstage is a bit better on HE-4XX too. Nearly double the price of 400i, more than double the price of TYGRs (in Europe).

K702 are pretty nice with EQ, good lateral soundstage. You can forget them if you have a narrow head, you'll get literally no bass (I sold mine quickly due to this, bought Q701 instead back in time which have better clamping force, but still hard to get a good seal with my head shape). I don't use them much anymore, shame because they're pretty good.

I finaly came with a pEQ for TYGRs for who's interested (order is Fr dB Q, all peak filters) :
-5 db preamp
12 ; 4 ; 1.3
20 ; 3.5 ; 1.43
56 ; -0.7 ; 3.03
206 ; -3.5 ; 0.63
609 ; 2.9 ; 0.86
2561 ; 1.5 ; 1.55

It's a modified autoeq based on Crinacle measurements (original autoeg was too conservative for high-mids and highs), it's far from perfect, feedbacks are welcome, feel free to share modifications. Got rid of some "boomyness", but not all of it (don't think it's possible). Tried to find a compromise to preserve the amazing soundtage and imaging. There are obviously things to do between 4000 and 10000 hz but didn't figured out what yet. Stock tuning in this area is better than autoeq proposition for sure.
 
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imagine 10 cars all lined up about to run a 0-60 race except for one twist - all the cars run the race in the exact same amount of time... they all get there in 3 seconds flat...

3 seconds in a tesla is wholly different than 3 seconds in an alcohol dragster - but it's still 3 seconds.

one isn't "better" than the other...

that's how headphones work ... sometimes i reach for my kph30i / other times a hifiman / then a sony / then a...

all in all over 30 years i've owned 100 pair and often 10-15 at at time....

my advice? settle down to a few options that are quality (both are) and flip a coin... you won't be disappointed and you can move on to enjoying your purchase...

small things matter - do you want to run balanced in 6 months? get the 400i.... do you want to say you've got "german made cans"? get the beyers :)

either way you're going to enjoy your upgrade... fwiw the 400i 2020 can be had right now for about $140 and that's just stupid for that level of sound quality...
 
imagine 10 cars all lined up about to run a 0-60 race except for one twist - all the cars run the race in the exact same amount of time... they all get there in 3 seconds flat...

3 seconds in a tesla is wholly different than 3 seconds in an alcohol dragster - but it's still 3 seconds.

one isn't "better" than the other...

that's how headphones work ... sometimes i reach for my kph30i / other times a hifiman / then a sony / then a...

all in all over 30 years i've owned 100 pair and often 10-15 at at time....

my advice? settle down to a few options that are quality (both are) and flip a coin... you won't be disappointed and you can move on to enjoying your purchase...

small things matter - do you want to run balanced in 6 months? get the 400i.... do you want to say you've got "german made cans"? get the beyers :)

either way you're going to enjoy your upgrade... fwiw the 400i 2020 can be had right now for about $140 and that's just stupid for that level of sound quality...
I dont like this analogy, I'm new to headphonetbut not to cars, at the end of the day the metric is they all do 0-60 in 3 seconds which is a measure of performance and that it a rating. What you are trying to say is that they all have different characteristics in their 0 to 60 and that the cost of each varies drastically
 
Sundara are amazing (far better resolution than HE-4XX, micro details and harmonics perception are fantastic), bass light without EQ - but bass quality is better, tighter. Not a good choice for gaming though, imaging is better on HE-4XX. Soundstage is a bit better on HE-4XX too. Nearly double the price of 400i, more than double the price of TYGRs (in Europe).

K702 are pretty nice with EQ, good lateral soundstage. You can forget them if you have a narrow head, you'll get literally no bass (I sold mine quickly due to this, bought Q701 instead back in time which have better clamping force, but still hard to get a good seal with my head shape). I don't use them much anymore, shame because they're pretty good.

I finaly came with a pEQ for TYGRs for who's interested (order is Fr dB Q, all peak filters) :
-5 db preamp
12 ; 4 ; 1.3
20 ; 3.5 ; 1.43
56 ; -0.7 ; 3.03
206 ; -3.5 ; 0.63
609 ; 2.9 ; 0.86
2561 ; 1.5 ; 1.55

It's a modified autoeq based on Crinacle measurements (original autoeg was too conservative for high-mids and highs), it's far from perfect, feedbacks are welcome, feel free to share modifications. Got rid of some "boomyness", but not all of it (don't think it's possible). Tried to find a compromise to preserve the amazing soundtage and imaging. There are obviously things to do between 4000 and 10000 hz but didn't figured out what yet. Stock tuning in this area is better than autoeq proposition for sure.
Have you regretted purchasing the Tygr 300r?
 
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