Very balanced, relaxed, natural sounding headphones?

[sat159p1]

Hey there!

Looking for a recommendation.. In 90s/2000s I had few pairs of Sony MDA44 overhead/in ear headphones which were just wonderful. Detailed, flat, big soundstage, very enjoyable listening. Top of the tops ever for me. They were cheap back then, but the key is, nothing sounded like these to me after 20 years. Why I had few pairs - because they always seem to loose one channel after some time...

I have 5-way $1500 custom in ears - no way for listening... only on stage.
I have AKG 240 DF which are super flat, lifeless and center oriented but they are for critial mastering jobs I do often.

I'm looking for natural sound, compatible with iPhone (so, low ohms I suppose), no wireless (regular cable) with big soundstage (stereo separation), not overhyped sublows as 99% on the market, delicate highs, no harshness in the upper mids. Mainly for rock/alt music. So, in short words I'm lookign for something very opposite to dr dre's Beats. Just very relaxed sounding but keeping the mid punch rather than sub punch like now they all do.

Anything in the $200-400 range?

 

[Dk33145]

Open back planars are tough to beat for soundstage. There are certain sounds on my Para 2 that are so natural sounding and localized so well that they actually freak me out and I need to look over my shoulder.

 

[JustCoolin‘]

„compatible with iPhone (so, low ohms I suppose), no wireless (regular cable“

With an adapter/dac of some sort? Just asking because „no wireless“ and „iPhone“ is an unusual combination of requirements.

 

[IngMishael]

Hey there!

Looking for a recommendation.. In 90s/2000s I had few pairs of Sony MDA44 overhead/in ear headphones which were just wonderful. Detailed, flat, big soundstage, very enjoyable listening. Top of the tops ever for me. They were cheap back then, but the key is, nothing sounded like these to me after 20 years. Why I had few pairs - because they always seem to loose one channel after some time...

I have 5-way $1500 custom in ears - no way for listening... only on stage.
I have AKG 240 DF which are super flat, lifeless and center oriented but they are for critial mastering jobs I do often.

I'm looking for natural sound, compatible with iPhone (so, low ohms I suppose), no wireless (regular cable) with big soundstage (stereo separation), not overhyped sublows as 99% on the market, delicate highs, no harshness in the upper mids. Mainly for rock/alt music. So, in short words I'm lookign for something very opposite to dr dre's Beats. Just very relaxed sounding but keeping the mid punch rather than sub punch like now they all do.

Anything in the $200-400 range?

What iPhone do you have?

 

[DVDdoug]

Headphone sound is mostly frequency response, and frequency response seems to have some effect on soundstage perception but most people don't want to sacrifice frequency response for better soundstage.

Of course, to some extent you can adjust/correct frequency response with EQ. But sometimes if you want to boost the bass, you end-up pushing the headphone or amplifier into distortion.

The Harman Curve tends to sound natural-neutral and best to most listeners. The reviews here all show the frequency response compared to the Harman target, and they include recommended EQ adjustments.

Unfortunately, the Sony MDA44 isn't reviewed here so it's hard to know what your preferences are...

The AKG K240 was reviewed... It's weak in the lower-bass and and it's got a dip in the mid frequencies. It was "not recommended" (even with EQ) and is probably a poor choice for "critical mastering" or listening enjoyment!

Understanding Headphone Measurements (video)

Anything in the $200-400 range?

There is almost no correlation between price and sound quality and there are some very good-sounding headphones below $400, but of course the higher your budget, the more choices you have.

with big soundstage (stereo separation),

Headphones have virtually 100% separation (the left & right signals don't mx and the soundwaves don't mix in the air like with speakers).

Soundstage perception is somewhat different with different headphones but your brain has a BIG influence and very few people get anything like a realistic soundstage illusion with headphones. Headphone soundstage survey

 

[Joe Smith]

You might audition AKG K361/K371 headphones...inexpensive and very nice FR following the Harman target...

 

[kemmler3D]

IME perception of soundstage with headphones is sort of an alchemical interaction between your personal HRTF / ears and the nuances of the headphone's frequency response and maybe internal reflections in the cup. I don't think there are consistent results between individuals for that, but I think open backs can be better by virtue of eliminating some internal reflections.

To find a convincing soundstage from a headphone, I think you just need to try a lot of headphones out.

Aside from that, if you are OK with IEMs you might try some stuff from Truthear - they are very neutral and a great value for what they are. The Gate is really a no-brainer for the money.

And welcome to ASR!

 

[Blockader]

IME perception of soundstage with headphones is sort of an alchemical interaction between your personal HRTF / ears and the nuances of the headphone's frequency response and maybe internal reflections in the cup. I don't think there are consistent results between individuals for that, but I think open backs can be better by virtue of eliminating some internal reflections.

To find a convincing soundstage from a headphone, I think you just need to try a lot of headphones out.

Aside from that, if you are OK with IEMs you might try some stuff from Truthear - they are very neutral and a great value for what they are. The Gate is really a no-brainer for the money.

And welcome to ASR!

Headphone soundstage mostly comes down to how the drivers are angled toward the listener's ears, and how that angle relates to the listening angle the mixing engineer had in their room.

If we include imaging as a part of the soundstage, then channel matching is incredibly important for better 'imaging'.

Of course the frequency response next to the eardrum of the listener also matter for all above.

In short: Low acoustic impedance headphones + balanced FR + good channel matching + 60 degrees angled drivers.(because that's how speakers are set up in a mixing room)

 

[sat159p1]

„compatible with iPhone (so, low ohms I suppose), no wireless (regular cable“

With an adapter/dac of some sort? Just asking because „no wireless“ and „iPhone“ is an unusual combination of requirements.

usb-c to stereo 1/8" adapter

 

[sat159p1]

What iPhone do you have?

16

 

[sat159p1]

Headphone sound is mostly frequency response, and frequency response seems to have some effect on soundstage perception but most people don't want to sacrifice frequency response for better soundstage.

Of course, to some extent you can adjust/correct frequency response with EQ. But sometimes if you want to boost the bass, you end-up pushing the headphone or amplifier into distortion.

The Harman Curve tends to sound natural-neutral and best to most listeners. The reviews here all show the frequency response compared to the Harman target, and they include recommended EQ adjustments.

Unfortunately, the Sony MDA44 isn't reviewed here so it's hard to know what your preferences are...

The AKG K240 was reviewed... It's weak in the lower-bass and and it's got a dip in the mid frequencies. It was "not recommended" (even with EQ) and is probably a poor choice for "critical mastering" or listening enjoyment!

Understanding Headphone Measurements (video)


There is almost no correlation between price and sound quality and there are some very good-sounding headphones below $400, but of course the higher your budget, the more choices you have.


Headphones have virtually 100% separation (the left & right signals don't mx and the soundwaves don't mix in the air like with speakers).

Soundstage perception is somewhat different with different headphones but your brain has a BIG influence and very few people get anything like a realistic soundstage illusion with headphones. Headphone soundstage survey

Many thanks for those all, AKG240 and 240DF (which I stated) are VERY VERY different headphones with different technologies. DFs were critical mastering heapdhones, DF stabns for "Diffuse fields" as they sound like a flat response room with speakers (https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/k240-df.12176/) I do think that they costed triple or more comparing to regular 240s back in the day and they are not produced since early 90s.

I checked the Harman Curve and that's totally opposite I\m setting to spotify using my headphones (mostly IEMs now), so I have that super dip in the high mids to tame that bumps...

 

[IngMishael]

16

get this - HD505 Copper

And get this dongle - Qudelix 5K

 

[Marc v E]

(...)

I'm looking for natural sound, compatible with iPhone (so, low ohms I suppose), no wireless (regular cable) with big soundstage (stereo separation), not overhyped sublows as 99% on the market, delicate highs, no harshness in the upper mids. Mainly for rock/alt music. So, in short words I'm lookign for something very opposite to dr dre's Beats. Just very relaxed sounding but keeping the mid punch rather than sub punch like now they all do.

Anything in the $200-400 range?

I would recommend to listen to some bose headphones or sennheiser.

The bose qc 35 I have, have:
delicate highs,
no harshness in the upper mids,
very relaxed sounding but keeping the mid punch.
And are very suitable to rock music.

Unfortunately they are wireless.
Would still recommend them highly.

From what I remember of sennheiser's affordable wired range they have these traits too, but imo have a slightly duller sound.

 

[obsessive9119]

I think the Senn HD560S might fit your needs. Price is right and they measure well. Being open they lack someone’s extension but with rock that should be fine.

 

[blse59]

AKG K702 is my headphone of choice. Excellent for everything, IMO (music, movies, youtube, etc.).

 

[Jiraya369]

FiiO FT1 Pro at 300 is a nice one but eq is still needed and the Hifiman Edition XV is perfectly tuned to my ears, i found no complaint outside of a lack of bass boost if needed.

Soundstage is good on both albeit not exceptional. FAR better than what we had back in the day though.

Get a TRN Black Pearl, eq the FT1 Pro to the harman target and you're going to fall in love. Makes the HD6 series stuff from Sennheiser look overpriced due to its great soundstage.