What are your favorite headphones?

[Turambar]

Of the ones I own, I would take Hifiman Arya.

But I'm the bold type. so I would start my new life as a shipwreck victim with new headphones. In this case, Dan Clark Stealth.

 

[poxymoron]

Without: OLLO S5X
With: HD800

Are the Ollos that good?

 

[Oristo]

I use AKG K141 almost daily, for their intelligibility, with Equalizer APO tweaks

 

[pablolie]

It has been a long journey.

The stable now is...

Shure SRH1540 (3 of them)
Beyerdynamics DT1990Pro
Shure 535 in ears (also.have 315s)
NC situations Sony in ear XM4 (2 of them)

 

[solderdude]

Are the Ollos that good?

They have their limitations, mostly in fit and comfort.
I like the sound (not Harman type of bass) and require the felt mod otherwise they are too 'sharp' sounding for music enjoyment.
They are intended for studio usage which is a different goal than music enjoyment.

 

[PabloT]

They have their limitations, mostly in fit and comfort.
I like the sound (not Harman type of bass) and require the felt mod otherwise they are too 'sharp' sounding for music enjoyment.
They are intended for studio usage which is a different goal than music enjoyment.

Not trying to be contrarian or confrontational at all, I'm merely an admirer trying to understand. But if flat frequency response is preferred in both good enjoyment speakers and studio monitors, then why is it any different with headphones?

 

[solderdude]

Not trying to be contrarian or confrontational at all, I'm merely an admirer trying to understand. But if flat frequency response is preferred in both good enjoyment speakers and studio monitors, then why is it any different with headphones?

Not seen as such.
It isn't any different, the response is 'linear' with a slight tilt and for my older ears the right amount of treble (after the felt mod).

Below: No smoothing applied. No narrow peaks and dips in the all important range (60Hz to 4kHz), just a warm tilt.
Treble is extended enough (a bit too elevated for enjoyment) and does not have problematic peaks or dips.
Extended in sub lows and enough extension in the treble. Very sensitive so plays from all devices without having to add amps.

Below stock vs feltmod S5X

And the 'no weird dips and peaks' is also true for HD800 (once corrected for subbass roll-off and treble level) which may be important aspects. At least that is supported by Harman research.

I might be sucker for sound with a small 'upper midrange dip/tilt' tonality, possibly due to personal ear gain. I reckon the 'evenness' (no substantial wobbles) is what makes these particular headphones sound good to me.

The DT1190 (A pads) + treble filter also sounds fine to me. Similar tilt, similar flatness overall.

That seems to work better for me than 'EQ-ing out wobbles on a specific test fixture to a specific target' and not pay extra attention to everything above 6kHz for me.
Probably why I also like the well known Sennheiser headphones such as HD560S (with filter) for upper midrange tilt and smoothness of response.

So 'flat' response with speakers (not talking about tonal tilt differences but lack of peaks and dips) in headphones is just as valid in speakers and headphones.
EQ can certainly be beneficial but you can't polish a turd. (I know the mythbusters showed you actually can)

In the end it is just my preference with headphones I own and use most often for said reason (with and without EQ). That will differ from others and is in no way the best choice in a universal sense nor other use cases.

 

[Mulder]

They have their limitations, mostly in fit and comfort.
I like the sound (not Harman type of bass) and require the felt mod otherwise they are too 'sharp' sounding for music enjoyment.
They are intended for studio usage which is a different goal than music enjoyment.

I have the OLLO S5X and I use them almost every day. I have not experienced any discomfort at all. Same with fit. They fit me perfect, but others may have a different experience. I made the same felt-mod as Solderdude. No EQ needed. The OLLO have in my case more or less replaced DC aeon, which was my headphone for dayly use before i bought the OLLO S5X.

 

[Snoopy]

Dan Clark Aeon 2 Noire without PEQ still very good. And nice for movies as well.
(No issues with pads deforming)

Meze Liric I use them with PEQ and for serious listening when I want better sound isolation.

If I where to look into a even better headphone it might be the Dan Clark Stealth .

Not a fan of open back headphones because I usually have s bit of noise around me.
I would avoid Hifiman headphones. (Quality control everything below the HE-1000 looks pretty cheap)