A fine pair of headphones. Sadly, they were lacking in the spatiality department. Their bass was world-class though.
Yea I was aware of their presentation in that area but it was something I can accept. Sound stage is like from conductor place not audience, which has some benefits and I am a bit used to hear music within ensemble. For audience like listening I prefer loudspeakers and LCD-X are my desktop listening equipmentA fine pair of headphones. Sadly, they were lacking in the spatiality department. Their bass was world-class though.
As to the Airpods Max, I would just add that they are great to use for such mundane tasks as telephone calls or conferences (e.g. zoom, facetime), especially if you don't want to stick things in your ears, as well as casual listening for those, like me, who otherwise prefer speakers, and for podcasts and the like.The Shangrila and the Airpods Max. I'm just really happy with the Shangrila, it's my main set for listening. It's overpriced, sure, but I haven't found a better sounding headphone. I think it's better than the Susvara which is already excellent. (I haven't tried the newest Stax model). The 300B tube set up works well with the electrostatic sound. Very comfortable too; that's often underestimated in this area. Downsides besides the price is it's not portable at all and the amp generates a lot of heat so you need a cold climate or air conditioning. If you like the Hifiman sound signature on their higher end headphones, you'll love it.
The Airpods Max because it's just so convenient. It works well, even with Android and Windows, although of course it's most seamless with Apple devices. It has the best balance between portability, sound and convenience that I've found. The sound is good (we're quite spoiled these days actually, this quality of sound in portable headphones would be considered miraculous just a couple of decades ago), and the mic is very good. When you're travelling and listening to music, the noise cancellation outweighs the pure audio benefits of a higher quality headphones. The transparency mode is also great if you want to walk outside and listen to nature, etc. while you listen. I think from a pure BT audio perspective, the Hifiman Ananda BT is better but it doesn't have noise cancellation and is an open headphone system. It also looks, umm...well, you might stand out a bit if you're travelling. On the other hand, you can listen to the Ananda wired if you like. I would not recommend the Stellia for a high end travel pair, it sounds very nice but it doesn't seal outside noise well. I would categorize it as semi-closed, not closed.
I have same observations about AirPods Max. I use them for background listening when I work or for excellent noise canceling when I need it. They are very convenient.As to the Airpods Max, I would just add that they are great to use for such mundane tasks as telephone calls or conferences (e.g. zoom, facetime), especially if you don't want to stick things in your ears, as well as casual listening for those, like me, who otherwise prefer speakers, and for podcasts and the like.
The performance of CX 300S is so close to that of IE 300 that I recommend people to buy CX 300S instead (!). I am very surprised. The innovative thing Sennheiser has done regarding the "around-ear-cable-bending" with the IE 300 makes them more comfortable to wear than CX 300S, but I think for most people it is not worth the price difference.Let us know how the IE 300's compare to the CX 300S. I'm very curious. Sennheiser Canada has the IE 300 on sale from $399 to $260. It looks like a good deal.![]()
What IEMs are your go-to's?I still have love for my very first "audiophile headphone" since 2013 as a soundstage junkie. As of this writing, yes, this is still my only OE headphone since I use IEMs as my main. Also, my very first planar Aeon X Open is arriving in a few days![]()