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What headphone(s) do you own ?

Veri

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My current list:

hifiman ananda [favorite planar yet, easy to drive]
sennheiser hd650 [all-time favorite for tone/timbre]
ath-ad2000 [superb for female vocals: probably H2 distortion]
ath-ad700 [listening in bed lol. 10+ years old, great comfort]

the rest are sold/gone :)
 
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AndrovichIV

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Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro 250 Ohm (office) <- favorite
Beyerdynamic T5P v1 (sold, thankfully!)
Senn HD600 <- 2nd favorite
Meze 99 Noir (wouldn't buy them again)
SHP 9500 (gave as gift, regret it)
M50X (sold, thankfully)
MSR7 (gave as gift, thankfully)
Beyerdynamic DT 770 80 Ohm (sold, thankfully since the 250 is much better)
Nad Viso HP-50 (gave as gift, somewhat regret it)
 

AndrovichIV

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Beyerdynamic DT880 600Ω (previously DT990 Pro 600Ω -- falling apart after 20 years)
Audio Technica AD900 -- paired with bass-boost CMOY amp for low end oomph
NAD HP50
Brainwavz B100
-- IEMs for portable use

Holly shit, it's amazing that Beyers keep working after 20 years!
 

AndrovichIV

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One of the things I find interesting is the different approaches to industrial design of headphones. As much as I like my Beyerdynamic T5p headphones I have to say they look very home spun and like something I might design, as if the decided to add a bit of style to the metal ear cup covers as an afterthought to give them some sort of visual signature. On a more positive note, the fact they weren't stylish to start with mitigates the risk that they'll become unstylish. Beyerdynamic seem to be at the opposite end of a spectrum from the self consciously stylish high end Sennheisers which have obviously received lavish attention to their design. The headphones I really like in terms of design (although I'm not so keen on their sound) are the AKG K812 which seem to have a very elegant and stylish design which manages to have a sense of style without going over the top. I also liked the under stated style of Oppo headphones too, yet many called them boring.

How can you live with those T5P. I kept mine for two years even going as far as buying an AMP specifically to tame the highs, and changing my listening habits. I ended up selling them at a large loss and couldn't be happier. I love my DT 770 250 Ohm 20X more
 

AndrovichIV

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I replaced my Sony WH-1000X M2 wireless noise cancelling headphones with a pair of normal Audio Technica ATH-MSR7 headphones recently. The Sony's had excellent noise cancelling but I find that for commuting on trains the passive noise isolation of the Audio Technica's is quite sufficient and their sound quality is a class above the Sony's. I know some criticise the MSR7 for being too bright, but whilst I admit they're on the bright side they're not unduly bright and are still within the bounds of what I'd call pretty balanced. They're nicely made, comfortable, and sound terrific. And they were cracking value. They're now my daily "working" headphones I use on trains, when travelling etc. The Beyerdynamic T5P II is marketed by Beyerdynamic as a mobile headphone but it isn't, it is a closed back model otimised for mobile devices but it isn't really mobile. However, I do love my T5P II's and wouldn't part with them. I also love the Oppo PM-2, a wonderfully smooth, inviting and sonorious sound. I may sell my DT1990's as I have too many headphones, I will keep the Sony MDR Z7's though, I know a lot of people were a bit negative about those and although I wouldn't rate them as being as good as the T5P II or PM-2 I find them huely enjoyable when I'm in the right mood.

I couldn't stand the MSR7 and T5P I and sold them. I though I was a treble lover. I actually love my Dt 770 250 Ohm.

I would say that those two HP are definitely not for everybody
 

AndrovichIV

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My #1 headphones are Skull Candy Grinds (wireless). Seriously. They perform flawlessly while listening to music, podcasts, youtube vids, etc while doing chores around the house. They clearly aren't super hi-fi - but everything sounds good through them and dialog is always crystal clear. They are also very comfortable and have just the right amount of isolation so I can still respond to my family if they want to talk to me.

When it comes to serious/focused music listening sessions - I've pretty much given up on headphones. I've not been wowed by anything. I bought some NAD HP50s which were fine. But I think they are just average on comfort. I could make them sound a lot better with EQ.

So my headphone credo from now on is to look for headphones with low distortion across the frequency band and excellent comfort. Then EQ/DSP to taste.

The HP50's are famous for hitting the Harman curve. So any equalization that you make could probably degrade their sound (although subjectively you may find that pleasing, to each their own) :)
 

AndrovichIV

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I agree, they're very revealing, but short comings with the recording isn't really the fault of the IEM. And with good recordings they are tremendous. I have sort of gone off my Beyerdynamic T5P IIs now as I've noticed when going to them after adjusting to the Etymotic sound there is a screechy quality to certain treble frequencies of the T5P, the bass is also much heavier than the ER4 but for some reason I don't have a problem enjoying the boosted bass after using the ER4, it is only the treble.

owning T5P is an abusive relationship
 

AndrovichIV

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There is a story behind the Polaris...
The first idea was to make a SS tube replacement so one could turn the tube amps into SS.
(This was before LISST existed). I could not get it to work as I wanted due to the design of the amp combined with the different supply voltages between the amps.
So I designed the Polaris ... but in the prototype used FETS that were obsolete (as it turned out later).
Had to look for available FETs with similar properties but in the end had to redesign as there were no direct replacements and the final Polaris was 'born'.
Jeremy wanted the BW settings to filter lower in freq. so in the end there is the option to order it with 'aggressive' settings (Jeremy's settings) and the more gentle settings (mine) where BW can be chosen between low (which rolls of treble somewhat similar as NOS DACs), mid setting which rolls of just outside of the audible band and full bandwidth which rolls off way above the audible band.
Jeremy wanted to roll-off treble happy headphones and the "NOS- alike' setting as well as the wideband so both options became available on order.

@solderdude say in a Polaris Amp with mellow bandwidth powering HD-600 which are the settings that you would use to produce tubey sound pleasing in your opinion? :)
 

JJB70

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I'm selling the T5P, after adjusting to the ER4 SR I found that I just went off the T5P. A good example of how we can adjust to sounds. However, I'm keeping the MSR7, I think that's an excellent headphone and I still enjoy the Oppo PM-2 and MDR-Z7.
 

fulffy512

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I'm selling the T5P, after adjusting to the ER4 SR I found that I just went off the T5P. A good example of how we can adjust to sounds. However, I'm keeping the MSR7, I think that's an excellent headphone and I still enjoy the Oppo PM-2 and MDR-Z7.

The ER4SR has the best treble without being harsh or boosted. No idea why beyer loves boosting the 6 - 9.5k area on there headphones?.
 

monkeyboy

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Beyerdynamic T1.2
Beyerdynamic 1990 Pro
PSB M4U1
Audio Technica MSR7 (gave to my wife)
Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (sold; too V-shaped)
NAD HP50 (sold, muted highs)

I don't find the T1.2 harsh at all. The PSBs sound great, I prefer them to the HP50s...
 
OP
solderdude

solderdude

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say in a Polaris Amp with mellow bandwidth powering HD-600 which are the settings that you would use to produce tubey sound pleasing in your opinion?

My best guess would be to use a higher output resistance which gets the response a bit closer to the HD650.
 

Cortes

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-Stax SR-007
-Grado SR60
-JH13
-Others that I don't have anymore: Etymotic ER4, some shure.
 
OP
solderdude

solderdude

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Just added this one to my 'collection'.

Despite comfort and potential seal issues it sounds quite good (with the filter), I would say above its pricepoint.
Not top notch performance but good VFM. Enjoyable and not a typical 'closed headphone' sound at all.
 

Veri

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Just added this one to my 'collection'.

Despite comfort and potential seal issues it sounds quite good (with the filter), I would say above its pricepoint.
Not top notch performance but good VFM. Enjoyable and not a typical 'closed headphone' sound at all.
Love your work :D (ps found one typo: "when connected to a higher power headphone").
 
OP
solderdude

solderdude

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Thanks for the pointer ...dammit .. one can proofread all day and still miss stupid things like that.
Most likely there are some more grammar and other imperfections in it though. :oops:
 
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LightninBoy

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The HP50's are famous for hitting the Harman curve. So any equalization that you make could probably degrade their sound (although subjectively you may find that pleasing, to each their own) :)

The following is just some philosophical rambling. I don't expect everyone (or anyone) to agree, just explaining my perspective.

Degrade the sound from what exactly? What is the standard? The Haman curve is just one curve of many. Could be that curve doesn't work for the way my head/ears are shaped. I tried out some software that is gaining some popularity in studios that auto EQs headphones based on their measurements of the model. That software made the HP50's sound drastically different. So they were obviously using a different curve. Did that software degrade the sound?

That's the thing with all headphones - you are *drastically* changing the environment from which the music was mixed and mastered (in most cases). For me, the hi-fi standard is simple: I want to hear the music as closely as possible to what the artist/producer heard in the studio. Therefore, listening with headphones is already such a compromised medium that I really don't care about that hi-fi standard and just eq to what I like. I shoot for a sound that is similar to how the music sounds in my HT room with Revel speakers. Or in my home studio with JBL speakers.
 

pwjazz

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What is the standard? The Haman curve is just one curve of many. Could be that curve doesn't work for the way my head/ears are shaped.

The Harman curve is one that is specifically designed to appeal to a broad cross-section of listeners. That doesn't mean that everyone will prefer it to some other curve, but on average people will prefer this to any alternatives. From the perspective of manufacturing headphones and/or coming up with standardized EQ profiles, there's no currently better standard than the Harman response.

All that said, you might not like the Harman response, which is fine. I'm actually not a huge fan myself, especially when it comes to their IEM target which I find too thin and too sub-bassy.

I want to hear the music as closely as possible to what the artist/producer heard in the studio

I used to feel the same way, but I've given up on that with both headphones and speakers, and here's why.

1. I don't hear the same way that the people involved in producing the music hear (just one example, I can't hear over 14 KHz)
2. There are multiple people involved in producing music, whose hearing would I be trying to match anyway?
3. Which studio am I trying to match? The recording engineers? The mastering engineers?

Ultimately, I find it more fruitful to think about music at an emotional rather than an engineering level. If the music makes an emotional connection, if it gets my toes tapping or my head bobbing, if I feel something, then my playback equipment is doing its job. The irony of this is of course that even cheapo equipment does this, so our non-audiophile friends are way ahead of us!
 
OP
solderdude

solderdude

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Below the HP50 (as I measure and hear it) and through a passive, inline, filter.

stock-hp50-vs-filtered-hp50-7db-level-corrected.png


Indeed the tuning is not to everyones taste. I find it is lacking clarity.

filter circuit used:
filter-schematic.png


One can lower R1 and R2 in value and tune it between original and 'audibly flat'
 
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