Talking about journey, I'll list my little headphone collection and then I would love to get an opinion from you guys for my next step.
Right now I own:
Headphones:
- Sennheiser HD560S; (My favorite and daily driver right now)
- AKG K712 PRO; (My first decent headphone)
- Koss Kph30i; (Unfortunately broke on one side, but cheap and good)
- Fostex T50RP. (That I modded but I didn't like that much the sound even when it was new, while now it's a little bit better but I am not satisfied yet)
Earphones:
- Tin Hi-fi T2;
- Blon BL03.
As DAC I have a Topping E30 and two amplifiers, Darkvoice 336SE (that I started to tube roll) and a Topping A30 PRO, which I like both.
Now getting back to the journey part, I am the kind of guy that likes to have different things, or headphones in this very case, with their own set of qualities because I always want to try and learn about the different aspects of it.
That said I want to do the next step and pass to some sets of headphones ranging from 350$ to 650$. After this if I feel satisfied I think I will pass to headphones like the Arya or anything on that price range.
I'm doing this because I don't want to rush things and I want to enjoy the ride step by step.
I'm looking for 3 to 4 headphones with these characteristics:
- An openback headphone that sounds wide and detailed, not in an artificial way, quite critical but not stressful and with good soundstage;
- A closedback headphone with a more intimate and warmer sound, that is able to isolate me well from anything outside, with good base extension;
- An headphone more focused on timbre that makes you listen and enjoy more your music instead the audio quality; (I know this one is quite abstract and personal but I still want to know your opinion)
- Last one an headphone with high impedance, 250Ohm or similar, to pair with the darkvoice. (This one could be literally one of the 3 above so if one has this characteristic I would just go for 3 instead of 4)
I already have some candidates like the Sundara or Edition XS for the first category, and Grado SR325X for the third, but I want to hear from you guys before moving on.
I listen to pretty much anything, from industrial rock and electronic music to bossa nova or orchestral, that's why I didn't go too deep with characteristics in the different categories. I will post this on another forum too because I want as many opinions as I can get.
Sorry for this too long post and thank you for your attention. (^^)