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What headphone(s) do you own ?

A bit of intro:

- I like a bit brighter sound and I rarely have issues with sybylance. I hear up to 15KHz.
- I like rock, progressive, new wave, synthpop, electronic, not into classical with some exceptions.
- I don't listem much to headphones, I prefer speakers.
- I rarely (almost never) stay longer doing nothing else than crytical listening.
- I EQ whenever possible using presets in Wavelet app.
- I (thought) I cannot use IEMS. I just found a conterexample but everything else I tried just felt/lost seal after less than one minute.
- I have a very small defect of the ear lobe at the top of it, nothing affecting sound but because of that 1-2mm round skin missing I am picky with the comfort, headphones need to fit for me or no game.
- Since Bluetooth works well I cannot stand wires anymore. This really matters to me.

So here my dirty collection is, in no particular order:
- Sennheiser HD600, probably about 20 years old. I always tried to love them, never managed to score a longer than 30minutes listening session with them, no ideea why. They sound good with or without EQ, they stay well on my head and ears, I have no issues with them but I just don't feel like grabbing them and put them on my head and listen. Wires don't help.
- Drop HE4xx, very good comfort, very good sound, I'd use them if not for the wires that Hifiman Deva don't require.
- Hifiman Deva BT, love them, sound, comfort, no wires. I use them most of all at home. EQ in Wavelet for these is broken, it heavily distorts regardless of volume. They sound very good without EQ so no issue here.
- AKG K371BT, not bad materials but the headband is atrociosly stupid, no good fit for me, loose on the bottom part of the ears, bad seal, I should have loved these but they resisted. They have an issue with the wires from new, one channel doest't work, don't remember if with all cables and if sometimes works based on luck and how good the plug fits. Bad QC on their part, not a dealbreaker for me since I don't like wires anymore. For how Harman compliant they seem to be, I wonder why Wavelet proposes a rather significant EQ in the bass region. However they sound good with that EQ. I wouldn't use them without EQ.
- AKG K712 Pro, no way they work for me (headband). Nothing very special about sound also. Don't care to EQ them.
- AKGK702, almost the same as K712, not used at all, not my type expecially because of headband. Don't care to EQ them.
- Audio-Technica ATH-AD900. There's something about these. Their wings on the band work remarcably good for me but the original pads were not comfortable, the sound was to my taste with no EQ, bass shy of course but ok. I ordered a pair of cushions from Aliexpress, deep and from leatherette with tiny holes. To my surprise this transformed these headphones into a gem. Perfect fit, light as a feather, great sound stage, I felt in love with them. The metalic grill looks gorgeos from close distance. The cable is bad (microphonic, thick, not flexyble enough, not removable) and since I have found a good open wireless alternative (Hifiman Deva), my Audio-Technica idles on a glass head in another room. Still a great surprise, a frog turned into a price with some generic cushions totally different from the originals.
- Sony WH1000XM3, great phone with EQ. Without EQ no way for me. Everything about them is good: build, looks, sound, battery life, noise cancelling, comfort (perfect for me). They can get hot and could use a PEQ in their app but that's just nitpicking. They are my favourites when not at home and I frankly don't understand why this was not my last pair of headphones.
- Philips SHP-9500, loved them, now moved on but they have something special (instead of missing bass). I even bought a specially built for them BT adapter that fit like that on Deva but it's bad quality.
- Philips Fidelio X2HD, build like a tank, good sound to my years, comfortable, if not for the wires and probably a bit too heavy these would be on my head more often. Because of good wireless alternative they just hang here.
- Sennheiser HD1 (aka Momentum 2 over ear). They sound good with EQ, used them untill I got Sony WH1000XM3. Their headband is not comfortable at all, hard and presses just in a narrow region of the head. I will never keep part of these because of the Pink Floyd design/theme, totally love it.
- Sennheiser Momentum 2 on ear. They sound good with EQ, I used them a lot before getting Momentum 2 over the ear (HD1) and Sony WH1000XM3. Their headband is as bad as HD1's.
- JBL Tune 710BT, very good sound unequalised, low build quality, hurts my ear after few minutes, I'd use them if they had larger pads for better comfort. Their sound tempt me to try a higher tier JBL, Club 950 or One perhaps.
- NAD VISO HP 70. Looks gorgeous, good quality built and materials but not comfortable for me, a dark even with EQ for my taste or it may be because I feel claustrophobic with them on, something about the clamp force, pads make me feel like I have no freedom to move, too tight fit+a darker signature? I hoped to like them, like I did with AKG K371bt, having a top place for Harman compliace, no luck. They are in their box, used them like 2 hours, I will part ways with them.
- AKG K412P, some sort of Koss Porta Pro, beaten them to death outdoors at their time. Open, small on the ear, light, not the very best comfort but quite ok. Used to love everything about them except a bit of disconfort for longer sessions. At the time I had not great expectation for bass from so small open HP. Long time retired, since arround.
- Sennheiser HD238, used them a lot outdoors, better than AKG K412P they replaced on my head on the move.
- JVC HA-ET45T, in ear. It was my last attempt to find a good fitting in ear. I bought them for the price, as a test, hoping that they stay better because they have a thing to hang on the ear like glasses so the weight won't make them fall/move. They work to some extent. Sound is passable, no EQ for them in Wavelet but they don't scream for one. They do their job on rare (way too rare) occasions when I work out. Short of a miracle, in-ears are not for me and not because of the sound. Perhaps a custom shape would work but I don't feel tempted to go there.
 
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Rayman30 said:
I own HD-650, Ananda and LCD-X as my main, but I am looking for something else... I am not sure why, but I think my next pair is it.

Question, given what I am using as my main sets, would Arya Stealth make any sense? the other pair I am looking at is Focal Clear MG Pro. Looking for something that can provide the next level in terms of Vocal performance, so I was leaning Focal.. primarily as an HD-650 upgrade.
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Vocal performance is one of the strengths of the HD600 and you have the HD650 so that's not far off, I don't think you could hope for better than HD600/650 when it comes to vocals (the mids).
 
I started my audio journey with the 58X Sennheiser being powered with a dragonfly red dac. Absolutely did not like that combo what so ever. I've now got the porta pro's and the KSC75's because well i have to. For IEM's i use the Etymotic ER2XR But i've settled on the Philips X2HR for comfort and fun sound and my daily driver is the Grado SR225x's. Absolutely adore the grado's. I use them for music but really love watching movies and other content on them too. Using a Fiio BTR5 to power them at the moment but i've got the Topping DX3 Pro+ on the way. That's the end of my audio journey!
 
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I am currently using a pair of Fischer Audio FA003-Ti , powered by a iFi micro DSD. The headband is finally giving up on me , I had to improvise something to be able to use them so I took the plunge and went for the Aeon Closed X, waiting for them to show. I really liked the Fischer ones, at their price range they were awesome, but I feel like I could use a bit more bass. I EQed them and improved the sound to my liking, I am curious to see what the Dan Clark ones sound like.
 
Tkay said:
went for the Aeon Closed X, waiting for them to show.
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Will you buy used or new? They aren't exactly cheap :oops:

Welcome to ASR :cool:
 
New, I got them for 399 , they were on sale last week on Drop. All the used ones I found on ebay were more expensive... I'll get taxes as well, since I'm in Europe, at least the discount from Drop will probably cover that.
 
Right.
Report back when you have them, they are not for me, but others are always interested in hands on experiences. :)
 
HD600, HD58X, HD6XX, Beyer Tygr 300r, DT880 600ohm, DT1990. DT1990 are my most listened to currently. I tried some Dekoni Elite Hybrid pads but I felt like they took away some of the impact and recessed the mids a bit too much. In stock form they have a nice defined bass, mid-bass and mid separation where the bass doesn't bleed into the mid bass and mid bass doesn't muddle up the mids. I put the Dekoni's on the DT880 600ohm just too see and it definitely makes them a bit more "fun" and takes some of the edge off, but will have to listen more to see if it takes away too much of their magic in favor of the added bass these pads provide. The Tygr is ok not as special as everyone says in my opinion. Kind of a muffled presentation with overly wooly bass. Hd600 were my first set of cans and are probably over 20 years old now and need a major overhaul. 6xx were my long term go to before the 1990s but found that I tended to listen to the 58x more often once they came to town. The 1990 is kind of like the 58x on crack...at least to me. Your mileage may vary.
 
Saikou said:
In order of acquisition (I've tried many more thanks to an audio store near me by the name of Audio46, these are just the ones I decided on keeping/purchasing.)

HyperX Cloud Pro - Purchased for gaming back when I only had an Xbox One and wanted something with good isolation and imaging for shooters. And boy, do they image well. To this day after the countless headphones I've tried, the Cloud Pro has some of, if not the best imaging out of any headphone I've tested. It took 6-7 years of owning them for the cable to finally give in and now sound mostly comes out of the left ear. So now I'm on the lookout for something better which will likely be the DCA Aeon 2 Noire.

Philips SHP9500 - These were my introduction into Open-back headphones, and while I liked the sense of spaciousness that an Open-back design gives you, I was left slightly disappointed with this one. People made a huge deal about how much better soundstage is on Open vs Closed headphones, but to me that mainly comes down to the fact you can hear your surroundings better with an Open headphone. In terms of sound, I will admit I prefer a headphone with good sub-bass extension, and these do not offer that. The sub on these practically doesn't exist unless you EQ them, and even then they lack the impact since you have to boost them by around 7dB in order for it to be listenable. Pair that with a peak at 6kHz that makes everything sound shrill and like it's playing through a plastic straw, I rarely use them nowadays and only keep them as a reminder of where I came from. They're also extremely comfortable. With EQ I would recommend them, but without it, it's a no from me.

Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro - Now, I read all about how sibilant and detailed these were, and looking at FR graphs of them definitely made me weary about buying them. But everything about them aside from the 8kHz peak spoke to me. Good sub-bass extension, mids that aren't offensive and slight relaxed, and the highs, ignoring that huge peak at 8kHz, are just what I like. A little bit more energy in the treble is something that I am a fan of. So I went and tested them out in person and found that for some reason, that 8kHz peak wasn't anywhere near as grating or noticeable as a 6kHz peak on the SHP9500, for example. I attribute this to it being higher up in the frequency domain, so it's slightly less audible, but still there. I did not mind it too much, and in fact for music like Drum 'n Bass and ChillSynth, I actually quite liked it! With EQ, these sound virtually perfect to me. I also upgraded them to have the Dekoni Elite Velour earpads, which makes these the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn, and with the build quality and durability reputation that Beyerdynamic has, I ended up deciding to get these and keep them for as long as possible. To this day, I haven't listened to another headphone that would make me retire these.

Moondrop Aria - These were a very simple purchase. They were cheap, they sounded great, and they're solidly built for only $79. Thanks to these I learned that my ear boosts 3-5kHz a tad too much and made these sound a bit nasally for my tastes, so I EQ them to be more in line with the USound target, rather than keeping them stock or using the Harman target. After about 9 months of ownership, the paint on these has started to chip and they feel a bit weird when grabbing the parts that have chipped compared to the regular sides. But they're definitely some of the best IEMs I've heard. Definitely deserve all of the praise that they get. Not a single complaint about their sound other than 3-5kHz is a tad too much for my ear anatomy specifically.

SeeAudio x Crinacle: Yume:Midnight - I wanted something lighter than the Aria, and I really liked the Carbon-fiber aesthetic of these. Going by FR graphs I noticed they had a slight dip around that area at 3-5kHz, so I went ahead and bought them to try out and sure enough, these do not sound harsh nor nasally to my ears. In fact, I don't even EQ them! Even though EQ is a must for practically every single headphone/IEM that I try. But these line up with my tastes about 99% of the way there. Maybe a wide-q peak filter somewhere around 100-300Hz of like 1-2dB would give them a bit more warmth, but they sound perfect to me as is so I just leave them as is. Great sub-bass extension, even moreso than the Aria, and the treble on these is just supreme. It doesn't sound rolled-off and even feels like an Over-ear headphone to my ears. Very wide and airy. So if you're a bit of a sub-bass-head like me, you will likely enjoy these.

Other notable headphones I've owned or tried: Audeze LCD-2 Fazor, LCD-2C, LCD-X, LCD-XC. AKG K371, K701, K7XX. Beyerdynamic DT 770, 880, TYGR 300R, 177X GO. DCA Aeon Closed RT, Aeon 2 Noire. Sennheiser PC37X, HD6XX, HD560S, HD800/S... There's a few others I've tried but I can't remember.

Once i have the Aeon 2 Noire I will likely be done with this hobby and move on to something more irresponsible like speakers. Though I'm perfectly happy with JBL Studio 530s at the moment. Only thing keeping me from getting them is the Yume:Midnight.

But yeah, those are my 5 headphones/IEMs that I currently own and am happy with. At the end of the day, I would probably be perfectly happy with something like a Moondrop Aria and an HD560S.
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I tried the Dekoni Elite Hybrid on the 1990's and I felt like it took away alot of the feeling of speed and things like snap on the drums. Recessed the mids too much for me. Was more bass but not better bass. Have them back with the A pads now. Did the Elite velour basically maintain the stock sound but add comfort?
 
In order of purchase over the past six years:

Sennheiser HD598 - I haven't listened to these in a long time. I remember them being more balanced across the frequency range than the 650s, but not as refined. I'll have to try them with my newer DAC/Amps.

Sennheiser HD650 - easy, non-fatiguing, but lacking in soundstage, detail, and presence. To be fair, I probably need pad replacements, but I'm disappointed every time I go back looking for that "best-in-class midrange" I always hear about. These were my daily drivers for 3 years, so I'm not sure whether something is wrong with them now or if I just prefer planars in just about every way.

HiFiMan HE400i 2020 - best value by far, and very good all-arounders. I can't believe how good these are for $170. With EQ, only a touch behind the Sundara in the detail department but very close overall and a bit warmer. My only complaint is the uncomfortable headband.

HiFiMan Sundara 2020: very detailed and fast, with excellent dynamics and presence. Great with or without EQ, but can be a bit bright depending on material and equipment pairings.

I also have Sony WH-1000XM3, but mostly use them for podcasts in noise-cancelling scenarios.


DAC/Amps over the same time period:
FiiO E17k - replaced FiiO E07k that I enjoyed for 4+ years before it died. I didn't like the E17k at all - sounded thin and bright to me.

iFi Nano iDSD Black Label - excellent portable with a warmer signature, but not quite as airy and effortless with the planars.

Topping DX3 Pro+ - fantastic value, very revealing and transparent, with zero noise. Volume knob feels cheap and doesn't register some clicks.

IFi Micro iDSD Signature - Too expensive, but wow - this is my sweet spot. Power to spare, not fatiguing, tons of detail and impact, and portable.

Price/performance pairing winner by far is HE400i 2020 with Topping DX3 Pro+ at $370 total. It's amazing how good some lower priced stuff is these days!

Overall winner is Sundara 2020 with iFi Micro Signature at $800 total. Perfect fit for my tastes in music and sound signature.

For what it's worth, I found the Sundara/DX3 Pro+ pairing to be a bit brighter than I prefer with some music. I'd been eyeing up the Micro Signature for about a year. So when it went on sale for $250 off, I couldn't resist. I still think it's too expensive at retail, but there's not much else like it out there and I really wanted to grab one before the whole IDSD line goes extinct.

Disclaimer: all of the above is subjective, though some went against my preconceived notions. In general I believe that perfectly-behaving amps and DACs should sound roughly the same, bits-is-bits more often than not, mastering has the biggest impact on the quality of a recording, and headphone enjoyment is most heavily influenced by frequency response. I fully expect that some of the warmth in the iFi line is due to lack of precision vs. the Topping... but it suits my preferences.
 
JimmyBuckets said:
I tried the Dekoni Elite Hybrid on the 1990's and I felt like it took away alot of the feeling of speed and things like snap on the drums. Recessed the mids too much for me. Was more bass but not better bass. Have them back with the A pads now. Did the Elite velour basically maintain the stock sound but add comfort?
Click to expand...
Yeah, the Elite Velour are basically a more comfortable version of the B Pads that come stock with the headphones.

They reduce the peak at 8kHz and gets rid of the dip at 4kHz which makes them more ideal for EQ'ing. You can get a practically perfect adherence to Harman with them that way. Just look up oratory1990's EQ/measurements of them, or look at DIYAudioHeaven's testing of them.

If we're just going off of the stock A/B pads, then I agree with you that the A pads sound better to my preference. I haven't tried the Elite Hybrid specifically on the 1990s, though.
 
Dxnc said:
Sennheiser HD598 - I haven't listened to these in a long time. I remember them being more balanced across the frequency range than the 650s, but not as refined. I'll have to try them with my newer DAC/Amps.
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It won't change anything, they're easy to drive.
 
K702, spare K702, Fidelio X3, DT990Pro, T50RP, K401, KZ ZS6, KZ AS10 and AA Hi-X25BT

all of them are more or less modded - dampening and stiffening for the over-ears and XO mods for the KZs (Thorsten Loesch mod for the ZS6 and Pana ECHU film caps for both KZs).
... and many more I don't remember - oh, the one that stands out was the K271Mk2, modded it had sounded great but comfort&feeling was abysmal (locked in a small room feeling).

Resumé: K702 with the bass mod (remove cover from driver mid-back-hole) fullfills everything I need from a HP: Light, fits my head perfectly, could wear them for hours without fatigue, has the wide soundstage I prefer from HPs, easily driven by modern opamps - OPA1622, INA1620, OPA1656, I've refitted the HP drivers from my heritage CD-players with those. Deep, still restained lows, sparkling highs and lovely mids perfect for female vocals.

Fidelio X3 comes next after the K702, after all they share a lot of the same philosophy. Nice, high quality build - and that from a "Philips" - love them too.

T50RPs - technically interesting, but comfort is a no-go for prolonged listening. Flimsy plastic build. Cost is all about the drivers...
DT990s - ear pads to shallow, highs to pronounced, and sound-stage just so lala. too analytical for me and lacking comfort. Nice build quality though.

The IEMs: well, sound-wise interesting, but I can't wear them for more than 20min.

The Austrian-Audio Hi-X25BT was thought to be a compromise to the new times... so far im impressed, nice sturdy construction, comfortably. Uses the QCC3024 chipset, SBC codec only. Nevertheless, very nice sounding, a milestone away from the Sony MDR-1000X I have to compare to for a BT headset. I don't care about NC, not my usage - I use HPs only for intentional listening.

But then, I'm from Austria, so you might find some bias in my impressions ;)
 
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