What headphone(s) do you own ?

[Blujackaal]

Conclusion: EQ is necessary in headphones. Intrinsically good headphones driver, a beefy amp and a PC for EQ ... I don't see myself buying a >$1000 headphones , In fact , I may not buy another headphones for years.

Sounds like me with the Etymotic ER3.

 

[Nemo]

HD6XX
HD58X
Ether CX
Etymotic ER4P

I know this post is three months old, but I just come across it, and felt that we have very similar tastes

HD600 ~ These I bought new when they just come out (s/n <200!!) more than 20 years ago. I started using them with the headphone out of my Audiolab 8000A II integrated (that I still have as well), and later enjoyed them even more when paired with another ancient piece of audio, the Meier Corda HA-1, using the cross-feed filter in its lowest setting most of the time. I still find them the most comfortable, very accurate and very enjoyable. One of the drivers of the HD600 become damaged some years ago, and I substituted both of them for the newer silver drivers, and I have gone a few sets of ear-pads and headbands as well: talk about value-for-money and environmental sustainability!!

Ultimate Ears Reference Monitors (original version) ~ After decades with my trusty HD600, I was curious to hear what the new flagship HD800 sounded like. Also, my career had me starting to travel internationally, and I was looking for a compact travel headphone. I was living in Santa Cruz (CA) at the time, and was lucky enough to contact with Christian Tanimoto III (CEETEE) to try out his HD800 vs. UE CIEM (different models), and decided the UERM could make for a fantastic travel headphone. I use them mostly with a Creative Super X-fi (filetr off, sounds awful to me) or a Light Harmonic Geek Out 1000 (replaced by LH after my original GO100 failed under warranty) which I feel is marginally better. They are a PITA to remove, and even more to put on correctly for optimal seal, and after a couple of hours I can feel my ear wax starting to build up. For flying they have been a disappointment for no fault of their own, as I realized my ears clog up and I can not enjoy their terrific prowess. Fortunately I can easily enjoy them to the full once I am at my hotel room

Drop Dan Audio Ether CX ~ This are the newest addition, and bought them to be able to hear music without disturbing my partner, but being able to quickly remove them and respond a request, phone call or whatever. I was also curious about a planar (orthodynamic) headphone. I use them with a D50s>TCA HAP-1 (fan-tas-tic), EQ'd following Oratory settings, and find them very revealing and enjoyable. They leak a little, and I find them tiring after 2-3 hours, but I am quite satisfied with them.

I would be curious to hear Focal headphones, but there is really no need to change anything...

Due to work-related issues triggered by a health problem I do not have access to my speaker system, which I surely miss, but nevertheless I feel that we live in a golden era of sound quality, and now have not only the best sound I ever had, but also the easiest access to my music

 

[ClosDeLaRoche]

I know this post is three months old, but I just come across it, and felt that we have very similar tastes

HD600 ~ These I bought new when they just come out (s/n <200!!) more than 20 years ago. I started using them with the headphone out of my Audiolab 8000A II integrated (that I still have as well), and later enjoyed them even more when paired with another ancient piece of audio, the Meier Corda HA-1, using the cross-feed filter in its lowest setting most of the time. I still find them the most comfortable, very accurate and very enjoyable. One of the drivers of the HD600 become damaged some years ago, and I substituted both of them for the newer silver drivers, and I have gone a few sets of ear-pads and headbands as well: talk about value-for-money and environmental sustainability!!

Ultimate Ears Reference Monitors (original version) ~ After decades with my trusty HD600, I was curious to hear what the new flagship HD800 sounded like. Also, my career had me starting to travel internationally, and I was looking for a compact travel headphone. I was living in Santa Cruz (CA) at the time, and was lucky enough to contact with Christian Tanimoto III (CEETEE) to try out his HD800 vs. UE CIEM (different models), and decided the UERM could make for a fantastic travel headphone. I use them mostly with a Creative Super X-fi (filetr off, sounds awful to me) or a Light Harmonic Geek Out 1000 (replaced by LH after my original GO100 failed under warranty) which I feel is marginally better. They are a PITA to remove, and even more to put on correctly for optimal seal, and after a couple of hours I can feel my ear wax starting to build up. For flying they have been a disappointment for no fault of their own, as I realized my ears clog up and I can not enjoy their terrific prowess. Fortunately I can easily enjoy them to the full once I am at my hotel room

Drop Dan Audio Ether CX ~ This are the newest addition, and bought them to be able to hear music without disturbing my partner, but being able to quickly remove them and respond a request, phone call or whatever. I was also curious about a planar (orthodynamic) headphone. I use them with a D50s>TCA HAP-1 (fan-tas-tic), EQ'd following Oratory settings, and find them very revealing and enjoyable. They leak a little, and I find them tiring after 2-3 hours, but I am quite satisfied with them.

I would be curious to hear Focal headphones, but there is really no need to change anything...

Due to work-related issues triggered by a health problem I do not have access to my speaker system, which I surely miss, but nevertheless I feel that we live in a golden era of sound quality, and now have not only the best sound I ever had, but also the easiest access to my music

Try the ZMF Universe Lambskin pads with the Ether CX. These pads with the two-notch white filters are my favorite set up. If you find the stock pads comfortable you may not need them but the stock pads are too thin for me causing discomfort.

 

[Nemo]

Try the ZMF Universe Lambskin pads with the Ether CX. These pads with the two-notch white filters are my favorite set up. If you find the stock pads comfortable you may not need them but the stock pads are too thin for me causing discomfort.

Thanks for the tip! I was using the black pad and was happy with that, but it is worth knowing
Lately I am applying Oratory EQ'ed to the stock pad and so far so good!

 

[Martin]

I almost feel sorry for mentioning that. Lol
You weren’t joking. When you see a body of water, you jump ..... and don’t stop till you reach the bottom.
Would love to chat tech-talk but unfortunately you’re dealing with severely incompetent luddite.

I jumped in the deep end. I was able to edit the convert.conf file to add equalization for both sets of headphones. To switch between them I need to comment out one, uncomment out the other and restart the LMS service on the NAS.

Listening to equalized headphones now.

Unfortunately SoX doesn’t do DSD files. The nice part is that now I can implement an REW EQ curve for my speakers.

Martin

 

[gorman]

I jumped in the deep end. I was able to edit the convert.conf file to add equalization for both sets of headphones. To switch between them I need to comment out one, uncomment out the other and restart the LMS service on the NAS.

Listening to equalized headphones now.

Unfortunately SoX doesn’t do DSD files. The nice part is that now I can implement an REW EQ curve for my speakers.

Martin

I was about to suggest contacting me via private message to explain how to do it. I had recently quite a bit of discussion going on Slimdevices forums, in order to understand how to do this. Don't know about your Raspberry Pi (I use a reasonably powerful Intel server to handle LMS) but if you could afford the memory footprint, you could run two or more instances of Squeezelite (with two or more different MAC addresses) and set up custom-convert.conf so as to use different equalization parameters for different headphones/speakers. That's what I do with Sox.

 

[goldark]

Current stable of headphones which up until recently have had many rotations:

1) HiFiMan Ananda - open back reference headphones used at my home desk setup; great all-arounder for all genres I listen to
2) JVC FDX1 - IEM used for mobile/travel; great technicalities while also being fun
3) AKG K371 - closedback headphone for the office. doesn't get much use since I've been working from home due to COVID, tuned very close to the Harman target
4) Philips X2 - fun, bassy, wide soundstage; open-back used in bed for late night movie/TV watching sometimes

 

[JSHamlet234]

Over Ear: Sony MDR-7506.
On Ear: Sony MDR-Q22LP
In Ear: Shure E2c

I still miss my Sony MDR-V900's. They held up for 20 years before I finally destroyed them. I found them to be better for general listening than the 7506's I have now.

 

[squiddyv2]

I'am a fairly young audiophile that started my audio journey way back when I was 12yo, I have been in this journey since 2013 and I find myself very lucky to have tried a fairly decent audio gear throughout my short experience with this hobby. Here are the few headphones that I had the opportunity to try.

IEMs :
1. Ocharaku Co-Donguri Shizuku & Brass. They were my first "audiophile" IEMs that I had the opportunity to try, these are really lovely sets of in ear and fell in love the first time I listened to them, this became my go to in ear when I am commuting to school, I somehow managed to own 4 pairs of these, I tried the balanced and unbalanced version, different housing materials and all. I absolutely recommend them if you are looking for highly detailed IEM under $100, especially the Brass version.

2. Campfire Audio Comet. These were my first pair of balanced armature in ear, I had limited time with these since I accidentally broke it when I tried to glue the housing back together after I smacked it into a wall and managed to split it open , I remember loving these pair because of the airy-ness of the high and the tightness of the bass, I wouldn't call them bass heavy or anything, in fact they were lacking in bass quantity and extension. I mainly use them with my A&norma sr25 when I'm out and about.


Over Ear & On Ear Headphones :

1. ATH M40x. I got these for free as a birthday gift, I remember having a blast with them, these were my first over ear, or should I say "on ear" headphones because I find that the ear cups is really small and don't cover my ear fully, now looking back and having tried them again after a few years, I find them really boring in term of sound, well I guess it's the true nature of a studio monitors, but still they have a special place in my heart.

2. SHP9500. These were my first open back headphones, I love these pair with my heart and soul, I love the amount of detail that it can display, I know that these can be harsh sometimes and may cause fatigue because of the bright nature of this headphone, and I find the bass on this are very lacking, I have to pair this with the IFI Zen Dac and had to turn on the Truebass if I want some sort of enjoyable bass on these. I am still deciding on what headphones to upgrade to next after these, and I am open to suggestions.

I had a few more IEMs, Headphones and a few loudspeakers throughout my journey, but I won't mention them because of a few reason, I had a limited time with them hence I can't really compare them to the others that I own or I find them uninteresting or similar to what I have mentioned.

After the recent events, I find myself staying at home more and spend less time outside, and I find myself starting to shift my interest from portable audio to home/desktop audio, I am still fairly new to this hobby and I need suggestions on what should I try next. Have a nice day and an excellent audio journey <3.

 

[Svperstar]

My Hifiman Arya are my new favorites had them a couple weeks.

Audeze LCD-2 vs Arya the LCD-2 has more slam but in every other way you can measure headphones the Arya just sound better. The 3D imaging isn't even in the same continent.

 

[Iglo]

Open: Sennheiser HD660s - a week old and first open-back headphones, very happy with the sound
Closed on-ear: Sennheiser HD-25 - have them for I guess, 16 years used for dj'ing and now for casual listening (if it ever dies on me will replace it immediately)
IEM: Sony XBA-H1 - not a huge fan of IEM but got them quite cheap years back. Sound can be quite good (depending on the source) but overall not super often used. Some tracks just seem to not go along with these IEM.
Noise-canceling: Bose QC 35 ii - Got them for the noise canceling (during normal times I work in an open-plan office), I do enjoy them for some background music and podcasts while working
Working out: JBL live 500bt (over-ear) and JBL BT sport IEM. Both used for working out (indoor rowing, weight lifting). Sound is heavy with loads of bass, good for motivation. They are also quite cheap so no hard feelings when they would stop working (as they are not build to be "workout" headphones)

 

[Tachyon88]

My Hifiman Arya are my new favorites had them a couple weeks.

Audeze LCD-2 vs Arya the LCD-2 has more slam but in every other way you can measure headphones the Arya just sound better. The 3D imaging isn't even in the same continent.

Do you have an example of a song that represents this 3d imaging ?

 

[Svperstar]

Do you have an example of a song that represents this 3d imaging ?

I'm listening FLAC.

 

[Rix403]

I only really wanted one headphone in the end. Not a collection.

Began with the Sennheiser 700, shifted to the Focal Elegia, then decided to use the JH Audio Layla IEM for a while since it did all music quite wonderfully. I wanted a headphone that was detailed and capable, but also forgiving.

After extensive testing I sold everything and went with the Focal Stellia.

The Focal Stellia with the M15 on high current mode is the only time I’ve experienced music feeling truly detached from the headphones, as if the music is simply around you. The bass extension of the pairing is something else and highlights sub bass abilities. It’s also the most realistic I’ve heard drums. But I also enjoy them straight off an iPhone or MacBook. I have not yet figured out the best amplifier to pair with the Stellia in a desktop setup.

 

[pluplog]

Added the HEDDphones recently - was a blind buy (didn't get to audition them) but so far I like them a lot. Weight is probably the biggest issue brought up by others but I have no issues with heavy tanks over my skull. These are some of the most "open" headphones I've had - I can hear everything around me with them on, so not the best things if you're in a noisy environment.

 

[Astrozombie]

Nobody try the Dt1770? I'm interested but also worried about their 250ohm.

 

[Jimbob54]

Nobody try the Dt1770? I'm interested but also worried about their 250ohm.

Why worried?

 

[solderdude]

Nobody try the Dt1770? I'm interested but also worried about their 250ohm.

I tried and still own and use the DT1770 but in a modified state.

 

[Astrozombie]

I tried and still own and use the DT1770 but in a modified state.

I have the DT770, how would you compare them? Are they much harder to drive?

 

[steve59]

Focal listen replaced my grado sr40