a headphones recommendation thread

PS: unless you have superhuman ear or are extremely picky about certain qualities and specification in sound, mostly every headphones in the range of $150 are awesome and more than what you need.

It's the emperor's new clothes. Think of them as bottles of whiskey. Any blend or single malt of 12 years will be good, almost noone tells the difference after that. I've fooled snobbish friends into drinking Chivas 12 and even red label and told them it's Chivas 18 or 21 by flling old bottles of 18/21 (I don't usually do this, it was a social experiment) They start saying "now this is a fine whiskey" and I'm silently laughing about it.

well I don't think many ilxors need convincing of that

this is however the first time I've come across a pair of in-ear headphones of such a quality for less than 100$

I love my Beyerdyamic DT 770s...however, I just had to send them back because the left driver went out....previously I'd sent a pair back to Amazon (in the first month) because the headband became detatched from an ear cup (this was in the Amazon return window)

to their credit they are repairing it for free (though I had to drop $20 on shipping)...but a little concerned their QC is slipping

that said, for office use, they are tremendous at blocking out noise (frankly work as good as any noise canceling ones i've heard), sound great and are extremely comfortable

That's really strange, DT 770 Pro? Those are built like a tank, I felt like I could run mine over with the car and they'd be fine. Now that there are many newer models out, like the DT 1770 Pro and 1990 Pro (open, which is what I have now), you can get such great deals on those, around $115 to 135. Definitely a great deal, and all parts are replaceable in the pro versions. The 250 ohm version is ideal with an amp, but can be used without one.

You definitely can get better headphones than ever for right at $200, especially when Massdrop offered the Sennheiser HD 6XX at that price. And currently Massdrop has the AKG K7XX also for $200. Both of those open headphones were flagships that sold for much more about a decade ago. I still use my K701 for movies in the living room when my S.O. goes to bed early. People are really into the Meze 99 Classic, and the 99 Neo, basically same headphone without the wood cups for $60 cheaper at $249 is shipping soon. I heard it at Axpona and it does compare really well against headphones twice it's price. It's closed and has iPhone controls/mic on cord like many portable-friendly headphones do.

So one can argue $200 as the diminishing returns drop-off. There's varying opinions in the hobby, but I would move that point to more like $700. Which is exactly what the MrSpeakers Aeon cost. I heard it at Axpona too, and was very impressed. It outperforms anything I'd heard in that range. My pre-order arrives soon.

I'm on board the KZ hype train. ATE, ATR and ZS3 are all really good. ATR is more mid focused and has a spherical soundstage, ZS3 has clean and massive bass along with crisp mids and highs. I use those the most. Detachable cable is also nice.

I've really loved my Sennheiser Momentum 2.0s (now called "HD1" apparently) for the last year. Closed, over-ear, really great balanced sound when wired and frankly about indistinguishable over a solid Bluetooth 4.0 AptX (non-iPhone) connection, very durable, light but solid, and to my taste a very attractive refinement of classic 60s aesthetics while being all-day comfortable.

https://en-us.sennheiser.com/img/9673/product_detail_x1_desktop_square_louped_HD_1_BT_AE_ivory-sq-01-sennheiser.jpg

https://en-us.sennheiser.com/hd1-wireless-headphones-with-mic

I paid more like $350 than the $500 list, but given they'l last me at least a decade (based on previous Sennheisers I've had), that seems reasonable. I used Etymotic ER4P in-ears for years, but started having issues with ear infections and have switched back to over-ears.

I've got a pair of on-ear wireless Senn's (450-x) and love them. Looking forward to their next gen BT5 models.

for on-ear I've got the Bose QuietComfort and while the sound is not remarkable (it's just fine) the noise cancelling is fantastic, esp since I mostly use them on the road

thx for the kz recommendation, niels - got a pair over the weekend to replace a pair of rha's which fell apart, and the kz's are fantastic value for money

the memory foam tips ended up nearly lodging in my ear canal when i first put them in, though, which was a bit alarming - replaced them with the rubber ones from my old rha's though and they work great

GRADOs >>>>>>>>> everything. Also, per the dork comment back there, if you get the RS1s or any of them that incorporate wood into the mix, your dorkiness becomes very artisanal with a side of avocado toast.

GRADOs >>>>>>>>> everything

otm i just wish there was one that I could wear for more than a couple hours comfortably

Yeah, it's weird after all these years Grado's still look and feel like they were made in a garage, with the possible exception of their $2,695 PS2000e.

There's 5 days left on the AKG K553 Pro drop, for $110. A great deal for those wanting a closed headphone. 11 days left on the Massdrop x Fostex T-X0 Planar for $150.

KZ ZS3 are so uncomfortable : /

i'm looking for a good pair of over-ear phones. i've been using the same pair of sennheiser hd280s for years but i'm not that crazy about em. they're sturdy as hell but not super comfortable, kind of heavy. i'm not nuts about how they sound, the mids and highs seem harsh to me.

I bought my Grado SR60 headphones back in 2007 and they're still going strong. They're dorky as hell but the sound is awesome. And "only" $79.00.

HiFiMAN marked down their HE400i Planar from $449 to $249. I'm guessing they're clearing stock to get ready for a new model.

Also the Sennheiser HD 6XX drop starts Monday. Last time it sold out in a few minutes, so they figured they might as well up the price to $249 (it's around $315 in general market).
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-sennheiser-hd6xx

Last 8 hrs of drop, priced dropped to $199.

I've been enjoying the used HifiMAN HE-6 I got a couple weeks ago, the best magnetic planar headphone I've had so far, including the Audeze LCD-2.2. Today a new collaboration with Massdrop was released, the HE4XX. At $170, a no-brainer, as nothing else in that price range comes close. Closest might be the Monoprice Monolith M1060 for $300, that's not as good.

The drop ends in a few hours for the AKG K7XX. At slightly more at $200, these very comfortable, one of the lightest former flagship open headphones at 235g (compare to HE-4XX's 370g, Focal Utopia's 490g, Abyss AB-1266's 620g), it's great for classical, jazz, acoustic and movies with a wide soundstage. I still use my white K701 that I got in 2006 in the living room for movies/TV.

*kicks rock* I fell for the Sennheiser HD 6XX drop

Buyers remorse? Is it because they don't ship 'til December? They're great headphones too -- I was tempted to do it, but don't really need 'em.

yeah I should probably plan for a good headphone amp before I get sad about not having planar magentic phones

er, any chance I could get away with using the headphone jack on this DAC I have sitting around?

oh yeah those Focusrites have nice DACs in them

I've been reading up on iems/earbuds lately because fucking apple earpods should not be a longterm device. The first thing I started googling is "iem soundstage". If I'm willing to drop $150 - $350 on dangles, they ought to at least simulate the headphone experience. Audeze iSine 10 came up in my searches but they are ugly for one thing.

From my searches: "IEMs are like closed headphones while earbuds are more like open headphones. If you want a big soundstage earbuds is the way to go (if it is okay for you to sacrifice sub bass, compared to IEMs)."

Currently I'm looking at the LZ-A4 hybrid.

I really don't like earbuds. I need my bass

Exactly. But from what I've read, earbuds have come a long way in the last few years. The hybrid I mentioned gets stellar reviews.

I still think the beyerdynamic dt770 and audiotechnica Ad700 are the best headphones you can get below $200.

And I still think people that buy headphones above $500 cant tell the difference.

if only I had their golden ears

ive never tried headphones above 500 so i cant say one way or another. would like to

As someone who has spent >$500 on a headphone and listened to headphones >$2k, it's a combination of sound quality, comfort and sound signature. >$1000 you're looking at extremely diminishing returns if not lateral changes in style and tone and there's a ton of products with very poor price performance ratios (MDR-Z1R, HD800S, LCD4, LCDX, Ether C Flow, etc). Clarity and detail is quite variable in headphones above $1k in my trials, and it's more about sound signature preferences, comfort, etc. An HD600 is like 90-95% of what you need for clarity, an HD800 will give you all of it for less than a grand. An LCD2 (which can be found new for $700) is to many a comparable if not better performer than the LCD3 (which is twice the price). Craziness. That said, there's some remarkable sounding gear out there above $500 and if you can't afford a good speaker setup or play music in your house loud, it's a worthy investment if music is more important to you than say television or movies.

The best way to find out is to actually trial some really nice cans. Bring your own and compare. For years I just used a DT-770 until I tried a bunch out in Japan while I was traveling and had a holy shit moment.

If you have a set budget it's perfectly acceptable to believe what you've got is as good as it gets!

For years I used the DT770 Pro and Denon AH-D2000 (which I still use at work) and they are great. It's not like there are crucial bits of range missing. Getting more into the hobby is definitely about gear geekery and appreciating the subtle differences in sound signatures, just like some get into wines or scotches, or musicians who collect different guitars. Not everyone is going to be able to tell the differences or care.

Super budget deal of the moment, the AKG K220 which lists for $160 will be as low as $50 on this Massdrop - https://www.massdrop.com/buy/akg-m220-semi-open-studio-headphones.

Any way to drive the HFM HE400 straight from an iPhone? Or is that missing the point?

The Massdrop HE-4XX is efficient and can be used on an iPhone. You can compare the sensitivity stats of the other versions.

I was searching around because I managed to grab my own rare pokemon of headphones a few years back but only have the short cable for them and having the long one would be nice.

My hopes of people forgetting about them and the price dropping down has again been foiled by an article in 2016
https://www.theverge.com/2016/3/27/11312378/sony-eggo-headphones-mdr-d33

damn it people, stop writing about eggos!

I'd never tried active noise-canceling headphones until recently, and the ones I picked up had terrible sound for a bunch of money, so I sent them back. If you're into good sounding headphones is active noise-cancellation a bad thing? does it end up distorting the sound? because that's how these ones went (they were bluetooth too so maybe that's part of the crappiness?)

I feel like studio cans that have really good sound isolation are just as good noise wise and sound so much better...

i haven't heard high end noise canceling ones by sony or bose though

i have a pair for the bus and they pretty much suck but were cheap (cowin) and i don't care if they get wrecked

active noise cancelling headphones do change the sound yeah. i own some nicer audio techinica ones but dont really care for them for music listening. great for movies on an airplane tho

yeah, different tools for different purposes

if all you care about is sound quality, you will get a lot more bang for your buck by skipping active noise cancellation

for work environments (incl conference/video calls) and travel, to me ANC is worth the price. I’ve field-tested the current Bose, Beats and Sony offerings. All are good, tho I was shocked to find I actually prefer the Beats.

Bose is the strongest noise cancellation, which some equate with best. For me it was almost obtrusive as white noise and a noticeable feeling of pressure. Great for air travel but otherwise a little much.

Sony is probably the overall winner for sound quality/comfort/noise cancellation. Touch controls felt a little fussy and I’m not the kind to open an app to fine tune my experience for every track.

Beats... sounds good, ANC is gentle but works well, W1 pairs brilliantly if you’re already inside the Apple garden, and are most comfortable for my ears/head.

Still figuring out which of the three sounds best on the other side of a call...

as bad luck would have it, i broke my only pair of headphones (Shure SRH440)last night. i superglued it back together, but i can tell the days are numbered...which i guess means i'm in the market for a budget-nice pair of headphones, in the $100-$200 range.

i guess i may be going back to the good ol' Sennheiser HD280PRO, which i enjoyed for years before breaking a few years ago.

Sony is probably the overall winner for sound quality/comfort/noise cancellation. Touch controls felt a little fussy and I’m not the kind to open an app to fine tune my experience for every track.

This is my experience with the MDR1000X. I like be them, perfect for an open plan hot desk environment. I’ve then although the headband has cracked after a year and it’s 200 bucks to fix.

My colleague has these and is raving about them. I might want these at some point. They came out of a startup accelerator I mentor at.

https://au.nuraphone.com/?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com.au%2F

my pioneer hdj-500s crapped out so i bought some phonon smb-02s

they get in tomorrow afternoon ... will report back soon

this is useful! I had bought the noise cancelling cans for my daughter, for whom the quality was still an update on her apple earbuds but to me not worth the 100+ €. we want the noise cancellation for her because our house can be noisy, so not for air travel. but then I was wondering if I'd like a pair like that. currently I'm happy with my sennheiser cx 3 earbuds (30 €) for on the run listening (at home I'm still in love with my grado sr-80s.

The Bose ones recently had a firmware update that lets you set the level of ANC. This is good for windy environments or for when you don't want to be so isolated.

thanks for that tip! still have bose and beats here duking it out...

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-sennheiser-hd-58x-jubilee-headphones

I use the Bose Quietcomforts for listening on the road and have become addicted to them - yes, the sound is distorted, but the noise-cancellation makes all the difference when you're listening in the metro, on a busy street, etc. Feel like it's a good way of protecting my ears too, since I don't need to crank it. Never going back to non-noise-cancellation hps.

I also have a few pairs of those chi-fi KZ-ATE in-ears, use them when I want something lighter. They're unmatched at the price.

Recently got a pair of Sony MDR-7605 for production use. They're crystal clear, quite comfortable, cable is practical, but they're unrealistically light in the sound - impossible to use them for EQing. A friend of mine recommended the Marshalls for this purpose, apparently they're realistically bassy/muffled.

those nuraphones look p interesting!