>Headphone purchase advice
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For sub-$50 headphones and IEMs, check out infographic in >Sup Forums wiki headphone FAQ:
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>want another pair of sennheiser hd-202's
>got mine a while back for $20
>now can't find them anywhere under $50
literally wtf
They got replaced
What's with the asian? What happened to the anime?
What's replacement model called?
HD 2.20, Sennheiser's jewing out and wants ~$65 USD
Thanks for the info
Take it as a sign to move up to the next price range: 50-100.
Continuing the discussion from last thread
Here's how i originally undertood neutrality and what went wrong:
Ok, the more neutral a headphone signature is, the less you hear of something in detriment of some other thing, makes sense, if it's neutral you will hear a bit of everything, also, that's how the musician/producer listened to it in the studio and intended for you to listen as well.
1º - problem: If that's how the musician/produced wanted you to hear, why is the music usually mastered in order to sound good on pretty much anything? That's part of the reason why the loudness war started, the idea was that you should be able to hear everything on anything (which doesn't mean necessarily that it in fact sounds good)
2º - Some times the musician is not even part of the equation, many big studios mix/master a song and later present it to the musician not on studio monitors, but rather of big-ass speakers that are not neutral, but rather are more forgiving and have quite an amount of sub-bass to make it sound a bit more impressive.
If that's not how you should listen to it, than why would they show it like that to the musicians themselves?
3º - Many times the headphones and even monitors used on studio are not neutral either, lots of us here on /hpg/ like 80's stuff, a good chunk of that was mixed by people listening to NS10 Yamaha monitors which are quite bright, in fact many of the old time engineers still carry their NS10 around instead of using modern monitors because that's what they are used to work with/listen to during production. (Not even going to mention MDR V6 and many other bright headphones from back then, you already got the idea).
Continues on next post:
Was too lazy to scavenge boorus sorry. And it's not like you didn't have time to make a new thread yourself.
4º - EQ, if it works like many claim (and for neutrality alone it makes some sense), than what's the point of going beyond certain headphones price points? It seems being neutral becomes hardly a significant selling point if you can simply make it more or less neutral later.
5º - FUCKING BURN-IN! We all read about it some time and we all know it's bulshit for headphones, what happens seems to that is A: your perception adjusts/gets used to the signature and B: the pads get worn which changes a bit of the sealing. Getting used to a signature is exactly what happened to the NS10 engineers, so what's even the point of EQing your headphones? Unless it's got an extreme signature with insane levels of Bass/mid/treble in detriment of everything else than chances are after a whille it will sound somewhat neutral to you anyway, hell, we keep seeing people going from headphone to headphone and saying "Yeah, this sounds veiled/bright compared to my other headphone" etc even if they are going to a headphone that's objectively more neutral, if you will end up perceing something as neutral anyway, what's the point of going for the more neutral option or even EQing your headphone in the first place?
After all that, am i the only one under the impression that neutrality is actually utopic?
Not arguing in favor or against anything, just dropping some thoughts to keep the conversation going. Go.
I'll reply tomorrow, about to fall asleep and cba to type long posts on mobile.
Can I eq my VE Monk Plus to sound like HD 600?
Good night, user.
Just a quick heads up:
Not really an answer, but these problems are well known and described. Try to search for the "circle of confusion" article from Sean Olive for example.
>4° what's the point of going beyond certain headphones price points?
Probably none, once you have something with a smooth enough response to work with, low distortion, and comfortable enough.
>5° what's the point of going for the more neutral option or even EQing your headphone in the first place?
So that your headphones do sound decent on most recordings. If the tone is too bright or too bassy, or if there are bumps in the frequency response, they're going to sound like shit on many records. You probably want a smooth, slightly laid back frequency response to get pleasant and still neutral enough sound.
>what's the point of going beyond certain headphones price points?
Premium materials, comfort, channel matching and other features (bluetooth for example).
>from Massdrop
Shipping from China would be quicker
Hey guys, a few links in the wiki are broken, can someone reupload the 200$ under headphones?
Does anyone have any experience with the sennheiser rs 165? They're currently 25% off. Do they work with PCs?
Knowing you're experiencing audio experiences that plebs with sub-4 digit headphones will never experience.
Thoughts on this? Preferably from somebody who's actually heard the damn thing.
like regret
>Budget
$50 +/- 30. I'm somewhat flexible, and this doesn't have to include mod materials.
>Location
USA.
>Source
Decent motherboard. Will consider recommendations.
>Type
Full sized, open or closed.
>Signature
Balanced/flat/neutral. Slight deviation is fine, and I'm open to proven modding that brings cans closer to good balance.
>Previous
Sony MDR V6, SoundMAGIC HP-150 (unmodded), various cheap ones, experience with many others from a friend.
>Musak
All over the place. From extreme metal, to classical, to video game/film/anime OSTs, to soundscapes, to gaming.
>Comfort
Some but not too much clamp force. Headband can't be too thin, and shouldn't put too much pressure into one area of my head.
Over the past few days I've been looking into a ton of options and I've personally narrowed down to Philips SHP-9500S (with replacement pads), Status Audio CB-1, or Takstar HI 2050 (or one of its clones/variants). Can't decide, open to other recommendations.
What are some better alternatives to the Fiio L16/17 cables? I bought a Headamp Pico Slim and need a cable to connect it to my phone.
SHP's may not need replacement pads, they are pretty comfy stock.
They can be overhyped, but they're good for the price.
Neutral sound with light bass and some graininess to the treble.
I would stay away from the Takstars, their mids were too recessed for me and the highs had some sibilance, which is sad because they were very comfy.
CB-1 are a good choice, XPT100 are another good closed option worth looking at, although neither of them would be an upgrade from the V6 or HP150.
I would also look into HD558's.
Just got Fostex THX00. Not bass cannons like i was led to believe. Coming from the LCD 2, the lcd's just do everything better than these cans. Yes i understand that the thx00's are less than half the price but i was misled by all the reviews. They are good headphones and i guess worth the $400 overhyped as shit.
*but they were* overhyped as shit
ebay.com
searching "10cm 3.5mm cable" usually brings up a bunch of them.
>budget
~$200
>location
U.S.
>source
desktop
>type of headphone
full-sized
>open or closed
open
>past headphones
Been using the Sennheiser dt880s for the last 5 years and not really sure what to get, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Are there any bluetooth headphones which have active noise cancelling as good as Bose QC 35?
>Sennheiser dt880s
Friendo..
How hard is it to swap out the cable in beyerdynamic headphones? I heard the DT 990 come with a spiral cable.
Mean beyerdynamic of course, not sure why I got that confused.
Just bought HD 598s on ebay. If they turn out to be fakes will Paypal/Ebay require me to ship them back?
You can't. You'd have to do a removable cable mod.
What do you like or dislike about the 880's?
You could try to find a used HD600 if you extended your budget.
Or you could get an AKG 612, although it would just be a sidegrade to the 880's.
Why are there headphones above $50 with non detachable cables?
Return them and buy the ZMF Eikon.
Literally had no problem with them, treated them like shit for 5 years and they still held up.
Thinking I should just buy the same thing again to be h.
I thought they were german headphones and not jewish ones.
Thanks for the detailed response user. Any chance you have experience with thicker ear pads modded onto SHP9500/S? I hear it helps with the bass and treble problems.
Are they broken?
If they're the pro version getting a new headband is easy, and new pads would be help.
No reason to buy an identical pair if nothing is wrong with your current set.
Then you could invest in a decent closed set to complement the 880's.
Yeah sound stopped coming out of one of the sides and I checked the wire but that didn't seem to be it.
Don't have the pro though, is that a problem if I'd want to replace the parts?
No, Bose is top of the line. Nothing really beats them right now
2 expensive 4 me right now
Shouldn't be, it's just easier with the pro versions.
And I do not, I find them comfy enough stock.
However, my ears slightly touch the insides which would be annoying for some.
Deeper pads would likely help, but I'm not sure how it'd affect the sound.
Well now you know what to work towards.
MDR1000X
What are the cheapest highest quality in ear phones? Budget less than £20.
Anything from KZ
Thanks again. I think I'll get them. Might as well see what the hype is all about.
I don't like any of the points.
>1.a
There is a central portion to the track that needs to be conveyed. This is what the grotboxes are for, representing a track on a system with poor performance.
>b - Loudness war
The usage of compression is inseparable from the tonality and timbre. The style of music and sounds used over the last few decades have changed dramatically. You may as well you don't like the sound of that new music.
>2
IME, the speakers to impress clients are just bigger monitors. There is some artistic role given to the person behind the console.
Implicit to your statement is that is there is a definite subjective target.
>3 - Grotboxes
A less affectionate term would be shitty midrange cannons. Midrange focus is what the NS10 and the Auratone Cubes were known for. You could twist this into an argument for listening to earbuds with little effort. They even have some similarities in sound signature.
The difference between studio setups tends to be enough that carrying a small, shitty speaker provides some measure of reference. The size proved to be one the major selling points.
Headphone use traditionally tended to not go further than basic recording. The idea that a headphone would be anything more than a listening accessory is a new one.
>4.a - EQ, if it works like many claim
At its core, EQ is multiplying some number by another number to get the number that you want.
Mathematically, the only thing you can't get rid of is multiplication by zero.
Physically, there are many other constraints involved. We glossed over the position dependent property of the function for one.
>b - what's the point
Hopefully, it would be more pleasant to use.
If you want to base your opinion on something physical, any one of the various physical constraints. EQ is only intended to address linear properties of the headphone anyway.
>Beyerdynamic)))
Senfer UE or rock zircons
How much should I spend on a sound card when I just want to enjoy games and music? I've seen them from 20 bucks to up to 200. Do they really make that much of a difference?
Internal soundcards aren't worth shit anymore.
Just grab something external like a Fulla 2 and be happy forever.
But that thing's a hundred bucks.
I need a pair of Bluetooth headphones for running and all of them have that isolation effect.
Does anyone make bluetooth headphones that allow ambient audio pass through?
Thanks for the non-anime op
It's worth it when you want nicer headphones that require more power than the PC can give and eliminates any hiss/static/noise your onboard would make, the external dac might even sound better than what the onboard comes with.
Different user, Could I use that with something like a Magni2?
>the external dac might even sound better than what the onboard comes with.
DACs is the same.
Didn't get a reply last thread, reposting
>Budget
$50-150
>Location
Burgerland
>Source
Phone, I own some portable amps
>Type of headphone
Ones that I can wear in public.
>Open or closed
Closed.
>Comfort level
I have one ear higher than the other, so comfort is a must.
>Sound signature
Solid mids. Bass is nice but I listen to a lot of music and mids are the easiest to balance.
>Past headphones
ATH A700
AKG K240
I was thinking ATH M50s but they're very bass heavy.
>I don't like any of the points.
Well, to be fair, more than half of what user was talking about is covered by the circle of confusion as acknowledged by Toole, you can have one end (the consumer's) to be neutral, but that doesn't guarantee that the production end will be, it's a problem yet to be solved and meanwhile people are still buying audiophile equipment without even knowing the intricacies of a working flat speaker.
Looking for a set of semi decent cans that will fold up and be easy to travel with
>Budget
less than $100
>Location
US of A
>Source
Laptop
>Type of headphone
Over ear
>Open or closed
Closed
>Comfort level
Must be comfy
I'm not a huge audiophile like some of you guys, I probably couldn't tell the difference between a decent and great set of headphones. As long as they sound decent and are travel friendly.
DT770 for V, CB-1 or XPT100 for neutral, Creative Aurvana Live for warm.
3d is disgusting
>DT770 for V, CB-1 or XPT100 for neutral
Neither the XPT-100 or 770 are neutral. The XPT-100 also sucks dogshit.
learn to read
Sorry. Either way, XPT-100 arent remotely neutral.
>Budget
=>50
>Location
usa
>Source
Cell phone, laptop
>Type of headphone
In ear or really anything I can use while ruining that will stay on
>Open or closed
>Comfort level
As comfy as possible
you must hate yourself
Just bought a Magni 2 Uber. I might have fallen for the "you need an amp" meme. I'll let you guys know in a few days
Perhaps some HD380 Pro.
Just remember to give it a few days of use before commenting :P
It's going to be odd at first, like every change ever.
HD600 vs HD650? I can get them both for very cheap now.
HD600 is generally considered better. Most reviewers who've used both do prefer HD600.
HD600 is also the more neutral headphone. HD650 is dark (lower treble) and bassy (stronger bass, particularly the subbass).
>HD600 is also the more neutral headphone. HD650 is dark (lower treble) and bassy (stronger bass, particularly the subbass).
I guess that's why HD650 seems to be the more popular choice with normalfags.
Just bought a pair of SE215-CL IEMs, how'd I do?
I have a Bang and Olufsen H6. Should I buy an amp for it?
Was on last thread but it died on me
>Past headphones
HD800
>felt like there was something missing the entire time, were good but felt like upgraded Momentum 2's in performance, feel like plastic
Audeze LCD-2
>terribad build quality, felt like they would break, heavily bassy and aren't worth the money compared to headphones in the same price range
Beyerdynamic T5-p (2nd gen)
>the only closed back I currently own and the only one I'll actually use as well, nice build with great neutral sound and little leakage
Was looking at LCD-Xs and HE-560s and wanted to get an opinion around which one is more worth. Looking for something a bit more vibrant.
>inb4 le HD600 eq'd to sound like Orpheus on steroids meme
Interesting how subjective it all is... i love my lcd 2 to bits.
Went from an HD800S to HD650 and haven't looked back
>le HD600 eq'd to sound like Orpheus on steroids meme
I'm planning to buy a HD600 or HD650 and eq the hell out of it to see for myself if the meme is real or not.
I have a fulla 2 (DAC/Amp combo).
Would it be stupid to plug my speakers into the Amp section? Should I just use the DAC only?
The speakers are loud enough on their own (just cheap JBL speakers) would they even benefit from an Amp?
>Budget
$1500~
>Location
Australia
>Source
Schiit Smear
>Type of headphone
Over-Ear
>Open or closed
Open
>Comfort level
High, will be wearing for 8+ hours a day
>Sound signature
Neutral to Warm/Dark. Last thing I want is to be killed with highs
>Past headphones
HD650
philips x2
If they are active speakers than they already have an Amp, if not that means that something is powering them, in both cases you'd be adding yet another link to an already working chain.
Best case scenario nothing happens, worts case something burns.
0$.
I think you should use the unamped DAC out
You won't be able to assess that by giving them a listen.
If you object to the idea of just equalizing what you have, HE-560 is the better choice as LCD-X is more or less the same Audeze sound and build. I'd still recommend you to think for a while of what exactly do you think the headphones you have/had lack. Doesn't sound like you have a clue and if you are fine with upgrading because of there's "something missing", you could just roll a dice. Vibrance isn't descriptive.
Oldfag here. What is the consensus on headphone amps? Is this the right thread to look for help choosing one if budget is in mind? Do I just start my own?
I haven't even started shopping but I hope to get something under $200 AUD that will be honest. I'm tired of using my onboard soundcard but I did choose a Mboard with optical for this eventuality.
I'm currently 'stuck' with an old set of sony mdr's from waaay back that are still faithful but will be upgrading regardless.
I understand anything at all will be an upgrade, but as it is a bit of a niche market I want to make sure I don't end up screwed on my first effort. I love my music, but only get a few hours a week at best to enjoy it until recently. I've worked in the speaker building industry and understand acoustically what's going on, but digitally I'm at a loss. What to buy?
Anyone?
Headphones DAC/Amps are literal meme snake oil unless you happen to have
>an audibly noisy source
or
>a source incapable of driving your headphones at acceptable (for you obviously) loudness
Or both.
Nowadays it's rather uncommon to find either of these problems, especially the first one. The second problem however might present itself if you buy a high-impedence pair of headphones; just buy anything with an impedence of 60 Ohm or less and even your smartphone will be able to drive them loud enough.
Those same money produce better results if you invest them directly in a better pair of cans.
Go read up on impedance. You don't seem to understand the basics.
Care to explain us the basics or you're an "educate yourself" tumblrina?
Try the Audeze LCD X
Wait so more accurately recreating lossy formats produces better audio? How? That DOES sound like snake oil, but kinda the opposite of what I'm asking for.
Also bear with me, an idiot who doesn't properly follow audiophilia any more. The $1.50 IC on a cheap mainboard or generic media player is as good as it gets for amplification? I have a hard time believing headroom is now limitless, or that you can properly recreate a lossless source at high current with an ipod (or similarly battery powered device)