The Official Headphone Thread 2.5: We're Making WAVs and Catching FLAC

Dynamite Ringo Matsuri said:
Don't. I have a friend who builds amps. He told me that he honestly can't tell the difference between a 20X driven by the stock SRM 252 and a fuckin KGSSHV. It's just a total waste of money. Pretty much everything Stax has ridiculous diminishing returns.
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Thanks! I'm very happy with what I have and will stop chasing up the ladder.
 
Hi!

Got my Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphones yesterday.
They're connected to a fairly old Pioneer VSX-D814 (specs) amp.
PC is connected to it via TOSLINK and so is the TV's Audio Out (TOSLINK, also) which passes through audio from consoles connected to the TV via HDMI.

Question is simple, is this Pioneer still good enough to handle M50x or do I need to invest in something better?
Sorry for a stupid question but this is my first foray into high end audio and I want to be sure that I'm getting the best possible sound of the M50x. :/
 
I decided i'd go for the Bette hybrids as the price point is fantastic compared to the other recommendations earlier, and they're available with remote which is something i've missed with my previous tenore.

But i do have a question though. There's two available. One with 8mm driver and one with a 10mm driver. What could the difference be besides the size of the driver? In regards to sound?
@HiResDes, when you added these to your list of recommendations, were you talking about the 8mm or the 10mm model?
Just making sure i'm ordering the pair that would best suit me (or the ones considered better than the other).
 
Earbuds that I've had for a long time died and I picked up the "new" version of what I had only to realize that they sounded way worse. As ordering cheap earbuds that are discontinued would be more expensive then just buying a new good pair, I went with Yuin PK3 in the OP. Hoping these will more than do the trick.
 
Old Cowon J3 just broke, looking for a decent DAP to replace it, preferably under $300.

Currently looking at Fiio's x1, x3, and x5, but am clueless beyond that.
 
Shopping Mission accomplished in Wan Chai.

Bought Spin Fits, large Comply's and a Fiio X1.

Found spiral dots but not in my size. Can't upload pics to imgur for some reason otherwise I would post

Edit: there we go, imgur started to behave.

Wow the X1 sounds damn good. Love it already and haven't tried switching tips.

HssYbiwl.jpg
 
Antiwhippy said:
How do they compared to your dragonfly?
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I've not compared them side by side yet. but will be doing so and let you know. I did compare the Fiio X1 to X3 in store, and was surprised that the X3 wasn't much louder than the X1. Both drove the rockets to comfortable volume at around 50%, compared to the iphone which needed 80-90%.

I suspect both the dragonfly and Fiio will sound about the same, and both miles ahead of the iphone.

Spiral Dots are supposed to be in stock at HMV which is down the road, so will head there tonight and see what I can find.

Edit: I've just seen the Fiio Q1 is available, which looks interesting. Battery powered, so hoping it would be a cheaper alternative to the Oppo HA-2 or Sony PHA-1A. I didn't see any in HK, but will check in Taiwan next week. - Is it really $65 on Amazon.com?
 
Yeah, I didn't think that there will be huge differences between the X1 and X3. The ability to turn into a desktop dac/amp was worth the price bump to me though.
 
andylsun said:
I've not compared them side by side yet. but will be doing so and let you know. I did compare the Fiio X1 to X3 in store, and was surprised that the X3 wasn't much louder than the X1. Both drove the rockets to comfortable volume at around 50%, compared to the iphone which needed 80-90%.

Spiral Dots are supposed to be in stock at HMV which is down the road, so will head there tonight and see what I can find.
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Spiral Dots are totally bunk and a complete waste of money, as they sound exactly the same as any other wide bore tip. Never got the hype on those but hey, head-fi and all that jazz :l

http://clarityfidelity.blogspot.com/2015/07/effect-of-jvc-spiral-dot.html

Also never had to push my iPhone 6 further than 50% to get really loud volume out of the Rockets, not sure what's going on there.
 
The Rockets can get ridiculously loud to the point that you will shriek in horror if you accidentally have them close to max out of a Sansa Zip Clip.
 
Dynamite Ringo Matsuri said:
Spiral Dots are totally bunk and a complete waste of money, as they sound exactly the same as any other wide bore tip. Never got the hype on those but hey, head-fi and all that jazz :l

http://clarityfidelity.blogspot.com/2015/07/effect-of-jvc-spiral-dot.html

Also never had to push my iPhone 6 further than 50% to get really loud volume out of the Rockets, not sure what's going on there.
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My wife is getting a 6s so will compare the volume out of that to my 5. I'm usually 3 clicks away from max with my rockets. I don't listen that loud either. Weird. The music I listen to isn't that brickwalled and has quite high dynamic range so perhaps that's it.

It may be the spiral dots are all hype but for the price I might as well. I've never tried anything but the stock tips which are pretty good and if all the other tips are no better then I'll know for the future.

Edit: that's a neat website, I like the measurements of the Cathy Pacific airplane headphones. Nice to see what really cheap poor headphones can look like from an FR perspective.
 
andylsun said:
My wife is getting a 6s so will compare the volume out of that to my 5. I'm usually 3 clicks away from max with my rockets. I don't listen that loud either. Weird. The music I listen to isn't that brickwalled and has quite high dynamic range so perhaps that's it.

It may be the spiral dots are all hype but for the price I might as well. I've never tried anything but the stock tips which are pretty good and if all the other tips are no better then I'll know for the future.

Edit: that's a neat website, I like the measurements of the Cathy Pacific airplane headphones. Nice to see what really cheap poor headphones can look like from an FR perspective.
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That could be it, although I do think the 6 has more grunt to it than the 5. It's been awhile since I've heard a 5 though.

If you can get a set of Spiral Dots for cheap then why not I guess. I just feel bad for all those people who got suckered into shelling out like $10 for a single set of tips cause some morons bought into the idiotic marketing spiel that the tiny little no nothing dots on the inside transformed the sound or some shit :l

Yeah, it's a good site. Basically like Rin Choi's site without the commentary I guess.
 
Well, first issue with the Fiio X1 and the rockets. The headphone socket is about 1mm too shallow and the rockets connector doesn't seat the whole way. It pops out of the headphone jack really easily if you put it in a pocket and walk around.

I think I remember hearing about the issue in this thread. Will bear with it for now (listening on a plane) and get the micrometer and dremel out when I get home

Edit: looks like it was the E10 that had headphone issues not the X1

j6qLVFnl.jpg
 
Hello everyone,

My dad is looking to purchase noise-cancelling earbuds/IEMs. He previously had some Bose QuietComfort 20 and liked them. I checked the OP but it seems like only budget earbuds are mentioned. What would you recommend? What model would have the best price/performance ratio?

He will be using them to listen to music on his iPhone during plane flights or for outdoor activities.
 
Does anyone have any experience with the Turtle Beach i30?

I'm looking for some closed over-ear headphones in the 150$ range, but I can be persuaded to go a bit further if it's worth it. I know the ATH M50X is at the top of everyone's mind, and that's what I'm considering, but I do remember some Sennheisers in the same price range last time I checked. My main headphones are DT880 and T1, so I'm used to high fidelity. I need a pair of closed headphones due to living with my SO. I have contemplated noise canceling ones, and I could be persuaded to pay more for some that have excellent noise canceling.

Now, I've heard from a co-worker that the i30 has the best noise canceling he's ever experienced. He says he can wear them while doing dishes, and barely hear the water running. I'm extremely paranoid about wireless headphones, though, as I hate the idea of an amp having to be integrated in the headphones. I can't find any direct comparison between the i30 and the Bose series. I would need some good persuasion to consider the Bose, though.

EDIT: Basically never mind about the noise canceling. Clue me in if you have some experience with this.

TL;DR: On-ear Over-ear, closed headphones at around $150-200?
 
Do you really need noise cancellation? I don't think they're needed if you're using it at home, and especially not if you're wearing them around other people. Do you still want to interact with them?
 
The part about noise canceling is in part for my SO, as well. She's a student, and sometimes resorts to ear-plugs to have it be quiet. It's a stray thought, so I figured I'd like to check in on the current quality of it. Last time I checked it out, noise canceling only killed droning and static noise, not varying noise.

But, yeah, I don't really care about it.
 
It doesn't kill off varying noises as much as it does with background noise, but it still does quite a bit from my experience. That's without music playing too. With music playing it is actually a little terrifying how much outside sound, including varying noises, is just blocked off.

Great if you only wear it on public transport, kind of scary if you're walking about generally. I'm kind of weary about my surroundings too when I'm wearing iems.

But yeah, at your price range I'd look into the ath m50, shure sr440 or soundmagic hp100. Also if you're cool with massdrop they're doing another drop of the akg k553 for $120. Which is a killer price for that headphone. Not for bassheads though or people who want a warm sound.

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/akg-k553-pro-studio-headphone
 
That would be a killer price for the k553, but I'm sadly not in the US. But looking into international shipping there, now. Checking out the others you mentioned. Thanks for the input!
 
After many years of soldiering along, my ATH-A700 closed backs finally bid me farewell as the joint holding the left cup in place cracked and crumbled. Budget was pretty tight, but I managed to convince my family to go along with some Fidelio X1s to replace them since Amazon was having a fire sale to clear stock for $188.

Having spent a week with them... I'm really underwhelmed. It's a huge step back in almost every department from my previous pair, from comfort to sound quality. The cups place a ton of pressure on my head, which makes them extremely fatiguing to wear. I wouldn't mind this so much if the sound was up to snuff, but it lacks clarity on instruments with a disappointingly small soundstage. Some of my favorite little details in songs I could hear cleanly with my ATH-A700s are now so buried with the X1s that I have to strain myself to hear them if they can even be heard at all. Once a song becomes even remotely busy, the drivers give up entirely on stereo width and focus themselves into a muddy mess.

I'm not sure where to go from here, since most of the other options that were competitive with these were $100 more than what I can pay for. It just feels weird to finally get these in my hands only to find out they're nothing like what reviews and opinions led me to believe. Nice bass, but far too lacking in clarity for me to be happy with them.
 
CheesecakeRecipe said:
After many years of soldiering along, my ATH-A700 closed backs finally bid me farewell as the joint holding the left cup in place cracked and crumbled. Budget was pretty tight, but I managed to convince my family to go along with some Fidelio X1s to replace them since Amazon was having a fire sale to clear stock for $188.

Having spent a week with them... I'm really underwhelmed. It's a huge step back in almost every department from my previous pair, from comfort to sound quality. The cups place a ton of pressure on my head, which makes them extremely fatiguing to wear. I wouldn't mind this so much if the sound was up to snuff, but it lacks clarity on instruments with a disappointingly small soundstage. Some of my favorite little details in songs I could hear cleanly with my ATH-A700s are now so buried with the X1s that I have to strain myself to hear them if they can even be heard at all. Once a song becomes even remotely busy, the drivers give up entirely on stereo width and focus themselves into a muddy mess.

I'm not sure where to go from here, since most of the other options that were competitive with these were $100 more than what I can pay for. It just feels weird to finally get these in my hands only to find out they're nothing like what reviews and opinions led me to believe. Nice bass, but far too lacking in clarity for me to be happy with them.
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You just picked a headphone with a completely different sound signature that wasn't suited to your tastes and didn't do enough research is what it sounds like to me. They're plenty of open sounding detail monsters like the A700s in that price range including the AKG K612Pro/Q701/, Beyerdynamic DT880, Fostex T50 MK3, and AKG K553.
 
HiResDes said:
You just picked a headphone with a completely different sound signature that wasn't suited to your tastes and didn't do enough research is what it sounds like to me. They're plenty of open sounding detail monsters like the A700s in that price range including the AKG K701/Q701/701Pro, Beyerdynamic DT880, Fostex T50 MK3, and AKG K553.
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I wouldn't say "didn't do enough research" as I'd been picking through phones for a while until I could afford an upgrade. I was just sort of forced into making a choice pretty quickly here, and having recalled almost every review constantly going on about the excellent soundstage and clarity while still being a warm and "fun" phone, that led me to believe these would offer similar performance. They are fun phones for sure, and perform well enough on electronic tunes or sparse classical pieces, but anything busier than those ends up less than satisfactory to me. But a good chunk of my disappointment was in expectations. I live too far out from any audio specialty stores to manage doing in-person auditions, so I have to rely on written reviews.

I had looked into the AKGs as well, almost going with the Q701, but I'd heard AKG had changed the production of that line which made them less stellar. I'd also heard they were pretty demanding for amplification compared to some of the lower rung options (X1, HD 598) which would put them out for me as I'm currently ampless.
 
Hmm in terms of low impedance stuff in the range I don't think you'll find anything even close to the AD700's imaging, though there are some headphones that sport about the same level of detail like the Philips SHP9500.


I'd recommend investing in an amp and grabbing a pair of used DT880 or AKG K126Pro. Even something relatively cheap and portable like the Schiit Fulla will help tremendously.
 
What's happening is that you bought a headphone with a recessed region between 1-6khz or around there. Which is 100% the reason that I don't give a shit about user reviews until there are measurements so I can correlate people's impressions with the more objective facts.
 
The midrange of the X-1 really ain't bad at all, but it's definitely not detailed in any fashion especially in the upper mids/treble spots
 
No I pretty much stay in my price range until I have enough money...I don't like to audition things I can't afford in the near future, since frugality is such a big concern right now.
 
Ah I see, fair enough man.

I don't know when but I'm close to pulling the trigger on either the T1.2 or the T5p (but whilst I favour closed cans, I have a feeling there will be a T5p version 2 with improvements akin to the T1.2).
 
Screw it, going to pull the string on the T1.2 next month and probably the A20 amp BUT @HiResDes, what are the most ideal tube amps (warmth warmth warmth) that would potentially pair well with the 600ohm T1.2?
 
So I've had the Havi B3 for a while now. My review is that it's the last power hungry, hard to drive IEM I'll ever buy. Great sounding IEM, if you can drive it. Not even my FiiO E10K is enough, unless I also use the E11 along with it. Properly driven they have absolutely beautiful sound, but then my brain clicks on, and finds it silly that I'm dedicating so much juice to a freaking IEM.

The SQ is very impressive, but I find myself annoyed that my phone and laptop can't even get it to what I'd consider "almost loud", and since I'm using IEMs outside of the house more and more often, the idea of bringing an amp along just doesn't fly with me.

So don't buy them unless you're really about dat life. They just don't mesh with my lifestyle. They don't really even beat the much easier to drive Ostry KC06, which I reach for every day, in any area other than soundstage.

tl:dr - buy a KC06, (or KC06A if you want more bass)

I actually have a KC06A arriving tomorrow, for comparison's sake
 
I've had my Sennheiser HD 558's for about half a year now, and I really like them. The trebles are piercing, but the bass is a little low end. Bass works fine for music, but for films it lacks punch. Well, I got my initial advice from reading this thread, so I wanted to ask what gaming microphone I should get for them. I just want a good mic. I looked up the antlion, and I read a bunch of weird stuff about whether they work with the 558 or not, so if anyone could, please, I'd like a definitive answer as well as any other (cheaper, or better quality) recs.
 
Jet Jaguar said:
Screw it, going to pull the string on the T1.2 next month and probably the A20 amp BUT @HiResDes, what are the most ideal tube amps (warmth warmth warmth) that would potentially pair well with the 600ohm T1.2?
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You've been reading hifiguy's "reviews" haven't you? The guy whose basically a paid reviewer who shills for whatever product he can get given.

The A20 isn't a particularly good headphone amp because it's so damn expensive. It probably pairs decently with Beyerdynamic headphones not because it's actually good but rather because it has an output impedance of over 100 ohms. Refer to impedance graphs for Beyerdynamic headphones - higher output impedance results in the bass being boosted so they sound more balanced + fuller out of it.

Same goes for a lot of tube amps. They sound warmer a lot of the time because they have high output impedance, which results in a bass boost with a good number of dynamics, mostly those from German manufacturers. There are other supposed benefits of tube amps but that varies from tube amp to tube amp.

Like the 1:8 damping factor ratio is a sort of industry standard for loudspeaker so amplifiers wouldn't mess with loudspeaker passive crossovers. But there aren't any real standards for headphones so some headphones I suspect are meant to be used with higher impedance outputs.

tl;dr you can probably get the same result if you used a bunch of resistors to increase the output impedance with a decent solid state amp like the Schiit Magni.
 
If you wanna go tube I like the Little Dot series, the III has enough output power for the T1, a hybrid might be a better choice though like the Valli 2 or Lyr 2 would be good choices. But hell the new Geek Out might even power them adequately if you want something more portable.
 
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