GloriousLettuce
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2015
- Posts
- 283
- Likes
- 74
Introduction
This post is a not-so-brief story or a ramble about my journey in the headphone world, and a comparison of everything I tried so far. I've been lingering on the forum for opinions and recommendations and it's time to bring something back to the community.
This being an overall headphone experience post I won’t be doing any standard reviews covering comfort, frequency charts, unboxing, this will be a chronologically ordered story about my experiences with various headphones, how these products affected my perception of audio and what I was after, so I will only refer to the sound quality of the devices as nothing else much matters to me, except when there are important notices.
What I aimed for:
Music I listen to primarily: Prog metal and other subgenres of metal, trance, downtempo electronica, dubstep, emo, modern rock, post-rock, and some pop - but overly picky with artists in any of the genres.
Favorite artists:
Rick Astley (the man deserves to be on top, in any way
Tesseract, George Michael, Circa Survive, Skyharbor, Grimes, White Moth Black Butterfly, Bjork, Disperse, Rusted Root, Kate Bush, Katatonia, Devin Townsend, Sevendust, From First To Last, Skrillex, Enya, Notorious B.I.G. and more on: http://www.last.fm/user/ivanonymous (not frequently updated as most of my listening is on my portable setup)
WHY headphones?
I'm one of those "not an audiophile but I love my music" guys, however cheap audio has music lovers always wanting more and people see me as the "headphone guy" anyways. There is this agitating feeling when you like a song but the experience sucks cause you just don't hear it well, and you're left wondering how better it could really sound.
I remember my teen years carrying huge portable CD players or walkmans in my pocket, somehow surviving on 1.5V batteries on terrible earphones - one of those "HIFI SOUND" 5$ earphones. A lot of us have been there - if only Koss budget headphones were in small town electronic stores where most kids do actually buy their headphones.
There was this wild metal song by It Dies Today that I just wanted to hear what the guitars played more clearly (the riffs were complex and with high overdrive). Moments like this always made me wonder how good can these songs sound? As I was always on the move and was never fascinated by speakers (who knows what might come later), I was interested in better headphones, so here was my first great choice:
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Sennheiser CX 300-II - Meh, not even for the price
These were great choice back then, but looking back and comparing with E10 they were quite unimpressive I can say. An obvious V shaped earphone that doesn’t provide anything special in terms of fidelity or soundstage.
Later on I got these instead:
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Sennheiser HD419 - Here kitty kitty! A good entry level headphone, but there is better for the price.
I found these for 10$ on eBay, no joke. They’re usually about 70€ locally so this was a steal. Unfortunately shipping was another 10$ but it was worth it. But hey 20$. xD
It was a long time ago so I can’t fully recall the sound signature but I would say they were slightly V shaped, yet polite sounding. The bass and the treble were a bit emphasized, but they had an overall nice neutral sound to them.
Listening to my favorite music was really nice, as I got a taste of how things can improve when you have something better than electronic cheapstuff, and Sennheiser had me convinced they make really good headphones.
Unfortunately I was using Sony Z1 smartphone at the time which had a firmware EU hearing protection setting which prevented the phone to produce enough juice for the headphones, I figured I had to buy a portable MP3 player of a nice quality, so I got..
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Sony NWZ-B163F - Had fun with it, but overall meh
The player had a substantial volume for my HD419, and had me going for a good deal of time, although I had to play with the EQ a bit to get the right sound for best performance.
Not much to say about it, it has a very basic sound - the same type of sound quality you get from an average PC headphone output jack, with an emphasis on treble.
After a while I wanted more, so I was looking for an upgrade. I made a mistake by buying...
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ATH PRO500MK2 - Great (slightly scooped) balance and clarity, but no soundstage - a dealbreaker for me
Although they had great clarity, there is not much to say about these DJ-style headphones in my opinion. If you want just regular toss around cans for any genre, but you like that more narrow, confined presentation (even for a closed can) these are it.
The sound presentation reminds of the M50 that I once tried but more balanced and rich sounding - the treble is sparkly, the bass is rich but not overwhelming, and the mids are nicely presented and just slightly scooped out.
Otherwise these don't offer anything special for me, and their soundstage is close to zero, and they were damn uncomfortable pressing on the ears. Being a soundstage nut I've quickly sold them for…
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SoundMAGIC E10 - You’re finally not getting ripped off… These are fabulous
I was browsing the local used stuff ads, and found these described as award winning, and googling them I thought I could give it a try.
I remember my first track on them was by Sevendust - Terminator song and I could so easily discern the placement of each percussive element in that song in the intro, and adding more instruments on top of one another I still had perfect clarity even on the cheap Sony mp3 player, I was blown away by the quality.
After a while I sold my audio player and both the Sony Z1 smartphone as I recalled the iPhone 4S simply having better audio quality and output loudness, despite how flagship the Z1 was overall. That phone was a facepalm purchase, as if I cared about 6 inch screens or something, meh. I wanted the best audio quality and threw money at it.
The E10 + iPhone 4S was just a great combination. I recall listening to Tesseract and thinking: is this my endgame? Of course it wasn’t but it was very a enjoyable experience I could have been happy with if I haven’t wondered...
The sound signature of the E10 is: prominent bass, slightly reduced mids, sparkly treble and a wide (for this price range) soundstage with imaging / instrument placement with very good clarity.
Even though they are not as clear as E80 or my current over ear headphones, and a bit more confined, the sound signature was just forgiving for most recordings. Like I said, SoundMAGIC do these frequency tricks with bringing details forward regardless of the track quality and that made them very enjoyable headphones for a long period of time, I could say 2 years for sure.
Eventually I got myself an iPod 5.5 and got rid of smartphones for good, got myself some old Nokia phone just to have sms + calls and it was worth it. iPod 5.5 is truly a jewel, with a very fun mid-centric sound signature with better clarity than any smartphone I’ve tried (including HTC One M8).
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Sennheiser HD598 - Perfect relaxation/sleeping headphones - bass/rattling issues!
Basically the whole Internet was raving about the HD598 as being the best balanced + huge soundstage perfect headphones in the entry/mid-fi range. There are even threads like “HD598 are the best headphones in the world” or something like that.
Had me convinced and I purchased used ones, and my impression was the following: THESE ARE JUNK. They’re so fatiguing, muddy, unclear, they must be broken! I kept surfing the web, posting on forums if they’re supposed to sound this way. As I started listening to them more and more, looking for songs on which they sounded great (Dido, Grimes, Rudimental) I realized it came down to my expectations of how things should sound being wrong, and I needed a bit of getting used to. I was primarily influenced by listening to edgy headphones in general - they were all V shaped and HD598 was the first mid-centric headphone which is also not tuned for clarity that much, but for its lushness and “romantic” sound, so the transition was a weird experience and a disappointment at first.
Also some of my favorite songs were poorly produced, and they sound plain bad on any of my headphones at the moment (but E10 fun signature makes everything edgy/sound cooler which had me tricked), but having tried HD598 as my first mid-fi category headphones I thought they sucked. The better your vision is, the easier you see that the painting sucks. Plus I was more into metal back then and metal is hard to get right on any headphone due to all that distortion and bunch of rich and full instruments (especially symphonic metal).
My description of the sound is : very detailed, but not clear. Meaning there are no flaws or distortions, and all the details are there and finely separated to be heard, but the treble frequencies that shape up the tone are subdued and it takes getting used to them to understand the clarity from the songs.
Per my understanding the tuning is moderate in every regard, even bass although bass hunters would disagree. I think that the bass is substantial if not more than that (K702 fan here).
The mids are great and moderate, slightly forward. Vocals, synths, and orchestras work really great with these headphones.
The treble sounds a bit subdued, like a mix between reality and dream-like state. The subtle sounds like leaves dragging along the road are presented perfectly, but the sparkly frequencies aren’t really there - as if all the offending frequencies are subdued and with this clarity slightly reduced. I guess this is the Sennheiser “veil” everyone is talking about, but I don’t feel that something is really being taken away.
The soundstage is very well done, and wider than average. I have an idea of a “complete” soundstage that I hold K702 has. Let’s call it 100%. HD598 here is 70% and HD600 is 40% in size. Fidelio X2 is about 50%. The way it is presented is very “constructed”, as if they didn’t only plan to make spacious sounding headphones and leave the rest to the audio tracks, but literally constructed the type of spacing and experience the headphones will provide for most tracks. It feels as if you’re in a “HD598 room” where everything sounds HD598-like and in it’s size and shape.
I sold them and regretted it, then a year later on I got the SE edition. They are truly a wonderful and a unique experience. It’s why I missed them and I would regret ever having to sell them.
Driver excursion issue:
These headphones have a strange to rattle / get muddy with bass heavy or instrument-rich heavy music, it’s as if they can’t handle loud music for some reason. This mostly applied to genres such as symphonic metal, deep bass electronica music and such.
If you only listen to acoustic music, jazz, and classical, these are literally heaven and I can tell why many people claim these to be the best headphones ever made. But for more complex genres and loud music, they have a tendency to sound “broken” at times. This is not just my experience and was frequently described as issues with “driver excursion” - look up “hd598 rattling” or “hd598 bass distortion” via search engines.
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SoundMAGIC HP150 - Excitement yet resolving! Just MADE for metal and modern music, yet fully capable for more classic stuff, superb imaging.
Being disappointed initially with the HD598, I sold them and was surprised to see SoundMAGIC have full-size headphones of their own and reading the reviews I felt a “finally!” moment I hold to this day, as they are one of my absolute favorites, especially for metal music.
The unboxing was simply a thrill, as you get a great box with them and everything about them screams quality and awesomeness.
The same SoundMAGIC sound is present here - sparkly highs with rich bass, yet mids are intact and detailed. Nothing is ruined, while everything is emphasized, but not overly so.
These do something that all other headphones in the list don't. These will draw in the detail from almost any recording. The treble is emphasized to the point, carefully avoiding any peaks in the frequencies that usually offend the ear (these are not facts, I'm not an audio engineer, that's just how I hear it) and most songs that would normally sound a bit "muddy" and "unclear" are "corrected", as if you have turned on a bit of "Dolby" surround processing separating a sharpening blurry tracks but not to the point that it sounds digital or unrealistic.
The soundstage very wide for a closed headphone, and the imaging is just fabulous. They are comparable with HD600 in the terms of soundstage, taking away Sennheiser’s naturalness being open back headphones with actual sound coming out.
They don’t sound very natural, it’s why classical music isn’t a very good match. But almost everything else I tried they do great. They’re mostly used outdoors and in the office. I use my open backs at home.
Best artists: Tesseract, Skyharbor, Katatonia, Skrillex, Kalya Scintilla, Grimes, Notorious B.I.G.
Build quality note: Although the cable feels very robust, it just fell apart from inside out after a year - Hifiheadphones.co.uk are distributing SoundMAGIC stock cable replacements.
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SoundMAGIC E80 - Worthy upgrade to the SoundMAGIC E10
Although being very similar to the initial SoundMAGIC E10, these did feel like a notable upgrade - the sound was much more refined, the mids were much more realistic and tangible, while retaining the same fun sound the E10-s had.
Clarity is better, so is the soundstage overall. There is not much to say, these are very good all-around headphones and very good for the price.
*If you want a microphone version, choose E80C instead of E80S. The switch on the E80S breaks very easily, and then the headphone won’t work on many devices.
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Sennheiser HD600 - Engagement, just right! WINNER!
I had to.
I just … had to. (Z Reviews voice)
They were mentioned so much that I just had to, and I will agree that they are the benchmark headphone. To my picky ears, these are the best headphones made within a very loose price range, with some issues … that can’t really be considered issues.
Clarity of the headphones was debatable for a while as they are also a learning curve, and it takes a while to notice that they actually have the most subtle detail out of all of the headphones in my current collection, including K702 and Fidelio X2 in my opinion. Overall track clarity does not stand out such as much as on the two mentioned previously, things just fit together more harmoniously.
This is, I believe, because of the slightly elevated mid-bass and slight treble reduction that makes these headphones sound more realistic than many other headphones that have sub bass and treble frequencies emphasized. The thing is, real life sounds and music aren’t supposed to sound sparkly and rich all the time (like Philips Fidelio X2), and this is where these are close to being “flat”, but their emphasis on certain vocal mid frequencies makes them sound more musical than just being a stellar reference tool. So, overall I would call them as musical you can get, within a flat(ish) type of signature.
The soundstage is average in width, but most realistic out of all of the headphones I have ever had. So while the soundstage was initially a disappointment it grew on me and I started hearing much more out of what was presented. Overall imaging is just superb, and although everything is united in this harmonized “musical wave” swirling towards you, you can instinctively recognize the direction of each sound in its placement - nothing short of a standout.
Only complaint I have is that, due to the slight mid bass hump they have (in order to make things sound more realistic) more bassy and fuzzy music sounds a bit bloated, or subdued (underwater type of sounds). With music already having these frequencies emphasized, things can sound slightly muffled as if they were played underwater (an exaggeration, but as such). That aside, these are still in my opinion the best headphone that I’ve tried so far.
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FiiO X5 - An analogue metal music box
I hated this player as soon as I got it. I honestly can’t tell you why. It sounded fatiguing, unclear, soundstage all mushed and narrowed down… It sounded worse than my former iPod 5.5.
I really don’t know what changed, but this player now sounds better than any other device I have, could be that my hearing adjusted to the frequency response. Over time I have also found an optimal EQ setup presented in the image.
Anyhow this player is robust as hell, it has long battery life, and outstanding clarity. It’s quite portable and often does not need an amp. Sometimes I prefer HD600 with an amp strapped to the player, sometimes I don’t. it’s a really good player.
Con: extremely slow with a lot of tracks, unable to fast-scroll. I have 200gb+128gb track and the menu selection and scrolling is slow that it can sometimes take up to 20 seconds per click. I reckon this could be fixed with a firmware optimization, but FiiO has given up further advancements on this device.
Perhaps I should have waited for a newer version to come out at the time, but they release these things too fast to keep up. Talking about planned obsolescence, if that’s the case here...
Although almost fully satisfied with my collection, switching headphones back and forward whatever mood I'm in, for a while I got caught up with impulsive buying behavior as I became a bit obsessed with headphones in general.
Surfing local ad sites for about 35$ I bought...
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Takstar Hi 2050 - Great all-rounder, could have been a keepers but really don't need em
These were somewhat of a revelation. How could something so cheap be this good? I swear for a moment I could have compared them with the HD600 which are up to 8 times more expensive (Koss references come to mind, but I think these will be much better although I haven't tried Koss Portapros or KSC 75).
It would seem as if they are only slightly V shaped, while trying to lean towards a flat sound signature, and they are very average sounding in all aspects, except clarity where they really do stand out.
Rich bass, sparkly highs, with living and breathing mids and average soundstage in general. Any genre sounded just great and if I had to choose a single budget headphone for all needs, they would probably be it. Too bad they are out of production now in June 2017.
The non-removable cable is a major downside, but what can you expect for a headphone that costed about 40$. As I had no real need for them, I gave them away and they’re keeping my buddy busy with great sounding music.
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Philips Fidelio X2 - What HP200 should have been + build quality issues...
I absolutely love these. They were supposed to “fix” my HD600 which I considered to be lacking in soundstage (until my ears got used to the signature), and they did, and they sound phenomenal.
It seems as if, almost with any music, amp or device, their signature is resilient and remains modern sounding even if the music sounds more alive (for example K702 or HD600 will be very transparent and bring out the mids) the mids will be ever so slightly scooped out at all times, partially ruining the magic on these but this is a very minor complaint.
Metal, EDM and ambiental music just ROCKS with these. They are perfect all around headphones for just about anything, without any complications.
Build quality issues
When I first got them I heard major bass rattling in the right driver, and the right ear pad kept falling off. I attempted to return it to Amazon but they kept giving me an incorrect address and sending the item back to my address. Second time they returned it, they offered me a refund, with no obligation to send them back again.
This seemed fishy, why would they refund something I can’t even prove is broken? I think Amazon is cooking something here and I suspect they are reselling used models around if they toss money around so easily.
After some time the driver rattling issue went away, but the right ear cup just keeps falling off wherever I place my headphones, even if I use a headphone stand.
At times, they are my salvation as being simple and straightforward slightly V shaped headphones, but at times I’m disappointed for their slightly “digital” sound when it comes to live and more relaxed music.
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Philips Fidelio L2 - Treble murderer, although great street headphones
I got these along with Fidelio X2 as my portable solution for semi-open headphones to go around at night, but was quickly disappointed with the sound signature.
Everything was great, except the treble - it was just overemphasized to my liking and fatiguing rather quickly.
Gave them away to a friend who can’t stop listening to them.
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NAD VISO HP50 - Most balanced closed headphones I’ve tried
I got these due to their insanely sweet deal (under 100€, new ones are over 200€ here in Croatia), and was very happy with them.
George Michael - White Light was my favorite song on them, and they can confidently satisfy any keypoint:
Bass, mids, treble, soundstage, clarity - everything is there and as much as they can be punchy they sound really alive. These are the best portable balanced closed headphones I have ever tried, and they make your head look like a kettlebell. It’s amazing!
Having a lot of headphones and not needing them (I had SoundMAGIC HP150 with which I was equally satisfied) I gave them away to a close colleague who is now using them everywhere they go.
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FiiO E12 - Power & clarity on a budget
I really have zero complaints or cons to mention here. The bass boost is perfect for what it does, the power is absolutely insane (I never go past 60% on high gain), and the clarity is very likely intact (I don’t have a dedicated DAC or HD800-like headphones to verify).
There's really nothing to say, it’s just a non-obstructive portable simple amplifier with an insane amount of power and a pretty good battery life. All that at a good price, just that good.
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HD380 Pro - Just right! Toss around headphones for just about anything or anyone. Closed back HD600
These are outright my favorite closed and portable headphones, and if I had to sell all but one pair of headphones due to money issues, these are the ones that would stay.
I initially bought them because I hoped for a headphone that would have the same characteristics as HP150 (soundstage, energy, portability, and clarity) but with a more relaxed type of signature. HP150 are really great but over time they can sound a bit harsh, and I wanted an extra pair that I could just chill with, or if something happened to HP150.
They have completely satisfied, without a flaw.
Soundstage is outstanding, the bass is very rich and never troublesome, mids are extended and beautiful and the treble is slightly decreased which contributes to the relaxing overall signature, which reminds of HD600 without many drawbacks. I’m surprised they cost a third of the price here in the EU (I paid only 100€).
These will remain THE headphone headphone, if I just had to simplify and tear down everything else.
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SoundMAGIC HP200 - Slight disappointment but great overall
I was super hyped about these. Dale Thorn greeted these with a grand applause, so I thought “if only I could have an open-back version of the HP150!”.
The result is : kinda… But as one would expect to have a closed headphone to have a lot larger soundstage this really was not the case. Staging was average, or … below average in my opinion. Even the closed HP150 had better soundstage than that.
A viable excuse is that they did sound like semi-open headphones, bringing in a bit of that airy presentation, but if someone blind tested them it would be hard to tell they were open. So you have a … closed back headphone leaking as much as an open headphone? It’s like having all of the disadvantages instead of the advantages.
The sound presentation reminded me of HI 2050 where everything sounded average, with great clarity, and a bit harsh treble which loosened up over time.
A friend borrowed them for an unlimited amount of time (the guy hates presents) and is happy with playing metal on them. \m/
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AKG K702 - My second winner - clarity, resolution, engagement, infinite soundstage
These surprised me the most. I was always hesitant in reaching out to them, as I heard they are very sibilant, and while they are a bit, they turned out to become one of my favorite headphones!
For a moment I started doubting if there is any reason for getting HD800 in any near future (although they are on my wish list). The clarity and spaciousness that these deliver almost feel like it just couldn't get better, but there are some deficiencies in the imaging area.
Best artists: Dhafer Youssef, Oregon, Rhye, Dido, and classical music in general
The bass truly is light as they say, and also as they say, the bass can get very loud if the recording is set up that way. They sound “correct”, very “correct”. You could maybe call them flat and analytical, yes.
I bought them due to a requirement to have a treble-oriented headphone that would sound perfect with classical music, and I did not regret, and these literally sound PERFECT for classical music. Completely perfect, like I could not imagine anything better, unless someone showed me otherwise (HD800 or whatever..).
The soundstage sounds diffused and loosely defined for most music, because the imaging is a bit two-dimensional and almost too wide, but this makes classical music sound a bit “lost in the concert hall” which is exactly what I feel is the perfect presentation of classical music. Everything feels merged together and loosely placed, and completely scattered in a huge concert hall.
Clarity is above average, and while at times it seems like it beats HD600, over time I recognized that it doesn’t. It may actually be inferior, but due to the intimate soundstage of the HD600 it takes time to fully recognize the amount of detail HD600 can offer.
Acoustic music, and classical music here wins, and for casual listening of all other genres. They are a keepers, and although HD600 is a more superior headphone overall, I tend to listen to K702 more - they are an easier listen to my ear and a bit more flexible. If I had to sell most headphones, these would be my second choice after the HD 380 Pro.
Only flaw I could note: with some genres such as electronica mids tend to sound a bit artificial, as if you were listening to strictly a studio headphone, without any naturalness to the sound. Other than that, they are near perfect and for the price they probably cannot be beaten.
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Behringer Xenyx 502 - What? How? 50$? Are we getting ripped off by hifi companies?
I bought these exclusively as a musical tool, where I needed something to merge my player music and my guitar amplifier analog output so I could jam along.
I did not expect the sound quality of this mixer to be this amazing. The sound coming out this sound mixer is better than my Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP, better than Fiio E12 or even Schiit Modi 2 + Magni 2 that I tried at my friend’s place.
The output power is probably double the power then what E12 can offer, and the sound signature is simply absolute clarity as if you were listening to music directly from a studio (hell, it is a studio device after all).
How is it that much better - it remains a mystery. Why this is mysterious to me:
So putting things together, you could say that the headphone output on this device costs no more than 10$ yet it sounds better than Schiit Magni. I have no explanation, and my only guess is that hifi companies are ripping us off big time, with these audio components being so cheap and commonplace, packaged in “hifi” devices with insane price margins.
Until someone shows me a 100$ dedicated amp that sounds better than this, I will keep this opinion.
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Pinnacle P1 - IEM version of Philips Fidelio X2
I actually have nothing more to say than that these are the cleanest and most “high end” IEM-s I ever tried. They sound like a total endgame to me, and their signature reminds very much of Philips Fidelio X2, with even more alive sounding mids. Everything is there: the bass, the mids, treble, great soundstage, and spectacular clarity.
Comfort downsides:
They are very big, and due to the body vibration you can hear your own footsteps as you walk. Running is simply not an option, and they do hurt the ears simply due to the size unfortunately...
If someone slapped me in the ear whilst wearing them, they’d probably damage my ear canal and pat a few neurons...
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Sennheiser IE80 - Hissy and congested for the price, but overall good
I exclusively bought these due to a very good deal, and was planning on giving them away to someone close, which I did.
I was really not impressed. For the price (being almost double the price of Pinnacle P1), they had probably… 70% of the P1 clarity at best.
The rest is fine however, with the standard Sennheiser sound, they reminded a lot of HD600. I guess you could say they are the IEM version of HD600 but really not that clear as you could get by buying Pinnacle P1, and the soundstage is comparable between the two.
Sennheiser did not win this match, and I gave them away, although they were very comfortable and sporty.
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Headphones by “greater than” comparison:
HD600 > K702 > HP150 = Fidelio X2 > HP50 = HD598 > PRO500MK2 = HD 380 Pro > Takstar HI2050 = HP200 = Fidelio L2 > HD419 > other cheap stuff
IEM-s:
Pinnacle P1 > E80 > E10 > CX 300 II > other cheap stuff
Headphones I would keep if I had to sell most of my headphones:
HD380 > K702 > E80C - the rest would be sold.
Gear I kept:
HD600, K702, Fidelio X2, HD598, HP150, HD380, Pinnacle P1, HP200, X5, E12, Behringer Xenyx 502
Audio players (both stationary and portable):
Fiio X5 + Behringer Xenyx 502 > Fiio X5 + E12 > Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP > Fiio X5 > iPod 5.5 + E06 > Mac Pro 2.1 > iPad Air 2 > iPhone 4S > Some cool portable CD player I had > Sony Z1 > NWZ-B163F
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My wish list:
Sennheiser HD800S - just for being HD800S
Final Audio Pandora Hope VI - mentioned for a lot of pristine clarity, bringing minor details forward - as HP150 do but with supposedly greater resolution and soundstage. If somebody had both please let me know how they compare.
Final Audio Heaven VI - based on user reviews, these appear to be something like a cleaner version of the HD598, which is something I would love to hear from an IEM.
Audio Technica W series - although K702 fully satisfies my classical music needs, I’m curious how these wooden headphones would sound with classical music, especially them being closed. Good for library? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
I would like to try out some planars / eletro statics, I never have (Hifiman, Stax, Koss…).
That's it from me for now. Please let me know if you have any questions, or you would like me to do a comparison of any kind.
Thank you for reading, and I hope this helps some people in the future.
Cheers!
This post is a not-so-brief story or a ramble about my journey in the headphone world, and a comparison of everything I tried so far. I've been lingering on the forum for opinions and recommendations and it's time to bring something back to the community.
This being an overall headphone experience post I won’t be doing any standard reviews covering comfort, frequency charts, unboxing, this will be a chronologically ordered story about my experiences with various headphones, how these products affected my perception of audio and what I was after, so I will only refer to the sound quality of the devices as nothing else much matters to me, except when there are important notices.
What I aimed for:
- Soundstage & imaging
- Maximum clarity and balance - nothing overly emphasized
- Being able to crank it all the way up from time to time
Music I listen to primarily: Prog metal and other subgenres of metal, trance, downtempo electronica, dubstep, emo, modern rock, post-rock, and some pop - but overly picky with artists in any of the genres.
Favorite artists:
Rick Astley (the man deserves to be on top, in any way
Tesseract, George Michael, Circa Survive, Skyharbor, Grimes, White Moth Black Butterfly, Bjork, Disperse, Rusted Root, Kate Bush, Katatonia, Devin Townsend, Sevendust, From First To Last, Skrillex, Enya, Notorious B.I.G. and more on: http://www.last.fm/user/ivanonymous (not frequently updated as most of my listening is on my portable setup)
WHY headphones?
I'm one of those "not an audiophile but I love my music" guys, however cheap audio has music lovers always wanting more and people see me as the "headphone guy" anyways. There is this agitating feeling when you like a song but the experience sucks cause you just don't hear it well, and you're left wondering how better it could really sound.
I remember my teen years carrying huge portable CD players or walkmans in my pocket, somehow surviving on 1.5V batteries on terrible earphones - one of those "HIFI SOUND" 5$ earphones. A lot of us have been there - if only Koss budget headphones were in small town electronic stores where most kids do actually buy their headphones.
There was this wild metal song by It Dies Today that I just wanted to hear what the guitars played more clearly (the riffs were complex and with high overdrive). Moments like this always made me wonder how good can these songs sound? As I was always on the move and was never fascinated by speakers (who knows what might come later), I was interested in better headphones, so here was my first great choice:
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Sennheiser CX 300-II - Meh, not even for the price
These were great choice back then, but looking back and comparing with E10 they were quite unimpressive I can say. An obvious V shaped earphone that doesn’t provide anything special in terms of fidelity or soundstage.
Later on I got these instead:
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Sennheiser HD419 - Here kitty kitty! A good entry level headphone, but there is better for the price.
I found these for 10$ on eBay, no joke. They’re usually about 70€ locally so this was a steal. Unfortunately shipping was another 10$ but it was worth it. But hey 20$. xD
It was a long time ago so I can’t fully recall the sound signature but I would say they were slightly V shaped, yet polite sounding. The bass and the treble were a bit emphasized, but they had an overall nice neutral sound to them.
Listening to my favorite music was really nice, as I got a taste of how things can improve when you have something better than electronic cheapstuff, and Sennheiser had me convinced they make really good headphones.
Unfortunately I was using Sony Z1 smartphone at the time which had a firmware EU hearing protection setting which prevented the phone to produce enough juice for the headphones, I figured I had to buy a portable MP3 player of a nice quality, so I got..
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Sony NWZ-B163F - Had fun with it, but overall meh
The player had a substantial volume for my HD419, and had me going for a good deal of time, although I had to play with the EQ a bit to get the right sound for best performance.
Not much to say about it, it has a very basic sound - the same type of sound quality you get from an average PC headphone output jack, with an emphasis on treble.
After a while I wanted more, so I was looking for an upgrade. I made a mistake by buying...
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ATH PRO500MK2 - Great (slightly scooped) balance and clarity, but no soundstage - a dealbreaker for me
Although they had great clarity, there is not much to say about these DJ-style headphones in my opinion. If you want just regular toss around cans for any genre, but you like that more narrow, confined presentation (even for a closed can) these are it.
The sound presentation reminds of the M50 that I once tried but more balanced and rich sounding - the treble is sparkly, the bass is rich but not overwhelming, and the mids are nicely presented and just slightly scooped out.
Otherwise these don't offer anything special for me, and their soundstage is close to zero, and they were damn uncomfortable pressing on the ears. Being a soundstage nut I've quickly sold them for…
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SoundMAGIC E10 - You’re finally not getting ripped off… These are fabulous
I was browsing the local used stuff ads, and found these described as award winning, and googling them I thought I could give it a try.
I remember my first track on them was by Sevendust - Terminator song and I could so easily discern the placement of each percussive element in that song in the intro, and adding more instruments on top of one another I still had perfect clarity even on the cheap Sony mp3 player, I was blown away by the quality.
After a while I sold my audio player and both the Sony Z1 smartphone as I recalled the iPhone 4S simply having better audio quality and output loudness, despite how flagship the Z1 was overall. That phone was a facepalm purchase, as if I cared about 6 inch screens or something, meh. I wanted the best audio quality and threw money at it.
The E10 + iPhone 4S was just a great combination. I recall listening to Tesseract and thinking: is this my endgame? Of course it wasn’t but it was very a enjoyable experience I could have been happy with if I haven’t wondered...
The sound signature of the E10 is: prominent bass, slightly reduced mids, sparkly treble and a wide (for this price range) soundstage with imaging / instrument placement with very good clarity.
Even though they are not as clear as E80 or my current over ear headphones, and a bit more confined, the sound signature was just forgiving for most recordings. Like I said, SoundMAGIC do these frequency tricks with bringing details forward regardless of the track quality and that made them very enjoyable headphones for a long period of time, I could say 2 years for sure.
Eventually I got myself an iPod 5.5 and got rid of smartphones for good, got myself some old Nokia phone just to have sms + calls and it was worth it. iPod 5.5 is truly a jewel, with a very fun mid-centric sound signature with better clarity than any smartphone I’ve tried (including HTC One M8).
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Sennheiser HD598 - Perfect relaxation/sleeping headphones - bass/rattling issues!
Basically the whole Internet was raving about the HD598 as being the best balanced + huge soundstage perfect headphones in the entry/mid-fi range. There are even threads like “HD598 are the best headphones in the world” or something like that.
Had me convinced and I purchased used ones, and my impression was the following: THESE ARE JUNK. They’re so fatiguing, muddy, unclear, they must be broken! I kept surfing the web, posting on forums if they’re supposed to sound this way. As I started listening to them more and more, looking for songs on which they sounded great (Dido, Grimes, Rudimental) I realized it came down to my expectations of how things should sound being wrong, and I needed a bit of getting used to. I was primarily influenced by listening to edgy headphones in general - they were all V shaped and HD598 was the first mid-centric headphone which is also not tuned for clarity that much, but for its lushness and “romantic” sound, so the transition was a weird experience and a disappointment at first.
Also some of my favorite songs were poorly produced, and they sound plain bad on any of my headphones at the moment (but E10 fun signature makes everything edgy/sound cooler which had me tricked), but having tried HD598 as my first mid-fi category headphones I thought they sucked. The better your vision is, the easier you see that the painting sucks. Plus I was more into metal back then and metal is hard to get right on any headphone due to all that distortion and bunch of rich and full instruments (especially symphonic metal).
My description of the sound is : very detailed, but not clear. Meaning there are no flaws or distortions, and all the details are there and finely separated to be heard, but the treble frequencies that shape up the tone are subdued and it takes getting used to them to understand the clarity from the songs.
Per my understanding the tuning is moderate in every regard, even bass although bass hunters would disagree. I think that the bass is substantial if not more than that (K702 fan here).
The mids are great and moderate, slightly forward. Vocals, synths, and orchestras work really great with these headphones.
The treble sounds a bit subdued, like a mix between reality and dream-like state. The subtle sounds like leaves dragging along the road are presented perfectly, but the sparkly frequencies aren’t really there - as if all the offending frequencies are subdued and with this clarity slightly reduced. I guess this is the Sennheiser “veil” everyone is talking about, but I don’t feel that something is really being taken away.
The soundstage is very well done, and wider than average. I have an idea of a “complete” soundstage that I hold K702 has. Let’s call it 100%. HD598 here is 70% and HD600 is 40% in size. Fidelio X2 is about 50%. The way it is presented is very “constructed”, as if they didn’t only plan to make spacious sounding headphones and leave the rest to the audio tracks, but literally constructed the type of spacing and experience the headphones will provide for most tracks. It feels as if you’re in a “HD598 room” where everything sounds HD598-like and in it’s size and shape.
I sold them and regretted it, then a year later on I got the SE edition. They are truly a wonderful and a unique experience. It’s why I missed them and I would regret ever having to sell them.
Driver excursion issue:
These headphones have a strange to rattle / get muddy with bass heavy or instrument-rich heavy music, it’s as if they can’t handle loud music for some reason. This mostly applied to genres such as symphonic metal, deep bass electronica music and such.
If you only listen to acoustic music, jazz, and classical, these are literally heaven and I can tell why many people claim these to be the best headphones ever made. But for more complex genres and loud music, they have a tendency to sound “broken” at times. This is not just my experience and was frequently described as issues with “driver excursion” - look up “hd598 rattling” or “hd598 bass distortion” via search engines.
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SoundMAGIC HP150 - Excitement yet resolving! Just MADE for metal and modern music, yet fully capable for more classic stuff, superb imaging.
Being disappointed initially with the HD598, I sold them and was surprised to see SoundMAGIC have full-size headphones of their own and reading the reviews I felt a “finally!” moment I hold to this day, as they are one of my absolute favorites, especially for metal music.
The unboxing was simply a thrill, as you get a great box with them and everything about them screams quality and awesomeness.
The same SoundMAGIC sound is present here - sparkly highs with rich bass, yet mids are intact and detailed. Nothing is ruined, while everything is emphasized, but not overly so.
These do something that all other headphones in the list don't. These will draw in the detail from almost any recording. The treble is emphasized to the point, carefully avoiding any peaks in the frequencies that usually offend the ear (these are not facts, I'm not an audio engineer, that's just how I hear it) and most songs that would normally sound a bit "muddy" and "unclear" are "corrected", as if you have turned on a bit of "Dolby" surround processing separating a sharpening blurry tracks but not to the point that it sounds digital or unrealistic.
The soundstage very wide for a closed headphone, and the imaging is just fabulous. They are comparable with HD600 in the terms of soundstage, taking away Sennheiser’s naturalness being open back headphones with actual sound coming out.
They don’t sound very natural, it’s why classical music isn’t a very good match. But almost everything else I tried they do great. They’re mostly used outdoors and in the office. I use my open backs at home.
Best artists: Tesseract, Skyharbor, Katatonia, Skrillex, Kalya Scintilla, Grimes, Notorious B.I.G.
Build quality note: Although the cable feels very robust, it just fell apart from inside out after a year - Hifiheadphones.co.uk are distributing SoundMAGIC stock cable replacements.
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SoundMAGIC E80 - Worthy upgrade to the SoundMAGIC E10
Although being very similar to the initial SoundMAGIC E10, these did feel like a notable upgrade - the sound was much more refined, the mids were much more realistic and tangible, while retaining the same fun sound the E10-s had.
Clarity is better, so is the soundstage overall. There is not much to say, these are very good all-around headphones and very good for the price.
*If you want a microphone version, choose E80C instead of E80S. The switch on the E80S breaks very easily, and then the headphone won’t work on many devices.
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Sennheiser HD600 - Engagement, just right! WINNER!
I had to.
I just … had to. (Z Reviews voice)
They were mentioned so much that I just had to, and I will agree that they are the benchmark headphone. To my picky ears, these are the best headphones made within a very loose price range, with some issues … that can’t really be considered issues.
Clarity of the headphones was debatable for a while as they are also a learning curve, and it takes a while to notice that they actually have the most subtle detail out of all of the headphones in my current collection, including K702 and Fidelio X2 in my opinion. Overall track clarity does not stand out such as much as on the two mentioned previously, things just fit together more harmoniously.
This is, I believe, because of the slightly elevated mid-bass and slight treble reduction that makes these headphones sound more realistic than many other headphones that have sub bass and treble frequencies emphasized. The thing is, real life sounds and music aren’t supposed to sound sparkly and rich all the time (like Philips Fidelio X2), and this is where these are close to being “flat”, but their emphasis on certain vocal mid frequencies makes them sound more musical than just being a stellar reference tool. So, overall I would call them as musical you can get, within a flat(ish) type of signature.
The soundstage is average in width, but most realistic out of all of the headphones I have ever had. So while the soundstage was initially a disappointment it grew on me and I started hearing much more out of what was presented. Overall imaging is just superb, and although everything is united in this harmonized “musical wave” swirling towards you, you can instinctively recognize the direction of each sound in its placement - nothing short of a standout.
Only complaint I have is that, due to the slight mid bass hump they have (in order to make things sound more realistic) more bassy and fuzzy music sounds a bit bloated, or subdued (underwater type of sounds). With music already having these frequencies emphasized, things can sound slightly muffled as if they were played underwater (an exaggeration, but as such). That aside, these are still in my opinion the best headphone that I’ve tried so far.
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FiiO X5 - An analogue metal music box
I hated this player as soon as I got it. I honestly can’t tell you why. It sounded fatiguing, unclear, soundstage all mushed and narrowed down… It sounded worse than my former iPod 5.5.
I really don’t know what changed, but this player now sounds better than any other device I have, could be that my hearing adjusted to the frequency response. Over time I have also found an optimal EQ setup presented in the image.
Anyhow this player is robust as hell, it has long battery life, and outstanding clarity. It’s quite portable and often does not need an amp. Sometimes I prefer HD600 with an amp strapped to the player, sometimes I don’t. it’s a really good player.
Con: extremely slow with a lot of tracks, unable to fast-scroll. I have 200gb+128gb track and the menu selection and scrolling is slow that it can sometimes take up to 20 seconds per click. I reckon this could be fixed with a firmware optimization, but FiiO has given up further advancements on this device.
Perhaps I should have waited for a newer version to come out at the time, but they release these things too fast to keep up. Talking about planned obsolescence, if that’s the case here...
Although almost fully satisfied with my collection, switching headphones back and forward whatever mood I'm in, for a while I got caught up with impulsive buying behavior as I became a bit obsessed with headphones in general.
Surfing local ad sites for about 35$ I bought...
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Takstar Hi 2050 - Great all-rounder, could have been a keepers but really don't need em
These were somewhat of a revelation. How could something so cheap be this good? I swear for a moment I could have compared them with the HD600 which are up to 8 times more expensive (Koss references come to mind, but I think these will be much better although I haven't tried Koss Portapros or KSC 75).
It would seem as if they are only slightly V shaped, while trying to lean towards a flat sound signature, and they are very average sounding in all aspects, except clarity where they really do stand out.
Rich bass, sparkly highs, with living and breathing mids and average soundstage in general. Any genre sounded just great and if I had to choose a single budget headphone for all needs, they would probably be it. Too bad they are out of production now in June 2017.
The non-removable cable is a major downside, but what can you expect for a headphone that costed about 40$. As I had no real need for them, I gave them away and they’re keeping my buddy busy with great sounding music.
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Philips Fidelio X2 - What HP200 should have been + build quality issues...
I absolutely love these. They were supposed to “fix” my HD600 which I considered to be lacking in soundstage (until my ears got used to the signature), and they did, and they sound phenomenal.
It seems as if, almost with any music, amp or device, their signature is resilient and remains modern sounding even if the music sounds more alive (for example K702 or HD600 will be very transparent and bring out the mids) the mids will be ever so slightly scooped out at all times, partially ruining the magic on these but this is a very minor complaint.
Metal, EDM and ambiental music just ROCKS with these. They are perfect all around headphones for just about anything, without any complications.
Build quality issues
When I first got them I heard major bass rattling in the right driver, and the right ear pad kept falling off. I attempted to return it to Amazon but they kept giving me an incorrect address and sending the item back to my address. Second time they returned it, they offered me a refund, with no obligation to send them back again.
This seemed fishy, why would they refund something I can’t even prove is broken? I think Amazon is cooking something here and I suspect they are reselling used models around if they toss money around so easily.
After some time the driver rattling issue went away, but the right ear cup just keeps falling off wherever I place my headphones, even if I use a headphone stand.
At times, they are my salvation as being simple and straightforward slightly V shaped headphones, but at times I’m disappointed for their slightly “digital” sound when it comes to live and more relaxed music.
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Philips Fidelio L2 - Treble murderer, although great street headphones
I got these along with Fidelio X2 as my portable solution for semi-open headphones to go around at night, but was quickly disappointed with the sound signature.
Everything was great, except the treble - it was just overemphasized to my liking and fatiguing rather quickly.
Gave them away to a friend who can’t stop listening to them.
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NAD VISO HP50 - Most balanced closed headphones I’ve tried
I got these due to their insanely sweet deal (under 100€, new ones are over 200€ here in Croatia), and was very happy with them.
George Michael - White Light was my favorite song on them, and they can confidently satisfy any keypoint:
Bass, mids, treble, soundstage, clarity - everything is there and as much as they can be punchy they sound really alive. These are the best portable balanced closed headphones I have ever tried, and they make your head look like a kettlebell. It’s amazing!
Having a lot of headphones and not needing them (I had SoundMAGIC HP150 with which I was equally satisfied) I gave them away to a close colleague who is now using them everywhere they go.
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FiiO E12 - Power & clarity on a budget
I really have zero complaints or cons to mention here. The bass boost is perfect for what it does, the power is absolutely insane (I never go past 60% on high gain), and the clarity is very likely intact (I don’t have a dedicated DAC or HD800-like headphones to verify).
There's really nothing to say, it’s just a non-obstructive portable simple amplifier with an insane amount of power and a pretty good battery life. All that at a good price, just that good.
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HD380 Pro - Just right! Toss around headphones for just about anything or anyone. Closed back HD600
These are outright my favorite closed and portable headphones, and if I had to sell all but one pair of headphones due to money issues, these are the ones that would stay.
I initially bought them because I hoped for a headphone that would have the same characteristics as HP150 (soundstage, energy, portability, and clarity) but with a more relaxed type of signature. HP150 are really great but over time they can sound a bit harsh, and I wanted an extra pair that I could just chill with, or if something happened to HP150.
They have completely satisfied, without a flaw.
Soundstage is outstanding, the bass is very rich and never troublesome, mids are extended and beautiful and the treble is slightly decreased which contributes to the relaxing overall signature, which reminds of HD600 without many drawbacks. I’m surprised they cost a third of the price here in the EU (I paid only 100€).
These will remain THE headphone headphone, if I just had to simplify and tear down everything else.
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SoundMAGIC HP200 - Slight disappointment but great overall
I was super hyped about these. Dale Thorn greeted these with a grand applause, so I thought “if only I could have an open-back version of the HP150!”.
The result is : kinda… But as one would expect to have a closed headphone to have a lot larger soundstage this really was not the case. Staging was average, or … below average in my opinion. Even the closed HP150 had better soundstage than that.
A viable excuse is that they did sound like semi-open headphones, bringing in a bit of that airy presentation, but if someone blind tested them it would be hard to tell they were open. So you have a … closed back headphone leaking as much as an open headphone? It’s like having all of the disadvantages instead of the advantages.
The sound presentation reminded me of HI 2050 where everything sounded average, with great clarity, and a bit harsh treble which loosened up over time.
A friend borrowed them for an unlimited amount of time (the guy hates presents) and is happy with playing metal on them. \m/
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AKG K702 - My second winner - clarity, resolution, engagement, infinite soundstage
These surprised me the most. I was always hesitant in reaching out to them, as I heard they are very sibilant, and while they are a bit, they turned out to become one of my favorite headphones!
For a moment I started doubting if there is any reason for getting HD800 in any near future (although they are on my wish list). The clarity and spaciousness that these deliver almost feel like it just couldn't get better, but there are some deficiencies in the imaging area.
Best artists: Dhafer Youssef, Oregon, Rhye, Dido, and classical music in general
The bass truly is light as they say, and also as they say, the bass can get very loud if the recording is set up that way. They sound “correct”, very “correct”. You could maybe call them flat and analytical, yes.
I bought them due to a requirement to have a treble-oriented headphone that would sound perfect with classical music, and I did not regret, and these literally sound PERFECT for classical music. Completely perfect, like I could not imagine anything better, unless someone showed me otherwise (HD800 or whatever..).
The soundstage sounds diffused and loosely defined for most music, because the imaging is a bit two-dimensional and almost too wide, but this makes classical music sound a bit “lost in the concert hall” which is exactly what I feel is the perfect presentation of classical music. Everything feels merged together and loosely placed, and completely scattered in a huge concert hall.
Clarity is above average, and while at times it seems like it beats HD600, over time I recognized that it doesn’t. It may actually be inferior, but due to the intimate soundstage of the HD600 it takes time to fully recognize the amount of detail HD600 can offer.
Acoustic music, and classical music here wins, and for casual listening of all other genres. They are a keepers, and although HD600 is a more superior headphone overall, I tend to listen to K702 more - they are an easier listen to my ear and a bit more flexible. If I had to sell most headphones, these would be my second choice after the HD 380 Pro.
Only flaw I could note: with some genres such as electronica mids tend to sound a bit artificial, as if you were listening to strictly a studio headphone, without any naturalness to the sound. Other than that, they are near perfect and for the price they probably cannot be beaten.
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Behringer Xenyx 502 - What? How? 50$? Are we getting ripped off by hifi companies?
I bought these exclusively as a musical tool, where I needed something to merge my player music and my guitar amplifier analog output so I could jam along.
I did not expect the sound quality of this mixer to be this amazing. The sound coming out this sound mixer is better than my Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP, better than Fiio E12 or even Schiit Modi 2 + Magni 2 that I tried at my friend’s place.
The output power is probably double the power then what E12 can offer, and the sound signature is simply absolute clarity as if you were listening to music directly from a studio (hell, it is a studio device after all).
How is it that much better - it remains a mystery. Why this is mysterious to me:
- It is not even a headphone amplifier, it is a sound mixer.
- Headphone out is last of its features.
- It costs .. 50$
So putting things together, you could say that the headphone output on this device costs no more than 10$ yet it sounds better than Schiit Magni. I have no explanation, and my only guess is that hifi companies are ripping us off big time, with these audio components being so cheap and commonplace, packaged in “hifi” devices with insane price margins.
Until someone shows me a 100$ dedicated amp that sounds better than this, I will keep this opinion.
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Pinnacle P1 - IEM version of Philips Fidelio X2
I actually have nothing more to say than that these are the cleanest and most “high end” IEM-s I ever tried. They sound like a total endgame to me, and their signature reminds very much of Philips Fidelio X2, with even more alive sounding mids. Everything is there: the bass, the mids, treble, great soundstage, and spectacular clarity.
Comfort downsides:
They are very big, and due to the body vibration you can hear your own footsteps as you walk. Running is simply not an option, and they do hurt the ears simply due to the size unfortunately...
If someone slapped me in the ear whilst wearing them, they’d probably damage my ear canal and pat a few neurons...
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Sennheiser IE80 - Hissy and congested for the price, but overall good
I exclusively bought these due to a very good deal, and was planning on giving them away to someone close, which I did.
I was really not impressed. For the price (being almost double the price of Pinnacle P1), they had probably… 70% of the P1 clarity at best.
The rest is fine however, with the standard Sennheiser sound, they reminded a lot of HD600. I guess you could say they are the IEM version of HD600 but really not that clear as you could get by buying Pinnacle P1, and the soundstage is comparable between the two.
Sennheiser did not win this match, and I gave them away, although they were very comfortable and sporty.
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Headphones by “greater than” comparison:
HD600 > K702 > HP150 = Fidelio X2 > HP50 = HD598 > PRO500MK2 = HD 380 Pro > Takstar HI2050 = HP200 = Fidelio L2 > HD419 > other cheap stuff
IEM-s:
Pinnacle P1 > E80 > E10 > CX 300 II > other cheap stuff
Headphones I would keep if I had to sell most of my headphones:
HD380 > K702 > E80C - the rest would be sold.
Gear I kept:
HD600, K702, Fidelio X2, HD598, HP150, HD380, Pinnacle P1, HP200, X5, E12, Behringer Xenyx 502
Audio players (both stationary and portable):
Fiio X5 + Behringer Xenyx 502 > Fiio X5 + E12 > Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP > Fiio X5 > iPod 5.5 + E06 > Mac Pro 2.1 > iPad Air 2 > iPhone 4S > Some cool portable CD player I had > Sony Z1 > NWZ-B163F
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My wish list:
Sennheiser HD800S - just for being HD800S
Final Audio Pandora Hope VI - mentioned for a lot of pristine clarity, bringing minor details forward - as HP150 do but with supposedly greater resolution and soundstage. If somebody had both please let me know how they compare.
Final Audio Heaven VI - based on user reviews, these appear to be something like a cleaner version of the HD598, which is something I would love to hear from an IEM.
Audio Technica W series - although K702 fully satisfies my classical music needs, I’m curious how these wooden headphones would sound with classical music, especially them being closed. Good for library? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
I would like to try out some planars / eletro statics, I never have (Hifiman, Stax, Koss…).
That's it from me for now. Please let me know if you have any questions, or you would like me to do a comparison of any kind.
Thank you for reading, and I hope this helps some people in the future.
Cheers!
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