[Blasto_Brandino]

Stax- THEY MAKE PORTABLE ONES NOW!?!?! HOLY S#!T I'm TOTALLY BUYING THEM!
Sennheiser
GRADO-SONY (They are equal IMO but Grado's get better bang for the buck AND YES SONY TRY THE MDR-CD3000's Better than the HD650's IMO both powered by a Luxman P200 HP amp)
I personally own phones made by all of the above.

 

[k3oxkjo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beagle /img/forum/go_quote.gif What is the point of this thread? Is it not just another way of getting people to list their favourite headphones and rip the ones they happen not to like?

I would day no. Here's the thread title:

A Rhetorical Thread: Rank the best headphone companies.

No mention of ripping anything and most posters haven't, out of 25 relivent posts, only 4 had anything like a "rip" in them.

Kevin

 

[Mochan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swbf2cheater /img/forum/go_quote.gif for shame on bose grado and monster, none of you will ever be as good as sennheiser

I find this hilarious myself, IMO out of Sennheisers *huge* lineup the only things I actually liked and would consider listening to for long periods of time are the HD650 and the IE8. Everything else sounds like a mess to me, or just plain outdone by other options.


Anyway for what I like...

House Sound

Best
- Ultimate Ears
- Monster
- Beyer
- AKG
- Audio Technica
- Bose
- NuForce
- Grado
- Sennheiser
- Sony
- Shure
- Philipps
Worst

This is just based on my limited experience.

 

[Pepsi]

Until i hear something struck down from Zeus himself like the Orpheus, R10, or O2 the list remains as follows:

• Sennheiser
• Stax
• Sony
• Grado
• Denon

 

[AmanGeorge]

The important things to me (in no particular order, and this probably still excludes things that are affecting my judgment) are the quality and consistency of the headphones, creativity of the company, and completeness of the product line. With that in mind, I think I would rank them as:

Tier one:
1. Sennheiser: HD800, plus a couple of well-loved electrostats demonstrating the ability to take risks, plus the very good 580/600/650 line (even though I don't much care for the 650), and a number of well-liked lower-end offerings make this the best headphone company from top to bottom
2. Stax: My personal favorite headphones, I think they are in the same conversation as Sennheiser in terms of pure sound quality, especially at the upper end of the price spectrum, but don't have the same versatility that Sennheiser does.
3. Sony: Two "greats" in the Qualia and R10, an impressive (for such a large company) willingness to take risks as demonstrated by the MDR-V1 and F1, an old classic in the MDR-CD3000, and a very good mid-level headphone in the SA5000 I think puts this in the top tier as well.

Tier two:
4. AKG: This brand has the most potential to move upwards in this list. I love the K701, many love the K1000, and a lot of people love the lower-end closed models as well as some of the vintage models like the Sextetts and the K340. AKG has demonstrated that they had a willingness to be bold and creative between the K1000, Sextetts, and K340, but as of today there is little that suggests that willingness still exists. Hopefully they'll prove us wrong...
5. Grado: A storied tradition and loyal fanbase keeps Grado on the list, but I haven't seen the kind of creativity and vitality that makes the other companies on this list intriguing.
6. Beyerdynamic: Squeaks into my second tier thanks to the T1, which seems to suggest that they are not just willing to toil in mid-tier obscurity.

Tier three:
7 (tie). Audio-Technica and Denon: Both makers of truly beautiful headphones with many fans, but I don't know how willing they are to really "push the envelope" in the headphone world beyond just making outstanding luxury products.
8. Ultrasone: This one is probably a personal bias. I really don't like the sound, and I think these headphones are vastly overrated and overpriced.


Note that this isn't necessarily correlated with my preferences for individual headphones. For example, I really really like the Denon D5000 and D7000, moreso than anything I've heard by Grado or any of the Beyers that I've spent time with (this doesn't include the T1). I haven't really liked a lot of Grado stuff in general and would rate many of their individual models below most stuff on this list. I would also would put the AKG K701 above any of the mid-tier Sennheiser competitors. But all of these preferences are (I think) beside the point - I'm just trying to step back and objectively (as best as possible, except in the case of Ultrasone, probably) look across a company's product portfolio and history.

 

[wasp131]

From what i own atm.

1.precide ergo 2
2.akg k701
3.senn hd650
4,ms1's
5.senn 555
6.sr60's

mainly used for prog rock.

 

[swbf2cheater]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrGreen /img/forum/go_quote.gif I find this statement amazingly hilarious considering the quality of >90% of sennheisers line-up and the market saturation in which they partake. Let's not talk about the price fixing they are taking part in either (HD800 enjoys a $1000 markup in Australia, despite the dollar being 93 US cents). At most price points there is a headphone that performs virtually objectively better than one offered by sennheiser until you get into regions where personal taste becomes more of an issue. If the big three headphones from sennheiser are truly worth all the praise there is for this otherwise dud brand, I look forward to hearing them. However, I know for a fact that a lot of praise also comes from the other three headphones I mentioned (600 etc) and I am willing to accept this, however as I have stated they are not to my taste. Although I don't like the grado sound all that much, they are doing more things right more consistently than sennheiser IMO, YMMV, etc.

Grado headphones feel like cheap toys and are only good for rock or metal until you get to the PS series or RS, which then you might be able to somewhat enjoy classical, maybe even a low quality jazz song! Look at the Sennheiser 485 and 600, two headphones that handle anything you toss at them and are pretty cheap compared to grado, and solidly built and infinitely more comfortable.

Sorry, Grado really upset me, I found the only one worth keeping was the 225i, only because its very forward sounding, and guess what, I've a nice set of Sennheiser MX580 EARBUDS that cost 30$ brand new that sound identical to the grado 225i. That shows how much price fixing GRADO does. >.> Grado is special because its the only brand that cared so little about its design and comfort, it literally has not cared for years that people buy SENNHEISER EARPADS to mod and use on their own sets, grado sucks. ANY other audio company would have had a meeting with the CEOs and such all sitting down saying "guys, we have a problem, people hate our ear pads with such a passion, they go to sennheiser to buy the cheap 414 comfortable earpads and mod them just to use on our headphones. Not Grado, grado gives you all the finger and seems like it highlights the "worlds finest" lie more each year. The giga expensive grado series are great, but not as good as the Edition 8s or Hd800s

dont get me started on bose or monster, they are far worse.

The worst 5 in order:

Monster>Bose>Skullcandy>Apple>Grado

The 5 Best in order:

Sennheiser>Stax>Ultimate Ears>Ultrasone>AKG> *with a special AT nod

good day, sir

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swbf2cheater /img/forum/go_quote.gif Grado headphones feel like cheap toys and are only good for rock or metal until you get to the PS series or RS, which then you might be able to somewhat enjoy classical, maybe even a low quality jazz song! Look at the Sennheiser 485 and 600, two headphones that handle anything you toss at them and are pretty cheap compared to grado, and solidly built and infinitely more comfortable.

Yes, I'm not too thrilled with grado as a company or a product, either.

Thats a nice list amangeorge. I can agree with most of what you have said, although we have a few discrepancies in the ordering (most notably sennheiser and grado)

 

[AmanGeorge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrGreen /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, I'm not too thrilled with grado as a company or a product, either. Thats a nice list amangeorge. I can agree with most of what you have said, although we have a few discrepancies in the ordering (most notably sennheiser and grado)

Yeah, definitely some discrepancies. God knows I love the ER4P, but I don't think that Ety deserves to be in the conversation without a larger product line that can be evaluated - one outstanding product does not a great company make (this besides the fact that I also consciously limited myself to full-size companies only).

I can't really take rating Sennheiser as a "crap" company seriously. Besides the HD800, I haven't heard a Sennheiser that I truly love, but the 580 and 600 are very good, and the 650 suits enough folks' tastes that it deserves some consideration. The willingness to make a statement product like the Orpheus that is so revered as an all-time great also speaks to their importance within the industry.

Add the fact that the HD595 and HD-25 are prominent features in the <$200 and the closed/portable categories, respectively, and that they have a very well-received pair of IEMs, and you have a headphone company that is deservedly on top of the world.

Grado... I'm a little torn. This is a weird company. On the positive side, they've been around a long time, have a large and loyal following, possess a unique house sound and design philosophy, and have had a number of "classic" headphones. On the negative side, they've never really pushed the technological envelope within headphones, their sound can be a little bit of a one-trick pony, and they have QC issues. On balance, I also don't think Grado deserves the treatment it got in your list, but I guess it's more defensible depending on what you value.

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmanGeorge /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, definitely some discrepancies. God knows I love the ER4P, but I don't think that Ety deserves to be in the conversation without a larger product line that can be evaluated - one outstanding product does not a great company make (this besides the fact that I also consciously limited myself to full-size companies only).

I think that Etymotics lineup is notably consistent, particularly in terms of signature. It just so happens that this particular signature is to my taste. They certainly don't have a lot of products, but I think the way they produce notably audiophile products consistently is commendable. I don't think I've heard a bad product from etymotic like I have from every other company, so I give them credit for that alone as well as the wonderful ER4. They are, in my experience, the company I am currently most pleased with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmanGeorge /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can't really take rating Sennheiser as a "crap" company seriously. Besides the HD800, I haven't heard a Sennheiser that I truly love. The willingness to make a statement product like the Orpheus that is so revered as an all-time great also speaks to their importance within the industry.

I'm more or less in the same position, except that I haven't heard the HD800. I also haven't heard the Orpheus so I left it out of my rating. There are a lot of sennheiser headphones besides the HD580 and HD600, and I think that the majority of them are quite frankly crap (particularly when you take into account pricing and politics that exists in Australia).

The house sound in the HD6xx line is really not for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmanGeorge /img/forum/go_quote.gif Add the fact that the HD595 and HD-25 are prominent features in the <$200 and the closed/portable categories, respectively, and that they have a very well-received pair of IEMs, and you have a headphone company that is deservedly on top of the world.

The HD595 has a strange sound IMO, the highs are brittle and the bass is, for lack of a better word, odd. I think that this is one of the few headphones I've really heard that makes music sound artificial, not due to resolution, but due to fault in the headphone. Add this to the price of it in australia, coupled with alternatives like the DT440 and the AD700/AD900 which I think play music much better and IMO the HD595 becomes a non-option.

The HD25 is released by sennheiser distributors at something in the region of $500 locally as opposed to $200 or something in America. Couple this with the ESW9 at (about $400 locally), and the DT250 (~$350). It, too, is a poor performer for the price locally, IMVHO.

The IE8 is the antithesis of what I look for in a pair of headphones, so I also rate it poorly.


Quote:

Originally Posted by AmanGeorge /img/forum/go_quote.gif Grado... I'm a little torn. This is a weird company. On the positive side, they've been around a long time, have a large and loyal following, possess a unique house sound and design philosophy, and have had a number of "classic" headphones. On the negative side, they've never really pushed the technological envelope within headphones, their sound can be a little bit of a one-trick pony, and they have big QC issues. On balance, I also don't think Grado deserves the treatment it got in your list, but I guess it's more defensible depending on what you value.

I agree the sound is a bit of a "one-trick" pony. Generally, when I try headphones for the first time I allow a few hours for it to settle. My brief experience with the lower end of grado (MS1), I was able to dismiss the product from my head quite swiftly, as it was notably not made for the genres I listen to (although I was quite surprised to see that it did okay at ambient). I say the MS1, of course, because grado is a ripoff locally, whereas alessandro is quite competatively priced. I wanted to give the MSpro a bit more headtime than I did when I tried them at the local store, but I didn't have the time unfortunately.



tl;dr I cannot deny the respect and appreciation people have for both sennheiser and grado, however they are simply at the "I do not care" end of the spectrum for me, because my exposure to them has been met with poor performance - or at least relative to what I can get locally (as I'd prefer not to get involved with importing as local business support is quite important to me).

I am personally very interested in the HD800, mostly because I have read a large number of sennheiser fans expressing dislike for the headphones ("they are not sennheisers", etc), however with such a markup locally, I will be lucky if I can ever justify the price. Heck, with the moronic politics going on, I don't even know if the local store is actually allowed to stock the HD600, HD650 or HD800 because they were forced to remove them from their website by sennheiser distro in australia because they have a website as well as a physical store and I havent been in recently enough to ask.

My ratings are solely my own opinion and experience, rather than what I have read or the experience of others on head-fi.

I find it interesting that the local dealer whose ears I trust greatly (although we disagree on grado and etymotic it seems), is one of the few people who agree with me regarding sennheiser. He offers 49 sennheiser headphones (assuming he doesnt offer the HD600, HD650 and HD800, which I honestly cant know), and he recommends three of them, all at the cheap end of the spectrum. Perhaps in addition to the overall sound of the HUGE sennheiser lineup, the price and politics have left a bitter taste in my mouth. Regardless, I do not consider a company with maybe 60 or more offerings - two of which I consider worthwhile (and three I have an interest in trying) - a "good" company, and the reasons for the mediocrity in some of their products frankly dont interest me.

 

[rsaavedra]

Naturally, the ones I've put my money on are the ones I have so far liked the most (among the ones I can afford, that is ) Of course, not all of their models are great, but some have had that sound I've sought:

Sennheiser, Grado, AKG, Koss, Shure

With the proper setup and music, I have also liked headphones from Sony, Stax, Beyerdynamic, and Etymotics. Some of their models are excellent, and these are undoubtedly great headphone companies as well.

I've tried a few high-end Audio-technicas; didn't find major objections, but the sound sort of just didn't call out for my ears, did not impress me much.

The other brands I just haven't tried, or have tried way too briefly to have formed an opinion.

 

[hardRAWKR]

Well I'm going to ignore anything I have no chance of being able to afford, so that eliminates Stax.
Well if I had to rank just based on the two headphones I have...
1. Grado (MS-1i): Great signature sound.

2. Audio-Technica (AD-700): Awesome soundstage and actually very balanced when given a bass boost, but not very versatile.

But factoring in what I've heard about other phones...
1. AKG: Despite really only having one flagship headphone, what I've heard about the K70x easily puts AKG at the top of the list.
2. Grado: The grado sound.
3. Sennheiser: Large line of quality products at every level.
4. Audio-Technica/Beyerdynamic: Really a tie, neither really stand out to me in comparison to the above three, but seem very good nonetheless.

 

[2rooi123]

ES10. best portable headphone ever made of of today

 

[Steven31]

Hello from the future!
this thread was a great idea. As someone with 13 years of experience which includes periods (within the13 years time frame) of exposure to high-end sound quality with a couple of high-end amplifiers and a couple of high-end cd players, as well as having owned 2 or 3 flagship headphones in the $1k - $1.5k price category and around 50-60 mid-fi headphones from various different brands, I thought I would comment on what I think are the best headphone companies, using method 2.

I only really have 1 candidate. For me, it has to be Beyerdynamic! i've owned quite few Beyers over the years and every one of them has impressed me, most notably the T70 250 ohm (based on what i've read about the DT1770, the T70 may still be better for analytical listening sessions), but the ultimate beyer has to surely be the A&K tuned T5P (I owned the first gen model). This headphone was truly sublime and so comfortable that I couldn't even feel it on my head, when I wore it, which helped to enhance the sensation of the music being outside of the head. But I still preferred the humble DT150, DT880 600 ohm and the DT990 (limited black edition) 250 ohm for their safe tuning (can't go wrong with the old beyer house sound!) and ease of use with the equipment I had, practicality in studio and build quality which I believe is second to none in the industry. in 2021, headphones such as the DT150, DT880 and 990 still have allot to offer and represent extremely good value for money. And I think Beyerdynamic have a headphone/sound for everyone, the number of headphone options/choices they have regardless of a buyers budget has to be admired. I think the fact that many studios (and many of these studios have a multi million dollar budget!) still use the DT150 and DT770, I think that says something. So for these reasons Beyerdynamic are it for me.
The next rankings again will be based on method 2, my raking of brands based on my experience with headphones i've owned from them.
2. Bowers and Wilkins. Owned the P9 Signature and immediately understood this companies philosophy. I'd rank the P9 Signature as the second best closed-back headphone I have ever heard. The only reason I don't still have it is because some idiot stole it from me in 2020, lol. It's a shame and unnecessary that they discontinued the P9 Signature.
3. Fostex. I love the way this company go about their business. They don't really have a social media presence but they are so good and wise/experienced at what they do, so big and successful, that they do not need to boast about their products on forums and try and grab sales. Fostex have made some legendary headphones over the years for sure.
4 Sony. I've always just loved the Sony way. There is a simplicity yet elegance in their product designs that really appeals to me. And I think they have made some very good sounding (and stylish) headphones over the years.

5. AKG. AKG would be higher up my list if they had never moved to china. Yes they have made some impressive (and affordable) headphones in recent years but I doubt they will ever repeat the successes of the K7 series of the 2000's.
6 Sennheiser. I think Senheiser are starting to go down the same route as AKG did in 2013, after selling their consumer branch to a hearing aid company. At the moment they continue to offer some very good headphones in the sub $100 market that are exceptional value, for their sound. And I was very impressed by the HD700 I owned several years ago, and what it could do when connected to a high end power amp I had. I would like to own a HD800 someday though I feel I got a good sense of what it sounds like with the HD700 I had.


Struggling to think of anymore so ill leave it at that

 

[Mink]

Rationally I cannot come up with a list. I don't favor any brand over another, concerning their headphones and their own particular tuning.
But 'emotionally' I have a soft spot for Sony and Audio Technica. Don't know why, I own one pair of Audio Technicas and one pair of Sonys, neither are my favorite pair of headphones. I think it is the overall aesthetics the brands give off? Not the design of their products, no it seems just the brand name and logo? This is completely ridiculous, but it kinda works the same way with clothes. Mind you, I don't like branding on clothes, but I prefer Lacoste's aesthetics over Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Hugo Boss. Again not the products per se, just the brand. Same with Levi's, which I prefer over Diesel, Replay, Wrangler, Lee and so on.