They are most likely not worth it to your other half. In a relationship it seems big ticket purchases end up being normal stuff to live with, houses, cars and such. I had a much easer time buying the stuff I wanted before I was married. Maybe some bread earners have huge amounts of extra cash to throw at an esoteric headphone system. One thing I did learn was that it was much easer to buy a big item and after the money was sent tell my wife about it. It is much easer to ask for forgiveness then to ask for permission. Single folks out there should enjoy their spending while they can.
Expensive headphones are absolutely worth it. I mean the STAX 009, is the only can that is smooth and lush, anything else is just pretending. There are some really knowledgeable people that I am learning from in the high-end forum.
They are most likely not worth it to your other half. In a relationship it seems big ticket purchases end up being normal stuff to live with, houses, cars and such. I had a much easer time buying the stuff I wanted before I was married. Maybe some bread earners have huge amounts of extra cash to throw at an esoteric headphone system. One thing I did learn was that it was much easer to buy a big item and after the money was sent tell my wife about it. It is much easer to ask for forgiveness then to ask for permission. Single folks out there should enjoy their spending while they can.
My wife has actually been quite supportive - I don't spend a lot on other things, never have. So she indulges me. But I usually tell her what I'm intending buying - then see how the reaction goes. If it's big ticket, talk first. If it's smaller, I can usually buy - and then do a bit of fast talking
Nice headphone collection Shubar, how'd you convince the partner to roll in all those Beats
Back to topic though from my experience, I found my lcd2s to be worth every penny I paid for them in terms of the enjoyment I get out of the music. Yes..they cost 1k...but the upgrade over my old headphones has been that great that I can justify it.
All right, I finally have a set of headphones I can truly call expensive...and yet $250 is cheap when you consider that these are Stax Lambdas with an SRD-7/SB driver unit.
For gaming alone, they may not have been worth twice the price of the AD700s, even if the frontal imaging is slightly improved and they're even more comfortable.
But for music...let's just say that I happen to like the distinct electrostatic sound, and it makes my AD700s seem a bit veiled. It probably makes every dynamic headphone seem veiled by comparison. Perhaps it's what the fans mean by "clear sound" and "effortless delivery".
It's even gotten to the point where I want to seek out new music to listen through these. It might just be the honeymoon phase still in effect, but so far, every bit of music I've played just sounds more enjoyable through the Lambdas, and isn't that the point of buying better headphones to begin with?
I have to admit, that $5,000 headphone Head-Fi TV reviewed that required a $5,500+ AMP to power struck me less as seeking the best sound possible and more a "because I can" purchase. Again, not judging, but there is a part of me that remembers the user studies people have done that show a correlation between price and perceived quality, regardless of whether or not that quality is actually there.
Think of it how wine connoisseurs will review a wine and describe 15+ different flavors they're tasting regardless of the fact that the human tongue is limited to something like six flavors at a time.
Do you think expensive headphones priced at $100 up worth it? Is there a marginal or lot of difference between sennheiser hd 518 and sennheiser hd 800? What is the price limit after which an average guy won't notice any difference in sound quality?
Edit:I have made some changes in my budget as I got to now its not worth comparing cheap cans with high-end headphones.
If you buy the more expensive headphones you often have to upgrade your set up, be it subtle or profound. The headphone is just one element in the audio chain...
It helps if you already have good source and amplifier.
If it is a big jump then yea but the highest end headphone out of my collection is the boring yet accurate high end dt 48, everything sounds so extremely fast on the dt 48.
Tbh i don't think it is worth it for me anyways.
The biggest jumps you could and can do is going from a $30 headphone to a $150 headphone to a t1 or hd 800.
"The biggest jumps you could and can do is going from a $30 headphone to a $150 headphone to a t1 or hd 800." Holylucifer
i couldn't agree more. it's called the law of diminished returns. it's a lot easier to go from say 50% to 90% but trying to get to 98 or 99% can be very expensive and not necessarily very productive. i started out with a Pentium 90 than more then doubled to a 386 to a 1GZ to a 1.5 than to a 2gig processor. if i want to keep doubling my processing it becomes extremely expensive without much perceived increase in speed. headphones are no different.
Well in the under $500 bracket the dt48 should get attention, and what it is designed for is comparable to hd 800 t1 he 6, this is the only can i know of.
Its plane jane sound and complete accuracy and no tricks or anything just correct and tasty bland meat as i put it, i agree the transparency is better then the hd 800 regarding the dt48, becauses energy is uttered and has to go somewhere hd800 is more of a natural flavouring with a not so perfect bland mix so to speak or just raw driver speed or whatever and this will get simply complicated i would not be suprised anyways it would be regarding transparency only a bit like what i said about this being 1mph faster then that car same with hd 800 and dt 48.
The dt 48 can is a high end can priced near to the mid tiers for what it is designed to do.
It terms of details and resolution, complex sound passages, neutral, transparency, speed of the sound is like an f1, hardly any blur so you can hear as much as possible as it was designed for and really is in the high end tier with all of that except it is mid centric and bass shy.
If you want a taste of high end without spending alot try the dt48 and do a critical listening session.
just get the m50 and work your way up from there
one component at a time: source(bitrate) , dac, amp, headphone, speaker.
you dont want to decide to become an audiophile head-fier and buy a $500+ headphone and realize you need equally or more priced amp plus a dac. then you read that anything but lossless is crap so you rerip all your cds which could takes weeks only to realize that youve spent $1000+ only something you didnt really need (yet) that was a bit spontaneous.
realize what you can spend and how much monetary value it means to you, and act accordingly.
take it gradually: the journey is more important then the end result. (sort of).
It seems to me like their bass response is too colored and overdamped due to its industrial housing, even if they do have great mids. "Complete accuracy" also includes a bass response, not one that begins a sharp roll-off of the bass frequencies early even with a perfect seal. Multiple sources can verify this, beyond Inner Fidelity.
To call them truly "neutral" would be misleading with so many verifiable sources showing that they are not neutral, despite Beyerdynamic's graphs that they send out.
Well in the under $500 bracket the dt48 should get attention, and what it is designed for is comparable to hd 800 t1 he 6, this is the only can i know of.
Its plane jane sound and complete accuracy and no tricks or anything just correct and tasty bland meat as i put it, i agree the transparency is better then the hd 800 regarding the dt48, becauses energy is uttered and has to go somewhere hd800 is more of a natural flavouring with a not so perfect bland mix so to speak or just raw driver speed or whatever and this will get simply complicated i would not be suprised anyways it would be regarding transparency only a bit like what i said about this being 1mph faster then that car same with hd 800 and dt 48.
The dt 48 can is a high end can priced near to the mid tiers for what it is designed to do.
It terms of details and resolution, complex sound passages, neutral, transparency, speed of the sound is like an f1, hardly any blur so you can hear as much as possible as it was designed for and really is in the high end tier with all of that except it is mid centric and bass shy.
If you want a taste of high end without spending alot try the dt48 and do a critical listening session.
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