[obileye obiyemi]

I am looking for a closed back headphone around or under £1000, it will be my only headphone for use on the road as well as at home, My number one criteria is to enjoy the music, to feel the music, to be pulled into it, so i guess words like musical, fun, organic, full bodied, rich, meaty, engaging, toe tapping, emotional etc would apply i listen to a very wide variety of genres. i.e cuban music, brazilian music, jazz fusion, funk, african music, balkan gypsy music,, blues, bluegrass etc it will also help if it is well built, durable and comfortable. Thanks in advance

 

[descloud]

I'm also in this camp at this time given the pandemic and people staying indoors (more noise with more people living inside).

So far, the roundup of closed back headphones that are widely popular in that price range are (and my sound signature findings upon reading multiple articles / threads here):

- Aeon Flow Closed (AFC / AFC 2)
= controversial sound signature from what I've read, where some would say they have an almost balanced signature

- Focal Elegia
= well balanced overall with good bass and extended highs, but has some weird peaks or qualities in the upper mids / treble and some claim they have this metallic quality in the higs

- Campfire Audio Cascades
= all about that bass, sometimes intruding the mids from some I've read, but likely the fun sounding type for modern genres

- Audeze LCD-2 Closed
= somewhat resembles the LCD-2 classic sound, but with more bass and some weird tone in the mids as some people states

- Sony Z7 / Z7mk2
= sony house sound with darker signature, some say is a lesser Z1R, less fatiguing listen in the long term

I'm probably not accurate in the sound signatures as these are only the ones I've gathered from reading up on them. Still looking for one too.

 

[big45-70]

Honestly I would look at the Meze 99C or Noir, its well below your budget and is a very very musical headphone.

 

[Eddie C]

I saw a post about the Fostex woodies and if I remember correctly they're all very punchy and dynamic with the purpleheart Model with most bass. They look superb by the way!

 

[obileye obiyemi]

Thanks for the suggestions! I ve had the cascades for just under 2 years now and I like them a lot, before that I had the 99 classics and before that, the momentums, so I havent really heard a lot of headphones, my issue is that cause I walk about 3 hours nearly everyday to work and back and I also do a lot of trekking, always with the cascades, in the las few months it feels like the HD800 connectors on the cascades are starting to come loose, so when I am walking the actual sound seems to fade in and out and it seems to happen as i am walking around and its affected by the movement of my head and my footfalls, the odd thing is it only happens intermittently, I think it might be the connectors but i might be wrong, it is affecting my enjoyment of the music and I fear that it is only going to get worse, I read somewhere that the HD800 connectors are quite fragile so I started thinking about looking for another headphone that does not have the same connectors...

 

[PointyFox]

If you need super durable there's the Sennheiser HD-25.

 

[Kernmac]

Ultrasone Signature Pro. Built like a tank, folds flat, hard case for travelling, reasonably small profile, neutral/slightly u shaped sound signature, punches, very dynamic, FUN, involving, resolving, sound. Very under rated. I have had a lot of headphones (many very good) and the Sig Pro is the only one I will not /have not parted with. Performs well form a DAP and scales with home system. I have replaced ear pads with Brainwavz leather which increased comfort factor. Standard pads although first class leather are a bit thin for hours of listening. Headband can be lacking in padding for some, although thicker Brainwavz pads increase clamping and decrease headband pressure.

 

[ThanatosVI]

The best closed headphone in that price Range is imo the LCD2-Closed back.
However it only has a 1/4" plug so it is not suitable for outdoors.
Also as all LCDs it likes to be fed power, which makes Portable use difficult.
It's not that you need a lot of Power to receive volume, but the quality scales very weil when fed with power.
Build quality and durability is great, for comfyness I am the completely wrong person to comment on.(I consider them very comfy but many consider them too heavy)

For outdoors in a similar price range I can recommend the Shure SE 846 inEars. Which isn't what you asked for but maybe worth a thought

 

[obileye obiyemi]

Thank so much for your suggestions!! I am already reading up on the Ultrasone Signature Pro and the LCD2 -Closed back, so far the LCD2 CB is looking like a likely candidate.....

 

[blackdragon87]

would def recommend the sonorous V1. great cans with a large soundstqage. very east to drive as well

 

[PointyFox]

LCD-2 CB has very poor bass extension if you care about that.

 

[musicmaker]

Another vote for the Ultrasone Signature DJ and Pro. Excellent headphones that dont get a lot of mention here (as they dont have marketing folks here unlike some of the other brands). Seriously good closed headphones and nothing comes close in the price range.

 

[CoryGillmore]

Thanks for the suggestions! I ve had the cascades for just under 2 years now and I like them a lot, before that I had the 99 classics and before that, the momentums, so I havent really heard a lot of headphones, my issue is that cause I walk about 3 hours nearly everyday to work and back and I also do a lot of trekking, always with the cascades, in the las few months it feels like the HD800 connectors on the cascades are starting to come loose, so when I am walking the actual sound seems to fade in and out and it seems to happen as i am walking around and its affected by the movement of my head and my footfalls, the odd thing is it only happens intermittently, I think it might be the connectors but i might be wrong, it is affecting my enjoyment of the music and I fear that it is only going to get worse, I read somewhere that the HD800 connectors are quite fragile so I started thinking about looking for another headphone that does not have the same connectors...

Might be worthwhile to get a new cable for the Cascades. Hopefully that could fix it. Seems to me you already have the perfect headphone for your needs, just need to see if you can fix it. And it could very well be something simple like a bad connection where it plugs into the DAP.

 

[chrisdrop]

Used ZMF; Eikon if you can Atticus if you can't.

 

[buffalobill]

Another vote for the Ultrasone Signature DJ and Pro. Excellent headphones that dont get a lot of mention here (as they dont have marketing folks here unlike some of the other brands). Seriously good closed headphones and nothing comes close in the price range.

What do you mean by "marketing folks", do you mean like product placement?