[433115]

I want this to be my last thread. Again, sorry to post this in this forum, but I get much better responses here. (This is a repost of another thread I made, because I posted that one in the wrong forum).
 
This final list comes after much of consideration and thought.
 
The Oppo PM-3 is winning in my mind right now, but I can be swayed if there's counter-arguments. This comes from the following:
 

1. High ratings across the board. Nobody, even the most picky, thinks less than 4 stars it seems.
2. Low impedance, doesn't need an amp.
3. Closed-back, so I can use them wherever.
4. Collapses so it's mobile (however, it's worth noting I use a large computer backpack anyway, non-portable headphones fit in it.
5. Cosmetically presentable, looks pretty classy really.
6. I'm just plain curious about Planar Magnetic headphones.

 
But, I'm still weighing this against against the Fidelio X2. I'm pretty sure the HiFiMAN HE400i would blow my budget, so only the HE400S is left to consider.
 
So these are the three I'm really left with. These headphones meet my checklist, the only downside to the open back ones are no isolation, but I'll get IEMs or the cheap Monoprice ones on InnerFidelity's Wall of Fame if I need to get separate headphones for that.
 
 

1. Oppo PM-3 ... $399
2. Philips Fidelio X2 ... $299
3. HiFiMAN HE400S ... $235 (sale)
4. AKG K712 Pro ... $389 (sale)

 
I believe I'll be buying a Schiit Fulla to power whatever I end up getting when I'm at the computer. But of course, I want to be able to use these direct as well. I decided on it against the Magni/Modi stack because looking at the specifications, the differences appear to be minute for the $79 --> $200 price jump.
 
I'll follow the /r/headphones type of guidelines and provide some info you may need to make suggestions:
 
Budget: $400 tops
Source: Schiit Fulla Amp/DAC, or direct from Laptop or iPhone 5S
Isolation: Doesn't matter by a serious much.
 
Use: All-rounder. Music, video games, movies, anime, and so forth.
 
What I want out of a headphone: Does what the source demands. Jumps when it says JUMP. Can get loud. Is balanced, neutral, and has some good "depth" and "detail" (being able to feel like you can pick out each instrument from the sound and hear fine detail). I think what I want is mostly neutral, but I don't mind a light spin in the "natural" direction. What I avoid most is tinny or veiled sound. I like clarity, depth, and detail without a too much bias in sound. A slight bias would probably be as much bias as I would be okay with, if it makes it sound more natural by chance. Also, durable, especially in the earpads and headband. I wore down my SRH440 to nothing because too much of it was weak plastic and cheapish faux leather.
 
Honestly, I wish I could find headphones that would be neutral to music, but could immerse me in games like the Turtle Beach X41 did ages ago with it's virtual 7.1 surround. But I feel that's probably not possible. But hey, a lot of this can just be messed with in EQ settings.
 
 
Hopefully my last thread on this. Hope I did my homework well and that this sparks some discussion for what's currently best in the $400 range.
 
Thanks!

 

[433115]

Think I'm going to bed for tonight. Replies appreciated, thanks.

 

[BA_D_R]

Hi,
I don't know much, but PM-3 seems the best of them.

 

[LazyListener]

Excluding the K712, I was able to compare the other 3 side by side using iphone 6 and Fiio E10K.  I'm not sure if any meet all your criteria (that's quite an extensive list), but these were my observations:
 
PM-3 -- Excellent build and comfort.  Very detailed but analytical sound.  Very neutral tonal balance.  Fairly narrow soundstage (the NAD Viso HP50 has much better soundstage).  Not musical enough from my tastes.  A little too dry and boring sounding, but accurate.
 
X2 --  Good build.  Clamp too tight for my large head.  Somewhat V-shaped tonal balance.  Very bassy with a somewhat sharp treble on some songs.  Decent soundstage for an open back.
 
HE400S -- Decent build but cheap earpad material.  Superbly comfortable fit, but itchy earpads.  Close to neutral tonal balance.  Light bass.  Beautiful, natural, life-like midrange and vocals.  Somewhat unrefined treble.  Fairly large soundstage (best of the 3).  Respond very well to equalization (useful for adding sub-bass).
 
HE400S was my favorite of the 3 cans.  However, I thought the beige/ivory Senn 598 sounded best of all I tried, and had almost as good comfort.
 
Hope this helps.  Good luck!

 

[Trea]

Of the ones you listed I have tried all but the X2's. I ended up buying the Pm-3's and have been very happy with them. Everyone's taste is subjective but I found them to be exactly what I was looking for. No headphone is perfect but it meets all of my criteria. I don't get the "boring" knock but I like neutral accurate sound in both headphones and speakers. I like to hear things the way the artists and engineers intended. I understand that some people like more "fun" sounding headphones but to me those types of things get fatiguing fast. YMMV of course.

 

[LazyListener]

  Of the ones you listed I have tried all but the X2's. I ended up buying the Pm-3's and have been very happy with them. Everyone's taste is subjective but I found them to be exactly what I was looking for. No headphone is perfect but it meets all of my criteria. I don't get the "boring" knock but I like neutral accurate sound in both headphones and speakers. I like to hear things the way the artists and engineers intended. I understand that some people like more "fun" sounding headphones but to me those types of things get fatiguing fast. YMMV of course.

The reason they are boring to me is because they are too analytical and too neutral.  I prefer a more musical can, slightly warm and smooth.  The HD 598 (beige, not black SE) is my perfect headphone right now.  Warm, smooth, fun, and in no way fatiguing.  The treble is too smoothed out for it to have the traditional "fun" V-shaped sound and be potentially fatiguing.  The bass is just right, about neutral to my ears.  Plenty of detail without being hyper-detailed and analytical.  Plus, I'm a sucker for a large soundstage.
 
To me, the PM-3 would make an excellent studio monitor, especially with a bit more upper treble.

 

[433115]

It's been a while since I made this post and I ended up with the K7XX and SRH940.
 
I find that it was a good pair of choices as sometimes the AKG is better and sometimes the SRH940 is better, depending on source. I like to keep in a generally neutral area but sometimes more bass and soundstaging is called for and sometimes more treble sparkle is called for. Also the SRH940 is fantastic for studio monitor use as it reveals the deepest and details.
 
I find the K7XX to be better for things like rock music and movies, both of which tend to be more bass-heavy and benefit from headphone soundstaging.
 
The SRH940 tends to sound great on anime, cartoons/animations, and electronica and such, and things that don't really benefit from hardware soundstaging (most anime is treble-heavy and doesn't benefit much from soundstaging because the recording itself sounds synthetic in nature). They're more treble-focused but because of that they reveal the finest details in the treble which will be sometimes entirely hidden on more bass-heavy headphones. They're also the best studio monitors imho, unless you're working on EDM or something since that's so bass-centric.
 
These rules aren't universal of course, for example I found the K7XX to sound vastly better for RWBY (an anime), something about the way RoosterTeeth recorded it makes soundstaging on it really pop-out, and I found some of MadHouses' works and anime movies to sound superior on K7XX, and sometimes the SRH940 can reveal details out of music you'd think would sound better on the K7XX or the sound just benefits more from the reverberation that a closed-headphone provides rather than the soundstaging an open one does. Also, worth noting that though the 940 is treble heavy it's bass still remains high in quality, it's just low in quantity.
 
For video games I'm usually using the K7XX because of staging and because it's more comfortable for those long-winded gaming sessions. Some things also take great advantage of hardware soundstaging, or simply sound better with a bit more bass quantity. Movies, real TV shows, and rock etc tend to sound inherently more bass-heavy and benefit more from soundstaging than animated works, video games, or synthesized music.
 
For serious use (video/sound editing) I use the 940. Also some things really just sound better if it's injected straight into your head, or really benefit from the "Shure Mids" of Shure headphones. The SRH940 is certainly a detail monster and sounds brilliant on anything that's more treble-heavy and has lots of sparkle in the recording.
 
It also helps that I got the Oppo HA-2 which has bass-boost and gain features, which means I kinda feel like I actually have four headphones - I can go as treble-heavy as SRH940 without Bass-Boost all the way down to K7XX + Bass-Boost, and of course the Sabre DAC seems to be great for analytical headphones/detail.
 
So all in all I found the two to be great together for me, I find myself using both quite often.