433115
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2015
- Posts
- 200
- Likes
- 20
I've been on head-fi for a while, making thread after thread about headphones, not knowing what to buy, worried about buying one and then not being able to return it if I'm not so hot on it.
I think it's time to put an end to it all. I'm hoping
In order to make this list, I've decided on putting down a strict price range. There's no way I'd be able to break a $400 limit. Anything above that is out of the question.
Preferences and Intended Use
Okay, so what do I need a headphone for?
General use and studio use both. To be exact, I want to listen to music, play games, watch video, and work on my sound projects with it. I'm unfortunately not blessed with a budget to be able to get individual headphones geared to each of these. I need an all-rounder.
What I care about - Resolution, Clarity, Detail, Soundstage, Balance, Neutral, Natural, Analytical.
Past Headphone: SRH440, I haven't ever been too upset with them, but maybe I just don't know any better. People tend to describe them on the bright side I think, but I think my natural hearing preference is brighter than most, seeing as the bass-obsession of today's youth is just absurd to me.
What I listen to? Pretty wide range of stuff there. Rock, Metal, Alternative, Jazz, Classical, EDM, Electronica, Techo, Indi.
What will be used to drive it? Well, while I would prefer headphones that will work without complaining regardless, I'm home most of the time. I plan on buying a Schiit Fulla AMP/DAC to drive whatever headphone I end up getting. If the headphone I get turns out to be a high-impedance like the HD600, then I guess I'll just use the Monoprice headphones I've bought when I'm away from home or walking around or whatever. Truth be told if I'm listening to anything it's probably at home.
What I want ultimately in sound? Competence. A headphone that does what it's told as the composer intended and doesn't adulterate it. Furthermore I've been working on making my own music and I can't have headphones that make it sound different than what other people will hear. And I don't mind "harsh" headphones. If what I'm listening to has errors or distortion in it, then it has errors or distortion in it, period. This helps me to address the problem, which isn't the headphone, it's the audio source. A good headphone presents the sound as it is, and if it's crap, then it's crap. That's not the headphone's fault. I want something that'll play the high highs as well as the lower lows and without a bias to them unless the song itself is biased.
Source Audio: It's probably not really relevant, but most of what I listen to is FLAC, AAC, or if it's MP3 it'll be a bitrate of 320 or higher. This, of course, doesn't apply to online videos and gaming and what not.
Comfort: I have detached ears, probably larger than the average person's. One thing that really persuaded me away from the Oppo PM-3 when I was almost set on it was the size warnings I was seeing from others, and some even going as far as to call them "on-ear". Then I looked at the images of the PM-3, and then looked at these Monoprice headphones I have. They look a lot alike, and my ears don't fully fit in these MP ones and would hurt after a long time. So that's a big reason I've decided to move away from the PM-3 and consider others. I suppose Oppo isn't from a Western country, and the vast majority of Asians have smaller, attached ears. This makes sense if they're operating from there.
Return Policy: I'd feel much more confident about my purchase if there's a way to return them if I want to. The thought of being stuck with what I've gotten is one that keeps me off of buying.
The Candidates
Here we have the candidates that I've been able to put together. I added a couple, the title would be too long if I shoved them all in there. If you have any additions to it then just speak up - just don't break the $400 limit and make sure they're full-size headphones, I don't like any of that on-ear crap.
These all seem to be high-regard headphones in this price range by what I can tell.
I'm especially interested to hear about the R70x as it is so new and not really talked about yet, with few reviews seeming to exist, but the few there are regard it as exemplary. If you're confused as to why they're on the list even though they're listed for $489 on their site, it's because Amazon is carrying them for $349. For whatever reason other vendors seem to always sell Audio Technica products for far lower than the MSRP on the AT website. It is very high impedance though, at 360Ω.
Closing Remarks
I'm hoping this is the last thread I have to make regarding all of this. I need to hurry up and buy something.
Thanks to Head-Fi for enduring all the posts I make. It's been quite a merry-go-round. Sorry for posting in this category, but it's so much better here than in the actual recommendations threads where it appears less users bother to go into, especially the experienced ones.
Sorry if my wording seems a bit harsh or strict, but I find that when you're really looking to be decisive you have to cast-aside "fuzziness" and start dealing with confidence, in absolutes, and by strict definitions.
I hope this kind of thread will help other buyers by addressing this and looking for an all-purpose headphone, assuming experienced users will reply. I'm sure I'm not the only person that can't buy several headphones.
- Alex
I think it's time to put an end to it all. I'm hoping
In order to make this list, I've decided on putting down a strict price range. There's no way I'd be able to break a $400 limit. Anything above that is out of the question.
Preferences and Intended Use
Okay, so what do I need a headphone for?
General use and studio use both. To be exact, I want to listen to music, play games, watch video, and work on my sound projects with it. I'm unfortunately not blessed with a budget to be able to get individual headphones geared to each of these. I need an all-rounder.
What I care about - Resolution, Clarity, Detail, Soundstage, Balance, Neutral, Natural, Analytical.
Past Headphone: SRH440, I haven't ever been too upset with them, but maybe I just don't know any better. People tend to describe them on the bright side I think, but I think my natural hearing preference is brighter than most, seeing as the bass-obsession of today's youth is just absurd to me.
What I listen to? Pretty wide range of stuff there. Rock, Metal, Alternative, Jazz, Classical, EDM, Electronica, Techo, Indi.
What will be used to drive it? Well, while I would prefer headphones that will work without complaining regardless, I'm home most of the time. I plan on buying a Schiit Fulla AMP/DAC to drive whatever headphone I end up getting. If the headphone I get turns out to be a high-impedance like the HD600, then I guess I'll just use the Monoprice headphones I've bought when I'm away from home or walking around or whatever. Truth be told if I'm listening to anything it's probably at home.
What I want ultimately in sound? Competence. A headphone that does what it's told as the composer intended and doesn't adulterate it. Furthermore I've been working on making my own music and I can't have headphones that make it sound different than what other people will hear. And I don't mind "harsh" headphones. If what I'm listening to has errors or distortion in it, then it has errors or distortion in it, period. This helps me to address the problem, which isn't the headphone, it's the audio source. A good headphone presents the sound as it is, and if it's crap, then it's crap. That's not the headphone's fault. I want something that'll play the high highs as well as the lower lows and without a bias to them unless the song itself is biased.
Source Audio: It's probably not really relevant, but most of what I listen to is FLAC, AAC, or if it's MP3 it'll be a bitrate of 320 or higher. This, of course, doesn't apply to online videos and gaming and what not.
Comfort: I have detached ears, probably larger than the average person's. One thing that really persuaded me away from the Oppo PM-3 when I was almost set on it was the size warnings I was seeing from others, and some even going as far as to call them "on-ear". Then I looked at the images of the PM-3, and then looked at these Monoprice headphones I have. They look a lot alike, and my ears don't fully fit in these MP ones and would hurt after a long time. So that's a big reason I've decided to move away from the PM-3 and consider others. I suppose Oppo isn't from a Western country, and the vast majority of Asians have smaller, attached ears. This makes sense if they're operating from there.
Return Policy: I'd feel much more confident about my purchase if there's a way to return them if I want to. The thought of being stuck with what I've gotten is one that keeps me off of buying.
The Candidates
Here we have the candidates that I've been able to put together. I added a couple, the title would be too long if I shoved them all in there. If you have any additions to it then just speak up - just don't break the $400 limit and make sure they're full-size headphones, I don't like any of that on-ear crap.
- Philips Fidelio X2
- Sennhesier HD600
- AKG K702
- Audio Technica ATH-R70x
- HiFiMAN HE400S
- Oppo PM-3
- Bang & Olufsen H6
- Sennheiser Momentum 2
These all seem to be high-regard headphones in this price range by what I can tell.
I'm especially interested to hear about the R70x as it is so new and not really talked about yet, with few reviews seeming to exist, but the few there are regard it as exemplary. If you're confused as to why they're on the list even though they're listed for $489 on their site, it's because Amazon is carrying them for $349. For whatever reason other vendors seem to always sell Audio Technica products for far lower than the MSRP on the AT website. It is very high impedance though, at 360Ω.
Closing Remarks
I'm hoping this is the last thread I have to make regarding all of this. I need to hurry up and buy something.
Thanks to Head-Fi for enduring all the posts I make. It's been quite a merry-go-round. Sorry for posting in this category, but it's so much better here than in the actual recommendations threads where it appears less users bother to go into, especially the experienced ones.
Sorry if my wording seems a bit harsh or strict, but I find that when you're really looking to be decisive you have to cast-aside "fuzziness" and start dealing with confidence, in absolutes, and by strict definitions.
I hope this kind of thread will help other buyers by addressing this and looking for an all-purpose headphone, assuming experienced users will reply. I'm sure I'm not the only person that can't buy several headphones.
- Alex