[Ultrainferno]

Look into Shozy Rouge, TRI I3, BQEYZ Spring 2. They are all $169. No need to spend $300.

If you're interested in the Shozy Rouge, check out our full review: https://www.headfonia.com/shozy-rouge-review/
It's a good one!

 

[koudairanger]

That's why most of the people stop there.
The level of poorly driven "hiend" stuff is usually worse than a forgiving 500$ stuff.

My personal advice: seek some reviewers that you actually trust(not "just fine", but say you almost totally agree and you know you have similar taste by looking at multiple reviews posted for gears you know about) before make decisions.
Seek some easy to get, popular stuff than blindly go for hiend metal bricks, go for popular pre owned so you don't lose too much for disliked gears.
And even though it's dangerous at this moment, when situation allows, maybe you need to try home visits with satisfied local owners, so you can get an idea about what gear to get.

 

[ubs28]

Going from Sennheiser HD 650 --> Sennheiser HD 800S --> Focal Utopia, there are big differences to be heard.

I'd say the sweet spot is around $1500 (Sennheiser HD 800S) based on what I am hearing. For closed headphones, it is around $999 (AFC 2).

However for most people (friends & family), I recommened just buying the $300 headphone (Sennheiser HD 650) as they will never spend $1500 on a headphone and probably will not even appreciate what a headphone like the HD 800S brings to the table. Let alone the Focal Utopia with high-end cables.

What is actually funny, out of all my headphones, my girlfriend always steals the AKG 240 if she needs headphones. I would have thought she would try to steal the high-end ones That also confirms to me that it is better to just recommend more affordable headphones to most people.

 

[FYFL]

To find your subjective “signature sound”, characteristics, compromises that are acceptable, you need familiarity with various headphones designs and tuning that could be characterized as “house sound” signature. No headphones are perfect and to find headphones that suits you ergonomically, technicality and are also tonally pleasing is certainly not an easy task. It takes time, research, try and error and sadly, investments.

My advice would be to expose your ears to as many options available out there. If you are someone that takes reviews into consideration, familiarize yourself with particular reviewer’s preferences and credibility.
Finally, set the budget that you’re comfortable with but be prepared to exceed it if necessary.
Good luck.

 

[nasty nate]

I agree with ubs28 on this one - I came from the HD600 (first real audiophile headphone I ever owned), then to the HD700 (dad owns these, I'm not a huge fan), then finally to my daily driver the HD800S.

Are they over-priced? Probably. I also notice something new everyday in my music I thought I knew well... because of these headphones. I did also notice many, many differences between the three headphones, and that's just one product line of one company. This hobby is infinitely complex.

My humble advice as a barely experienced audiophile is to start slow and well within budget, you may surprise yourself - the HD600 is all you ever will need / want.

Enjoy the music

 

[chesebert]

Going from Sennheiser HD 650 --> Sennheiser HD 800S --> Focal Utopia, there are big differences to be heard.

I'd say the sweet spot is around $1500 (Sennheiser HD 800S) based on what I am hearing. For closed headphones, it is around $999 (AFC 2).

However for most people (friends & family), I recommened just buying the $300 headphone (Sennheiser HD 650) as they will never spend $1500 on a headphone and probably will not even appreciate what a headphone like the HD 800S brings to the table. Let alone the Focal Utopia with high-end cables.

What is actually funny, out of all my headphones, my girlfriend always steals the AKG 240 if she needs headphones. I would have thought she would try to steal the high-end ones That also confirms to me that it is better to just recommend more affordable headphones to most people.

I would disagree. Going from HD650 -> HD800s -> HE1 was noticeable but not night and day. I would kick HD800s from the list because it just doesn't sound good to me. Never heard Utopia, but doubt it would be that much better than HE1, which sound signature I like but not worth it to me. I don't really care for mid range Focal speakers so not in any hurry to try Utopia (Grande Utopia was pretty awesome, I have to say).

HD600/650 is the sweet spot, assuming properly driven with the right source and properly EQed.

 

[Whazzzup]

Totally disagree with some agreement. I have two HP and 1 IEM and came about them in a deliberate fashion and am completely happy. yes i noticed differences in every step of upgrade in almost every component. I did stop, i didn't shuffle up the product lines either. I did give my se846 to my wife as i found encores more revealing with a nice bass wall, but enjoyed them both.
Now i never tried entry level on anything but did a/b 1 upgrade from hugo to hugo2. was it worth the 2500$ to upgrade, no. matter of fact i preferred the original more....

 

[Whazzzup]

lastly i did try susvara and was offered a 30% discount, didn't get it. I find my fully moded la900 and hd800S makes it impossible to find 8" inches of desk space for another HP at this point.

 

[buke9]

If you pick a person that has not heard a high end headphones then I’m sure the results will turn out that way. If a person has only listened to Beats all there life that is the only sound signature that they will accept so what is the point in that? You give them a week with some other headphones with vastly different sound signatures from what they are used to then take the test that would be more of a test. I mean just cold turkey listening to something like the Stax 009’s when all that you have heard before was some Skullcandy Crushers they would think they are crap because they just don’t have the bass and they also seem distant.

 

[KPzypher]

If you pick a person that has not heard a high end headphones then I’m sure the results will turn out that way. If a person has only listened to Beats all there life that is the only sound signature that they will accept so what is the point in that? You give them a week with some other headphones with vastly different sound signatures from what they are used to then take the test that would be more of a test. I mean just cold turkey listening to something like the Stax 009’s when all that you have heard before was some Skullcandy Crushers they would think they are crap because they just don’t have the bass and they also seem distant.

That argument can me made with any headphones though. If you listen to one high-end headphone for a long time then switch to another high-end headphone with opposing sound characteristics, it sounds terrible at first until your ears can readjust.

I definitely respect your opinion and wouldn't dare to refute your personal experience. But my own personal experience tells me that more I'm into this hobby and the more I listen and own high-end gear, it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to justify owning high-end gear. I'm starting to realize that I enjoy listening to music all the same whether I'm on a $50 set of KZ's or $3,000 Stellias. Differences are there for sure. But it's not always for the better. And its never vast enough or gets to a point where it becomes distracting to use the lesser? HPs. I often reach for my old Bose QC35 paired with my Galaxy Note over Stellia/Arche or Verite/Pendant as it's just more convenient to lie down, toss around, and not worry about scuffing the HPs. As I start to truly value songs over gear, I'm starting to value convenience and become less sensitive to technicality. Not quite there yet but getting to the point where I'm less restricted by the gear I use. Nowadays, I'm more sensitive to physical distractions such as distortion/noise from components. With that being said, I'll likely continue to purchase high-end HPs, as I like to collect nice things.

To each his own right?

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

That argument can me made with any headphones though. If you listen to one high-end headphone for a long time then switch to another high-end headphone with opposing sound characteristics, it sounds terrible at first until your ears can readjust.

I definitely respect your opinion and wouldn't dare to refute your personal experience. But my own personal experience tells me that more I'm into this hobby and the more I listen and own high-end gear, it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to justify owning high-end gear. I'm starting to realize that I enjoy listening to music all the same whether I'm on a $50 set of KZ's or $3,000 Stellias. Differences are there for sure. But it's not always for the better. And its never vast enough or gets to a point where it becomes distracting to use the lesser? HPs. I often reach for my old Bose QC35 paired with my Galaxy Note over Stellia/Arche or Verite/Pendant as it's just more convenient to lie down, toss around, and not worry about scuffing the HPs. As I start to truly value songs over gear, I'm starting to value convenience and become less sensitive to technicality. Not quite there yet but getting to the point where I'm less restricted by the gear I use. Nowadays, I'm more sensitive to physical distractions such as distortion/noise from components. With that being said, I'll likely continue to purchase high-end HPs, as I like to collect nice things.

To each his own right?

That’s not what he is saying though. He is not talking about adjusting to a sound signature and then magically liking it. He’s talking about having experienced enough variety of headphones to know what sounds good objectively, as well as what sounds good to you.

If I’ve only ever had Folgers coffee, I wouldn't really have a clue how good an espresso latte or Hawaiian Kona coffee could be. But let me try all of those repeatedly, and over time, I’ll discover what I really like, and develop a more diverse palate as well.

 

[buke9]

Well if that’s how you feel then that’s how you feel but I don’t feel the same way.

 

[Lazysnakes]

That argument can me made with any headphones though. If you listen to one high-end headphone for a long time then switch to another high-end headphone with opposing sound characteristics, it sounds terrible at first until your ears can readjust.

I definitely respect your opinion and wouldn't dare to refute your personal experience. But my own personal experience tells me that more I'm into this hobby and the more I listen and own high-end gear, it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to justify owning high-end gear. I'm starting to realize that I enjoy listening to music all the same whether I'm on a $50 set of KZ's or $3,000 Stellias. Differences are there for sure. But it's not always for the better. And its never vast enough or gets to a point where it becomes distracting to use the lesser? HPs. I often reach for my old Bose QC35 paired with my Galaxy Note over Stellia/Arche or Verite/Pendant as it's just more convenient to lie down, toss around, and not worry about scuffing the HPs. As I start to truly value songs over gear, I'm starting to value convenience and become less sensitive to technicality. Not quite there yet but getting to the point where I'm less restricted by the gear I use. Nowadays, I'm more sensitive to physical distractions such as distortion/noise from components. With that being said, I'll likely continue to purchase high-end HPs, as I like to collect nice things.

To each his own right?

I do NOT mean to violate cross-posting rules but want to note this is exactly what I believe happens when people "burned in" headphones, as it shows that sound signatures and tone and find difference make new headphones sound better after a few days of listening rather than the equipment itself changing.

But, BTW, I think if you find the same tone and depth Etc., you will note higher tiers do perform better, and are often times more likeable. It should also be noted there can be bottle necks in your equipment not including the headphones themselves, like the amplification, source, and any change in EQ.

 

[castleofargh]

Food for thought:

1/ It's about personal preferences and priorities, not universal truths.

2/ Almost everybody has in his brain the notion that pricier equates better. It is likely that the preconception will influence our decisions and to some extent, our impressions. If the more expensive stuff was exactly the same as the cheap stuff, we could still expect a majority of listeners to argue that the pricier stuff is better.

3/ Frequency response is a major variable when it comes to listeners' preferences in headphones, but https://asa.scitation.org/doi/10.1121/1.4984044 "No correlation between headphone frequency response and retail price".

Some domains allow to rely heavily on pricing to find what's good or what we'll enjoy using. but IMO we should be very skeptical when it comes to correlating price with anything audiophile.

 

[FYFL]

As a side note, I wonder how age affects perception of “neutrality” as far as sound presentation is concern?
With age, there seems to be a shift towards tonal accuracy, timing (probably more related to conventional speaker designs) and prioritization of “correct” yet emphasized richness of mid-range. Treble extension, resolution or sub-bass seem to be less of a concern or priority. No hard data to back it up. Just what I have noticed. Is it just me or is there something to it?