[Eagle_Driver]

Sorry for my prolonged absence from the Head-Fi forums. An extended period of unemployment, followed by my hiring at another supermarket, then finally my promotion to a full-time work schedule, left me with little time to even post in the forums. To make matters worse, my password expired and the email account that had been used to create the account was deactivated.
 
With those out of the way, I'm back posting about my recent headphone experiences.
 
In the several years since I had dropped off canvas and sold off nearly all of my "good" headphones (leaving only a pair of the Sony MDR-7509 {non-HD} headphones), I had been listening to music solely on my smartphone - first an iPhone 5c, now a Moto E LTE phone.
 
Along with my smartphone listening I had purchased a few headphones - a Skullcandy Aviator, a Beats Solo HD, a Beats Solo 2 and now an Audio Technica ATH-M50x. Plus, I have a set of Apple Earpods that came with my now-stolen iPhone 5c.
 
First, I was pretty satisfied with the Aviator. However, the bass and highs were a bit too rolled off for my liking. Plus, the plug at the headphone end began to intermittently lose contact. Which brings me to:
 
The Solo HD. Blurgh! What was I thinking? Murky and muddy. Enough said.
 
Next, the Solo 2. That's much better (sound-wise), but I feel too self-conscious about wearing a fashion statement every day on the bus and train and on the sidewalk. Plus, in my opinion it is worth only about half as much (sound-quality wise) as its asking price of $200. Nice mids, but there's still a bit of treble roll-off, and the mid-bass is still a bit overemphasized.
 
Finally, a few days ago I picked up a pair of the ATH-M50x. Already I'm liking this headphone a lot, although slightly thick and uneven in the sound right now. The ATH-M50x has already put my MDR-7509's to shame!
 
I will update my impressions after further listening.
 
Welcome back,
Eagle_Driver (Randall)

 

[Eagle_Driver]

UPDATE: I listened to my MDR-7509 again, and compared it to my ATH-M50x.
 
Compared to the M50x, the 7509 suffers from a boxy-sounding (boosted) lower midrange. Otherwise, the two headphones sounded quite similar to one another. The M50x sounded a bit clearer, but only because the 7509's emphasized lower mids ran into the upper mids. Plus, the 7509 is actually not as comfortable as the M50x - not only because the 7509 feels heavier on the head, but also because the 7509 isn't as secure on the head.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

My apologies. I have been posting sporadically since my announced "comeback" into the headphone game.

I have since purchased a few headphones (both wired and wireless, since I went from a Lenovo/Motorola Moto E3 (came with a Verizon pay-as-you-go service) that I was using back then to a Moto G4 to a Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017) to a Samsung Galaxy S10e, and currently to an iPhone 12. In the intervening years I had purchased a pair of the MDR-7506, then (among the headphones that are most talked about among the big-name brands) a pair of the Samsung Galaxy Buds, then the Koss KPH-30i headphones, then the Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro (250-Ohm) headphones that I am currently using, then the Jabra Elite Active 75t, then the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, then the second-gen Apple AirPods, then the Sony WH-1000XM4, then the Sony WF-1000XM4, and finally the Apple AirPods Pro.

In spite of me liking most of my recent noteworthy headphone purchases, I felt that there was something missing in my music listening. That changed today when I received an iFi Hip portable DAC/amp (I ordered the DAC through Amazon yesterday). I connected the amp to my iPhone 12 using Apple's Lightning-to-USB Camera Adapter (which I purchased separately at an Apple Store for $30). The Apple adapter wasn't included with the amp; however, three short cables came with it: a male USB-A to male USB-C cable for charging the DAC, a female USB-A to male USB-C cable for Android devices and recent Apple MacBooks and other devices with a USB-C socket that outputs digital audio and a female USB-A to male USB-A cable for computers.

I listened to my Beyerdynamic DT990 Pros through the amp. Wow! Now this is more like it! Even my computer that's equipped with a higher-end AMD AM4 motherboard couldn't quite cut it in terms of sound reproduction, especially with the DT990 Pros. The DT990 Pros started to develop its characteristic sound signature: Slightly boosted lows and noticeably elevated but not too spiky treble.

And the little portable amp has more than enough juice to power such harder-to-achieve-sufficient-voltage-swing headphones such as the DT990 Pro.

This mobile phone setup with the amp/DAC will be my new serious listening setup when I do not need absolute portability (though this combo is still what I would consider "portable"). My recently purchased wireless headphones, which I had been using for my primary music listening, will be relegated to on-the-go use.

An update with some of my other wired headphones is forthcoming.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Besides my DT 990 Pro, I tried three of my other wired headphones (all closed back) - my Audio Technica ATH-M50x, my Sony MDR-7506 and my old Sony MDR-7509 (non-HD) - with this amp.

Though still restricted in its soundstage and fairly harsh in the mid-treble, the amp made me appreciate the MDR-7506 even more. Granted, it already sounded quite good (although not the best) directly out of my smartphone with the cheap Apple Lightning-to-headphone-jack dongle, so being already fairly sensitive to begin with I saw only a modest improvement in sound quality with the amp.

The MDR-7509, on the other hand, sounded worse when amped than unamped. The problem with the MDR-7509 is that Sony tried to make its higher-end full-sized headphones of the time (1990s) with both low current and low voltage requirements (which contributed to its very poor damping factor), exacerbated by Sony's (at the time) lack of sufficient tuning whatsoever. Nevertheless, I retained it only to show myself just how bad it sounded out of almost anything (at least for what it sold for in the late 1990s). After all, one cannot design a full-sized over-ear headphone that goes very loud with so little current and so little voltage (almost as low as most in-ear's) and still sound good. That was true back then, and still true (although to a lesser extent) today.

The ATH-M50x, I wasn't impressed with it when I used it unamped. Amping it made it a little better but still left me wanting more. In other words, the M50x's sound signature, especially its somewhat scooped-out mids, is not my cup of tea.

So, unless I can find a closed-back headphone that improves the sound from my MDR-7506 significantly enough to justify paying a higher price for it, I will concentrate on getting open-back over-ear headphones that provide better sound quality than (or at least a different audio sound signature from) my DT 990 Pro (250 Ohm) headphones (which IMHO does sound good if a little bright on top).

Head-Fi'ers, please feel free to offer suggestions for those better open- or closed-back headphones. My music listening style preferences are all over the map, from classic rock to R&B to jazz to classical (and sometimes a little bit of country and hip-hop). I would really appreciate your suggestions.