[JiDey247]

Hey, sound engineer / music producer here!
To introduce myself shortly, I've been making music for 10 years and mostly produce other artists or make music content for TV or streaming services such as Netflix or HBO Max to name a few. Been mostly making stuff on my Adam A77X but I like to have multiple pairs of headphones for reference listening before finalizing a mix.
I listened to many TOTL headphones this week as I was contemplating upgrading my Hifiman Edition XS (Hifiman EXS from now on).
I tried the Meze Empyrean, Audeze LCD-X, LCD-5, Arya, Focal Clear MG, Utopia, Abyss Diana TC, ZMF Verite. Did not try the Susvara.

1. At first, I listened to all of them without EQ and needless to say that a pair of Abyss Diana TC or Meze Empyrean sounded better than my Hifiman EXS. However, I believe the gap between a pair of Bose/Sony XM Series and an Arya/XS is much bigger even though I'm not sure it's a fair comparison.
2. Then, EQed them all to the Harman curve using oratory1990 settings and listened to every pair of headphones again so that only the technical strengths/weaknesses, dynamics, soundstage, etc of each headphone would come into play. The gap between the bigger brother Arya and XS became very minor, definitely not worth 800$ IMHO. Surprisingly, the gap between the XS and the Meze Empyrean, for example, became smaller as well. The empyrean could still articulate some instruments better but nothing to write home about compared to the XS (and defo not worth a 3k difference IMHO). At this point, I believe the main strengths & weaknesses would mainly be based on your personal taste (i.e. the focal models have a more intimate & dynamics/punch but less soundstage than Hifiman models, etc).

Given that we can EQ most mid-fi headphones to sound any way we want (planar responding very well to EQs), why don't more people use that instead of investing in pricier gear? For instance, the Hifiman EXS's highs are a bit rough out of the box but can sound SO much cleaner with EQ and can almost match TOTL headphones.

My conclusion: Once you've reached a certain point, most upgrades are mostly going to be sidegrades if you know how to use EQ to your advantage. Diminishing returns hit hard past a certain threshold and the XS may be part of the said threshold.

Don't get me wrong, I know a lot of people like to listen to headphones with their "out-of-the-box tuning", strengths & flaws, and may not want to use digital solutions.
Do not want to go controversial. Just wanted to gather some opinions about all of this.

 

[Krassi]

EQing is like cooking with salt and spices. You dondt have to use them but i prefer to have my taste and enhance my meal
Totally agree with you

 

[bagwell359]

Max sound? Well matched equipment, proper cup position, mods, <horrors - break in>, EQ (digital parametric vs analog fixed - then of course those that use settings as stated vs those that adjust by measurement and or ear.

 

[r343]

Harman curve doesn't always make headphone sound better for my experiences even when it should on paper.

Here's some examples why i preferred stock sound over oratory even it improved orginal tuning in some areas.

Utopia : somewhat muffled treble sparkle and recessed vocals
Clear: Too bassy after harman boom boom boom, not sure why this did not occur with Utopia but might be because different pads.
TH900: already thin sounding if no bass on song is even thinner now cause bass is reduced
OG HD800: too big treble drops (10db?) headphone cant take it without going muffled wonky and soundstage is reduced tons.

 

[nieveulv]

Harman curve doesn't always make headphone sound better for my experiences even when it should on paper.

Here's some examples why i preferred stock sound over oratory even it improved orginal tuning in some areas.

Utopia : somewhat muffled treble sparkle and recessed vocals
Clear: Too bassy after harman boom boom boom, not sure why this did not occur with Utopia but might be because different pads.
TH900: already thin sounding if no bass on song is even thinner now cause bass is reduced
OG HD800: too big treble drops (10db?) headphone cant take it without going muffled wonky and soundstage is reduced tons.

i kinda felt that with the verite as well as the T1.1. i think EQ works better with ultra low distortion planars than dynamic drivers. Lcd XC 2021 eqed is amazing!!!!

 

[Davidzak64]

Well said.
To answer your question. Because some Audiophile purist dispise EQ's. I find them to be a very useful tool myself.

 

[SHAMuuu]

As much as I have faith in my EQ skills

One cannot make a driver as fast as its superior brothers for example.

E.g A DT880 EQ'd could sound like its Tesla brother. But I don't think it has that last edge in fidelity due to the Tesla driver being angled for example, and more refined in design and magnet improvement for speed and less distortion.

But in terms of sounding just as good, one could argue its very close at times.

I do like the idea of driver transplants.

I read some people bought the ad2000x driver and put it into a cheaper shell they bought broken like ad900x or something.

And on another site a group putting the hd800 into 3d printed baffle for hd600 chassis. And with EQ and "tuning" .

So, I would say TOTL drivers have advantages, that sometimes mid level drivers cannot reach always, but, in saying that, it's not always major in terms of audible differences.