Imbrium998
New Head-Fier
Hello everyone. I was wondering if I might be able to get some insight from some members that have much more experience than I do with headphones. I have been headphone listening for some time, but only seriously perhaps in the last year. So this means that I probably don't have wide experience with phone brands.
My music listening: Rock, Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive and melodic metal. Classical (chamber, orchestra, pipe organ, quartet, operetta), Soundtracks, Fusion.
In any case, I am trying to find phones that suit my listening style. I have bought or spent significant time with the following headhpnes. Without a specific worry about comfort, here is what I have found based on my experience:
Focal Elegia - Sounded ok. However seemed like it wanted to provide more detail, but it had no more to give. In short...sounded balanced but not clear Grade: B-
Dan Clark E3 - Loved the make of them. Enveloping experience. Disappointed that they seemed a bit starved of power (I was using a Schiit Midgard at the time) It seemed to me like not all the frequencies were at a level I would consider listen-worthy at any given times. I guess I would consider this headphone as "not balanced" I only had the headphone for use of about 40-50 hours. I have since returned them, as $2k for something I am truly not enjoying isnt a good option Grade: B-
Audeze LCD-XC Creators Edition - Squashed sound stage. Just like with the DC E3s, some frequency ranges are not really there at a comfortable listening level for my taste. And yes....no low end at all. They are bigger than I would like, but I bought them for late night listening when I cannot use open back headphones. Grade: D-
Focal Elex - I feel like I actually got somewhere with these. They sounded fairly balanced to me and I used them 6-8 hours a day for months on end and felt like I got my moneys worth by buying them. They had decent low end, pretty reasonable at revealing the music the way I thought they should. Grade: A-
Focal Celestee - The sound signature is representative of what I would expect from a Focal. I feel like they are a little boomy, but not quite muddy. The soundstage is good for what I would expect of a close back headphone. Rather happy with these so far Grade: B+
Focal Clear - Bamm! These hit really close to a nice sounding set of cans. I was lucky enough to score a set, and have not looked back (going on about 4 months with these in very heavy rotation) Grade: A+
ZMF Bokeh - These are very new to me, so maybe I need to develop how they sound a bit more in my head. They are more of a fun headphone, a bit more boomy than the Focal Celestee. I want to love these so bad, but I find them very crispy on the top end. I did get some protein thin pads and replaced the solid titan mesh to cool them off. I still have yet to get comfortable with them just yet.
Based on my descriptions here, can anyone suggest a direction to head to considering what I like and don't like, and why?
Maybe I am too much of a Focal fanboy? I would not be hurt if I was called that, but I would love to find some alternatives going forward. Thank you for reading!
D
My music listening: Rock, Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive and melodic metal. Classical (chamber, orchestra, pipe organ, quartet, operetta), Soundtracks, Fusion.
In any case, I am trying to find phones that suit my listening style. I have bought or spent significant time with the following headhpnes. Without a specific worry about comfort, here is what I have found based on my experience:
Focal Elegia - Sounded ok. However seemed like it wanted to provide more detail, but it had no more to give. In short...sounded balanced but not clear Grade: B-
Dan Clark E3 - Loved the make of them. Enveloping experience. Disappointed that they seemed a bit starved of power (I was using a Schiit Midgard at the time) It seemed to me like not all the frequencies were at a level I would consider listen-worthy at any given times. I guess I would consider this headphone as "not balanced" I only had the headphone for use of about 40-50 hours. I have since returned them, as $2k for something I am truly not enjoying isnt a good option Grade: B-
Audeze LCD-XC Creators Edition - Squashed sound stage. Just like with the DC E3s, some frequency ranges are not really there at a comfortable listening level for my taste. And yes....no low end at all. They are bigger than I would like, but I bought them for late night listening when I cannot use open back headphones. Grade: D-
Focal Elex - I feel like I actually got somewhere with these. They sounded fairly balanced to me and I used them 6-8 hours a day for months on end and felt like I got my moneys worth by buying them. They had decent low end, pretty reasonable at revealing the music the way I thought they should. Grade: A-
Focal Celestee - The sound signature is representative of what I would expect from a Focal. I feel like they are a little boomy, but not quite muddy. The soundstage is good for what I would expect of a close back headphone. Rather happy with these so far Grade: B+
Focal Clear - Bamm! These hit really close to a nice sounding set of cans. I was lucky enough to score a set, and have not looked back (going on about 4 months with these in very heavy rotation) Grade: A+
ZMF Bokeh - These are very new to me, so maybe I need to develop how they sound a bit more in my head. They are more of a fun headphone, a bit more boomy than the Focal Celestee. I want to love these so bad, but I find them very crispy on the top end. I did get some protein thin pads and replaced the solid titan mesh to cool them off. I still have yet to get comfortable with them just yet.
Based on my descriptions here, can anyone suggest a direction to head to considering what I like and don't like, and why?
Maybe I am too much of a Focal fanboy? I would not be hurt if I was called that, but I would love to find some alternatives going forward. Thank you for reading!
D
