The funny thing is, what I should have done back in 2007 when I was going into the electronics stores and trying the headphones, is bought a pair of ESW9s. I have the LTD version here and, despite much, they are still the headphones with what I feel is the best tuning of all I've tried, and I can enjoy listening with them as much as my entire multi-thousand dollar rig. Mind you, I mostly listen in my car with the stock stereo system.
The funny thing is, what I should have done back in 2007 when I was going into the electronics stores and trying the headphones, is bought a pair of ESW9s. I have the LTD version here and, despite much, they are still the headphones with what I feel is the best tuning of all I've tried, and I can enjoy listening with them as much as my entire multi-thousand dollar rig. Mind you, I mostly listen in my car with the stock stereo system.
Unfortunately I drive a Ford so that's not a viable option. Also, here in the U.S. Chip Seal asphalt is the norm along with the horrendous road noise caused by it's use.
I'm actually experiencing something with a pair of headphones named MOOH-BE00BT, which are about 130$ on Amazon.
I listened to them without having any idea about their price, and I really enjoyed them. Extremely detailed and musical. I had no idea what they cost. Finding what they cost made me think that they are a realy jewel with their sound. I think there are extremely good options at cheaper price points as well, and that we shouldn't overlook something only because it is inexpensive.
Also, I agree about the detail, but I'm in another point, I try to find what has both the detail and the musicality I need. Happily, my ears detect musicality in brightness as well, as long as the guitars have a somewhat natural and sweet sound, like ie800 plays them guitars. On the other hand, HIFIMAN RE2000 is quite dangerously close to reaching the end of the journey of searching for both musicality and detail...
I actually have a pair of M&O's, only had them a couple days so these are just initial impressions so far, curious how I will feel long term about them, I quite enjoy them as well and honestly quite surprised me how good they sound, definitely get my recommendation so far, the bluetooth functionality is a plus too. There are definitely some good cheaper options out there that are often overlooked. Was trying out the Fostex TR-70 - 250 Ohms, quite liked those for their liquid midrange and the groove they have. quite detailed in the mids. Comfort is an issue for me though as I didn't like the sound of the thicker pads so stuck with the thinner pads.
I have pretty much settled on my main system though, the Amiron Home with the Sony UDA-1 pretty much became my go-to system the past year and is still pretty much end-game for me. Haven't listened to the Amiron Homes much the past week(other headphones) so have to adjust to them a little again but once I settle with them I am happy, I can't seem to fully settle in with all headphones but definitely can with the Amirons. It's why I kept the Amirons over the DT 1990 and T1.2 as I couldn't fully settle in with those. I could settle in with the HD 600 and HD 650 but they were lacking something compared to the DT 1990 and Amiron Home, a certain subtle musicality and something else I can't describe the Beyers had that prevent me from becoming bored of the sound while I eventually grew bored of the Senns.
I actually have a pair of M&O's, only had them a couple days so these are just initial impressions so far, curious how I will feel long term about them, I quite enjoy them as well and honestly quite surprised me how good they sound, definitely get my recommendation so far, the bluetooth functionality is a plus too.
my gosh...ive been out of the game for almost 7 yrs or so... wanted to get back into the digital world of DSDs and Flacs and DAPs...so on. Anyhow, i started to youtube for research and catching up with current headphones...my goshhhhhhhhhh.... an iem going for $2500? wth... anything else are 600/800/1200bucks and ive never heard of these names.... wowwwwww.
The inflation in headphones prices is running amok. It's not that long time ago that "flagship" headphones, like HD600 and its predecessors, cost below $500... and that was considered quite rich for a pair of cans at the time. Sure, Stax was the odd one out, with some of its offerings costing an order of magnitude more, but they were always more of an exotic singularity than a real-world alternative. And there were some other pricey offerings, such as K1000 and the various hardwood cupped Denons, but the median price for a pair of high-end cans was still solidly anchored to earth.
It was around this time that the mainstream interest for headphones started to grow exponentially. This was of course driven in part by the younger generations affinity for portability and convenience but in no small part also for budgetary reasons. Young people tend to have less money (I know, it's unfair) but I don't think this is the only reason because most MP3 youngsters couldn't give a rat's arse to the quality and experience afforded by high-end audio. Instead, I think there was also a mass exodus of audiophiles and enthusiasts from traditional home audio that for a decade or so had experienced a tremendous inflation in hi-fi gear (e.g. compare the cost of a pair of B&W 801 Matrix to the same mfg's flagship today, in real dollars... not to mention those +$1m offerings from other more "exotic" producers...). This development, not saved for long by the attempt to migrate and reignite the interest of the crowd over to home theater (which quickly got even more costly if you wanted to maintain quality), IMHO played a big part in if not killing then at least decimating the interest and potential consumers in the high-end home audio space. The flight to the headphone space was I believe very much a reaction to this development, this feeling of abandonment, inaccessibility and greed by the audio manufacturers.
This is also why it worries me so much that we have been seeing the same development in personal audio of late. Since the HD650 (which was a more acceptable price increase over the HD600), it's just got ridiculous, with big jumps in price (typically 50-100% for each new generation, every 12-24mo) first with $1,000-1,500 offerings (Audeze's and HifiMan's first models being good cases in point), "forcing" also Senn to follow suit with the HD800 (because you don't want your offering to come across as inferior based on price alone, now do you?). Consequently, the others had to up their game so to speak (price-wise at least, quality-wise is debatable) with another step-up in prices, now approaching the $2k mark (e.g. LCD-X). Now the latest "must-have flagships" (LCD-4, Focal Utopia, WM1Z etc) are about $3k!!
I'll be the first one to appreciate the R&D, craftsmanship and incremental improvements that go into these products but these things are supposed to come with time anyway, without a huge premium increase annually, at least in a competitive market economy. That very economy which pretty much has been non-inflationary since Lehman by the way....
I think the headphone industry is becoming a victim of its own success, attracting more suppliers (not only cans but also amps, DACs, cables etc), all trying to come across as better than peers by price positioning their latest offering just above everybody else's. Sure global demographics and the emergence of a middle class with strong purchasing power in countries like China, India, Russia etc means a bigger market potentially, but I'm afraid that the little bang-for-the-buck haven that this space has been for audiophiles for some time will face the same decay as that experienced by home audio hobbyists due to ramping inflation for the best products. Sad but true.
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