[Kristofa]

Does anyone know of a location in Oregon that has Meze headphones for demo?

 

[liujun050612]

Well, have you tried the following closed back headphones,
which are also portable enough :

Fostex TH900
Sony MDR-Z1R
Dan Clark Audio Stealth (...this is the most priciest in the list)

What's a portable headphone? Compact size, light weight, foldable, good looking, easy to drive. Can you say these 3 fit the criteria?

Foster th900, owned before. To my ears too v shaped sounding. Already replaced with Stellia for home use.

mdr z1r, too much bass to my taste. Also extremely large size.

DCA Stealth, yes it's portable, But it is way too hard to drive.

 

[marekm]

Compact size, light weight, good looking, easy to drive.

AUDIO TECHNICA ATH-WP900

 

[Shane D]

AUDIO TECHNICA ATH-WP900

The most V-shaped headphone in the history of headphones.

 

[liujun050612]

The most V-shaped headphone in the history of headphones.

Yes. I also owned wp900 before. Replaced by Celestee. I would rather sacrifice the size to exchange its v-shaped sound. Still none of them are perfect. Will trade Celestee once better options are coming out.

 

[liujun050612]

You can blame Apple for that and removing the 3.5mm socket

That's for average consumer, not audiophiles. End game IEMs are also wired. They have regular headphone cable. Why not portable headphones?

 

[Quadfather]

I am listening to the Meze 109 Pro headphones on my Lotoo Paw Gold Touch. I know people are debating sound on here, but the Meze cans are sounding perfect to me now.

 

[peterinvan]

That's for average consumer, not audiophiles. End game IEMs are also wired. They have regular headphone cable. Why not portable headphones?

“You can blame Apple for that and removing the 3.5mm socket”

This move by Apple is most likely why we now have a great choice of excellent, balanced USB dongle DAC/amps under $100

 

[liujun050612]

“You can blame Apple for that and removing the 3.5mm socket”

This move by Apple is most likely why we now have a great choice of excellent, balanced USB dongle DAC/amps under $100

Hey, earpods from Apple are wireless earphones. Why not u12t, odin? Those are also earphones but still have cable. Apple does not say earphones have to be wireless. In the hifi world, It's not about cables. It's all about sound. Wireless technology now still can't compete wired. Same can be applied on wired portable headphones. Why no companies is focusing on sound on portable headphones? End game IEMs sound almost as good as headphones for fraction of size. Why not portable wired headphones?

 

[dbull12]

Hey, earpods from Apple are wireless earphones. Why not u12t, odin? Those are also earphones but still have cable. Apple does not say earphones have to be wireless. In the hifi world, It's not about cables. It's all about sound. Wireless technology now still can't compete wired. Same can be applied on wired portable headphones. Why no companies is focusing on sound on portable headphones? End game IEMs sound almost as good as headphones for fraction of size. Why not portable wired headphones?

Since IEMs have gotten so popular in recent years and since there have been such huge technological advancements in that space that make them close in sound quality to over-ear headphones, I suspect many headphone manufacturers feel it wouldn't be worth the R&D costs and everything to make really good portable headphones. Probably makes more sense for them to stick with headphones for desktop use from a business perspective as long as IEMs continue to receive hype and have such a huge market share for portable use

 

[KDre]

Swapped out the cable for a audiophile ninja cable and man I swear it made the sound just a little bit smoother and really balanced out the highs. Wanna say cables dont do anything, but that just hasn't been my experience.

 

[Quadfather]

Since IEMs have gotten so popular in recent years and since there have been such huge technological advancements in that space that make them close in sound quality to over-ear headphones, I suspect many headphone manufacturers feel it wouldn't be worth the R&D costs and everything to make really good portable headphones. Probably makes more sense for them to stick with headphones for desktop use from a business perspective as long as IEMs continue to receive hype and have such a huge market share for portable use

Good point.

 

[dbull12]

Good point.

Although at the same time I know there's a lot of people who aren't a fan of sticking things in their ears so I'm sure there would be a market for really light and comfortable audiophile-grade wired over-ear headphones. I'm not at all an engineer but I would think that the advancements in the IEM space would mean that large advancements could also be made to make really impressive drivers that can perform well acoustically in a lightweight, comfortable closed back design

 

[Quadfather]

Although at the same time I know there's a lot of people who aren't a fan of sticking things in their ears so I'm sure there would be a market for really light and comfortable audiophile-grade wired over-ear headphones. I'm not at all an engineer but I would think that the advancements in the IEM space would mean that large advancements could also be made to make really impressive drivers that can perform well acoustically in a lightweight, comfortable closed back design

My ears get really gummed up with IEMs. That would be my market, headphones wise.

 

[liujun050612]

Since IEMs have gotten so popular in recent years and since there have been such huge technological advancements in that space that make them close in sound quality to over-ear headphones, I suspect many headphone manufacturers feel it wouldn't be worth the R&D costs and everything to make really good portable headphones. Probably makes more sense for them to stick with headphones for desktop use from a business perspective as long as IEMs continue to receive hype and have such a huge market share for portable use

That's what the real problem is. No companies wants to invest more money on portable wired headphones. This market used to be pretty strong over IEMs. Oppo PM3, Sennheiser momentum 1st gen (which is the best momentum I have heard so far), Beoplay H6. The list goes on and on. They all look pretty and sound fantastic. Now this market is almost dead. Instead, IEMs are catching up so fast at almost a rocket speed. More new products coming out and sound almost as good as headphones. If wired portable headphones is continusly focusing on sound quality, it will not that bad today.