blon bl03
Most overrated headphones?
So this thread is a good example of "never say never."
I think I originally posted an answer of 'anything grado' as being overrated. But after hearing all of the positive reviews of the Grado Hemp I find myself wanting one for myself to try. I guess its never too late for my opinion to change.
I think I originally posted an answer of 'anything grado' as being overrated. But after hearing all of the positive reviews of the Grado Hemp I find myself wanting one for myself to try. I guess its never too late for my opinion to change.
Also Grados are the definition of being picky to the setup. The same Grado can sound like absolute crap and glorious on different setups. But their build quality and comfort stays crap.
richard51
Headphoneus Supremus
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All the 8 headphones, i listened to after buying them one at a time, discovering finally that i will never be in love with any of them, were overrated for me... 
The only headphone i had been in love with because he did what i expect and succeed to do with my speakers/ dedicated room is the last i bought and modified too , the AKG K340....
Many had more experience with headphones than me here..... I cannot really point to truly overrated headphones in an expert way.... I never love none really anyway , and it is the reason why i turn my back on headphones many years ago and created my own speakers/dedicated room with success...Few headphones can rival a room/speakers acoustic well done .....
But i am older and retired and with sadness i had to come back unwillingly to headphone, because i sold my house ...
Miracles happen ! i thought anew about the only promising headphone i ever bought, the K340, i dedicated a new amplifier, dac, cables, pads, around it, i modified it too decreasing vibrations in the shell.... Bingo! Now i will never go back to speakers/room so good they were, because of the S.Q. /price ratio and because the hybrid K340 is a complete underrated marvel in need of few modifications to shine so much, that to beat it will cost many thousand dollars....
It rivaled the Stax Lambda of the times,1978, and some say it rival the Omega coming after it was born...After all there is a cult around the K340 too.... For a good reason i know myself now... Because like the Lambda was Stax flagship, it was AKG flagship 40 years ago on the same price level.... Its actual price after inflation will be over one thousand bucks.... His design was complex and it is probably the reason why AKG replaced it with more conventional easy to use and easy to sell headphone on the same varying design after a decade or by the famous original design of the K1000 .... But there is no comparison at all between one of their late replacement flagship like the Akg K701, which i own and the K340, none....Not even close....
But hype in headphone is almost everything.....People forgot..... They could not think that a 40 years headphone could have more value sonically than many actual headphones, if not most, save the few at the top ...
Which costly headphone can give holographic 3-d music filling my virtual room, with an "out of the head" experience in many well done recordings ?... I hate unnatural timbre and "between the ears" and only inside the head or sound only between speakers for example as in a non acoustically controlled room .... I want the music around me and realistic holographic timbre with non fatiguing extended high frequencies and deep bass ....
Which 100 bucks used headphone kill the K340 ? Which over one thousand dollars and more kill it too? Very few and i dont even know if they exist.... After all hybrid headphone with Helmholtz passive resonators inside are not too numerous and are able to give a unique sound experience different of any other ...
And at the end, the question of which headphone is the most overrated made no sense, overrated in relation to what and by who and for who ?
It is simpler and more easy to answer the question : which headphone is the most underrated.... At least instead of raging about a product , it gives to all some positive new suggestion....
My best to all.....
The only headphone i had been in love with because he did what i expect and succeed to do with my speakers/ dedicated room is the last i bought and modified too , the AKG K340....
Many had more experience with headphones than me here..... I cannot really point to truly overrated headphones in an expert way.... I never love none really anyway , and it is the reason why i turn my back on headphones many years ago and created my own speakers/dedicated room with success...Few headphones can rival a room/speakers acoustic well done .....
But i am older and retired and with sadness i had to come back unwillingly to headphone, because i sold my house ...
Miracles happen ! i thought anew about the only promising headphone i ever bought, the K340, i dedicated a new amplifier, dac, cables, pads, around it, i modified it too decreasing vibrations in the shell.... Bingo! Now i will never go back to speakers/room so good they were, because of the S.Q. /price ratio and because the hybrid K340 is a complete underrated marvel in need of few modifications to shine so much, that to beat it will cost many thousand dollars....
It rivaled the Stax Lambda of the times,1978, and some say it rival the Omega coming after it was born...After all there is a cult around the K340 too.... For a good reason i know myself now... Because like the Lambda was Stax flagship, it was AKG flagship 40 years ago on the same price level.... Its actual price after inflation will be over one thousand bucks.... His design was complex and it is probably the reason why AKG replaced it with more conventional easy to use and easy to sell headphone on the same varying design after a decade or by the famous original design of the K1000 .... But there is no comparison at all between one of their late replacement flagship like the Akg K701, which i own and the K340, none....Not even close....
But hype in headphone is almost everything.....People forgot..... They could not think that a 40 years headphone could have more value sonically than many actual headphones, if not most, save the few at the top ...
Which costly headphone can give holographic 3-d music filling my virtual room, with an "out of the head" experience in many well done recordings ?... I hate unnatural timbre and "between the ears" and only inside the head or sound only between speakers for example as in a non acoustically controlled room .... I want the music around me and realistic holographic timbre with non fatiguing extended high frequencies and deep bass ....
Which 100 bucks used headphone kill the K340 ? Which over one thousand dollars and more kill it too? Very few and i dont even know if they exist.... After all hybrid headphone with Helmholtz passive resonators inside are not too numerous and are able to give a unique sound experience different of any other ...
And at the end, the question of which headphone is the most overrated made no sense, overrated in relation to what and by who and for who ?
It is simpler and more easy to answer the question : which headphone is the most underrated.... At least instead of raging about a product , it gives to all some positive new suggestion....
My best to all.....
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Ilomaenkimi
100+ Head-Fier
B&W's generally. PX-series notably.
And Sennheiser HD700/HD800
And Sennheiser HD700/HD800
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Focal clear, just sound grainy and discombobulated to my ears
Never had the chance to hear the K340, but having heard other older AKG's such as the K1000 and the older K240's, there was something special about the vintage AKG's. It's the one AKG I honestly want to hear more than any other. I've had a similar experience with the DT 48 and it's sibling headphone DT 480, which I also modified, no headphone I have ever owned truly compares. Like the K340, the even older DT 48/480 has a cult following behind it and it's for good reason. There's just something fundamentally different and right about the sound.All the 8 headphones, i listened to after buying them one at a time, discovering finally that i will never be in love with any of them, were overrated for me...
The only headphone i had been in love with because he did what i expect and succeed to do with my speakers/ dedicated room is the last i bought and modified too , the AKG K340....
Many had more experience with headphones than me here..... I cannot really point to truly overrated headphones in an expert way.... I never love none really anyway , and it is the reason why i turn my back on headphones many years ago and created my own speakers/dedicated room with success...Few headphones can rival a room/speakers acoustic well done .....
But i am older and retired and with sadness i had to come back unwillingly to headphone, because i sold my house ...
Miracles happen ! i thought anew about the only promising headphone i ever bought, the K340, i dedicated a new amplifier, dac, cables, pads, around it, i modified it too decreasing vibrations in the shell.... Bingo! Now i will never go back to speakers/room so good they were, because of the S.Q. /price ratio and because the hybrid K340 is a complete underrated marvel in need of few modifications to shine so much, that to beat it will cost many thousand dollars....
It rivaled the Stax Lambda of the times,1978, and some say it rival the Omega coming after it was born...After all there is a cult around the K340 too.... For a good reason i know myself now... Because like the Lambda was Stax flagship, it was AKG flagship 40 years ago on the same price level.... Its actual price after inflation will be over one thousand bucks.... His design was complex and it is probably the reason why AKG replaced it with more conventional easy to use and easy to sell headphone on the same varying design after a decade or by the famous original design of the K1000 .... But there is no comparison at all between one of their late replacement flagship like the Akg K701, which i own and the K340, none....Not even close....
But hype in headphone is almost everything.....People forgot..... They could not think that a 40 years headphone could have more value sonically than many actual headphones, if not most, save the few at the top ...
Which costly headphone can give holographic 3-d music filling my virtual room, with an "out of the head" experience in many well done recordings ?... I hate unnatural timbre and "between the ears" and only inside the head or sound only between speakers for example as in a non acoustically controlled room .... I want the music around me and realistic holographic timbre with non fatiguing extended high frequencies and deep bass ....
Which 100 bucks used headphone kill the K340 ? Which over one thousand dollars and more kill it too? Very few and i dont even know if they exist.... After all hybrid headphone with Helmholtz passive resonators inside are not too numerous and are able to give a unique sound experience different of any other ...
And at the end, the question of which headphone is the most overrated made no sense, overrated in relation to what and by who and for who ?
It is simpler and more easy to answer the question : which headphone is the most underrated.... At least instead of raging about a product , it gives to all some positive new suggestion....
My best to all.....
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bagwell359
Headphoneus Supremus
Wow - brother! I spent decades modifying rooms and systems and then down sized in '16, but things are looking up, and I'm "right sizing" so I can indulge again my self with a room system. I can get an absolute monster speaker kit plus nice caps for about $1800 (BMR Philharmonic) which I'd rather have than any of the $2.5+k cans available. In fact with the HE-6 SE v2 on sale for $400 - and owner of lots of juice - why I would spend over a $1k now starts to be a legit question. A mint HD-800 (not S) is a legit want for my OTL amp... but once I get the room going and the speakers built - how much time will I spend with all my headphones? Less than 5 hours a week probably.All the 8 headphones, i listened to after buying them one at a time, discovering finally that i will never be in love with any of them, were overrated for me...
The only headphone i had been in love with because he did what i expect and succeed to do with my speakers/ dedicated room is the last i bought and modified too , the AKG K340....
Many had more experience with headphones than me here..... I cannot really point to truly overrated headphones in an expert way.... I never love none really anyway , and it is the reason why i turn my back on headphones many years ago and created my own speakers/dedicated room with success...Few headphones can rival a room/speakers acoustic well done .....
But i am older and retired and with sadness i had to come back unwillingly to headphone, because i sold my house ...
Miracles happen ! i thought anew about the only promising headphone i ever bought, the K340, i dedicated a new amplifier, dac, cables, pads, around it, i modified it too decreasing vibrations in the shell.... Bingo! Now i will never go back to speakers/room so good they were, because of the S.Q. /price ratio and because the hybrid K340 is a complete underrated marvel in need of few modifications to shine so much, that to beat it will cost many thousand dollars....
It rivaled the Stax Lambda of the times,1978, and some say it rival the Omega coming after it was born...After all there is a cult around the K340 too.... For a good reason i know myself now... Because like the Lambda was Stax flagship, it was AKG flagship 40 years ago on the same price level.... Its actual price after inflation will be over one thousand bucks.... His design was complex and it is probably the reason why AKG replaced it with more conventional easy to use and easy to sell headphone on the same varying design after a decade or by the famous original design of the K1000 .... But there is no comparison at all between one of their late replacement flagship like the Akg K701, which i own and the K340, none....Not even close....
But hype in headphone is almost everything.....People forgot..... They could not think that a 40 years headphone could have more value sonically than many actual headphones, if not most, save the few at the top ...
Which costly headphone can give holographic 3-d music filling my virtual room, with an "out of the head" experience in many well done recordings ?... I hate unnatural timbre and "between the ears" and only inside the head or sound only between speakers for example as in a non acoustically controlled room .... I want the music around me and realistic holographic timbre with non fatiguing extended high frequencies and deep bass ....
Which 100 bucks used headphone kill the K340 ? Which over one thousand dollars and more kill it too? Very few and i dont even know if they exist.... After all hybrid headphone with Helmholtz passive resonators inside are not too numerous and are able to give a unique sound experience different of any other ...
And at the end, the question of which headphone is the most overrated made no sense, overrated in relation to what and by who and for who ?
It is simpler and more easy to answer the question : which headphone is the most underrated.... At least instead of raging about a product , it gives to all some positive new suggestion....
My best to all.....
I have some experience with costing products - and I'm dead sure that irrespective of the design/labor/tooling/shipping/support/advertising costs the Susvara probably costs less than $200 a piece to build. Toss the rest at average per unit and its still well under $500. Retail takes at least 40% of the price - if not 50%. Pretty nice profit margin. Great can. If I had a spare $400k I wouldn't think twice and snag it and a few more others - and a Blue Hawaii.....
richard51
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2013
- Posts
- 2,339
- Likes
- 863
It does not matter if someone say that X headphone is overrated over Y headphone.... Or vice versa.... Too much parameters are there to take in comparison to be a relatively objective useful buying suggestion ....
A better question for me is : what is the most underrated headphone of all time.... If someone had a suggestion i will read it.... My own answer is in the post above.... But it will be an interesting suggestion to read others opinion.... Then instead of speaking of headphone we dont like we will name one we put over everything....
I personaly think that an headphone well designed can do everything well and can liberate us of headphones collecting obsession.... I dont like headphones anyway save the K340.......I will wait for others underestimated king headphone name contender.... Anyway if my K340 die on my head i will be in the obligation to replace it by what? I prefer underestimated headphone because of their lower price....
Anybody with money can buy the 4 top of the world headphone.... It is easy problem to solve with the money....
But it is a greater joy to buy the most underrated headphone in the world at 100 bucks and one of the best existing headphone like i did buying the K340.... Then i want to know if there exist another one contender and read about it extensively....
A better question for me is : what is the most underrated headphone of all time.... If someone had a suggestion i will read it.... My own answer is in the post above.... But it will be an interesting suggestion to read others opinion.... Then instead of speaking of headphone we dont like we will name one we put over everything....
I personaly think that an headphone well designed can do everything well and can liberate us of headphones collecting obsession.... I dont like headphones anyway save the K340.......I will wait for others underestimated king headphone name contender.... Anyway if my K340 die on my head i will be in the obligation to replace it by what? I prefer underestimated headphone because of their lower price....
Anybody with money can buy the 4 top of the world headphone.... It is easy problem to solve with the money....
But it is a greater joy to buy the most underrated headphone in the world at 100 bucks and one of the best existing headphone like i did buying the K340.... Then i want to know if there exist another one contender and read about it extensively....
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I haven't been back to this thread is a while. Thinking over the past year, the 2 headphones that stand out to me as the most overrated are
1. DCA Stealth. Totally boring sound.
2. LCD-5. It's too bright and aggressive and even most people who like it say it needs EQ.
1. DCA Stealth. Totally boring sound.
2. LCD-5. It's too bright and aggressive and even most people who like it say it needs EQ.
Hate to say it but for me it's the Meze Empyrean - way too relaxed and lacking in energy or detail resolution, to my ears. Tried to love them as the looks and build are stellar but the tuning made them strangely unengaging and kind of boring.
Fostex TH-X00 - They are not good.
cx300 is bad but hd 650 is not bad. they are very good especially for the price, i dont think u could find something better for the price besides a sundara or used xs
I found that the Empyrean can be total magic with the right amp pairing. They scale well
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