[Ilomaenkimi]

Overrated; Sennheisers in general.
Underrated; Beyerdynamic T5p V2, Oppo PM-3.

 

[Uebelkraehe]

Underrated: Quad ERA-1. They are my main headphone and i don't see how i could get a marked improvement without spending much higher amounts.

Overrated: Campfire Cascade. The only really good thing i found with those is that they are great for double bass and have good resolution. Which doesn't at all outweigh their untextured bass, thin mids and big dose of grain as well as the below average soundstage and imaging and their at best mediocre dynamics. Also very uncomfortable.

 

[Ilomaenkimi]

Underrated: Quad ERA-1. They are my main headphone and i don't see how i could get a marked improvement without spending much higher amounts.

Overrated: Campfire Cascade. The only really good thing i found with those is that they are great for double bass and have good resolution. Which doesn't at all outweigh their untextured bass, thin mids and big dose of grain as well as the below average soundstage and imaging and their at best mediocre dynamics. Also very uncomfortable.

Quad seems very tempting, sadly open backs just ain't option for me.

 

[BubbleSoap]

just for fun

OVERRATED: Anything by Beats!
UNDERRATED: K712 pro, I find them amazing...

 

[Mink]

Overrated? I don't know really, how can I object to anyones' pleasure? Ok, just for the sake of it: Sennheiser HD650/600s. They are mentioned just too often, ("Please, don't recommend them in this thread...oh crap, there they are again")

Underrated for sure: AudioQuest NightHawks (and maybe the Sony MDR-Z7s)

 

[jackyhan]

Overrated; Sennheisers HD650
Underrated: Not found yet

 

[flarex3]

Overrated: Dan Clark Audio (MrSpeakers) Aeon Flow Closed headphones. Both the first and the second generation. Extremely overrated headphones with suspiciously over positive reviews all the time. They cost almost $1k but sounds worse than $200 headphones. They are insanely dynamically compressed and I'm not the only one saying this.

 

[bagwell359]

I don't care that much for dark headphones such as the LCD-2, but certain cans I really dislike for artificial boosted treble (there are many of them). Go to an acoustic concert in a good hall and you'll not find nary a moment of such treble.

 

[bagwell359]

Overrated: Dan Clark Audio (MrSpeakers) Aeon Flow Closed headphones. Both the first and the second generation. Extremely overrated headphones with suspiciously over positive reviews all the time. They cost almost $1k but sounds worse than $200 headphones. They are insanely dynamically compressed and I'm not the only one saying this.

Like/love most of Dan's stuff, but I agree on the Aeons.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Under rated: Sennheiser HD 600. Pure magic, you can't put a price on it. HD 25 also scales incredibly well.
Overrated: No idea.

 

[Kazz123]

Overrated: Oppo PM-3. I bought them at one point because they were recommeneded at every corner, and even compared to a "closed-back DT880", which are my favorite headphones. Overall they weren't bad at all, but they didn't sound significantly better than some other closed-backs that cost half the price. Plus, they were heavier because of planar drivers, and weren't that great in terms of comfort in general.

Underrated: Apple EarPods. They sound pretty good for something you get for free with your phone, or for 10$ on any second-hand marketplace. When compared to most defauly phone HPs, they're more comfortable and better sounding, plus the look is quite unusual.

 

[Kris_S]

Overrated: Ether C Flow 1.1 terrible price to preformance even by headpones costing over 1500$. Dynamically compressed.
Aeon flow Open/Closed Dynamic compression, overdamped, terrible price to preformance just like the Ether C Flow.
Audeze LCD-3 Not a big enough improvement over the LCD-2 to justify the price. They get badly overshadowed in todays sub 2000$ market imo.
Ether 2 For the price they are pretty meh, they do have nice build quality and comfort. That's it though.

Disclaimer! There are headphones from Dan Clark Audio that I like. The new Aeon 2 both open and close are quite nice a fixes some of my complaints about his headphones.

Underrated: Quad ERA-1, Sony MDR-Z7 mk2, Audeze LCD-XC, Fostex TH900 mk2. All the headphones listed under overrated headphones do not seem to get as much attentions as they deserve either because they have been around for quite some time now, or they never gained any hype/momentum.

 

[Kukuk]

Under rated: Sennheiser HD 600. Pure magic, you can't put a price on it. HD 25 also scales incredibly well.
Overrated: No idea.

Underrated: HD600
Overrated: Anything Grado

I can't really see how any of the HD600 series could be considered underrated; they're pretty much the go-to for open-back recommendations under $400 by half the users on head-fi.

I've posted here before, so I won't retread old ground, but I'll add some new ones:

Overrated: Audeze LCD-2C. Really this one kind of comes down to price. If it was a $300-$400 headphone I'd consider it to be fantastic. But at $800 it's a barking mad proposition. Mediocre soundstage, unimpressive bass, and overly suppressed highs make it really hard to justify the price. I think Hifiman's Sundara is a consistently better headphone, while being within the same overall sound signature. Not to mention it costs less than half the price.

Underrated: Hifiman HE-560. This one really took a long time for me to really like, but it has nestled into my collection quite nicely. It's biggest problem? The HE-500. The biggest knock people have against the HE-560 is that it's not the HE-500, a headphone I would say is overall more refined than this. In the minds of people who have heard, or own the HE-500, the HE-560 is completely overshadowed by it. But taken on its own merits, or even compared to headphones outside of Hifiman's offers, this headphone is a beast. They can be bought for $400-$500 new, and for that price they really are a fantastic value, considering I think they trade blows with the likes of the HD800 and AKG K812.

 

[SilverEars]

Overrated: Ether C Flow 1.1 terrible price to preformance even by headpones costing over 1500$. Dynamically compressed.
Aeon flow Open/Closed Dynamic compression, overdamped, terrible price to preformance just like the Ether C Flow.
Audeze LCD-3 Not a big enough improvement over the LCD-2 to justify the price. They get badly overshadowed in todays sub 2000$ market imo.
Ether 2 For the price they are pretty meh, they do have nice build quality and comfort. That's it though.

Disclaimer! There are headphones from Dan Clark Audio that I like. The new Aeon 2 both open and close are quite nice a fixes some of my complaints about his headphones.

Underrated: Quad ERA-1, Sony MDR-Z7 mk2, Audeze LCD-XC, Fostex TH900 mk2. All the headphones listed under overrated headphones do not seem to get as much attentions as they deserve either because they have been around for quite some time now, or they never gained any hype/momentum.

I recall when there was so much hype with Aeons, and how do know A2 it isn't another hype? The trend continues in this hobby, and it just really puzzles me why guys that's been in the hobby and experienced these cycles continue to fall into latests hypes over again?

I feel like this trend just makes this hobby really bland. If the prices were reasonable, it would be better, but it feels like the same O crap over and over again with new revision of this and that cost and arm and a leg.

 

[grogg]

Overrated: DT 770.

I don't know how these things can be recommended so often at their price with their terrible sibilance.