[Headoh]

I've been reading up on reviews for best closed headphones for under $200. Been looking at ATH-A900X and XPT100. What are people's thoughts between these three? Looking for natural sounding headphones which lead me to HP50 (and subsequently here).

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[dr cornelius]

I've been reading up on reviews for best closed headphones for under $200. Been looking at ATH-A900X and XPT100. What are people's thoughts between these three? Looking for natural sounding headphones which lead me to HP50 (and subsequently here).

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!!

IMO I don’t know if I’d call the HP 50s natural, as the hi end is too rolled off. They sound bass heavy to me, even though they’re not a bassy headphone. I don’t have them in front of me, but when I get a chance I’ll try them again - since I stopped using them I downloaded Sonarworks - I’m curious what the plug-in does for them...

 

[mbwilson111]

IMO I don’t know if I’d call the HP 50s natural, as the hi end is too rolled off. They sound bass heavy to me, even though they’re not a bassy headphone. I don’t have them in front of me, but when I get a chance I’ll try them again - since I stopped using them I downloaded Sonarworks - I’m curious what the plug-in does for them...

I had to stretch mine quite a bit to make the clamp tolerable. I think I may have overdone it as I find the bass to be a bit lacking.

 

[dr cornelius]

I had to stretch mine quite a bit to make the clamp tolerable. I think I may have overdone it as I find the bass to be a bit lacking.

One thing I found with fit, is the bottom of the cups don’t always seal well...

 

[mbwilson111]

One thing I found with fit, is the bottom of the cups don’t always seal well...

So maybe it is not because I stretched the headband. I really had to.

 

[ilovecables]

I've been reading up on reviews for best closed headphones for under $200. Been looking at ATH-A900X and XPT100. What are people's thoughts between these three? Looking for natural sounding headphones which lead me to HP50 (and subsequently here).

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!!

I haven't heard the XPT100 yet, but I used to own the A900. The HP50 has better fit and better bass, and overall smoother sonically. Strictly my opinion

 

[cel4145]

I think the HP50 is a much better headphone than the XPT100. The XPT100 had a really narrow soundstage. But for $80, they are a good buy.

I really liked the ATH-A900X, but eventually got rid of mine because I did not care for the wings. I lean toward the HP50 being the better sounding headphone. Nice thing about the HP50 is they are definitely a good bit more portable than those other two headphones if you want to take them on a trip, etc.

If you have Amazon Prime, you are only out the return costs of the HP50. I recommend getting them and listening to them for a week or so at home. Keep them pristine, don't rip the retail packaging, and you can return them if you don't like them. Only you'll be able to say why you don't like them and people can direct you to a headphone that is a good choice for you. So return shipping is a worthwhile demo fee, IMO.

 

[Headoh]

I've made (rough) adjustments in the image based on below link showing the decibel curve of a speaker. Also made one for Harmon Kadon's "best headphone curve" but didn't like it as much so went with "speaker" (dotted green curve on the link). I feel this accomplishes an apples to apples comparison.

https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/headphone-measurements-explained-frequency-response-part-one


Here are my personal notes. Please note I'm fairly new to all of this so please critique it where clearly wrong and let me know what everyone thinks.

-NAD VISO HP50. $174. Set to "speaker" equalizer sounds like a real open room of music. Set volume lower as this adjustment creates sibilance when on higher volume. Surprised at how real clapton's guitar sounds in his unplugged album. Subtly better than A900X but still noticeably so.. Too large a flaw in terms of leakage is a major negative in terms of using it for daily commute. Anything to improve on this?

-ATH-A900X $95. ¥9800 used in good shape. Flaws are the long cable and a little more harsh than HP50 but nowhere as bad as XPT100. Also notice more reverb than HP50.

-XPT100 $80. Eric Clapton "old love" in unplugged album comes out significantly more harsh compared to the other two headphones on "speaker" eq adjustments. Disqualified as it's not as good as the other two.

Am I on the right track or am I nuts?

 

[cel4145]

NAD VISO HP50....Too large a flaw in terms of leakage is a major negative in terms of using it for daily commute. Anything to improve on this?

If you are used to IEMs for isolation during commute, over ear headphones without active noise cancellation are not going to provide the same isolation as a decent pair of IEMs.

If you want headphones for commute, a case to fit the ATH-A900X is huge; not going to want to commute with it. And you don't want to carry those in a bag without a case as the wings are somewhat delicate. Doubtful they would last long for daily commute without a case. The HP50 are some of the more commute friendly full sized headphones in terms of carrying them in a bag. They lay flat in their soft case and don't take too much room. I carried mine all over SE Asia for a month last year. (not my pic)

There are some like new HP50 used on Amazon for $129.99: https://amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00E1UVXHO/. Fulfilled by Amazon, so if they are not like new, Amazon should pay for the return.

 

[SDBiotek]

And my barely used set is still available in the classifieds, lol. I'd keep them if the fit was just a tad better for me, but I don't want to mess around with bending the headband.

 

[nraymond]

One thing I found with fit, is the bottom of the cups don’t always seal well...

Paul Barton is also responsible for tuning the PSB M4U-1, and as a result it has a similar sound profile. Different fit - the headphone cups have more degrees of freedom to adjust to your head. Clamp force can be a little high for some people's heads. Design is a little bulkier all around. But worth considering if you're going for a sound similar to the HP50 but want a better seal. Here are Innfidelity's measurements for comparison:

https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/NADVISOHP50.pdf

https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/PSBM4U1.pdf

 

[Headoh]

If you are used to IEMs for isolation during commute, over ear headphones without active noise cancellation are not going to provide the same isolation as a decent pair of IEMs.

If you want headphones for commute, a case to fit the ATH-A900X is huge; not going to want to commute with it. And you don't want to carry those in a bag without a case as the wings are somewhat delicate. Doubtful they would last long for daily commute without a case. The HP50 are some of the more commute friendly full sized headphones in terms of carrying them in a bag. They lay flat in their soft case and don't take too much room. I carried mine all over SE Asia for a month last year. (not my pic)

There are some like new HP50 used on Amazon for $129.99: https://amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00E1UVXHO/. Fulfilled by Amazon, so if they are not like new, Amazon should pay for the return.

I was comparing them to each other. In terms of isolation XPT100 doesn't leak any if using the angled pads with the thicker side facing the back. ATH-A900X leaks some bass. HP50 leaks everything (someone sitting next to me can point out exactly which song it is). Not exactly ideal when commuting on a train (and a little disappointing considering these are all closed backs).

I'm hoping there's a way to drastically reduce this so I can keep it.

Is extra reverb on the A900X more natural or the HP50?

 

[Headoh]

Paul Barton is also responsible for tuning the PSB M4U-1, and as a result it has a similar sound profile. Different fit - the headphone cups have more degrees of freedom to adjust to your head. Clamp force can be a little high for some people's heads. Design is a little bulkier all around. But worth considering if you're going for a sound similar to the HP50 but want a better seal. Here are Innfidelity's measurements for comparison:

https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/NADVISOHP50.pdf

https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/PSBM4U1.pdf

I thought HP50 was closed back? At least based on Amazon. Why would an open back have more isolation? I'm puzzled

 

[nraymond]

I thought HP50 was closed back? At least based on Amazon. Why would an open back have more isolation? I'm puzzled

I own both. They're both closed back.

 

[trellus]

I thought HP50 was closed back? At least based on Amazon. Why would an open back have more isolation? I'm puzzled

I think you may be confusing the A900X Art Monitor closed back with the AIR Series AD900X, which are the open-back variant.