[jonathan c]

Hello all!
I have been bleeding my bank account into audio gear for several years now. Love to read posts about new and old amps/headphones/ speakers.

So…tell us about the gear and the …

 

[FOXDIE]

So…tell us about the gear and the …

I like a lot of acoustic and classical music. For more critical listening I like my DT 1990's for the comfort, have a few different pads to play with. Ares II Dac as a primary on my desk. A few different amps THX based, some topping, would like to get into some tubes and play around with that. I also have some planar headphones and two pairs of Focal. Spent some time with the house wiring to ensure a good circuit and ground to eliminate a pesky hum I had. All is good.

 

[The Indian Audiophile]

Hello world!

 

[Metalhead Maniac]

Hi, people of the internet. (TL;DR in BOLD)

I really need help finding just a normal pair of earphones, to the extent that I signed up for this forum. I'm not an audiophile, and I don't really care about super-expensive hardware. My current headphones are an old pair of Apple earphones that are wired with the 3.5mm jack. They were inexpensive (roughly $30 individually or came with the iPhone) but the sound quality is good and the durability is very good. These things have lasted me maybe 3-5 years, and even then they still work mostly fine now. Occasionally the quality gets distorted sometimes, letting me know they're finally on their way out.

So I did what you'd expect: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I decided to just buy another pair of the same headphones, only this time the new pair was noticeably far, far inferior. Although the product is from Apple and it looks the same, the audio quality is just horrendous, with insane levels of bass boost, making any music, tv, or movies unlistenable. I find other reviews similarly commenting that it seem Apple may have altered production standards and started cheaping out.

I returned those, and next I bought a pair of $50 in-ear monitors, hoping maybe I'd get better quality for the higher price. Although the quality is fairly good, again, I'm faced with the same problem of just way too much bass.

In fact, it seems that no matter where I search on Amazon, radioshack, shure, DuckDuckGo (google but for privacy), etc., when I can even find a pair of wired headphones that go in the ear (something I can fit in a pocket and use at the gym), it is nearly impossible to find something that just has a normal frequency range.

I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone would want these absurd levels of bass boost that drown every other voicing/instrument--lead vocals, keyboards, drums, guitars, etc. in favor of a deafening low end (ironically even the bass guitar sounds like crap.). And it goes without saying that it's unusable for tv or movies, because loud noises like explosions are deafening, while normal conversation (which is anytime somebody is acting) is so quiet and hard to hear.

That's one major turnoff for me.

The other is noise-cancellation or noise-isolation, or some variation of that name which means it's hard to hear the outside world while you're listening.

This one I at least understand has some case uses. If I regularly frequented a crowded places like coffee shops or had to take the train or airplanes on a regular basis, then okay, I can understand the appeal of noise-cancellation/isolation in those exceptions. But most of the time, in normal daily life, it is a detriment not a benefit. If somebody else is trying to tell you something, you can't hear them. If you want to sing along to the music you're hearing, you can't, because noise-cancellation makes your voice sound like crap. If you want to listen while you cross the street, you can't, because it's hazardous to your safety if you can't hear the sounds of oncoming traffic.

I'm not asking for much.

All I want is a pair of normal, in-the-ear headphones. No bass-boost, just normal frequencies aimed at replicating the source accurately rather than distorting it. No noise-cancellation or isolation. No wireless bluetooth, I want a wired with 3.5mm jack. And something that won't die after a few months. I'm in a budget of $20-60. Maybe more, but definitely below $100.

That's it! These things used to be ubiquitous barely a couple of years ago, at any price range and level of quality. Now, I can't find even one product that meets this criteria. The cheapest and crappiest of earphones boast noise-cancellation and "deep bass" as if this garbage are desirable features!

Any recommendations are appreciated!

 

[willd3]

Hi, people of the internet. (TL;DR in BOLD)

I really need help finding just a normal pair of earphones, to the extent that I signed up for this forum. I'm not an audiophile, and I don't really care about super-expensive hardware. My current headphones are an old pair of Apple earphones that are wired with the 3.5mm jack. They were inexpensive (roughly $30 individually or came with the iPhone) but the sound quality is good and the durability is very good. These things have lasted me maybe 3-5 years, and even then they still work mostly fine now. Occasionally the quality gets distorted sometimes, letting me know they're finally on their way out.

So I did what you'd expect: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I decided to just buy another pair of the same headphones, only this time the new pair was noticeably far, far inferior. Although the product is from Apple and it looks the same, the audio quality is just horrendous, with insane levels of bass boost, making any music, tv, or movies unlistenable. I find other reviews similarly commenting that it seem Apple may have altered production standards and started cheaping out.

I returned those, and next I bought a pair of $50 in-ear monitors, hoping maybe I'd get better quality for the higher price. Although the quality is fairly good, again, I'm faced with the same problem of just way too much bass.

In fact, it seems that no matter where I search on Amazon, radioshack, shure, DuckDuckGo (google but for privacy), etc., when I can even find a pair of wired headphones that go in the ear (something I can fit in a pocket and use at the gym), it is nearly impossible to find something that just has a normal frequency range.

I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone would want these absurd levels of bass boost that drown every other voicing/instrument--lead vocals, keyboards, drums, guitars, etc. in favor of a deafening low end (ironically even the bass guitar sounds like crap.). And it goes without saying that it's unusable for tv or movies, because loud noises like explosions are deafening, while normal conversation (which is anytime somebody is acting) is so quiet and hard to hear.

That's one major turnoff for me.

The other is noise-cancellation or noise-isolation, or some variation of that name which means it's hard to hear the outside world while you're listening.

This one I at least understand has some case uses. If I regularly frequented a crowded places like coffee shops or had to take the train or airplanes on a regular basis, then okay, I can understand the appeal of noise-cancellation/isolation in those exceptions. But most of the time, in normal daily life, it is a detriment not a benefit. If somebody else is trying to tell you something, you can't hear them. If you want to sing along to the music you're hearing, you can't, because noise-cancellation makes your voice sound like crap. If you want to listen while you cross the street, you can't, because it's hazardous to your safety if you can't hear the sounds of oncoming traffic.

I'm not asking for much.

All I want is a pair of normal, in-the-ear headphones. No bass-boost, just normal frequencies aimed at replicating the source accurately rather than distorting it. No noise-cancellation or isolation. No wireless bluetooth, I want a wired with 3.5mm jack. And something that won't die after a few months. I'm in a budget of $20-60. Maybe more, but definitely below $100.

That's it! These things used to be ubiquitous barely a couple of years ago, at any price range and level of quality. Now, I can't find even one product that meets this criteria. The cheapest and crappiest of earphones boast noise-cancellation and "deep bass" as if this garbage are desirable features!

Any recommendations are appreciated!

Koss sportapro...$30
I like the on-ear design because there's not as much cleaning as the in ear earphones. The sportapro sound is nice for the price, and there's ear clip things to make them even more portable.

 

[letti001]

Hi, people of the internet. (TL;DR in BOLD)

I really need help finding just a normal pair of earphones, to the extent that I signed up for this forum. I'm not an audiophile, and I don't really care about super-expensive hardware. My current headphones are an old pair of Apple earphones that are wired with the 3.5mm jack. They were inexpensive (roughly $30 individually or came with the iPhone) but the sound quality is good and the durability is very good. These things have lasted me maybe 3-5 years, and even then they still work mostly fine now. Occasionally the quality gets distorted sometimes, letting me know they're finally on their way out.

So I did what you'd expect: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I decided to just buy another pair of the same headphones, only this time the new pair was noticeably far, far inferior. Although the product is from Apple and it looks the same, the audio quality is just horrendous, with insane levels of bass boost, making any music, tv, or movies unlistenable. I find other reviews similarly commenting that it seem Apple may have altered production standards and started cheaping out.

I returned those, and next I bought a pair of $50 in-ear monitors, hoping maybe I'd get better quality for the higher price. Although the quality is fairly good, again, I'm faced with the same problem of just way too much bass.

In fact, it seems that no matter where I search on Amazon, radioshack, shure, DuckDuckGo (google but for privacy), etc., when I can even find a pair of wired headphones that go in the ear (something I can fit in a pocket and use at the gym), it is nearly impossible to find something that just has a normal frequency range.

I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone would want these absurd levels of bass boost that drown every other voicing/instrument--lead vocals, keyboards, drums, guitars, etc. in favor of a deafening low end (ironically even the bass guitar sounds like crap.). And it goes without saying that it's unusable for tv or movies, because loud noises like explosions are deafening, while normal conversation (which is anytime somebody is acting) is so quiet and hard to hear.

That's one major turnoff for me.

The other is noise-cancellation or noise-isolation, or some variation of that name which means it's hard to hear the outside world while you're listening.

This one I at least understand has some case uses. If I regularly frequented a crowded places like coffee shops or had to take the train or airplanes on a regular basis, then okay, I can understand the appeal of noise-cancellation/isolation in those exceptions. But most of the time, in normal daily life, it is a detriment not a benefit. If somebody else is trying to tell you something, you can't hear them. If you want to sing along to the music you're hearing, you can't, because noise-cancellation makes your voice sound like crap. If you want to listen while you cross the street, you can't, because it's hazardous to your safety if you can't hear the sounds of oncoming traffic.

I'm not asking for much.

All I want is a pair of normal, in-the-ear headphones. No bass-boost, just normal frequencies aimed at replicating the source accurately rather than distorting it. No noise-cancellation or isolation. No wireless bluetooth, I want a wired with 3.5mm jack. And something that won't die after a few months. I'm in a budget of $20-60. Maybe more, but definitely below $100.

That's it! These things used to be ubiquitous barely a couple of years ago, at any price range and level of quality. Now, I can't find even one product that meets this criteria. The cheapest and crappiest of earphones boast noise-cancellation and "deep bass" as if this garbage are desirable features!

Any recommendations are appreciated!

I fully understand your dilemma, If you can stretch to $99, I would suggest the Shure SE 215. I have been using Shure in ear devices for nearly twenty years. I went first with the E3C twenty years ago and have been partial to the Shure devices since that time. Just a thought. You may even be able to ding them on sale somewhere with the Holiday Season looming

 

[BlackSport350]

Back again!

After over a decade away, I'm back again and trolling the Stax threads...again. I guess there really is no escaping!

 

[Kazej]

New member here, I like to do some productions and mixdowns every so often! Looking to purchase a new pair of headphones. How do I get approved to make a listing?

 

[Ocean Blue]

Been away for a long time but cant access my old email address so starting over again . Last time I had an sflo2 dap , line out to a neco soundlabs amp and was listening with Ultrasone 780 and Denon ahd2000.
The time away has given me a nice lifestyle change and now work part time and chase the waves on the North coast in-between
Still have the ahd 2000, also now Beyer 700 pro x ,no dap now but a hipdac2 ,going to sort out some hi res streaming soon so i can use my Oppo as well as the laptop

 

[chofhoe]

New guy here. Started off wanting a better set of headphones than my M50x, now I've been lurking here long enough to end up with open and closed headphones, IEMs and now headed down the earbud rabbit hole. Hope to learn enough along the way to be able to contribute meaningfully here.

 

[aaronhaynes101]

New member and fellow lurker here as well. Started down this path back in 2016 working from home, thought I would try out a pair of open back headphones (HD-650). Things haven't been the same since, opened my ears to this hobby and my bank account has taken pretty consistent hits since. Excited to be able to contribute a little more as I have gotten allot of great information from head-fi over the years. Just picked up a pair of ZMF Atrium's (Stabilized wood), couldn't be happier with them. Love the sound signature and craftmanship is amazing. Cheers!

 

[DCS1]

Hi all, I’m a new member on here.
I’ve been into HiFi for many years and used to listen through headphones when the kids were young. Something I haven’t done for years.

Anyway, to cut a long story short I want to get back into headphones. I run two systems, one vintage powered by a Marantz PM4 integrated and a my main system powered by a Yamaha A-S1100. The Marantz headphone output is fairly good, but the Yamaha not good. My headphones (sennheiser HD424) are now 30+ years old and still in very good condition. I reckon things have moved on a long way with headphones, so it’s time for something newer, but I would also need a headphone amplifier to use with the Yamaha.

I hope I can find some decent options for both on here without breaking the bank!

 

[jonathan c]

New member and fellow lurker here as well. Started down this path back in 2016 working from home, thought I would try out a pair of open back headphones (HD-650). Things haven't been the same since, opened my ears to this hobby and my bank account has taken pretty consistent hits since. Excited to be able to contribute a little more as I have gotten allot of great information from head-fi over the years. Just picked up a pair of ZMF Atrium's (Stabilized wood), couldn't be happier with them. Love the sound signature and craftmanship is amazing. Cheers!

A wonderful headphone - you did well! What amplifier do you use for Atrium?

 

[longknives]

New member here and total newbie to the audiophile world, currently using an old 5th gen iPod and just got a A&K Kaan Max, as it turns out the person who made that happen is a member of this forum as well, many thanks for his generosity. Upon researching how to install music to the Max I have discovered this could be a costly journey into the pursuit of sound. I have lot's to learn and look forward to the adventure.

 

[Aukio]

Hi All,

New member enjoying my audio gear, Beyerdynamic DT990 and Xelento’s with a iFi Go Bar, looking forward to being a member of this forum.

I am having some problems with the included lightning to usb-c cable of the iFi and am on the second replacement, hoping for some tips on a third party cable, the two I have do not work with the Go Bar.
- ddhifi MFi06 lights don’t go on.
- OEOTG Digital Calbe, lights go on but when play is started the lights go off.

Looks like the Go Bar needs a cable that supports more power.