[Brooko]

I used to be, now I've upgraded myself to a HE500 fanboi   I could pick on HE400's flaws all day, but I really can't find any flaw with my HE500s even when I try.

Shame OP can't spend $700 instead, I daresay HE500 flat-out beats anything (non-'stat) at that price bracket in terms of overall well-rounded performance and musicality.

It's a headphone I'd love to try - that's for sure. Pleased you're enjoying it. I just finished with my DT880s for the veening, and about to mellow out with the HD600s for an hour. Life is good

 

[mikek200]

Quote:

Just throwing it out there .......
Buy used on the forums (your buck will go a lot further and most people here 'baby' their gear). I know I do!
Aim for former flagships - there is a reason why they were flagships - and they still sound as good today.
Sample until you find the house sound you like. By buying and selling on the forums you won't lose a lot of dough - but you will find the 'house sound' that you prefer, then at some stage in the future narrow it down to a single headphone if that's what you want to do. I believe with my current set-up, I have something to cover everything, and they all get pretty much equal head-time ...... just depends on my mood, what I'm listening to, and what my preferences are for any given day. I aimed for former flags, and like to believe for my musical tastes I have the best of many worlds.
DT880 / HD600 / K701 / SR325i
Your ideal list will probably be a lot different - but if you buy carefully it should allow you to satisfy both variety and desire for quality. I did consider selling all of them at one stage and buying one flagship - but I couldn't bear to part with any of them. Funnily enough my curiosity to hear the different flagships is still there. But my desire to own one has diminished over time. With these cans, I simply don't need one.

Brooko,,,great post.
 
I'm basically doing the same thing
Most of my has/will be purchases,are on the buy/sell forum,I find that almost all head-fiers work with you on price,and the quality is usually excellent to very good.
 
I follow the David Mahler thread closely,and try to pick from his A- A+ list
Although the he-6 is my go to headphone ,,,I recently picked up a DT880,used,had it re-wired & balanced,all for under $400.00,a very comfortable headphone with good sound quality.
 
Mike

 

[Lorspeaker]

i am just trying to keep a brand a piece...midfis.....(the major brands..)
most likely i will end up with 4 cans..
a good dac, a reliable ss...a warm tube... some cables...n zzzzzz.

 

[xinhang]

I personally vote for one $400 headphone, because once you have the good one, you will never listen to the bad one.

 

[Wild]

Quote:

Before, I might have thought that two $200 headphones would've been the way to go...but then I got a taste of Stax. That's when Head-Fi did irrepairable damage to my financial well-being.
 
Even if it is on the expensive side given what I've seen them sell for ($250-350 most of the time), I'd definitely consider paying $400 for another original SR-Lambda, or another headphone of that caliber. (Not that I've found a suitable replacement yet; the SR-202 and SR-303 certainly weren't.)
 
In general, I agree with the poster above in that I'd rather have one really good product than two almost-good-enough-but-not-quite products. If it takes me a few more weeks of saving up to afford it, so be it.

Ya I think I'm starting to lean this way.  The tough part is that certain cheaper headphones can do a lot of stuff better than the more expensive ones.  If I made a list of 10 things that I wanted/needed out of a headphone, and one headphone did all of them well, that would seem like an easy choice.  But what if two headphones could do 5 out of the 10 even better, but weren't as good at the other 5? Then potentially you could have two headphones that meet your 10 requirements better than the one.
 
Sorry if my question didn't make any sense haha.

 

[AgentCOPP1]

How is this even a choice? Why would anyone need two moderate-sounding headphones when you can get a really nice $400 set?

 

[Wild]

Quote:

Just throwing it out there .......
Buy used on the forums (your buck will go a lot further and most people here 'baby' their gear). I know I do!
Aim for former flagships - there is a reason why they were flagships - and they still sound as good today.
Sample until you find the house sound you like. By buying and selling on the forums you won't lose a lot of dough - but you will find the 'house sound' that you prefer, then at some stage in the future narrow it down to a single headphone if that's what you want to do. I believe with my current set-up, I have something to cover everything, and they all get pretty much equal head-time ...... just depends on my mood, what I'm listening to, and what my preferences are for any given day. I aimed for former flags, and like to believe for my musical tastes I have the best of many worlds.
DT880 / HD600 / K701 / SR325i
Your ideal list will probably be a lot different - but if you buy carefully it should allow you to satisfy both variety and desire for quality. I did consider selling all of them at one stage and buying one flagship - but I couldn't bear to part with any of them. Funnily enough my curiosity to hear the different flagships is still there. But my desire to own one has diminished over time. With these cans, I simply don't need one.

I really love your setup there. It's nice to see somebody else back up going for more headphones that can cover a broader range.  I don't think I'd personally like your setup there, but I still love how versatile your combo is.  If I wasn't looking for more sub bass out of at least one of my headphones, I'd probably end up with a very similar line up to your.  I'm glad you love your gear though 

 

[Wild]

Quote:

Having yet to hear a HE-400 for myself it is slightly hard for me to say which would be the best bang for the buck... but considering your current two other headphone have already been open/semi-open, is it safe for me to assume that you take your IEMs for on the go anyway? If yes and you do not plan on changing this status-quo, I would definitely lean towards the HE-400 if you liked them that much.

You hit the nail on the head there.  Now if only I could ever find the perfect IEM haha. I'm not even going to go down that road. 
 
This was more to see other people's opinions on what they would do in this situation. I think for me, open or closed isn't that much of a consideration because I'll be using them at home.  One headphone seems to be the popular vote so far, but we'll see.

 

[Wild]

Quote:

My way of thinking is:
A. I can only wear one headphone at once, and more then likely I will have a "favorite" anyway. Might as well start of with your "favorite" and make it the most expensive, then if needed by a "side" headphone to fix what your favorite does wrong. But I'm a big fan of getting a quality one first priority.
B. It would get annoying constantly switching between headphones for different songs. I tend to listen to my entire music collection at shuffle, so one track can be Pop and the next could be Dubstep then it could become Jazz. You get the point. For situations like that, one great headphones that is able reproduce all genre's to a enjoyable listening experience > Three headphones that specialize in something. I could not shuffle my entire collection with a "Specialty" headphone and that is always a negative for me.
C. I also have the way of thinking that nothing really NEEDS to be perfect. Yes all of us here want it to be, but honestly I don't think it can ever get that (it could get close though) and the time, effort and money needed to get there would probably be very hard to obtain. I am able to just accept the fact that not only are my all-around headphones great as they are, I don't feel the need to "Upgrade" because there isn't a genre they do that I can't sit back, close my eyes and just enjoy.
For a example I had the Pro 900's. Yes they were amazing for Dubstep and most Hip-Hop but I stopped missing them past the first week I returned them. Even if my HE-400's don't do as good of a job as my Pro 900's for those two specific genre's I am still able to enjoy and fall in love with my music and at the end, that is all that matters to me. If I had a chose between keeping my Pro 900's and getting some other $200-300 pair of headphones for the rest of genre's I would still go with the HE-400's just because I love having the versatility they provide in one single package.
That's just my view though, some people love to collect headphones, some love to hear and experience new things (And I do too, to a certain point) but each person has there own preference at the end.

Thanks for the great response.  I agree with the going with the quality for pretty much everything I purchase, but when it comes to headphones, it's easy to forget that $200 headphones can still be great.  I mean, $200 isn't chump change - that's more than pretty much everybody I know has ever spent on anything audio related.  That being said, certain $400 headphones - HE400 I'm looking at you - are being touted as being able to go toe to toe with everything under $1000.  So it seems like it would be a worthwhile jump from the tier below the HE400.
 
I hate switching headphones back and forth too, so maybe that's another vote for one headphone. I also enjoy shuffling my music so that's there too.
 
I wish I could be that realistic haha. I agree though, nothing's ever going to be perfect. It seems like everybody who owns an HE400 feels like it is close enough to perfect that I'd be happy enough with it.  I'm glad you love your HE400s, maybe soon I will too 

 

[Wild]

Quote:

I used to be, now I've upgraded myself to a HE500 fanboi 

 I could pick on HE400's flaws all day, but I really can't find any flaw with my HE500s even when I try.
 
Shame OP can't spend $700 instead, I daresay HE500 flat-out beats anything (non-'stat) at that price bracket in terms of overall well-rounded performance and musicality.

I don't want to think about what the girlfriend would say if she found out I spent $700 on a headphone.  I'd tell her the price, then quickly put my headphones on 

 and drown out her 

.  She'll get over it right? 

 

[Wild]

Quote:

How is this even a choice? Why would anyone need two moderate-sounding headphones when you can get a really nice $400 set?

There's a lot of places that argue that two headphones of equal value to one expensive one is a better deal. I linked to the Headfonia article at the beginning of the thread where they say 3 $300 headphones is better than 1 $900 headphone.  I just wanted to see how the community feels about that.  
 
It seems like most people agree with you though.

 

[kalbee]

Quote:

There's a lot of places that argue that two headphones of equal value to one expensive one is a better deal. I linked to the Headfonia article at the beginning of the thread where they say 3 $300 headphones is better than 1 $900 headphone.  I just wanted to see how the community feels about that.  
 
It seems like most people agree with you though.

No, what they say is true. The true concern is if you really need to spend the equivalent of that one more expensive headphone.
I do switch around my headphones a lot depending on what I'm doing, or what I feel like having on my head (weight, comfort, isolation, etc.) and here's a summary...
 
 

Spoiler: Summary%20of%20usages

Rank out of 14 which ones I use the most recently.
 
(04/14) Koss PortaPro -- Occasionally + when I was dishes.
(14/14) JVC HA-M750* -- Nearly no head time, headband is half broken.
(06/14) Audio Technica ATH-SJ5* -- Occasionally on the go. My cheap mobile headphone.
(11/14) Yamaha YH-1 -- Very little head time despite sounding VERY similar to the HP-1a.
(01/14) Yamaha HP-1a* -- This one gets the most use. When I want to listen for quality. Perhaps the most used.
(10/14) Yamaha YH-3 -- Haven't been using them as much but among my top 4 sounding.
(08/14) Dero D-560 -- Only when I study, or want something really really laid back.
(12/14) Dero D-1000 -- Before sleep occasionally. Better repurposed as speakers tbh.
(07/14) DIY HPsquare-2* -- Sometimes when I feel like it
(02/14) Fostex T50RP* -- My mobile full-size.
(05/14) DIY SFIHP-2* -- Recently started using them a bit more.
(13/14) Realistic Pro 30 -- Rarely use, despite sounding quite good.
(03/14) Audio-Technica ATH-RE70w/SFI -- Another one I use on the go.
(09/14) JBL reference 220 -- Only use on exam days practically, or when I need to wear a hat in winter.

 
So yeah... a lot of them just don't get much head time at all. Under 04/14 is already very occasional usage. Under 09/14 is practically rare.
Not entirely based on SQ. Some of them aren't very comfortable due to very old pads. If I listed them in order of SQ the list would be very different.
 
So the reason why I would nominate the $400 single pair is because when you have too many of them you just don't use them. Unless you are selling your current ones, then two $200 ones could make perfect sense if they have very different sound signatures. Two very similar sounding ones (like my HP-1a and YH-1) will usually end up with one hardly ever used.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Realistically, I say two $200 headphones (or better $250 headphones) are more ideal. You can get one closed, and one open for example. The versatility of having two good headphones outweighs one great one that is limited, IMHO.

As far as personal uses:

HE-400: My main headphone when listening to music or wanting the best SQ for games and movies. Can't say I listen to my full-sized cans that much, ironically. My neck doesn't support full-sized headphones that well, even light ones.
Yuin G1A, home comfort headphone especially when laying down and watching TV shows or anime. Don't see myself using these for music a lot, though we'll see. Just ordered them.
KSC35: The most used, mainly at work in which I use 5 hours a night or more. Used them a lot at home, but is gonna be replaced by the Yuins.
KSC75: Whenever the clips on the 35 make my ears sore (after a few hours, it does), I'll settle for the more comfy 75. Not as pleasant sounding, but still very good, and incredibly comfortable.
UE500, locked away somewhere... used it in my old job when I walked around and didn't wanna have my clip-ons out there for everyone to see. No reason to have them anymore.

 

[headphonatic]

Get one 400$ headphone, quality over quantity!

 

[HeatFan12]

Nice thread. Given you own or have listened to a variety of phones, get two $400 phones and be done with it.

Cheers!!!


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