[Allegro maestoso]

1. Drop x Focal Elex. Too bad I can't listen to open backs everywhere, all the time. These are perfect, especially with balanced output from my SMSL SU-8 -> SH-8 stack.
2. Sendy Aiva Black Beauty. Mid-fi? I think they are. They certainly are beauties.
3. Meze 99 Neo. These are brand new, but are now my choice for closed back. Hoping to upgrade the cable at some point.
4. Beyerdynamic DT-880 Premium 32 ohm. My first pair of real headphones. SO COMFORTABLE. But the cable leaves a lot to be desired.
5. Audioquest Nighthawk Carbon. Dark, dark sound. Unlike anything else I own.
6. Drop x MrSpeakers Ether CX. Well-built, but disappointing for the price. BORING. Josh Valour on YouTube called them "almost excruciatingly neutral," which may be a tad of an understatement in my view. Somewhat improved with a Corpse cable. Music actually comes out of these when connected to a multibit DAC (Schiit Modi Multibit), but with other gear it's just sound, not music.
7. Drop x Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee. These squeeze my head like a C-clamp. The sound is good, but if I need an open back experience, my Elex sounds 5 times better, and feels 10 times more comfortable.

 

[BearMonster]

1. Sennheiser HD 650 - My current daily headphone which i had for years. I like from time to time to play with otl with these before going back to my spl phonitor e.
2. Fostex TH X00 Ebony - The headphones i go to when i want to feel the bass
3. Audeze LCD 2F 2016 - They were great headphones to me but as time went on i found them more laid back then my hd 650. The treble were too grainy giving me fatigue
4. Audeze Mobius - Use these mostly for gaming, they do pretty well smaller soundstage than philips x2 but imaging is superior. They are much leaner sounding than my lcd 2 & much brighter.
5. Beyerdynamic T1 2nd Generation - Found the bass of these to be too woolly. Really did like hearing female vocals with these on a tube amp.
6. Philips X2 - Decided to buy these for gaming and some music. They were the worst, treble was uneven, bass was too loose, mids were too lean. For gaming they were terrible. Soundstage was a bit wide, but the imaging was too blurry it was very left to right with poor centre of imaging, during gaming when things would get busy it would become a blob of sound, without any direction. I found my hd 650 & lcd 2 to fair better for me during gaming.

 

[kid vic]

1. Drop x Focal Elex. Too bad I can't listen to open backs everywhere, all the time. These are perfect, especially with balanced output from my SMSL SU-8 -> SH-8 stack.
2. Sendy Aiva Black Beauty. Mid-fi? I think they are. They certainly are beauties.
3. Meze 99 Neo. These are brand new, but are now my choice for closed back. Hoping to upgrade the cable at some point.
4. Beyerdynamic DT-880 Premium 32 ohm. My first pair of real headphones. SO COMFORTABLE. But the cable leaves a lot to be desired.
5. Audioquest Nighthawk Carbon. Dark, dark sound. Unlike anything else I own.
6. Drop x MrSpeakers Ether CX. Well-built, but disappointing for the price. BORING. Josh Valour on YouTube called them "almost excruciatingly neutral," which may be a tad of an understatement in my view. Somewhat improved with a Corpse cable. Music actually comes out of these when connected to a multibit DAC (Schiit Modi Multibit), but with other gear it's just sound, not music.
7. Drop x Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee. These squeeze my head like a C-clamp. The sound is good, but if I need an open back experience, my Elex sounds 5 times better, and feels 10 times more comfortable.

Shocking but understandable that you have the Ether CX so low; when I first got my Ether Flows I thought they were erring on boringly neutral at first too but after awhile it grew on me. Ah well, not everything is perfect or effects people the same way.

 

[Allegro maestoso]

Shocking but understandable that you have the Ether CX so low; when I first got my Ether Flows I thought they were erring on boringly neutral at first too but after awhile it grew on me. Ah well, not everything is perfect or effects people the same way.

Yeah, I may have shot myself in the foot when I first got my Ether CX. I didn't burn them in properly, and judged them harshly on first listening. Then after burn-in, it's possible I was prejudiced against them - I wouldn't allow them to grow on me.

 

[kid vic]

Yeah, I may have shot myself in the foot when I first got my Ether CX. I didn't burn them in properly, and judged them harshly on first listening. Then after burn-in, it's possible I was prejudiced against them - I wouldn't allow them to grow on me.

What kind of music do you listen to and do you usually listen at low volumes? I tend to be a high volume listener but I find that planars like that a lot.

 

[kid vic]

@Allegro maestoso Also, planars tend to really like high current solid state amps...

 

[pjyi]

1. Hifiman Sundara's
2. Audio Technica A1000Z
3. Audio Technica R70X
4. Sony MA900

 

[Allegro maestoso]

@Allegro maestoso Also, planars tend to really like high current solid state amps...

I listen to a wide variety of stuff, from chamber to symphonic, from jazz to blues and funk, from classic rock to EDM. I've always found instrumental stuff more interesting than vocal. I try not to go too loud too often - I want to protect my hearing. Sometimes, though, I crank it up, and yes, the perceived effect through any headphone, including the Ethers, is "better."

Amps? I wouldn't really call any amp in my inventory high current solid state: Schiit Magni 3, Cavalli Tube Hubrid, and SMSL SH-8. Balanced output doesn't really seem to improve the Ethers, either.

Interesting, though, that my Sendy Aivas, also planars, don't seem to care about volume or amp. To me, they just sound good, effortlessly.

 

[kid vic]

I listen to a wide variety of stuff, from chamber to symphonic, from jazz to blues and funk, from classic rock to EDM. I've always found instrumental stuff more interesting than vocal. I try not to go too loud too often - I want to protect my hearing. Sometimes, though, I crank it up, and yes, the perceived effect through any headphone, including the Ethers, is "better."

Amps? I wouldn't really call any amp in my inventory high current solid state: Schiit Magni 3, Cavalli Tube Hubrid, and SMSL SH-8. Balanced output doesn't really seem to improve the Ethers, either.

Interesting, though, that my Sendy Aivas, also planars, don't seem to care about volume or amp. To me, they just sound good, effortlessly.

Balanced only matters if you get more power through it. The sendys are supposed to be really efficient so I'm not that surprised.

 

[MRODEZE]

I would say I like my collection in this order. Purely subjectively my opinions to my listening taste:

HE1000 SE
LCD-X
TH600
Purple Heart
Ether CX
Alpha Dogg

Reason for HEKSE is not the price but that they are the best all-rounder that I’ve heard which includes Utopia, LCD-4z, Empyrean, RAD0, etc.. haven’t tried abyss yet but don’t want to cuz I’m afraid I’ll like it and want it. LOL

Just picked up an Audeze 4z. Just unboxed it and burning them in. Might top the HEKSE. Build quality wise, the 4z is much better. It’s the one with the new design gold insert and looks the part of a TOTL HP. Was tossing around whether to get the 4 or the 4z because I like the build and look of the wood. But I’m glad I went with the magnesium gold version. Speaking of build quality, the metal polish job on the Hifiman is not great at all. You can see areas where they didn’t polish enough and for a $3,500 pair of HP, it makes me angry. Reached out to Hifiman but no answer from customer service.

 

[kman1211]

Current ranking of my headphones:

1.) Beyerdynamic DT 480 - 200 Ohm(modded)
2.) Beyerdynamic T1.2 Black Edition
3.) Beyerdynamic Amiron Home
4.) Audioquest Nighthawk Carbon

 

[robo24]

Updated my collection so updating my list.
1. HD 820
2. HD 700
3. Elex
4. Edition XX (I go back and forth between preferring these over the Elex)
5. Final VI
6. HD 58X (by far the best bang for the buck)
7. B&O H9i
8. PXC 550
9. WH-1000XM2

Have the Mobius too, but use it for TV/Movies.

Others I bought and sold primarily because I didn't enjoy them enough to keep.
6XX, HE-4XX, T1 gen2

 

[Shane D]

I'll give this a try:

1) Grado GH2's. My favourite headphones. They do everything well, especially with a little help from a Schiit Loki (add some bass).

2) Beyerdynamic T5p.2's. Very clear and very accurate. Not overly exciting (to me), even with the Loki. But very competent.

3) Meze 99 Classic's. Look great, sound great and are a very good price. I enjoy the accentuated bass. The only 'phones I have ever used that do not require, or even benefit, from amping, IMO.

4) Shure 1540. I just bought these used and they may move up the list quickly. Great sound, they look cool, decent isolation and I like the bass kick.

5) Sennheiser HD58X. Picked these up used and they are a HUGE value! They definitely take advantage of the Loki. Not great at any one thing but very good with lots of music.

6) HiFiman HE4XX's. I loved these for a couple of weeks. I.E. "shiny new toy syndrome". For months I have been avoiding them and looking at selling them. Then a funny thing happened: I bought a Cavalli LCX and plugged these. The combo is AMAZING. Not sure why, but it works.

Shane D

 

[adeadcrab]

Then a funny thing happened: I bought a Cavalli LCX and plugged these. The combo is AMAZING. Not sure why, but it works.

double shiny new toy syndrome?

 

[Shane D]

double shiny new toy syndrome?

Maybe? They just sound good out of the LCX via XLR.
I guess the real test will be if I still own them in a few months.

Shane D