[Malevolent]

That happened in our household with our two-channel setup- my wife is a fan of our Brit-fi gear (Naim amp, Tannoy speakers)- as a former flutist, she enjoys jazz in particular on it. She just hasn’t seen the greatness of head-fi yet, but she may come around yet.

I was deliberate when I bought the Violectric V200 as my solid-state alternative to the Echo. It has two 6.3 mm outputs. Or, of course, we can use tubes for one listener and SS for the other… all part of the grand plan [evil laugh]!

Yeah, that's the strategy. Get your wife to join the cult.. gang.. band of brothers.

Keep working at it, mate. One day, she might actually see the wonders of headphones and/or IEMs. Just hope that she doesn't get too deep into the hobby.

 

[Malevolent]

So, I think it's time I start looking for an end game closed-back pair of cans for myself, to go with my pretty much end game open cans (ZMF Aeolus).

What are the usually recommended cans in the 1000-ish USD/euro category nowadays? Cheaper is fine too, but I can't go way above that. Looking for something with an impactful and strong bass, thick and warm sound (for poorly recorded punk, etc.) and if possible, relatively forward vocals. The just a bit distant vocals are the only thing I don't love about the Aeolus.

The Atticus would be the obvious pick since I already have the Aeolus and I'm very happy with them, but I'm wondering if there are any other closed cans that would fit the bill, particularly mass-produced stuff that I could actually buy from (and try before buying at) a store here (northern Europe).

The Beyerdynamic T5 (3rd Generation) has a thick, (overly) lush sound with a boosted mid-bass section. It starts to taper off from the upper mids with a downward slope; however, the midrange has potency with a lot of body. Vocals have authority and a sense of gravitas in the music.

The Atticus has a similar signature, albeit one that's less heavy in the lows, and a tad brighter and prominent in the highs.

You could also try the Campfire Audio Cascade. It has a forward bass presentation, with great impact and texture. The treble on the Cascade is unlike the T5, though; it retains a greater sense of energy and presence. Thus, unlike the darker tone of the T5 (and a little of the Atticus), the Cascade has a "v-shaped" tilt in its signature.

 

[arielext]

If I actually bought her some Beats headphones, she'd smack me over the head with them.. and then she'd sell them.

Her favorite headphone happens to be the Focal Utopia, by the way.

Mine claimed my akg k612 and we both agreed that that was for the best

 

[arar]

The Beyerdynamic T5 (3rd Generation) has a thick, (overly) lush sound with a boosted mid-bass section. It starts to taper off from the upper mids with a downward slope; however, the midrange has potency with a lot of body. Vocals have authority and a sense of gravitas in the music.

I like the description of this one a lot - colored sound is definitely what I'm looking for and the T5 sounds like it could be an absolute ton of fun. Will definitely have to check the nearby stores if they have this!

 

[Terriero]

If I actually bought her some Beats headphones, she'd smack me over the head with them.. and then she'd sell them.

Her favorite headphone happens to be the Focal Utopia, by the way.

25 years ago, there was a music shop where I live which was only focused to metal music. I used to buy 5 CDs or so several times in a year to thicken my metal collection (at that time, I listened mostly to metal, mainly gothic, black or death). Sadly, when the first metal fest was celebrated here (around 2005), I found the guy which managed that shop there and he told me that he was going to close the shop

A few weeks ago, one friend said me that the same guy had opened a new shop, with multi-genre music, DVDs, Blurays and vynils, and we went last week to visit him and the shop. I said to that guy that now I own several high-end headphones and I really enjoy my metal collection with them. I talked about some Denons (sadly, still at the repair service ) and my beloved DT 1990 Pros, but looking at his face I know that he didn't know about what I was saying... Even, I put him one album that one guy here recommended to me (@Chris Kaoss) the incredible Under A Godless Veil, by Draconian:



Why I wrote all this story? Because he said me: To me, Beats are the best headphones... I didn't reply...

 

[arielext]

25 years ago, there was a music shop where I live which was only focused to metal music. I used to buy 5 CDs or so several times in a year to thicken my metal collection (at that time, I listened mostly to metal, mainly gothic, black or death). Sadly, when the first metal fest was celebrated here (around 2005), I found the guy which managed that shop there and he told me that he was going to close the shop

A few weeks ago, one friend said me that the same guy had opened a new shop, with multi-genre music, DVDs, Blurays and vynils, and we went last week to visit him and the shop. I said to that guy that now I own several high-end headphones and I really enjoy my metal collection with them. I talked about some Denons (sadly, still at the repair service ) and my beloved DT 1990 Pros, but looking at his face I know that he didn't know about what I was saying... Even, I put him one album that one guy here recommended to me (@Chris Kaoss) the incredible Under A Godless Veil, by Draconian:



Why I wrote all this story? Because he said me: To me, Beats are the best headphones... I didn't reply...

Heroes of the past are just human after all

To cheer you up here is a human that remembered he was a hero (or so the story goes of this awesome track!):

 

[arielext]

Am listening to that track with the "narrow-soundstage-this-sucks" headphone called the Celestee: Perhaps soundstage means nothing to me but for me with my set-up (RME ADI-2 DAC -> Audio-gd Master 19) the soundstage of this headphone is nothing short of normal for a Focal.
I'm still thoroughly enjoying these, sometimes up to the point where I question myself if I need to keep the other headphones in my arsenal.

 

[Terriero]

Heroes of the past are just human after all

To cheer you up here is a human that remembered he was a hero (or so the story goes of this awesome track!):

Very good music, thanks for sharing. I love the song when the girl starts to sing alone and after that...

 

[ThEvil0nE]

Got the AWAS 2 days ago and is rather an on the couch laying experience than an edge of your seat thriller, so refreshing!

 

[ThEvil0nE]

Well that escalated quickly lol

 

[Chris Kaoss]

Hehe.
And there you go.

 

[RikudouGoku]

I'm fine with the length, though - my amplifier is only ~50cm from me at any given time (on my desk), so a 1.2 to 1.5m cable would suffice.

No, it's the sheer rigidity and utterly unyielding nature of the cables that make them a nightmare to use. They are practically self-bending / twisting.

You can get custom cables from XINHS: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/910746107

Just ask them to make a cable for your specific headphone and they will do it without extra cost.

 

[Malevolent]

25 years ago, there was a music shop where I live which was only focused to metal music. I used to buy 5 CDs or so several times in a year to thicken my metal collection (at that time, I listened mostly to metal, mainly gothic, black or death). Sadly, when the first metal fest was celebrated here (around 2005), I found the guy which managed that shop there and he told me that he was going to close the shop

A few weeks ago, one friend said me that the same guy had opened a new shop, with multi-genre music, DVDs, Blurays and vynils, and we went last week to visit him and the shop. I said to that guy that now I own several high-end headphones and I really enjoy my metal collection with them. I talked about some Denons (sadly, still at the repair service ) and my beloved DT 1990 Pros, but looking at his face I know that he didn't know about what I was saying... Even, I put him one album that one guy here recommended to me (@Chris Kaoss) the incredible Under A Godless Veil, by Draconian:



Why I wrote all this story? Because he said me: To me, Beats are the best headphones... I didn't reply...

Funny story, mate.

Sadly, though, a modicum of truth can be obtained from this anecdote. I think we often confuse music lovers for audiophiles, more often than not. However, in practice, I've learned that people who love to listen to music, or are involved in the creation or playing of music (e.g. member of a band), may not necessarily understand the importance of quality music-reproduction gear. Far too often, a simple, cheap IEM or earbud may suffice for their needs.

It's only once we open their eyes to the advantages of having better gear, will they truly understand why we do what we do.

 

[Malevolent]

Well that escalated quickly lol

 

[tesarpa]

Allow me one noobie question. Do you (closed back lovers) feel significant difference in thermal comfort on your ears, compared to open back headphones? I use BT closed back now for video conferencing, which usually is not longer than one hour, so my ears have time to rest. But for music listening I have Ananda, which is very transparent (not only in terms of sound, but also in terms of air flowing through). I'm currently contemplating about acquiring some warm, dark headphones to complement Anandas, and they are typically in closed back form (T5, Denons etc.).