[nickchen]

Yep, the DT990 is too Ssssh-booom for my liking.

 

[Acix]

Quote:

I'd like to see the extensive list of DACs and amps you've tried with them.

 

 

Tubes/SS, 
 
Melos SHA-1 Gold with Amperex Bugle Boy tubes.
Shindo Catherine Tube Pream.
A few Bottlehead designs.
 
SPL Phonitor, Auditor.
Violectric V-100.
Luxman P-200.
β22.
Ross studio amp (SS).
 
DAC,
 
Sonic Studio Amarra.
Apogee mini DAC.
BencMark DAC 1.
Violectric V-800.
RME fireface 800.
Audio Kontrol 1.
M3 DAC.
 

 

 

[linuxid10t]

Of any makers that have EVER made decent headphones, Sony.
 
Of all time, definitely Bose.

 

[Supertoaster]

Superlux 6xx headphones, just strange sounding. Maybe similar to Beyerdynamic's house sound but much less refined.

 

[ProjectDenz]

Ultrasone, they seem to have a house sound where the midrange is deliberately recessed or distant sounding to give the illusion of a wide sound stage. Therefore, all three models I have sound crap with vocally oriented music like rock music.
 
Good for EDM style of music though.

 

[machoboy]

Subtracting the obvious Beats etc junk, I think Beyerdynamic's house sound annoys me the most because they make some very nice headphones that have everything going for them except a mysteriously absent mid range. I love their build quality, comfort, looks, etc., but they just can't seem to put out something with decent mids for less than a grand.

 

[rhythm is life]

To my ears, all of the established/traditional headphone manufacturers have house sounds that are bland or boring at their worst. None of them are annoying. However, the house sound of many of the headphones made in the past few years is definitely annoying. The "sound of the 2010's" largely consists of:
 
- A lack of deep bass, even on headphones that tout their emphasized bass
- An excessive mid-bass boost which drowns out the mids and highs in a muddy mush
- A spike somewhere in the midrange to keep vocals from being completely inaudible, coloring the sound even further
- Rolled-off highs so that "consumers" can listen to their 128k MP3's in ignorant bliss
 
Found in: Beats, Bose, Skullcandy, SOL Republic (the ones I heard were worse than Beats Solos!), Soul by Ludacris
 
I remember when I was a kid and I wanted to blast the bass on whatever speakers I was using. The thing was, when I turned up the bass, I had to turn the treble up at the same time to keep the sound from becoming muffled. These consumer headphones sound like a basic car stereo with nothing but bass and treble knobs where the bass is turned up and the treble is turned down at the same time! When did this type of sound become popular?

 

[Arkyle]

Ultrasones. They sound...just...weird..
I've listened to a few of them and all of them have this bass that is not huge but still devours the mids, but they can still be heard but..urg, I don't know any other way to say it other than I don't like how they make my favorite music sound. 
I agree that the Audio Technicas are incredibly inconsistent, but I think that is something good about the company. And BTW, I like the Sennheiser "veil", haha.

 

[niceguyliu]

1) Beats Solo and all the copycats that try to copy the beats house sound. What frustrates me even more is that people actually buy Beats and wear them on their heads as to showoff believing those are premium stuff. I can buy a pair of headphones at $50 that will blast those Beats out of this universe.
 
2) Apple earbuds, just like Beats Solo, I see them everywhere, and especially in the subways where I can hear people turning up the volume to deafening loudness just to be able to hear the music. Get some IEMs for crying out loud, spend $10 on some cute ones for all I care. People are cheap enough to use a free pair of earbuds when they shell out hundreds of dollars on their iphone or ipods. It just doesn't make sense. Apple should sell iphones without a free pair of buds, so people would actually buy a pair.
 
3) Grados. I had the SR325is because there were great reviews on them, and I won't bash them like the beats or apple buds, but these just aren't my cup-of-tea. Too bright, and too in-my-face. And the comfort just never cut it for me. I wear glasses, and my ears can't stand wearing them for more than 30 minutes. 

 

[tinyman392]

  1) Beats Solo and all the copycats that try to copy the beats house sound. What frustrates me even more is that people actually buy Beats and wear them on their heads as to showoff believing those are premium stuff. I can buy a pair of headphones at $50 that will blast those Beats out of this universe.
 
2) Apple earbuds, just like Beats Solo, I see them everywhere, and especially in the subways where I can hear people turning up the volume to deafening loudness just to be able to hear the music. Get some IEMs for crying out loud, spend $10 on some cute ones for all I care. People are cheap enough to use a free pair of earbuds when they shell out hundreds of dollars on their iphone or ipods. It just doesn't make sense. Apple should sell iphones without a free pair of buds, so people would actually buy a pair.
 
3) Grados. I had the SR325is because there were great reviews on them, and I won't bash them like the beats or apple buds, but these just aren't my cup-of-tea. Too bright, and too in-my-face. And the comfort just never cut it for me. I wear glasses, and my ears can't stand wearing them for more than 30 minutes. 

 
Even if they did that, they'd still be blasting them to deafening levels...  It's not that they can't hear the music, they want it blasted to the max.  I do not recommend spending 10 bucks on a pair of IEMs  
 
_____
 
On topic though...  I'm not sure what house sound annoys me most...  Most manufacturers really don't have a "house" sound   All of their headphones tend to have unique characteristics of their own.  The only exception to this would have to be Shure and their IEM line which is generally sweet sounding (with the exception of the SE215).  As for a signature that annoys me...  I don't think I've come across a signature I hate...  I've come across signatures that were done improperly that I dislike though  
 
Edit: just thought of one...  PureSound (owned by WickedAudio) was probably the worst IEM I've ever put on   It was their 100 dollar premium model that was anything but...  I gave them to my friend stating that they were a 100 dollar premium 'bud...  He put them on, had a funny look on his face...  Thought it was the recording...  Tried 3 more...  Took them off and never put them on again.  He ended up passing the IEM to his sister, who he thought wouldn't hear the poor SQ.  She did, and gave it to her BF...  I think he still as them  

 

[AyeVeeN]

Grados. Too much treble. Ultrasones probably too but never tried them. HE-400s I just EQ down past 7kHz and it's perfect (of course asides from the mids I've come to realize).
 
Edit: Just realized this was necro'd.

 

[DivineCurrent]

I can't help but notice that this is a Beyerdynamic/AKG bashing thread... lol just an observation.
No, but in all seriousness, out of the AKGs I've heard (not many), I disliked the K612, K240 Studio, and K271. Unnatural mids, too much V shape sound sig, and terrible bass response respectively. The only AKGs I've kept are the K240 Monitors, which have very accurate sound. The K712s were good too, but a little expensive. I don't understand the dislike of the Beyerdynamic line, must be every other model other than the DT 880 and the T1 that are annoying.

 

[Mani ATH 87]

I don't really like anything with a flat or neutral tone. Can't say I really dislike any "house sound" because I usually like at least one headphone from any single company.

 

[HiSenn5]

Beyers...
 
DT880 and T1. Don't get me wrong, they're both great HPs, but the highs are just sooooo annoying... gosh are they annoying... Beyers...

 

[aiaosu]

Nice revived thread. I would say Sony as I have yet to hear anything of very much quality and AKG as I repeatedly have heard a dry, thin sound that seems lifeless. I love mids and it seems like I should like them, but I just find them boring in general.