[eucariote]

I just recall K701 being a bit lacking on the low end with a bit of high end emphasis.

I've been wondering about those too. And the way people talk about K240 and the way they measure it seem like they improve on those two qualities/flaws. I'm sorry I've never heard them before. They were selling for < 100$ for a while, which could make them an even better deal. Would anyone who has heard them be able to comment?

 

[zhoyufengsdo]

I have the HD 800 and k3k3. I prefer k3k3. People's voice of hd 800 is bad.

 

[TWerk]

I'll echo chamber everyone here - HE-500.

Probably the best can I've owned, period. I've owned a lot of headphones. The mids are just delicious. I'll have to grab a pair again sometime.

Velour pads all the way though. I recall being in awe of them on many listening sessions.

The HD600 are very good headphones at $200, but they don't get to that same level IMHO.

 

[Alex56440]

For now, the Bose QC35. https://www.mon-casque-bluetooth.com/meilleur-casque-bluetooth/ I am really happy of my purchase but I would love to save more money to get a new one again better. Maybe a Sennheiser...

 

[harrylks]

I just managed to snag an AudioQuest NightHawks Carbon for 240UKP / 320 USD, so these are currently my most "value" headphones I guess haha.
The case itself is probably worth 50 dollars by itself! After listening to it for about 300 hours, I can safely say this pair of headphones is something special & Audioquest, as much of a snake oil merchant as they are, are right on the money about the burn in these requires.

Additionally, not headphones, but guys in Europe/UK, PLEASE check out the Arcam rhead, these costs 200 pounds & for a solid, musical Class-A amp, after using it for 3 months, these are by far the greatest value for money purchase I have made for my audio setup. They costs like 500USD or something like that about a year ago and were considered value for money at that price then too. Side note, I snagged these new for 150 pounds in December, but its price has gone up to 200 pounds

My chain currently stands as such: PC (Tidal/Spotify) > Aune T1 MK3 (w/ Amperex 7308 Gold Pin) > Arcam rhead > AKG 7xx/HE4xx/HD598/Sony 1A/NightHawks

 

[god-bluff]

I just managed to snag an AudioQuest NightHawks Carbon for 240UKP / 320 USD, so these are currently my most "value" headphones I guess haha.
The case itself is probably worth 50 dollars by itself! After listening to it for about 300 hours, I can safely say this pair of headphones is something special & Audioquest, as much of a snake oil merchant as they are, are right on the money about the burn in these requires.

Additionally, not headphones, but guys in Europe/UK, PLEASE check out the Arcam rhead, these costs 200 pounds & for a solid, musical Class-A amp, after using it for 3 months, these are by far the greatest value for money purchase I have made for my audio setup. They costs like 500USD or something like that about a year ago and were considered value for money at that price then too. Side note, I snagged these new for 150 pounds in December, but its price has gone up to 200 pounds

My chain currently stands as such: PC (Tidal/Spotify) > Aune T1 MK3 (w/ Amperex 7308 Gold Pin) > Arcam rhead > AKG 7xx/HE4xx/HD598/Sony 1A/NightHawks

I think its great that at least one British amp is finally getting a bit of a following/recognition (hype!?!) on these forums in this world of repetitive monotonous schiiiit. There are so many British amps that go ignored, I'm happy with my pair otherwise I'd jump on the Arcam. It does seems an almighty bargain at the current price!!

 

[bracko]

I think its great that at least one British amp is finally getting a bit of a following/recognition (hype!?!) on these forums in this world of repetitive monotonous schiiiit. There are so many British amps that go ignored, I'm happy with my pair otherwise I'd jump on the Arcam. It does seems an almighty bargain at the current price!!

Completely agree. rHead is an amazing amp and stupendous value even at it's asking price ($599). I have heard so many solid state amps in the price range up to $2500 and I dare to say that rHead is one of the best regardless of price.

 

[kernel8888]

right now, I think a used hifiman 400i paired with audeze vegan pads is hard to beat

I also really think the he500/560 at used prices of 350 is an absolute killer. hifiman has the most balanced frequency response I have heard, even if it lacks some technicalities of top end dynamics. he500 is as good as anything ive heard to be honest. Ive a/b'd them with hd800, hex, he1k, lcd's, and besides a preference towards one sound signature or presentation, they weren't lacking anything and technical differences were splitting hairs in my opinion.

After years of experience, when I a/b equipment, the differences are incredibly minor compared to what my mind makes it out to be when I try to recollect. I get a month or two out after i have had an hp and get the itch, go out and get it, and im like "yea these are excellent! but so are these $300 cans." both are excellent I think with iems and cans, 300-400 used prices is usually a safe price to perf ratio where you're getting into top end sound.

 

[Kukuk]

For my own preference, gotta go with the CD900STs. The mids, the detail retrieval, and just the general tonal balance just make them soooo good for my taste in music.

As more of a general usage, gotta go with the DT770 Pro 80. They just tick so many boxes. Unbeatable comfort, huge soundstage for a closed headphone, fantastic bass, and nicely balanced mids really makes them a juggernaut in the sub-$200 price range.

 

[VSENSES]

I just managed to snag an AudioQuest NightHawks Carbon for 240UKP / 320 USD, so these are currently my most "value" headphones I guess haha.
The case itself is probably worth 50 dollars by itself! After listening to it for about 300 hours, I can safely say this pair of headphones is something special & Audioquest, as much of a snake oil merchant as they are, are right on the money about the burn in these requires.

Atm I'd also say the Nighthawks, very recently I got a mint pair for a wee bit over $150. They're an odd headphone no doubt, but late night in bed and listening to these is quite a joy.

 

[chef8489]

For 600.00 the Audeze lcd2c is the best buy I have made. Its a heck of a deal and a hell of a pair of headphones.

 

[Roderick]

Among The usual suspects I want to mention House of Marley TTR. Not kidding!

I't is built entirely out of metal. Even the baffle is metal. Pads are supposed to be real leather. Even if those are fake those are good quality. Accessories are impressive and batteries are included. At current prices it is propably the best build quality one can get for $34.

Anc enabled those sound pretty good too. Anc changes the sound for the better but also makes the headphones a lot louder. I'd estimate about 20% more sensitive than sennheiser momentum which are very easy to drive (18ohm and 110db).

 

[kkl10]

No mods: HD600.

With mods: GMP 400.

 

[ostewart]

No mods: HD600.

With mods: GMP 400.

What mods have you done to the GMP400?

I enjoy them stock, they pair superbly with my Feliks Audio Espressivo MKII and are easily as good as the HD6xx series. I have installed SMC connectors so I can change the cable and am soon going to make a toxic cables scorpion 24awg cable for them

 

[kkl10]

What mods have you done to the GMP400?

I've been wanting to document my findings for a long time, but never find the stamina and patience to do it... partly because there are already too many variables for me to cover briefly and in an organized manner, and partly because there are still many interrogation points I haven't explored. It all comes down to making the GMPs as acoustically transparent as possible rather than the product of half-assed artificial manipulations that only create acoustic confusion to my ears. This doesn't necessarily imply making it sound less like a headphone. It's about realism, timbre, coherence, real information, all delivered in the most natural way possible. Gotta say that the GMP 400 doesn't sound too offensive at all in stock form. I actually find them pretty OK, but rather sterile or insipid... The GMP 400 and HD600 are the only full sizes that have managed to sound non-stupid in stock form to my ears. All others I've tried sounded plain wrong (haven't tried many though).

Spoiler

For now, the bulk of the sonic upgrade comes from silencing the cup enclosures (either mechanically (strategically massloading) or acoustically (removing the cups entirely)), ditching the cardamatic suspension and removing/replacing the damping scheme behind the drivers. Then there are a bunch of other things one can do to improve the sound further or tailor to taste, some reversible and some irreversible: earpad rolling, ripping off the metal grill of the cups and the protective plastic grill in front of the drivers (replacing it with some sort of acoustically transparent net), playing with magnets behind the drivers (this might not be necessary with good amplification though), felt rings under the earpads, etc,... There are many possible combinations and some things don't play well (or are redundant) with others.

The easiest upgrade for me is to simply remove the cups, leaving the headphones bare open (back of drivers completely exposed) with the earpad/driver structure held in place by the direct (but gentle) clamping force of the headband rings. This results in the most open and acoustically coherent sound (which can be further improved by switching earpads, sawing off the protective grill, playing with magnets or custom damping scheme behind the driver).

The more painstacking and dramatic upgrade is to massload the cups (I've used blu-tack for the stupid open space between the two outer walls of the cups and a type of adhesive magnetic tape to wrap around the cups' circumference) and replace the stock damping scheme with something that prevents an overly boomy and sluggish sound (because the lower frequencies get a volume boost and the drivers are underdamped). The massloading mod wastes the least acoustic energy to vibrations so more information reaches your ears. Background gets much darker, perceived dynamics and resolution jump dramatically. Timbre becomes believably realistic. There's less grain and more smoothness and clarity to everything. Vocal resolution is particularly impressive given how rich and liquid and clear voices become. This affects the whole frequency spectrum, but the contrast is more striking in the lower registers (bass, lower mids) because this is where more acoustic information was being lost in stock form (hence, the "rubbery", "weightless" or "sterile" descriptives that others have used to describe the sound of the cardamatic GMPs, me thinks). The GMP goes from sounding sterile, anemic, greyish (or maybe I should say veiled) to dynamic, extremely clear and vivid. The presentation changes accordingly - the "weightless" notes give place to a palpably weighty and impactfull sonic experience. It sounds powerful, engaging, smooth, clean. There's a thickness to the sound. The extent of the change is proportional to the amount of weight added to the cups.

The tonality in stock form already appears to have a "warmth" to it, but this is not a real, planted "warmth". It's weird and if the stock and massloaded modified config are directly compared, it's apparent that it's an artificially created/simulated "warmth". It's one of those aspects of acoustic confusion to my ears. One perceives it, but it's not really there... like a ghost warmth....

Massloading has the added benefit of boosting sensitivity quite a bit too. The GMPs become much easier to drive, reaching acceptable loudness at lower volume settings.

However, I haven't managed to make this configuration sound as open as the bare open config. Finding a configurations that combines the best of both would be perfect. Still need to play with earpads here since most of the listening with the massloaded config was done with the stock earpads. The stock earpads of the GMP 250 that I recently got seem promissing as they produce a remarkably linear and coherent sound in the bare open configuration.

The big downside of ditching the cardamatic suspension is potentially poor or impossible fit for many people. This is also a big part of why I haven't yet bothered documenting much of this. I'm blessed with an average-sized/shaped head so the lack of adjustability is mostly a non-issue for me (with the right earpads). Wearing >500gr of headphone probably doesn't sound appealing either.

Pardon the offtopic.