[gken92]

The worst that ive ever owned was the Beyerdynamics T1 (first gen). Bought it 2nd hand because it was cheaper than HD800 (both were TOTL cans during that time). Received it from a mail man, unboxed everything and hooked it straight to my amps (which were idsd micro silver and also jds labs o2). Clicked play button on my foobar playing some FLAC songs....

....oofff.. Sibilant treble thru n thru. There was not a single track in my music collection whereby the headphones did not give out sibilant noise. It was so awful, i put it up for sale on that very night itself.

It was my first step to TOTL territory, and it was a painful reminder to not believe in hype or words written online.

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

The worst that ive ever owned was the Beyerdynamics T1 (first gen). Bought it 2nd hand because it was cheaper than HD800 (both were TOTL cans during that time). Received it from a mail man, unboxed everything and hooked it straight to my amps (which were idsd micro silver and also jds labs o2). Clicked play button on my foobar playing some FLAC songs....

....oofff.. Sibilant treble thru n thru. There was not a single track in my music collection whereby the headphones did not give out sibilant noise. It was so awful, i put it up for sale on that very night itself.

It was my first step to TOTL territory, and it was a painful reminder to not believe in hype or words written online.

Synergy is key with those headphones, yes they won't sound great out of those amps...

 

[oqvist]

It was okay trough spl auditor and my trafomatic head one. But I guess my ears dont get sibilance all to often. Seems like most headphones mentioned here is far from worst but just didnt meet the hype the buyer built up before buying.

The worst will always be some 1$ earbuds you get for free but that is no fun

 

[Preachy1]

It was okay trough spl auditor and my trafomatic head one. But I guess my ears dont get sibilance all to often. Seems like most headphones mentioned here is far from worst but just didnt meet the hype the buyer built up before buying.

The worst will always be some 1$ earbuds you get for free but that is no fun

True, but my guess is that based on the nature of this forum, the premise of "worst" really was meant to exclude the cheap stuff and focus on mid-high end gear. Otherwise, the obvious choices are going to be Apple crap (Crapple?) and gas station ear buds.

 

[BananaOoyoo]

Some other high-end stuff I wasn't too fond of include the Sennheiser HD820, Audeze LCD-XC, and basically HUM's entire IEM lineup.

But yeah, if we're talking about the absolute worst products, my vote would go to something like complimentary Delta earbuds.

 

[The Socialist Nerd]

To be honest, anything made by Skullcandy has the sound quality that would make prostitution a more viable option for an Ivy League graduate.

 

[SilverEars]

I also heard JBL wireless headphones at Bestbuy. Terrible sound.

I also heard a PSB one. Mediocre.

Night Owl. Tonally off. Mediocre.

 

[dakanao]

My 2nd pair of Hifiman HE-400i (first pair was quite good). Most sibilant and piercing treble I've ever heard

 

[Sonic Defender]

Synergy is key with those headphones, yes they won't sound great out of those amps...

I would tend to agree, certainly to a point anyway. Synergy can't undue an absolute incompatibility, but it can help mitigate the impact of the points of concern. I think about my DT880 and how wonderful they sounded with the SPL Auditor that I paired them with. Once those drivers were controlled, and the Auditor I felt had crazy good grip over the 880 drivers, the balance always seemed more even, especially when the headphones were being pushed. Anyway, I digress, but yes synergy can be a factor, even a big one. Cheers.

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

‘Worst headphone’ is such a loaded question. I’d be much more comfortable with ‘most disappointing headphone’.
I tried on an Auteur as well and can only second what’s been written above.
Absolutely gorgeous almost porn-like design...I mean holy ford! ...but up against my old HD580 it was a toss-up as to which one I like the most. There’s better bassextension on the ZMF, but the overall openness and air of the Sennie make up for that imo. The 580 is also ten times as comfortable to wear.
That being said, I wholly understand folks who buy these. If you’re into wood, you’re most likely going to end up as a happy bunny.

I changed my mind...somewhat. Hah! Turns out I needed a very quiet room as well as more than 20 minutes with the Auteur. It does feel like an “upgraded” 600/650 without the air and all-around open nature of the Sennies.
Seeing as I recently bumped into a similar dilemma listening to the AFO, I think I was better prepared for the second date. Thing is, these current semi-open or maybe even semi-closed headphones are all sold on the market as open-backs. So when you’re used to Beyers, AKGs and Sennies and you then put on an “open-back” headphone from ZMF, Ollo, Audioquest, iBasso or indeed Mrspeakers, it feels as if you went from listening to music in this beautiful airy and wide open field to a closed-in cavern bereft of air flow.
Waiting for the night time can help immensely, y’know the ultra quiet hours of the night when music is at it’s most beautiful. Right then it becomes clear that these supposedly closed-in headphones can be just as wonderful as their more airborn idols are. I think it’s because the open sound of open-backs “lessens” as naturally occuring ambient noise diminishes. In other words: the airy soundstage is also a product of ‘stuff’ that most definitely do not belong to the music..yet the brain sneakily combines everything and translates it into a more natural sound..at least that’s what I find for myself.
Then again you win some you lose some.
With the added body/structure of the semi-open/semi-closed design you effectively get a foundation for the bass to develop - especially the sub bass. Something that becomes very clear when you listen to any of the aforementioned headphones that all wield exemplary bass performance.
Anyway just talking to myself here on a Saturday afternoon..the Auteur is lovely once you get past the obvious lack of openness to a supposedly open headphone (and a little cumbersome).

 

[SilverEars]

My 2nd pair of Hifiman HE-400i (first pair was quite good). Most sibilant and piercing treble I've ever heard

If it has sibilant and piercing treble, than I would think it's nothing like Massdrop 4XX, despite both headphones being in the 4 series? Because I found 4XX a bit dulled in the way the sound peaks in the upper-mids to treble.

Or is it QC variations since you say first pair was good? I don't know how it can be that big of a difference, but certainly possible.

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

Your Beats EP take is mostly all the opposite of my experience and that of rtings. Build and sound quality are good especially at street price. Porta pros are meh sound and build - more interesting than listenable.

Interesting I wonder if it was the specific pair I had.
I will admit my PortaPros are muddy, but in a fun way. And for $35 still the best I've heard down at that price

The EPs at our store sold for $99. Even if the pair I had was defective, it's hard to recommend based on build as well. Pads were nice, but it was very cheap injection molded plastic. Only backed up by how many people tried returning them with a broken headband (of course there's a warrenty but our store didn't have an agreement with Apple so customers had to go back to them directly)

 

[dakanao]

If it has sibilant and piercing treble, than I would think it's nothing like Massdrop 4XX, despite both headphones being in the 4 series? Because I found 4XX a bit dulled in the way the sound peaks in the upper-mids to treble.

Or is it QC variations since you say first pair was good? I don't know how it can be that big of a difference, but certainly possible.

Definitely QC variation. First pair was, despite being sparkly, actually very controlled in the uppermids and highs.

Second pair was not.. Even the $8 Philips SHE-3590 IEMs, had smoother high frequencies than that pair of HE-400i

 

[bagwell359]

The following is just my opinion.

Worst headphones ive heard/owned? The VOCE.
I am absolutely disgusted by 'high end' headphones that do some things decently, but is worse than sub 100 headphones in other areas . The result is a huge mess. It had pretty nice layering and separation, and then coupled with flat and lifeless vocals that also sounded veiled. Id rather have something that sounds consistently bad in all areas.
My worst purchase ever by a long shot, glad i got rid of it. I guess this is more of a, most disappointing headphone for me.

Wow. I didn't hear them long, but on the HFM Jr I thought they had much more bass than then any other estat I've heard, more body, and thankfully less of the never ending over definition in the mid mids thru treble most estats suffer from. I listened to 3 female vocals that I know very well and thought they were easily the best can I've ever heard. Burying the HE-6, HEK v2, LCD-3, HFM Jr, HD600S among others.

Interesting...

 

[sup27606]

The worst headphones I heard were a pair of Audio Technica M50s I bought off eBay. I kept on wondering why the music was recorded without any bass. Later on I figured out, the headphones were counterfeit.