[rutter]

It's also soft sounding and would neuter your film scores, ambient, electronic, and big band stuff. Had it myself, twice.

 

[znev777]

Yeah, I don't think I've ever actually heard of audeze cans being particularly detailed, just decently detailed while still being laid back. Their past qc issues don't exactly fill me with confidence either. The hex v2's do look like a good option I'll have to look into them. I think I've derailed this thread enough already with my questions, thanks for the help guys!

 

[Preachy1]

I'll jump in here, but with the following disclaimers:

I assume we are talking about mid to high end cans, and not cheap radio shack or apple products (forgive the lack of caps; I'm lazy today). Also, I would like to slightly modify the thread title to "the worst headphones you've ever used". This takes more than just the sonic experience into account.

hands down (or up, your choice), the Audio Technica ATH-W1000Z (Maestoso). The non-removable cord is way too long (in addition to being, you know, non-removable!). The drivers themselves were pretty good, but the clamp force was non-existent and that 3-D Wing suspension system is a joke. So unless you don't mind holding them against your ears with your hands 100% of the time, these were pure fail.

But they were pretty!

 

[Nautrachkfriend]

The worst "Hifi" headphone I've used was the Grado PS1000.

The only music that sounded even moderately acceptable on the PS1000 was music from the 1940s and 1950s. The rest was just terrible. Anemic bass that was muddy as all hell, disjointed slow treble, "meh" mid-range, and a complete lack of sound-stage. Put the volume anywhere over 85 DB and the driver completely craps itself. An utter failure of a headphone, I will never understand Grado love. It's like enjoying a very well done steak.... how????

Luckily nothing has been even moderately close to how bad the Grado PS1000 was.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

I have a similar opinion of the HD-600. Don't like them much.

Maybe it's because you didn't have the right amplification for those headphones. I had the HD 600 before, and it just needs the right amplification in order not to sound veiled. Many high-output-power headphone amps are guilty of having a relatively high output impedance, and on some of them, the output impedance is so high that such an amp massively messes up the critical damping factor. And when that damping factor becomes poor, the headphones will begin to sound distorted and muddy. Not all headphones are equally prone to such a degraded damping factor; however, the HD 6xx series is more sensitive than many to such a degradation of the electrical damping factor.

 

[SpeakerBox]

Maybe it's because you didn't have the right amplification for those headphones. I had the HD 600 before, and it just needs the right amplification in order not to sound veiled. Many high-output-power headphone amps are guilty of having a relatively high output impedance, and on some of them, the output impedance is so high that such an amp massively messes up the critical damping factor. And when that damping factor becomes poor, the headphones will begin to sound distorted and muddy. Not all headphones are equally prone to such a degraded damping factor; however, the HD 6xx series is more sensitive than many to such a degradation of the electrical damping factor.

I have tried it on restored Pioneer SX-1250, restored Fisher 400 Receiver (tubes), Restored Harman Kardon 330A, and my new Marantz SR-7010. Sounds the best on the fisher with tubes - but still lacking IMHO. It is just not a good HP for me. My Sony MDR-V6 and MDR-7506 sound great on all of the aforementioned list.

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

Not including obvious really cheap ones. I used to work selling electeonics at The Source, so I got to hear most "mainstream" cans. I know we said not Apple, but sadly most that come into the store think Beats are high-end, and they are priced that way

Beats EP.
Beats in general get a bad rap... For good reason.... Heavy V-shaped sound, and VERY over priced. But the sound they give doesn't tend to be unlistenable. Bass is reasonably tight, without bleeding into the mids too much...

However the Beats EPs are a whole other level. They are the "entry level" beats hovering anywhere from $60-$100 Canadian. That's a good chunk of change, and you could get some decent basic cans for that. PortaPros come to mind at half the price.
The EPs try to retain that V-Shape signature, however the drivers start to drop off at 150hz. So the bass part of the "V" is the way overemphasized mid-bass bloat that extends well into the mids, distorting them to a gross muddy and yet somehow vailed mess. Treble is ok. Rolls off a bit early. Build quality is nearing should-be-included-in-a-ceral-box level

 

[Eagle_Driver]

I have tried it on restored Pioneer SX-1250, restored Fisher 400 Receiver (tubes), Restored Harman Kardon 330A, and my new Marantz SR-7010. Sounds the best on the fisher with tubes - but still lacking IMHO. It is just not a good HP for me. My Sony MDR-V6 and MDR-7506 sound great on all of the aforementioned list.

I'm sorry to say about this, but most receivers and tube amps have a very high output impedance - in the hundreds, if not thousands, of Ohms. In addition, the Sonys have a massive impedance bump centered around the mid-bass. That impedance bump makes those Sonys more tolerable when driven out of such high-output-impedance jacks. And as I stated, the Sennheisers are simply more sensitive than most to such a degradation of the damping factor. You simply are not going to attain really good sound quality if the headphone impedance is lower than the headphone jack's output impedance, no matter what you do. For all I know those receiver headphone jacks' output impedance is a whopping 1000 or more Ohms.

By this token, the Sennheisers really sound best when driven out of a headphone jack with an output impedance of near-zero Ohms.

 

[SpeakerBox]

I'm sorry to say about this, but most receivers and tube amps have a very high output impedance - in the hundreds, if not thousands, of Ohms. In addition, the Sonys have a massive impedance bump centered around the mid-bass. That impedance bump makes those Sonys more tolerable when driven out of such high-output-impedance jacks. And as I stated, the Sennheisers are simply more sensitive than most to such a degradation of the damping factor. You simply are not going to attain really good sound quality if the headphone impedance is lower than the headphone jack's output impedance, no matter what you do. For all I know those receiver headphone jacks' output impedance is a whopping 1000 or more Ohms.

The output impedance on most vintage gear is usually between 150 and 300 ohms. Many have reported good results with the 600s on my listed amps too. Like I said - I just don't like them. Different strokes.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

The output impedance on most vintage gear is usually between 150 and 300 ohms. Many have reported good results with the 600s on my listed amps too. Like I said - I just don't like them. Different strokes.

Fair enough. By the way, I don't care much for my MDR-7506's either. They are just a bit too bright with the equipment that I currently use. Which is why I am now looking for a suitable replacement headphone. Closed or open-back doesn't matter at this point since I will primarily be using them while I'm walking on the sidewalk (not the streets) and doing some yard work. For in-the-public-transport use I have some cheaper but cheerful IEMs to cover that use.

 

[SpeakerBox]

Fair enough. By the way, I don't care much for my MDR-7506's either. They are just a bit too bright with the equipment that I currently use.

Agreed the 7506's can sound bright. Fortunately my HK330A (my main HP listening station) has tone controls that allow me to correct for that. That said V6's are anything but bright.

 

[oldmate]

Ok so some guy responded to my add on Gumtree for my new Roland Aira M100's. He came around, auditioned them, said he liked them and gave me 180 AUD. They cost me 365.

So, I have no headphones, lost 185 bucks and despite that feel like I got out of jail. I was actually quite chuffed.

No other headphone that I'm aware of can do that for ya!!

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Agreed the 7506's can sound bright. Fortunately my HK330A (my main HP listening station) has tone controls that allow me to correct for that. That said V6's are anything but bright.

They can be. I currently have absolutely no full-sized home audio equipment whatsoever. I am currently limited to a smartphone, a tiny SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip and a couple of seldom-used PCDPs. The treble reducers on my equipment either are nonexistent or don't work well.

 

[themuna]

My over-rated award goes to Sony wh-1000xm3. Every review makes them seem like the greatest thing ever, but to me they have bloated and sloppy bass and sound like every Beats headphone I've tested at Best Buy. Can only connect to 1 device at a time and pairing is a pain in the butt. Touch controls are finicky and pretty much useless to me. I still use them all the time for phone calls though, so I guess there is that.

The 1000XM3 aren't as groundbreaking as people make them seem but if you EQ them (from the source, not the app, so you can keep the LDAC codec in use) they actually sound really really good for bluetooth headphones. I put them on today after using the Sundara's for about 3 hours and they were actually still fairly impressive. That said, the momentum 2 wireless was way better out of the box. Now, they're equal.

 

[The Socialist Nerd]

AirPods. Overrated in every single sense of the word.