[Mani ATH 87]

Not including poor quality cheap headphones:

Grado SR80e - these things were terrible. Actually, every Grado I've heard has been terrible. From the 80 to 325 (never heard any of their higher end stuff). They will sound anemic to me, and the comfort is terrible. Outside of modding, I'll never understand what people like about Grado.

Senn HD600 - Easily one of the most boring headphones I've spent time with. I love the 650 and it's warm signature, but I'm bored to tears with the 600s neutral approach. Not that its a bad headphone I suppose, the sound just isn't my cup of tea - and that weird speckled coloring on it is so ugly lol.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Not including poor quality cheap headphones:

Grado SR80e - these things were terrible. Actually, every Grado I've heard has been terrible. From the 80 to 325 (never heard any of their higher end stuff). They will sound anemic to me, and the comfort is terrible. Outside of modding, I'll never understand what people like about Grado.

Senn HD600 - Easily one of the most boring headphones I've spent time with. I love the 650 and it's warm signature, but I'm bored to tears with the 600s neutral approach. Not that its a bad headphone I suppose, the sound just isn't my cup of tea - and that weird speckled coloring on it is so ugly lol.

On the other hand, if one is so used to severely colored-sounding headphones at even extremely low volumes, and then finds out that real-life voices sound consistently wonky in open ambiance without headphones, then that person should have his hearing checked because that is one of the early signs of tinnitus.

 

[themuna]

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.

A Sanasa Clip Zip?! I thought I was the only one who still had one of those. I use mine for the gym.

 

[nileppezdel77]

Not including poor quality cheap headphones:

Grado SR80e - these things were terrible. Actually, every Grado I've heard has been terrible. From the 80 to 325 (never heard any of their higher end stuff). They will sound anemic to me, and the comfort is terrible. Outside of modding, I'll never understand what people like about Grado.

Senn HD600 - Easily one of the most boring headphones I've spent time with. I love the 650 and it's warm signature, but I'm bored to tears with the 600s neutral approach. Not that its a bad headphone I suppose, the sound just isn't my cup of tea - and that weird speckled coloring on it is so ugly lol.

Grados have such a strange frequency response signature that you have to either really want that or just hate it. Personally, I'm a fan. I grab my RS2e before I grab my HD650 for most listening. Love, love, love listening to Zeppelin and other classic rock bands with them.

I'm with you on the HD600 though. Boy is that headphone just *dull*. Certainly not the worst ever though.

 

[boozcool]

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.

What source did you use to EQ the 1000XM3?

 

[Philimon]

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

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.

 

[themuna]

What source did you use to EQ the 1000XM3?

When I said "from the source" I mean that I usually use them from my phone. So I change the EQ settings for my phone audio output via bluetooth.

 

[theveterans]

Sony MDR 7502 - it sounded no better than entry headphones costing $15

 

[Sonic Defender]

What source did you use to EQ the 1000XM3?

Sorry for OT here folks. I concur, stock signature of the 1000XM3 had me wanting to return them, way too much bass. However, with some very easy equalization cuts they actually sound fantastic. Really love the signature now, but they require, absolutely require the cut in bass. I use the built in EQ in Onkyo HF Player personally.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Perhaps worst sounding headphone I have heard, and I have been lucky in general, but the worst likely was the Master & Dynamic MH40. I'm sorry for those who like it, but man I just couldn't figure out what it was that people liked about them. Build quality, materials and design were wonderful.

 

[johnzz4]

Breyer DT990.. that treble was incredibly piercing

 

[SilverEars]

I won't say Auteur is the worst headphone, but it disappointed me. I expected much more based on hype. Auteur is way too hyped. It didn't stand out in any way as a headphone worth $1500+

Sure, it's made out of wood, but in the end, I want a sort of technicalities to the sound that bring something that sets apart from the lower priced headphone, and Senny 6 series is the benchmark for price, and companies should put effort to place pricing in a reasonable position in terms of sonic performance, not ridiculous.

I didn't like what the wood does to the sound. I appreciate it for the TH-X00 Ebony, but not for the Autuer. It sounded tubby, and it sounded a bit V-shaped in sig.

Auteur shouldn't be hyped to the level it is.

 

[nileppezdel77]

I won't say Auteur is the worst headphone, but it disappointed me. I expected much more based on hype. Auteur is way too hyped. It didn't stand out in any way as a headphone worth $1500+

Sure, it's made out of wood, but in the end, I want a sort of technicalities to the sound that bring something that sets apart from the lower priced headphone, and Senny 6 series is the benchmark for price.

I didn't like what the wood does to the sound. I appreciate it for the TH-X00 Ebony, but not for the Autuer. It sounded tubby, and it sounded a bit V-shaped in sig.

Auteur shouldn't be hyped to the level it is.

I'm sorry you felt that way! I've actually found that they respond well to tubes and pad swaps and feel a bit like four different headphones in one for me. With leather pads and a solid state amp, I'm with you. They are a Fostex, but open and a bit too bloomy. With tubes though, whoa. Way different signature. Better quality bass, lower treble, lovely smooth mids, no longer v-shaped. The same can be done by simply swapping to suede pads and I have no idea why they don't come with these pads stock.

That said, it's all in the ears of the beholder and I won't justify the price tag in any case. I got mine used for a grand and for that price? Worth it to me.

 

[Preachy1]

Perhaps worst sounding headphone I have heard, and I have been lucky in general, but the worst likely was the Master & Dynamic MH40. I'm sorry for those who like it, but man I just couldn't figure out what it was that people liked about them. Build quality, materials and design were wonderful.

I somewhat agree. These were my first venture into the world of higher-end cans. I was okay with the sound, and yes, they were built well and easy on the eyes (the original pads deteriorated after about a year, but the manufacturer replaced them for me at no cost). But where they failed for me was the clamp force, which was essentially non-existent. I couldn't move without them falling off my head.

 

[Delmetrice]

I had a set of UE500s for a long time when they we're still 50-75 a pair, and I never realized how terribly they aged until I got a cheap pair of Anker Bluetooths.