Your “wow” headphones
Apr 4, 2021 at 12:45 AM Post #106 of 212
Open back wow: Hyland Audio Jupiter One
Closed back wow: Denon AH-D7200
IEM wow: The Custom Art FIBAE 4
 
Apr 4, 2021 at 9:40 PM Post #107 of 212
First wow was Sennheiser HD-280 (original) playing with Dolby Headphone surround.
Second wow was Beyerdynamic DT-880 (2003) and it still wows me today.
Third wow was Grado SR225 paired with Little Dot I+ with tube and opamp upgrades. WOW!
Fourth wow was how amazing planar headphones are (Hifiman Sundara and Fostex T50RP MK3 at the same time.)
Fifth wow was the Sennheiser HD-560S playing out of a cheap Darkvoice tube amp. The sound for the $ is such a wow!
 
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Apr 15, 2021 at 10:24 AM Post #108 of 212
Started with the beyerdynamic Amiron Home - still one of the most comfortable headphones IMHO.
Later I got the beyerdynamic T1p (Astell & Kern branding) and the DCA Aeon 2 open back.
Planar is a class of its own, but by the end of last year I got the Focal Clear - now the other headphones are collecting dust.
The T1p and the Aeon have a wider sound stage but the Clear is way more balanced.
Now craving for the Diana V2 :beyersmile:
 
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Apr 15, 2021 at 3:48 PM Post #109 of 212
The AKG K340. There is something magic happening there. And they've been around for 45 years, but now there are better amps and sources to make them sing.
 
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Apr 15, 2021 at 4:19 PM Post #110 of 212
I had a couple of wows

Bluetooth/ANC: the Sony 1000XM2 was a wow after the Bose QC25. A few years later, a year ago another wow with the PX7
Open back: a few years ago the Drop HD6xx (actually it "wowed" everything I had had till that time)
Closed back: Denon D5200, a similar wow factor last winter

In ears: Ety er6i was my first earphone in the 100€+ class - wow. Sad that it was discontinued. I also like the er3se, but it's not a wow anymore. Many years later, the Klipsch X12i wowed and some time after that the Senn ie800 wowed again. (I think my preference for tiny earphones with strong isolation and great sound is clear here)
 
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Apr 16, 2021 at 10:27 PM Post #112 of 212
PS500e had that wow on me a few years ago, I have better headphones now, but I remember the first time I plugged those to a schiit asgard 2 / mode (way back when I was starting the hobby). The amount of WOW was bigger than any other phone since.

This week got some AKG 361 and plugged to a Modius -> Cavalli Hybrid w/Gold Lion tube does sound pretty !!!

oh and Etymotic Research ER2XR impacted me on how much noise cancellation one could get out of a good seal

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er4p back in the 2000s. At that time many headphones sound muffled at all price ranges. Listening to the er4ps were like watching crystals deflecting lights.

Most recently, the Grado sr225e gave me a wow. Their presentation is just so homogeneous and sophisticated. These are musical cans, not about accuracy, but about touching your soul...
yeah the SR225e are solid, but ps500e bears them swiftly (iGrado, sr60, 80, 225e, 325e, ps500e, hemp owner here)
 
Apr 16, 2021 at 11:05 PM Post #113 of 212
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yeah the SR225e are solid, but ps500e bears them swiftly (iGrado, sr60, 80, 225e, 325e, ps500e, hemp owner here)
Heard a lot good words on the ps500e. Having upgraded to the rs1e from the 225e , I'd say the these are completely different breed compare to the 225e's.
Do the 500e's still have the effortlessness and treble energy of the 225e's?
 
Apr 16, 2021 at 11:08 PM Post #114 of 212
Heard a lot good words on the ps500e. Having upgraded to the rs1e from the 225e , I'd say the these are completely different breed compare to the 225e's.
Do the 500e's still have the effortlessness and treble energy of the 225e's?
They do, plus BASS (nowhere like a closed back or a planar, but lots more than a 225e). TO MY ears, their mids beats the bejesus out of the hd6xx (also own).

What I like about the grados overall is the IN YA FACE mids/highs

I know it's a hate / love them kinda thing, I'm obviously in the latter.

A house sound if there ever was one
 
Apr 16, 2021 at 11:11 PM Post #115 of 212
They do, plus BASS (nowhere like a closed back or a planar, but lots more than a 225e). TO MY ears, their mids beats the bejesus out of the hd6xx (also own).

What I like about the grados overall is the IN YA FACE mids/highs

I know it's a hate / love them kinda thing, I'm obviously in the latter.

A house sound if there ever was one
Great to know, thanks!
Now I have to audition it, in addition to rs2e and GS2000e, for my next pair of Grado cans.
 
Apr 16, 2021 at 11:12 PM Post #117 of 212
First time I heard the Hifiman HE 500 it was like I got shot up with dilaudid.

Now the Senn HD 660s gives me the wows
 
Apr 16, 2021 at 11:22 PM Post #119 of 212
The frequency response looks very similar to sr225e though.
you know? never ever paid attention to measurements, I go by my ears and whether or not I enjoy what I hear

First wow was Sennheiser HD-280 (original) playing with Dolby Headphone surround.
Second wow was Beyerdynamic DT-880 (2003) and it still wows me today.
Third wow was Grado SR225 paired with Little Dot I+ with tube and opamp upgrades. WOW!
Fourth wow was how amazing planar headphones are (Hifiman Sundara and Fostex T50RP MK3 at the same time.)
Fifth wow was the Sennheiser HD-560S playing out of a cheap Darkvoice tube amp. The sound for the $ is such a wow!
how are the HD560s on a solid state amp?
 
Apr 16, 2021 at 11:56 PM Post #120 of 212
Many many years ago, my "wow" headphones were the Sennheiser HD414. All the cool DJs at the college radio station had them. I thought at the time they were the ultimate in detail, separation, natural tonality. Little did I know. Decades later, they were one of the first things I sold on that newfangled site called eBay.

The next upgrade was Sony 7506. Hey, there are audible high-treble details! Hmmm.

The next--and at that long-ago time a quantum leap super-WOW--was the Grado SR125. And later the serious upgrade to Grado SR325, wow-plus. Still grab those for basic aural excitement. Soon I found IEMs: the Shure E4c, the Shure SE535. Wow again.

I've listened to some incredible equipment at CanJams since then, and I see where the $$$$ go and why: upper-end Sennheiser, Campfire, Abyss, Focus, HifiMan, Stax. A friend lent me some Jerry Harvey L-Acoustics Contour IEMS for awhile, and they put the music all around me despite being IEMs. I'd love to have any of those sets plugged in right now. But I have real-life priorities like the mortgage.

I think the available technology is incredible. And I admire the musicians, producers, engineers and--most of all--muses that give us so much.
 
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