Utopia EditionHow to request advice:>Location (since pricing and availability may vary)>Budget>What exactly you're looking for (be as detailed as possible)>Previous gear and your thoughts on it>Open back wired headphones• Hifiman HE400se• Sennheiser HD 560S• Sennheiser HD 6XX (US)• FiiO FT1 Pro>Closed back wired headphones• Shure SRH440A/SRH840A• AKG K361/K371• FiiO FT1>Wireless Bluetooth headphoneshttps://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/best/by-feature/wireless-bluetooth>Wireless Gaming headphoneshttps://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/best/wireless-gaming-headsets>Cheap Headphone amp/DAC combos• JDS Atom2 Stack• Schiit Magni Unity + Mesh• Apos Gremlin/Merlin• Dongles (Apple, Fiio, Crinacle)• Took out the DX5II in the wake of it now blowing up headphones L30 style: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-dx5-ii.60996/page-127#post-2492199>Active desktop/bookshelf speakers• Edifier R1280/MR3/MR4• iLoud Micro• Kali LP-6 v2• Neumann KH 80• KEF Coda W>Passive desktop/bookshelf speakers• KEF Q1/Q3 Meta• Ascilab F6B>Interfaces• Steinberg IXO22• Topping E1x2• Motu M2>Speaker amps• Loxjie A30• Yamaha R-S202• WiiM Amp>EQ/DSP software• Equalizer APO (Windows)• EasyEffects (Linux)• SoundSource (Mac)• Wavelet / RootlessJamesDSP (Android)• PEQdb (browser)>EQ/DSP hardware• Qudelix 5K• Neutron DAC V1• miniDSP>Useful resourceshttps://xiph.org/video/https://harmanhowtolisten.blogspot.com/https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.phphttps://superbestaudiofriends.org/index.phphttps://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/https://peqdb.com/
>>107950762Pretty good deal.
>>107951118weren't they $120 before
>>107951118-t
>>107951118Wow, then I only need a $130 external amplifier to actually use them!Just buy speakers.
>>107951146>>107951175Weird trolling where is this coming from?
>>107951175This.You're not a rentoid or poorfag, right?
I want a digital volume knob that's OS-independent. Guess it would have to be part of a dac+amp combo to function.I liked how DX3 Pro did not have any "gain curves" and instead just did -1dB steps. I did not like how it fucking died on me.What should I consooom this time?
SHP9600 worth the $80?
>>107951096ppl who use closed back headphones, what do you use? curious as it seems people hate them(well at least the ecelebs like sharur do)>>107951246how long until your DX3 Pro(+) died? i boughted mine over a year and a half ago and it's still working fine>>107951146according to sharur it's caused by obesity caused hearing loss(although he didn't elaborate too much on wether thats caused by excess fat dampening sound or worse, he just mentioned inflammation) that affects high frequencies more per excess bmi unit, no idea if there's any truth to it
>>107951396>how long until your DX3 Pro(+) died?Holy fuck I did not remember it being THAT old.
>>107951420They now sell the DX3 Pro +, the design is supposed to be slightly better(measures better at least) with an ES9038Q2M instead of twin AKM chipshonestly idk what else you could replace it with, i suppose Fiio makes cooler looking DACs but the sound quality is hit or miss depending on models.
So, after a bit of research I decided to upgrade from my AKG K701 and Sundara to the Dan Clark Noire XO. Got them new open box for less than 1000€.Yes I know about the pleather.Let's see how good they sound when they arrive.
I want Dalis...Dali IO-12 ($1700) and Oberon 3 ($700)bweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhh
>>107951498Be careful when you get them, if they were manufactured between aug to mid nov inclusive they may be affected by the channel balance issues they had.i had bought a noire x and had to get it refunded because it had very bad channel balance, unacceptable at any price but if reviewers' measurements can be believed DCA units always have either better than average balance or trash tier multi db imbalance.
>>107951587They're were manufactured in June.
>>107951587>>107951599I'll be sure to measure the impedance of each driver when I get them.
About a week into my testing, Crysis 1 FLAC's (listening to First Light atm) sound so good on my HD 560S' + SBZ SE right now. Orchestra really seems to be where these headphones shine for me so far. So happy I got some decent headphones now that I can actually work with. I do perhaps think that I can detect some of that under-emphasized bass perhaps just a little at ultra low frequencies, but it doesn't seem to bother my brain so I might just be imagining it. Noticed it when listening to bass-heavy electronica like Family Matters from the MEC OST FLACs.
My schiit stack died, i'm taking the dongle pill.
>>107951175$40 chifi dongle is more than enough to get full benefit. They don't actually need power, just low output impedance.
Explain the use case for anything more than Bose QC45.
for like 200usd, what is the best Bluetooth one?
>>107952105soundstage
>>107952089Wow, only $210 for headphones!MR3s cost $100. You can get iLoud Micros for $200.
>>107952137bloat
>>107952137soundstage isn't inherently a good thing
>>107952137Headphones can't do soundstage, you need speakers for that.
New B I G speakers from Dutch & Dutch.
>>107951396>according to sharur Stopped reading right there
>>107952348Are you pissed off about him because he said bad things about amir and crinacle? if you had read a little bit you'd have seen that i had expressed dubiousness at the idea although it is plausible(fat being shock absorbent it would make sense it could affect the HRTF with its sound/shock absorbent properties)You can criticise sharur's tendency to change his mind about what's the best iem/audio system every few weeks/month without having to dismiss everything he says just because he's sharur you know???
>>107952434Why do I care if audiojeet shat on another audio review fag I don’t give a fuck about? You sound like a petulant child crying about who has/does not have the coolest toy. > You can criticise sharur's tendency to change his mind about what's the best iem/audio system every few weeks/month without having to dismiss everything he says just because he's sharur you know??? You basically just summed up for me why he’s a massive pseud who pretends to be obnoxiously “objective” and you’re getting pissy at me for not even remotely entertaining that bullshit?
>>107952486i don't have bitcoins invested in any reviewer, i said what i said because many people who have a beef against sharur probably are fans of reviewers or brands that sharur brutally dissed for mosti don't care that much about him personally, but he makes people in this board sneed very hard(similarly to ASR) when there's no need to, he used to say the headphones i'm wearing right now are bass bloat trash and now he's taking its target FR as the next coming of jesus
>>107951096>currynigger dongle
>>107952629another headphone can have the same FR and still sound different. maybe the implementation of yours, sucks.
>>107952696What's your point? 99 SINAD? Holy retard
if the dx5ii is blowing up headphones, what's something else i can get around that price point that has both balanced and unbalanced outputs?
>>107952696>schiit measurably mogged by $10 apple dongleGrim.
>>107952716no, he was explicitly talking about the amount of bass, he just didn't like bass heavy frequency response targets back then, i think it was pre Moondrop Variations?
>>107952434>>107952629Sharur is an obvious troll who flings shit at everyone and does a 180 every other day, only a fool would take anything he says at face value.Regarding the overweight thing, you can easily look up the scientific literature yourself. At a quick glance, it seems that most studies on the subject did indeed find some correlation between hearing loss and being severely overweight, but being severely underweight appears to be just as bad and the exact causality seems to be unknown.
>>107952169Broke... but is shilling speakers? I mean bottom of the barrel slop, but still odd to be adamant about a medium you haven't really experienced.
>>107952886as long as the SINAD is over 80 there's no issues as long as it's handling fineThese charts are a meme for Amir to shill TOPPING lol, the only important info is anything <70 which is like the unfixable zone of distortion.
>>107953003PEQdb target shootouts are still the most useful thing in the audio space alongside Olive and Clark conceding that the Harman curve sounds like shit and re-adjusting it to be closer to DF+bass bump.Gonna get real interesting in a few years when ASR dudes need to concede the target they've pushed as 'THE SCIENCE' is rendered obsolete.
I don't need more.
>>107953521whoever made that is ESL
i've been rocking a pair of hd598s since like 2014 and they're still working fine (could use another pair of replacement pads i guess) but i've been eyeballing the hifiman edition xs i've got like a fiio e10k to drive them, would that be enough or should i look for something else? or should i not look at different headphones at alllet me stress that mine are fine, but it's been a decade and i'd like to try something else, $200 seems like a good deal for them?
>>107951096>>Closed back wired headphones>Shure SRH440A/SRH840AI had SRH440 non-A's and they were complete dogshit. Grainy treble, muddy bass, and no low-end. Also the headband and earcups were uncomfortable as hell. I used them for about a year as my only headphones and still never got used to them. And I read when the new versions came out that they actually sounded worse. The absolute STATE of closed back headphones.
>>107953938Closed backs just suck unless you're spending a lot on them I can't lie
Grell OAE1 got delivered todayBass is insane for an open headphone. Not as crazy as Zeos Eris, but close. Mids are a bit veiled, more than HD6##Highs are a little rolled off, no real 'sparkle' but just barely enough.I was not expecting them to need so much amplificationI wish they were a smidge larger, they only fit me when completely maxed out, and I wish I had a little more wiggle room since they're very sensitive to fit and angleClamp force is a bit high. Headband material feels awful.At the current $99 clearance price they're an easy recommendationI'll demo the OAE2 soon. 500 euro is a bit stiff, but if they fixed the issues with the OAE1 then it's not an unfair price
>>107954447You might be one of the only people to actually enjoy the OAE1 not gonna lie, which is a compliment to you rather than a joke about bad taste.
>>107953244You lose SINAD when you attenuate though. If you start off with 70 or 80 it's very possible to land in noticeable distortion on final output. It also depends a lot on the nature of the distortion how noticeable it is. That's why everything over 110 is equally 'excellent'. At that point the metric is no longer practically useful.
>>107954457Yeah 80 is a risky spot, but it's been done fine at those levels. 70 and below I agree is no-mans land.The issue with that graph is that it's used on ASR to shill 120+ SINAD like it's something audible and incredible, when really like you said it's completely redundant at a certain point.
I literally hear a difference on the exact same setup at different times of day its doesn't make any sense
>>107953244>>107954457SINAD is literally meaningless. You can have hiss with 110dB SINAD and full transparency with 50dB SINAD. The only graphs that matter are noise at 50mV and power vs distortion.
Old fag here.Denon AH-D7000 representing.
>>107954463Almost like hearing is not objective or something.
>>107954463Some people meme that power consumption in your area could impact it lmao, are you getting hisses during peak demand hours?
>>107954477>You can have hiss with 110dB SINADYou can't hear anything at -110dB dumbass. That's defective equipment. Just because Amir got a golden sample from the mfg doesn't mean the piece you receive measures the same.
>>107954463Bad grounding gets worse when the sun is out.
>>107954455Some of the faggots on SBAF like them too ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
>>107954509SINAD is measured at max volume. Music is not playing at max volume. The noise floor can be bad even if the SINAD is good on the exact same piece of equipment. Here's amir warning not to use it on IEMshttps://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/chord-dave-review-dac-hp-amp.35974/
>>107954462Probably the best way to make yourself immune to shilling is to watch Amir explain his metrics on YouTube rather than hallucinate what they're supposed to mean on your own.
>>107954440>>107954447>>107954482why pay more for distortion?
>>107954516SBAF has a thread mostly shitting on them since the 2s are dropping, >>107954523Amir recommends faulty products which compromise QC for SINAD that's irrelevant, to the point that people on there are getting mad they fell for the DX5II bait.>>107954525Low effort even by /hpg/ standards
>>107952716There really isn't such a thing is "the same FR" on headphones. Headphones change their FR from the ears so if you EQ them on one set of ears(a rig) they'll have a different FR on your ears. And that's if you personally measured your headphones. Most people don't - then there's also QC and pad wear. You can be off by 10dB easily.
>>107954522You're conflating signal and power stage issues. DACs always output at full volume. A DAC with 110dB SINAD is good enough. The end. With power stage you have to look at low output and how it performs into very high or very low impedance.
>>107954588You're conflating DAC SINAD with amp SINAD. DAC SINAD literally doesn't matter, yes, but you have an amp as well.
>>107954593>DAC SINAD literally doesn't matterIt does if it's 80 or lower. A lot of those on the chart are just DACs.
>>107954598>A lot of those on the chart are just DACs.A lot of them aren't. And when they aren't you can't just look at SINAD and say yep that's good, not even purely from the noise and distortion perspective.
>>107954616You want the metric to mean something it doesn't.
>>107954637It doesn't mean anything. Because it combines things that shouldn't be combined.
>>107954598A standalone DAC with sub 80 SINAD will still be transparent to most people, with their headphones having -40-50dB THD and all.
>>107954659It really depends on the nature of the distortion. Some things are really bad even at -40dB.
>>107954642>total harmonic distortion and noise shouldn't be combinedok pal
>>107954692Yes. We literally have an example of what happens when you do that >>107954522And measuring them separately reveals the problem, amazing.
is the imaging and soundstage better or equal to the HD 598's on the HD 490 PRO? I love my 650s but they fucking suck and stereo imaging, they are terrible at it. It is the thing that dates them the most. There's literally no separation, no immersion whatsoever. Any song with panning or any kind of immersive soundscape just sounds like a flat two dimensional pancake.
>>107954717>have sinad in the 'poor' range>it sounds badI don't see how the metric failed here.
soundstage is really stupid>WOAH! i heard the horn OVER HERE!more like you took me out of the moment with this jarring effect
>>107955683
>>107955711That's imaging. Soundstage is a hard to understand thing that people don't really understand or have a hard thing identifying. But basically the sense of space a song has. It's also something that can entirely be simulated by games, which makes it funny that people recommend soundstage headphones for gaming, the only time soundstage will actually benefit you is in a stereo recording, where the spaciousness of the headphones does the work for you. Movies and games do not need soundstage because they create them themselves.
>>107955874Pretty sure DMS did a blind test with a bunch of people and the preferred headphone for gaming ended up being a 6XX and then he went on babbling about how you should still want something more kek
>>107953244My pos has higher SINAD than Apple dongle - you get what you pay for.My pos has lower SINAD than Apple dongle - SINAD doesn't matter.
>>107956271my K5 Pro has an abysmal SINAD score and I have literally never heard any kind of noise coming from them.
>>107956338>he actually boughted a pos that performs worse than a $9 dongle
>>107953902I got them and really like them, but hifiman does have a poor quality reputation. If you decide to get them I would pay a little extra to buy an extended warranty.
>>107956359I didn't buy it for the dac. I needed a volume knob and the amp part is a bonus since I EQ my headphones.
>>107954883>>107954447Honestly mad respect for enjoying these headphones. Who cares what everyone, especially pussy whipped influencer tards say>>107954883I wanna know this too. I know the 490 used a similar driver to the 500 series sennheisers and those tend to do a better job than the 600/650 in “technicals.” I also completely agree with your assessment of the 650. Same goes for the 600 honestly, they definitely suck at the imagine and separation aspects. That’s the thing I liked about my 660s and the later s2’s, they actually have imaging and instrument separation, and it’s a noticeable difference and was the first thing I noticed when trying them for the first time. Did to all that, I know the 490 will sound better to me than the 600 or 650, but idk about my 660s headphones since I’ve never actually compared a 500 series driver to the 600s driver directly in terms of raw stereo imaging, derail retrieval and the like.
>>107956338Fiio K5 Pro SINAD is dominated by distortion, SNR is somewhat better. Probably still audible with super sensitive IEMs, though.
>thread has devolved into browns arguing about inaudible shit
>>107956338>I have literally never heardMy condolences.>>10795689272 should be audible even with some headphones. For IEMs 80 is minimum.
>>107957150>>107956892>For IEMs 80 is minimumI'm safe. Whew.
>>107956686>hat’s the thing I liked about my 660s and the later s2’sThat might actually get me to buy them at some point. I literally have no other problems with the 650s, I love them to death, I can listen to music all day long without fatigue and they sound so smooth and nice, I just hate that they're bad at imaging/separation. Right now it's between the 660S2s and the 490 Pro. I live in the middle of fuck so I don't have any kind of way of testing them before buying either, which sucks.
>>107956686>>107957446HD660S uses the HD700 driver, make of that what you will. Also has higher distortion than HD600/650. 490 Pro is better since it has lower distortion than any of these and is built better since it uses more metal. Good imaging is usually caused by angled drivers or pads which is why the angled drivers lots of HD5X0 'phones use usually have better percieved seperation than the non angled drivers of HD600 and the like. Since you can't angle planar drivers without that being a huge pain to engineer, these use angled pads instead.
>>107957446i have the 490 pro and if they were the only headphones i owned i would be completely satisfied. they are comfortable and to me are an improvement over the 560s and 600/650, even if you don’t eq. they are just more expensive, which is the knock on them.
>9S bluetooth headphone on>Fan turned at max>Youtube playlist on auto-playYup, it's audiophile time
>>107957548I use my $1500 audio setup exclusively to listen to vidya and anime soundtracks(in FLAC thoughever).
>>107957575This but also Hi-Res
>>107957446I posted about the same dilemma when S2 first came out. I bought both to try, kept the S2. S2 was extra nice when I EQ them with oratory1990's pdf.
>>107957787>oratory instead of peqdb target curve
>>107957814Well I certainly don't mind having something new and different to try
>>107957814peqdb target curve has too much bass imo
>>107957814The only redeemable thing about this jeet is the target shootouts and his willingness to concede when people prefer other targets to his own and tunes it in response.Better than ASR pushing Harman 2018 still in 2026 despite the fact even Olive admits it's trash and EQuing everything to one target was a mistake.
>>107957446>I live in the middle of fuck so I don't have any kind of way of testing them before buying either, which sucks.Do you have amazon? You can just buy them and return if you don't end up liking them.
>>107958004ASR’s we is so retarded, turned my Sundara into fart cannons, it had a ridiculous bump on the bass of 6dB or more.
>>107957527I’ve been playing around with a pair of ancient sennheiser unipolars, their first estats and while there cool for the history, they are very sensitive and prone to distortion at even volumes which people actually listen at. This showed me what actual audible addition sounds like and it fucking sucks. I’ve never heard any kind of audible, let alone unpleasant distortion from a sennheiser 600 series headphone from the past 20+ years. >build qualityNot all plastics are built equal, ever since they switched from the cheap, flimsy plastic of the marble era hd 600, their plastic quality has been very good. Also the internal support strip and the earcups grills are still metal on all of them if you care that much about metal builds.>angled driversYou’re probably right, but what’s the difference between angled pads and swiveled cups? Things like the sundaes suck for me because they cheaper out and the cups are horizontally unswivelable and makes fitment a pain in the ass unless you buy a third party angled pad I guess.Regardless, where I am, the audio scene is basically nonexistent except for like Best Buy, sometimes those have 560s’ but that’s about it. The 490’s still leave me really curious, and I want to compare them to all my other sennheiser 600 headphones regardless
>>107957814>>107957987So I tried it out and I agree it's a bit much on the bass and I'm the last person to say too much bass. Bass is muddying the sound somewhat and loses clear mids from my Harman/oratory1990 preset.
>>107958378>but what’s the difference between angled pads and swiveled cups?Ideally you should have both. Even if the cups swivel, if the pads or the drivers aren't angled they won't be in the ideal position and that will result in worse imaging. You can try that with headphones like some older Hifimans which used to have flat pads and now use angled ones. Using angled pads improves the perception of instrument separation.
>>107958004>even Olive admits it's trashwhere?
So I decided to re-cap an old STAX amp, but before the caps arrive in the mail I decided to shit around measure voltage outputs on different frequencies. Aaaaand... It looks absolutely ass. Is it supposed to be like that? The volume of the measurement is set arbitrarily as this is my listening volume, it sounds really good on my 404 Signature though.
>>107959199IIRC these are bitch to measure right, yeah? I know Amir got flamed for fucking his measurements on STAX amps but to his credit I know they gotta be done a certain way.If it sounds right I imagine there's nothing actually wrong and you're just gettin psuedo-owned by not measuring an estat amp the ocky way
>>107959302I just plugged a multimeter in the AC measurement mode to the respective + and - channel outputs and recorded some data points while doing a sine sweep. Actually just found a picture of another SRM-1 which measures in a very similar way, so I can breath out. Although how other amps (modern transistors or tubes) would measure under similar conditions is quite interesting
Someone talk me out of buying a meme R2R DAC
>>107959911They are expensive and also shit.
>>107959911>meme R2Ryou already know not to buy it. so don't.
>>107959911R2R gives you organic timbre, once you hear it, you can't go back to DS bs
>>107960249>organic timbrefunny way of saying "rolling off treble"
>>107955850That's the line out not the amp. Idek why you're so assmad about this obsolete $14k audiophile abuse project for.
>>107960249There's only one R2R DAC that's valid and it's the Macintosh Quadra 700. Everything else is bullshit.
>>107960483Holo Cyan 2 desu
>>107960515Hope they give you a shovel if it costs that much.
>>107959911>>107960249fiio k13 r2r and arya stealth bros stay winning
>>107961963>k13 r2rnot even flexing correctly. that shit needs an external amp to work right and everybody knows it
does anyone want to trade their hd600 for my hd6xx? plus some money from my end
>>107962232Is this true? I can't really find anybody else saying this.
>>107961963r2r is snake oil
the shiit nightmare never ends lmao >hey man, that's some Shit!should have paid closer attention to their home page they said what they were selling
>>107963017
>>107963050https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/schiit-kara-preamp-and-headphone-amp-review.48048/ shit's poor QA strikes again
>>107963054kek. maybe shitting on nwavguy more will help them build better gears
bumpazord
HD560S or JT7 + Snowsky Melody?Price is pretty much the same.
>>107965333You're not going to get better bass sticking planar drivers in light plastic furniture, but there's a lot Fiio probably fucked up that you don't even know about.
>>107965333FT7 has better tuning and a way better bass response but the Senny will have much better build quality(even if the plastic is kind of creaky).
>>107965582>>107966020I'm aware the Fiio has worse build quality, even if both are plastic.I probably want to EQ in a bit more bass that's why I'm leaning towards the planar.Idk about the dac/amp. Not even sure if it's necessary for desktop usage.
>have 1st gen modi + 2nd gen magni>get new xbox controller>has the 3.5mm jack>try it for shits and giggles>sounds better or at least seems more pleasant>plenty of poweram I just high or something?
Recently bought the Sony MDR-MV1 over the HD 490 Pro as my first open back headphones. They do have a V-shape sound signature but sound quite balanced and fun. Pretty comfy as well. Using it with the Apple USB-C to 3.5mm dongle adapter.>plebbit spaceThe treble is sharp but less than I thought given how reviewers constantly decried the MV1s for having "too much treble" and kept recommending the HD 490 Pro instead for its "neutrality". I suppose the treble would be overwhelming if you listen at max volume consistently. The bass is good and there is enough of it for an open-back, but it was clear that I would not like the amount of bass the Sennheisers would have provided. Midranges were "recessed" but still quite prevalent and adequately loud. I thought I would need to EQ it but I am quite happy not doing so.>plebbit spaceYet somehow (perhaps the Sennheiser marketing division at play), "users" constantly shill the HD 490 Pro but never mention the MV1s as a viable alternative. The MV1s do not require an amp to work but afaik the 490 Pro does. If true, this makes the MV1s a better price proposition, though there is also the extra pad and carrying case regarding the Sennheiser HD 490 Pro.>plebbit spaceThe MV1s are quite nice and arguably underrated but pretty much exposed how audiophiles only like boring sterile sound and are okay with uncomfortable headphones (see HD600s, HD650s) if it has the name "Sennheiser". I always suspected such shenanigans to be at play, with reviewers overpraising Sennheiser, but my purchase confirmed my suspicions.
>>107966777>am I just highprobably mr angelic trips. that controller very likely has a wildly different output impedance than what your schiit has.I think that's exactly what it is. FR changed due to impedance and that's what you're hearing.
>>107966777those are really old and affordable audio has come a long ways, you'd be better off with a $10 dongle than those in the current year. also shiit is badI doubt it, but I can't say for sure unless you splurge on a $10 dongle
>>107959911>>107960249i use a K11 with a pair of sundara. they're already warm enough and i can still eq the shit out of them. i use them to listen to apple music lossless/hi-res and really don't want them to pretend to be something else, neutral is the way to go, let the headphones do the rest. the setup sounds fantastic tho.
>>107966777Different output impedance like other Anon said. Some headphones sound better that way. Get a 120 ohm adapter on Amazon or whatever and the Schiit will sound the same.
>>107966412Probably not with those, but you're not going to get real 'planar bass' out of them either. Hifiman HE400 already exists if you want to play with that.
>>107967141I've looked at the HE400SE too but pretty much every review said the JT7 is better.Can't try them anywhere sadly.
Any recommendations for very good solid state loudspeaker amplifiers with 10-20 W output?I want to biamp some old speakers with active crossover/DSP but don't want to blow the tweeters Everything these days seems to be going for more and more power, can't seem to find anything with low wattage
>>107967454 (me)Forgot to say for a reasonable priceI know you can get class A amps from boutique brands with low watts for megabucks but just want something reasonable for a little project DIY is good too I guess
>>107967376That's not a distortion graph. Trying to listen to FR curves with your eyes is a really bad idea.
cop Y/N?
>>107959446>I just plugged a multimeter in the AC measurement modeit's not a coincidence that the graph drops at 1000Hz because true RMS multimeters usually only measure accurately up to 1kHz.
>>107967641>10% treble distortionGet Sundara instead.
>>107963054>2023 review>"On the basis of the performance of the pre-amp, I am going to give my recommendation to Schiit Kara."absolute schizo behaviour
>>107967728>it's just Jiraya reposting ASR graphs he doesn't understand againthis is why we need to nuke seaniggers
>>107966777Likely what >>107966819 said, unless you're plugging in high impedance headphones. Magni2 objectively sucked though, could just be that. I remember I got an O2/ODAC on those days because it was infinitely better, the Jot 3 was the first Schiit product I went in on.
>>107967376That graph is scaled so atrociously I don't think you'd get any value even doing the classic ASR listen to the graph meme.>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlwg-9Zfn5oI need someone to dome Listener in the head this dude is white noise to me.
>>107966808It’s funny because I’ve seen people give the 490 shit because it’s not an HD 600 2 or its not cheap like the 560s so it sucks automatically. I definitely wanna get either that for the MV1, thank you for reminding me it exists lmao.
>>107966808>The MV1s are quite nice and arguably underrated but pretty much exposed how audiophiles only like boring sterile soundCompletely different value propositions, but read any review of the Z1R and then try and get a demo of them if you can. Audiophiles are allergic to fun sounding Sony tuning.Big reason I went with refurbished XBA-Z5s instead of treble rape chinkslop shitbuds, that warm bassy Sony house sound still hits right.>HD490I'm still not sure who they were made for honestly. They've never interested me and most people will tell you to just buy cheap 600s + EQ in audio spaces.
This thing is diabolical jesus
>>107967860>>107967905the hd490 is for people who like the 560s but hate how uncomfortable it is
>>107967917every headphone is like this tbf
/hpg/'s OFFICIAL REVIEWER POWER RANKINGSTyllCurrawongMarv and his titcow wifeSine Craft AudioSummit-FiResolve/GoldenSoundDMS (post-Abyss era)SolderdudeCrinacle (pre-shill)---GAP---Bad Guy Good AudioSuper* ReviewsSharurWave TheoryScientific Audiophile-----------POWER GAP----------ZeosCrinacle (post-shill)Jay IyagiAmirEvery generic old man snake oil reviewerDMS (Abyss employee arc)ListenerThe Asian Headphones.com dude (Glup Shitto)Passion for SoundJoshua Valour
>>107967917>Listener likes itthey only keep this faggot around for his 5128 I swear, this dude does not have any good takes or value otherwise
>>107967942You need to stop with this retarded meme. The all suck and you need to get off their dicks
>>107967952he doesn't own a 5128...
>>107966819>>107967774Huh, never really thought about amp impedance at allI use ha-sz1000s which are low impedance, the controller is likely reletivly high impedance which is coloring the sound to more to my liking from what I'm reading.I guess it gives me an idea for try to find a higher impedance amp.Kinda impressed with the controller as it's one of the few sources outside of a dedicated headphone amp that actually gives enough volume without distortion
>>107967999>I guess it gives me an idea for try to find a higher impedance amp.TA-66 is a banger and pretty cheap, SE too so you can use a 3.5 -> 6.3 converter and go nuts.
>>107967917I already didn’t understand this obsession with needing to have everything align with a reference curve. But this “bounds” shit to me seems even more stupid. I assume it’s a confidence interval of some sort so if I have a FR that’s just a sine curve that loops back every 10 hz, but it straddles the CI envelopes , does that mean that it should be enjoyable for like 90% of listeners or whatever the CI is set to? I guarantee you Resolve would say “no of course that would suck lmao” but then what even the point of having this if it won’t help you make any better judgements over a headphone?
What’s the best bang for buck balanced dac+amp?
>>107968296Balanced is basically a meme unless you're either making extremely long cable runs or have insanely power-hungry headphones.
>>107968317I know, but I bought a headphone with balanced cables and I only have single ended amps, so I’d like to try a balanced one. And yes, I immediately bought an adapter for good old 6.35mm jack for the headphones.
My superflux 668b have finally died..
Headphones only sound good when you don't think about them too muchOnce you start analysing the sound it all goes down the shitter
>>107968927headphones are totally unrealistic
>>107969036>>107968927>caring about muh perfect reproduction instead of what sounds goodngmi
>>107969051They don't sound good. You don't feel any of the sound at all. The soundstage is really bad. You lose your hearing using them. They're uncomfortable and get dirty. Junk.
>>107969082>he's too low IQ to wipe down the earpads dailysounds like you're just live in filth lmao, I've had the same pair of 650s for 10 years and they're golden
headphone users coping because they live at their moms house and can't play use speakers without getting yelled at. Sad.
>>107969210Many such cases. Maybe one day they'll stop being poor.
>>107969233post your speaker setup timestamped
>>107968514There's literally no difference except it's 6dB louder. The entire point of amps is you can't hear them.
>>107969352an ASR brownoid wrote this
>>107969082>The soundstage is really badHeadphones are working it out. SR1a, Z1Rs and ETA Ulis all have insane headstaging.
>>107969082>You don't feel any of the sound at all.you might be deaf>The soundstage is really badTrue I suppose, but no one is buying headphones just for the staging>You lose your hearing using themThis I s like blaming your laptop screen for making you go blind. It's not the equipment, it's how you use it.>They're uncomfortable and get dirtyLike the other anon said, you might just be the problem here, if your headphones get to the point where there's crust/they smell, you have shit hygiene.
So I've procrastinated with this for about 10 years, I need a headphone DAC. I'm on Xonar DGX from back in the day when it was popular, on speaker port because the headphone amp creates noise.Preferably without analog knob because I heard they have channel balance issues and I just want consistent volume, probably going to still use Windows volume control due to my setup. Don't care if it's chinkshit as long as it measures good. Good price to output quality, probably under 100€ or something that makes sense. My current headphones are HD598SR. Not sure if you need to change considerations if you decide to buy HD600 or something in the future since those have high impedance.Also, I play digital piano with ASIO and would prefer low latency for gaming, are there differences? Already know that Windows adds +100ms, but would prefer it to not add like +20ms latency compared to something else. Where can I find latency info for products?
Hi I'm looking to upgrade my DAC. I got a Schiit Modius back in 2021 (I think it got replaced by Mimir). It works fine but I wish it had usb-c, and maybe bluetooth for convenience, so I had a look on ASR and the SMSL RAW-MDA 1 looked like it fits my needs, but from what I can tell in this thread Chinese audio gear is going to burn my house down, spy on me, and probably fuck my waifu. What should I do? I don't want to buy from Shiit again because they have poor international distribution.
>>107970234SMSL is fine desu, a lot of Shenzhen products are. It's just Topping (their in-house stuff) which is diabolical.
>>107967728>of the preamphes not using it as a preamp so im gonna need you to pretend you know theres a difference for me
>>107970255Everyone I've ever seen buy a Kara has only been for the pre-amp features. You're brown if you're using it as an amp, sorry.
>>107970269oh i shiit on multiple shiit products and confused the two its still not a good product if you think a 10% channel imbalance on anything is acceptable QA you are just used to being shiit on
>>107970275>5 minutes agoyou aren't even trying to hide it anymore huh
>>107970275Jiraya369, I...
>>107970290Wait, so this sperg just asks questions on ASR all day so he can post here to look smart?The average SEAmonkey at work.
I bought a MD player with NetMD capability on a whim after thinking about buying one on and off on a whim. Is there much difference in terms of quality for recording via optical line-in VS just using NetMD transfer? I know the quality will be largely dependant on the source quality that I'm recording, just interested to know if there's any benefit to using line-in mainly
>>107970290why didnt you compare it to when i made the other posts you could have done that but you seem to only do it when its favorable to your incorrect view of the world
>>107970322Can you keep the sperging to ASR? Thanks.
>>107970290i wonder what it's like worshipping a deaf brownoid all day...
>>107970340who are you calling deaf you're the one that thinks a 10% difference in anything is inaudible and acceptable
>>107970352>he takes his opinions from a guy who unironically listens at 114db and can't see the issue with itoh no
>>107970275do you think this guy laughs to himself every time he makes the tired, reddit-tier shiit joke? baby bird brain iq
>>107970229Ok, so I'm gonna buy FiiO KA11 for 32€, is this basically already a hyper optimized product or is there any point going higher if I don't need the features?
>>107970666>110 SINADGood stuff.>is this basically already a hyper optimized productYeah, more or less.>is there any point going higher if I don't need the features?If you need more power, yes. Otherwise no.
>>107970666>FiiO KA11It's a good dongle, sir.>is there any point going higherNot unless you're running something hard to drive or super sensitive
>>107968296Jcally ap6.
>>107970356You need 100-110dB for 80dBA listening because music is not a constant 1kHz tone. It has more bass than treble in every genre and it has dynamic range. But I'll be the first to say that 80dB is not meant to be fucking comfortable listening. It will make you deaf. My level is like 60 according to umik-1.
>>107970933I get why it's tested at these levels, Amir has said multiple time's it's his actual listening level and not to account for peaks etc that might push sound into that range lol.
Who makes good planars
>>107971035Verum 2 is the GOAT planar. Any other answer isn't serious.
>>107969352I’ve decided to build a Sangaku as a balanced amp. It will be my first amp capable of colouring the sound.
*mogs u with broken headphones you need to do a DIY fix job on out of the box*
my ft1 pro sliders are not locking at all and slide down all the timemight need to dremel deeper notches
>>107971673>cheap chinkfi cans breakthe el classico. should be an easy diy job though, like you said.
>>107971681>breakmore like broken by design, had them for less than a month.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/i-can-hear-them-church-bells-pre-ringing-a-mostly-time-domain-investigation-into-dac-like-reconstruction-filters.69074/page-2Good study conducted, and some good points from solderbro. Pretty much should be must read re: DAC sounds.
>>107970905Does anyone actually own this one?
>>107951096I have like 160 usdtShould i buy hd560s or ath m50x
>KEF LS50 Meta>can't handle high volumesWhat's the point?
>>107974200
>>107972315Do you have access to amazon? If so try both and return the one you like less. But I lean towards 560 just on the quality of sennheiser products.
>>107974200How in the world did you manage that?
>>107951096>Buy topping DX5 II>Get CHINKEDYgwyd
How loud do you listen to music?It occurred to me that I didn't know what my usual listening levels were and it turns out I am usually playing around 70 dB on average. This is considered "low volume" despite sounding plenty loud to me. Do most of you listen to much higher volumes? Seems like a waste and you're just giving yourself hearing damage for no good reason.
>>107975383I wonder what happened with the anon who posted his dx5 unboxing. It's a real shame, it looks great and has great features. I wish a more reputable company could make something equivalent.
>>107975543i turn it up until its uncomfortable then turn it down just a little from there
>>107975543How do you know how loud what you are listening to is?
>>107975554hes probably enjoying his music sir the sample size of frying headphones is like 1
>>107975649The sample size of dodgy 4.4 outputs are pretty large, they're still mass malfunctioning even if the headphone guy was a 1/1.
are these dongle DACs suitable for a pc?I read that they turn themselves off after a few seconds then fade in the next time a sound is playedwhat else could I use if the mobo's soundcard is dead?
>>107974145It's been cool watching this dude norwood in real time. Maybe we should investigate the link between malding and bad hearing.
>>107976000Don't use the apple dongle in a windows pc it does weird shit with the voltage, use a Fiio or something. Should be fine.
>>107975543No that's normal. Higher levels are for limited excursion like movies or video games. 90-110dB of dynamic range is useful if you run virtual surround.>>107975573Know what voltage your source puts out and your headphone sensitivity.
>>107976018Don't use Windows if you care about audio.
>>107975556You're giving yourself hearing loss, slowly but surely. >>107975573Used a calibrated decibel meter while listening to music over the course of a few sessions They're about $25I was listening with loudspeakers btw not headphones
>>107976029I am using speakers
>>107976063The part about dynamic range is true for speakers as well.
>>107976018got itI'm only worried about the sleeping mode because it sounds annoying
>>107976162Just make sure you turn off USB power saving in Device Manager and it shouldn't happen, it would be a Windows thing rather than a dongle thing. I've seen the same thing happen on everything from dongles, Topping, Schiit, and more.
just got some new pads for my r70xai always forget how nice new pads feel compared to worn out ones
>>107976115Alright so I'm doing it right then Thanks
>>107976185thanks, I'll try that
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXBmZfTDW_Estop and listen, a blaq woman is listening
>>107976000several dongles are considered good enough to double as a pc amp dac. look into Fosi DS2.most audio cutting out-related issues seem to be from windows fuckery.
>>107976000>what else could I use if the mobo's soundcard is dead?Topping DX1.
>>107976452it's not really cutting out, rather some kind of power saving since these are designed for phoneshttps://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/tests-of-fade-in-behavior-of-usb-dacs-and-dac-hp-amp-devices.63077/>>107976471thank you, I'll take a look at these too
>>107976471>non aligned outputs, status led and volume knobSHIT
>>107976511>rather some kind of power savingthis is it. windows for some reason is super aggressive with this. there are workarounds but even I am too lazy to have a constant silent audio file playing in the background lol
>>107976523Yeah it's not pretty or autism friendly.You have to pay 2 or 3 times as much if you want the same thing only with aligned jacks.
>>107975543Under 60db so that I don't trigger the tinnis
Ever kissed a headphone driver and sucked on it? I did, and fixed the driver on my HD650 so it doesn't fart now in the lower frequencies or if it's too loud.
>Moondrop Old FashionStop manufacturing on ears
>>107976723You wear on-ears because they're comfortable not because muh sub-bass meme. Not everything has to rock the side of your head like a physical slap.
Is this a meme? These feet cost hundreds
>>107976897yes
>>107976723>That awful FRHow have chinkdrop failed at making a name for themselves like with their IEMs? Aside from that fact that their rabid coomer fanbase tends to despise anything that doesn't rape their ears, this tuning is just trash, straight up.
>>107976934headpos are impossible to tune
>>107977176sounds like a skill issue to me Zhang
Whats the issue with topping? Are they somehow worse than other chinko brands?
>>107977204Shenzhen is like a big retailer for a lot of Chinese brands, it has the right to distribute. Some of these have good sound but bad QC (Moondrop), while others are pretty good across the board (XDuoo, Matrix).Topping is their in-house brand, full of corner cutting and cheap QC.
>>107976723that's basically the KSC75 frwhich is basically a HD600 fr with less sub-bass
>>107975543usually like 75-80dB but who knows it's just an iphone spl meter
Was looking for amps to buy in case I would buy the HD600 for its legendary meme status and excellent "tonality". When I looked at Amazon, the options that kept coming up were>Topping, Fosi Audio, Fiio, Douk, SMSL>There is also ifi and Cambridge Audio, albeit with limited optionsDid Chifi corner the market on desktop amps? Only major non-Chinese options left are Schiit and JDS, both of which are not available through Amazon. How do anons cope with buying high-end headphones only to plug it into Chifi? Chinese QC is still a big problem (see Amir shilling Topping amps despite fucking up his headphones). I am well aware that people used to plug their headphones into those large speaker amps, but my point stands.
>>107977672XDuoo TA-66 is kino with 600s, but you can achieve the same thing with EQ.>did Chifi corner the marketMostly. The DX5II faults and Schiit now doing a cheaper and better made AIO is gonna alleviate it. Atom2 is still the safest purchase by far, would be nice if JDS could get the pricepoint similar to where Schiits is now though.Topping is about to put out a $1200 AIO so lol.
>>107977692>$1200 AIOAt that point you're basically crazy to buy it over an RME ADI-2 lmao
for me, it's still quad era-1 with stax sr-009 pads very specifically
>>107977672people here are saying the 600 isn't worth it anymore, because the 6XX costs much less and is literally the same headphone
>>107977672>How do anons cope with buying high-end headphones only to plug it into Chifii buy everything used anyways, and the most overabundant shit on the used market is schiit, at least in north america for me. The amount of times in the past i've looked into some chink product on ebay and there are more broken ones than working is staggering, >asrliterally everything he shills has been lolcow status of qc, even the thx789 died on me after 2 days, just ignore that entire part of audio and you'll be happyAudio is suppose to be a hobby, at least for a lot of /hpg/ bros, if you want to have fun and enjoy yourself buy what you want or like, most of the people here who are in every thread own like 6 pairs of headphones and most wouldn't make anyones 'best value' headphone, though i understand why value is the most important thing to many people here, because they just want one pair and then they leavealso unrelated but to the anons of a few threads back that hatsune miku dap is back on stock, now it's $319 instead of $269, it's over.
>>107976652What S.T.A.L.K.E.R. mod?thx
I asked this a few threads ago and got some good responses, but I'm still trying to find something:Can anybody suggest earbuds, IEMs, or headphones that either have built in bass/treble etc dials, or have equalizer software/apps that can change that, while saving that modified profile to the earbuds/headphones themselves, so the equalizer settings will stay active even if it's not connected to the phone/computer the software is on?Bonus points if they also can work wirelessly in addition to wired, and/or connect via audio jack rather then using a USB port
>>107979257any iem with good tuning switches
>>107977707Yeah, can't comprehend a world you'd buy Topping over that if that's your price range. You'd need to genuinely be a deranged ASR sycophant.>>107978493>more expensive mikuIt's so over. They definitely had it too cheap though I guess, it's a good DAP even without the Miku marketing and the Miku software is thr best integration of weebshit by a mile
>>107977672Literally just use an apple dongle. I use one with the HD600 and have no issues at all. You don't need more.
>>107977707RME has no balls. You're paying for software.
>>107979698It's the same with Topping, at leas the RME's software works
6xx for 149USD on drop, jesus its less than trashed used 650 on my local ebay, god bless america
>>107979508>It's so over. They definitely had it too cheap though I guess, it's a good DAP even without the Miku marketing and the Miku software is thr best integration of weebshit by a mileThey had a psa on their website that they were dealing with global memory shortages, maybe that coupled with insta selling out was enough to do the price jump, sucks i missed out on the $269 onemy other dap was being retarded anyways so i'll probably return it and consider this one more
>>107980041>They had a psa on their website that they were dealing with global memory shortages, maybe that coupled with insta selling out was enough to do the price jump, sucks i missed out on the $269 oneWouldn't shock me, this + tariffs are what is fucking the industry now depending on what product you make. The Uli guys didn't wanna price hike their stuff by a lot, but the tariffs are killing them.
You guys ever talk about the +1k usd headphones or is it only poorfags here
>>107980055I talk about my Uli pre-order all the time sir
>>107980055of coursealthough i don't think i'll buy another more expensive than my hd 800's anytime soon, ebay in canada is so fucking cancer bad that there isn't even a market for most stuff i look at
>>107980057>>107980067also, i'll never buy them but >bambo silk earpadssounds wicked, had no idea this was a thing or how expensive it would cost for other companies to do itI don't know much about the post $2k stuff but it's nice to see interesting shit there from companies that aren't niggers like focal
>>107980055A while back I talked about the DCA Noire X a bunch when I was trying to get rid of a pair on Ebay. Now that they sold I no longer have any reason to drum up attention for them
>>107980083Zack from ZMF did the pads for them, they were a hit at the CanJams they took them out to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7mTz2Z6XBcThey had them stitched down in these, but apparently they've done revisions to the production pads to replicate what the stitching achieved in these.>it's nice to see interesting shit there from companies that aren't niggers like focalYeah wording, ETA have been known for their smaller scale stuff and modding for a while, this is their first big crack at it but all signs indicate its doing well. Apparently rivals earspeakers on headstage, has waveform so positioning changes the sound in cool ways, and is pretty much a HD800 on crack.>>107980067>i don't think i'll buy another more expensive than my hd 800's anytime soonDon't really need to, 800s rule. Can always JAR mod them or something if you ever wanted to get cute, but they've been such mainstays for a reason.
>>107980067I have a hd800 myself but it's hard to find an alternative with the same comfort but more bass. Seems like no one is doing anything in the higher range anymore. Sennheiser also stopped after the atrocious hd820
>>107937405Update: My EQ'd $30 gaming headset unironically sounds better than this HD550I literally can't conceive what the value of this product is when EQ exists
>>107980242I am glad you found a sound signature you enjoy
do people here believe you can just eq to anything too like iemg? is there a shitbud equivalent in headphones that people buy and eq to the flagships to hear what they sound like?
>>107980335I think EQ is powerful but people here are either pretty facetious about it or don't understand how over-EQing something just distorts it
>>107980096>A while back I talked about the DCA Noire X a bunch when I was trying to get rid of a pair on Ebay. Now that they sold I no longer have any reason to drum up attention for themthe classic CRT approach did you at least like them? >>107980335>do people here believe you can just eq to anything too like iemg?no but the 3rd worlders won't stop talking about it every thread yet won't say which $500+ headphone they've ever owned to test it against, many such cases
>>107980335With headphones you get shit like this until you get into the $500 range and it took an IEM company to bring it down to $500. With IEMs you get perfect distortion for $0 and it actually gets worse in higher budgets. Completely different.
>>107971673 cont.On a second thought dremeling steel right next to planar drivers sounds like a really bad idea.But neither stickers, foil, tape nor tiny dots of glue did not help.I don't want to encase entire slider in hotglue because I might want to upgrade to comfort strap at some point.And removing the steel part entirely seems complicated because there's a springs mechanism holding it inside the earcups.
>>107980475Have you tried zip ties.
>>107980514No but what should I even ziptie?Fix bottom of the cups to headband? Would interfere with swivel mount.Tie left and right slider rails together over the top of the headband? Might work actually, but a thread or some kind of spring would work even better.Stuff the space inside the rails above the sliders?
Hello friends, I want to ask if its okay from audio-scientific standpoint to put my amp/dac on top of active speaker. Am I going to introduce unwanted interference into dac´s dacing or speakers speakering? Thank you for your attention to this matter, Im including scantily clad anime girl as forward payment for your answers.
>>107980415>did you at least like them?They're alright, but like any kilobuck headphone they did nothing special over something half the price.
>>107978493>the miku dap is overpriced nowJust realized this was a thing, honestly looks nice.>$319Why do the Japanese try to overprice their merch all the time? In an unrelated thread, those life-size plushes were pretty sweet but not $1000+ sweet. This reason is why my room does not look like an otaku's den. I can't in good faith justify those prices.When I complained about the price of Nendoroids and how they should at most cost $20-30 USD ($60 tops for limited edition stuff), some anon in the thread was trying to tell me that Nendoroids are "great value" due to it able to change positions, quality and face plate options, comparing the value proposition to a Funko pop. If this isn't coping that I have no clue what is.Also replaceable batteries for DAPs should be a non-negotiable demand, either AA/AAA or like those old phones batteries.
>>107981128>Also replaceable batteries for DAPs should be a non-negotiable demand, either AA/AAA or like those old phones batteries.that would be nice anon, but we live in such a retarded time line that redditors are going back and mass buying ipods with 2 hour battery lifes, it's just beyond retarded how bad things arethe first two batches at $269 apparently sold out in like 5 minutes, not sure what the hell is going on anymore, unless they intentionally shorted the amount they had
>>107981128>Why do the Japanese try to overprice their merch all the time?Because they know consoomertards will buy it anyways.
>>107981128$319 for a DAP is pretty cheap honestly, lol. Nendroids are 100% overpriced though, no argument there - barely cheaper than a good 1/7 or 1/8 and look infinitely tackier.
>>107980055I’ve had both the HD800s and Noire XO. Sold both and realized that $500-$700 with EQ is the sweet spot.
>Infinite budget what would you buyHD800s with the Sennheiser amp. I honestly would not look for anything else.>inb4 shilling allegationsI don't have the money to afford it yet. Also HD800s users, how is the headphones?>balanced connection, even if it matters little>old-school timeless design>heard the comfort was much better than the HD600 and HD650Is the HD800s as clinical and sterile like HD560s, HD600 and HD650? Or is it more fun to listen to?
>>107981661>infinite budget>not the HE-1
>>107981661see >>107951146---- >>107951396Stop eating and experience bass you fat fuck.
>>107981661>Is the HD800s as clinical and sterile like HD560s, HD600 and HD650? Or is it more fun to listen to?Hard to recommend them now since the price went up by a lot since the 2025 pre-order ended, but the ETA Ulis sound like exactly what you are looking for with the '800s but fun and comfortable' factor. Pretty much how everyone everyone who heard them at SoCal and Dallas described them.Comfort wise 800s are still great, sound wise it's pretty clinical to the point there are modding communities entirely around getting more out of the 800. People also tend to shill stuff like TA-66s for them. Could just EQ as well, but you'll hit limits there if you overwork it for the fun.
>>107981661>Or is it more fun to listen to?My airpods are more fun to listen to than the hd800. It's however a very good gaming and movie headphone.
>>107981694DF + bass objectively mogs the shitty Harman target, it's funny seeing the newer targets get closer and closer to that idea and away from the "totally hard science" Harman target shilled on ASR.Sharur also needs to learn how to actually compose a peer-reviewed paper if he actually wants to be treated as anything other than the audiophile clown lmao. The shootouts were good, but ultimately had no wider impact because the supporting paper he wrote for them had the finesse of a 12 year old.
Openback planar + bass shelf EQ = skull-shattering rumble no DD or estat can ever produce. Closed-back diminishes the perception of subbass and makes it even more sensitive to seal quality.
Fresh >>107981762
I regret buying hd6xx and not hd600. Hopefully I'll find someone to trade with..
>>107981739Amir always EQs to DF+bass though.
>>107979076Radiophobia 3
>>107981755Yeah open back planar is its own experience. The closer you get to speakers, the less shitty headphones are, and that's as close as current technology gets.
>>107980335No because anyone who ever played with eq on headphones for 5 minutes knows unfixable resonance exists.>is there a shitbud equivalent in headphones that people buy and eq to the flagships to hear what they sound like?Audeze
>>107981769They literally sound the same after EQ. Don't fall for the audiophool memes, anon.