Headphones

Going through this journey I got a lot of recommendations claiming those things are THE HEADPHONES and nothing can beat it and... And sometimes I get a little disappointed for spending loads of bucks at a “meh” headphone. But I can’t blame them, I know that one thing that is good for one may not be for the other.

I see people asking this question about the “best”, but audio and music are very subjective. That’s why we get many different answers and there is no “better headphones”. So for YOU, what’s the best audio device and you love to listen in them?

So around 2-3 weeks ago I ordered a pair of MH Tungsten. Call me an idiot as it was a complete blind buy but the hype around them is kinda real. A 1499-1999$ pair that rivals headphones double its price sound promising, only issue is you need a nuclear reactor to power them.

Did anyone here order a pair too and already received it?

Mind to give a short „review“?

What are the other brand earphones with the closest sound signature to Weston W10?please name a few earphones.

I got ahold of my dads old pioneer SE-30 8ohm headphones, they are in rough condition and the left ear makes buzzy low volume if any at all,so opened up that can and checked with multimeter and it gets 0 so its burnt, i have a few options i would like some help in the way of advice on what to do here,is it possible to repair a speaker thats blown like this, theres no holes in the cone or tears and when you push it in and out it moves but scratch's heavily, if not possible to repair,is it possible to find a replacement of the exact same kind? if not is there anywhere that sells 8ohm cone 70mm drivers that would match this? then last option,is it worth it, are these headphones known to have really good audio quality, if not i have smaller earhphone drivers from my older oculus rift cv1 that is known to have very good audio quality but i think theyre 16ohm so i could probably hot glue them inside of the pioneer cans, anyways any advice at all would help greatly, ultimately i would like to keep them og if at all possible.

Seems quite interesting to me. Do modern audio files contain separate channels for the vocals and instumental? I use Tidal lower tier if that's important. I'm not looking to fix it, just curious of this phenomenon. Sorry if the question is weird, I don't know much about audio.

Hi there, total noob here very new to the "hobby". I recently upgraded my home theater with an awesome new setup and got into the whole audio/audiophile space researching my purchasing decisions. The research sparked a lot of thinking about music and audio quality in general and besides a switch from Spotify to tidal it also sparked my interest in trying quality headphones.

For now I got a pair of Hifiman He400i that were available 2nd hand near me, to try out the planar magnetic hype.

I plugged them into my MacBook Pro M1 and they sounded very thin and didn't get all too loud. To be expected...

I went ahead and plugged them into my Steinerg UR22C audiointerface and gained some body and volume. If I turn the level knob all the way it's a tad bit over my comfort listening volume.

Overall I think they are good headphones but the "out of body" listening experience I expected didn't hit at all. My question is, are these headphones not as good as I expected, is the UR22C bad as an amp or are my ears just bad?

What would I gain from a dedicated stack for amp and maybe even DAC (Forums tell me the UR22C's DAC is fine just the Amp is average at best).

Can you try to describe to me what I would gain from spending money? Like if I am maybe at a 5/10 of what my Headphones are capable of, how much better do I get with for example a Schiit Magni and Modi DAC (available near me 2nd hand for 200E).

What would take me even higher?

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So, i've had 3 pairs of the dt990 pro, and on every pair, the sliders have broken on both sides. first the left goes, and then the right goes.

now im not heavy handed, nor do i abuse them, but i do wear them daily. i knwo they sell a repair kit, but its the same plastic that breaks, and they havent revised that to make the piece from a better or stronger material.

it isnt like the headphones are super expensive, but theyre also not cheap.... so why are they so anti consumer, and why do they refuse to help even while you're in the warranty period?

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People always say that anc headphone sound bad when wired and power off and I agreed until I try them power off with a preamp with headphone amp , in my case the Fosi P3 tube preamp.

The sound separation is way better, the sound doesn't get distorted at all specially the bass and the sound in way more relaxed and light to the ear!

I want to know the technical reason of why this happen. It is it because when you feed amp signal to the headphones and the headphones are on the headphones amp that signal again and the drivers cannot handle that very well?

I would like to assume that because when off you have to boost the bass on the preamp and it also allow you to get more volume without getting distorted. The sound loses a bit of body, is different, but I like it way more. Without preamp/amp I would not use them power off.

I've just got the Moondrop Venus and it's great.

However I do hear sibilance when it comes to certain female vocals in particular. I especially hear alot of sibilance when listening to Aimer's songs. (love her songs btw!)

My source is Spotify running out of Fiio K9pro ESS or Fiio BTR7.

Any other Venus users facing this and any idea if changing pads or cables light reduce the sibilance?

Thank you!

As the title says, could use an advise on which one to acquire for PC gaming. The difference i saw is the the dolby atmos for the xbox. Could someone explain if is worth waiting for xbox ones or just get PS ones?

Two weeks ago I replaced my old Sundaras with the Ananda Stealth. They felt more comfortable and the imaging, soundstage and bass are improved noticeably, so I decided to keep them. Yesterday I listened for the first time to a IEM (EW200), which I bought for 25$ in the 11.11.

To be honest, there is not much difference in terms of detail, imaging and bass quality. Of course, the Ananda a feel fuller, airier and with more natural timber that is very noticeable when watching movies or listening to vocals, but the rest feel kinda comparable. Now I feel like I wasted 400$ with the Ananda. Did this happen to any of you when discovering IEM?

Also, now I wonder if I buy something like the Simgot EA1000 in the 200$ range if I will be blown out or if the improvement would be comparable to jumping from the Sundara to the Ananda.

I would also like to hear from you how you feel comparing IEM with open back headphones. Cheers!

Was curious if the Sennheiser (specifically M4) have any sort of immersive audio and surround similar to the Bose QC Ultras where you can enable and chose different modes in the app. I’m still waiting on them in the mail and have been testing the QC Ultras and Sony MX5 and they both have similarities to the immersive audio and EQ options to bring out the best of each headphone. I will say I have been enjoying the QC Ultra more since it’s more spacious and clear but the MX5 has more more bass and in head feeling. Let me know what Sennheiser has in comparison or any additional thoughts.

So I got the Accentums today and I did my research and found out that they use aptx HD codec. However, this won't work with my phone since Samsung S23 doesn't have aptx HD, it has the base aptx codec. So basically, my headphones could sound better but they're being held back by my phone (?). I'm guessing that's how it works, might be wrong, please correct me if I am. Now, don't get me wrong, I am satisfied with the sound quality, Sennheiser is good and it makes me happy. As for the other aspects, the clamp force is a bit too tight but I get used to it after about an hour of wearing it but again I'm not used to wearing headphones as such. Now, with all this considered, should I keep the Accentum or should I get a replacement, like the Q45 which is still cheaper since either way I'm gonna only listen to aptx quality of sound and never aptx HD. Or should I just keep the Accentum and live with it? Gimme precious advice

I'm attempting to implement AutoEQ feature based on u/jaakkopasanen AutoEQ project. The requirement is to obtain EQ values specific to Wavelet equaliser.

I have attached the screenshot of my implementation to retrieve eq values, but I must be missing something because I'm getting values which are not specific to Wavelet.

my implementation

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values obtained in response

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Expected values

What API do I need to make a request in order to retrieve EQ values of a specific type of Equaliser, say Wavelet, Poweramp, SoundSource etc?

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Or just the 80ohm? And an amp If I want the 250ohm?

Why? It reminds me when I listen to vinyl.

So basically I bought some Sony "MDR" Extra bass model headphones back in 2018, I could found the actual model only on Spains page in case you want to check it out Cascos inalámbricos con Bluetooth y NFC | MDR-XB950BT | Sony Spain

Now, delighted by such mastery in sound, I bought the more recent SONY WH-1000XM4 back in 2022, and they disappointed me due to low volume level. Yeah, low volume. So, these headphones were beautiful, but low compared with the old ones from 2018, even at 100% volume was not enough for me, so I ended up selling them and staying with the old ones. (Not discussing sound quality or anything like that, just volume level).

Now I want to upgrade this old model and Im currently after the new "Sony WH-XB910N" but I´m pretty afraid of having the same problem with volume level and ending up returning to previous headphones, theyre just too old by now.

So, I just want to know if anyone else has made the comparison or can tell me more details about volume level on the newest Sony WH-XB910N before making my purchase.

PD: I know some people just use 70% or less because they feel is just too loud, but is not the case for me, I want the whole rock concert in my ears! hehe. Also, this is not a phone issue, MDR work fine on any device with same volume, XM4 was the same, so Im assuming is just the maximum volume capped by Sony. Dont want to rely on any amplifiers or anything like that. Other brands recommendations are pretty welcomed, not an expert on these topic.

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I have four friends and we want to bring our own headphones (assume aux jack input) to a vinyl listening night. So basically the record player audio output (mine is RCA out) goes into some kind of hub/splitter and then four aux cables come out and go into each of our headphones. Ideally each output can be independently volume controlled. Bonus points if the device can also accept four microphone inputs so we can speak to each other while listening without taking our headphones off.

I'm referring to this video. Is it because they stand out more? Maybe if I were using speakers instead I'd prefer the mixed version? I'm asking because I don't really know much about music in general, so I thought you guys could show your perspectives in that

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Moondrop Dark Saber + Free DSP

Convenient, Mic function, media control, and customizable parametric EQ,

and the sound quality is quite comparable to the most expensive dongle in the current market (L&P W4).

I am really surprised that this only costs $30.

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I guess this is going to be my new portable setup.

Highly recommended to everyone!

So recently I've been able to sit down and really take a listen to the new Meze Empyrean II's. I own a pair of Elites, but they are always been a little bit spicy in the high end (~10K) for some tracks, and I wanted to know how the new-commers would compare.

Stock impressions of the II's were not that great. You can definitely hear the increased treble, but it really feels like vocals are way too pronounced and close. If I had to describe it, it would be like if the vocalists were sitting a good 5-10ft closer to you than the rest of the band; they're starting to mask the other frequency. "Sibilance" and peakiness was very slightly cut down compared to the Elites, but still not enough imo. The bass was also reduced a bit compared to the Elites, but I kind of liked the Elite's bass so that really doesn't matter too much to me.

With the first impression being so disappointing, I decided to try the deep leather pads on the II's, and I have to say I prefer these pads much more. The treble emphasis is reduced greatly while retaining everything else. They pretty much sound the same as the Elites with a bit less bass and top-end "sparkle?" Makes me wonder how much of Meze's tuning changes can be attributed to the Duo pads. I did try them on the Elites, and they actually sounded similar to the stock II's with some small variations.

Overall, I'm kind of liking the II's after swapping pads, but I still want to do some more A/B on them before I decide to actually trade them for my Elites. Also might consider some dampening foam mods for the Elites to help with their spiciness. For those curious about my amp setup, I'm using a Topping E/L50 stack. These results will probably vary for others, especially since I listen at such low volumes. If there are any specific comparison requests for music feel free to ask.

Hey everyone,

I decided to bite the bullet and grab a set of the HD800S while they're on sale. My current equipment just involves the SMSL C200 dac amp which is powering my current headphones (ATH R70X).

I've been doing some more research after ordering the HD800S and I've been seeing a lot of people saying that you "need" a Tube Amp for these; is this true by any means? I don't have much experience with them.

I purchased the following: Schiit Modius Schiit Valhalla

My understanding is that they come with their respective power cables that plug directly into the wall... Is that right?

Otherwise what would I need to connect them together and to my phone if those cables don't come included?

Finally, would the Sennheiser 800S be cable to plug into it with the included cable?

Thanks, I'm new to all of this so I'm trying to learn and make sure I have all the required gear!

I have a small question that I would highly appreciate you could help me with dear headphone community.

I now know that the most recent version of the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 has a headphone output impedance of 50 Ohms. Im currently planning to use the Fidelio X2HR that has an impedance of 30 Ohms to use it directly as a DAC for personal listening.

Since English is not my native tongue, I had difficulties understanding the posts which discuss the subject and wanted help to know if my current cans will suffer from impedance mismatch. Thank you so much for your attention and it would mean a lot to me if you could take the time to reply.