Headphones

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A community for discussion around all topics related to headphones and personal audio.

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To those of you all that have multiple headphones/IEMs, curious as to your use cases for each? (alien.top)

submitted 10 months ago by N64SmashBros@alien.top to c/headphones@hi-fi.community

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I'll start!

Fiio FA9: my most critical listening sessions and overall best sounding. Also one of my remaining wired headsets that make work calls sound fantastic. These rarely leave the house with the exception for work travel, no intention for mobile listening with these.
Sony WH-XM5: these are my go to for work travel/ out in public when I have a backpack to lug em around. The ANC and mic quality are 10/10. Sound out of the box was meh but after using the commonly used Reddit EQ, their sound is fantastic without any of the distortion. Never seen a set react to EQ so well without any distortion. Having great sound wirelessly has been a big QOL upgrade for me. Love having LDAC with high quality streaming.
Fidelio X1's: were my daily driver's for about 7 years until the FA9's. I now use them when the family is asleep, I click em into my BTR3 and connect to the TV, and get a cinematic experience. Their sound signature and soundstage make shows/movies/games MUCH more enjoyable when I cannot use the home theater setup. Otherwise, for music, they're a little too easy going, I prefer something on the warmer end of neutral. Lacks the texture and resolution of the FA9's.
Google Pixel Buds 2: These are my grab and go's, my daily beaters that integrate well with my pixel. Meh sound quality, decent call quality, sweat resistant. Most likely will upgrade to the WF-XM5's as their sound is becoming evident as a dramatic downgrade to my other sets

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[–] ApfelRotkohl@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

AirPods Pro 2: my most used earphones. I would say it's one of the most comfortable earphones with the best adaptive ANC (transparency mode, conversation detection). I use it for commuting (mostly turning on just the ANC), working while listening to podcasts, and Teams meetings. The sound quality is good enough, Apple did something with EQ that boosted the bass level even at lower volumes (Equal-loudness contour) plus Dolby Atmos with Apple Music is superior to Tidal's Dolby Atmos.
AirPods Max: I work night shifts from time to time and live in an apartment. I use this when watching TV so as not to bother my GF and neighbors.
Thieaudio Monarch MK2: My end game level IEM. Strangely enough, I bought this for the novelty of listening to good mastering tracks like movie soundtracks, and music from Chesky Records in general.
Moondrop Variations: Daily used IEMs, I use this for listening to Lofi and everything on the PC.

Some gears that I recently sold: Hifiman edition XS and HD800s. I personally think they are great headphones, just that the trade-offs vs IEM and dedicated speakers are not worth it.