Headphones

When I was just starting off, anc isn’t important, especially if you’re getting a budget set.

Crinacle has frequenzy response graph comparison tool for headphones

https://crinacle.com/graphs/headphones/graphtool/

No amount of reviews will ever be better than trying and listening for yourself.

Crinacles ranking list is not accurate for everyone… at all

If you have the space and the (lack of) neighbors. Start buying a home theater set up with speakers. Once you go past $200 in iem there’s diminishing returns as others have said and you can start piecing together a better audio experience than headphones

Buy a pair of e-mu teaks

• Comfort is a core requirement, and there is no need to suffer for good sound (i.e. headphones/IEMs that are both comfortable and sound good exist)
• 20 USD already gets you a good-sounding IEM (e.g. 7hz Salnotes Zero, Moondrop Chu 2/Jiu, Truthear Hola).
• Diminishing returns kick in early and not everybody needs the best possible sound reproduction (e.g. depending on use case, music listened to)
• More expensive is not always better, but better is almost always more expensive
• Most reviewers out there are shills and should be disregarded. If a reviewer likes everything their opinions are worthless. The more flowery and vague the language of a review the more skeptical you should be.
• Frequency response is the number one determinant for perceived sound quality. Frequency response measurements alone can often tell you that a headphone is bad, but they can't necessarily tell you whether a headphone is good.
• EQ is always worth trying (but can't fix a truly shitty headphone)
• DACs and amps are a solved problem. Get something that measures well (no need to go for the best possible measurements), has the features you want and, for the amp, the power you need. The real gains are with better headphones (and custom EQ)
• The HD600 is a classic for a reason.

There are times for analyzing the technical stuff like frequency response and distortion but they don't tell the whole story or determine if a headphone is good or bad, it's a starting point to see if a measurement is bad enough to influence your experience in a negative way. These days I first look up frequency response graphs to see if a headphone I'm researching has a borked graph (COUGH Sivga SV021). While headphones shouldn't be perfectly flat in the response and don't have to be, if there are massive peaks or dips where it shouldn't be then it might be a headphone I won't like.

If you do go for this approach, please try and use a single or a couple reputable sources where you understand the target they are using.

don't buy beats. don't except premium sound from your phone, it doesn't have a sound card. play around with EQ & other options to suit your ears better. Don't invest in expensive headphones just because it seems like the right thing to do, buy something that won't be an inconvenience to your lifestyle.

Buy a decent dac/amp with the stuff you need and be done. More is snakeoil.

Cables == Snakeoil

Price != performance/quality

Some people describe stuff as if there is a huge difference, when there is not (hd600 line)

Buy used

Just because they sound good doesn't mean they are comfortable, just because they're expensive doesn't mean they sound good. If your ears are like tongues then how things sound is as subjective as taste

Run away while you still can! Your wallet can’t handle this addiction.

I’m sorta joking.

One thing I’d say is the actual difference between different higher end headphones isn’t as much as people make it out to be. I spent so much time obsessing and imagining just how good some of these different legendary headphones must be to garner the infinity different reviews and discussions and recommendations. But when I tried them the improvement was incremental.

Not to say the highest end isn’t noticeably better than the midfi, just that it isn’t going to be as earth shattering as the internet will lead you to believe.

Try out headphones whenever possible to help justify spending the money.

I've got thousands in wired headphones and items. Use my galaxy bud 2 pros 90% of the time for convenience

This hobby is a complete waste of money. Get one pair of headphones in the $200-$500 range and then never look at headphones again until your current pair is falling apart.

The right EQ can pretty much make any headphone sound amazing.

Forget about other earphones, enjoy your music with what you have

Plug the headphones into the headphone connector and not the line-out or you’re going to have a very bad time.

No in all seriousness: headphones and IEM’s matter way more than any amp or dac ever will. Maybe get a simple cheap dac/amp combo so you don’t have to plug your headphones straight into your computer.

I'm honestly learning so much from this thread as i am a newbie myself.
A genuine thank you to you all for adding your bits of advice on here!

Just because one is 850 dollars and one is 950 dollars doesnt mean the 950 dollar one is "Better" then the 850 dollar one.

Run if u can

The perception of audio will vary from person to person. Transparent source equipment and neutral-ish headphones like the HD600 are still great, don't get me wrong. The point is that I think it's a fool's errand to obsess over objective perfection, or adherence to the artist's intent.

You don't need to spend a ton of money on DACs and amps. All modern transparency-focused stuff is nearly identical. The JDS Atom DAC and amp is a great choice if you want something with all the bells, whistles, belts, and braces you'll need for almost any eventuality. But in many cases, you might not need more than a phone dongle DAC and amp, or the soundcard built into your computer or phone.

This video does a good job at explaining amp power requirements and considerations.

DACs and amps that do not try to be totally transparent are not per definition broken and only enjoyed by suckers. But they are not inherently better than the transparent stuff either. R2R DACs, tube amps and class-A stuff aren't what I think you should start with, but they can be cool to experiment with.

Also, learn to EQ, and remember that confirmation bias is a thing.

Don't buy too many cheap headphones, buy a few solid headphones.

Don't take other people's words as gospel. Try things out on your own.

Apple lightning adapter works really well for most IEMs. And it’s under $10

That price does not always equal performance. Take reviews with a grain of salt - too many shills in this industry. Cables do not add bass, mids, treble or soundstage and if they do they are faulty!!

Always and I mean always audition headphones before purchasing. Recognise who are the shills in this industry as there are a lot!!

Listen to the music and not the equipment.

We all have different ears.

Some of the best models are "old" (at least a couple of years or more).

Get lots of mid range used and try em out. Then sell all but your favorites.

I'm still in my bulk phase. The cut is going to be legendary.

Can someone link me a guide or a video on how to tune an headphone, I am a total newbie

Buying stuff is addictive.

There is no "mid-fi" "tier", "endgame" or "journey". Just stuff that sounds subjectively/objectively good or not for a given budget. Those things are more appealing to the "buying stuff is addictive" consumerism nature of hobbies (non-specific to headphones/audio gear).

As with any nerd hobby, many opinions on forums are simply repeating what others have repeated rather than first hand experience.

Buy for longevity and comfort, all other things are secondary. If a hp lasts practically forever with basic care, it's also got a hell of a driver.

Do not, DO NOT, DO NOT spend more money on dac amps than your headphones. I’ve seen people tried to talk newbie up to buy new dac or amp for something like dt770, hd560 etc because the newbie said they didn’t like the sound. Neither dac nor amp will “fix” the headphones that you do not like.

Get out of this sub. Like ASAP

Hifi isn’t real embrace EarPods

Learn how to read frequency response graphs and understand the research behind the harman target. I used to watch and read reviews but I found out they never accurately described a headphones/IEMs sound after buying and listening to them. You don’t have to like the harman target or buy headphones/IEMs that are tuned to it, but understanding the harman research will make make buying headphones/IEMS easier and it will SAVE YOU A LOT OF MONEY.

Peace EQ on PC, i wasted a lot of money until i learned how to custom tune my headphones now iam pretty much in audio heaven.

A Schiit Magni Modi amp dac stack (for desktop use) will pretty much see you sorted for any headphones. Don't think spending hundreds or thousands more will get you any massive improvements in sound quality.

There are much better headphones then HD650, lol