A community for discussion around all topics related to headphones and personal audio.
I use my U12T as my daily drivers while listening to music at work, and my KSC75 for gaming and listening to music casually.
I used to wear my headphones often but I've discovered that I much prefer everything to be convenient and comfortable over all else. (Also, the U12T does not seem like a big compromise over wearing my headphones)
Alessandro M1. Britpop, indie rock
Susvara with Hyrule Symphony.
I know the physical difference between headphones and IEM's. But what about sound? Can't you expect quality sound from IEM's?
Sundara 80s-90s thrash/prog/heavy/power metal.
The Vision Ears VE10 is the most incredible thing I've ever heard in my whole life.
I like sennheiser’s IE lineup of their iem’s. got the 40 and when it broke got the 100 to replace it got the 400 when it was on sale and it just sits well on my ears. It so comfortable i dont really care if people say it sounds lifeless cause i enjoy my music fine. I listen to a variety of music from UK Folk, Indie, general Pop music, Metal, and Rock. Its fine unless you have problems cause sennheiser’s new owners is crap when it comes to customer service
4xx personally for me so far modded with ahg 40-50mm pads and grills off of ebay for a little more soundstage, could remove the film off of stock as well but the anodized ones just look too cool. I usually prefer to listen to trance/electro/techno/synth, and other edm genres with pop every now and than.
Probably B$W Diamond speakers
But for headphones probably Audeze LCD’s
I've said it multiple times on here, but the setup in my flair (HE400SE + 4.4mm balanced cable + Moondrop Dawn Pro) is under $200 and better than any of my previous $$$$ setups.
AKG K712 PRO with G6. I'm listening to Electronic music and HIp-Hop.
I'm using a Philips Fidelio X2HR with my FiiO K3s. Pretty decent for their pricing. I generally listen to songs from the 80's, 2000, and some modern pop music. Also listen to instrumental (classical or modern), rock music, DnB, house, and synth.
DT 1990 Pro for any reasonably well produced death metal record.
Hifiman HE6se (with a bit of EQ at 2k and 4k) is the best for me. Most natural sounding treble with deep and clean bass. I listen to pretty much everything. They do great on all genres imo. Some people may find them not bright enough and lack some airiness but I'm (upper)treble sensitive so it's actually perfect for me!
/r/symphonicmetal and currently Sennheiser HD 660S2
I use 2 headphones and two iems the most.
I use my 660s when I want to just listen and not really focus on the music. Most comfortable pair I own. I use Sundara's when I really wanna listen and feel the music.
I also love my IE600s. For me, they are almost the perfect IEM. I use them for everything.
When I wanna mix it up I use my FIIO FH7. I love how detailed they are.
Headphones : the 800s, simply the most natural mids I've heard. Treble extension up to the clouds.
I use it for classical, jazz but also newer stuff like djent or fusion. Works well in games, but imaging isn't on par with the soundstage.
IEMs : IE900, tuning is V shaped but the Custom Tips alleviate that somewhat. I EQ them to bring back the naturality. Technicality wise, they're insane. The bass impact is unheard of, it's nuts.
They are great for games, addictive for electronic music and the dynamics are huge so anything that slams is a good match.
I can't wear the custom tips for as long as I can wear the 800S, but for 2h sessions they are perfect.
Sony MDR-Z1R with Techno music (primary). I listen to many other genres of music too.
I’m still partial to the Sony xba Z5’s for everything.
I love my HD 560s for any kind of pop music and well mastered rock/metal. They are very very capable and easy to EQ. I run mine with a bass boost a slight treble decrease and they sound phenomenal.
Im in the same boat, own more expensive headphones but I find myself using these 70% of the time
I love my 560S for metal. Now I've heard people complain they only sound good with well mastered music, but I have plenty of poorly mastered underground metal bands in my collection and that doesn't bother me.
Any recommendations for a Bluetooth earbud/headphone for the gym if I’m into the same genre?
At the moment, Sundara and I listen to all genres of music, but mainly rock/metal or anything with those elements.
Sundara is the best sound quality that meets my financial tolerance. I bought open-box from a reputable seller, so Hifiman QA issues were minimized. Takes to EQ super well if I ever get bored of their stock signature.
I don't really get into the whole "these headphones are for this genre" thing. I listen to everything with all my headphones. What drives which one I use is based more on the context in which I'm listening and my mood at the time. Sundara is for focused listening, Blues are for more relaxed, all-day background music, XM4s are for yardwork and flights, Space Travels are at work and other places where I need to keep situational awareness.
Blues?
I love my Campfire Andromeda CK Pacific Blue from Jan 2017 and still listen to them even today
Well currently love the hd800s for mostly everything thats not electronic and rock with a lot of gain on guitars and is badly mastered. Unfortunately thats a lot of my library so Liric takes care of that. Both actually have the same eq, 3db bass shelf at 120hz.
But if I had to choose more specifically, hd800s and Pink Floyd is a match made in heaven.
Listening to Echoes on this might be an awesome experience...
I use DCA Stealth as my daily driver, it's the best headphone I've ever heard but maybe that will change if I get a chance to try Sennheiser HE 1 at some point.
I listen to a lot of different genres, here's my top 10 artists for the last 6 months:
for me it is my 109 pro it does everything so well and you forget you have headphones on
Equalised Hd 650 for Black Metal and Crust Punk.
How are you eq’ing these pls?
Beyer DT 880 Pro, very same genres 🤘
Sundara. Classical.
UE 18+ Pro (gen 2) is the best I've used from a subjective standpoint. It has the most life like sound and comprehensively so. It's faults are mostly a limit of its era of hardware. There's one below that I use far more often though. This is...less fun...than other options. It's great for classical music and video games where the realism of the sound benefits the presentation more than others. But for everthing else, it's oddly a more boring experience, very good, but boring.
I did pick up the Thiele Audio Monarch MKII with the idea that it could dethrone them, but they were mainly a lateral move and just different. There's good selection of drivers and crossover setup. It covers the spectrum evenly and quite completely. The balance odd this IEM is quite good in body and energy thoroughout. The slightly bassy emphasis can be fun. The quality of sound is technically good. But I find the sound lacks some dynamics and punch (less effortless). It has high total output though, bit it perpetually sounds forever dynamically compressed, even with a lot of amp behind it. The high driver count and skill level of the engineers causes a unique problem of coherency. The blending of the drivers in the time domain is mismatched. They got levels set well but not time, and it messes with the sound some. It also makes for a blurrier sound stage. Both the one above and especially the one below highlight the shortcomings from this lapse in refinement. It's a product that feels like it needs more polish (and MKIII came out, but I don't know if any of this was fixed).
However, what I use most is the Shure SE846. This has for some time been my go-to IEM for general use. It has the best construction, most technical refinement, best highs, best level of detail, great imaging, excellent mids, and excellent bass for a BA driver setup, including doing very well for like end extension and especially body of note. This is the IEM I'd keep if I was forced to sell everything else I own. This is THE BRST engineered IEM I own, period, by a mile. There's some limits of its age and strictly BA design, but it is exceptional for its hardware.
Fiio FH7S Audeze LCD-2C
Mainly listen to melodic house and metal. Although as I get older, I'm getting a soft spot for female singer songwriters
AKG Q701 are headphones I will keep forever and never replace. They were my first headphones and I like AKG, so they are special to me, but their sound is also amazing. Maybe it's because all of my other headphones are planars, but nothing is as smooth, natural, or has the timbre as the AKG. Also you can EQ +6 dB of bass with no distortion, they have incredible bass detail for dynamic open backs at their price.
The Arya have more detail and better instrument separation, but they don't sound as natural as the AKG. Interestingly the AKG are tge least favorite of my headphones for my cousin.
Monarch MKII continues to be the unbeatable all-rounder for me. It works so well with every genre I throw at it. Currently listening to a lot of older J-Pop, as well as classical rock and the occasional Bollywood/Tamil song.
I currently use Focal Elex and Moondrop Aria. I listen to rap, Rock, country, EDM, classical, pop
JVC FW10000. Paired with the Calyx M it's just amazing.
Hd 660s2 for death metal and rock. Guitars sound so complete with them and they dont have the 3 blob imaging like other 6 series. Meshuggah is phenominal to listen to w them
Focal Stelliance. Mostly EDM and such.
I love my Grados at my desk.. listening to tons of trash (aka pop), some latin (Shakira, Camila Cabello), electric pop nu-metal stoof (30 seconds to mars, linkin park), singer songwriter (sade, norah jones, etc.) and even some soul (joss stone)
I guess I like them with any genre of music that's not too bass-reliant (some music just sucks without bass) the DT990 Edition are more "immersive" to listen to, with loads more bass, but they don't feel as light on your head.
My Grado SR80x and the Etyomic ER4XR are the best banf for buck for a headphone and IEM. I know they are not for everyone but for I cannot help but to love them both.
The Grado sound is so much like the studio/monitoring headphones I grew up listening to while my parents were performing and the Etymotics are technically astonishing IMO.