AsleepInTheBack: Headphones? Headphones!!!

AsleepInTheBack 03.19.24	An odyssey What do you use When did you use them Why
Colton 03.19.24	my sony xm4’s were a life changing purchase. it’s insane that loving music as much as I always have, I didn’t get a really good pair of headphones until december 2021. I would love to go all out and get a really crazy $1000+ pair but they don’t really make wireless bluetooth headphones like that with good noise cancellation and I mostly listen to music at work, on walks or at the gym so it’s probably not worth it
Futures 03.19.24	been a bose guy forever. first pair of over the ear back in the day. got the qc45's a few years back and they've been a revelation. i know audiophiles will tell you it's not the highest quality for the price but they are by a large distance the most comfortable headphones i've ever worn. forget they are on. so worth it. got some anker p2's for working out, amazing for the price.
Ryus 03.19.24	i thought this was about user headphones may he rest in peace i have the sony wh1000xm3 theyre fine ig idk im not an audiophile i just wanted something with noise cancelling
Colton 03.19.24	i also got a pair of bose quiet comfort ultra earbuds from my work which are pretty sweet but i’m just not an earbuds guy. they’re a great backup pair to have though
Ryus 03.19.24	earbuds suck yeah
zakalwe 03.19.24	700 quid. Fuck that.
SteakByrnes 03.19.24	sony xm4s for my wireless and then senn hd6xx for my wired rn, love both a lot
fogza 03.19.24	I have the Sony wh1000xm5. It's ok. Also have super cheap JBL earbuds so if I lose them it doesn't matter. They're not bad considering the dirt cheap price
bellovddd 03.19.24	i use earbuds at work and Sennheiser HD660S at home.
budgie 03.19.24	hell yeah focal!!!
Ryus 03.19.24	are they rly that good i might get 5 i need an upgrade
AsleepInTheBack 03.19.24	I mean they’re a bit unnecessary and over the top and way too much money and diminishing returns and all that but I have only had them for one day and I love them. Played In Rainbows and started bawling like a baby. Probably not worth the money, they aren’t twice as good as my old Bose, but definitely better, and I figured music is my main passion hobby etc, if they last me 10 years like my Bose basically did then it’s like £70 per year, and I can live with that.
budgie 03.19.24	every brand has good and bad stuff but im a focal fanboy you can get focal clears second hand for under a g
AsleepInTheBack 03.19.24	I think high end headphones seem (from my 1 evening with them) to matter more for jazz and electronic and the like. I jammed Jane Doe with these and it sounds identical to the Bose, whereas Giant Steps now sounds insane. Also tried Iglooghost and it sounded completely different and brilliant.
Hyperion1001 03.19.24	been rocking beyerdynamics for over a decade now. have both DT990s and DT770s and run them through a Soundavo HP-DAC 1. ive tried a few real expensive cans and wasnt impressed enough to justify spending that much money on a pair.
Colton 03.19.24	isn't noice cancellation a wild concept? imagine how it felt when people discovered that exists
Sevengill 03.20.24	I have Jabra Elite 65t's, which are in-ear wireless buds. They have a pretty big casing, but if they fit your ears, they're amazing. They come with an app where you can adjust the sound environment, play downloadable soundscapes, or use a microphone in the earbuds to mix music with nearby background sounds (i.e. someone trying to talk to you or traffic while crossing the street). Very cool for about $70, since they're a few years old now.
ArsMoriendi 03.20.24	Headphones was a good user
Dewinged 03.20.24	My teens: broken earbuds, I still remember the crackling. They were plugged to a walkman so it was charmingly terrible. My 20s: probably got a discman and October Rust at some point and it blew my head off, still shitty earbuds though: My early 30s: blank spots, didn't jam much music but made a lot of my own. It was shit. My late 30s: Entered the Sennheiser universe. Can't remember the model but broke and bought another pair, I joined Sput around the time. Early 40s: AKG open, used it for monitoring and recorded more music. They leak sound like a mf. Recently: Bluetooth Sony earbuds. Incredible sound, perfect choice for commuting. And just months ago: Finally made the jump and got the Meze 90s classic for like 300$. You have to tweak the EQ if you don't plug it to a proper amp but once you do, holy shit, it makes you want to revisit your entire library.
Pikazilla 03.20.24	focals are so good I got a pair of utopias and the sound is just out of this world
zakalwe 03.20.24	At what cost though mate?
AsleepInTheBack 03.20.24	Jesus aren’t the utopia like $5000? Would you like to give me them?
zakalwe 03.20.24	Fuck me. They are as well.
Pikazilla 03.20.24	I got them for 4,500 quid, but they are so worth it
Demon of the Fall 03.20.24	I only use Sennheisers at the minute, open bulky ones at home and on-ear closed cup on commutes. I've had an AKG noise-cancelling pair and portable Bose on-ear in the past. Nothing crazy expensive though I'd like to enter the next tier up but I'm not at all unsatisfied with my current pairs, just a case of FOMO Maybe when I finally obtain a vinyl set-up I can seek some out
Pikazilla 03.20.24	vinyl is a fad
Demon of the Fall 03.20.24	yeah, but it seems fun
zakalwe 03.20.24	Vinyl is great 4 and a half grand on headphones is absolute insanity.
AsleepInTheBack 03.20.24	I mean, I’d buy them if I had that kind of money, but I gotta buy food and shit Vinyl is a terrific waste of money I love it. Started getting my partner into it and it’s a disaster
Mort. 03.20.24	i need to get some earplugs for botch shiieeeet cant find mine
Demon of the Fall 03.20.24	If someone was to hand me 4.5k then yeah sure I'd definitely consider... erm, not actually buying headphones and instead fund a new boiler / pay off a chunk of the mortgage, lol
DePlazz 03.20.24	4.5k wtf, I'm not even ready to spend that on a higher-end sound system for the entire house/family. Have various sets of bose & senn now, would love an upgrade
Pikazilla 03.20.24	no boiler would cost four and a half grand, demon, unless you're living in a mansion
zakalwe 03.20.24	Listening to nearly 10000 albums through five grand headphones and 2.5ing Nirvana is absolute peak brat.
Demon of the Fall 03.20.24	you wanna bet Pika? Top of the range brand / proper installer etc. yep, most of that will be gone in no time
Pikazilla 03.20.24	install it yourself, ez I hope your walls are double insulated lmao
Demon of the Fall 03.20.24	lol, no chance could I do it I mean even people who do this for a job screw it up regularly, you won't get the proper efficiency if they half-ass it. We're hoping to 'get some of the cost' back via cheaper bills
zakalwe 03.20.24	Death by Carbon Monoxide, corpse found donning a swish pair of headphones.
Pikazilla 03.20.24	going out with swag innit
mkmusic1995 03.20.24	Right now my best pair of headphones is a $130 pair of Sennheiser open backs. They sound pretty solid for the price but I'm definitely in the market for an upgrade.
AsleepInTheBack 03.20.24	“No boiler would cost four and a half grand, demon, unless you're living in a mansion” No joke I live in a 3 bed house and got quoted £5000 to replace the boiler, with no finance option. Madness. Got it replaced in the end for £2800 ish from another company with 0% finance Adult life is boring
InfernalDeity 03.20.24	I have always been an over the ear open back headphone guy. I recently got my first set of iems, the aful performer 8. Mind blowing for classical and metal. I cant listen to metal or classical without them now.
Maniac! 03.20.24	I just got my first open-back headphones and I'm a convert. I picked up DT 1990 Pro's and they're amazing
AsleepInTheBack 03.20.24	I’ve always gone closed back as usually listen to music on the go, or at work, and can’t really justify bothering everyone around me with my sweet riffs. Do want to invest in some good open backs for home use at some point though. Just don’t know how often I’d actually use them.
zakalwe 03.20.24	I have some WH-1000XM5 which do a decent job but I never wear them outside cos I look like a massive bell end. Have to look sharp and over ears are absolute fashion faux-pas.
Hyperion1001 03.20.24	gotta be honest, spending 4.5k on headphones is peak audiophile delusion. ive got some platinum plated diamond RCA cables to sell you too lol.
Ryus 03.20.24	listening to prowler of the yard from my iphone speaker rn
Pikazilla 03.20.24	'gotta be honest, spending 4.5k on headphones is peak audiophile delusion.' I made the jump from 150 quid headphones and I don't care enough to research the market to look into this shit. It's not like it made a dent in my bank account anyway. And from what I know cables don't really matter THAT much as long as you get decent ones.
Ryus 03.20.24	post your pay stub and credit card info
Beardog 03.20.24	Had a lot of apple earpods or whatever they were called when in high school. Switched over to some Sony pods which were +-€30 I think, after that Urbanears Bagis. Then I owned a headphone which I forgot the name of, was around +-€70. With that purchase I was sold on headphones, sadly it broke down due to failing cables due to all the cycleing quite quickly. Owned Sennheiser Momentum 3 (€300) after, where the cable also kept breaking due to cycling. 2 years back I bought a B&O Beoplay HX (€499 at the time) which was super nice sound wise and hasn't broken down due to Bluetooth. Also bought Sennheiser Momentum inears whatever they are officially called, they are fucking magnificent for the €200. Bought them for cycling cause a headphone gets quite sweaty. Now planning on buying the Audeze MM-500 when it finally gets in stock in NL to finish it all and never buy anything better ever (I hope). I'll of course keep the Beoplay HX for at work / in trains / in planes. InEars I'll keep using when cycling/walking or when I need something small to travel with.
zakalwe 03.20.24	No mean to pry and by all means tell us to mind my business but what on Earth do you do for a living?
Feather 03.20.24	My fiance has been begging for the Apple Airpods Max for the past 6 months despite me telling her she can use my Audio Technicas M50 Bluetooths whenever she wants ... I finally caved and got them for her, havnt tested them out but I anticipate they are great but not worth what I spent on them.
Beardog 03.20.24	Me? I work as an engineer and spend 50% of my day with music so to be honest I think the headphones are really not expensive if you think how much time you use them. Some of my friends have cars as a hobby, trust me, a lot more money goes into something like that hahaha
Demon of the Fall 03.20.24	“It's not like it made a dent in my bank account anyway“ do you fancy investing in my cryptocurrency business? Maybe some NFTs on the side?
Pikazilla 03.20.24	nah, mate, crypto and NFT bros are omega cringe
Beardog 03.20.24	lol it was about pika obviously my bad. Good stuff being that rich though Pika lmfao
zakalwe 03.20.24	lol Bear Pika. What are you upto 🤔
Pikazilla 03.20.24	Zak I am what you all hate I am a landlord
Avagantamos 03.20.24	i have a pair of ATH-WS1100is, and some sennheiser momentum true wireless 2 earbuds for at work. they're both pretty good, but I much prefer listening on my desktop speakers
zakalwe 03.20.24	‘I am a landlord’ You dirty bastard.
protokute 03.20.24	i have possibly the most basic Sennheiser Bluetooth (HD200 or HD250 can't recall) headphone which I bought it really cheap, but I use it only when taking the bus/metro, at home I have a pair of Edifier speakers. Good headphones are crazy expensive here in Brazil
Beardog 03.20.24	So are you a good landlord or a bad landlord Pika? On topic: Probably gonna order a Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200 next week as a preparation for the Audeze
Ryus 03.20.24	pika shuts off the water on his tenants if he catches them listening to djent
Hyperion1001 03.20.24	“So are you a good landlord or a bad landlord Pika?” no such thing as a good landlord.
Beardog 03.20.24	Eh, you'll always have people rent instead of buy so when that's the case you need landlords anyhow
AsleepInTheBack 03.20.24	Pika if it didn’t put a dent in your bank account i assume you wouldn’t mind buying me and the rest of us a pair thanks
Beardog 03.20.24	yeah thanks Pika!!!
budgie 03.20.24	i also have utopias pika 🙌
theBoneyKing 03.20.24	https://www.sputnikmusic.com/soundoff.php?albumid=36424
ReiniEden 03.20.24	All I use are Koss KSC75's with an EQ setting from the AutoEQ project on github. Sometimes I use my Sennheiser HD599s also with EQ.
AsleepInTheBack 03.20.24	Thanks boney Thanks pika
PitchforkArms 03.20.24	If I'm seated and not moving or am doing critical listening or mixing, I am using AKG K701. For the money, they are pretty top notch, and I am not convinced that the juice is worth the squeeze for headphones at the higher pricepoints, especially comparatively. If I'm up and moving, I just use airpods for simplicity, or I use shitty 3M ear protection headphones if I am doing construction, mowing the lawn, or any other loud work - they sound awful but maintain a charge for like 30 hours and do the much needed protection that noise cancelling headphones don't do.
Colton 03.21.24	did you guys know iphone has a feature to track the current volume output of your headphones? i've been pleased to learn that my volume level is always within the healthy range at which no damage occurs. usually around 70-75 db
unclereich 03.21.24	i thought this was about user headphones may he rest in peace[2]
Futures 03.21.24	ihihihihihihi blatho
Demon of the Fall 03.21.24	"pika shuts off the water on his tenants if he catches them listening to djent" lmao (probably pop-punk too)
BaselineOOO 03.21.24	Get the Meze Empyrean II, there are no better headphones. Maybe the Audeze LCD-5 or the Focal Utopia but they're nearly double the price.
AsleepInTheBack 03.21.24	Damn they’re still 2k. I never fully comprehend my peasantry until this day.
BaselineOOO 03.21.24	It's strange because my least and favorite headphones, Meze 99 classics vs. Empyrean II, are made by the same company. It's also strange that they're made in Romania, very close to my home village!
BaselineOOO 03.21.24	Listen, you spend 2k dollars, which in most western countries is basically a random shit minimum wage any idiot can earn, and you'll enjoy music on a level that 99.99% of the population doesn't, for years and years. If you are not willing to work a total of 22 days in a month to acquire this level of audio then you 100% hate music and your taste in music is probably disgusting. That's how I think of it. Spending 2k or 5k or even 10k dollars on audio hobby is nothing. I don't get what the big deal is about. Imagine spending 20-100 bucks on crappy audio products and then PRETENDING to love music for the rest of your life wtf, that's truly insane.
AsleepInTheBack 03.21.24	My peasantry intensifies
Demon of the Fall 03.21.24	Baseline with some nice pasta right there idk, like could I purchase crazy expensive headphones? Yeah. But, like, I wanna pay off my mortgage and shit. Not to mention the wife would bloody kill me! maybe when I'm older / retired and living the good life (I hope)
AsleepInTheBack 03.21.24	“Not to mention the wife would bloody kill me! “ Lol [2] this! When I bought the £700 ones she was like “this better not eat in to our house renovation savings” and I gulped because uhhhhhhh it does oops
Demon of the Fall 03.21.24	haha, yep we moved a couple of years back and have been putting the bulk of our finances towards necessary home improvements Now, we still have money for 'fun' so I could justify some expenditure there, but that sort of money is entering significant outlay territory (and that's my own estimation, not the wife's - although presumably she'd feel similarly) One thought I did have is that I haven't bought a home game console since my PS4, so maybe I'll just skip this gen entirely and use this 'budget' to buy headphones instead. Plenty of old games I can play and that hobby is definitely secondary to music
garas 03.21.24	Holy chocolate milk, those prices! :0 And here I am with Panasonic RP-HJE125E earphones which worths like 10$... (But I swear these are shockingly good.)
Colton 03.21.24	i know baseline is trolling (sloppily and unfunnily, shit technique) but isn’t minimum wage less than $100 a day in a lot of states
AsleepInTheBack 03.21.24	@demon for sure for sure My partner got on board with my purchase in the end cause she was like you spend all your time listening to music anyway, so better to divert what fun money I have saved into that hobby, rather than whittling it a way on less meaningful stuff, even if £700 is a big upfront expense for us. PS5 is coming to the end of its life cycle anyways, apparently, which is kinda mad, given not that many unique games came out on it.
AsleepInTheBack 03.21.24	I’m being hypocritical though cause I bought a ps5 like a year ago and I love it lol
SteakByrnes 03.21.24	you better spend a lot of money on headphones or else you hate music!!! lol so stupid
BaselineOOO 03.21.24	@colton Lol first of all I mean the real west, Europe; who cares about the United States wtf? Also $100 a day still makes $3000 a month, which is more than enough for excellent top of the line headphones, assuming you don't spend your money on frivolous things. But then again, audiophilia and high IQ are directly proportional, so it only reinforces my point that some people are just not meant to enjoy music recordings in their highest form, because they're too busy monkeying around, eating garbage food, going out, living the slave-like busy city life.
Demon of the Fall 03.21.24	$100 a day seems way too high anyway, like wtf that can't be the 'minimum' unless living costs are absolutely barmy (maybe they are) and therefore surely it would depend on which state you lived in?
Ryus 03.21.24	minimum wage in my state is 15 bucks an hour which is $120 per day if you’re working full time
Demon of the Fall 03.21.24	admittedly I'm not up-to-date on my currency conversions but that sounds like a lot, then again cost of living might be silly / you have to pay x amount for healthcare etc.
Pikazilla 03.21.24	free healthcare in uk is dogshit anyway, you're better off kicking the bucket in most cases
Ryus 03.21.24	apparently that comes out to £94 a day cost of living is quite silly indeed! i pay the equivalent of 1700 pounds in rent for a one bedroom
Pikazilla 03.21.24	ryus does that include utilities
Ryus 03.21.24	no lol
Pikazilla 03.21.24	yeah, I feel in the modern day and age if you don't make at least five grand a month (uk currency) post tax in big cities, then you're kinda fucked luckily remote work has become increasingly common so you can live in a smaller town while working a big city centre job
Ryus 03.21.24	yes it is quite absurd and i’m in the process of moving to an even more expensive city 😪
DoofDoof 03.21.24	split mortgage £1500 per month ok, not too awful childcare £1550 per month oh shit
gravityswitch 03.21.24	I live with 1900€ a month with a single child in a big city, in France. I have shitty earplugs tho (and beyerdynamics dt 770 at home)
Ryus 03.21.24	audiophilia is a disease
Havey 03.21.24	i once joined an audiophile discord community just to see what they were listening to and it's all video game soundtracks and k-pop - they are gooning out they are goons
Demon of the Fall 03.21.24	"i pay the equivalent of 1700 pounds in rent for a one bedroom" oh, yeah that'll do it... wtf? lol I mean, it doesn't surprise me because I've heard similar things before, but damn is that still insane money to me (especially as someone who lives in the NORTH of England, which doesn't compare to the south at all - especially London and the surrounding areas)
AsleepInTheBack 03.21.24	My mortgage is like £1500 a month atm but for a 3 bed, £1700 rent for a 1 bed is big sucks man
Demon of the Fall 03.21.24	technically we have a '4 bed' (even though the loft conversion isn't ever used as a bedroom). I won't tell you how (relatively) little we pay as y'all will undoubtedly be well jelly would be expecting... "yeah but the north is shithole" as a riposte either way, so that's another reason for abstaining from gloating
protokute 03.21.24	guys, can someone please reassure me that Baseline doesn't truly mean anything she says
Pikazilla 03.21.24	north england is v nice wdym essex has been and will forever be the true english shithole
Demon of the Fall 03.21.24	what's wdym? I mean not ALL of it is great, obviously our hometown is pretty sweet tho. Very picturesque views, 'countryside-ish' but with amenities / close to the city. Decent balance
Pikazilla 03.21.24	wdym = what do you mean I love some of the scenery in the north yeah.
AsleepInTheBack 03.21.24	I miss the north. Live in the midlands. Family all based up north. Sucks.
protokute 03.21.24	i would love to visit the english countryside someday...
Demon of the Fall 03.21.24	"I miss the north. Live in the midlands. Family all based up north. Sucks." I see you have the opposite problem to me then! well, my wife's family are all from Yorkshire, but mine are from London (and my mum and brother live 'in-between' - in separate parts of Northants)
Pikazilla 03.21.24	Yorkshire? Your wife must have a sexy accent
BaselineOOO 03.21.24	Why is the US and even the UK so much more expensive than let's say France and Germany? By people's descriptions, life in anglosphere seems crazy expensive and exclusivistik nowadays, which is weird, considering these countries are losing their global influence. Here in DE I could survive well enough on 1000 dollars a month, rent and expenses if I tried (luckily I'm rich but that's another story).
Pikazilla 03.21.24	yeah you aren't surviving on a thousand quid a month even if you own your flat not sure about the us, but uk is expensive because we produce fuck all and don't have any natural resources
BaselineOOO 03.21.24	"yeah you aren't surviving on a thousand quid a month even if you own your flat" You make the UK sound dystopic af, but I have never went to Britain so what do I know! Germany is dirt cheap for basic survival. You can easily manage with 500 euros rent and taxes + 500 (more than enough) on groceries at Aldi, Lidl, Kaufland, you name it. But I do not live in a "big" city, so yeah, maybe that's that. I swear I had almost 6500 euros net wage and I saved like 4500 of it 2 months ago, and even went to restaurants a couple of times and paid my own gas.
Ryus 03.21.24	i mean the places im talking about are some of the most expensive places in the world due to low housing stock, desirable location, lots of jobs, high wages, etc. most areas in the us wont have you paying north of 2k for a one bedroom
Demon of the Fall 03.21.24	“yeah you aren't surviving on a thousand quid a month even if you own your flat” pretty sure I could, even in London People are just shit with money
smaugman 03.21.24	i have sennheiser momentum 4. good overall, one weird bug that sometimes come, but the best thing is its insane battery time of like 60 hours WITH ANS
Pikazilla 03.21.24	'pretty sure I could, even in London People are just shit with money' don't forget you still have bills to pay, it's not just a thousand quid on food obviously
Demon of the Fall 03.21.24	I have no car I have no kids I have a mobile phone contract of £7 a month I have no absolute requirement to take out fancy TV packages, certainly wouldn’t have movies / sport in this scenario or mega fast fibre (i.e. if I lived alone) I use / wear stuff till it falls apart, the wife usually has a word first I last got a haircut a year ago Yeah I’d be fine
frozencarl 03.21.24	love the north of England, spent some time there in undergrad. Chester and York are very pretty. re: the thread, I use airpod pros i got years back that make this annoying scratchy noise every now and then that Apple wont replace since I got mine a month after their cutoff for getting em replaced for free. pretty unlucky. I have some open back Sennheisers at home but don't use em as much as I should
Pikazilla 03.21.24	what about transport costs, demon? or do you work remotely?
Demon of the Fall 03.21.24	yes, but this is the ‘I live in London’ scenario, wouldn’t be too bad as presumably I’d be working there too The budget you provided me with would be sufficient for my necessities I reckon, quite easily in fact Now if you have to pay rent then it’s a whole different ball game
Pikazilla 03.21.24	my sister spends around 400 quid a month on her transport card
AsleepInTheBack 03.21.24	UK is spenny yeah. My partner is le French and keeps saying we should move to France and buy a mansion and I mean she’s not wrong, it’s so much more affordable.
AsleepInTheBack 03.21.24	Problem is I have an IQ of 12 and don’t think I could learn le French I barely speak le English
Pikazilla 03.21.24	just work remotely but live in france ez
PitchforkArms 03.21.24	This thread sent me on a bit of an internet self-flagellation tour looking up user reviews of nice headphones. What a crock, lol. People will seek to use any adjective that makes them seem what they know what they talk about... "These have such brilliance and punch compared to these others which have more of a glossy sound with lots of impact" - this type of bullshit. All of those descriptor words are great and have actual uses for them. It's ever so barely one step removed from the shite that people say when describing guitar tone "this knob is the scringle and if I do this you can hear the bongle". A small bit of background to legitimize my annoyance (at least a little bit) - I am an acoustician at a large audio-product corporation and spend loads of time designing, testing, listening, and tuning audio things. The jargoneering is a quick way to make nearly everyone who spends loads of time in the industry disregard everything that is said. Sorry for the bitching but I got triggd as fuck last night looking through threads of smooth brains arguing about subjective adjectives and how "vinyl is so much more accurate than digital" and needed to verbalize in order to avoid physical meltdown.
Pikazilla 03.21.24	honestly, fuck vinyl I just buy digital because that's the exact mix and sound you'd get on the mastertape, right? and all those verbose praise-singing texts have got to be written by the marketing teams
Beardog 03.21.24	I mean trying to verbalize sound is hard anyway no? Just look at what is said in the reviews on here lmfao
PitchforkArms 03.21.24	I have hundreds of old old vinyl records, mostly jazz and country, and it just intrinsically feels right to listen to them on vinyl lol. But when it comes to vinyl having any sort of upper-hand on digital, I think we live in times where we solidly do not have to succumb to myths like this... Sure a needle is reading a a format that is unbound by sample rate s and bit depth quantization - but this is offset by the fact that the turntable needle imparts it's own spectral footprint and noise floor on whatever it reads, and you chase the rabbit down the whole monetarily trying to get near what a super cheap (or even built-in) DAC+amp will reproduce (even with 44.1/24 or 48/24 files...). That's not even to mention that most things that were made post-2000-ish are not really recorded, mixed, or mastered for vinyl, other than vinyl-specific masters to accommodate that medium's requirements (but even those are usually just mono-summing bass and limiting certain frequency and spatial-based mixing parameters). Liking collecting vinyl is cool and all, and even enjoying listening to it, but let's not act like it is intrinsically "better"...
Pikazilla 03.21.24	Thanks for your detailed reply, pitchfork! It all makes perfect sense.
budgie 03.21.24	"My partner is le French and keeps saying we should move to France and buy a mansion and I mean she’s not wrong" you should do it man france is stupidly pretty
Pikazilla 03.21.24	language's garbo tho
AsleepInTheBack 03.21.24	I love France, Brittany beautiful Cornwall vibes, southern France warm and wine, alps are also beautiful, central regions blow, otherwise great country. Their food and wine makes England feel like le sucks. I gotta learn French before we have kids anyway as I can’t have them badmouthing me in a language I can’t understand lol.
Ryus 03.21.24	yeah one of the ugliest sounding languages def
budgie 03.21.24	yeah brittany is gorgeous, i lived there for a while. great people & food, just have to like the rain, awesome beaches there too in the cotes d'armor department running from ploubazlanec over to lannion
budgie 03.21.24	also any frankish readin this thread your language is beautiful dont let these Inselaffen get you down "central regions blow" you should look up lac d'aydat or lac de chambon in auvergne or morvan in burgundy, while rewrite your opinion of the central regions!
Pikazilla 03.21.24	france is just an eu principality for money laundering yeah
gravityswitch 03.21.24	"also any frankish readin this thread your language is beautiful dont let these Inselaffen get you down" I mean yeah we don't have the best sounding language but at least it's not Dutch
Hendoi 03.21.24	I have beats
Storm In A Teacup 03.21.24	"By people's descriptions, life in anglosphere seems crazy expensive and exclusivistik nowadays, which is weird, considering these countries are losing their global influence" Gotta get the last big money profits before it all collapses.
Storm In A Teacup 03.21.24	Demon won this thread kinda. Demon your next step of being a responsible better than other people person is to cut your own hair instead of going to a shop.
gabba 03.21.24	German is the best sounding language of them all (not my native language). Listening to Nena or Falco via Grundig headphones is a dream I have.
Ryus 03.21.24	i like russian a lot
Colton 03.21.24	all languages are cringe. making noises with your mouth? grow up. hit the gym
budgie 03.21.24	oh ya colts nothin sexier than body language bb
Pikazilla 03.21.24	Italy clears
Solipsist 03.21.24	Zmf are best money can buy imo. I have a pair of Auteur Classic and they are perfect. Focal Utopia may be even better tho. I would not know.
budgie 03.21.24	utopias shine for classical and vocal, i wouldn't recommend them to someone who listens to techno or hip hop
Storm In A Teacup 03.21.24	"oh ya colts nothin sexier than body language bb" Their name isnt Colton anymore, it is Green Day.
Storm In A Teacup 03.21.24	"utopias shine for classical and vocal, i wouldn't recommend them to someone who listens to techno or hip hop" Im pretty sure thats not far from travis scott tho
budgie 03.21.24	isnt that a motorbike sport guy
Storm In A Teacup 03.21.24	Thats a rapper. He sells bmx bikes on the side.
protokute 03.22.24	waiting on the language rank list
budgie 03.22.24	"I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse." and english on the internet
Colton 03.22.24	so what are the best headphones you can get that aren’t audible to the people around you
Colton 03.22.24	cause nobody can hear my xm4’s which is very important for me
budgie 03.22.24	go to a hifi store and sample the closed backs everyone has different tastes
Colton 03.22.24	yeah i think i’m gonna have to do that
Colton 03.22.24	also there is a 0% chance baseline is employed
budgie 03.22.24	hes such a committed troll i kinda almost respect him for the tireless hustle
Colton 03.22.24	he tries too hard and it’s actually a lot less effective cause of it
budgie 03.22.24	that was my take for the first like 6 years but now its like. do ur thang cuz
Colton 03.22.24	the level of sheer attrition is impressive true
Storm In A Teacup 03.22.24	Baseline is female you dingbats. And she won $3 million a couple years ago.
Colton 03.22.24	sure, storm. let’s get you to bed
budgie 03.22.24	whats the best accompaniment to mashed potatoes
Colton 03.22.24	ketchup is pretty good
Colton 03.22.24	also fish
budgie 03.22.24	idk ive had that brandade de morue dish before and i was not lovin it
Storm In A Teacup 03.22.24	"sure, storm. let’s get you to bed" She gave me $5,000 6 months ago. You go to bed.
DePlazz 03.22.24	"Not to mention the wife would bloody kill me!" [4] "honestly, fuck vinyl" [3]
AsleepInTheBack 03.22.24	Baseline can I have $5000 worth of headphones pls thanks, pika has let me down
BaselineOOO 03.22.24	"also there is a 0% chance baseline is employed" Why do you say that? With an IQ of 153 and my nice looks it's kind of impossible NOT to be employed, but sure, enjoy your little fantasy. :) @AsleepInTheBack No. Nothing personal I just don't care about other people's lives / give charity etc.
pizzamachine 03.22.24	I’m so employed right now
gabba 03.22.24	Baseline, be a good Christian and give people money so that they can enjoy some decent black metal on high-end headphones.
AsleepInTheBack 03.22.24	Peasantry intensifies further
Feather 03.22.24	I would like one large Hawaiian Za please
budgie 03.22.24	you know what really sounds good on high end cans uh tchaikovsky op. 35 those strings make my soul weep
BaselineOOO 03.23.24	Depends on the recording and the conductor.
Storm In A Teacup 03.23.24	"Baseline, be a good Christian and give people money" Must suck to be a person knowing you could have been a storm.
Butkuiss 03.23.24	I go between my ATH M50s and Sony XM4s and I find them both pretty good for the price range. The XM4s have suddenly shit themselves after like eighteen months though - not happy Jan!
AsleepInTheBack 03.23.24	Looking at the Meze 190 pro and getting fomo they are so pretty gaaah
Colton 03.23.24	what happened to your xm4s buttkiss?
BaselineOOO 03.23.24	I wish your ATH M50s break so you consider buying real headphones butkuiss. Denon AH-D5200 is the only answer when talking about portable closed-backs, or AH-7200, any other closed-back headphone is a waste of money.
Hyperion1001 03.23.24	yeah I own a pair of ath-m50x’s and I don’t like them at all. extremely bright and harsh, bad mids and muddy bass. probably the most overrated pair of cans on the market. im gonna start a crowdfund to get donations so I can get a pair of DT1770’s please contribute friends.
AsleepInTheBack 03.23.24	Hush now hyp this is my crowd funding page not yours someone send me $5000
BaselineOOO 03.23.24	The DT1770 have the wonkiest bass response ever, harsh highs and scooped, anemic mids. A quick reminder that the Denon AH-D5200 exist.
AsleepInTheBack 03.23.24	How do y’all build up an understanding of so many headphone models? Try a bunch in store, or just go through a lot of cans?
Hyperion1001 03.23.24	hmm those do look nice. the upper limit im willing to spend on cans is about 500-600. feel like it’s diminishing returns beyond that.
BaselineOOO 03.23.24	Denon have great deals, those drop in price to around $350-400 from time to time. They have the most amazing dynamics, bass response and analogue-like sound quality.
budgie 03.23.24	@hyp get secondhand focal clears on ebay
budgie 03.23.24	also i have a pair of dt 770s but they are garbage i will literally post them to you if you want. but they are garbage.
BaselineOOO 03.23.24	Never buy second hand Focals. They have the worst customer service of all brands and their headphones are known to have very low durability.
budgie 03.23.24	nice internet meme bro, focal 5 year transferrable warranty, first brand i look at: hifiman, 1 year nontransferrable warranty anyway if you are stupid enough to break headphones you probably shouldnt be buying them
budgie 03.23.24	"analogue-like sound quality." lol
BaselineOOO 03.24.24	You ignore the hundred of threads on headfi, reddit and hifiguides about Focal headphones being prone to breaking after as little as 1-2 months of use and their customer support straight up ignoring buyer's warranty claims, then proceed to compare them with Hifiman, the company with the very worst quality control out there, in order to paint them in a positive light. Just because you own one of their headphones doesn't mean you have to be their little bitch too btw. Focal is infamous for not honoring warranties. Yeah, what I've said is funny, there's no such thing as analogue-like sound quality, but this abysmally stupid line of yours is so much worse: "certain headphone shine for classical and vocal, i wouldn't recommend them to someone who listens to techno or hip hop". You see, what I'm doing is describe something to a newbie in corny terms so he can understand, what you're doing is straight up lying. No headphone is better at any genre than others and you'd know it if you had more than 2 active brain cells. I wish there was a "block budgie" button. I mean, I expected users here to have shit taste in headphones too, not only in music like they do, but this guy is straight up being deceitful.
gabba 03.24.24	I have a super-shit taste in headphones, not only music, would like me blocked by a button please.
Beardog 03.24.24	Do the €5k headphone users have an amp+DAC as well or do they just don't care?
Colton 03.24.24	takin a close look at these denon ah-d5200s rn
BaselineOOO 03.24.24	I drive my $3k headphones with a $200 dac+amp.
Colton 03.24.24	baseline sell me on the denons
Beardog 03.24.24	Which one Baseline? @Colton I think just trying them in a store will sell you just fine.
BaselineOOO 03.24.24	@Beardog: Topping DX3 Pro+ for my Meze Empyrean II and Sennheiser HD800S, it does a fantastic job. The amplifier can drive any headphone with ease (except some rare few) and the DAC is state of the art. Read the review on audiosciencereview if you want to go into details. @Colton: If you live in Europe you can find them for very cheap on Amazon.de $300-400, in US they're probably more expensive but they're still worth getting even for around $500. You said you enjoy your Sony xm4 alot, well the Denon obliterates them on all fronts. Just pull the trigger and try 'em out. Remember they have no noise cancelling and other novel features, they're pure audiophile neutral sound.
AsleepInTheBack 03.24.24	I’ve been looking into the empyrean (he says, referring to some YouTube scrolling he did earlier today) are they good they are very pretty
budgie 03.24.24	"Yeah, what I've said is funny, there's no such thing as analogue-like sound quality, but this abysmally stupid line of yours is so much worse: "certain headphone shine for classical and vocal, i wouldn't recommend them to someone who listens to techno or hip hop"." different headphones have different EQs : https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?attachments/focal-utopia-frequency-response-measurement-png.121878/ as do genres exaggerate different frequency ranges dipshit but why the fuck am i even reading your troll posts
BaselineOOO 03.24.24	The first Empyrean were overpriced, totally not worth it, the Empurean TWO are the single greatest pair of headphones I know. PS: I've auditioned most TOTL headphones.
BaselineOOO 03.24.24	"different headphones have different EQs as do genres exaggerate different frequency ranges dipshit but why the fuck am i even reading your troll posts" And different recordings and albums exaggerate different frequency ranges regardless of genre dipshit but why the fuck am i even reading your pathetic monkey opinions. And headphones have frequency responses, not EQs lmao. EQ is something you apply as post processing to correct the frequency response, not an inherent property of the headphones themselves.
budgie 03.24.24	fasho bro enjoy ur analog-like cans
budgie 03.24.24	"Do the €5k headphone users have an amp+DAC as well or do they just don't care" i have an RME ADI-2 which is amp/dac but it's unnecessary, utopias sound just as good from my google smartphone, same with the focal cleans, the sennheisers ive had (HD650s? and borrowed HD800s) were not driven loud without a dedicated amp though, same with beyerdynamics dt770s, and akg701s, hubbub about digital parts of the signal chain flavoring the sound is not something worth paying attention to unless its explicitly meant to change the sound like an eq module, if you need an amp just pay for features, don't pay for "cleaner sound" or whatever, same with DACs
Pikazilla 03.24.24	I just use dragonfly cobalt
Pikazilla 03.24.24	And I don't use an amp because everything is loud enough and super crisp anyway
Demon of the Fall 03.24.24	Hmm, would you get ‘better’ sound out of an entry level Sennheiser + Cobalt vs just buying the next level headphones? Also, wondering what Base’s rec for open backs in the £250-£350 ish range is. I’m not rich lol
AsleepInTheBack 03.24.24	I think beyerdynamics are meant to be pretty good at that price range though I’m no expert
Demon of the Fall 03.24.24	Yeah, that brand are supposed to be reputable. I should try a few at the local shop some time as I think some are stocked there
budgie 03.24.24	@demon better not to think about headphones being strictly better than one another, most important thing by far is to just get yourself into a hifi shop and sample them yourself, i'm sure in blind testing plenty of people would choose cheaper options. that being said akg701s are fairly affordable at ~200 USD and have really fun imaging. i like them more than the sennheisers i've used and about 1000x more than the beyers i have
Demon of the Fall 03.24.24	Oh yeah I realise that, thanks for this info though. Just wanted to try out some more premium options potentially because I haven’t before now I like AKGs, had some in the past. Their ‘very affordable’ noise-cancelling model was a real eye-opener for me in terms of sound quality, I just didn’t think they were particularly robust (I didn’t misuse them). Having said that I did get another pair free of charge at one point!
Beardog 03.24.24	Thanks guys!
budgie 03.24.24	very probable that every brand's 'very affordable' line of products won't be particularly robust hah. if you're talking about build quality / structural design
Transient 03.25.24	In order, I've owned: DT 880 Pros ATH M50s (for listening to stuff on the go) Hifiman Sundaras Focal Clears are my current headphones (kinda regret upgrading from the Sundaras tbh) And for in ear bluetooth the Sennheiser True Momentum 2s My friend owns Focal Utopias and they're the best headphones I've ever listened to. Second favourites are the Audeze LCD-2s because I love the planar magnetic sound.
budgie 03.25.24	yo i have those same earbuds left bud stopped charging after like a month so i shelved them and have completely forgotten about them
Transient 03.25.24	Yeah I really love the sound that I get out of them but I've had a pair stop working before too (although I'm pretty sure it's because I wore them when I went for a run in the rain like an idiot so prob my fault). I really wanna get the Technics AZ80s because they look amazing but don't wanna drop that much money on something I might break within a month or two.
Colton 03.25.24	I think I'm gonna buy the denons
budgie 03.25.24	id advise against taking advice from someone who only speaks in superlatives "Denon AH-D5200 is the only answer" "any other closed-back headphone is a waste of money." lol i mean at least get your hands on something at a similar price point to compare them against
Colton 03.25.24	i am going to buy them on amazon in a blind leap of faith
Sinternet 03.25.24	ok why wont it actually post my full comment wtf
Colton 03.25.24	they are also beautiful
Sinternet 03.26.24	bro wtf oh TIL list comments don't like less than signs
Sinternet 03.26.24	having tested pretty much every major headphone in the under £500 range the ath-r70x are far and away the best in the category have literally warn these for 18 hour sessions and never noticed they're there, super lightweight and comfy, excellent neutral and wide frequency response. you go up a price bracket and you can find even better but they punch well above their weight,, and beat any other comparable open-back hands down
Colton 03.26.24	open back is so limiting though
budgie 03.26.24	ya amazon is smart, i bought KEF R300 and focal aria bookshelves and compared them side by side for a week before returning the KEFs with no hassle. more comfy than sitting in hifi shops. kind of a hassle to haul packaged bookshelves to the post though
z00sh 03.26.24	"I go between my ATH M50s and Sony XM4s and I find them both pretty good for the price range. The XM4s have suddenly shit themselves after like eighteen months though - not happy Jan!" i've had mine for the past couple years and they still work pretty well. just gotta take of them real good.
BaselineOOO 03.26.24	@Budgie, since you advise everybody against my recommendation (totally not for subjective reasons like the fact that I've owned you two times on this thread - let's say), my question is, what do you think is a closed-back headphone that holds a handle to the Denon AH-D5200 in the same price point? I'm waiting. I guess the Focal Elegia is a good alternative, but the frequency response is kind of wonky with too many valleys and peaks. @Demon: For open-back you could get a Sennheiser HD660s2 on offer or even second-hand since their 6-- lines are built to last decades. I think those are the best open-backs under $400, they're not immediately mind-blowing like some planars (Hifiman Edition XS, Sundara), but they make up for it in frequency smoothness, tonal coherence, more natural timbre, and comfort. Or if you're lucky you might find a used Audeze LCD-2C for around $350 in your area, superb pair of headphones, but it needs a much better amplifier. Alternatively, you could just buy a Hifiman Sundara, they're more technically apt than Sennheisers but they're built like shit, I personally had to replace two pairs and then sold the third.
budgie 03.26.24	you should rec colt some nice cable risers dude. get that elusive analog-like sound
gabba 03.26.24	OK, so here's a dumb question: should I bother with those high-end expensive headphones if I'm mostly listening to music on my laptop when I need them (at work)?
AsleepInTheBack 03.26.24	I think the idea is that if you buy top end headphones and run them through a shitty system, you’re not getting the full potential out of the headphones re sound, so are arguably wasting your money. If you’re gonna run through a laptop, you might want to look at efficiency (I.e. headphones that don’t need much power to run). The Meze 109 Pro are meant to be good for that. But if you’re at work you might want to stick to closed back. Though others above have said they run high end stuff without anything fancy, so idk. It’s all a mystery to me.
DePlazz 03.26.24	The general idea these days if you're listening to music from a digital source is to have a decent DAC sitting between the source and your high-end headphones. E.g. a dragonfly cobalt between your laptop or phone and the headphones. Wireless headphones are a different story, they should have a decent built-in dac
gabba 03.26.24	Thanks, a DAC is what I was looking for! A Meze 109 Pro may cost a bit too much for my budget, but I'll check for alternatives!
Beardog 03.26.24	Ugh I just got a DAC and I'm really surprised by how much a difference it makes. Literally feels like I'm listening to different headphones.
budgie 03.26.24	@gabba all DACs that are functional should be indistinguishable, all you need to consider is if your headphones have enough power from the amp module in the laptop, most expensive cans probably won't get very loud, which is where a small headphone amp would service you. if you really don't want to bother with a headphone amp, look for easy to drive headphones, low impedance and high sensitivity. i can't personally back sennheiser hd599s but they are popular and are easy to drive, and not too expensive. there's already a DAC in your laptop, it's not necessarily deteriorating the signal
Beardog 03.26.24	So I added a DAC to my B&O Beoplay HX, which I thought would not really get noticeably different with a DAC/Amp attached. But wow, was I wrong. I get 10% more frequency range and it seems like the clarity and stereo imaging is twice as good. And I was already playing from something that was noticeably better than my PC soundcard.
budgie 03.26.24	well i don't think the literature supports the possibility that DACs can affect something like stereo imaging but if that's what you're hearing does it really matter what the literature says 😀
Beardog 03.26.24	Why would a better conversion of a digital to analog audio signal not improve (supposed?) stereo imaging? If audio is put through more clearly then I think that for sure has effect on how the stereo imaging is perceived. Of course the DAC does not literally pan the instruments more or less to the sides, but where it sits in the 'room' really sounds noticeably further apart. Or the 'room' just sounds a lot more clear haha
budgie 03.26.24	DAC just takes an (inverse?) fourier transform of the encoded data to reconstruct the original analog signal, it shouldn't change the data, aside from possible degradation, it certainly shouldn't sonically enhance the data
Beardog 03.26.24	This is of course compared to the source I previously had, which was a mixing panel from Behringer (which sounded a LOT better than the soundcard in my PC lmfao). Literally speaking obviously the DAC+amp should not enhance the input. But since my previous set-up hard degraded the input, this one doing it a shit ton less does make a huge difference haha
gabba 03.26.24	The thing is I had no intention whatsoever to upgrade my shitty gear, but lol ended up ordering a cobalt DAC + Sennheiser HD 660 S2. Thank you all, now I’m happy and relaxed after getting rid of the cash and I’m waiting eagerly to test how the noisy shit I like will sound like. It’s been a journey.
Beardog 03.26.24	Oh yeah those Sennheisers are insanely good for their price. Nice gabba, you will thoroughly enjoy it I'm sure!
budgie 03.26.24	be sure to deflower them with the roxy music debut. it's tradition
gabba 03.26.24	I always use “Take California” by Propellerheads, because it sounds good on almost anything.
gabba 03.26.24	Roxy Music is an interesting choice, will consider. This is like entering a secret society, I wonder what the handshake’s like.
budgie 03.26.24	😁
AsleepInTheBack 03.26.24	I want those Sennheisers gimmie that intimacy we will see if/when I get bored of my new Focals this is a potentially expensive rabbit hole I have stumbled down oh dear
budgie 03.26.24	which focals you have?
AsleepInTheBack 03.26.24	See list entry 5 (Bathys) I want the utopia but I’m poor and pika won’t pay me
budgie 03.26.24	oh cool, i've never gotten my hand on the bathys if you have heard the utopias and know you like them already, consider clears really, i waffled between the utopias and clears for a long time before settling on the utopias, but they are really similar, if something happened to my utopias i would just buy clears and be happy with them. utopias just have a special shimmer, because the Be doesn't deform as much at high frequency (so it is alleged), so when you're listening to classical, that percussive shimmer is like, sexually gratifying, but otherwise clears are to me 95% of the way there imo. but don't pay 5k anyway wtf, i got them new for much cheaper
AsleepInTheBack 03.26.24	Good to know, thanks, especially when the clear are like a fifth of the retail price of the utopia lol
Colton 03.27.24	@baseline are the denons audible to others when you're playing music at a reasonable volume (i'm usually at 70-75 db)
Colton 03.27.24	also if I buy them how will it affect our sputnik relationship will it make you think i'm cool
BaselineOOO 03.27.24	Yes, they leak sound but not a lot. If you're worried about sound leakage then why don't you just buy an IEM? You could get insane sound quality for under $100. You can find the Truthear Hexa for like $60 these days and they're incredibly refined and technical with almost a dead neutral response, which makes it good for all genres. Letshuoer S12 if you want a V-shaped technical monster and listen to music in shorter sessions. Add a little more and get the Truthear Nova, which at $150 and their foam tips are comparable in sound with any expensive headphone up to $1000.
Butkuiss 03.27.24	I’m not spending a thousand bucks just to listen to Emmure at the gym, sorry
AsleepInTheBack 03.27.24	Sound financial judgement right there
Demon of the Fall 03.27.24	definitely bookmarking this thread for when the urge gets overwhelming, I'm already getting an itchy trigger finger tbh certainly some interesting looking info in here, cheers everyone
budgie 03.27.24	colton i think less of you now
osmark86 03.27.24	What the actual tit are people spending on headphones in here? If I were to spend like $5k on headphones I'm pretty sure my wife would question my sanity and priorities XD
budgie 03.27.24	i'm fixin to spent like 8k on some focal sopras here soon
Demon of the Fall 03.27.24	same here osmark, reduce the price by around 90% and I MIGHT get away with it, lol
Alondite 03.27.24	My main pair of headphones are a pair of Focal Clear. They're incredible, but they had better be for $1500 MSRP. They definitely need quality upstream gear to really reach their potential, though. I've got a Schiit Yggdrasil OG for my DAC, my main amp is a DNA Starlett SET tube amp, which rules. I also have a few other amps. A Nitsch Pietus (which is so good it basically makes every other amp under $1000 irrelevant) and a Schiit Jotunheim 2, though I'm looking to replace that with a Mjolnir 3 which is by all accounts a summit-fi solid-state amp for half or less than what one normally costs.
Alondite 03.27.24	Oh, and I'm seeing some talk about the Sennheiser HD660S. Don't buy them, either the S or the S2. They are a straight downgrade from the HD600/650/6XX because the 150 ohm driver used in the new models is a piece of shit compared to the 300 ohm drivers used in the original line. Some people think they're more clear or detailed because they're more hard-edged and etched, but they're not, they're less resolving and less dynamic. It's all fake detail created by nasty overshoots and resonances (seen clearly in burst decay plots) at around 4-5kHz. if you want an improved HD6X0 model, get the JAR600/650 from Jupiter Audio Research. Much, much better than the 660. The 6XX is like $220 from Drop and is the best deal in headphones right now. Needs an amp to get the most out of it. Nitsch Piety or Schiit Valhalla 2 are probably the best low-cost options for amping it. The HiFiMan HE400SE is another great deal at about $110. And if you want to go the IEM route the Moondrop Aria 2 are a stupid good deal at $80.
budgie 03.27.24	yeah i have also heard nothing but bad things about the new 660 so it seems like an odd standout to recommend guess that's what happens when you take advice from a fuckin troll, guys
Piglet 03.27.24	fuck headphones my doods. theyre always uncomfortable and give you tension headaches, and they just fingerblast you with insane audio fidelity for the price of a mortgage. who needs that when you can just buy sum efficient chinese iems for 30 dollarydoos that you can actually use outside without looking like sum kind of marxist. spend the rest of your money on a 2 month long pilgrimage in south east asia or sum shit, gaurentee you'd have a better time then getting fucken tension headaches and quibbling over trebly ride cymbal hits in dissonant death metal or whatever it is you audiophiles do these days lmao
Beardog 03.27.24	Thought the HD660's were good, like I fucking know that the S/S2 is a downgrade and worse compared to something I have never heard of lol, I just tried them once and was pleasantly surprised. Guess that makes me a troll.
budgie 03.27.24	beardog stop trolling! you maniac
Beardog 03.27.24	no you >:(
budgie 03.27.24	" theyre always uncomfortable and give you tension headaches" get some akg 701s dude super super cozy
gabba 03.27.24	Well, I ordered one of those HD660 S2s yesterday, can’t wait to submit it to the troll test. But what do I know? Next to nothing, I’m upgrading from a Marshall Major IV, so anything should sound better than that, not to mention the DAC I’ll experience for the first time. I’m hyped, I’m learning, and these are nothing more than lifeless objects.
Beardog 03.27.24	Yeah when you get too deep into the audiophile world everything just becomes nit picking. Of course there is always something better you could have bought for the money lol
gabba 03.27.24	Like for every decent fetish, I’m very well aware of that.
BaselineOOO 03.27.24	The HD660s and HD660s2 have the best imaging of all headphones I've heard. It's brutally accurate in determining the placement of instruments within the stereo image. That doesn't sound like something worthwhile until you hear it yourself, then they become really FUN to listen to. Not to mention the bass, which is more dynamic and textured than on the HD6XX where it's puffy and loose as fuuuck. Saying the 6XX or other cheaper Sennheisers are better than the 660s/2 just proves you have shit ears and probably shit taste in music too. Gabba, enjoy your new headphones, they're phenomenal. Cheers!
gabba 03.27.24	Thanks Baseline, this is a really fun thread to be part of! I'm pretty sure I won't notice the 150 Ohm difference between models that Alondite mentioned, but I will definitely test it on Yo La Tengo's "Ohm", just to be on the safe side.
Beardog 03.28.24	I was very surprised by how well they gave each instrument their own place, but to be honest, the Beoplay HX kinda suck at that so that also played a part haha
PlanningMyDeath 03.28.24	Beats are siiiiiick but too expensive
Alondite 03.29.24	"Saying the 6XX or other cheaper Sennheisers are better than the 660s/2 just proves you have shit ears and probably shit taste in music too." On the contrary, suggesting that the 660 are better when both measurements and the most knowledgeable and experienced audio folks and gear builders disagree suggest that you are the one with shit ears. I have to wonder what your upstream gear because nothing you've said should be true under normal circumstances. If the 6XX aren't properly amped, then maybe, but even then the 660 are still grating and very obviously colored in an unpleasant way through the upper mids and lower treble.
Colton 03.29.24	"Yes, they leak sound but not a lot. If you're worried about sound leakage then why don't you just buy an IEM?" I just don't like having anything in my ears. it's never comfortable. I like the comfort and ease of use with headphones. just throw them on and don't worry about adjusting. but I want a pair to use at work, so leaking sound would be an issue. but I don't listen to music super loud as I mentioned
BaselineOOO 03.29.24	"colored in an unpleasant way", yeah alright, because the 7db pinna spike at 3khz of the 6XX is totally natural and not CoLoReD. Please get the fuck outta here. Enjoy your silly-ass 6XX man but please stop advising people to buy mediocre headphones over great ones, especially models you 100% haven't heard in person like in this case.
Butkuiss 03.29.24	Imagine if Base put this much fervour into ending racism.
BaselineOOO 03.29.24	Racists, you see, tell the truth, so they are lesser idiots than the contrarian guys from this thread. Budgie and Alondite probably just have anchoring bias for the one shitty headphone they bought with all their money, and then they read some online reviews to get an idea of how other gear sounds.
DePlazz 03.29.24	In sum: if there's any headphones which Base AND Alondite AND budgie agree upon are good, those could be the ones to get.
Pikazilla 03.29.24	the venn diagram appears to be empty
Beardog 03.29.24	They 100% both like Beats by Dre
AsleepInTheBack 03.29.24	Discussion has confirmed that my next headphone purchase will be Meze Empyrean 2 I just need to sell a few organs first.
gabba 03.29.24	Ask Anna von Hausswolff, maybe she’ll buy some. And once you succeed, tell us about your experience with those new cans!
budgie 03.29.24	deplazz NUH the best headphones are the ones you like the most after sampling a good handful at a hifishop
Demon of the Fall 03.29.24	budgie definitely seems the least elitist of the connoisseurs here
budgie 03.29.24	i will say again, you all shouldn't listen to the garbage coming out of baseline's mouth, he's a useless troll, and if you knew more about audio you'd see through his braindead bullshit comments like "analog-like sound quality" (fuck i love that) and frequency response signatures not matching genre styles. following his logic, you shouldn't have a subwoofer in a theater room. good lord good lord. but admittedly i have trouble sometimes figuring out if it is trolling or if he's just a moron. it fascinates me
BaselineOOO 03.29.24	"Discussion has confirmed that my next headphone purchase will be Meze Empyrean 2 I just need to sell a few organs first." It's win-win, you'll improve one of your senses at the expense of another.
Hyperion1001 03.29.24	honestly my brain damage is far too advanced to be able to have an opinion on any of this. i just listen to my lil flacs in my bedroom and am happy.
BaselineOOO 03.29.24	Yes but can you imagine just how good you would look when listening to lil flacs in your bedroom wearing the Fostex TR-X00 Mahogany
Hyperion1001 03.29.24	you make a very solid point. i will aspire to that level of cool.
Alondite 03.29.24	"Because the 7db pinna spike at 3khz of the 6XX is totally natural and not CoLoReD." Meanwhile, in Imaginationland... A quick glance at any FR graph will show you that this flat-out does not even exists. There's no non-linearity anywhere in the 6XX response that is more than like 3-4 dB. Seriously what nonsense compensation curve are you using that shows a 7 dB spike anywhere in the 6XX response? And you know what the 6XX doesn't have that the 660 do? Egregiously poor performance at ~5kHz. Seriously look at a burst decay. This region overshoots so severely that it's literally off the chart, and not only does it overshoot, but it stays elevated and continues to decay. They perform worse in this region than Grados do, and Grados are notorious for their unruly upper mids and treble. It's a glaring issue, and it outweighs any advantage the 660 may have, which amounts to little more than tighter, more well-extended bass that is still mediocre in the grand scheme, so still not a strength. It's not so much that the headphones are bad as it is they cost way too much given their performance and what else is available. At half the price they'd be fine, but at their current price they're irrelevant given that the JAR6X0 exist. "just have anchoring bias for the one shitty headphone they bought with all their money" Yeah, $1500 headphones, $2500 DAC, $2500 amp....but the 6XX are the only headphones I own and can afford. Sure. Nah mate, you're just deaf. You're a textbook case of an audio beginner, because the tell-tale signs of audio beginners are an over-emphasis on bass, and thinking that harsh, etched treble makes it more detailed, because you don't know the difference between apparent detail and actual resolution. And the preference for a V-shaped sound signature is pretty common in beginners, too, which the 660 definitely have. More experienced audio folks generally adhere to roughly a -1dB per octave FR trend for headphones, because it's more accurate and natural.
budgie 03.29.24	i haven't been this hard since emma roberts did yoga in american horror story 1984
BaselineOOO 03.29.24	apes together strong < 3
gabba 03.29.24	Actually, I do like the V-shaped setting, it’s perfect for music recorded with a Flying V.
Sinternet 03.29.24	i think if you're gonna be an insufferable audio nerd you better be a knowledgeable insufferable audio nerd so kudos
budgie 03.29.24	"Actually, I do like the V-shaped setting, it’s perfect for music recorded with a Flying V." https://tenor.com/view/uhh-okthen-nvm-sad-gif-7234486
gabba 03.30.24	Yeah, homonymy may necessarily be compatible with audiophilia, but jokes aside, I seriously need to experiment more with settings & gears. Time is on my side. With a little help from my friends.
Beardog 03.30.24	Yeah just fuck around and find out, one of the most fun things in audio anyway. Alondite must have supreme ears compared to anyone else (or he is just megabiased towards nerd graphs)
gabba 03.30.24	I also dig nerdy graphs, but it’s true my hearing needs a polish big time. I decided yesterday to get me one of those big syringes at the pharma and surprise my ears with a thorough enema, for a start. Anyone doing the same regularly?
zakalwe 03.30.24	Would do once every few years due to waxy build up causing issues now I’m completely Tinnitus’d off me tits so it doesn’t really make a difference unless there’s a full on blockage
Beardog 03.30.24	Yeah when there does not seem to be anything wrong with my hearing I'm not gonna fiddle with it tbh. I don't think cleaning the inside of your ears is actually necessary when there is nothing genetically wrong with you, right?
gabba 03.30.24	Well, the internet’s full of disgusting photos of the stuff that can accumulate in there, so it’s worth doing it once in a while, but one should choose the method carefully (no q-tips!). And even tinnitus can get worse with wax as it will not be masked by environmental noises.
Butkuiss 03.31.24	I’m leery on the necessity or benefits of flushing your ears regularly for most people but I ended up with a compacted earwax blockage last year and THAT was definitely no bueno.
budgie 03.31.24	i had it done when i was like 14 and i remember it hurting more than i would have liked
Colton 03.31.24	i have hearing like a bat so i’m with buttkiss, doesn’t feel necessary for me
pizzamachine 03.31.24	I have very nice cozy headphones, great for music production and mixing how nice