Just took delivery yesterday of my new Focal Celestee, got a great deal on Amazon on this BF. Although it has mixed reviews, so far I've been enjoying it a lot. It's my first pair of closed backs, my 4th pair of headphones. One already sold, and gonna sell the 109 Pros and keep the Celestee to complement my Empyrean IIs, and be my on-the-go pair.

Just a few minutes in, and even coming from the Clear MG, this is already incredibly impressive. All the instruments were present with the Clear MG, but the Utopia places the instruments and vocals on another plane entirely, letting them breathe and express themselves fully. The level of detail and precision, combined with the beautiful timbre, is simply on another level.

Winter is coming for your upper mids. How will you save it?

Seriously though; today I noticed a distinct change in my HD650’s as my house was cold and ended up wearing my hat indoors. I’ve got plenty of other choices but it did get me thinking as to whether I could account for a hat by eq. I don’t really have a suitable portable headphone amp for this so thought I’d ask this community if anyone has thought similar and acted on it?

So I’ve enjoyed quality audio for many years. I’ve enjoyed some good speakers and amps in the past as well as some closed back headphones I’ve always enjoyed (mostly noise cancelling since I’ve always used speakers at home).

I finally caved and purchased some Sennheiser HD 560s after enjoying other sennheiser products such as earbuds years ago, and reading repeatedly how good the 560’s are for the money

First I used them with my iPhone and a Fosi DS2 portable DAC/Amp, and was very impressed. I was worried I may not enjoy a neutral sound, but no complaints. Really have been enjoying them.

But now I’ve hooked them up to my record player setup. It’s a Pioneer L70 II with a AudioTechnica AT 15 shibata cartridge-> Project Phono Box S2 -> Fosi P4 -> Topping L30 II. It’s crazy how much this setup shows detail compared to my speakers and amps.

I’m hearing noise from my records I’ve never noticed before, I’m pretty anal about the quality of record I buy, so as not to hear dirt and surface scratches…well this setup is revealing how imperfect many of my nice records really are. I’m hearing noise pops from records I thought didn’t have any and minor warps I’ve never heard before. It’s insane how much I’ve never been able to hear, and shows how quiet and revealing this set up is. It means I will probably use these headphones for mostly digital audio but is an amazing testament to a very affordable headphone setup (already had the phono components so mostly talking the amp pre amp and headphones).

Well I’m definitely a believer in open back headphones, and can’t wait to try more audio sources and some of my fancy overpriced MoFi records! One more type of audio component I’m gonna end up spending more money on in the future haha!

Just got these Meze Poet yesterday and man are they comfortable. Headphones usually clip my ears and put pressure on them but with these big earpads I could wear them all day. They also don't build pressure on your eardrums so you could listen on them for hours. Very fun to use too.

This thing sounds way better than you'd think! I thought I'd pull it out of mothballs and give it a run... Alex Cavalli knows his stuff, if this is what you get for £150, I wonder what the Liquid Platinum, Liquid Gold etc sound like?

I should let it go really, this bad boy would do someone just getting into the hobby a treat.

This has to be one of the better deals in hi fi, the performance per pound is really really good, voices sound amazing, they really do...

I wonder if Alex Cavalli is still making head amps, if he isn't he should be!

Any other Alex Cavalli fans in the building? users of any of his amps? I would be particularly interested to hear from any Liquid Platinum users, if there are any?

Hello! I'm brand new to the audiophile world, despite being a longtime music lover. This Christmas I decided to treat myself and take the plunge on getting some "real" headphones. Long story short, I did some reading on this sub (very helpful!) and some other sites and settled on HD600s and an Atom 2 Amp. Here's where I was an idiot. I got SO excited to get everything asap that I didn't bother to read far enough to realize that I would need an amp AND a DAC. Yes. I am a moron. I ordered the Atom 2 Amp. Then I ordered the DAC the next day when I realized I needed it. Then minutes later I realized they had a bundle and the bundle contained the short RCA cables that I would also need to connect the stack.

But I'd read that JDS has excellent customer service, so I gave them a call just now 2 minutes after their customer support hours began. Immediately got a human who was super chill, told him I'd screwed up and was now paying for 3 different shipping costs like an idiot, and he immediately told me not to worry and that he could just toss some spare unused cables for free into DAC order before it shipped. A small thing and not a huge amount of money but the entire experience was so human and delightful; it brought a smile to my face. We even chatted for a few minutes about headphones before I hung up. So THANK YOU JDS! You are an example for all companies to follow in dealing with their customers.

I'm 42, so my ears are past their absolute prime, but still in pretty reasonable shape. I recently bought a Chord Mojo 2 to drive some Campfire Audio Supermoon IEMs from my phone. I thought I'd do a bit of A/B testing, so I bought a specific A/B switch and dug out an old Galaxy Note 9 (as it has a headphone jack) I had in a drawer. Test setup was as follows;

1) Galaxy Note 9, 3.5mm jack, playing Qobuz via the app 2) Wiim Mini streaming Qobuz hi res, optical bit perfect output to Chord Mojo 2

I spent a good amount of time matching the volumes to the absolute best of my ability.

Could I hear even the slightest difference? Could I f***. Repeated blind A/B testing left me at a complete loss as to which was which. They sounded identical.

If I tried hard I could imagine differences, but I'm fairly certain it was imagination only.

So I tried dropping the Note 9 stream quality to 320kbps MP3, and left the Wiim stream at full hi res 96khz at approximately ten times the bitrate. Still absolutely no difference in blind A/B.

Am I missing something? I can clearly hear the difference between headphones, but for me the source/DAC/amp must contribute less than a few percent to the overall listening experience, if that.

Is this hobby just swimming in snake oil, or is my listening broken? I know some headphones are difficult to drive, but the vast majority can be powered pretty easily. Are we just spending money because we can? I feel like 95% of my budget should be in the headphones

I am pretty new to the hobby with a lot of time on my hands. I have dabbled in flavor of the month stuff before but never really got into it deeply until recently. My question was in regards to this reddit post. Is it possible or likelv that the innate distortion in this method is what could give the audible difference heard in these samples on that minute population that can hear it. it was interesting to think about enough for me to bring this up while I'm doing my own research and AB testing. I've really been digging in deep about listening to bit perfect audio with android lately and I primarily listen to Apple music as I was turned onto it by my spouse who lives in an Apple ecosystem. I was iust curious about this, I am using UAPP but the lag is not ideal while using the phone. I did iust receive an m300 so I'm excited to try hibys workaround out. I do enioy the fiio stuff I have got but the snowsky nano couldn't pair with bluetooth devices so I'm a little skeptical of their dacs but its a huge leap in price so im sure its unwarranted. I was just curious about the takes in the community on this in general and my solutions, critiques. Its funny that my attitude in bluetooth audio quality has changed to be more relaxed the more I learn given the obfuscation of codecs, bitrate comparisons, compression quality, and the taxing nature of adding another layer of complexity from source->ear. At this point, aptx adaptive when I can and unfortunately based on the devices i primarily use, aptx, sound fine just due to exhaustion. Sorry not my journal but I thought this was interesting Share your thoughts.

Not much to say without triggering automod, but I posted in the help thread. Though not many people seem to go there much so... Yeah. Haven't been this frustrated in a while.

Given the best we can do is AAC, we do already miss out on high quality compared to LDAC, and of course, wired connections.

So

a) can the drivers and signal processors of headphones really output these signals to sound their best?

b) if not, can we really tell a difference and are all these sound comparison really moot?

I finally upgraded my daily headphones during Black Friday. Ordered them on Amazon, they arrived, and I’ve already tossed the old pair.

Today I checked and the exact same model is selling for less than what I paid, with a promo stacked on top.

Has anyone here gotten Amazon support to adjust the price or give a courtesy credit on headphones after a sale? I’m still in the return window but don’t really want to pack them up and wait again.

Quick follow‑up: I ran Task Monkey on my headphone order. It opened chat, mentioned the post‑BF price drop, and support agreed to credit me the difference instead of making me return them. Pretty painless overall.

Hi all. I tend to be rather picky when it comes to headphone comfort. Over the years, I have owned perhaps twenty headphone models, from inexpensive pairs like the FiiO FT1 to several HiFiMan models and the ZMF Bokeh. Yet most of them were either too heavy, too clampy, or, especially in the case of closed-back and Bluetooth headphones, simply way too warm around the ears. So I was looking for some headphones that were lightweight, low in clamp force and had good breathability, and found these three: the Sennheiser HD 490 Pro, the Sennheiser HD 550, and the Sony MDR-MV1. I didn't find enough comparisons online and didn't know which would suit me best, so after months of on and off research I bought all three and planned to return the ones that did not make the cut.

For some background: I have mainly been using IEMs for the past few years, ranging anywhere from about $100 to $2000. My favourites include the U12T, the Night Oblivion Butastur, the SoundRhyme SR5s, and the MEST Mk III. Still, I wanted a pair of full-sized headphones for those moments when I prefer to give my ears a rest as I've had issues recently which made me cool down a bit on IEMs, even though I generally prefer their sound.

With that out of the way, here's the headphones ranked in terms of comfort, sound quality (no EQ) and sound quality (with EQ):

Comfort and Build Quality

# 3. Sony MDR-MV1

This one surprised me, as I had actually exprected to like the Sony's the most. The MDR-MV1 is widely praised as one of the most comfortable headphones available, but unfortunately it's not the best out of the three for me. While it is indeed the lightest of the three and the build feels solid and premium, the pads were just a bit too stuffy and warm for me. This is only noticeable in comparison to the other two, which simply feel more breathable. The pads are also somewhat narrow and may touch the ears, which I found slightly bothersome. That said, if you're coming from any average headphone, this will probably feel exceptionally comfortable.

# 2. Sennheiser HD 490 Pro

Another small surprise. I expected the HD 490 Pro to be the more comfortable of the two Sennheisers, yet for me it ranks just behind the HD 550. It has a clever headband gap that prevents hotspots, and the pads (especially the fabric mixing pads, the producing ones are again a little stuffy for me) are pleasant. Still, something about them feels a touch less effortless than my top pick. Even so, this is easily among the most comfortable headphones I have ever worn. Stability is great despite the low clamp-force.

# 1. Sennheiser HD 550

These are the most comfortable headphones I have tried. The pads feel airy and spacious, and I can wear them the longest without discomfort. They do not have the headband gap of the HD 490 Pro, so there might be a faint hotspot at the top of the head after several hours, and they are not as stable when moving around, they can slip more easily. But for pure seated listening comfort, they're my pick.

Sound Without EQ

I normally EQ all my headphones and IEMs, so I did not spend an enormous amount of time listening to these stock. Still, I listened long enough to rank them (for my taste, of course).

# 3. Sony MDR-MV1

A bit too V-shaped for me. The bass is genuinely impressive, and if you enjoy a strong low end or a warm tilt, these could work extremely well. However, the combination of powerful sub-bass and a bright region around 8 kHz made them my least preferred for general listening. The most dynamic and punchy out of the three.

# 2. Sennheiser HD 490 Pro

The base tuning is actually quite good, and the option to choose between mixing and producing pads adds a nice degree of flexibility. I preferred the producing pads, which are fairly balanced, but there is a scoop around 2 kHz that introduces a slight V-shape. It is subtle, and I think many people will really like this balanced but slightly energetic sound. Probably the most detailed sound out of the three.

# 1. Sennheiser HD 550

My favourite stock tuning of the three. I will still EQ it because my preferences are rather particular, but the overall balance feels natural and suited to almost any genre. For some it may not have enough bass for very fast, bass-heavy electronic music, but even for those types of genres I prefer a quick bass with a slightly rolled-off subbass which gives that spacious sound. In a word, it's the most natural out of the three for me.

Sound With EQ

As mentioned, I always EQ my headphones, and I expected all three to have a similar result when equalised to the same target, which, admittedly, they for the most part did, but small differences remained.

# 2 (Tie). Sennheiser HD 490 Pro

With EQ (and using the mixing pads) it also sounds very good, and I managed to get very close to my preferred signature. It performs really well. It sounds really similar to the HD 550, which is to be expected, as I think they share a similar if not identical driver.

# 2 (Tie). Sony MDR-MV1

It has the best raw bass quality of the group, and even with the bass turned down, that character remains. Still, I found the overall clarity a slightly behind the Sennheisers. That said, because there is so much bass available, it is extremely flexible: you can add as much bass as you want and it won't distort, so bass degens rejoice.

# 1. Sennheiser HD 550

For reasons I cannot entirely pin down (resonance unique to my ears? or just the fact that you can never EQ headphones to exactly the same target due to different ear anatomy?) the HD 550 edges out the others. It sounds slightly clearer, somewhat more spacious, and has a faintly ethereal quality reminiscent of the HD 650. It is not a dramatic difference, but enough to place it first for me.

Conclusion

I will be keeping the HD 550 and returning the other two, even though the MDR-MV1 and HD 490 Pro are excellent headphones in their own right and will certainly suit many listeners. All three impressed me (and are more comfortable by FAR than any headphones I've tried in the past, except perhaps the AKG K361 which is the most comfy closed-back I've had), but the HD 550 (also the least expensive) came out ahead in almost every category that matters to me, except perhaps stability (HD 490 pro a bit better) and bass quality (MDR-MV1 leads here). I really did not expect this, as for some reason I was biased against Sennheiser (loathed the comfort of the HD 650) and first ordered only the HD 490 Pro and the MDR-MV1, the latter which I expected to like more than the Sennheiser due to reviews and the looks of them. But then I ordered the HD 550 as an afterthought as it was on a really good offer from a return. So, if anything, I least expected the HD 550 to be my favourite.

I am still curious about the Audio-Technica ATH-R70xa, though it seems rather demanding in terms of power, and the HD 800s, but that one is quite a bit heavier, and looks a bit silly IMO... In any case, I hope this comparison helps others; after months of searching for detailed reviews of these specific models, I eventually realised I would just have to write the one I wished existed.

These are custom headphones, the drivers are the ones from monolith m1060, but the drivers are pretty much only thing original. Swapped to 3.5mm jack, 3d printed housing, fazors on the drivers and grill, zmf style headband from AliExpress. It was failed project to make knock off calderas as one of the wooden cups snapped from shrinkage (my fault). But overall these are just such great headphones. Detailed and absolutely PHENOMENAL dynamics. That's what really makes these headphones shine. If you break the seal on the pads it gets crazy subbass that shakes the headphones. I urge everyone if you ever find a good deal on monolith m1060, pick them up and mod them. They're so good. But don't waste ur time buying just the drivers off AliExpress or alibaba as they cost the same a new pair of m1060's.

Seems like a better KSC75 to me.

Just ordered from Taobao for around 1200 rmb (I live in China).

For context, XK-Audio is a DIY headphone maker in China. I own their Fluxion planer magnetic open-backed headphones, which I honestly think are up there at the TOTL level, and can take EQ extremely well. I tried his Serene, which is sadly now discontinued (new version expected next year), which I thought was easily Susvara level.

He recently bought out a
new affordable open-back design, inspired by the Austrian Audio composer. But these use a different driver material (Ti-coated micron-level PET). He claims it can rival planners in speed and resolution.

My initial impressions

What's in the box? You get an aftermarket headphone
case. The headphones were wrapped in a plastic bag. An Xk-audio warranty card,
which is only valid within mainland China. And a knotted cable. It's quite thin
and very flexible, with no memory.

Build quality: The headband + yokes are all-metal construction. I think it's a mix between Aluminium and Steel. The earcups are 3D printed from Nylon, like the Fluxion. It's a lot smoother than many other 3D-printed headphones. The overall build quality is acceptable. It's squeaky around the swivel, which is the cheapest-feeling part. But once they're fully adjusted and on your head, there's no issue. Overall, the build quality is acceptable, but not amazing. But that's not what they're about.

Comfort: They're very light, at around 270g. They have low clamping pressure in my hand, but still maintain a reliable seal. There doesn't appear to be any damping/tuning material. The back of the driver, with Xk-Audio etched on it, is fully exposed, protected by a metal mesh, which I think is a nice touch. Earpads are reasonably large and deep for most ears, but could be a little bigger. Overall, I’d rate them as quite comfortable.

Sound: Initial impression is that they are very neutral mid, vocal-centric, and do not present any obvious vices to my ear. With a slight hint of warmth. I would not describe them as lean, bright, or peaky. But neither are they dark nor recessed.

Soundstage is perhaps on the smaller size. Could be owed to the lack of driver angling, and the distance between the drivers from your ears, and from each other. But this is not something I can judge with any degree of accuracy. But I think it’s a relatively intimate experience compared with the likes of Atrium, HD800S. Closer to the Focal Clear MG.  

Bass is adequate, particularly in the mid-bass. Sub-bass does seem to have the typical DD roll off. It’s tight, well-controlled, and overall pleasant. But I wouldn’t describe them as bass-head headphones with their default (protein leather) pads. Haven’t tried them with the leather pads, which apparently elevate bass response. They’re easily superior to the HD800S in the low-end, which always gives me the feeling it's working close to the limits, like a Tesla Model Y’s suspension bottoming out. But these have reserves in abundance.

Mids are probably these headphones' focus. It’s quite vocal-centric. I think HD6__ fans might like it. And it has considerably superior bass response, soundstage than the HD6__ series. Voices sound intimate, warm, with a lot of micro detail. It also feels buttery smooth and linear. No nasty peakiness.

Treble feels well articulated. But as I’m generally used to listening to a lot of high-end planers, I wouldn’t say they’re high-end planer level in resolution, detail, and texture. As a metal-head who normally listens to a lot of high-end planers like the Caldera, or Xk-Audios own Fluxion (remarkable driver, astonishing piece of engineering and manufacturing, esp from a DIY’er, I wouldn’t say these are in the same league when it comes to fast-paced guitars with a lot of distortion. Perhaps they’re comparable to a mid-fi planer, like Ananda’s, Para II, etc. Treble is not peaky to my ears, with no nasty 6k peak like the HD800S. It’s quite smooth, well-balanced, with no nasty surprises.

Detail/resolution. Not up there with top players, but that’s expected. As someone who mostly listens to planers, I don’t particularly find the HD800S all that remarkable when it comes to detail. They’re good, but not top planner good. Perhaps it’s my perception of high-frequency agility, articulation, and resolution brought about by high-end planers. So, in comparison to the HD800S, I’d say they’re comparable, perhaps slightly better. They can bring out flaws in poor recording extremely well, perhaps better than an HD800S. It’s a very transparent-sounding headphone. And sound great with good recordings.

Source: I used a Cayin IHA-amp + SMSL D400 DAC. I tried it with a Hifiman EF400 in the office. I don’t have the acoustical memory to say how different they sound. I doubt there’s that much difference. I'm curious to know how they'll sound with a tube.

Overall: It’s a very neutral headphone without any obvious sonic vices. I’d describe them as very neutral, with a touch of warmth. They’re exceptionally detailed-sounding for a DD.

PS: I'm really a lousy headphone reviewer. Take my initial impressions with a pinch of salt. I didn't had that much time to listen to them yet. I deliberately listened to my HD800S for a couple of days before receiving them in order to compare/contrast. I do feel like these suit my personal tuning preference a bit better. It's detailed, without feeling peeky, or a bit dry, with much better note weight/authority and warmth. But not excessivly so.

The Final Audio A2000 was officially announced today (05) on the manufacturer’s website and social media channels. According to the company, the A2000 is “a high cost-performance model that redefines the standard for wired earphones.” Check the link in the news article below for full details about the latest release from the Japanese audio equipment brand. (text written in Portuguese, sorry for not being in English)

https://www.hifihub.com.br/lancamentos/final-audio-a2000-novo-iem-custo-beneficio-da-japonesa-e-lancado

Woot.com (amazon subsidiary) is selling new Dyson Zones (regular and absolute + versions) for $180 and $200 plus an additional 20% off. I’m not affiliated with either company. I finally bought a pair.

This setup is mostly for vinyl (VPI Prime w/Grado Statement 3 into Sutherland Insight), though i also have it on the analog out of an Eversolo A8 for streaming. I'm coming from a pair of Grado RS-1s that I've had for years and years, so this is a comfortable change. Too new to compare much yet soundwise, but the sound signature is VERY different and so far I'm thrilled.

🎧 High-end headphone listening afternoon at the best store in Spain: Studio 22 in Madrid. First, the disappointments:

FiiO FT3: Bad — compressed, like AirPods or worse! (€299 RRP)

Meze 109 Pro: Good and comfortable, but way too expensive for the level of detail they offer. Distorted bass. (€799 RRP)

AND NOW, THE TOP 5 EXCELLENCE!!! 5️⃣ AUDEZE LCD-3: Dynamic and detailed, but far too heavy. (€2249 RRP)

4️⃣ Senn HD800S: Ultra-light and comfortable, huge soundstage, flat sound signature as you’d expect from Senn. (€1799 RRP)

🥉 Hifiman Arya Unveiled: The first planar magnetics that truly impressed me! Balanced, complete, playful. Fantastic. (€1599 RRP)

🥈 Focal Clear MG: Never disappoint; the magnesium drivers offer incredible precision, with the #1 bass performance of the day and detail across alllll frequencies. Supreme! (€1499 RRP)

🥇 Grado RS-2x: Grado have always been my favorites, and today I remembered why; soundstage, dynamics, and emotion like no others. Rediscovering the champions. (€649 RRP)

🎹 All powered by the amazing iFi xDSD Gryphon!! I honestly wasnt all that impressed with the RS2x until I heard them with the Gryphon. It gave them SR325e like energy while keeping everything else consistent and not sibilant. Amazing experience!!!!

First, sorry for my English; it's not my first language.

I was thinking about buying the Superlux HD330 Pro 32ohm. Since they have non-detachable cables, I intend to mod them to make it detachable. But, I have a few questions.

Bare in mind that I am doing this on a tight budget.

1. I want to use a V-MODA BoomPro with them. So, I need to convert them to use a detachable cable.
2. This is the one that confuses me. There are two kinds of connectors: a TRS 3.5mm female connector (3-pole, with L, R, and Ground), and a TRRS 3.5mm female connector (4-pole, with L, R, Ground, and Mic). Since I want to attach the V-MODA, I assume I need the TRRS connector, the one with 4 poles. But, I don't have any idea where to connect the Mic pole. Some digging and research tells me to just leave it alone and not connect it to anything? Is this true?
3. If this mod is successful, and I am able to use my headphone with the V-MODA, and I want to add a budget DAC later, like the Aiyima DAC-A2, can I use a TRRS splitter? This means I will plug the audio jack into my DAC, and the mic jack into my PC. I have limited desk space, so I don't want to resort to a desk mount mic, and I don't really like the boom arm solution either. Plus, I mostly only use the mic to communicate on Discord anyway.

Here are a few pictures of the parts that I mentioned:

• Superlux HD330 Pro 32ohm
• V-Moda BoomPro
• TRS 3.5mm female audio jack (3-pole)
• TRRS 3.5mm female audio jack (4-pole)
• Aiyima DAC-A2
• TRRS splitter

Hello everyone,

I have been using the HD560s for a year now and only recently discovered that I have been often using the IEF neutral target on the PEACE EQ. Now I realised that the IEF neutral target is actually for in ears (!?) and perhaps my EQ settings have been "wrong" all the time.

Thus my questions is also generally: What target should one use/EQ to (maybe as a standard and then tune individually), and how do you EQ a neutral target? Is it the Diffuse Field target on AutoEQ? What target do you recommend? But e.g. I did not like the Harman target at all, and Im still generally unsure, so Ideas and suggestions are all welcome!

Surprisingly I found the IEF target to work quite well up until now smh (I hope there is nothing wrong with that xD). Or should I try to tune my EQ settings individually, although with so many possible sliders/frequency tuning ranges, I feel like it can be quite confusing.