I believe that headphone SQ has dramatically improved in the $200 range! I simply try to come close to the performance of my speakers. I accept that headphone sound is a form of hifi that is just different from speakers, much like squash and tennis are racquet sports, but are different. Maybe not the best analogy, but maybe it conveys my beliefs?
Completely heard! I agree too that headphones "have done worse" in the past, but the speaker bit was key for me: get a set that mimics your home-in front of the speakers setup the most and you'll have a close to accurate depiction of tracks.I believe that headphone SQ has dramatically improved in the $200 range! I simply try to come close to the performance of my speakers. I accept that headphone sound is a form of hifi that is just different from speakers, much like squash and tennis are racquet sports, but are different. Maybe not the best analogy, but maybe it conveys my beliefs?
Thank you! I come from an instrumentalist background as I've always played, gigged, and gotten myself into bigger studios for my guitar playing, but have been producing for years and am learning how mindsets vary between the two. I heard some Shure's at a show once and I was very surprised to test them out and hear it a competitor to ATH M50x's. I've spent the longest time with my ATH's as they were an easy standard I grabbed when I first started producing, but now that I mix and am doing more track work in portable setups, the value for this price point is big for me in finding the most accurate representation of where the tracks are at tin the session.
Have you checked out Beyer Dynamics cans? I have a pair of DT990 Pro's, and they sound very, very nice! They make most of my other cans sound wooly and muddy... very recommended!
I use the 770s in most other studios I track at or at least see them sitting around. I know they're a clean, honest pair. I've never been "excited" to listen to them but...that's kind of the point/value right? I think they are more exciting than ATH and Shure options though...perhaps it's the V shaped FR curve that (I've been told) is more apparent in Beyers...Either way I'll have to grab me some 990 pros closed (I've seen many opens) for my next studio upgrade.Have you checked out Beyer Dynamics cans? I have a pair of DT990 Pro's, and they sound very, very nice! They make most of my other cans sound wooly and muddy... very recommended!
Is that closed back DT990 a factory issue, or a mod?
Hell yeah and while it's not entirely due to Hifiman Chinese manufacturers have come a long way to produce increasingly better quality audio equipment that can match almost any Western product at one third the cost, but they're astute enough to leave most of the $1,000+ niche market to Westerners lest it attracts counterfeiters, HFM is an exception but planars are more costly to counterfeit than dynamics.I believe that headphone SQ has dramatically improved in the $200 range!
I have no idea what "the standard" might be, but I like your ideas of fun and functionality. I prefer listening to speakers, but sometimes headphones work better for me, like when it's too early or late to play speakers in an apartment setting where I might bother the neighbors, or when ambient noise makes it difficult to hear. I've used the same pair of Koss Pro4AA headphones since the late 1980's, and they still do a great job of blocking out external noise and providing a fun, engaging performance that makes me want to keep on listening, whether music or movies.
Ah interesting insight. Grado's continue to elude consistency in reputation as some say Grado's made them audiophiles and others say they regret buying any in the first place. I'll probably hold off on looking to buy those until reputation stabilizes, but hey, it's all up yo listener's ears right? "Eye of the Beholder" type perspective. That's why thread like this are valuable as it's hard to listen to all of these in one place most of the time.
I wonder, too, how much some headphones are limited by what's driving them. The SR125's sound quite good using their RA1 headphone amplifier, but suffer when plugged directly into my laptop computer. My Koss Pro4AA's are more consistently good no matter what I use.
All headphones ultimately have to depend on what drives them for good performance, be it a $5K HAM/DAC or a non-restored vintage receiver rescued from a trash bin, and everything in-between. The headphone is not a device by itself, it's a component at the receiving end of a signal path that contains other elements, some of which sometimes having a more substantial effect on the end result than the cans themselves no matter how neutral said cans are supposed to sound, with a few exceptions, such as the ubiquitous studio phone Audio Technica ATH-M50x. Contrary to the ATH-M70x the 50x is not so flat as to be boring, instead it has (very) subtle coloration, just enough to infuse a little fun when using it at home but remains flat enough for studio use. I have both of them and the 70x doesn't see much action... unless I use it with a specific set of electronics, while the 50x is content with almost any headphone amp, DAC, or vintage receiver. That's one example of upstream limitations that can severely impair SQ down the wire.
Fascinating insight. I still hear people saying break-in time either does or doesn't work for gear. Logically why could I be sold something that doesn't work out of the box, but I also understand tech can be like wine in that the more it's made routine in a setup, the more of its inherent quality (or lack there of) can be noticed, appreciated, and understood.
I have a pair of those as a studio and the normal one. Both were made in Austria. Love them.
Right, but on some setup the M50x can sound as good as higher priced mid-fi offerings.
