General Headphone Advice

They sound a lot like the tips on the Sennheiser IE800. Maybe there are some cheap replacement tips out for them you could find.

 

Also sounds similar to Spiral Dots.

 

Y'all favorite headphones for EDM?

 

Ok so can someone explain why I haven't been able to really fall in love with planar headphones?

I have tried out a number of Audeze (LCD2, LCDX, LCDXC, LCD4), MrSpeakers Maddogs and Ether Flows, Oppo PM3 and Yamaha HP1. Most of them I haven't owned but I tried the Oppo PM3 and Ether Flow for an extended period of time. I own the Yamaha HP1s (which are modded). I liked the PM3 and Ether but I found myself reaching for the dynamic equivalent instead (Meze 99 Classics or HD800). I think with the PM3s were too neutral which sounds dumb when I say it because I feel the point of headphones is to faithfully reproduce the music but they were kind of boring. The Audeze and Maddogs always felt like they were about to fall off my head and damn they are heavy. Honestly I really didn't get the love for the LCDX and LCD4. The LCDX's midrange sounded pretty hollow to me and the LCD4 was so damn dark. I like the Yamaha HP1 but I still would rather grab my original series SR80 or HD600.

What am I missing? What haven't I tried? Am I the one broken headphone enthusiast who doesn't love planars?

 

There's A LOT of people in this hobby who prefer dynamics over planars, that is not a weird thing in the slightest. Tradeoffs, personal preferences...yadda yadda yadda, but often planars can sound less dynamic (in sound), or less resolving, or less realistic timbre, in comparison to many dynamic headphones. So maybe that's why they are just not doing it for you. I'd say you've hit most of the usual planar suspects except for something like the now rare and hard to drive HE-6, so it may be best to just keep on keeping on with what you prefer to listen to.

Realizing it was okay to own only dynamics, and ridding myself of a second headphone amp because I no longer had planars around, was a very freeing experience for me, honestly.

 

The HE-500 and HE-6 are the only planars (so far) that have really made me a fan. HiFiMan does something right for me.

Really hoping the Aeon Flow Open gives me another planar option. I really love what I'm hearing about it so far.

 

Yeah I guess that is my issue. The loss in dynamics compared to dynamics as kind of killed them for me. It probably keep the HP1 just cause I paid a whole $70 for it and it is a bit of different option. It is a bitch to drive though. I feel like I am really pushing the Magni2 to drive it.

I'd love to get a chance to listen to the HE-6 at some point.

 

You are an individual, not a machine. We weren't all programmed to like planar and/or dynamics. You may perceive their strenghts and/or weaknesses but be glad because that may save you a good amount of money. That said keep trying different things, you may be surprised one day and, personally speaking, that's one the things I like about this hobby. From time to time something just surprises by being fairly different, even if not better.

 

I have listened to HE-400i but to be honest it was only for a second and I was more interested in the Koss ESP-950 sitting beside it. So I don't think I gave them a fair shake.

 

What would you folks consider to be the most holographic/3d soundstage on a headphone out there? I'm more concerned with depth than width.

 

HD800 and it's various modded versions

 

That was my assumption, but the HD6X0 series is rather lacking in depth, so I wasn't sure how different the HD800 was in that regard.

 

Yeah, fair assumption, and you're right the 600 series is very narrow and intimate. 800 is a whole different beast in a lot of ways (good and bad), and soundstage width and depth is definitely one of them.

 

I've never had planer headphones. From what I gather, they're not as dynamic sounding as... dynamic driver headphones. Is this correct? If yes, is the difference comparable to the difference between BA and DD IEMs?

 

Ok, Do higher impedance headphones allow for greater music detail over low impedance headphones or does impedance factor in matching an amp to it's sensitivity levels? Yes, I need read into basic electronics but I'm trying to get past a half truth.

I'm frustrated because this hobby is chock full of bad advice and marketing bullshit

 

You really need to try the different types of phones. A planar Oppo PM3 DOES sound better than a dynamic Bose headphone. A dynamic Sennheiser 650 is more accurate and fluid than a planar Monoprice 1060.

I didn't know the quality differences when I started a year ago. There are advice threads on this site that will help you. I've bought several pairs of phones that I wouldn't give away.. but I would definitely read into the advice threads before you drop some dough on something you may regret.

 

If you have two headphones with the same specs and same sensitivity (they produce the same loudness per milliwatt), but they only differ in impedance, then the headphone with the higher impedance will need higher voltage swing from the amp to generate that same milliwatt and loudness as the headphone with low impedance.

This does not in any way translate to "detail". However, there are a few other parameters like damping factor and voltage dividers that people like squabble over.

 

Ok, this is why i'm asking: The new Sennheiser 660S has a lower impedance than the previous 650. I'm guessing that Sennheiser doesn't expect everyone to need an amp to appreciate the output of the phone. That's fine, but will that mean that people with high end amps will have a downgrade in quality or will they simply lower the volume?

There is a myth about how "good headphones have high impedance and are inefficient" and "bad headphones are low impedance and are very efficient" I'm trying to get to the bottom of it.

 

HD800 (HD800s) unsurpassed till now.