Best Economy (<$300) Cans for EQ?

JVC HA-SZ2000 with Brainwavz HM5 earpads.

They are amazingly capable, comfy with those pads, can be made to slam and/or sound good with EQ, and kinda sound like crap stock.

 

Philips Fidelio x2 ,Sennheiser IE80

 

Cheap? HD 558/598. If you think the M50x can compete you're wrong.
AKG K7XX if you have an amp.

 

The dt990s respond very well to EQ and basic modding.

 

I'm going to chime in and recommend against the DT880 and DT990. Although they have exceptionally fast transient response, their treble is so painful to my ears and so far from neutral that it actually can be a chore trying to fix their peaks. Believe me, I've tried.

I'm gonna second the HD 600 and 650, along with the 800. The 558 and 598 are very close in sound signature to the 600 but not as refined sounding. They still EQ excellently as well.

 

I think a good general EQ headphone is about being moldable to any FR target while doing a fair job of it. [Within reason: +15dB/-infinity.] A smoothly varying response and low distortion are the main requirements to achieve this.

The HD558/598s do have nice FR smoothness, and I'm sure they can be EQ'd to sound even better. However, I believe the distortion in the bass is too high to be a good general EQ headphone. I don't think they could be EQ'd to have a bass boost (+5db flat down to 30hz let's say), without suffering excessive distortion. Some of the other headphones mentioned also have bass distortion that is probably audible, and may not respond nicely under manipulation. The M50x has an uglier FR, but the distortion is low enough. I see it as a good suggestion and potentially workable.

The DT880 looks to have a sane response and low positional variation. The nit to pick would be the bass distortion.

Sure the HD6x0s seem like good targets. From my perspective, the HD600 would be a better general EQ headphone, because its excess energy in the midrange can be removed (if called for), and this is generally a better option than adding a lot. The HD6x0 distortion does creep up in the bass, but being pure 2nd harmonic it is likely OK.

 

Just about anything with low THD and AFR that's not too seal/positioning dependant.

 

Yes, that's the question on the floor and the subject of the thread: what are the good ones that represent the best value?

 

f**k bass distortion, the M50(x) sounds like shit. Buy an HD 558/598, HD 600/650, or just spend 500 for a Paradox. Pay up or shut up. This thread is redditcore delusional. Go listen to the damn headphones.

http://enigmaticaudio.com/product/paradox/

 

The Harman papers (after establishing its viability) are based on headphone emulation, using one headphone to emulate the frequency responses of other headphones. The core assumption being that the main property of a headphone is its frequency response at the ear-drum. The Harman papers are an attempt to move forward on the issue of target frequency response. I'm not sure they are arriving in the right place, but I don't fundamentally disagree with their methodology. In my mind FR is 50%, non-linear distortion is 25%, and amps and dacs are 25% (assuming no killer issues). To get to the goal it takes all three, and any element can thwart its achievement. [... and I'd rather listen to triodes than %0.001% distortion amps, btw.]

I may agree with you that FR and non-linear distortion are not everything. But, like quite a few others on SBAF and changstar, I have the tools and measurement capability to make arbitrary filters(EQ) to any target. The subject of this thread is value headphones that submit to such filtering. You have an agenda inconsistent with the purpose of this thread. So be it. If the subject and purpose of this thread were unclear at the time of your posting, I apologize.

 

Pure Autism.

 

Well ok then. Nothing to see here, you have it all figured out.

 

Everyone has their own way to pursue perfection. Some methodology to it would be nice. Not to say it's be-all-end-all, but something with low distortion is a nice start at least for EQing since EQing adds its own distortion for most implementations on the market. There's a reason some of us pursue acoustic modifications even at the high-end rather than simply EQing an SR-009 driven by a cheap $100 Stax amp... but we don't diss EQ like it's a plague. It's just another method, and equally valid IMO.

"Take it as it is" is basically what you're saying, I think, but if that was the case, SuperBAF's only point for existing would be to repeatedly sing praises for HD600/650/800. It's too quiet that way. Life needs excitement!

That aside, apply dynamat/sorbothane to inner cups of M50 and use the velour ear pads, and you've got yourself quite a good headphone. In fact, that's my next recommendation! Now take it that way (and maybe EQ it?) or STFU!

 

There are certainly other types of distortion than harmonic distortion, but they seem tricky to analyze, partly because it is hard to separate out of the effects of THD, partly because Volterra series flies over my head.

Naturally Harman, with Listen Inc., has some preliminary research tackling correlation of distortion and preference. Besides their reference SR-009, which is in no way economical, it seems the Bose QC15 fared pretty well. Don't laugh.

 

Problem with Harman paper is that it is assumed that all headphones are minimum-phase systems, hence any system can be turned into another via manipulating transfer functions.

This is untrue according to many listeners and a lot of measured evidence such as CSD, positioning, polar response, etc. Headphones have their own sound independent of their FR. Even ones that measure with low THD.

I would recommend an HD598 over a lot of other crap (M50's, TH02, etc). Although the HD598 has higher measure distortion in the bass than those two, it is more responsive to EQ. It also reveals more micro-detail and is generally cleaner sounding than other options <$300, with out without EQ.

 

What kind of modding, if I may ask?

 

IMO the flatter the signature is to start the better it will EQ because then you are doing it to for preference in curve and not for correction.

(aka: yet another +1 for the 650, probably can score a pair around $300 during US Thanksgiving sales or buy used)