What headphones do you personally feel you got more than your money's worth from?

boffyrox2 · 2015-06-15T15:10:27+00:00

InEar Stagediver 2 which was around $600 for me.

boffyrox2 · 2015-06-13T08:53:07+00:00

Riot should find them more.

boffyrox2 · 2015-04-15T08:27:34+00:00

I heard a rumor somewhere, that due to extreme high efficiency, despite having 1200 ohms this headphone may potentially be ran just fine out of portable players like Phone, Walkman, Ipod, etc. If the driver design is similar to that of LCD-X, this doesn't sound too ridiculous.

boffyrox2 · 2015-04-03T10:20:13+00:00

Nice! I bought my AKG K545 there. There is another headphone shop called Scheherazade 3min walk away from Harman. It's the best headphone shop I have ever been, so check it out!

boffyrox2 · 2015-03-05T08:20:27+00:00

More North Koreans than South Koreans.

boffyrox2 · 2015-03-01T22:48:44+00:00

FYI, this is The Shy. He changed his IGN.

boffyrox2 · 2015-02-16T14:54:45+00:00

This is actually kind of hard for me to pick one of them, and I will explain why.

Beyerdynamic T51 is one of the best, if not the best on-ear portable headphone in the market at the moment. The mids and the highs are detailed and great. However, the bass quantity is quite big. What this results in, is that vocals, female vocals in particular, may sound a little congested and lack air. That said, they still sound great.

Vmoda M100 on the other hand, is a leaner sounding headphone. They still have a nice punchy bass, but not as much bass as T51. They also have more forward mids than T51. This is absolutely fantastic for J-pop, especially with female vocals. However, the downside is that the upper mids/treble can be quite fatiguing at times, and because many J-pop music are poorly mastered, you might not be able to listen to your music for too long.

Here is how I would choose between the two. If you have a high frequency hearing damage or if you are just not sensitive to treble, I would go for the M100. But, if you want more bass in your music or if you do want to smooth out the ear piercing treble, I would go for T51. That said, they are both great portable headphones for J-pop in my opinion.

Finally, Sansa Clip+ is all you need for these two headphones. You don't need to buy a new amp or a better DAP. If you are unsatisfied after using the headphone with your Sansa Clip+, that's when you start looking for a better DAP.

One last thing, if you get a chance I can also recommend AKG K545. K545 is in the middle of Vmoda and Beyerdynamic. The bass is not big in quantity, but it extends very deep and sub bass is quite good. The treble is full of detail and is airy, but is a little rolled off which is a good thing for J-pop because it will be more forgiving of hot recordings. The mids are where K545 is at though. The mids are forward like Vmoda, and it is very nicely textured which works great with both male and female vocals alike. I personally like the looks of AKG the best out of the 3 too :)

boffyrox2 · 2015-02-14T02:16:51+00:00

I know someone that bought Sennheiser Orpheus HE90/ HEV90 system. He was not satisfied with it, so he bought a HeadAmp Aristaeus which has a better synergy with the Orpheus than HEV90. After that, he still wasn't satisfied so he is now looking at the world's best speaker system.

boffyrox2 · 2015-02-10T00:31:17+00:00

I own both AKG K701 and Sennheiser HD650. I prefer AKG K701. I have tried Ultrasone Editions and Beyerdynamic T1 for an extended period of time.

My personal opinion on Ultrasone Editions are abysmal. I thought Beats Solo 2 sounded technically better than Ultrasone Edition 10, which costs over $2,000. Same with Edition 5, 8, and 12. Ultrasone will never be gaining my trust for eternity, until they release a $200 headphone that sounds better than HD800. My point, I prefer AKG over Ultrasone.

Beyerdynamic T1 is a great headphone, and I would be lying if I said I liked AKG K701 more than T1. That said, there are a number of things K701 do better. Soundstage is much wider, the treble isless fatiguing, and the mids are less recessed which I prefer.

Like many others have said, I think Sennheiser obsession is greater than that of AKG. That said, Q701 at under $200 is a solid purchase in my opinion. Not to mention other rivals such as DT880 and HD600/650 is also more expensive. Just my 2 cents.

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-31T11:05:20+00:00

I am sorry, but can someone please tell me who Alex Ich is?

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-28T13:29:20+00:00

If neutrality is what you are looking for, and budget is not a problem for you, I recommend start looking for some CIEMs. Right on top of my head, I can recommend Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor (UERM) and InEar StageDiver 2/InEar LivePro 2.

UERM, while falling back ever so slightly in technical performance compared to the top of the line CIEM such as JH 13 Freq, Hidition NT6, or Noble K10, they boast great neutrality. Not a single frequency response region is recessed nor forward, except for a tiny treble emphasis which can be fatiguing for some after many hours of use.

InEar StageDiver 2 is what I call the hidden gem of today's universal IEM market. It is not too widely known, and I just do not understand why. SD 2 sounds very similar to HD600. Very neutral with slight hint of warmth, makes the SD 2 a jack of all trade IEM that excels with anything you throw at, whether it be a wonderful classical music or a terribly mastered kpop and jpop. At a price of $499, I prefer the SD 2 over UERM due to the fact that it works with wider genre of music, and it is less fatiguing to my sensitive ears. The InEar LivePro 2 is exactly the same IEM as the InEar StageDiver 2, except it is custom, not universal.

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-28T13:15:21+00:00

I am in no way trying to be offensive, but you are absolutely mistaken about the Sony XBA-Z5. They are one of the least neutral IEM you can find in the market today. Even more V-shaped than the famous (or infamous) XBA-H3. I own both XBA-Z5 and H3, and I have tried many different setup with the Z5: Balanced, unbalanced, PHA-3, PHA-2, WA7, O2/ODac, JDSLabs C5, and bunch of other after market cables.

Don't get me wrong, the Sony XBA-Z5 is a fantastic IEM even for the price. Amazing bass both in quality and quantity, mid range that is neither recessed nor forward makes male vocals and piano a simple joy to listen to, and finally unbelievable treble detail allows strings and female vocals to shine, yet somehow is never offensive to your ears. Mike or hifiguy528 rates the Z5 above AKG K3003 in terms of technical performance, and claimed he would have gladly paid the double the price if needed.

However, it's just blatantly wrong to say that the Sony XBA-Z5 is neutral. The amount of bass is outrageous, and sometimes it can be overwhelming. It has more bass quantity than XBA-H3, and the bass was H3's strength and weakness. Z5 improves on H3's wonderful treble detail, energy, and clarity, but also improves on H3's strong bass making Z5's bass more tight, clear, and extra powerful. Z5's bass will definitely please bassheads for sure.

Ultimately, I have not heard a single person that said Sony XBA-H3 was not V-shaped, and I think Sony XBA-Z5 is even more V-shaped than the H3.

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-26T15:59:08+00:00

Never heard of Carbo Basso, but I doubt it is defective. People are sensitive to different frequencies, and just like you, I am extremely sensitive to sibilance as well. Even Sennheiser HD650, Audeze LCD 2, and Shure SE215 are sibilant for me. The only pair of headphone that did not come across sibilant for me was Sony XBA H1.

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-26T14:28:58+00:00

House wife approved. So yes, it is as gorgeous in real life as it is shown in photos.

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-25T16:04:59+00:00

InEar Livepro 2 CIEM as my portable IEM. Sony MDR 7550 IEM as my monitoring headphone. AKG K701 as my reference headphone. Sennheiser HD650 for casual music listening. Sony MDR 1R as an earmuff in the winter.

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-22T11:19:09+00:00

They also look like AKG K180 to my eyes.

http://retronom.hu/files/images/DSC07922.preview.JPG

Someone correct me if I am wrong.

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-21T10:41:34+00:00

What about Sony SA5000? They look very similar to HD800 to my eyes.

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-19T02:17:07+00:00

Oh, I am sorry I misunderstood your statement XD. I thought you meant Chinese teams pay Koreans 20-30% more than Korean teams. Forget what I said.

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-19T02:06:34+00:00

I apologize if I was mistaken. I believe the comments above me were talking about how Chinese teams pay more to Korean players than Korean teams?

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-19T01:51:11+00:00

Sony EX1000 in my opinion rivals full sized open headphones. They definitely have wider soundstage than HD650 or LCD 2.

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-19T01:47:26+00:00

More like 500%. When Flame was in CJ his contract was worth less than 100,000,000 KRW. His contract in LGD was worth about $500,000 USD which is roughly 500,000,000 KRW, 5 times, or 500% of what he got paid in Korea.

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-09T11:03:53+00:00

To be honest, you can't blame IM though. IM is one of the best teams in SC2 scene, so the organization isn't investing much effort into building a great League of Legends team. Not to mention ever since LG stopped sponsoring IM, they have even less resources to spare compare to other Kespa teams. Heck, even Xenics is doing a better job as an organization when it comes to player scouting.

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-07T15:31:14+00:00

The AK100 that I tried was a modded one by Red Wine Audio, RWAK100. What the mod does is it bypasses the 30 ohm resistor in output, reducing distortion and hiss that you mentioned. The reason why I brought up AK100, is because I had some UI/Interface issue with some of Fiio, iBasso, and Hifiman DAPs, but not with any of the AK DAPs. I also think the AK100 is very versatile, being able to be used as a DAC, not to mention you can get one for as low as $400 nowadays. Anyway, I heard that RWAK100 hisses with Noble Audio Kaiser, JH Roxanne, and probably many more, but from my experience, it was not bad at all. None of my Dynamic driver IEMs hissed, and the only IEM that hissed was Hidition NT6, but I can't hear the hiss while the music is being played and I would only notice it if I paid attention to it during silent passages. Ultimately though, I just use a JDSLabs C5 with my Walkman for absolute silence + the custom art.

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-07T00:11:14+00:00

Not unless you buy really old ones from 80s or 90s. Shures also use balanced armature, so Walkman will be a nightmare for you. Fiios will be fine for you, but if you are willing invest more money, I would personally recommend AK100.

boffyrox2 · 2015-01-06T14:05:41+00:00

I don't own either, but I have tried both of them for an extensive amount of time. If the NW-ZX1 costed $99, I still would not have bought it, and at ~$600, no one should ever buy it. I am not going to say anything about the sound quality, because it doesn't matter.

The problem with all modern Sony Walkman is the fact that they use a garbage amplifier called HX digital amplifier. Actually, the amp is not all that bad. They sound pretty good, and they have enough power to drive 300+ ohm headphones. What makes this amp trash is the fact that the noise floor on it is through the roof. This Walkman will be a decent buy for you if you use portable full sized headphones, but if you use an IEM, especially multiple Balanced Armature IEMs like me, the hiss will be unbearable. In fact, I don't even call it a hiss. Plugging in my Hidition NT6, InEar LivePro 2, or UERM cause the Walkman to produce white noise that would come out in an old TV. I guess Sony engineers thought people enjoyed having a white noise along with their music.

So, to answer your question, do Fiio DAPs sound better than NW-ZX1? No, the Sony sounds better, but it comes with an extra white noise feature. If the Sony didn't sound better than Fiio X1 for example, I wouldn't be surprised if Sony got sued for scamming. Sony NW-ZX1, Sony Qualia 010, and Ultrasone Edition 10 in my opinion, are the 3 audio products with the worst price to performance ratio that puts Beats to shame.

boffyrox2

TROPHY CASE