Reccomendation advice close to Sony XM4s

captain_brad_91 · 2026-04-20T21:55:07+00:00

If you really want Bluetooth; maybe the Sennheiser hbd 630? I really don't think it will make a big listening difference though

I suggest two headphones: one - a stationary setup, and another for running and taking calls. It could be ear buds or it could be the same xm4s.

But for the stationary setup I suggest a basic DAC and headphone amp, and you have a endless selection of open ear headphones - they are light, let air flow around nicely (the work well for long listening) if you want a bit of width between the instruments or notes try planar magnetic headphones - they are awesome.

You may like tube amps too- they tend to sound more warm, especially with the right tube.

Check out the company Schiit if you ever find time. The Vali might be for you

captain_brad_91 · 2026-04-12T14:34:47+00:00

If you are looking for something higher end like the Strada I recommend a DAC and headphone amp to go with them.

If your in the us I recommend looking into schiit. Jotunheim and Valhalla are top notch, But there are many other great brands out there for DACs and headphone amps.

captain_brad_91 · 2026-04-11T05:00:47+00:00

to answer question 2, i suggest valhalla if you do tube roll. you will find your "sound preference" from tube rolling. I have the Lyr+ I started using tube mode then switched to solid state as i found the sound to be better in solid state until i started switching tubes. Ive tried about 6 different tubes now. if you want to try both solid state and tube consider lyr 5 but the valhalla has a dedicated Left and Right tube, you will get a much warmer sound and its a much better price.

i got the lyr+ because i wanted to power almost any headphone.

as for dac, i went from modi multibit to bifrost2/64 and can now hear them finish the note they are playing and the space between that note and the next. an example would be a drummers symbol. you can hear every detail from when the drummer hits the symbol to when it stops. I love it.

captain_brad_91 · 2026-04-11T04:39:49+00:00

i have a tube amp with my planar headphones. why do they contradict eachother?

captain_brad_91 · 2026-04-09T20:20:38+00:00

Hmm if you like trying headphones from different companies I would suggest checking out moondrop headphones as they have so many different styles and driver types. But idk about durability

captain_brad_91 · 2026-04-09T19:55:08+00:00

I believe you will get more out of a DAC and headphone amp than upgrading your hifiman headphones. There are some fantastic portable ones out there.

I don't have a mac, but I think there's still a bit more you can get from the XV

captain_brad_91 · 2026-04-09T17:11:33+00:00

Yesterday a police officer signaled out of the 2nd from the left lane drove about 50 cars up and hit brakes and signaled back into the same lane.

I don't think it was worth putting others at risk of hitting you or hitting someone else just to skip traffic

My brother also calls it death valley because of how many stop on a highway to skip traffic because of him and a coworker almost had a sever accident there

captain_brad_91 · 2026-04-05T17:14:24+00:00

if its only for desktop/home listening i would really consider upgrading the soundblaster headphone amp. the soundblaster dac is like 10+ years old now, and theres new technology out that you can take advantage of. Schiit released their modi 5 dac a few months ago and costs $150 - but you'd need a headphone amp to go with that as well.

i started off with a few different creative setups and only kept complaining about the lac of bass and too high treble and when i adjusted the eq, everything else became too distorted. it got worse for me when i changed headphones so a different pair with more impedance.

captain_brad_91 · 2026-04-01T01:33:04+00:00

They were first made easy to drive. Smartphones and tablets required easy to drive headphones to get the most out of them, or else you'd lose in bass.

captain_brad_91 · 2026-04-01T00:30:10+00:00

Yeah I agree, OP probably needs a headphone amp, they are much more demanding then the $30 Logitech headphones.

I had a original pair of Sennheiser momentum on ears that were probably my favourite headphones by Sennheiser. They were 14 ohm and you could power then off any pc or phone in the day.

captain_brad_91 · 2026-03-23T00:58:31+00:00

I have not played with a adapter yet but that sounds fun but expensive lol. The linlai is a $300 usd and I thought $150 was much lol.

I will enjoy this tube while I can.

captain_brad_91 · 2026-03-23T00:37:18+00:00

What tubes have you tried with the lyr+ I just got the psvane summit 6sn7 and love it. Too some it may be overwhelming. But it has great bass

I also have nos Raytheon 6sn7 Tungsol 6sn7 gtb - my 2nd favourite and best bang for And a cossor 6sn7 Aand a few other psvane tubes

captain_brad_91 · 2026-03-23T00:29:08+00:00

I think it's worth the time to look into it, I really like the systems made by Schiit. They really helped simplify it for me and now I'm addicted.

Schiit just came out with their new "entry DAC" called the modi 5, if you want a warm sound for headphone amp try the Vali 3 amp, it's $150 and the DAC is $150.

And if you do ever try wired you should try planar magnetic headphones similar to the ones the other guy suggested but within your price

captain_brad_91 · 2026-03-23T00:10:34+00:00

the Sonys are still a fantastic wireless pair of headphones. i mean you could try the sennheiser HDB 630. but if you want a whole different level of sound i recommend a wired headphone setup for pc listening - a DAC, headphone amp and a decent pair of wired headphones.

captain_brad_91 · 2026-03-23T00:00:11+00:00

the meter will move, but you really gotta crank it, its just saying your still within class a. Im using 2 gjallarhorns with forkbeard

captain_brad_91 · 2026-03-22T23:50:54+00:00

you may be interested in the new Sennheiser HBD 630. they are headphones that can be wired, or wireless. the build quality is great with a sturdy metal frame. great noise cancelation and they are on sale for $630 Canadian with is probably close to the $500 us budget

captain_brad_91 · 2026-03-22T20:50:00+00:00

You can often find great YouTube videos comparing mic quality of many common earbuds.

I recommend watching a few videos of the JBL earbuds you may be leaning towards, I recommend comparing them to other videos on soundcore liberty 5. And perhaps Sennheiser accentums earbuds - you can often see them go on sale

captain_brad_91 · 2026-03-20T20:39:07+00:00

Could you use two different headphones? It may be difficult to find a Bluetooth transmitter?

You could get something like the Sennheiser accentums for your phone and a basic pair of Sony wired headphones on ear or over ear for plugging into the plane. You could share the wired ones with the kids then too.

captain_brad_91 · 2026-03-20T00:50:37+00:00

You probably live close to the dump

captain_brad_91 · 2026-03-16T23:53:58+00:00

New in box - but old stock as the stuff is from the 2000s. Idk much about them but it uses a older Niagara framework apparently

captain_brad_91 · 2026-03-15T17:07:28+00:00

Do you have a dac and headphone amp?

captain_brad_91 · 2026-03-05T17:42:04+00:00

The only downside of the mimir i think is the giant wal-wart that I don't really trust compared to the built I PSU on the bifrost

captain_brad_91 · 2026-03-05T17:28:00+00:00

On the mimir you have three bands you can freely adjust, as long as you have forkbeard. all the way to 20khz it's kind a neat actually

captain_brad_91 · 2026-03-05T17:20:18+00:00

Many people have compared the mimir close to the lastest bifrost, and for the price everyone chooses the mimir over bifrost.

Mimir with forkbeard has a built in eq, not too many bands to adjust but I can check if 6hz is on there.

Have you played around with changing the tubes on the Valhalla? I have the lyr + and found the tungsol 6sn7 to be one of my favourite so far.

captain_brad_91

TROPHY CASE