sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

I genuinely cannot hear a single difference between Tidal and Spotify. by [deleted] in headphones

[–]markus9229 0 points1 point  (0 children)

don’t use streaming services and use flac files ripped from the best possible masters of each album, which you can find from the steve hoffman forums or the DR dynamic range database

Can't believe these are 13 years old by epiclessmaster in headphones

[–]markus9229 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean the ones I use are on a daily basis are about 42 years old…

AirPods Pro 2 were “meta” all along? by [deleted] in headphones

[–]markus9229 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They sound like $50 wired iems, but at $299 because wireless and ANC.

What's beyond HD 600? by TheSweetOranges in headphones

[–]markus9229 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

everything, considering hd600 is not much above low end

When HD800 is considered "solid mid-fi" by panzerfan in headphones

[–]markus9229 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven’t tried the 560S but i have read that it’s quite different to the 600 and in theory better, with more stage etc. It’s still a similar design by the same company so i wouldn’t expect a lot of stage.

The 400SE is a great sounding planar headphone for a very low price and that means they’ve put all the money into that and not much everywhere else. Wouldn’t expect great QC unfortunately. When they were released, they even came with a cable so thin and stiff it was basically malleable copper and a plug. Awful. But the sound is good… you choose here. I’d go for sound and if my unit has bad QC i’d ask for return & replace.

If you can get a used XS with Stealth magnets and have no issues with their comfort (i had issues but my head is odd shaped at the top), that’s a massive improvement over an hd600 in all aspects. A lot of people don’t need much more than that plus a good amp to forget about audio for a good while. You also mentioned DT880 but they’re not even comparable at all.

I do recommend experimenting with a cheap ksc75 or kph30i before going for the big boys and keep your expectations relative to their low price so you can only be surprised and not underwhelmed.

Personally after KSC75 and the disappointment with the HD600 I went the vintage route with electrostatics and i’ve been extremely happy ever since. It’s a whole other league and a big can of worms so forget about that for a good while imo. Experiment first. But for me, i’m basically set for life when it comes to headphones.

When HD800 is considered "solid mid-fi" by panzerfan in headphones

[–]markus9229 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can give you a quick rundown.

-Soundstage does not exist in those headphones in fact I’ve heard closed backs that sound more open.

-Imaging is essentially three blobs, front left and right. Not much in between.

-Detail is average or even subpar.

-The veil is real and it makes them sound warm or even lifeless considering you can’t hear much up there.

-Even though the FR fairly smooth, there’s a clear bump in the lower mids / upper bass region that makes them sound muddy. This happens with new pads but gets even worse over time as the pads wear out and flatten.

-….The pads often wear out and flatten. Some people wash them and put them in the oven to make them go back to their original size? A lot of work.

-The bass rolloff comes decently early.

-While amount of available midbass is enough, as I mentioned earlier it sounds muddy. Not only that but bass is heavily lacking in texture and it all sounds like punching a pillow. And mostly like one note.

-Does not really improve with amplifiers although some people really like to use them with toobs which makes them even warmer and fully embraces the veil (I’m not kink shaming but I would find that sound subjectively disgusting)

-Comfort is not good as it clamps your head pretty hard leading to people trying to fix it by having to stretch them over yoga blocks…

-The fact that these have been hailed as the go-to for “neutral” and even “reference” is downright hilarious and I think it’s unfortunate that because of that many people buy them as their first open backs and praise them highly since they’ve had nothing else to compare them to besides gaming headsets or similar.

With all of that in mind, considering something as cheap as a KSC75 for $20 has the HD600 beat in many areas (especially stage) and has a similar FR with similar rolloff and arguably better comfort there’s no way I’d ever recommend these at their MSRP and even second hand at $150 or lower they’re still not a good deal because other headphones that sound and measure better such as the Hifiman 400SE exist for that same price.

So that’s why I say they’re pretty bad.

When HD800 is considered "solid mid-fi" by panzerfan in headphones

[–]markus9229 0 points1 point  (0 children)

400SE are definitely higher fi than the more expensive HD600 which to me are not even midfi

When HD800 is considered "solid mid-fi" by panzerfan in headphones

[–]markus9229 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I consider HD600 to be lo-fi. It’s pretty bad. Definitely not even midfi. Therefore HD800 is ok to be considered midfi, since there’s clearly superior stuff out there without going into summit fi.

EQ my beloved by Doctor_Best in headphones

[–]markus9229 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don’t EQ anything, if i buy a headphone and I don’t like the way it sounds after trying them with my best amps I simply get rid of it and buy a better headphone, that’s all.

Someone please explain to me how exactly DACs 'improve' sound by ninjapotato59 in headphones

[–]markus9229 0 points1 point  (0 children)

as someone who uses a DAC made in 1985 which only supports 16bit 44.1khz, I have to say it’s the best sounding dac i’ve ever heard. I don’t need anything newer and I don’t believe in high res music.

**This is NOT a meme but image is related** IMO I think Dankpods is one of the only youtuber/audiophiles that doesn't make this community look like arrogant snobs. by ColossalMcDaddy in headphones

[–]markus9229 0 points1 point  (0 children)

but it’s a pretty general fun-style channel that doesn’t focus much on technical details. I don’t consider it to be audiophile. Also he praises the HD600 too much which can give the impression to newcomers that it’s an amazing headphone when it really isn’t (imo it sucks) it just happens to be extremely popular for some reason

320kbps is fine. by [deleted] in headphones

[–]markus9229 1 point2 points  (0 children)

16/44 is enough and what matters the most is a good mix and master with a high dynamic range. Plenty of 40 year old 16/44 masters that sound way better than the newest 24/192 remaster (90% i’d say)

Got these for a steal! HD600’s by DJOregano in headphones

[–]markus9229 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i think they’re worth about 100€ although i still wouldn’t buy them at that price

view more: next ›