For… reasons I’m looking to add some variety to my audio gear/headphones. I’d like some advice/recommendations for gear that can… complement what I already own. Maybe a sound signature/style that I haven’t heard, that sort of thing.
This is the gear that I already have:
Yamaha AG03 (desktop DAC/audio interface/mixer)
Monoprice Liquid Spark
Sennheiser HD6XX
E-mu Teak
Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 2.0
On the way (will arrive at the same time whatever is recommended here) :
Koss KPH30i
EarStudio ES100
So some of the stuff I’ve looked at to buy are:
Monoprice Portable THX Amplifier - I’m really curious about THX. This is the gateway to it, and it would be a good way for me to use my nicer cans at work (where the input sources are… my cellphone).
Hifiman HE4XX - I’ve always been curious about planars, if they really are a special thing. Other things I’ve looked at for the same reason: Hifiman Sundara. I’m worried over Hifiman reliability, though.
Neumann NDH20 - the glowing reviews have me curious. But the price is a fair but more than I’d like to pay.
No IEMs, my ear canal doesn’t particularly like them. The other restriction is: this has to be something that will ship reasonably soon. It can’t be something like the Argons which have a weeks-long waiting time. So, thoughts on which (if any) I should by? Any choices that I haven’t included that I should consider?
They are. In fact, it seems to me like most of the times experienced reviewers have declared a ToTL headphone to be endgame material - at least in more recent times - they were talking about a planar. So tread carefully if you start in this direction - here be wallet-eating lions.
But maybe don’t start with the lowest-tier planars if what you’ve heard already is at Sennheiser HD6x0 levels of detail - you may not hear much improvement over that. Look for something with bottomless planar bass and better-than-HD600 speed to get a clear idea of what planars can do. Maybe Sundara or a discounted HE-560, or if you’re a low-volume listener the Verum 1 (these HiFiMans could still sound a bit rolled off in the bass if you keep them at quiet levels, and you might still miss out on the “bottomless planar bass” experience with them; OTOH there’s the waiting time and the potential QC issues with the Verum).
Well the Sundara is available at the apparently permanent discounted price of $350… is there a version of the HE-560 I should prefer if I choose to go that route? I know that some versions of the 560 did have durability issues, so which are recommended and which should be avoided?
