Hi,
I am looking for decent closed back headphones to listen to music (I listen to pretty much everything: Jazz, Classical, Post-Rock, Pop, Rap, RnB…)
I am looking for closed back headphones because I want to use them in my office where there are other people that are sitting beside me and I dont bother them with sound leaks.
IEM are not really good either, I have been using Moondrop Starfield and they are really nice, but the issue is when I listen to them for long periods of time it starts to bother me since its inside my ear.
I would appreciate any suggestion under 200$.
Thank you!!
My first though would be the Meze 99 neo/Noir (highly recommend you pad swap them to these which improves everything about them) , but they aren really suitable for classical they are great for the rest, its a very “fun” oriented headphone. you could look at the Beyerdynamic dt 700 pro x
Thank you
(highly recommend you pad swap them to these which improves everything about them)
are the neo pads swappable? thought they weren’t to cut down on the cost
Nope, it take a bit of finesse to get the new ones on but you can certainly pad swap them. its a bit of a struggle to get the new pads on because the slit is so tiny but they come off rather easily
oh nice. certainly does look like a lot of struggle
But well worth the effort, better clarity, more detail pretty much everything better (its not life changing but it improves everything so thing more than others), you do sacrifice a bit of the bass but nothing too bad and its way more comfy
thoughts about Sivga SV021?
super comfy, better stock than the 99’s
Most comfortable cheap headphones ever and they sound decent too.
You can get the used Sundara Closed Backs for under $200 and you can get them new for $220 on sale direct from Hifiman and I think they’re an amazing value for that kinda scrilla.
My standard closed recommendations are
- AKG 371 - the 371 has a bit more bass, the 361 less, but both are good
- Audio-Technica ATH-M50X
- Sony mdr-7506
The Meze 99 Classic / Noir / Neo has always been on my radar, but so many people claim they have too much bass ( and it has a pronounced shelf ). I keep thinking about picking up the Neo on Drop.
@Naturallymorbid , do those pads leak some of the excess bass on the Meze 99 ?
Nope, since the driver isnt right up against you ear - the bass gets less muddy and overall improve the clarity improves (not to mention the improve comfort) - funny thing its that kind of improvement that led me to use them on my Thieaudio Ghost (its the only pad i found that improved from stock)
I always found the 7506 not really suitble for musical listening, great for monitoring but too unforgiving for anything musical - do you use them stock?
Thanks, I might have to try the Meze 99 Noir with the BRAINWAVZ pads.
I tend to switch pads, but they are the most neutral thing I listen to.
Sacrificing bass on a Meze 99 variant isn’t such a bad thing …
I owned the 99 Classics. Super-fun cans. My gateway drug to audiophile headphones.
Never said it was a sacrifice mate
The pad swap makes it less muddy - its still a bassy headphone the distance just help the sound “spread around” so the bass becomes clearer
I saw they have a bit of sound leak… no?
The worst headphone I have come across in my career, period.
can you elaborate?
You can read my review on Head-Fi if you wish to know everything. In short, horrible build quality, horrible sound, didn’t see any positive value in that headphone. There are soooo, so many options under $200.