Closed headphones for streaming/gaming/music?

Thank you @Falenkor. The Sundara would not be used for streaming or multiplayer with mics due to openness, but it would work for gaming with my wife where we need to be able to hear each other (without using mics) as well as the kids.

I already have the Audeze Mobius, and ordered the Panda on Jan 24, so we’ll see when they arrive. The Audeze Mobius right now are my go-to for work meetings because the mic is great. I don’t think the sound is that great, but it works for meetings. Definitely has the bass! The EL-8 are hot, make my ears sweat and feels tight, a bit claustrophobic. Also feels like everything is really close to me.

I will check out the amps, thank you.

Would the Aeon 2 Open be better than the Aeon Flow X ? or should I be looking elsewhere?

I don’t think I own any Beyers yet, either

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ah okay then you should be perfectly fine. Sundara will work very well in this case due to it’s open nature and sounds amazing.

Going to be interesting, I don’t plan to order it myself till I see some reviews on it but the original model showed a lot of promise.

Nah, I can agree. Good bass most definitely and it’s nice to have but not the nicest sound. I liked the cheaper hyperx orbit but only cause it saved me money in the long run.

May not be a good fit for you then, but I would first look into the potential of swapping the pads to perhaps something with perforations or a more breathable material. Airier material will also open up that tightness and free you a little more and may help with that claustrophobic feel.

So, I have not had the luxury to purchase the more expensive aeon 2 yet though I really want to. Aeon Open X shares the initial design of the original aeon but with the pads and some extras from aeon 2 alongside some of the aeon 2 driver changes. The aeon 2 though is said to be more refined and sound more neutral with a “wider soundstage” though I have asked several people and they have only told me that yes it sounds more refined and neutral however they didn’t feel personally it was worth paying out $400 extra though experiences vary. I personally use my aeon open x on the daily and I love it to death. Pairs incredibly well with my liquid platinum, which is a hybrid tube amp, and I changed it over to balanced which is a seperate cable purchase. It’s definitely worth taking for a spin provided drop still has it’s return policy up and running for it. If you aren’t a fan of very in your face headphones this is very laid back and a luxury headphone

Going to throw this comment in here. If you are at all treble sensitive it may be wise to skip this brand lol. Otherwise, I can most definitely recommend you a beyer that suits whatever your looking for.

Yeah I think I’m treble sensitive lol, which is why I’ve been a bit afraid of purchasing any beyers yet. The AKG 7xx are too sibilant for me, and I was worried that would happen even worse with the beyers. I was wondering what something somewhat neutral would be.

To be honest, I’m listening to a review comparison of Aeon Flow X Open and the Focal Elex and the voice is coming a bit too strong on my ears, not sure why. I wonder if it has something to do with THX amps.

Dan Clark Audio has a 15% discount on their website until June 30th, I think. Was wondering if that would make the price more pleasing, or if those headphones tend to go on sale often (vs waiting for whenever Drop has the Aeon Flow X Open on sale - sold out right now)

hmm, In that regard if your wanting to audition a beyer. Tygr 300r Is the one I just finished auditioning you can find my review on it here on the official forum 🔶 Beyerdynamic TYGR 300 R - #303 by Falenkor for it and MMX 300 which is closed back and more like an argon. I wouldn’t recommend the others due to just how bright they tend to be, although you can alter them and drop that brightness by quite a bit with a few modifications or amps.

Hmm, I can’t speak on elex however, the aeon open x has the luxury of being able to change it’s sound signature and treble by it’s own pad inserts that come with it called “tuning pads”. Actually lets you fine tune it to your own personal taste. It could also very well be that amp some amps can alter treble and make it brighter.

Any discount like that would be pleasing of course but the new aeon 2’s have been on discount for a while now, I fully expect them to go back on sale later in the year too during sales time. Wouldn’t recommend directly through dan clark for just a audition though cause if you end up not liking that you will get hit with a hefty restock fee at that price margin. Your call on that and will really depend on how much your wanting to spend. In my opinion there’s quite a few other options that sit inside the same price range as an aeon 2.

Thank you, that makes sense. Yeah, I was curious about the pricing. I had seen them on sale elsewhere but I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of what an actual deal would look like. I requested the drop.com version so we’ll see when they become available again!

in that range $300-$800, for open planar or open dynamic, what other suggestions would you have?

I do like the pad swapping for the preferred sound profile

Since you appear to be treble sensitive. Planar Magnetic Audeze LCD-2(multiple versions here and is more dark rather than bright), Dynamic Nighthawk Carbon(discontinued very dark very bassy yet clean incredibly unique), Dynamic Nightowl Carbon( bassier closed back of nighthawks), Planar magnetic Audeze LCD-X(only if you can get it at a good price tag), Dynamic Sennheiser 660 S, Dynamic Meze 99s closed back 3 versions here. many others out there but this is to name a few.

Thank you! this definitely gives me a bit of a field to review. I’ve been wanting to try a proper open back Audeze!

In regards of the MMX300 Mk2 and the Tygr, I had thought about getting the MMX300 for game streaming; figured they were closed and it would give me a feel for the Beyer sound, without the treble. I think I had heard the DT1990 weren’t too bad but…it might still be too much for me at this time lol. I guess it’s the signature tesla driver, but won’t know without trying, maybe. It feels like how some people talk about the Klipsch horns

I’ll have to check out your review on the Tygr. The non-removable cable is a bit of a turn off

they both have a beyer house sound to them meaning you will get some treble but these two seem to have the absolute least in the lineup.

ah yeah lcd-2 and lcd-x are both really nice just remember you have lcd-2 and lcd-2c and you have the fazers in mind pretty sure its now just 2c and 2 but if you buy used there was a difference in fazers so may need to look into it a bit more. Wide Relaxed Dark and Bassy could be perfect for you. Good alternative to the aeon open x if you wanted a darker headphone

I have mentioned this to others that the issue with the treble people get with the 1990s is primarily due to the peak in it’s treble that you get from the Analytical pads that come with it. Balanced pads while make it bassier and less peaky it’s barily changing the treble but adding a lot more bass. You would want to add Dekoni Elite Velour pads to it to really reel in that treble and make it levelled out. Another way is by using a replacement cable with built in filter or a Kameleon diy amp. One of the other ways to sort out beyers is most of them will be able to be modded pretty easily due to this you can remove the pad and take a flat head screwdriver pop up the circular disk behind the pad and insert a piece of toilet paper(2 3 or 4 ply use 4 ply for the most treble removal) pull it apart into seperate pieces then cut it to the same size as the foam disk and place it behind the disk afterwards just put the headphone back together the ring will snap in place so it’s pretty simple.

image

This here is a image of the frequency response for the dt 1990 with three colors for different pad choice. the right there is the crazy treble peak left is your bass and center is your mid frequencies. balanced pads in blue, dekoni elite velour in green, analytical pads in purple. as you can see dekoni definitely fixes up that peaky treble by quite the amount however, to someone who is extremely treble sensitive this may not work out enough.

By all means, check it out for yourself. I said the same in my review that I really wish it was detachable!

Thank you for all the info. The good thing about the Tygr is that it’s at a lower cost for checking out the brand and, at the very least I’ll have some “gaming” headphone.

I just gotta be careful that I don’t start buying these “cheaper” headphones and end up not buying the high end ones. Maybe I should make myself have a budget and a goal…but then a deal that “would be stupid to pass up” comes along and it reels me back in and hell be the budget lol

---- is LCD-X at $1200 a good price or a just average deal price? Or more like $600-$750?

that is somewhat on sale but I have seen them sell for cheaper down in the $900s or so its not a cheap headphone thats for sure and a step up from lcd 2s. I could probably throw the lcd-gx in there but I have zero experience with that one and it’s the most expensive gamers headset in the market.

Yeah, its one I now recommend for those wanting to look more into beyers but are worried on the treble.

this is a general good rule of thumb. The other good idea though is to wait for sales or pick them up from another person in a great condition. You will save quite a bit if you shop smart.

Thought about the used market but also was worried about buyer’s remorse, returns, and maybe possible issues with the used unit (read some notes on the Focal Elex that were a bit concerning in regards to QA). My wife’s Mobius went mute on one ear. Little did I know my wife had been experiencing intermittent loss of sound one one of the ear pads and now it was totally gone, on all settings, BT, 3.5mm, usb…we were able to send them back to adorama for refund (they were “open box” or refurbished or some such, supposedly).

I almost got the Elegia from Amazon warehouse for $550. Glad I waited…

I’ll check in here for deals and I’ll set up some alerts for some of the headphones you suggested and I’ll research to see what a deal price is.

I dont mind used if there is a return policy…

I think the next purchase might actually be tube amp unless a deal on some headphones suddenly appears lol

I’d be shocked if at practical volumes this were an issue. No matter how open a headphone, most microphones would never pick up if they’re set up properly. Is this something you experienced personally? That’s wild

I believe I have had this issue when using a Blue Yeti as well as an antlion modmic without messing with the sound floor in OBS. It wasn’t an obscene amount of noise but it was enough to make it through and make the overall audio feel “dirty”, like it was trying too hard to block the noises with the mic gate and cutting some of my voices if I was quiet.

Again, I’m no expert and I probably didn’t set the mics properly to begin with

Yeah, I’ve watched several of LobosJrs LP on youtube where he wears some open back Sennheiser’s and never seems to have an issue.

Yea it just leaks too much sound

Sennheisers don’t leak sound like a Sundara.

This is actually a very common quality control issue with both mobius and orbit as my first orbit had this exact same issue. Very concerning and annoying.

Pretty sure I have seen these on Adorama for $450 so you can get them cheaper

Yes, they’re $429 at adorama right now and I had $20 credit so it worked great!

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That’s awesome glad you snagged it. I have yet to pull the trigger on the Focals. I have an audio store about an hour and a half drive away that carries the elegia, elear, and clear so I have been waiting till they open back up to just go and audition

yeah, sundaras leak like CRAZY lol. I mean, you can literally use them like speakers, seems to be a thing with planars

to steal your line. No way jose, not a thing with planars just hifiman it seems. My aeons definitely don’t leak this bad and when I had the aiva they weren’t that bad.

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is that so? interesting. guess it’s more of a hifiman thing since other headphones would have more dampening or some shit.