You might want to try the HarmonicDyne Helios. W shaped sounding. not as relaxed as the Sundara but very detailed and bright. only 180$
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Purchasing directly off their website. https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/sundara.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwtGAusys6QIVGu3jBx3pMQVKEAAYASAAEgLsXvD_BwE probably just got really damn unlucky. Still, I will find some form of replacement one way or another.
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lol I kinda figured you would recommend those haha. The issue is the return policies honestly. If I don’t like them. its off to ebay or head - fi for them. Bit of a small gamble honestly. I have been considering it as a travel headphone though however, it does have a small sound stage which isnt particularly what I am looking for to replace the Sundara which has a wide image and large sound stage.
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Yeah but their cheap and HarmonicDyne will allow you to return if you dont like. It does have some soundstage. you should try it.
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i wouldn’t really call a 35% restock fee + shipping to china a good return bud. Thanks though. Like I said, probably a later point in time purchase but for other reasons.
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They cost 180$ 35% is 65$ then 20$ to ship it to china. You only loose 85$! Cmon! you gotta try them! dooo eeeeet!
Sorry, I lost my boarding pass at the other station. I can’t board the hype train haha
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lol losing 85 is alot. that’s near 100 that could go to another headphone. I’m actually convinced by you tho. as soon as they go to amazon and stuff imma check em out. sound promising
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Figured I would chime in on here again. @Pr3ssAltF4 ordered the pm50s for a trial run. figured it cant hurt since they have a full on return policy but I made a conscious decision to ALSO order the damned AEON open X from massdrop as they have a return policy on them in the case for you not liking them… This is gonna get pretty damn interesting cause $500 is the maximum I go. Better be worth while lmao I will have my expectations on max. I could not find a proper copy of the VERUM with a real return policy and normal verums have a 50% restocking fee from their dealer… No test, proper returns, no buy. Incase your wondering… pretty sure my wallets crying right now from putting those two on the audition block lmao
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Yea. They definitely ain’t perfect (they’re a sub $1000 headphones from a small company after all). However, they are a fun contrast to the Sundaras. Worst case you send it in for a return 
(which is part of the reason I went out on a limb with them in the first place). Give them 7 days to break in / adjust to the sound and I’m pretty sure you won’t be dissapointed. I do believe they are a little more of an upgrade than a sidegrade in all but a couple of respects.
Also, these play really, really, really well with the Monolith Liquid Platinum. Moreso than the Sundaras imo. Been hanging and listening to ‘lo-fi’ all day with the LP + PM-50s and they apparently play really well with chill tracks.
What will you be using to drive them?
Liquid spark per the usual. Don’t see reasons to upgrade at this point in time.
Should be perfectly fine. If anything I guess it’ll probably be better than the Archel I was running it on. Scales really well off better amps.
Well these two are the last of my shopping for a long long time I will tell you that much. Spent a lot of time testing a ton of headphones to say the least. Primarily beyer but still. I wasn’t a fan of AKG or Sennheisers sound to be quite honest. So we will see on these… I tend to prefer brighter headphones not so much dark
I would not call these dark. I would call them warm. I like bright cans (and still love my Sundaras and 990s), but these strike a good balance between bright and neutral imo, unlike the sometimes piercing treble of both the Sundaras and especially the 990s.
Sorry not piercing treble with the Sundaras. It’s just that after listening to these the sundaras interpretation of cymbals is almost unbearable (as it is too splashy and wayyyy bright for what cymbals actually sound like imo).
The only one I am really sitting here CONTEMPLATING cuz its a really hard toss on whether to test it is the verums over there… I always see great reviews on them with a small handfull not liking them… I have seen a ton of people state they are straight up better then sundaras. I never had that with the sundara but then again I like a good treble. Honestly, I think once I am done with ALL of these headphones and get things a tad more situated… I will probably order the helios over there and the Verum ones but Verums first Less I stumble on the Harmonics with a good return or a friend wants to shoot me a copy so I can test them myself cause he decided to take that plunge. I love a good Balance and only really prefer the V signatures like the dt 990 when I am competitive gaming because that kind of sound is very ideal for me and helps me a ton to do better meanwhile the balanced with some good brightness is what I would call my go tos for everything else… Personally I would like to have 3 headphones for my regulars… 1 for out and about travelling(this would be like harmonic dyne uhh one of the sennheisers forgot the model I posted it in the best looking headphones page. verum and some others), 1 for competitive(one of the dt series I am still contemplating), 1 for all round casual gaming and music. which is what I am trying to figure out with this forum.
The HarmonicDyne headphones are a fun/exciting headphone leaning toward bright. With the detail of a high end headphone. With a close soundstage but still great imaging/separation.
Timbre nerds, as i call them lol, will probably get stuck on the its shortcoming in the bass/mid/treble. But they should be selling for 400-500$ for the technicalities and the high detail. But i guess a lot of people dont really care about detail these days. They just seem to be concerned with perfect timbre. idk. They seem to like warm/dark headphones with perfectly controlled bass/mids/treble. Or neutral laid back natural sounding headphones.
I love exciting headphones and some bloat in the bass/mids/treble is fine. one of the best headphones ive heard are the meze 99’s and they have bass bloat
Anytime I try one of those warmer or dark headphones I really don’t like them all too much, granted I never tested nighthawk carbons. The Verum and the Helios are on my purchase list towards the end once I finish my testing(as I have like 8 headphones to sit down with right now quite the back log). I won’t bother with the meze 99 completely due to asthetic I know thats stupid but I can’t get behind their design I just don’t like it at all. I think so far the few things I don’t like that I have come across is the sound being far too thin, dt990s when I first tried them without a proper setup, the sound being far to warm or dark, multiple sennheisers and audio technica in some cases, and bad congestion or bass bloating really throws me off. I love a good balanced headphone leaning more towards bright with great seperation, a good airyness to the sound but not enough to make everything feel thin, balanced bass/deep bass, Timbre doesn’t have to be perfect just good, I like a higher treble but not extreme, balanced mids nothing extremely recessed, WIDE soundstage not akg 702 wide a little less than that is perfect, then add some fantastic imaging and clarity with a cleaner sound and I am sold. Even better if its planars as I love that speedier slam type sound they can produce.
It seems like we have similar tastes.
Hmm, I suppose I should ask this but I wanted to ask this in my casual forum and not my competitive. So, I had a buddy of mine tell me he modded a Fostex T50RP MK3 and he decided to make a pretty damn bold statement that they are better than the Sundara and DT990s after the mods are done. I myself know nothing on the Fostex brand let alone these T50rp I wanted to inquire some information about them and some opinions. I do like their look but the ear cups look a bit shallow and I have no experience in the modding of a headphone outside of just changing the pads. Not sure if he was blowing smoke just to catch my attention as he knows I am a huge fan of my Beyers. I looked into them and they are apparently the go to for modders
From my understanding, they take to modding very well, almost ever part is user replaceable. Fostex even sells their own mod version, the T60RP which is the same driver, different cups (walnut vs plastic) and balanced wiring rather than SE. Argons are the most popular version if you want professional work done, 90$ addition plus any pad or strap upgrades or balanced wiring. Dekoni sells a version T50RP “blue” with their mods on Drop as well. Mayflower is another popular company that mods them and sells them, but look into sound quality you prefer if you decide to go professionally, argons are the most popular.
If you want a fun DIY project and have some extra money to spend, they’re pretty cheap and well regarded headphones that seem to drastically change sound signature based on ear pads (stock is thin) and other adjustments, could be fun!