Hello.
I currently have the Hifiman HE400SE and want to upgrade.
I have seen these two headphones and many youtubers speak highly of them: the SIVGA Phoenix and the Monolith M1060.
but I don’t know which of the two is better for sound quality in .flac and MQA music and for video games.
and both have the same value on amazon.
Which of the two do you recommend I choose? What if it’s worth upgrading with those two options?
Both of those sound more like a downgrade from the 400se tbh
does that mean the 400se sounds better?
Don’t believe everything YouTube says.
The next logical upgrade would be the Aeon R/T or the Lcd 2C if you want to stick with planar headphones.
For headphones with dynamic drivers, it’s of course a question of budget because there’s a lot more choice.
Which amplifier do you currently use?
I use the Topping L50 amp combined with the Dac Audirect Atom2.
but the headphones you mention are very expensive, the Audeze LCD-2 and the aeon rt cost more than 400 dollars and my maximum budget is 300 dollars.
what do you recommmend me to do?
400se is very good for the price sound wise imo, if the build was better and it was more comfortable stock I would’ve sold most of my ~$200-$300 headphones
if you want to try a different sound you could try pad swapping and honeycomb grills and then save up some more for higher end headphones
logical upgrade is sundara or hifiman xs
How about we ask you why you want to upgrade. What would you like to change about your sound?
What do you listen to and characteristics do you value?
Maybe save up another $200 and get the Aeon R/T, your amp would also be designed for it if you want to stick with planar headphones.
Because it can also drive low ohm headphones, the Aeon would not be wrong for the power output.
I think it’s also above the Hifiman XS.
For $300 in dynamic headphones, the Meze 99 or Sennheiser would be interesting.
But even there it’s a bit limited with the budget.
With 500$ you would have a little better choice and could go a step higher.
Yeah Hifiman XS is endgame class.
I already have the M1060C, nice open back cans. Then the He4XX and He400i.
But XS is really endgame class.