@Sherm137 Thanks for the suggestion, but they run for roughly 1000$ USD where I am from, unfortunately way out of my league
@formerviking I’ve only tried the balanced pads, as they were the only ones available at the event. Even if they were to be a tad more detailed, it’d still not justify “upgrading” from Amiron Homes to 1990 Pros. They are almost identical minus the warmth in the low frequencies.
Ignore everything but two things: the black line – which is the Amiron’s raw frequency response from bass to treble – and the blue line which is one version of what a flat frequency response should be. (Everything else cluttering things up is related to EQ.)
Notice how the black line dips down in the middle of the graph (from left to right) just where the blue line is rising. The human voice lives in this middle area. So the Amiron is unnaturally quiet/recessed in just the area in which female vocals are sounding. This is a common problem and almost unavoidable when dealing with headphones that have a significant built-in bass boost.
It’s indeed much better in the female vocal portion of the mids. But the deeper, basso and baritone male vocal portion of the mids is still a bit bloated. However, like all the HD 6** series it’s primary weakness is roll-off in the sub-bass and to some extent in the treble. Many find these easy omissions to live with.
Given your sensitivity to this area, you might want to do a reality check on the actual measurements of any headphone you consider buying if you can’t hear it in person.
Amen to that! Only Amiron Home graph I’m aware of. And at least the measurements are not compensated using some obscure compensation curve. Plus the Harman curve acts as a useful comparator in the mids.
As has been mentioned, the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro and Sennheiser HD 660 S are good choices here. The DT 1990 Pro goes for $600 MSRP, but you should be able to find it for $500-ish.
Thought I’d report back: I found an awesome deal for brand new Sundara’s at a local music store for 200€ (roughly 225$ USD) and what can I say, I’m absolutely blown away. Seriously blown away. The veil around the mids I had noticed with my Amiron Homes is just completely gone. The detail retrieval is unreal and the overall sound is incredibly clean. I couldn’t be any happier with them, especially at that price point.
The store unfortunately had to close down The owner of it was the only one running it and business just wasn’t as high as anticipated he told me.
He’s now trying to sell as much stuff as possible. Sad to see high end audio stores close down because of lack of business. I guess the majority just buys online nowadays
I am ashamed to say that I’m part of that problem- I shop online almost exclusively these days. Retail is getting hammered in the US. When I am shopping in a brick and mortar store, I often see other people checking the price Amazon and order the same product right there.
I will say a prayer to the headphone gods that you got a quality pair. I FUCKING LOVE the sound of Hifiman but their quality control is shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.