My favorite daily driver MrSpeakers Mad Dog Pro headphones have stopped working and it is unlikely that I will be able to get it repaired. I would like suggestions from people that have experienced the Mad Dog Pro headphones for them self. They are a heavily modified version of the Fostex T50rp.
A while back I ordered the MrSpeakers AEON headphones as an upgrade but did not like them much at all. They sounded flat and lacked detail compared to the Mad Dog Pro. The simplest way to explain it was that the Mad Dog Pro are fun headphones with good details being able to hear small fast past details from FPS games. Movies had decent bass compared to most headphones I have listened to in the past. I want to make sure I am getting a large upgrade to the Mad Dog Pros then I don’t feel disappointed in the new order. I enjoyed the thick leather pads and could have the headphones on all day without any issues. As they will be my daily driver they will be used for mixed workload including gaming, music and movies.
My current source is a Sennheiser DAC with Home Theatre Amplifier that performs better than my backup unit (Micro iDSD Black Label by iFi audio). Budget would ideally be under 1K but willing to go up to 2K if the sound improvements are worth it. I require some isolation but not anything like active noise cancellation. Just from PC Fans, GPU, background sounds, etc as I don’t like to hear when listening. I selected the tag for “closed back” but not limited to just closed back.
Based on some research the Modhouseaudio Argon Mk3 are the closest currently available headsets but concerned this could provide a less fun audio profile compared to the mad dog pros. Danclark Audio closest option right now seems to be the ETHER C Flow but concerned after the poor experience with the AEON model. Thank you all in advance, I do appreciate the help as I cant really listen to any decent options locally.
Argon mk3 is a good bet but I’d also look at the T60 argon. Also try contacting DCA I know they stand behind all their products pretty well.
After that I’d look to lcd2 Closed or the LCDX both can be very fun without much EQ.
Liric is a great buy but you definitely wouldn’t need a speaker amp for them and they don’t have the weighty sound of the argons but man are they good for a closed planar.
I personally won’t ever recommend a focal to anyone because I have a few episodes dealing with crappy quality control. I don’t know much about the quad but seems interesting.
T60s seem to have less bass but there are so many people that love them and compare them to headphones 2x their price. I personally have an argon mk3 and it’ll stay in the collection as I really enjoy the smooth weighty sound that it provides over my more resolving headphones.
As for amps I would really look to hard as long as you are gentle with volume with a decent preamp.
I’ll just throw in my two cents here. The ether C flow is from what I understand quite a good headphone. However the consensus is that it’s a very detailed and analytical set of cans. Rather flat with excellent micro detail retrieval. Not at all what some would call a fun sound signature. So seeing as you want a fun sound you might be best to avoid the C Flow. This is what I have heard others have said about it. Feel free to still try it if you want, because I could be wrong or they could hear things differently from you and you may end up thoroughly enjoying them. But that’s just my two cents thrown into the mix there. Hope that helps.
I have owned the Ether C Flows in the past and you’ve nailed the description. As a guy who has also owned the Mad Dogs in the past, I’d say it would be difficult to pick two headphones that are more divergent in tuning, presentation, and purpose. If I were OP and looking for a fun pair to replace my Mad Dogs, the Ether C Flows wouldn’t be on that list so I think you gave him some solid advice. That said, the C Flows really are a great pair of headphones if you’re looking for detailed neutrality. You’d be hard-pressed to find something better for the money.