Alright guys,
I need some recommendations to help choose my new headphones ( I’m not very picky, so it can be an iem or a open/closed back headphone)
Right now I own a HD 598 openback and I like then a lot, but since I bought then I felt that they lack a lot of bass for my music preferences( pop and rock ). Besides that I own a tin t2 too and I think they have the same problem as the HD 598.
While I was searching these 5 got my attention:
- Moondrop aria
- DT 770 pro
- Fidelio X2HR
- Fiio FH3
- QoA Vesper
All of then except the aria and the vesper are on the edge of my budget ( around 200$ )
I don’t think I’m a basshead but I do appreciate a punchy bass with a nice rumble.
They are going to be used in a pretty much quiet space, so openback headphones won’t be a problem.
I will be most likely powering then on my PC, so a low impedance would be nice ( if it’s not possible, I can buy a amp and in this case I can only stretch my budget by 30$ ).
As I live in Brazil would be nice if I can find then on aliexpress or something like that.
I’m looking for a headphone, but if you have an IEM that sounds better at that price I don’t care of give it a try.
What would you guys suggest in that case?
Thanks for your time in advance.
1 Like
welcome to HFG IDNKWIW!
first…do you want IEM’s or headphones?
where are they going to be used? at home? out and about?
what do you have for a stack / audio chain?
where do you live?
1 Like
I’ll add these points to the post real quick.
1 Like
I use the fidelio x2hr and I love them; The sound stage really blows me away. I run them trough a zen dac and the bass is beautiful and if I feel I need more there is a bass boost button on the zen dac that takes all my concerns away.
2 Likes
the iFi Zen DAC is a great solution! I don’t know what the used market in Brazil is like for this kind of stuff, but that is a good place to look for savings on item’s like the Zen DAC. for clarity, there are a lot of Zen products in the series and it can be a bit confusing as there is a Zen DAC v2, the Zen DAC Signature, the Zen Blue v2 and then the Zen CAN and Zen CAN Signature.
the Zen DAC v2 is a DAC and amp combo unit. it is very warm and has a wicked bass boost function called XBass and it is well regarded in the audiophile community. The Zen DAC Signature is just a DAC and is supposedly built with higher quality components than the non Signature model. The Zen Blue v2 is also just a DAC, but meant for wireless streaming across the room / house and connected to a speaker amp or powered speakers. the Zen CAN and CAN Signature are amps that have both 6.25" single ended out and 4.4mm pentagon balanced out. the Sig version is, again, supposedly built with higher quality components. unfortunately, the general consensus is there is no audible difference. they do have one thing going for them tho…they’re black and create a nice looking stack!
for headphones, you really do need an amp…more so than a DAC, in the beginning, so I highly recommend you prioritize getting one sooner rather than later.
1 Like
about the amp/dac i was considering getting a smsl m3.
I’m less helpful when the preferences lean to basshead, but I think for $200 budget when we don’t already have a dedicated headphone amp, and the user is open in terms of fit preferences — I’m guessing IEM will deliver dat bass more easily than an open-back headphone.
2 Likes
Do you have suggestions about IEM that might fit my preferences? it can be a closeback headphone tho
What popped into my head is AKG K371 and a dongle dac.
The IEM people will have better advice than I concerning that arena.
1 Like
Just to help someone with similar tastes in the future, i’ve got the m1060c and i was totally blown away. The only downside is that it didn’t run so well on my desktop nor on my smartphone( mi a2 ) besides running very well on my father’s phone( mi 9 ). The sound was perfect, excelent bass, good treble and soundstage with the openback mod (way more than my hd598).