Hi everyone,
I’m looking for open back headphones around 300$. I expect from them to be good at every genre( for example I don’t like how my oh10 perform with deathcore but at every other genre I like them). So, I thought about sennheiser hd600,650 or beyerdynamic dt 880 600ohm + liquid spark. I think I’d like them to be somewhat neutral because my current dac/amp isn’t neutral at all(shanling m6). Currently I own takstar pro82 and ikko oh10.
do you like wide soundstage? how important is bass for you? are you vocal focus? Are you looking for a headphone that sounds like the oh10?
Oh sorry I forgot to mention that I like soundstage. Bass is a difficult question because at avs I used hd600,650 stock and modded hd650(yaxi pads) for a while, with dragonfly black. In the end I liked modded version more probably because pads but I don’t know how these headphones will behave with source that can deliver proper power and in addition my shanling m6 is more fun sounding than dragonfly. I don’t look for headphones sounding similar to my oh10.
so the 6xx/650 is nice but lacks soundstage,but has good imaging. Clarity can be off except for vocals. its more intimate and has a boosted midrange which is great for vocals. Bass is good and neutral, nothing crazy. I think it sounds good with lots of genres. You can get a balanced cable with it so you can use the balanced out in your dap for best performance. Comfort is not the best however for me, but people like them
The Sundaras are awesome and neutral with a great soundstage and great imaging. Vocals sound great but there is a little less bass with some tracks though. Those can use a balance cable too for your dap. Not very genre dependent as well . Pretty comfy headphones.
The akg 712 has a very wide soundstage and decent bass. Less clarity than the sundaras though. The comfort is very good though, but cant use balanced cables. But would work fine on your dap. Works good for lots of genres.
So my personal favorite is the sundaras. These are the 3 that i have experience with, which i could recc. the sundaras are gonna be the best for your money imo
I used sundaras for a bit(before new revision) and i liked them but I’m worried about that they will break because i heard bad things about hifiman’s quality control. Unfortunately where i live sundaras cost 400$. My friend had bad experience with akg 712 they broke after a week :v. Considering those things i thought sennheisers are the safest bet or dt 880 600 ohm + liquid spark, but i don’t know how that combo would perform.
Safe bet sounds like it would be a dt880 600ohm and the spark
I haven’t heard those but they are recommend a lot around here.
I think the most well rounded mentioned would be the hd650/6XX (more bass than the 600 and nicer pairing for a solid state amp imo) if the limited soundstage isn’t bothersome to you (I don’t mind it)… the 880 is nice but it is quite bass light
also consider a 58x if you decide to go sennheiser as I think its a nicer pairing with the liquid spark
The worst thing is that I live in Europe(sorry for not getting this straight in the beginning) and drop decided to stop selling here. I didn’t mention this because availability is problem but stretching budget or more likely buy later I could get little dot mk2(that would be a great benefit for a sennheiser I guess). Also, I can get monolith 1060 which from what I have read are somewhat neutral and are easy to drive. In addition, I could ask shop if I can listen before buying to check out dt880 if I don’t mind bass light headphones because I don’t want to buy things online after what happen to me( The shop didn’t send me anything and brushed me off after writing to them) .
The used market should have some 600/6xx/650 in Europe. What country are you from?
I live in Poland and every offer that I can find is on the other side of the country(without any convinient or safe way of shipping) or are 5 years old headphones(price is almost the same for the new ones if you count how much i need to pay to get there with my car). Also getting a dt880 600ohm used is impossible.
Due to the want of neutral and being good at all genres the only ones I can think of are the Sennheisers in that case though they lack in terms of soundstage is the biggest issue. Can’t think of anything else in that regard.
DT 880s issue is that it requires a bit of a setup to really bring out its low end, body, and sub bass. Things such as tube amps and balanced tube hybrids appear to be great for this but they are expensive setups. This is also a bright headphone treble is raised quite a bit and balanced dt 880 requires it to be modded
K7 series has it’s bass lacking and definitely under neutral its not a very neutral headphone and suffers from inaccuracies in it’s imaging. Yaxi pads and a bass mod can help with this
So, I would say yeah either the dt 880 or the Sennheisers that have been suggested.
Are you able to find a b-stock or open box LCD-1? Might be another option.
I think a LCD1 is pretty good for what you want. warning though they are smallish. really for portable use. really the best headphone you can get at that price is the Sundara. and i wouldnt worry about how reliable they are. the build on the Sundara is quite good. You also might be able to get a used Audeze EL-8 open or closed for 300$. Also a Helios is pretty great sounding headphone for 180$
Sivga released a new open dynamic headphone called the Phoenix.
They look really good. I’m very curious to how they sound. The only place I see them being sold is here: https://audio46.com/products/sivga-phoenix-over-ear-open-back-zebrawood-headphone
On the web site it says they sound their best with dubstep, EDM, hip hop. Maybe this is a fidelio x2 alternative. Hopefully with a more refined treble response
Oh I forgot about lcd-1 I used them for a while but it was on 2k+ setup and I could only listen to music that was provided. The comfort wasn’t an issue for me.Unfortunately I can’t find any used lcd-1. I could only find isine 10 but nothing stops me from checking it out. Today I will call the shop and ask them if I can listen to those headphones.
I am not to keen on those because I never heard them and I don’t have anyway to check them out but thanks for pointing them out.
R70X would be my recomendation.
Solid bass with nice rumble. Good texture and is slightly boosted to just the right amount imo.
Vocals/mids are very natural without AT house colouration, most detailed part of the headphone as well.
Treble is damped well and is never pircing. May be abit dull underpowered but the more power you give it the more it will shine.
The best part about the R70X is that it will run off a potato and sound ok but the more power you give it the quicker and more resolving it gets.