So I was wondering if anyone could help me with a reccommendation for headphones to try out / be a future upgrade. My current setup is Sundaras as my daily driver with a Geshelli Labs balanced stack for DAC / Amp. I love the sound I get out of the Sundaras. I also own MDR 7506’s, DT 770/990’s 250 Ohms, and HE-4xx’s. The rest now sound almost ridiculously muddy and warm in comparison. I’ve been doing a bunch of reading on headphones that could possibly be an upgrade to the Sundaras in the future. However, it seems like there’s a lot of complaining about the Sundaras ‘sterile’ sound. I can say, however, that I am inclined towards that sterile sound. I seem to lose enjoyment when I listen to warmer headphones if anything afaik? Could someone reccommend a more sterile (or very very slightly warmer) higher end headphone that I should take a listen to? I think the only thing I wish the Sundara had was a bit more midrange, clarity, separation, and bass impact.
Any thoughts? If you want more details let me know. This is more for hypothesizing and putting things on my radar than anything else. I appreciate you guys reading and thank you in advance for any help you provide
I mean, I wouldn’t call the sundara sterile, but I do think that something to try might be an elex based on what you like, but that is a price jump. Something else might actually be a koss esp95x as that would be a similar price and imo has better separation and a bit more midrange actually, but lack in bass impact and similar in clarity. I do think the elex would be a bit more up your alley imo
Hahaha, yea. However, it also might help to hear something that’s as far opposite it as possible. Just wondering what people consider as close to, and as far away from sterile. Is there anything in the $500-1000 price range that you’d conside more sterile than the Sundaras (besides the elex and 1990)?
It’s been awhile for the oris so I can’t say too much on that. The Aeolus is nice but not my cup of tea, it’s really made to just be very very smooth, great timbre, and just overall pleasant, but imo it’s a bit too smooth and lacks detail for the price, it does improve on a tube amp though. I much prefer the eikon or autuer imo
The teaks are pretty amazing for their price as well. Would’ve pretty different than the sundaras as well. A lot more base. Pretty v shaped. So you’ll get some pretty good bass and crisp treble and highs.
You could also look into the aeon 2 open or closed. I think they’re pretty amazing for their price to be honest. Great bass and stays really detailed throughout. Still really crisp overall. I’d say of all my headphones they were the closest “upgrade” to my teaks even though they’re planar instead.
Hmmm. Ok. So I’ve been looking at in order are Eikon, Ori, Elex, 1990, Atticus, Aeolus, and Aeon 2s. The only headphone I have yet to ask about is the Ananda. Like the Ori there seems to be very little about it around. Looks like almost a direct upgrade to the Sundaras? How would the Ananda compare to the Elex?
From what I read the Ananda will be pretty different to the sundaras. Overall bigger and more refined sound with more bass impact. But I haven’t personally heard them.