Hi all,
now that i have my so-called “end-game” (there will never be and end tbh…) HP for home usage (Focal Clear) i would love to find an … equal … solution for the outsides. I already own tons of IEMs and i’m happy in this regard, but now i want a mid- to high-tier HP for outside. And i have a confession to make, which is quite relevant in this regard: i get unsettled quite easily. What i mean ist, that a huge, mickey-mouse looking HP is an absolute no-go. If i look at myself in the mirror with something like that, i immediately discard the idea of going out like that because i don’t want people staring at me, i don’t want to embarrass myself. Because of this, i actually really appreciate the looks or “true” portable HPs like the Bose QC35, Sony XMs etc. Why? Because they actually made sure the HPs look sleek. No headband sticking out on top, no large cups sticking out to the side like princess leia, sleek looking cups, the wholee HP is just … unobtrusive. But, you know… i have a Chord Mojo. I have a Little Bear B4-X. I have these for a reason. I want to use those for a truely high end HP experience. The thing is - i’m actually not even that demanding. I have absolutely ZERO issues with open-back HPs outside and i absolutely don’t need any kind of NC! All i want is a high-end HP that i can take out for a walk (mostly in the park) every day without feeling unsettled regarding looks. But with the absolute best audio performance possible.
Do you feel me? Do you know the struggle? Do you also think, that portable usage as a true factor is still not getting enough attention when rating HPs? If so: let’s change that. Let’s find the absolute best-sounding HPs with the right amount of understatement not to irritate people and yourself. Let’s go!!
What are your suggestions?
All i can think of is the LCD-1 and the Drop Panda. But i really don’t need BT and the LCD-1s don’t seem to satisfy people that much. I already own a B&W P7 which i really like, but you know … the looks…
I mean I tend to use diana v2 on the go without issue and I feel like those are good portable looks and something you can get away with with portable amps, but those would be more expensive here, but really can’t think of many equal or better preforming headphones than a clear that wouldn’t look out of place on the go (or be too limited source gear wise). Would an adx5000 look too out of place? But that might be too demanding for the mojo to push properly tbh. An aeon 2 closed is nice portable but I have a feeling looks might be too much. Would like a beyer t1.3 look too intrusive (although I haven’t heard this one yet)? Ah campfire cascades would be worth a look perhaps as well
I guess this really is a hard one to answer since it really depends on looks which I personally don’t care about too much so I prob can’t help you a ton here lol. I’m not mentioning anything about sound yet since I feel like looks might be just as big of a deciding factor here (outside of picking headphones that would at least not be a massive downgrade from a clear), we can get to that later once something works looks wise I guess lol
Another question would be would you consider iems? They can honestly be pretty damn excellent and are much more suited for portable use
yeah, i know, this really is difficult topic with no clear answers. The tolerances to acceptable looks are highly subjective. Maybe all i want is for everyone to share his views about it. That alone would be highly interesting imo.
To answer your question - i agree, that a Diana V2 would definitely fall into that category of perfect performance and somewhat sleek looks. The pricetag is too much an ouch for me though. An adx5000 has too large cups, not sleek at all. The driver/cup-size and (oftentimes) depth are the main issues here generally. Aeon 2 is sleek-ish, but still too large. Beyers look quite decent but still … i think it’s a bit too large imo.
I already have some nice IEMs (Legacy 3s, Starfields, Tin P1s, BLONs…) and i love them. But IEMs are IEMs, there have their disadvantages regarding comfort and health related stuff. That’s why i want to focus strictly on HPs here.
One thing to add, i already own all the KOSS-stuff and also love it. KPH30i’s might be my favourite “portable” HPs currently. If there’s nothing coming out of this dicussion, i will stick to those and my IEMs and be happy. Buuuuuut …
Used you might be able to find them around 2k but still that’s a fair bit more
Gotcha so it’s not only width but depth as well, the reason I mentioned the adx is because it’s pretty slim on the head but it is large size wise
Gotcha
So the cascades are a no as well? Regarding the lcd 1 they are solid all rounders, not immediately impressive but a nice portable. Perhaps look into some audio technica AWKT or AWAS which work well portable, less oversized and large than zmf if you don’t mind wood (but again this might be too large size wise if the 5k was too much, also perhaps a wp900 might be smaller enough). I mean if you don’t mind taking a bit step down sound wise the 660s might be worth a look
i mean … even that price tag … at some point in time, maybe. I’m crazy enough, that’s for sure - but financially, currrently rather no.
yes, excactly. Width is on thing, cup size the other. And flamboyant / over-complicated-looking headbands.
Sure, IEMs also have their advantages and i totally agree, that they are the much more common solution for audio heaven on the go. But i do want headpones. With health related stuff i mean… earwax and other stuff getting pushed towards the eardrums. If i’m wearing IEMs, i ignore this most of times and end up pushing them in as far as possible for fidelity’s sake. It also happens from time to time, that i manage to get caught in the cables and end up tearing out the deeply-installed IEMs. My ears just don’t like this treatment.
wow, i actually didn’t know these wp900s are a thing. These are really aiming into the right direction. I will investigate. A 660s … well, i actually own a good ol’ HD600 and just used them outside recently. Soundwise, it’s perfect. Looks? Not very wide and a sleek headband, that’s great. But the cup size is just a bit much. Also, they really look like a HP for the insides. Talking about Senns, they new 560s might be worth a consideration. They’re are just a tad smaller… i don’t like the headband though.
The cascades always appealed to me as a really high tier portable HP. It appears perfect for my usecase. But - is it just me, or is the “headband sticking our to the sides”-thing real here? I always thought, that makes a HP look silly instantly.
yeah, grado also comes into mind. These definitely have the whole “outside” thing going for them. Never owned a grado though and i’m a bit afraid i might not like the sound. Might end up buying an sr80e to get a taste, maybe a GW100 or Hemp Edition after approval …
But i think LCD-1s, wp900 and cascades are leaning more in the right direction imo. Anything else in this category?
Wait really lol??? To me grado look pretty wonky outside, but I’ve only taken my ps2000e portable so I guess the smaller grado would be less eye catching
well, maybe not the ps2000e, but the smaller ones definitely. Thanks for your suggestions, let’s see, if anything more comes out of this. I would really wish for or high-tier HP or something mid-tier that can keep up with high-tier. I’m not sure about the Sivga Phoenix i.e. …
Yeah for the performance tier you are looking for, most headphones in that range won’t fit the looks requirement (and really tend to be too demanding for portable), and things that would fit the criteria you are looking for are in a lower performance bracket so you are kinda stuck lol
Focal elegia or radiance? Though not equal to your clears it appears you may have to sacrifice something to find what you’re looking for and they certainly are nice looking headphones
The drop panda may fit the bill. It’s Bluetooth but supposed to be much higher sound quality that the Sony’s and Bose
I hear they’re very quite dependend on good amping, but that wouldn’t be a problem for me on the go!
Having two Pro Focals with the same color scheme is oddly tempting … guess they’re still a bit large, though Focal sells them as wireless outsiders… what do you think?
With health related stuff i mean… earwax and other stuff getting pushed towards the eardrums. If i’m wearing IEMs, i ignore this most of times and end up pushing them in as far as possible for fidelity’s sake. It also happens from time to time, that i manage to get caught in the cables and end up tearing out the deeply-installed IEMs. My ears just don’t like this treatment.
