The "Too good for the price" list

Yeah that one sucks the most when the quality control from them is not met to their customers’ standards. I am one of those and the main complaint that I can give Moondrop would be their paint issues involving the Starfield and the Aria, and I think that is more of a minor issue of QC from them, worse I think would be the other ear piece just stopped working entirely due to a loose soldering done to it, or both units not even working at all and cannot be fixed.

Been listening to the shure 840a and its resolution and tonal balance is definitely too good for the price

Added this part. I finally bought PortaPros recently and I can personally confirm they deserve the hype. Headphones like these don’t have the “sparkle” (treble and higher… “air” presence) some search for, but that is, dare I say, the “signature” of headphones that will play everything in your collection, even the most badly recorded treble-y crap, without ever sounding muddy, and therefore make you just forget and enjoy music for hours.

If you don’t care about “Beyerdynamic treble” and are interested by a lot of 100-150$ “cheapo” chinese brand headphones “flavor of the month”, do yourself a favor and buy these for 50$ instead. They’re legendary for a reason.

Apparently they’ve been doing the exact same PortaPros since 1984. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. :grin: :headphones:

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Yup, they do a LOT for their price. Built for fold-up portability, but one of those “sometimes I just want to enjoy them on my desktop rig” headphones!
Have given a few away as gifts. I like the original version with no mic. etc
because the cable is a bit thicker/sturdier. And they’re $36.

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I forgot this thread existed! LOL.

I nominate the HiFiMan Edition XS. Here’s my review of it.

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Added and modified a few things. I now have heard Portapros, HD58Xs and HD6XXs, so this is will be more helpful. The headphone list is now listed by price… It was the goal but ? anyways.

Added the Hifiman XS.

I forgot this forum existed. :eyes: I added the XS to the list.

CCA CRA
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The XS do not have an “immense” Soundstage. They’re decently wide with little depth and height. They’re barely better staged than the 58x that I just received if at all.

Ananda is much bigger in comparison, and the Arya taking it to what I would consider “immense”

Harsh considering 58X got no soundstage whatsoever, lol.

I’d agree however that the 58x punches above its weight and I’d say it matches up against the XS quite well. Especially considering I spent $100 for it

Curious, which version of Arya?

I owned the V2 since v3 is often claimed to be inferior stage wise

I ask because I see conflicting reporting about the “stealth magnets” in relation to soundstage.

I notice that’s from the people who’ve never heard the non stealth before. Most people who upgraded tend to say the stage became more intimate.

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Creative aurvana live with a $10 aliexpress pad swap is the best I’ve found under like $150 (or a lot more depending what you want), I feel like it’s the one that if I had found earlier before getting so deep in the audio rabbit hole, would’ve been my end game…

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Arya V2 indeed has one of the most expansive soundstages found in a headphone, truly impressive. To my ear Arya se (aka v3) has a stage more in line with the Edition X v2, which is smaller than Arya v2 but still expansive and near the top of the headphone market. Edition XS is right there with Edition X V2 and Arya se in stage size, IMO. However, if the stage of Arya v2 is what you’re looking for, most anything else will be disappointing.

Absolutely. I’d venture to say the Ananda are larger in staging than the Edition XS as well while the XS has better bass and a bit more natural timbre.

Having owned the Arya v2 and now the HD 800s with spacious tubes there’s no doubt if you like that kind of thing, any other headphone cannot compete.

If you’re coming from the HD 6 line of sennheisers for example the XS feels roomier for sure

“Immense soundstage” is a bit strong for the Edition XS. Good? Sure. Immense? Nah.

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Fixed. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
I was mostly trying to say (with too few words) that a bigger driver obviously adds to the experience.