What are the most underrated headphones that you have?
Last year black friday I picked up this Audeze Sine closed back planar, during a clearance sale… I had never heard of it til I saw it on sale, and it is now discontinued, but listening to it now, I find it pretty nice, I am wondering why this set never got much attention… It is quite different and interesting, really well designed and solidly built, tight and compact to carry mobile and plays well straight off an iphone dongle… Its more like an on-ear, but I am surprised that this headphone didnt get more attention or traction… A small form factor, great sounding little leather backed audeze planar made for mobile use… It sounds very punchy and detailed and full of energy, pretty impressive playing off an iphone dongle, pretty perfect as a mobile closed back with planar sound
Maybe Audeze released this a bit too early and it was priced a bit too high, at a time when the mainstream mobile market was mostly focused on wireless noise cancelling headphones…
I always forget about the sine, was a nice closed back, and a nice change of pace from the el8c which imo wasn’t really great from my experience, wonder if that put people off from trying the sine
For me, it’s 10000% easily the Mysphere 3.1 or 3.2, easily the best headphone I’ve ever heard, yet it’s never really mentioned overall which is somewhat disappointing, liked it enough to write way too much on it since it really needs to be talked about more lol
What is crazy is that its that its only 100usd where the headphone and the boom arm can easyly be both sold at the same price. If anyone is familar with the final A3000 this is the headphone eqv. Doesnt have the ability to do fine detail well but the macro dynamics, soundstage and imaging are all amazing.
The main reason to get the closed back is that its tuned to be more audiophile and smooth over the open version which has this stange 6k peak which I’m guessing is for gunshot and footsteps.Also the warmer tonality is more forgiving on trash metal and the like over the open back version.
Both interestingly have the sameish stage but with the open having a thinner center core so if you need extremely precise close range imaging the open would be better but as stated before its a more specialised product more for gaming over music.
If they did a verson without the boom mic and use a non proparity cable connector headphone end I would snap it up in a heartbeat.
edit:
My bad I didnt see you own my rave review still stands though
My other favorite obscure gem headphone is actually this custom heaphone the waira made by shipibo audio, the guys who make alot of parts for modding grados.
I guess not exactly underrated at the time, but I always wondered what happened to the iSine 10/20 or LCD i3/4 series. Couldn’t find much comparisons between them and newer IEMs. I take out my i3s from time to time, while not the most comfortable, they still impress me with their performance and how insane they look.
(Just noticed this thread is about headphones. I guess these IEHeadphones count?)
The Beyer T70 is pretty underappreciated, got it for 80€ and it plays roughly on DT1990 playing field, it’s a bit thin sounding (for vocals/lower mids), doesnt isolate a lot, comfort is terrible (the side of the headband has literally no cushioning so the metal yoke presses against my head) until I put the Tygr 300R headband on it and the OG pads are out of stock but it’s one of the best purchases I’ve made. Paired with a warm source, the treble is actually not that bad at moderate listening levels.
The Final Sonorous II is probably the best allrounder closed back I’ve heard until Aeon Noire territory, the III is only for electronic/R&B/vocal genres. The II, paired with a warm source, I couldnt find any faults with any genre, but I’ve only heard it briefly. Excellent performance for its price, even from the Astell PEE51, great isolation, great soundstage for a closed back.
The Verum 1 is excellent at its price point for a planar, but the sound would cut out when touching or moving the left side of the cable so I swapped to the Final Sonorous III cable and I perceive more bass now and and it’s a more balanced signature now. Not really underrated, just underappreciated due to the controversy surrounding the creator, I can’t imagine getting a better planar at that price.
Ha, so weird. I pulled out my iSine 20 yesterday for a listen due to all the planar hype. They were very highly rated and regarded (and expensive) when they released, but you’re right, they are rarely mentioned nowadays.
Never really cared for them tbh. Though for me that’s more to do with the tech then it is to the iSine series specifically. The ear hooks and dependence on Cipher - and therefore Apple lightening - certainly don’t help their appeal.
The audeze Sine over ear headphones I have did not have the cipher, just the headphones… I actually prefer that, cause I can seap the cable… I actually find them great with just the iphone dongle, I also do not use them with the original cable… Being a mobile set, I got a 2.5mm cable that also has a built in mic so that if people call I can use them to answer a call which works pretty well… I sometimes run them off the qudelix 5k which works well if I want an EQ app
I actually bought a second hand koss retrospekt headphone cheap on ebay and just took the headband for my ksc 75s with yaxi pads, looks nice sounds great
I love the Audeze Sine. I think being on-ear rather than over-ear was probably a big reason they didn’t take off. They were also pretty pricey at the time. The Oppo PM-3 were a competitor at the time, and I think were a bit more popular in audiophile circles. They were closed planars, but they were a little less expensive than the Sine and they were over-ear.
I use my Sine with a 3D printed adapter to fit larger over-ear pads. They’re wonderful headphones, very high quality construction.
