What's your headphone progression?

Headphones Headphone Discussion / Help
166

Whatever came with a Panasonic Walkman in the 80ies

lost in time

// Kicked out the mid-fi all in one. Got a Yamaha AX-590 and Jamo Coronet 95 speakers to rock the dorm //

Koss UR20 - needed closed backs while sharing apartment at uni. broken and lost

Pioneer SE-A1000 - The Koss had broken and I lived alone, got the last ex at reduced price in a store, no research at all. These served well with music and games for too many years and the long AF cable atualy worked ok in a small 1 room apt. Pads gave out. Got Brainwavz XL hybrids now.

Koss Porta Pro - well you can’t bring the Pioneers outside can you? Was padded with HD414 pads for a long time, now Yaxi.

// Jamos are sold, AX590 in storage, vintage is the thing: Snell E3, Hitachi HCA/HMA 7500 mkII*, FT 5500, DacMagic 100, rebuilt Rega RP5 //

Philips Fidelio X2 - Must have read about these before I bought them? Love 'em.

Philips Fidelio M2bt - Bluetooth, I dont love them.

Hifiman HE-4XX - found MassDrop, kind of love them. Pads broke this summer - that’s how I got lured in again… china angled fenestrated sheepskins.

Sennheiser HD 6XX - MassDrop EU shut down so… had to get them. Was pretty satisfied with my collection for … 6 months?

Sony WH-1000XM3 - Got them for my GF since they are doing renovations in the apt complex. Beats the M2bt in everything but I don’t get much time with them.

// Hitachi stack needs recapping -> storage, Rega is trash, Kenwood KD-8030 ( =990 ) is solid. AX-590 back as headphone amp with DacMagic 100 //

So this summer the 4XX pads broke and i found Z, Joshua, DMS and you.
Now I have some cheap ass pads…
And:

IFI Micro iDac2
SMSL SP200
Sabaj PHA3 - with matched Mullard CV3998 tubes looped back into SP200

Waiting for delivery of: Koss KPH30i, KSC75 and an eBay Beyerdynamic DT880 600Ohm

  • After reading about DT880/600 and the Emotiva BasX A-100 - The HMA 7500 mkII really needs to be serviced - the headphone jack runs off the 75W mosfet speaker amps over a 330ohm resistor. And the VU’s are sweet.
167

Razer Mastodon
MDR 7506 #1
Arctis 5
Arctis Pro
MDR 7506 #2
DT 990 250 Ohms
DT 770 250 Ohms
Hifiman Sundara
Moondrop Starfield
Andover Audio PM-50
Focal Elegia
ZMF Eikon
Campfire Orion ck2
LZ A6 Mini
Focal Clear
Hifiman Edition X V2
Final Audio B3
Moondrop SSR
Earsonics Grace
Jomo Audio Flamenco

Sold all the headphones except my 7506, Clear, and DT 990 (which is up for sale).
Just sitting on all my IEMs except the Starfields. I have fallen to the dark side :slight_smile:

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168

You went DEEP on IEMs! Lol congrats tho!

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169

Hmmmmmm how much r u selling these for btw? I might be interested

170

70 + 1/2 shipping

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171

hmmmm very interesting lol

172

Elex
Tr-X00
Denon D7000
Hd600
Edition X V2
Dt 1990
Sundara
Sendy Aiva
LCD 2 Pre fazor
Focal Clear

on the way:
T1.2
Arya

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173

Ath ad700x -used for awhile for gaming
Shp9500 - obligatory entry purchase on sale for $45. Gifted to my brother.
Sennheiser Hd580 - sniped on eBay for $80
Status Audio CB 1 - first in a line of massdrop purchases that turned up damaged. F drop.
Modhouse Argon Mk II - 180 bucks before the hype.
Akg K712 - still kind of miss their sound.
Beyerdynamic Custom Studio - Decent, gifted to my brother.
M1060c open modded - great bass and nothing else.
Beyedynamic T5p v1 - Did not like. Not worth the
money.
Hifiman He500 - They sound sooooo goooood.
Fidelio X2 - Fell apart and sounded horrid.
AFK Khans - Not impressed.
Audeze Mobius - Not bad but hated to have to constantly charge it.
Vokyl Erupt - Gahhhhhbaaaage.
Beyerdynamic Mmx300 v2 - kick ass. I miss them.
DT770 80ohm modded - solid.
Audeze LCD2C - not the most comfortable sounded decent but not my jam. Overpriced.
Sony MA900 heavily modded - huuuge soundstage and solid detail.
Borealis - Dope but don’t have much time for open backs. Thanks human malware.
Elegia - Driver has potential but sounded like ass to me.
Aeon 2C - Love them. Great comfort and isolation.
LSA HP2 - horn loaded interestingness.

Still have and keeping hd580, he500, Aeon 2c, lsa hp2.

On the fence Borealis, Dt770.

Probably going for sale soon MA900.

Everything else is gone.

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174

I have my own tier list for the headphones I own or used to own.

my-headphone-tier-list-ownpreviously-owned-ec071c7e-6041-4765-b90c-4be433d5548f
my-headphone-tier-list-ownpreviously-owned-ec071c7e-6041-4765-b90c-4be433d5548f1110×584 99.5 KB

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175

I know it’s an older comment but do you happen to know any similar headphones?
I got a pair of MDR-XB500s as well and that extreme bass is exactly what I’m looking for but they tend to have washed out mids and highs as a trade off and I want to get rid of exactly that.

176

I started out with the Sony earbuds from the Minidisc era, and a pair of original AKG K141’s that definitely skewed my future preferences.

Next were AKG K240 Studios that I’ve kept for the last 10 or so years (imo the best mixing headphones), and a series of rather disappointing earphones from before the golden era of Chifi. I wish I could remember the names, but I tried all the hype Chifi earbuds and IEMs at the time and was disappointed. Mostly by the lack of build quality.

My favorite portables from that time were the Apple earpods from the iPhone 5, Samsung earbuds from the SGS6/7. Terrible sound, but for me the ultimate in comfort (semi-in ear / earbuds).

More recently, I re-visited Chifi with a pair of HD681 Evos and a pair of Tin T2’s.

The HD681s were extremely average compared to my expectations, but in reality they represent excellent performance for the price.

The T2’s (with blue foam) became, and remain, the best sounding headphones I’ve ever heard, and if it didn’t take me a week to build up the courage to insert them for more than an hour I’d never have to buy another 'phone.

Seeking the next step in detail and clarity I purchased a cheap used Stax SRS-002 system (copious wax included). Being a rare human who finds these “on-canal” phones comfortable, listening to them is like sitting at the mixing desk or concert hall. I was expecting to be blown away by Handel, but they’re most impressive on low-fi recordings of metal (TDM) or kpop.

Left wanting little with T2’s for portable and SRS-002 for the desk, I’m starting to explore more niche use cases. So I bought some Sennheiser HD25’s to potter around the house in. For fun, I’m trying to find the ultimate semi-in ears which shouldn’t take long to compare all 5 or so models available.

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177

1975-1979: Koss $50 job - gone
1979-2016 AKG 240 (artificial sounding but great for VTA during play adjustment) - died
1999-2001 Stax 303 - flimsy build, no bass, wrote off headphones as worthless - sold

2015: HD-600, time to downsize from 3100 sq ft home to 1500, mods, killer on OTL’s, keeper
2017: Fostex FH-500 - too light weight in sound - mods, then sold
2017: MD-X00 Mahogany: brutal bass, muddy depressed mids, grainy treble, no soundstage, won’t play loud, worst can I ever bought, the Black version is pretty good, mods and sold.
2017: HE-4XX - good on a DAP for cheap, sonically a mess - even my kids don’t want it, and anyone that thinks the bass is good, needs to run some tests.
2017: HE-500 - ahh, along with the HD-600 my first two keepers - lots of mods, keeper
2018: LCD2 - uchk, love the 4, hate the 2 - 3 day turn around on this turkey, bye bye.
2018: HE-5LE - got a fine cable with it - Black Dragon v1, 12% of time really sounds great, lots of ringing occasional bass matching HE-6, even with fuzzor, screens off, just too hot.
2019: HEX v2 - interesting, bit soft, but big and relaxing, keeping for now, may sell.
2018: HE-5se - miserable piece of trash - mods, then sold, worst thing next to Mahogany.
2019: Alara: Fine bass, decent mids, where is the treble? - mods (including screen), sold
2019: HE-6se - took some time to get used to it, but my best can, keeper

Note: all my keepers sound better with digital EQ

near future: want a HD-800 to go with my BHC, sell off HEX v2 and a few other pieces to go for a Susvara, but that may be more than a year away. Clear, Arya, E2, Abyss Phi, HEKse, and LCD4 - I wouldn’t turn down used at bargain price.

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178

nighthawks
th610
eikon
lcd3 pf
lcdx nonfazor
lcd2 pf 2.1

on the way:
TH900
D5000 lawton modded
He1000v2

Future plans:
utopia, diana v2, lcd mx4, lcd24

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179

Why did you get rid of the arya?

180

Got the he1000v2

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181

LOL.

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182

lcdx nonfazor

Interesting. I thought LCD-X’s were first sold with the fazors unless you have a prototype of some kind. Then again, I remember some users removing the fazor array from LCD-2’s early on, so maybe that’s the case here.

How is the LCD3 pf vs. your LCD2.1 pf (and LCD2.2 pf I you heard it)? I took a hard look at a LCD3 pf recently, but the HF reviews for it kind of talked me down from committing to a purchase. I already own a LCD2.1 pf and LCD2.2 pf. I them both, but they are not my daily drivers, more like flavor cans to change things up once in a blue moon.

183

I believe my pair was made by an audeze employee and was never sold retail. Not sure if it qualifies as a prototype or not though

184

I was recently thinking about when I was a kid and teenager and the crummy 1980’s style headphones we had back then. They were the Sony Walkman type of headhones with the foam pads that worn down quickly and ripped. Then the hard plastic of the drivers would press against my ears and make them hurt.

At one point I thought I had arrived when I bought a pair of headphones that were big and thick and looked expensive. Of course they were probably $20 to $40 or something back then and weren’t much better than the other stuff I had. But to a kid that was something big to be sure. They might have been Koss or something like that. Basically some kind of store brand from K Mart or other small regional retailer we had around here.

Stuff like that carried me through the 1990’s and during my time in the Marine Corps as I traveled the globe. After my service, there was a lull in audio enthusism which lasted almost 20 years.

I’ve returned to my love of music, audio equipment and knobs, buttons and switches again.

I think some of the first sets of decent cans I bought were B&O H7’s and H6’s which I used with an iPhone. I stayed with that setup for a while and eventually bought a pair of Apple Homepods. Those were pretty good for what they were, but I didn’t like the voice activation or having to use the iPhone to control it. I didn’t keep them too long and sold them to someone in Florida.

After the Homepods left, I bought some components for home stereo, nothing exceptional, really. Some Sony bookshelf speakers, Yamaha 2 ch receiver, Teac CD player and a Teac turntable. I still have all of that right now and it suits me fine.

On the headphone side of things, I had a pair of Sony studio monitors, forget the model number, but they were/are popular on Amazon. Then about 2 years ago I learned about headphone amps and DAC’s a little bit by accident. I ended up getting a Schiit Magni which was fed from a Mac mini and iTunes. I was impressed with the sound and shortly thereafter I bought the Schiit Modi multibit DAC to add to the chain. It was at that point that I was blown away at the difference in sound and power. Then I became hooked and in search of my endgame. That search is still in progress and only limited by my budget.

Then I bought some DT880’s 250 ohm, from someone and was impressed with them. It was around that time I found Zeos on YouTube and really started getting an education on all of this stuff. I ended up buying the Senn HD650’s and about a year later the BLON B20’s. I also added a Schiit Loki into the chain along the way for a little flavor in my music once in a while.

Recently I bought the THX 789 and the Geshelli ENOG2 Pro and switched from USB to S/PDIF. Also back in March, just before all this pandemic crap started, I bought the kit from Hart Audio along with new cables for the B20’s and 650’s for balanced audio.

Additionally, a little over a year ago I dumped Apple for my computing needs, desktop and mobile. I switched from Mac to Arch Linux full time and began buying CD’s again. I now rip them all to FLAC, or buy digital music from Bandcamp and a few other hires online sources. I much prefer owning and buying CD’s to using streaming services, of which I have used most of the big names out there.

Also in there the last couple of years, I bought a Pioneer XDP-300R-B DAP and some Fiio F9 Pro IEMs. Both of those I am very happy with.

This is a fun and rewarding hobby of which I enjoy very much.

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185

How big a difference is there between the arya and the hex v2?