Your Top 5 Smoothest-Yet-Detailed Headphones

Headphones Headphone Discussion / Help
1

Name your top 5, open/cloasd/whatevers! (if you can even name 5)

I don’t think HD600/650 or MDR-MA900 are detailed enough, so I won’t put them on my list. I think this is a very difficult list to do, also…

HD660
Sundara
300 R?
Mobius
HE400se?

3 Likes
2

I wouldnt put that here, that is quite the bright and fatiguing set.

1 Like
3

You don’t have to put it on your Top 5, then :slight_smile:

4

Focal Clear
(probably Sundara if I still had it)
Hifiman HE560, AKG K702, Sennheiser 560S
least smooth/detailed I’ve tried would be the corsair H60

1 Like
5

Final Audio D8000 Pro’s

1 Like
6

im curious why you think they hd600 series is not detailed? its a little veiled, sure, but i find they do not lack for detail. quite the opposite. have you tried them on a high powered amp?

for now in life, i have a top 3 and not a top 5. i typically go for fun, rather than technical.

t60rp argon
hd600
drop meze99’s with rigged up pad swap to use hd600 pads.(lowers that bass a ton to let the driver breathe. also dont ask, i cant replicate. i dont have a printer, didnt make a bracket, ghetto rigged it)

i have not gotten around to getting a dan clark yet, but i think they would make my list based off of others comments.

as a side note, i havent listened to one is 30+ years, but the sony HP’s from the 70’s and 80’s were very good. got to listen to a few pairs for hours at friends houses growing up. the models made before headphones became popular, were mostly all very good as they catered to a very small market and had to be.

1 Like
7

This is only what I’ve heard, not from just reputation:

Sennheiser HD 6XX. Fantastic midrange, good detail, with relaxing, rolled-off treble. Own it, love it.

Dan Clark Audio Aeon 2 Closed Noire. Super smooth, excellent sub-bass, decent detail, rolled-off treble. I couldn’t keep them because the clamping force was just too much, combined with too-soft earcup padding that folds on itself.

Audeze LCD-2C. Fun, punchy bass. Solid detail. Rolled-off treble. My favorite rock headphone. Own it, love it.

Moondrop Starfield: Super-smooth IEM for $105. Solid detail. Very good with many different kinds of music. Good value.

I own the HiFiMan HE400se and Edition XS. Both are tremendous values, with very good detail. I dig both. But I wouldn’t call them smooth due to both having slight-to-moderate treble peaks.

3 Likes
8

Nighhawk Carbon!

2 Likes
9

In my collection I would pick:

  1. Grado GH2’s. Mids and above, they are a detail monster.
  2. Focal Elex’s. Truly W-shaped.
  3. HiFiman HE6se V2’s. Amazing.
  4. LSA HP-2’s. Definitely Very detailed and smooth.
  5. My last pick might be a bit of an oddball, but the CFA Cascades. Lots of bass, but I don’t find it bleeds into the mids. They make jazz very exciting, to me.
4 Likes
10

Nothing crazy yet. I got rid of them when I had a Modi MB + ATOM or Vali 2, I believe.

Oh, this might be a great one! I haven’t heard any of the modern DCA myself yet.

11

Interesting… I am really keen to try 2C, and GX. Hard to ignore all the praise the GX has gotten! While I do love the sound of Mobius, I’m not sure if any of the LCD stuff sounds similar to it, or instead just like the other LCD’s. So if GX sounds like Mobius++, I’m totally game

12

Not sure here, man. The LCD-2C is the only Audeze I’ve tried or own. Love them.

13

Campfire cascade and fostex th601

14

I don’t like the stock tuning of a lot of them (darkkkk) but Audeze probably fits the bill. Seem very technically proficient/resolving and if you like the tuning, cool. If you don’t, you’re probably EQ’ing them and can dial in your “smoothness”. I think people posing this level of question are going to find Sundara, Clear, 400SE/X4/5xx might fit in. Absolutely unsure what budget is here.

15

your top 5 so your budget :slight_smile:

1 Like
16
  1. Aeolus
  2. Atrium
  3. LCD2CB
  4. LCDX
  5. Nighthawk Carbon

To my ears it doesn’t get much better than this.

1 Like
17

In order of smoothest to least?

18

No they are all pretty darn buttery.
Most to least would probably be
Nighthawks
Aeolus
Atrium
Liric
LCD2CB
But the audezes are really close in sound to each other.

Edit I had to knock one of the Audeze out because I forgot about my Liric’s

1 Like
19
  1. Sennheiser HD660s
  2. Audeze LCD-2C
2 Likes
20

Senn 650, Nighthawks, LCD2pf, Kennerton Gjallarhorn, Drop Senn 58x

1 Like