If You had to Choose Just One

Headphones General Headphone Discussion
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I’m just a bonobo imagining what it would be like to be a lovebird. And it’s still that Audeze LCDi4. But the Airpods Pro get more use, and so does the ZMF Auteur Classic - because it sits right by me when I’m at work.

I wonder what Audeze is doing. In many ways that LCDi4 was a TOTL product. And it still sounds like one. It’s darn good on the cable that has it’s own DAC and custom EQ for the LCDi3/4. It’s better when you apply that same parametric EQ via ROON, ROON ARC, or just dial it in on an appropriate DAC.

Now there’s an interesting case for @Resolve, they never intended the IEM to be used without EQ. And it sounds a bit strange without EQ. But they sold it with that Cipher cable, partnered with ROON, and published their recommended PEQ to use it.

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Very nice summary, SSN757. Both you and Resolve (and Nuance) seem to be big fans of the HD600. And that says alot.

I wish I was also enough of a mids fan to give it a try. I see a bit of a pattern though in your preferences for the HD600 and Verum 2. And I enjoy headphones that are a little more balanced tonally, with good extension in both the treble and the bass. So that’s why I continue to resist the urge to try the HD600. There are a couple other headphones in the Sennheiser family that I’m seriously considering though.

If I had a little more bread, I’d also like to try one of Moondrop’s full drive technology (FDT) headphones to see what that sounds like, for somethin a little different than the DD headphones I’m used to.

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Thank you. I’ve picked up some good insight from Resolve (and others) here on the site. It’s safe to say that my tastes/preferences with headphones have evolved over time. It’s been my experience that as one gets exposed to a wider variety of headphone offerings, what becomes important to listening enjoyment can and does change over time.

For the speaker systems, IMHO, the midrange is paramount to getting the sound right. Been using ATC speakers for years, as the midrange drivers on them are among the very best. I found out that with headphones, it’s a lot harder to get the midrange right. Also found out using EQ for headphones is not nearly as easy as one would think. Although I’ve had some minor success with EQ, more often than not, it seems to do weird things to the overall sound. It’s difficult to explain, but too often, applying EQ makes the music sound unnatural.

There are so many quality headphones out there that seem to need EQ to get the playback FR right, it makes for a fair bit of frustration. So, between bass, midrange, and treble, the most important IMHO is the midrange, just like with loudspeakers. I can live with slight variations in lower bass or higher treble, but cannot live with a midrange that is not neutral.

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I honestly don’t know what of my collection or previous headphones I would pick. I have made a hobby out of this the past 5-6 years and have found it even more complex than when I started. I have learned that comfort, sound and drivability aren’t everything. Longevity and quality of build are very important as well. Whether that’s availability of new parts at a reasonable price or the lack of noise introduction due to the build, it should be given as much weight as the standard main subjects. I have one headphone that sounds amazing but I can’t use because the ear cup’s click and crack for a good 20-30 minutes after putting them on, and given I have the bladder of a titmouse I’m taking them off every hour. Another one that I absolutely love, has proprietary part’s on it and the cost of a headband and pads plus shipping makes it so they’re essentially a one time use product with repair costing almost as much as the whole headphone, granted it’s not expensive to begin with but still. Throw in headphones that I have damaged due to an unfortunate yank onto a tile floor or stepped on because they fell off the bed…. there are a lot of really good headphones I have that I just have no desire to listen to. Oh one of them the adjustment mechanism doesn’t work anymore so it just slides freely. Another the jack went loose and it’s in pieces cause I can’t figure out how to wire the mini xlr I want to put on it.

With all of that considered there are three headphones that I use regularly and change between. Sennheiser HD6xx, Audio Technica ATH R70x Refine and Focal Elex. All three of them play nicely with tubes and the first two have great mid’s, with the Elex being more balanced sound and easily my most expensive pair of headphones. I’ve purchased 25-30 mid-fi headphones over the years and these three are the ones I wear the most.

If I had to pick just one chain of everything I’ve experienced it would be a good dac (smsl su9 or topping centaraus) a tube amp (darkvoice or dragon) and the Elex. (tube’s don’t play nicely with daily so I would add in a good solid state like a schiit magni or my topping A70pro)

But I do have a ZMF Atrium and Modhouse Tungsten being built right now so we’ll see how that changes.

Given that both of the last headphones cost more than every headphone combined on their own I don’t think that’s a fair comparison. I like to figure what I would do for a chain given a specific budget.

$50 budget, would be koss kph30 some grado pads and a dongle dac from apple. I could literally be told this is the only headphone I ever own and I wouldn’t complain, say you’d give me a million dollars but that’s the only headphone I can own (unlimited supply)

$150 Rode NTH-100 and any source; this headphone just tickles me right, I’m sure with EQ they become more balanced which I’ll have to try, but you could plug it into a potato and it’ll sound great.

$300-400 Moondrop Para1 and any source, they’re extremely easy to drive and something like an apple dongle dac would be fine. (maybe an xduoo mt-602 for a nice kick in budget)

$500 Sennheiser HD6xx and a little dot mkII with some left over for tubes. This headphone has been core to me knowing what I like in the hobby, I enjoy mid-high impedance headphones that enjoy tubes. I’ve focused most of my hobby around those factors lately. (mmmm maybe throw an extra $100 at a decent dac) I almost never recommend these though because I find it heresy to listen to them with onboard, they scale so well and just want tubes.

$900 Focal Elex (going off the price I saw them drop to not what I paid) and a darkvoice se336 with a solid $100 dac. These headphones give me the most joy out of all of them recently on my dragon.

Anything over that would be wasted money imo until you get into “hifi” which I’m waiting on my two pairs of headphones to arrive. These are due to me living through my midlife crisis and I’ve spent more the past year than I have the 5 years before that on a dac amp and two headphones.

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But if you have to pick only one, you also have to consider portability. Ian - @Torq and I, and I think @Lothar_Wolf also decided that if we only get one, for everything, that it has to be something that we can use everywhere. Ian and several others went with AirPods Pro. I like that Audeze LCDi4 which I can use wired with the cipher cable or wireless with the bluetooth cipher cable that just goes behind my neck. Yes, it’s older and clunkier than the APPs but the sound quality is outstanding.

I like the ZMF and Hive and Rosson’s better. When I’m sitting and focused. But the LCDi4 was Audeze’ TOTL IEM effort, to bring the sound of the LCD-4 to a fully mobile size. And unlike most IEMs, they have actual soundstage.

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So does this mean that all music you listen to HAS to be through headphones? That would change thing’s a lot and I would probably go with the Sennheiser HDB630 even though I’ve never heard it and don’t own it. If you can still use speakers and car stereo’s etc then I stick with my original statement as I don’t find myself needing to use headphones on the go.

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Not at all. You can have speakers. You can go to concerts. It’s just a question about if you could have only one headphone, IEM, or other extreme nearfield device - like those around the neck things, or the goofy BOSE eyeglasses.

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Hmm. Didn’t think about portability. However, now that it has been raised, I would still pick the HD 600, and would get a Chord Hugo 2 to use for portability.

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I don’t use headphones outside of my home. I have enough difficulty with situational awareness and unplugging from big brother (or big sister) without that. And I like wires. :slight_smile:

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