I have a bunch of other stuff connected to the BF2/64 using the RCA out to a switch. The XLR-3 balanced goes to the Lokius and the Decware only.
I’ve found lighting cigars with $100 bills is genuinely pleasurable. I don’t smoke cigars, but the process is amazing. Pounds, Euros, Yen, etc. too. Fun.
I enjoy skipping stones across ponds, and found that 1 oz gold bullion coins are superior to stones in many ways. It’s their density and consistent shape I think.
Travel can get pricey too. I’ve been saving up for a trip from Pt. Barrow, Alaska to Tierra del Fuego (and back). I will drive a Jeep and camp every 50 km along the route. Of particular interest, I seek to personally validate/observe the Coriolis effect on water in toilets. As such, I must pause to poop at every camp. It’s worth it.
Whew. For a moment there I thought you might be hanging out with @Torq
But seriously, I’d bet my brontosaurus foreskin leather cowboy boots that you’re just being silly. Everyone knows that you should light cigars with a lighter fueled with genuine princess farts.
I appreciate all the different takes here on minimum system requirements, including the ones which are out of range of my current budget.
I’m slightly surprised though by the popularity of the Schiit hardware, including their EQs! And wonder why some of you prefer that route over digital solutions. I’ve used analog EQ’s in the past. And I like them. But I also like the greater precision offered by something like EAPO. And wouldn’t really want to give that up. (Plus it’s free. So it fits the “minimum” requirement.)
Hmm. I don’t think my budget will extend that far this time. But will have another look at the FT7. And I appreciate the suggestion on this, Argha.
I’ve been perusing different vendors for deals on the FiiO FT1 Pro, Senn HD550 and HD490 Pro. And finding a few good offers on other headphones as well, like the HD600 and HD650. One of the older AKG’s (K701 or K702) was also marked down over July 4 at GC. But it looks like that deal is over.
I’m havin some difficulty finding a new HD 490 Pro for less than about $400 though.
There are other planar headphones I’d consider than the FiiO’s as well, like the HFM Sundara and Edition XS. And maybe Audeze MM-100. I’m not exactly sure how these would stack up against each other though.
Ha-ha. But I don’t need any convincin on this. I’ve listened to dozens of headphones before making my previous purchases. And will probably be A/B-ing a few this time as well. I do pay attention to measurements though. And find them useful in narrowing down some of my options. And they also help with EQ. Hopefully, you won’t hold that against me.
I only trust my ears up to a point, because I’ve already lost some of my high frequency hearing. So I do like to verify what I think I’m hearing with the measurements.
I appreciate your suggestions on the Schiit gear as well. A DAC card won’t work well for me in my current setup though, because I listen to multiple sources through my TV.
Yes. I have some experience in this area as well, principally related to video and computer imaging, but also audio as well. So I have some familiarity with concepts like JND, Weber-Fechner, Stevens’ Power Law, the Munsell Color System, and some of their off-shoots. It’s been awhile since I delved deeply into some of that stuff though.
One of my main interests was the perception of lightness in different surrounds, such as darker vs. brighter rooms for watching video. I also made some of my own patterns for checking the image quality on different video gear. These are not easy subjects though, and it took me a very long time to really begin to grasp some of the complexities that are involved.
Dude, IMO this is bass ackward. You have your ears and will never have another set of ears. What you hear is the only possible input that you can hear. All of us have hearing damage, hearing loss, or quirks as we age, and all of us should seek personalized solutions.
While confirmation bias and goofy ‘audiophile’ poetic nonsense are real things, your ears are the first and last judge. My university background involved human testing, and the methods are complex and expensive. So, one must either follow a human perception/illusion evaluation process that’s 10x or 100x more involved than ASR’s simplistic and (largely irrelevant) measurements, or just live with your personal perception.
Listen to stuff. Do you like it? Does it cause you to turn down the volume or want to stop in an hour? Does it make your ears ring or give you a headache? If not, just go with it. Another human property is habituation, whereby everything sounds “normal” after a while. Then consider blind test failures…wasted money…
Being an audio gearhead can be a great hobby, but it’s not going to get you to the “premier listening experience” destination. Gearheadism may even send you down misguided paths (i.e., Bose; THX).
One of the big traps it’s easy to fall into in this hobby, is judging on first impressions, it’s quite possible to be very impressed with something, or even appreciate that something is exceptional and not actually want to listen to it for an extended period.
I can appreciate the 600 Ohm DT880 is a great headphone for the money, but I couldn’t live with it, it’s like having pencils jabbed in my ears. I can hear and appreciate what the Dan Clark Ethers do well, but having owned a pair I can tell you despite it being the most comfortable headphone I have owned, I hated it’s presentation, and never used it.
The fact other people I know love those headphones doesn’t make them any better for me.
I owned a ZMF Verite and Eikon at the same time, the Verite is clearly the better headphone to my ears, but when it came to sell one I sold the Verite because when I had them side by side and could choose to listen to either, I picked the Eikon 3 times out of 4, and if you don’t listen to it there isn’t much point in owning it.
I owned each of the (mostly) at different times. Can tell you that, most of my time is spent on HD600.
But that’s just me & I don’t generally look for tech in headphones that much. But HD600 is something.
490 Pro is OK, great for a lot of things but it still needs refinement in the treble.
I generally won’t suggest you go for MM100 unless you take a listen for yourself. Most XS Safe-bet according to me. But fit and comfort is not something I can find on those, that too with QA & QC
Man, I’m not used to giving recommendations about higher budgets. I’ve focused most of my time on lower budget products. Also I’m not used to being among people who have such high end equipment either. So I can’t really speak much into this price bracket. But I can say what of my collection past and present I would choose given lowest budget possible. But man…. if you can go to $1k then I’d go for it.
I really enjoy my Focal Elex and am listening to them on my tube amp because I had forgotten about them, but sitting here on the couch I remember how good that they are. But virtually all of my hardware has something imperfect with it. These Elex are a touch heavy and don’t lend themselves to extended listening sessions. I’ve worn them all day but they do get ever so slightly weighted. They’re not nearly as comfortable as the r70x refine. Harmonic dyne Zeus is the same but heavier with low clamping force. Could be my small pointy head though lol, but I get a hotspot on the top of my head and the back of my ears.
I almost want to say DT1990pro because they’re lighter and perhaps more comfortable, I can’t for the life of me find them to see if that’s correct. They are sonically very similar to the Elex but it looks like you can’t get the MKI anymore and I’ve seen that people dislike the MKII (I’d look into this yourself)
Man you’re making me think a lot when you put an emphasis on comfort because I just wear my R70x all the time due to comfort while still sounding pretty darn good. I’ve been debating this for quite a while tonight.
I think that I’ll have to go with the Moondrop Para because even though it’s heavier than the Elex, I just put them on and they “feel” way lighter than they are. Again I have a really tiny head so it almost feels to big for me but when you consider the performance of them they are certainly my choice.
I haven’t tested them on various dac’s and amp’s but I would just get minimum acceptable because they are very easy to drive. Maybe even just start with an Apple Dongle DAC before you go for something better. The only stack I’ve had in this price range is a schiit stack, but… that doesn’t exist anymore so I’m stumped. You’ll have to go with someone elses recommendation for a stack. I don’t know how the Para 2 compares, haven’t watched resolves review on it yet. Let’s just say that I actually broke my Para through sheer abuse and carelessness… And I almost want to buy them again they’re that good.
Thanks for the reply, Klute. I appreciate you bringing some new ideas to the table on this. And apologize for not getting back and responding in a better way to some of the other suggestions here, for so long.
The July 4th sales sort of came and then went. So there’s a bit less urgency to my particular situation. It’s still fun and intersting to hear what others think on this subject though, even if I may disagree with or not be able to afford some of it.
Gives me somethin to keep in mind though for possible future purchases.
More headbands are being designed with a divot or indention at the top, like I think you have on the AT R70X. I think at least one version of the Beyer 1990 also has this. And it’s trickled down to revisions on some of the new lower-end Beyers as well. I think the brightness in the treble on the 1990 might be a problem though for me.
I don’t know that much about the Moondrop Para, but it would be interesting to try something in that line as well. If you feel like sharing, I’m curious to know why you think this is one of the better sounding headphones you’ve used in the mid-fi-ish price range.
Also, although I haven’t tried one myself, at least a few people here seem to like the Capra straps for dealing with problematic headbands. Not sure if that would apply to your situation. But I think DMS, Listener, and Resolve have all recommended or used these for various headphones.
Resolve just reviewed the Para 2, and on this past weekend’s Noise Floor podcast, he and Listener talked about its potential for being a “value” at its price point, especially if you’re willing to pad swap. Resolve seemed to think the form factor and driver made it worth looking into. They also discussed Super Review’s headband hack for the Para 2, in which he flipped it upside down to make it more accommodating to small and medium-sized heads.
Tonight I gave my 6xx a session and I started to think about this post…. And honestly given some time to think about it, there is absolutely no beating the 6xx/600/650 on tubes. If you want variety and a hobby to pursue, this can’t be beat. Sorry if I don’t recognize you to the fullest extent, I’m new here but I remember you talking about ringing with certain products.
IMO: Someone looking for the utmost bang for the buck in a continuing audio journey NEEDS to get the Sennheiser 6 family. It is comfortable well built and scales extremely well. In the tech forum I frequent I almost never recommended them, but it was always on the tip of my tongue. The old 6 family is just beautiful. It reflects every bit of the chain leading up to it, from the source of the audio to the ears, change something and it will show. They love tubes and if this fit’s into your life I would highly recommend it. The 6xx is some kind of version of the 600 and 650 and even when considering the higher cost of the non-drop version, it is still worth the asking price IF your budget allows for it. *(if someone stole my 6xx and drop wasn’t an option, I would order the 600/650 tonight)
When you want something that is a journey, a hobby and eventually a passion; this family of headphones is worth it for your budget. I can’t speak to dac and amp combinations because I haven’t used anything that will fit in budget for a while, but there are SO many options that would be good for them that I won’t even do a disservice of making a recommendation. I say get these and then play with dac’s amp’s and tubes (tubes giving the most impact).
Thank you for your post. Yes, I mentioned that the Beyer 1990 appears like it might be a little bright in the treble for for my liking. The same is true for my current Beyer DT 770.
The difference between the HD6XX and DT1990 is less dramatic. The DT1990 is brighter in some spots in the treble though. And somewhat better extended in the sub-bass (a feature I’d like). And has a bit of a notch at around 3k.
6XX has always been on my shortlist to try. I suppose my main reason for resisting it has been its lack of sub-bass. In the above plots though, my current closed-back DT770’s do not look much better extended in the sub-bass than the open-back 6XX. And the 6XX certainly looks smoother in its response (which is not unusual for open headphones).
I had the original DT1990 for around 1.5 years during the pandemic. The bass is indeed very good: it’s clean, tight and well extended for a dynamic driver headphone. The mids are tonally correct, although recessed compared to bass and treble. The highs are too much and the Beyer peak is definitely there: not so crazy as DT990 with fresh pads, but definitely higher than the DT770. Then, it’s multiple resonances, not just the 9kHz. What I recall from the reviews is that mk2 is even spikier and harder to tame than mk1. If you plan doing extensive EQ, then it is probably manageable, otherwise it’s just not a good choice for the treble. Of the subjective qualities, it’s is quite punchy, closest to the Focal level I heard (the DT1990 is much punchier than your DT770, for example), and has a wide soundstage and decent imaging for a dynamic (comparable to some planars).
If you don’t care about stage width and don’t plan do do a lot of EQ, I would recommend a Focal Elex over a DT1990. If you care about smooth treble and overall naturalness and listen mostly to vocal and acoustic music, then HD6xx/650/600…
I’ll actually stop here and ask about your priorities:
What genres of music do you mostly listen to?
What FR regions are the most important for you (yes, you have to prioritize)
How much do you care about “punch”? And “soundstage size”? And “imaging accuracy”?
What do you value about the sound in general?
Are you going to use EQ?
From what I have heard, “premier all-rounders” like e.g. Austrian Audio The Composer, Hifiman Susvara, HE1000 Unveiled, Tungsten and DCA E3 all exist above the $2000 price mark. Below that bar you can get amazing experiences but you have to prioritize certain things over others.
Even this tier involves hard choices and trade-offs. I’ve demoed all but The Composer, and wouldn’t personally ever choose the Susvara or the DCA. The Susvara comes across as too refined/overly smoothed, and all DCA products seem too compressed and forward.
The high-end Meze dual-driver headphones can be treble cannons despite fantastic build quality. The Audeze LCD-5 sounds great to me, but the CRBN family has really rough treble. The Utopia is superb, but I always hear random piercing treble spikes. The Abyss Diana was not memorable or distinct in any fashion, while the AB-1266 Phi TC (Dr. Who Robotmen style) has extremely fun bass but its general flabbiness results in technical limitations. ZMF’s products vary by style and price, and I didn’t like some models at all (nor did I like anything closed back from them).
Frankly, many flagship tradeoffs end up sounding worse to me than my HD 800 S (currently $1,699+). So, I’m in no rush to upgrade – of those mentioned above I’m most likely to get the LCD-5.
But I don’t need any convincin on this. I’ve listened to dozens of headphones before making my previous purchases. And will probably be A/B-ing a few this time as well. I do pay attention to measurements though. And find them useful in narrowing down some of my options. And they also help with EQ. Hopefully, you won’t hold that against me.
