Appreciate the clarity. Any chance you’d have that EQ laying around for reference?
Not at the moment, but in general you’ll want to either elevate the mid treble or reduce the upper mids around 3khz. I think Jude said in one of his videos that he EQs the LCD5 and CRBN similarly and I’m inclined to agree. Maybe a touch less on the CRBN.
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Exactly! Is his personal list that he is sharing with us, so what if your headphone is not on the spot you want to or not in the list. When I am reading all those comments about why this why that, I am telling myself: who gives a flying F#$#%ck, is his F%$##ing list.
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Dude: I thought the Meze 99 Classics was the best headphone I ever heard when I bought it a little more than a year ago. Then I learned more about sound signatures and was exposed to much more neutral and better sound signatures and headphones, and my opinion of the Meze changed from “amazing” to “fun, but Beats in a tuxedo.”
Another example: Thirty-five years ago, I was a treble monster. Cranked the treble button on every boom box and car stereo I owned. Loved that piercing detail. Now, my tinnitus-ravaged ears can’t stand excessive treble. I’m not a basshead, but I must have a bit of roll-off with treble. It’s why the HD 6XX are my easiest-listening headphones, by far. Does that make people who love Beyers idiots? No, that’s THEIR preferred signature.
TL;DR – People’s opinions change over time. People’s impressions of consumer goods change as they experience new and better products in the market. Product lines evolve. User tastes change.
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Has this thread already turned into a minefield for the OP?
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Just rename the thread to “The Headphone Ranking List” @Resolve . Stop pretending its a subjective list.
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Hahah yes, this is just like the tiermaker stuff. This is clearly 100% objective truth for everyone all the time 
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Yes I apologize! My post inadvertently drew attention to the very thing I was trying to avoid! I know that these lists can be a red rag to some folks (myself included). People generally like to see things categorized and ranked, which can be very problematic. This is certainly the case for headphones, which can be very subjective depending on taste, amongst other things. I’m still a huge fan of my original, un-molested HD800. I use it with a DNA stratus amp and its still very tough to beat, especially for orchestral/jazz. However, many reviews these days completely dismiss it. I’m always a big advocate of value in the Hifi world, and actually think the excessively high cost of many “flagship” headphones is nothing short of ridiculous. That’s why I have so much respect for the Heddphone. It delivers a superb level of sound for 1/2 or even a 1/3 of the cost of some. I can put up with the ergonomic shortcomings based on the fact that it’s Hedd’s first headphone and the nature of the drivers means that weight (at this stage) is likely unavoidable. No doubt as the technology matures, a lighter and more ergonomically acceptable version may be developed…but unfortunately it may not be the bargain that it is now. My advice to anyone who complains about the current HEDD weight/comfort…buy an EAMES listening chair, lie back and listen to the music!
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Rename it.
And for @metal571 sake, remove the EQ labels and preface that all headphones require the EQs.
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I should also try and see how it does with the ZMF Pilot Pads covering it. I find they make the top part for most headphones very comfortable. Next time I borrow a HEDDphone from the office I’ll test that and report back if it works.
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Lists are lists. Take any of them with a grain of salt. YMMV always. I found it interesting and helpful.
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I’m no expert, but my understanding of how we hear sounds and interpret position is based on several factors, including volume and timing, as well echo to some extent. A sound coming from your right will be louder in your right ear, and will arrive at the right ear before the left ear. The brain can detect this delay, and form an impression of the location of the origin of source of the sound. In an enclosed space, we interpret the echo and reverb to gauge the size of the space.
One of the problems with modern recording techniques is that there is often a microphone placed at each instrument or vocalist, or instruments directly connected to the mixing board, which are mixed at different volumes, and can be panned right or left, but only changing the volume, not the timing. Some recordings are made with each instrument/vocalist in an acoustically dampened recording booth which removes any echo/reverb.
The best recording technique for headphones would be binaural, where the microphones are embedded into a “dummy head” that captures the timing of the sounds in exactly the same way as we hear sounds naturally. There are a number of binaural recordings from Chesky Record on HDTracks.com, including some of the demo/test track collections. This can also be approximated with a “stereo mic” where two elements are located close together at a 90º or more angle, such as the “Jazz at the Pawnshop” recordings. Many of the recordings from SoundLiaison like Batik’s “The Old Man and the Sea” are done this way; minimally processed, single mic location, in an acoustically designed studio space.
The recording technique has a tremendous impact on the perceived soundstage.
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I see how one might label this as a problem, however, my ears often hear these “problems” as an ideal situation. There are many times when I am listening to a track and thinking just how much better I am enjoying it over a live presentation. I enjoy studio recordings over live music, not just for edits or multiple takes, but for the massive improvement that the sound engineer has created to alter the recording to something special. For instance, the artificial sound of being in the orchestra mic’d right next to a violin and hearing an artificial representation in space, hearing the resonation of wood on a violin or bass conveys so much more information on certain passages than a live concert might convey as a group.
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Binaural can be fun. But, I don’t think I want much of my music to have been recorded with binaural mics. I think maybe some ASMR porn might be fun though. “Oh Baby! Give me some more of that dynamic driver!”
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What do you call someone who isn’t an expert, but nevertheless know a whole lot of schiit about something? There’s gotta be a name for that in some language or another.
Thanks, you post was written in such a way that I could easily visualize the whole described process. Cheers!
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Just updated the ranking with a NO EQ TIER for those wanting that. Keep in mind that I’m very particular about tonal balance, and not everyone is going to share that preference. But of course, the previous lists are a more accurate reflection of overall preferences because I’m afforded a bit more flexibility to get them in line with my pickiness haha.
I’ll need to do a video about this soon but the whole debate about EQ has been somewhat blown out of proportion. I think some folks may see it as “EQ profile or nothing”, and I’d advocate for something in the middle instead. Simply put, I do not recommend liberal use of EQ, with the previous lists, the adjustments are all generally quite subtle, like adding a bass shelf or a wide filter reduction in the upper mids, stuff like that. Sometimes I do go more granular just to see, but the goal is to achieve as minimal adjustment as possible. Still, there are those who prefer not to use it at all, and that’s also perfectly fine.
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Demi-expert. Unless they know less, and are a Semi-Demi-expert, or only a little more than average, and are a Hemi-Demi-Semi-expert. Other terms may include “authority” always in quotes to differentiate them from actual authorities, or as seen on Rocky and Bullwinkle, “Mr. Know It All”.
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This is a huge point, even if we all hear the same way, people listen for different things.
Tonal balance is among the least interesting aspects of a headphones reproduction to me, I like headphones with FR’s that are all over the place, and I find it’s generally something I can listen past. Unless it’s hideously broken.
The timbre of an instrument and the naturalness of a stage are far more important to me.
But having said that I’d have the 1266 as my 3rd favorite headphone, even though I think it’s timbre is off at times, because it does other things well enough to compensate and “favorite” is about overall experience.
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With that said… I do tend to think much of this stuff is likely captured by FR. The usual issue of not being able to identify it easily or in any predictive manner persists haha. But I get what you mean.
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I’m going to continue to disagree on this.
A static frequency sweep at a fixed volume level can’t by it’s nature capture how a drivers ability to reproduce frequencies changes with volume.
I think you might be able to argue it if you captured frequency sweeps, at different output levels.
My current why great components sound great theory is it’s around the ability to be consistent in reproduction as dynamic range changes, but it’s an attempt to try and capture what I hear.
I still think transient response is also likely indicative of something, and many of the frequencies involved there wouldn’t be represented on a standard FR plot. A lot has changed in out understanding of the mechanics of hearing over the last couple of decades, it’s no longer though to be a simple set of things that vibrate with frequency. There is though to be significant sensitivity to the leading edge of a wave.
White noise tests probably also have a place, how does the FFT of a white noise sample differ from the frequency sweep if at all.
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We actually do do this, it’s just that it doesn’t get represented in the final output. So there’s really no change there apart from THD (although for different reasons that part is often inconsequential for high end headphones).
But I do agree it’s important to have an open mind. The reason I lean hard into FR though is because if you disregard all the target adherence stuff, there’s SO much in FR that we’re not analyzing. Like, you’d be amazed at how much there is contained within FR, and we’re really just scratching the surface. Of course with that said, I also remain open to other factors. Things like soundstage, ‘dynamics’ and planar or BA ‘timbre’, I leave the door open to additional factors playing a role there as well. It’s just that we can’t rule out FR being responsible because of how information-rich it is. So maybe a better way to think about it would be to say “this is a prudent place to start looking for it”, rather than saying “it’s all FR”… if that makes sense.
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