I find that cheap IEMs are often designed according to a “more is good” philosophy. Bass is good, so more bass must be really good. Treble is good, so more treble must be really good. Hence the typical V-shaped signature, leaving the poor midrange lost in the shuffle.
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I have to say a word about the Massdrop version of the VE Monk earbuds. These are absolutely amazing. I’m no pro and have nothing to lab test them with, but to my ears, I’m astounded at the open sound and the details. These have easily become my favorite EDC buds.
I’ve read there are other Chi-fi similars but I don’t see why anyone could want more in something to groove to while crunching on a database at work.
J
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My initial gear was the magni/modi schiit stack with hd650. I also had a pair of the 6xx but my wife took those…
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HD650’s are a great set of cans no matter what other gear you own. I will never get rid of mine even though I have technically better cans such as the HD800 and Focal Clears.
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But I did learn here that they are at their best with adequate - more than adequate power.
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Yes I agree with a suitable power source the do sound better. Though I haven’t heard the HD650’s through an OTL amp like the Bottlehead Crack.
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Oh wow!! At some point in time( little time unfortunately ) we had the same headphones.
I own the HD800 , the HD6xx and the Clears.
Loved the Clears, but had to return them because a scraping sound on left driver with heavy bass songs and now I stay with the Elears that I din’t get to sell when Clears arrived.
The true is since using HD800 and Elears with TruFi Sonarworks the HD6xx haven’t had to much use , but I got them at such an excellent price that make me change my mind every time I think about selling them.
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Great minds think alike and all that… But joking apart they are all solid choices. Not exactly below $500 but I get your point. Yes you can’t go wrong with any of these. I haven’t heard the Elears but they are also said to be a solid set of headphones. Apparently they sound quite like the Clears with the Clear pads on.
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Elears, like Clears, are the most sturdy and well build headphones I ever tried( not big experience tho), you feel they are the only headphone species that can survive a headphone’s cataclysm. About the sound… compared to Clears, Elears sound a little bit dreadful, but using Sonarworks after @Torq advice, the change is incredible.
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You can also buy the Elex pads (when they’re available) from Drop.com and the end result is pretty similar, if you don’t want/can’t have extra software in your chain.
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Yes I was mistakenly thinking of the Elex that are nearer to the Clears in sound. But I will agree with you that the Focal’s seem to be very well made. The Clears are fantastically built. You feel as you are getting your money’s worth. Sonarworks is a great piece of software.
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One more time thanks for all your advices!! I’ll be on top of them.
It is an amazing software!! HD6xx is the one I don’t hear/feel an improvement with Sonarworks.
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Yes I will agree with you on that. To be honest I wouldn’t want to change too much with the 650.
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I agree I have the hd800s the Elex and lcd-x and i keep going back to the hd650
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Do you have a tube amp? I found the HD6XX series and especially the HD800(s) to pair really well with them…(Mass)Drop has the Eddie Current ZDT Jr up pretty regular now and it is a great option for them…or the Schiit Lyr3 would be another. My preferred tube is the Bottlehead Crack w/speedball.
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Not yet, I haven’t jumped in that end of the pool, still learning about them.
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That part of the pool is warm, deep and gets pricey quick if you are not careful 
but it is fun!
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I want to go with “Magni3” . Any Positive or Negative review ???
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Had one. It was fine. JDS Labs Atom measures better but feels cheaper. In that price range some people also like the Liquid Spark.
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