Hello and welcome @marutks. That a great set of headphones you have there and I can see why they would be your endgame set.
in chronological orderā¦
AKG K701 for my wife - in white ā¦ sits forever in a box and gets no use
DT 770s 80 Ohm - still not that bad with good isolation, top build and was carried mobile long time
Fiio E10K DAC/Amp - worst thing ever - good to see now cheap and very good for under 100$/ā¬
HD600 gave it later to my father - prefered it over the 650/6xx
a Sennheiser RS 175 for TV at night - getĀ“s no use - comfort is top and sound was alright
Hyper X Cloud II with the USB DAC/Amp dongle - first contact with a āDAC/ampā - top passive isolation
SMSL M6 DAC/Amp - still in use by my wife in her home office 2.1 setup - has a fairly clean hf out
Marshall Mid BT for my wife - lives near my bed and collects dust - too much clamp for an on ear
some cheep random BT IEMs for podcasts and soā¦ on the go ā¦ would skip this and use ES 100
Samsung Galaxy IEMs came with the S8+ - ātuned by AKGā started my interest in IEMs
HD 660s after the 600 left - worst mistake I made - getĀ“s no listening time and should be sold
Fiio Q1 II mobile DAC/Amp - first step in āmobile/balancedā for a few weeks - kept as backup - no rec
Fiio BTR3 mobile BT DAC/Amp - bit warmer sounding ā¦ for my wife with 58x or Porta Pro
ifi xDSD - best buy in the last years for DAC/Amps
Chord Mojo(sold) - nice DAC with lots of amp-power though xDSD was all around my favorite
Tin Hifi T2 Pro - not recommended
Earstudio ES 100 mobile BT DAC/Amp - with any IEM and LDAC BT on your phone is good enough
58x for my wife - fun budget kings - could get sold
Porta Pro with Yaxi Pads for my wife - all she needs
DT 1990 Pro used with analytical pads - getĀ“s not much time and waits for a tube amp
Tin Hifi T3 - skip it and get the T4 or T2 if on a budget
THX AAA 789 may Drop with the last massdrop layout - does not get in the way
SMSL SU-8 v2 DAC - love the remote though prefer the ifi xDSD DACĀ“s sound
Focal Elegia as office closed back or on the sofa - gets most usage of all - could keep just this one
Koss KPH 30i just for looks/fun - the Porta Pro is way better
Dekoni Elite Velours pads for the 1990s - changes it into another hf - second worst mistake
Tin Hifi T4 - is for now my balanced IEM of choice - wonĀ“t go higher in budget for a longer time
ā¦ HiBy R5 (DAP) is on itĀ“s way and getĀ“s compared to the iBasso DX160 - not sure about DAPs yet
ā¦ the Hifiman Ananada in the next weeks - hope so!
ā¦ a BC OTL build in the next months as preparation for a ZMF headphone and the 1990s(last chance)
ā¦ RME ADI 2 v2 DAC/Amp in the next months
all I could afford at the time or did not knew better
I researched most items excessively
not a fan of overly warm/dark sounding equipment
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My current headphones are as follows:
Headphone Inventory:
Open Back headphones
- Focal Elex
- Audeze LCD-2C
- Sennheiser HD600
- Sennheiser HD660s
- Oppo PM2
- AKG K712 pro
- Verum V1
- Monoprice M1060
Closed Back headphones
- Neumann NDH 20
- Meze Audio (Massdrop edition) 99 Noir
IEM/IEH:
- Audeze iSINE10 w/CIPHER Lightning Cable
- Tin Audio/Hifi T2
Portable Headphones:
- NAD VISO HP50
Active Noise Canceling (ANC) Headphones:
- Sony MDR-1000X
- Sony WH-1000X MK3
- Bose QC15
- Bose QC25
Started with a pair of Bose QC15 back when they first came out, progressed to the NAD VISO HP50 when they came out and my first ābetterā headphone was the Oppo PM2. Have been ācollectingā more ever since. My current daily driver is the Focal Elex.
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My current Equipment is as follows:
Headphones
HD58X
HD650
HD800
Focal Clear
Of these to be honest I listen to the 650ās the most.
Iems
Shure Se425
Shure Se846
CA Andromeda (OG)
64 Audio U18t
Massdrop Plus
T2 Pro
CCA C12
Being an iem kinda guy the U18t gets most of my head time. I listen to this coupled with my Pioneer XDP-300R or my trusty Ipod Touch 6g. I also have a soft spot for my Se846. Over the last 4 years I have bought and sold a stupid amount of headphones. With the greatest majority of them being iems. My fingers never stop getting that itch to fire up my phone to look for more iems. Though to be honest I am satisfied with what I have and feel really blessed to own what I do.
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Nice collection, Paul. Interesting that for your full sized headphone listening you use the HD 650 the most. Thatās a real testament to their sound quality given the other headphones in your collection.
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Happiness isnāt having what you want; itās wanting what you have. as the wise saying goes
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I am also giving the HD6XX more use than anything while at my desk @prfallon69
However, as I am travelling constantly lately (or so it seems) I have been mostly using the ZS10 Pro and the T2. I would love to upgrade IEMs as the ZS10 Pro still tire me but I havenāt even had time to check in here or do any online surfing to find some.
I have actually gone for around 3 or 4 months without buying anything headphone related!
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I have the Sennheiser HD650 (listened to them for a few years) but I later bought the HD700 and usually prefer using them for the last few years. Iāve occasionally considered buying the HD800 so I would like to know why you end up using the 650s more than the HD800. How do you compare them?
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So I thought I should share what headphones I currently am listening to as well!
Here are some short reviews and impressions of the current headphones I am listening to as well as some that I didnāt keep around for one reason or another. This is all of course subjective from my point of view and you may not agree or feel the same way.
Just so everyone knows what my sources of music are, the devices they are playing from and what is driving/converting the digital signal.
Iphone 11, IpadPro 2018, IMac, MacBook Pro, Audio Technica 120 usb Turntable, SMSL THX 200 amp with SMSL 8U-A V2 DAC for desktop, iFi XDSD for on the go listening. All streaming is from Amazon Music HD, and well Vinyl is Vinyl but whenever possible I try to obtain master recordings and higher quality pressings.
- Sennheiser 6XX-
The headphones that started me down this path of being an audio purist, phile, lover, uhhhh person ā¦
What I like: I love the warmth, mostly neutral sound, non fatiguing listening experience they provide. Intimate vocals that are just beautiful like being right next to the singer or I am the microphone. I am able to use tone control with the 6XX and the Schiit Loki to bring up the lower end some in some cases I bring up the first 3 dials on the Loki a touch and they sound even better to me. I really want to get a true tube amp to see what these are really capable of. The headphones are very lightweight and I can wear them for a very long time without issue. They are owned by thousands of music listeners and are great reference headphones for listening to when online reviewers compare other headphones to them. For less than $200 hard to beat. I use these for relaxed and critical listening. I also use them for really long photo editing sessions and I will even travel with them.
What I donāt like about them:
Clamp force is pretty strong and the headband comfort is not my favorite but still overall a very comfortable headphone to my medium sized head. They due tend to have a bit of an audible veil or rolled off treble that everyone refers to compared to my other headphones. This can be managed some with tone control.
- Sennheiser True Wireless Momentums IEM-
Purchased these when my bluetooth IEM beats of 8 years died and I didnāt love the sound from Apple AirPods.
What I like: Pretty great sound for bluetooth with a sound signature and easy listening experience Sennheiser is known for with some of their other models. Fairly comfortable for IEM. To be honest I donāt enjoy IEM from a comfort stand point so take my opinion on comfort with a grain of salt. They have a pretty fun app you can download to your phone or IPAD and play around with a little eq. which is interesting. I usually just leave them set to standard though. Transparency mode works pretty well to hear the outside world, at the gym, when wanting to talk to others or listen for the boogey man when on the go. USB charging case with additional charges is also nice. The case is small and clean looking. They go on sale quite often so you can usually get them well below their normal retail price. I have only heard a few true wireless IEMās, but for me these sounded better than the rest with pretty good detail and imaging. I mostly use these for business calls on the go, gym, travel, hiking, and outdoor activities.
What I donāt like:
Battery life, Battery life, Battery life. They just seem to always need more and more charging even when I havenāt used them and they have been sitting in their case. The design of how you need to twist them into your ear canal is a bit weird coming from say beats IEM or Apple AirPods. They also can tend to fall out over time, but this could just be the luck of my ear canals and why maybe I donāt like IEM. Tapping to control track skipping, taking calls, volume up and down I found to not be the best probably due to the small size.
- Sennheiser 550XII NC Headphones
I picked these up recently for a trip to Moscow, Russia where I was photographing the first NPC/IFBB sanctioned Bodybuilding show in Russian history. I had a pretty long travel/flight schedule to get there from Nevada, USA. I thought about getting just closed backs for the trip but luckily some smart people urged me to definitely get some noise cancelling headphones for the flights.
What I like: Pretty comfortable, ear pads are some of the softest/squishiest on my list. Compact and can fold up nicely in their travel case. I actually carried them inside a Scotte Vest Jacket to give you reference for how portable they are. The Sennheiser app for these is even better than that of the True Wireless Momentum IEMās as it offers fun listening modes for types of music and movies. I enjoyed that for plugging in on the long flights and watching some great movies. Noise cancelling is decent but donāt expect it to completely get rid of all the engine noise or background noise. Imaging and detail retrieval is pretty good on these as well. I found I could definitely listen to them for hours on end with no ear fatigue. Battery life is superb, I really didnāt need to charge them often if ever for my entire trip. Sound quality is super good through bluetooth almost hard to audibly hear a difference when plugged into my iFi XDSDā¦almost. They power on and off with a simple twist, pretty cool. Easy to connect to multiple devices such as my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro via bluetooth. You are able to control volume up and down, skip tracks forward or back, take calls with touching the outside of the headphones. It takes a bit to learn but once you get it down it works pretty well. It does take some practice and isnāt always perfect likely due to my error.
What I donāt like:
Older usb charging connection. I would have liked to see Usb C so I had to bring one less cable when traveling. Noise canceling could be better but honestly this is my first noise cancelling headphone so I have no frame of reference. What I have read is the Bose NC are the best for Noise cancelling but donāt necessarily sound the best. I guess it is a trade off. Ear pads could have been a bit bigger allowing more room for my ears. This would have made them more comfortable. Listening for long periods on a flight my ears did feel a bit warmer than I am used to.
- Focal Elear w/ Clear Pads purchased from @taronlissimore on headphones.com .
I was actually originally looking to Purchase the ELEXās from Drop as I had read they were a beefed up 6XX when I discovered the drop sale price recently ended and another Drop member posted a link to headphones.com where I found the current sale bundle price. They were less expensive than what Drop was offering with two sets of pads and a carrying case plus a 5 year warranty! Taron sealed the deal with exceptional service, tons of patience, fast response time, and fast shipping.
What I like: Pretty much everything. Sexy looking, amazing build quality, 2 listening experiences with two sets of pads, nice clean thump in the low end compared to my other headphones, great detail retrieval, wider sound stage then all my other headphones, the speed of the drivers is pretty incredible, just really fun and exciting to listen to for all genres of music so far for me. Cable is really, really, long! At first I didnāt think I was going to like that, but actually I do, as it allows me to roll around my office in my chair or walk around and not have to unplug! The headphones are heavier than all my other headphones but they are super comfortable and just feel incredible to hold and admire when not being used to listen. I honestly love almost everything about them. Coming from the 6XX these just felt like I just leveled up my listening experience and removed that veil. Also they take well to some tone control via the Loki and I can make them thump a bit more in the low end and bring up the mids a bit without any issues so far.
What I donāt like:
Treble on certain tracks can be a little bright and I find this can make the headphones a little fatiguing for longer listening sessions. However a little tone control via the Loki helps with this. Some tracks I do feel like I also want to bring up the mids and lower end a touch to really make these sound perfect to my ears. So really none of these are dislikes just small things that I choose to tackle with tone control.
- Hifiman Ananda
Last but definitely not least! I received these literally today when the mail man woke me up around 6:30 am, lol. I have been listening to them ever since. So this is my initial impression of these headphones. Once again @taronlissimore guided me with this purchase and his service and guidance were spot on as usual.
What I like:
Improved soundstage over all the headphones so far. Wider, larger, deeperā¦ get your minds out of the gutter! No but seriously, Soundstage is the best of all the headphones I own, as is detail retrieval, tone, and overall comfort (so far only had them for one day). I havenāt even touched the Loki with these headphones their tone has been right on for me for everything I have listened to so far which spans almost every genre of music. They are lightweight and fit well on my medium sized head. They seem to pair beautifully with the SMSL THX amp. The large planars sound great across the board including the low end, not as much punch as the ELEARās but clean, accurate, and a pleasure to listen to. Midās are beautiful, and the Treble isnāt really ever too bright for my ears with detail for days! Honestly so far these are my favorite headphones I have ever listened to. The sale price right now is amazing from headphones.com and I believe they have one pair open box up for grabs that are deeply discounted. If you havenāt heard these headphones, you might be missing out. I highly recommend these headphones, even though I may be new to the game.
What I donāt like:
The cables from the manufacture they come with donāt seem that great from a build quality perspective. No noticeable audible issue with the cables however, just kind of weird clear cheap looking cables. The headphones overall donāt have the same level of build quality as the Focal Elearās do but what they donāt have in build quality they make up for in sound quality.
Ok so what did I have that I parted with?
Sennheiser 58X from drop- they were to close to the 6XX and I preferred the 6XX sound signature. They are both awesome but I wasnāt going to keep both and one had to go.
Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO 250 Ohm Over-Ear Studio Headphones. It was a long time ago, but if my memory serves me correctly the mids felt very recessed on them and overall I didnāt like the fit. Compared to the 6XX they just didnāt do it for me.
Bose old wired IEMās that I donāt even know what model they are. I actually still have these but will likely keep as emergency use only and or gift to someone in my family.
Beats IEM wireless bluetooth. They actually stopped working after like 8 years.
So there you go! Some short reviews and impressions of what I currently am listening to! I hope this helps someone, as I know it can be tough living in a small town or city and not having hifi audio shops around to audition the headphones in person.
MR
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Hi @duke.briscoe. well the HD650 obviously canāt compete with the HD800 for Soundstage and Imaging as well as being technically superior. The 650 however is a much easier headphone to listen to tonally it just feels right. The Mids sound so nice. If I could transfer these qualities over to the HD800 I would have one hell of a headphone.
Sound wise I like analytical headphones but the can and do get fatigueing. So hence when I need to use overear headphones i am spoilt for choice really. I know i donāt have any really top tier overears but for my circumstances I feel I have the best I can get at this moment in time.
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Thank you to everyone else who has commented on my gear too. I appreciate the feedback. Youāre a good set of guyās and gals.
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Agree!! I have the HD800 and Elears but HD6xx is the one I use the most, maybe because is the one stored close to my seat at the studio and is a easy reach without standing.
Some times I think about selling all of them and just buy one, a perfect one and thatās it, but that is NOT possible. Right??
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Do you find the HD800 to ever sound sibilant or have to much treble? I have read different things online about it? I have been thinking about maybe snagging some one day or the HD800S.
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I donāt think I could ever get down to just one overear headphone. After all, it would need to cover all bases and be an exceptionally great allrounder. I donāt know of one as yet. I mean there may be one out there. I suppose thatās the $64,000 question.
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In a long session of listening, yes, they are but not in a horrible way, at least to my ears. If you are planning to jump on them, go with the HD800S and problem solved, for the price difference you can also get the HD800 and do the modification for an extra $30 and some cold blood on your side.
Sonarworks also work fine with them.
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My HD800 (sdr mod) is awesome! But, since getting the Aeolus/Verite/Verite Closed/RAAL SR1A they have gotten almost zero head timeā¦but I canāt bring myself to move them along lol
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I wonder whyā¦???
I was commenting to @prfallon69 about the āperfectā headphones early today, I know is impossible, but I find myself reaching for the same 80% of the time (HD6xx) and is not even the best of them, There is a big amount of laziness on my side, but stillā¦ HD800 and Elears are on top of one of my shelfs while HD58x and Grados sr80e are in their boxes like new and even LCD i3 do not get too much use unless Iām looking for an specific presentation on my music. Iāll be the perfect guy to conduct an experiment to probe you can live with only one set of cans ( or two, letās not to go too extreme).
I had the Clears for 2 or 3 weeks early this year and love them and Iām pretty sure they could be doing that 80% right now if I still had them. In the other side of the story, your comments months ago about how the Aeolus kill the Clears put me to think ,again ,about idea of selling āall of the aboveā, but the LCD i3 and just get the Aeolus. Any way, is not the right moment for that analysis since this is the peak of the work for my wife and myself and January is vacation time for the family!!!
In February Iāll put my brain to work on that again and Iāll be asking some questions to ZMF owner in here, so you know .
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I have like many of us gone thru dozens of headphones, and liked most of themā¦and still have 6 or 7 headphones, but the Focal Clears I have now for a few months have made me the most happy over all the others those still here and those that are gone. The tonality and presentation is so compelling to me I could sell all the others and be very happy with theseā¦so much I have thought of buying a second set in case they stop making these!!! :>)
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I stand by my statement that the ZMF Aeolus is probably all anyone āsaneā in this hobby would ever need! But, if you are on this forum than the likely hood of being a āsaneā i.e. normal consumerā¦are pretty low lolā¦
Mind you, this is my opinion and I donāt think it is the end all be all opinion, I hear things my way, everyone else hears things their way.
That being said, I have yet to come across anyone that hasnāt at least enjoyed the Aeolus.
They in my opinion find the balance between the HD800/Clears/LCD-X and some othersā¦ Yes, you guessed it, another ābutā lolā¦but, all of those other headphones do either something or a couple of things better than the Aeolusā¦ The Aeolus just does in my opinion everything very good if not excellent, and might not dominate certain areas like the others do, but, it gets you almost there in those areas it is beaten.
Also everyone says the Elex or Clears are the upward path for the HD6xx/650 but after doing that upgrade path, and now owning none of them, but, the Aeolus should tell you somethingā¦
I.e. I think the Aeolus has more in common with the HD650 than the Focalsā¦my opinion though 
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did you listen to the Hifiman Ananda?
Andrew had compared them to the Clears in his review.
While I did like the Clears, I prefered my Elegia and am now at the point where I would like to own a open āClear planarā with it
I have auditioned the Ananda a few times and it was great!
Still had no chance to try the Aeolus. ā¦ This is planned for spring at a dealer 350 km away from our place.
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