I too fell in love with Vandersteens! Couldn’t afford a pair at the time and then got into home theater. But that still convinced me that boxless speaker designs are the way to go. So now I find myself obsessed with open back headphones.
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This is one of the “better” forums out there for those with an audio interest. Feels more like a place to virtually hang out. Ive only been involved in one other forum over the years that I could honestly say was as congenial as this one and that was an amateur astronomy forum.
I too am considering a cable purchase. Mostly buying for comfort and aesthetics with the only audio necessity being zero microphonics. If there is a perceived improvement than hooray, if not then I still got a pretty cable. All my current can cables are stock.
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They were good shows… thanks much for doing them! 
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My first to blow me away was the Sundara. It actually made me cry. i used it on a Schiit Magni and Modi 3
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I’d say the first headphone to make me say holy crap would be the Etymotic ER-4P (which I converted to the S with a DIY cable I bought from another member on Head Fi). The sense of detail and resolution was otherworldly to me at the time. I’ve come a long way since then and have gone through a fair amount of gear, but the first time I got a good seal with those and listened through an Altoids Cmoy amp was a big milestone for me.
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Ultrasone proline 2500. My first real headphone. It made me turn around thinking there was a plane flyby… In my basement.
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Focal Clear.
Twenty.
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Definitely the Sennheiser HD600. I had just gotten a job at Best Buy back around 2007 and blew my first few paychecks on employee discounted Hifi Gear. There was an employee direct order program at the time where you could buy Yamaha/Denon/Marantz/Sony/Sennheiser gear at wholesale + 5%. I bought the highest level Yamaha receiver on the list, some Klipsch Bookshelf speakers, an Xbox 360, 28" 1080p monitor and some headphones from some german company called Sennheiser that I had never heard of but they were the most expensive headphones I could order at the time(~$500 msrp).
Ran an HDMI out from my PS3 as a network player into the Yamaha with the HD600 and that first time I was completely blown away by the sound. Relative to everything else I had owned up to then this was my first big step into hi-fi. I immediately started trying to think of music to listen to purely to explore it for details and nuances I hadnt heard up to that point.
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Has to be the STAX SR-202. I owned a couple pairs of kilobuck pairs and a cornucopia of mid-fi before then but the electrostat sound was just insanely appealing to me and was the first purchase I actually thought “damn, this was worth the money”. Then the spending started, and here I am with 009s. I’m still looking for a dynamic or planar that can do stat detail and texture but it simply doesn’t exist at the moment I suppose.
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Hd650 were my first pair that opened me up to the world, already coming from a 2 channel background
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Philips SHP 9500’s. I had been using some USB Plantronics Audio headset for work (which spilled over into gaming and music). I had no idea how terrible they sounded until my SHP 9500’s came in.
Before the 9500’s, I had tried various Corsair headphones for gaming (because I needed the mic for work), as well as the MH 752’s (which weren’t horrible, very comfy, but closed-back).
When I first listened to a few songs on the SHP 9500’s, I was amazed at how natural the sound was. I’m happy with the bass response, even though some people say it’s low. I also got a V-Moda Boompro for it and absolutely love this setup. Since the 9500’s, I’ve tried the X2HR’s, which in my opinion were not comfortable at all and the mids were too recessed for my liking. Also ordered the PC37x and that was so clampy on my head and had such little bass, I gave them to my son. I have yet to find something that beats the SHP 9500’s. (Also tried my friends AKG Q701’s, I like the 9500’s better!). HELP!
Got a Schiit Hel for Christmas and that’s nice, but it doesn’t improve the sound a huge amount compared to the USB C to 3.5mm dongle DAC that I was using). But it has some power to it.
Tried adjusting EQ on the 9500’s and for some reason they are really resistant to me messing with them compared to when I EQ’ed the MH752’s. The 9500’s seem to be telling me “You like how I sound, leave me alone!”
That said, I’ve bene eyeing the Sundara’s because everywhere I look, people say that is the best sound you’re going to get for that price. What I don’t know is…if I like the sound of SHP 9500’s, is Sundara the next step or does it have a much different profile that I may not like? I like the soundstage and “natural” sound of the SHP 9500’s. Does THAT at least carry through into Sundara’s or is there a better option to try as a SHP 9500 upgrade?
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My first real headphones are about 22 years old now are Sony MDR-7506. For the money its hard to top them.
I have ten year old Shure SE530 IEM’s that still sound great as well.
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Welcome to the forum. The Sundaras should be a good upgrade that shares the same sound signature. If you found the SHP9500s too bright, I’d suggest considering the Sennheiser HD6XX. I personally opted for the HD6XX over the Sundara.
Another possible option that I haven’t heard yet is the ibasso SR2. See some impressions here, mostly positive: iBasso SR2 - Official Thread.
Note that these upgrades will likely call for a slight upgrade in amplification to reveal themselves to something like the Schiit Magni 3+ or Asgard 3 (and a DAC such as the Modi 3+ or Modius).
Good luck.
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Thanks bpcarb, I don’t find the SHP9500’s too bright, I think they’re just right (as far as not fatiguing me). My question at this point is out of the three things:
Headphones
Amp/DAC
Source Material
What % makes the biggest difference? ie,
Heaphones 50%, amp/DAC 25%, source material 25%?
I’ve got the Hel, which seems to get really good reviews from people. I’m using Spotify on Highest quality and Amazon Music HD. Once I have Sundara’s through the Hel (I also have a Vali/Modi stack here that I’m borrowing from a friend), is the limitation the source material? Will it just not get better until I find a way to get my music in super duper hi-res FLAC or does Amazon Music HD suffice for that?
You’re welcome. I’ve struggled with this question too. I believe it depends on what price bracket you’re in. I recommend starting with the best headphones you can afford (until you get to the level of the ZMF Aeolus), and then building/improving the electronics and source.
The Hel is good, but Spotify Premium might be sufficient where Amazon HD hi-res is “excess not being extracted from the chain.” So to answer your question, the Hel would be the limitation, not the Sundara or the “at least 320 kbps” source material.
I probably wouldn’t get Amazon HD or hi-res until having a chain with at least the Sundara/HD6XX, Bifrost 2 (maybe Modi), AND Vali/Asgard.
If we assume the Sundara, I’d budget as follows as a starting point:
Sundara: $350
Amp: $150 to $200 (Schiit dollars go a longer way)
DAC: $100 (Schiit)
Source: Spotify Premium (Amazon HD if you prefer or budget permits)
It’s good that you have the Vali/Modi stack to try. I have a Modi Multibit and Vali 2 with upgraded tubes (Electro Harmonix 6CG7 and Amperex/BEL 6922 tubes) that I really like as a reasonably priced chain (I noticed a fairly significant upgrade when I changed the tubes; the EH-6CG7 sells for $15 to $25).
For quality of source material, note the distinction between hi-res and quality of the recording, where the latter is probably more important (e.g., well recorded Spotify > poorly recorded Amazon HD).
Those are my quick thoughts for questions that don’t always have bright line answers. I may have glossed over something and others may disagree. Good luck.
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So very true. I don’t care how good your headphones or amp or dac are, a bad recording piece of music will sound like a bad recording piece of music . Use the best music you can find.
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Most people will say it’s headphones that are most important by a far margin, then amp, then dac.
You would want at least cd quality source which Spotify doesn’t offer.
On Windows Amazon HD only plays at the format it thinks your dac is set to when the Amazon Music starts. Make sure Windows and the dac are set to at least 16/44 before starting Amazon Music.
If you can’t hear any difference between Spotify and cd quality (or higher) then there’s either a weak link in your playback chain or you just don’t perceive the difference. Hard to say which it is without being sure the music is playing in at least cd quality, which is itself hard to do. Yeah, I know not very helpful.
If you could play an actual CD through foobar or MusicBee that would give you a starting point.
You raise some good points. There’s a distinction between ability to hear the difference and whether the difference justifies the additional cost given the rest of the chain. That’s a subjective determination, cost benefit analysis.
Everyone is different of course, and I certainly don’t claim to be golden-eared, but I can hear the difference between 320 mp3 and cd quality when using a low end dac/amp and $100 speakers on my pc.
I haven’t heard the entry level Schiit gear but I have to believe it’s better than my old desktop dac/amp.
It’s really hard to get a common ground for comparison, between all the different equipment, software settings, etc.
I don’t know if there’s a way to resolve it without having different equipment on hand, and possibly someone who is familiar with them so they can identify where the bottleneck might be.
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I don’t doubt that you can hear the difference and I can hear the difference also.
Yup, common ground is a challenge.
I hesitate to go straight to recommending hi-res or CD quality for someone who is just entering the hobby who may not yet be able to hear the difference and whose journey can probably benefit long term (and allocate limited funds elsewhere) from hearing the subpar before elevating. Changing subscriptions isn’t that burdensome especially with free trials.