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Best All Round Heaphones

by thedankvader420

Audiophile

SHARE: GIVE $10, GET $10

1768 votes

Best All Round Heaphones

by thedankvader420

Audiophile

SHARE: GIVE $10, GET $10

1768 votes

mayorblurps

499

This poll would be better if split up. You have everything from TOTL Focal Utopias to M50x and Bluetooth headphones. No way to really vote on best all around with $800+ all the way down to less than $100 budget cans but I voted best wired OVER EAR headphones based on reasonable price, sound, and quality.

PsychotronicDEWvictim

Wow! I'll keep my HE-560s over any of those options. Just lowered price to $499 Amazon. They need serious juice, but Emotiva A-100 only $220-$240 + a decent DAC (DC-1, but less work fine really), and you should be incarcerated for theft of one phenomenal sounding setup. Seriously stellar sound & I've been through a lot of gear that cost a lot of $ I do also have the V-Moda, but I only use them while mowing the lawn. For mobile with decent sound quality, the M-100s are very sturdy and sound decent with damn good bass, but not so much sub-bass like HE-560s. I'd bet one could find better for the money though. $150 fostex monitor phones I'd bet a good bargain, but I'm only guessing. Not about STEALING HE-560 for $499 though. Can't urge you to grab THOSE enough. + plenty of power. I'm on the fence about idsd black, because I don't know that it's truly capable of making the HE-560s slam with full control and authority for portable. Not sure there's anything portable and powerful enough. E18 is entirely inadequate. DC-1 headphone amp same. HE-5!6!0!=$499. Just paid $640 refurbished. No contest. & some good Schiit or Emotiva A-100 wattage to achieve nirvana. Low bass extension pristine vocals instruments-everything. Get them without hesitation.

The_Jniac

322

PsychotronicDEWvictim

The iDSD Black Label would have no trouble driving HE-560s to their full potential. It can push over 1.5 watts into 64 Ohms, which is a higher impedance than the HE-560 is, and that would put you over 100dB. My phone can drive HE-500s flawlessly, with power to spare. The whole "planars need watts and watts of power" is utter nonsense. Putting a few watts through a pair of HE-560s will not make it sound better, in fact, it would almost certainly destroy them, not to mention your ears.

Elsid

697

What does all around mean? No such thing. Not voting.

KicVic

High details with less sound stage. That's what 50x is. Low end has clarity and stay where it should be. I own them and I like them.. if u want more natural sound then please also look for M40 s too

Hanshi

Just curious, what are the chances of the QC35s actually being dropped

Churcher

What pair of headphones can you guys more recommend to me? The V- Moda M- 100 or the Audio- Technica M50x? And why?

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The_Jniac

322

I would not even use the M50X for studio use. It is nowhere near flat enough. A big part of why it is popular is because of a cycle of hype that goes, roughly, as follows: 1. Schleb who has only ever listened on consumer-oriented bass cannons tries them after hearing about them from someone who has finished their journey through the cycle. 2. Schleb is blown away by being able to hear treble, and having bass that is not a blob more lacking in definition than a sumo wrestler's abs. 3. Schleb goes on to rave about the headphones to anybody that will listen, and the cycle begins anew.
I demoed them in a store. They had worse soundstage than the IEMs that I had with me at the time, and despite my ears and head being smaller than average, they still managed to be instantly uncomfortable. The only thing I could recommend them for are as a poor man's V-Modas, or for use in CIA torture programs.

mayorblurps

499

The_Jniac

Agreed...I bought the m50 years ago when I first started out looking for a 'better' headphone. I was disappointed, literally wondered what the big deal was...makes me wonder what these folks would think after listening to something truly good. You nailed it with the hype train. Gah, I guess they also took off because they had that beats look with supposedly better sound.

ArdentRaven

How are the Audio Technicas not higher??

Evshrug

3772

Community

ArdentRaven

While I voted something else, I'm also surprised the M50x aren't voted higher, sheerly based on how often I see them recommend as starter Audiophile headphones. I was also surprised Audio Technica didn't even feature one of them at the very large Munich High End show... a rep told me the M50x was indeed very popular (I think he said it was their best seller, but I don't remember for sure) but it wasn't part of their Audiophile lineup (I think he said it was part of their Pro lineup).
Bose are hella popular, partially because of their reputation, and partially because of their motto/marketing. I cannot recommend them however... spend 3 minutes comparing them with hi-fi headphones, and you'll realize that Bose has a particular and strongly colored house sound that is far from natural, and their slow drivers suffer from a lot of bass bloom bleeding over mids and detail. The sound flavor, and wearing comfort, will indeed appeal to some people, just like some people really enjoy chocolate covered cherries, but the headphones simply do not pair well with many music genres and don't suit all-round usage.