Headphone lovers, what do you love, what do you have, Head-Fi fans 2018 edition.

I think I can honestly claim that I can actually hear Phil Lesh plucking his bass like never before through this new rig (discussed above). Am I making this up in my head? I don't think so.

I also think I'm hearing more separation between Jerry Garcia's strings as he hits them.

Art Blakey's Blue Note stuff sounds better also.

 

My Sennheiser HD600’s...

...connected to my Schiit Valhalla 2 with JJ Golds...

...transformed my headphone listening experience in the past year!
It’s a stellar combination!

 

Had to send my PortaPro's back for the second time in a year, which is very unusual (they always send me a new pair). These are my gym cans, so in their stead I was using my old Audio-Technica CLR100 IEM's. In case it's not clear, I am on a serious budget. (I do have HD600's, which I use for critical listening, but I didn't pay a lot for them). My usual every day cans are SHP9500's.

 

My 2 favorite 'Prog-Metal' headphones! (ZMF Atticus & Audeze LCD-2C)

 

I now have four phones. Grado SR80e (that I got for a killer deal of $80, Grado GS1000 (upgraded to current drivers), Audeze LCD-2F, and Meze Classic 99’s. For loud and pure, the lcd-2’s are hard to beat. The Grado’s can get shouty. The GS1000’s are the most comfortable. By far. They also have a really wide soundstage. SR80’ s are comfortable (and cool) as well. Heat retention is important in Texas. Haven’t had the Meze’s for long but the sound odd when first plugged in. I had HD600 Senns which I found to be extremely uncomfortable and rather flat and boring. Good deal for the $ if you can stand the clampy bastards on your head. My head is fat. Also had the Massdrop Fostex’. Like a complete idiot, I sold them. Mine were the first version and had a lovely sound. Similar, but superior to the Meze phones. The Meze are simply beautiful to look at. The bass digs deep and tightens up after a little use. For those of you looking at Massdrop, I think u need to join in order to see prices. I might add I have a pair of Grado earphones. GR-10e. Used to have the first version and thought I lost them so I bought another pair. Couple of months later I found the other pair in a clean shirt. Ran them thru the drier. No harm done. Anyway, I like the Meze and recommend them but frankly, the Massdrop Fostex betters them in all details except for maybe looks. I suppose if I were to rank them buy use and general pleasure it would be GS1000, LCD-2, Massdrop Fostex, Meze, the insanely cheap SR-80’s, and then the Senns. The Grado’s are easy to drive via cell phone.

 

Beyerdynamic DT 1990 and a Woo Audio WA 2.

 

The new Meze EMPYREAN planar will be presented at CanJam next week

 

I added the mrspeakers aeon closed to my set of headphones. Mainly for office use.
I like them very much and it pairs wonderfully with my woo audio wa8.

 

I love my HD 800, great listen to micro details. I have a few headphones in the past months... Abyss, Audeze LCD-4, Focal Utopia, Sennheiser HD 800 S, Stax.

The most balanced one was the Hifiman 1000 V2. I can listen all genres with the Hifiman. That was the reason I have chosen Hifiman. The Focal is great too, but I can‘t listen with the Utopia longer than two hours. I don‘t like the narrow soundstage, especially when I listen to jazz or classical music.

 

What headphone amp and source are you using?
What is the soundstage depth and impressiveness like with the Hifiman 1000 V2? I tried the V1 version and it had a lack of soudstage depth and coherent center. Does the V2 version do better?

 

I use the Lehmann Audio Linear amp. I have compared both Hifiman's. The V2 has a better soundstage and bass performance. But I have replaced the stock cable with ALO Reference 16 cable. In opinion.... the Hifiman V2 and Focal Utopia are the best headphones in their price class right now. The Stax's are good also, but I was never satisfied with the bass performance and they will never get it with this design. Audeze LCD-4 is too dark for me, and the comfort is really bad to the competion.

Is there any better headphones? Yes, the Hifiman Susvara. This headphone is the best I've ever heard. Heaven on earth, but a disadvantage. This headphone needs a lot of power. Doesn't work with weak amps.

 

Sight...I just realized that I probably have a headphone fetish despite my claims to prefer listening to speakers.

At Home

1. Sennheiser HD600. They are my favorite, I'm not a fan of the Caesar stone finish for the plastic band, but that's pretty much the only bad thing I can say about them and I can understand how they can be the one and only set music lovers will use - they are simply that good.
2. Sennheiser HD6XX. I could not pass the Massdrop opportunity, despite the fact that they don't sound that much different from the HD600.
3. Sennheiser HD424. For nostalgia purpose only. I know they are some devotees to the yellow pancake headphones, but trust me - beside the cool vintage factor they are much better headphones to be found today.
4. HiFiMEN H4XX. Another Massdrop offering. I joined because I was curious about planar headphones and was very disappointed at first until I connected them with a balanced cable to a healthy amp that gave them a kick in the pants. Very pleasant headphones when properly amplified, otherwise lifeless, thin sounding and boring.
5. Audio Technica ATH-M50x. I know they enjoy a semi-cultish devotion but honestly they are not the most neutral headphones around and I found them very uncomfortable to wear. There are those with smaller ears and those who find the M50x sound coloration pleasing, but I don't so they were relegated to the use of my SO.

At work
Sennheiser HD380 Pro. I was looking for a set of headphones with large ear cups, decent isolation and a sound signature that will not be too different from what I'm used at home and the HD380 Pro ticked all the boxes. I had to buy a decent short cable because the long coiled cable that came with the set was driving me crazy.

On the Go

1. A set of Sennheiser IE800. I'm not using them as much as I thought because I don't travel much without a car and I stream to the head unit from the music server at home , Internet Radio stations, or Deezer. When I trek I use...
2. Jaybird X2 wireless BT earphones. Not the best but rugged, good battery life and not too expensive so I know I won't cry too much when they'll get lost.

 

AKG K812 with a Meier Audio Corda Classic ff amp.

The 812 offers an incredible amount of detail: When listening to Bill Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard on japanese Platinum SHM-CD, I can actually hear the sound of the door to the venue opening and closing in the far back, when people were coming and going during the set. Quite impressive and by far the best I‘ve ever had.

The 812 has also proven to be extremely comfortable during longer sessions.

 

I have the HD6XX

 

.....and? Love 'em? Hate 'em?

 

Laptop running JRiver 21 into a Wadia DI 122 into a Woo WA-22 ( with Legendary N.O.S Tubes ) feeding a set of HD800 S series via Cardas "Clear" 3-Pin XLRs . Fully Balanced from end to end.
Works for me!
DXD is UNREAL and DSD is awesome !

Happy Listening,

THX-1138,

Tejano Libre

 

They're great. A lot of bang for the buck. A true deal.

 

Listen mostly to speakers, but gotsta have some headphones! For portable, I have Etymotics ER-4SX thru my phone and Dragonfly Red. Home: Sennheiser HD6XX thru Benchmark DAC2-HGC. Happy, though I'm sure multi-$k phones would be delightful!

 

Sennheiser HD600's with Schiit Lyr 2 and Schiit Loki.

 

I love them. I use them with my Hidizs Ap200 and Pioneer xdp 100r.

 

Beyerdynamic DT150 with DT100 velour pads. Very nice sounding combination.

 

I love a warm, smooth sound with just enough detail. I found my end game headphones with the Aeon Flow Open from MrSpeakers.

 

I have Audio Technica ATH-MX50 for studio stuff, Beyerdynamic Amiron for home listening and Philips Fidelio M2L for out and about with my iphone...they have a dac built into so it's easier than carrying a portable dac about too

 

Beyerdynamic DT990 premium version are my usual headphones, love them. Source is an ipod 5th gen with 512gb storage which sits on one of those Apple docks so I can pull the line out. The line out feeds a Nuforce HDP dac/amp. Also have a Bottlehead S.E.X. amp which I use occasionally.

For iems, I use an old pair of Shure SE115s or KZ ATEs. The KZ ATEs I bought on Amazon for $13. Might've been the best $13 I ever spent, equipment wise, on this hobby.

 

Got my Massdrop Liquid Carbon X amp in the mail last week and I'm loving the sound of it, but it seems to be causing a... weird problem. I've got a (rarely used) DAC and my TT+Phono Pre going through a 2 in/2 out passive preamplifier, feeding my tube amp and my headphone amp. The latter's been a Burson Soloist SL MKII for months now, without problem.

The LCX has been in my system since Friday. I did a little listening and a bit of A/Bing Friday night and last night, and I'm loving the sound of the LCX, but I noticed, while listening to the main system over speakers this afternoon, that there was some distortion in main system when the LCX is turned off. If I turn it on, the distortion goes away immediately, even while it's still in safety mode. I did some quick testing and it does not appear to be a problem if the preamp is channeling the DAC. Everything sounds fine over headphones.

Any idea why the LCX would be causing severe distortion through the main amp only when the LCX is off, and only when one of two sources is being used?