Headphone lovers, what do you love, what do you have, Head-Fi fans 2019-21 edition.*

My preferred headphones for listening to my favourite music:

PHILIPS SBC HP 890

...and for recording / digitizing music / mixing / mastering:

beyerdynamic DT 770

I love 'em !!!

 

This past year I sold my Grado HF-1’s and decided to go with the Beyerdynamic DT 770, but I couldn’t live without The Sound so I broke down last week and bought a new pair of SR225e.

I’m trying them out this morning with The J.J. Johnson Sextet LP “J.J. Inc”. Should be fun.

 

Nice review! Yes I’ve been curious about Focals lately. The Elex is being regarded as one of the best headphones below $1,000, and the cheaper closed back, Elegia, is also interesting.

 

A pair of these are in my future. Am also considering the matching DAC/amp.

 

I've been checking on the Elegia and that model has me interested. Took delivery on my first pair of Sennheiser HD650's today and now I understand why they have such a large following. Great sounding to my ears right out of the box. I have a Modi 3 dac connected via coax cable to my older Marantz CD player and a Bellari tube headphone amp with a smooth plate Telefunken in it hooked to the Modi. The Senns really are more to my liking than the AKG Q701 cans I've been using.

 

That's my arrangement - adding in a Sony BCR-NWH10 docking station, to hook up my Sony NW-WM1A to the Sony TA-ZH1ES DAC/Amp.
Copy uncompressed FLAC files to the player from my MacBook, pop it into the dock, and hit play.
When on the move, undock, plug the 'phones into the 4.4mm balanced output of the Walkman - job done.

 

Yes, any headphone enthusiast should own an HD600/HD6XX. It’s an all time classic. Use mine with a Magni 3. Even if I upgraded to the Elex I would probably still keep the Senn’s. Right now I have the Beyerdynamic 177X Go for the office and just got some Etymotic ER4XR IEMs earlier this week and they sound nice but I’m having issues with comfort.

 

I have the HiFiMAN Sundara planar magnetic headphones and I love them. Lately they have been plugged into an Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt plugged into my PC.

 

The Etymotics are great (I have the SR ver.), but ALL of the included earbuds are uncomfortable to me. The most comfortable are Comply. But they don't last very long. I went with Shure olives. Last much longer (you do have to trim away the Shure's "wax screen" so they go down all the way, but worth it IMHO.) Edit: meant to mention. Since I started out with medium Comply's, I went with medium Shures. The Shures are just a little firmer though, and I found that I was much more comfortable, and still got the amazing Ety noise reduction, with the small version. Surprised me, as I have such a big, fat head! But apparently smaller ear canals.

 

I keep both my HD600 and HD6XX. The HD6XX goes very well with the Cavalli Liquid Platinum that I have in the living room and it's a combination that allows me to relax without suffering from listening stress and even take a nap while listening to music. The HD600 is like having a visit from good friend or wearing comfortable slippers at home and is also a very good tool to use for re-calibrating my ears when I try a new headphone or check if one that I listened to previously was really that good or bad. My problem is that I tend to form very strong opinions on the spot and I'm not ashamed to admit that after some time has passed I can change my opinion without understanding exactly what I liked or disliked previously.

My current favorites are the HD6XX+LP for the living rom and the Focal Elex+V281 for the study. I also use anUSB connected Audeze Mobius when playing computer games (I never really grew up beyond 12) or watching movies. They are not the most Hi-Fi or comfortable but their technology does work for me. YMMV of course.

 

Comfort with IEM can be tricky to achieve. I have a set of Sennheiser IE800 and have to use different sized inserts for each ear, which is getting expensive in view of the pricing and the fact I could not find any alternatives to the original plugs.

 

I've read some people say that the comfort gets better after a couple weeks of use so I'll see how it goes. Many others have recommended the Olive tips so I'll have to consider them if I find none of the supplied Ety tips suitable.

 

I use the HD650's with a Bellari tube headphone amp, which I bought because it uses a 12ax7 tube which I have lots of different makes of from owning tube amps. Currently using a smooth plate Telefunken and really loving it with the Senns. I'm seriously considering the Focal Elegia but will always keep the HD650 cans. Hear good things about the Magni 3, I recently updated my older Marantz CD player with a Modi 3 and love it. Good synergy with the Bellari.

 

Yeah the Magni 3 was probably the most oft recommended amps to go with the HD6XX at the time I got it. Since then so many others have come out, including the JDS Labs Atom which is considered by many to be a better amp (though the audio differences are probably near impossible to hear). The Magni 3 has the better build. The only annoying thing is static noise every time I turn the volume knob.

 

I use a Schiit Magni 2 Uber with Grado RS2i. I used to have an Asgard 2 with RS2e. I like the older Grados better, I never got to compare the two Schiits though. I don’t perceive any significant difference.

 

I’ve gone through a number of over-ear and IEMs over the last few years looking for the ones that are right for me. I’ve tried Noble mid-level universal IEMs, Mr Speakers Alpha Dog over-ear, Sennheiser, AKG, etc etc...

At the moment I have the best ones yet and will be my keepers. I almost always use headphones when I’m traveling or out of the house, rarely at home.

Sony IER-M9. These are just fantastic. Easy to drive, very robust/durable, very comfortable, and sound absolutely amazing. Clarity, musicality, detail, and great response across the spectrum. These are my daily use headphones, and I use them for on-the-go pro work (mixing, composing, etc).

The other ones I’m keeping are my trusty Sennheiser Amperior. IMO these sound shockingly good for “consumer” headphones and are very portable.

 

How do you like them? I'm considering a pair.

 

Sony WM1Z with Campfire Audio Solaris

 

I have a pair and like them but I think you need to be careful about which amp/DAC you choose. I play them through the headphone amp of an Oppo 105 and through a Fiio X5 ver 3 DAP into a Fiio A5 headphone amp. Neither system sounds as good as the system I demoed them on (don't remember the name but as about a $5K system). Best of luck!

 

Thanks! Having a good amp is so important with a good set of cans. My amp is a HeadAmp GS-1 which drove a Grado 325i until I sold them. The Grado's are low impedance cans like the Audeze LCD-X. The GS-1 was designed after the DynaLo by Dr. Kevin Gilmore who designed it for Grados. I'm excited to hear the Audeze on this amp.

 

Would be interesting to try with the GS-1 amp. Bring the amp to a dealer that carries the LCD-X and see how it does.

The thing with the LCD series headphones is that they do better with power. In general I'd want an amp that can do 2+ watts in order to have headroom. You don't need 2 watts to get the headphones loud enough (a few hundred mW will get them to louder than you can listen). But there is something to having headroom that helps them sound more effortless and more open. The wayback machine says the GS-1 is 1 watt. With a good amp that could work fine. You'll have to demo the LCD-X with that amp to find out.

 

I beleive the GS-1 gain setting can be changed. I think it is set at 1 from the factory. Would a gain increase make a difference?

 

My efforts to fix the floppiness of my HIFIMAN XX edition were not successful. I received today the headband I ordered from HIFIMAN but it doesn't fit the XX edition. Unless I find a way to get my head to swell I'll have to relegate the XX to function as stand adornment.

 

The gain doesn't change the power output. High gain and low gain have the same power output. Just on high gain the headphones can get louder.

A 1W amp can work with the LCD-X. The LCD-X being 20 ohms will help since the amp will have more power at 20 ohms than at the 70 ohms of the LCD-2. A lot will also depend on the sound quality of the amp and how well it sounds as it gets close to the 1W max. The GS-1 is a good amp so will probably do well. But only way to know is to take the amp to an Audeze dealer and try. Also try the LCD-X with a higher powered amp at the dealer just to find out what the LCD-X sounds like with more power and if the GS-1 is able to give you enough of that to keep you happy. Heck, you may find out that the GS-1 sounds better than the amps the dealer has to demo.

With lower powered amps the Audeze LCD series can sound more closed in and constrained. Good higher powered amps get the LCD series headphones to open up and breathe. The soundstage/headstage will get bigger and sound more open.