Anybody into headphones?

[GAS KING]

I recently slipped down the rabbit hole that is headphones.

I'm decidedly mid-fi so far but the jump in sound quality and sound signatures from entry level is amazing.

I couldn't find an existing thread geeking about headphones, amps, DACs and all that stuff.

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

headphones make my head and ears hurt after an hour or so.
have a hard time finding comfortable ones

for me, mixing on phones was tough. sounds so good then u put it on your speakers and sounds like butt
but i can get better mixes out of crappy headphones than w/ better ones for some reason.

[GAS KING]

headphones make my head and ears hurt after an hour or so.
have a hard time finding comfortable ones

for me, mixing on phones was tough. sounds so good then u put it on your speakers and sounds like butt
but i can get better mixes out of crappy headphones than w/ better ones for some reason.

I'm finding there are all types, styles and sizes out there. Along with mods that can be done for comfort and sound tweaks.

Haven't really tried mixing on phones yet.
Mostly just playback of music for listening and monitoring guitar from a Line 6 Helix.

I wonder why that is?
Do flat reference headphones cause one to hype up certain things to make it exciting.......... that are already hyped within typical playback systems?

[GAS KING]

Headphones are my sole at home method for listening to music at a level I enjoy. Not too loud but I want it to sound good and be full.
With a new baby.....after 8pm and I'm limited to TV level volume or headphones.
Even before 8pm....I can't really crank anything up either.
With headphones I'm free to do whatever I want and really "feel" the music.

I currently have:
Senn HD6xx
- fairly flat and neutral. Lots of detail, clarity and separation. Small sound stage. Lacks bass and high treble. Sweet mids. Great for classical/orchestra music, jazz and acoustic music. Fairly boring for Rock/rap/pop/etc.
- Comfortable overall. The velour pads are a little itchy over time.
- Loved these at first because the jump in quality over my shitty headphones was so great. Spent the first 2 weeks listening to albums hearing things I never heard before.
- Slowly started to realize they were flat and boring sounding. Added some EQ to bass and treble and they sound better now. The clarity is amazing.....but exposes poorly recorded and poorly mastered music. Dynamic (less limited/compressed) music sounds so good. mmmmm.

2 pair Fostex T40RP (got each for half price. 1 pair stock/1 pair for modding)
- Way more fun to listen to than the HD6xx. Powerful sound. More of a V shape sound signature. Larger sound stage. Bass is a little light but clean. Highs can be a little hard in the cymbal range.
- I stuffed the ear pads with tissues and that improved the comfort quite a bit. Added a little bass too.
- Kind of makes everything sound the same. Doesn't really expose differences in recordings as much. Detailed and clear but really spreads its own sound signature on everything.
- Going to try some DIY mods and see what happens. The T20RP, T40RP & T50RP are all the same headphone with different level of closed/openess to the ear cup. Mods revolved around that and various levels of dampening. Along with ear pads. Apparently ear pads can really change the tonality of a headphone.

Koss Porta Pros
- Sounds really good. Maybe a little flubby in the bass and no sub-bass. Fairly clear. Fun to listen to. Honestly at least 95% of the sound quality of other headphones. Not a huge sound stage.
- Comfortable and light. Not comfy but comfortable enough to not be annoying. Hair can get caught in headband. (KSC75s are similar with behind the ear clips instead of band)

ATH-m20x
- Bought on sale with the intention of gifting. Tried them out for a short period of time.
- Not bad for the price. Somewhat unbalanced sound. bassy and shrill highs.
- On ear design is uncomfortable to me. Stuffed pads with tissue and better but overall uncomfortable.
- Probably would have thought that these sounded better if I hadn't heard the others first.

Have Hifiman HE4xx on the way and some various upgraded ear pads to try out.

Have JDS Atom amp and Schiit Modi 3 DAC.
- imo the DAC made the most difference. Added clarity and depth.


This audiophile shit is crazy though. Easy to slip into GAS and spend a bunch of money. getting that last 5% of tone/sound quality and stepping into true hifi is extremely expensive. (I'm dabbling in mid-fi)

Fairly hard to figure out which headphones will work best for you. They're all so different. Can't really test drive them anywhere.
Reviews and impressions are based on the person's personal taste and ears.

It can take weeks for ears and brain to get used to a headphone's sound signature. Easy to quickly judge something when your ears are used to different headphones.

Went kinda crazy but will probably sell whatever I don't like after I evaluate them more. I'd really like to narrow it down to a pair of neutral for guitar monitoring and mixing and a pair for fun music listening.
Went down a similar path with mechanical keyboards. Got really interested. Explored and researched a lot. Tried some out. Found my end game and sold the rest.

[coldbrightsunlight]

I'm intrigued by nice headphones but I only use them for tracking and late night music/games when I don't want to annoy my roommate. Got ATH-m20x, they sound alright and I find them fairly comfy. I've not tried anything super nice though and I don't want to end up going down some rabbit hole and spending a lot of money.

[GAS KING]

Try stuffing some tissues in the ear cups....

[coldbrightsunlight]

How does this help? I'm slightly confused about what it achieves?

[DRodriguez]

Makes sure you don't get a runny ear

[coldbrightsunlight]

[GAS KING]

How does this help? I'm slightly confused about what it achieves?

More comfort because your ears aren't getting smashed. Those pads are thin!

Moves the driver away from your ear a little, which helps balance the tone a bit better. Less bass and a little more mid/treble clarity.

[coldbrightsunlight]

I will experiment.

[GAS KING]

Worth a shot. reversible. nearly free.

[DRodriguez]

Sorta related, here's a scholarly article, conducted at probably the highest tier speaker manufacturer, on the classic use of tissues with NS10 monitors to "tame them".

Down to the different effect of different ply's and color of the tissue.

http://www.bobhodas.com/examining-the-yamaha-ns-10m.php

[coldbrightsunlight]

That's hilariously nerdy and I love it.

[GAS KING]

^ nice article. good read.

Did some light modding on some Fostex T40RPs and the littlest shit does make a difference.

Well, I feel like this headphone thing is similar to my interest in mechanical keyboards.

Unwilling to spend too much on voodoo/hyped things.

Yet was to find something that fills my need for quality, tone and low price.

For fun and just listening to music....I'm finding I'm a basshead. I want that shit to thump, pump and move me. I want it to feel like a nice setup in the room where you can feel and hear the bass....while you can still pick out the other instruments. This is more with rock/metal/stoner/doom/rap/hip hop/pop type stuff.

When it comes to classical, vocal, acoustic, ambient, noise, type stuff the analytical headphones are pretty amazing.

I would suggest figuring out your wheelhouse and selecting a headphone within that. Unfortunately I went analytical twice before I tried something a little more bassy. Even then the low end drop off was sharper and had to EQ.

Just snagged some Monoprice M1060Cs because they have such low bass extension. flat to 10hz.
Mod-able. can removed the closed backs. tweakers galore.
These might be it for me and I can stop thinking about this shit. lol