The headphones thread! [Sorry about your wallet]

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › The headphones thread! [Sorry about your wallet]

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Master Geek
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#2578158 2-Oct-2020 15:19

networkn:

I am honestly blown away by your description of your A50's? Mine are great. Not the best phones I own, but really really good.

DT990's are nice to wear as well, I have the T1's which are exceptional, though I am thinking of selling them to make room for some of my other items.

The A50s don't seem to fit my head too well...holding them up to the DT990, I can see that they're substantially wider...unfortunately this means a lot of the clamping force is on my glasses and just tends to be uncomfortable over long working/gaming sesions. I've never been a fan of the cloth on them either!

I had looked at the T1s but at that price range I probably would've needed to get a decent DAC and AMP to get the most out of them. How are you powering yours? Any advice to a relative newbie?

networkn

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#2578165 2-Oct-2020 15:30

I have a BottleHead Crack Amp with Speedball upgrade I built myself, and I also have a couple of other amps and Dacs as well, including some mobile options (at least one of which I will likely sell). All of the power the T1's pretty well I'd say.

The HD650 is probably the most comfortable headphones I own, or the T1's. I don't wear glasses and don't have a particularly "big" head I don't think. My HD800s is the hardest to 'drive' and even that isn't THAT bad.

You can end up down a rabbit hole to be honest, the rule of diminishing returns kicks in fairly low with audio gear, especially since, in my opinion, the last couple of years, amps/dacs under $500 are seriously impressive. $500 is the new $1500 in what I have tried. Don't get me wrong, $500 is still serious money too and you can spend less and get something pretty good.

There is one amp I really want to try and that is the Alex Cavailli liquid carbon Amp gen2. I see Massdrop have 30% off the Collab version. I haven't heard if they are much better/worse than the original made by Alex himself, but they are almost certainly more reliable. $200 isn't bad at all, I am now thinking about that! :)

Dunnersfella

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#2578218 2-Oct-2020 17:21

Yeah I like my A50 cans - they're great and the raise to mute microphone is a must for me when gaming.

The software / ability to edit the EQ and save favourite profiles is super handy... but then again I'm a console guy and we're clearly easier to please than PC Master Race types ;-)

networkn

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#2578369 2-Oct-2020 23:38

So, I know it's probably unlikely, but I am keen to beg borrow or steal either, the Massdrop 789 or Cavilli Carbon X Headphone Amps. I am looking to bring down the size of my collection and so keen to evaluate these.

If you have either and would be willing to lend or swap lend with something else I might have, please let me know.

Cheers

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#2578439 3-Oct-2020 06:13

Item:
Anyone like to comment on Sony WF-1000XM3 VS Sennheiser Momentum True W 2?

The Sony's are on a good deal currently and I like my WM-1000XM3 very much. A little concerned on fit as I intend to use them out walking (not running) and connection reliability with IOS.

I see a lot of arguments on both side as to which sounds the best - what say you?

Priorities:

Sound quality

Fit

Connection stability/management

Battery life

So I went with the Sony’s as they are a good price as well currently - $349 compared to nearly $600 for the Senns.

So far very happy with them!

Dunnersfella

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#2587984 19-Oct-2020 19:33

So have any Aucklanders gone into Addicted 2 Audio yet?

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networkn

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#2587985 19-Oct-2020 19:35

I wasn't aware it was open yet

everettpsycho

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#2587998 19-Oct-2020 20:19

I've just returned my pxc550's. They developed very odd behaviour with the battery struggling to charge to 100% and when j did eventually get them to fully charge they gave battery warnings after 4 hours making then horrific to listen to. Credit to JB hi-fi for taking them back on the extended warranty no questions asked. So now I've got a few hundred bucks store credit burning a hole in my pocket after replacements, unfortunately the price of decent noise cancelling seems to be high at the moment, I liked the pxc 550 but not stumping up $250 more than I paid for the newer replacements.

Curious if anyone thinks JB will be offering the sonys or Bose on sale anytime soon. The temptation to downgrade to the sennheiser 450s or Sony xb-900 but can't help but think the xm4 or qc35 may go on sale nearer black Friday and JB may price match other outlets to use the store credit. Wearing them for hours at a time at work I think the comforts probably worth the extra money I'm just being tight, seems crazy the sennheisers have gone up so much in price in 3 years. Also curious on peoples experience using the sonys and Bose on teams/Skype meetings, my pxcs had weird behaviour over bluetooth disconnecting mid meeting needing my computer to be restarted to sort it out.

JPNZ

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#2588107 20-Oct-2020 09:20

everettpsycho: I've just returned my pxc550's. They developed very odd behaviour with the battery struggling to charge to 100% and when j did eventually get them to fully charge they gave battery warnings after 4 hours making then horrific to listen to. Credit to JB hi-fi for taking them back on the extended warranty no questions asked. So now I've got a few hundred bucks store credit burning a hole in my pocket after replacements, unfortunately the price of decent noise cancelling seems to be high at the moment, I liked the pxc 550 but not stumping up $250 more than I paid for the newer replacements.

Curious if anyone thinks JB will be offering the sonys or Bose on sale anytime soon. The temptation to downgrade to the sennheiser 450s or Sony xb-900 but can't help but think the xm4 or qc35 may go on sale nearer black Friday and JB may price match other outlets to use the store credit. Wearing them for hours at a time at work I think the comforts probably worth the extra money I'm just being tight, seems crazy the sennheisers have gone up so much in price in 3 years. Also curious on peoples experience using the sonys and Bose on teams/Skype meetings, my pxcs had weird behaviour over bluetooth disconnecting mid meeting needing my computer to be restarted to sort it out.

Sad its just store credit, you can pickup 1000XM3's for around $400 at a few places still. They are fantastic headphones regardless of the XM4's

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everettpsycho

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#2588339 20-Oct-2020 13:30

JPNZ:
everettpsycho: I've just returned my pxc550's. They developed very odd behaviour with the battery struggling to charge to 100% and when j did eventually get them to fully charge they gave battery warnings after 4 hours making then horrific to listen to. Credit to JB hi-fi for taking them back on the extended warranty no questions asked. So now I've got a few hundred bucks store credit burning a hole in my pocket after replacements, unfortunately the price of decent noise cancelling seems to be high at the moment, I liked the pxc 550 but not stumping up $250 more than I paid for the newer replacements.

Curious if anyone thinks JB will be offering the sonys or Bose on sale anytime soon. The temptation to downgrade to the sennheiser 450s or Sony xb-900 but can't help but think the xm4 or qc35 may go on sale nearer black Friday and JB may price match other outlets to use the store credit. Wearing them for hours at a time at work I think the comforts probably worth the extra money I'm just being tight, seems crazy the sennheisers have gone up so much in price in 3 years. Also curious on peoples experience using the sonys and Bose on teams/Skype meetings, my pxcs had weird behaviour over bluetooth disconnecting mid meeting needing my computer to be restarted to sort it out.

Sad its just store credit, you can pickup 1000XM3's for around $400 at a few places still. They are fantastic headphones regardless of the XM4's

Luckily my partner splashed out last year on a pair of xm3s so for now I've borrowed them as she has no urgent use of them since she's now working from home. Means I've bought myself time to not rush in to replacing the 550's so I can play a long game to see if the xm4's do get a discount anytime soon. The fact it's store credit is annoying as it significantly reduces my options even with a price match. I was very tempted to get a pair of taotronics as they were $35 USD on Amazon yesterday and seemed fine in the interim. Could always put my headphkne credit towards a Xbox series x if they never get decent headphones at a good price.

everettpsycho

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#2590475 22-Oct-2020 21:19

Well now pb tech throw a curve ball in and I'm hoping JB hi-fi will price match them.

Bose qc35 - $399
Sony xm4 - $449
Bose NC 700 - $488

Harvey Norman are also selling:

Sony xb900n - $290
Sennheiser psc550-ii - $335

Spoilt for choice now, to me usb c is pretty important so I can finally kick that micro usb habbit once and for all, as is quick charging which eliminates the sennheisers and qc35. But it's a close call between saving some cash and then the 2 horse race at the top between Bose and Sony. It's a good weekend to need some headphones though.

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networkn

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#2597960 4-Nov-2020 23:46

I *finally* got my Drop Carbon Liquid X Headphone Amp. It's primarily a balanced Amp, but can do single ended (and 1/4 of the power). My HD800's had been single ended (with a cable included for balanced) it's entire life. It was a bit exciting to get to plug in balanced.

My initial reactions were not positive as I do quite like a lot of female vocalists and I use that as reference and a fair few of the tracks were to me harsh and sibilant. I thought it was the Amp's fault, but turns out, it is something to do with Spotify even in highest quality settings. Playing the same music from FLAC masters through FooBar seems to have resolved it. It's exceptionally pleasant. Lots of detail. I am not certain it's much different from my other amps, like my Crack Amp or IFI DSD Micro, but it's very well constructed and my BiFrost sits nicely on it. It has the advantage over the Crack that it can be easily and safely moved to another location. I had could consolidate my amps, but because this is balanced, I am not sure I want to get rid of it, and it's different from my other amps in terms of one is a Tube, one is ultra portable, and this is solid state and balanced. Curses!

At $200 USD it's an absolute steal and I am really happy with it, certainly seems to drive my HD800's very nicely. I'd recommend it.

I do love my headphones, but if I could only pick one way to listen to music, I'd chose a nice pair of speakers. There is something magical about the way a nice pair of speakers can fill a room full of sound and you can feel that music all over your body.

ren1316

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#2598088 5-Nov-2020 08:54

I think I have a nice speaker setup. Feel free to PM me, pop in and experience.

networkn

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#2598111 5-Nov-2020 09:28

ren1316:

I think I have a nice speaker setup. Feel free to PM me, pop in and experience.

Thanks. I have a nice set up as well (RS6 Silver Monitor Audio speakers), I was just making a general comparative comment.

I wouldn't get rid of my headphones (though I need to consolidate somewhat), as I think they are for quite different things.

What speaker set up do you use?

ren1316

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#2598121 5-Nov-2020 09:41

networkn:

ren1316:

I think I have a nice speaker setup. Feel free to PM me, pop in and experience.

Thanks. I have a nice set up as well (RS6 Silver Monitor Audio speakers), I was just making a general comparative comment.

I wouldn't get rid of my headphones (though I need to consolidate somewhat), as I think they are for quite different things.

What speaker set up do you use?

Focal Utopia, ASR Emitter, Aurender, PSAudio DirectStream

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