I highly recommend these over-ear headphones

[jeckyll]

Bose. Period.

Bose is the Bell&Ross of audio. An expensive way to get reasonable quality sound.

You can definitely get better sounding cans for less than the price of Bose headphones. However, their AE2 and QC line are really comfortable. I have the Seinhheiser HD598 and even though they sound better, the Bose are more comfortable for longer hearing sessions. Plus my SoundSport in ear headphones are great for running (and for the time being, I'm using them in the office too).

Really want to try the Hifiman HE-400i and the new Audioquest Nighthawk headphones.

In addition, if you listen to music from your laptop and like your headphones AND want to improve sound quality, get a DAC (digital to analog converter). I've been using tthe Audioquest Dragonfly DAC for a couple of months and love it:

Joe: I love my HE400's. I drive them either off my Fiio E10 or the Pono (love the Pono with Hi-Rez!). They are heavy though...

They seem like a great buy for the price. Are they to uncomfortable for hour+ hearing sessions? Really want to try them.

I have had a couple of grados... love the sound for rock music, but I can't use them for more than half an hour (not sure if the on ear style or the foams or just the headband being too narrow). Usually prefer over ear headphones. Funny thing is, I like the grado sound so much, I've been thinking of getting another pair (like Brice with the Pelagos?! )

First on the HE400's, they're not uncomfortable, I find them better than my Grados, just heavy in comparison to my other headphones. Some guys get a more felt-like earpad for the 400's and they may improve / change sound. If you buy them let me know and I'll scare up the link somewhere ... I have no problem listing using them for a couple of hours. But they need serious power to drive them. Forget about driving them purely off your phone. Even with my JDS C5 amp maxed, it's still a bit light for this headphone.
E10, Fullsized amp or Pono, they come alive though. I don't remember if I've tried them with the Dragonfly, I'll have to give that a shot this weekend and let you know.

Second, on the Grados, if you buy the large cushion, they turn into over-ear headphones.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5 ... m_Ear.html
once you have them, put one line of black electrical tape around the outside of the cushion to slightly tweak the sound. Google "grado tape mod" for more. Cheap mod and nice way to change the sound a bit. Till over at innerfidelity, who doesn't like the Grado sound very much, found this was a noticeable improvement.

"Now, the taped bowl mod, have a good hard look at the blue trace second from bottom. Again, an even narrower 2kHz blip; but more of the highs remain. Cool. How does it sound? "Much less barky; better impact; better controlled highs; still open and fast without tizz." "
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/ev ... ads-page-3

Hope that helps.

Bjorn

[Joeprez]

First on the HE400's, they're not uncomfortable, I find them better than my Grados, just heavy in comparison to my other headphones. Some guys get a more felt-like earpad for the 400's and they may improve / change sound. If you buy them let me know and I'll scare up the link somewhere ... I have no problem listing using them for a couple of hours. But they need serious power to drive them. Forget about driving them purely off your phone. Even with my JDS C5 amp maxed, it's still a bit light for this headphone.
E10, Fullsized amp or Pono, they come alive though. I don't remember if I've tried them with the Dragonfly, I'll have to give that a shot this weekend and let you know.

Second, on the Grados, if you buy the large cushion, they turn into over-ear headphones.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5 ... m_Ear.html
once you have them, put one line of black electrical tape around the outside of the cushion to slightly tweak the sound. Google "grado tape mod" for more. Cheap mod and nice way to change the sound a bit. Till over at innerfidelity, who doesn't like the Grado sound very much, found this was a noticeable improvement.

"Now, the taped bowl mod, have a good hard look at the blue trace second from bottom. Again, an even narrower 2kHz blip; but more of the highs remain. Cool. How does it sound? "Much less barky; better impact; better controlled highs; still open and fast without tizz." "
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/ev ... ads-page-3

Hope that helps.

Bjorn

Great information Bjorn, thank you!

I think I'm going to order another pair of Grados soon and try the L cush/tape mod. Also, it's in my plans to get a great pair of headphones this year, but I just made an unplanned watch purchase yesterday so that will have to wait until mid/end 2016 (still looking at hifiman, audioquest, sennheiser and any other recommendation I can get).

As for right now, I just ordered a pair of Shure SE215's, as my bose in ears are very comfortable but lacking in the bass department (they are like "open" in ears, if that make sense).

[CoachH]

I am not an audiophile by any means, but these Sony mdr 7506's seem pretty good to me. I think I gave about $100 for them a couple of years ago.

[jeckyll]

First on the HE400's, they're not uncomfortable, I find them better than my Grados, just heavy in comparison to my other headphones. Some guys get a more felt-like earpad for the 400's and they may improve / change sound. If you buy them let me know and I'll scare up the link somewhere ... I have no problem listing using them for a couple of hours. But they need serious power to drive them. Forget about driving them purely off your phone. Even with my JDS C5 amp maxed, it's still a bit light for this headphone.
E10, Fullsized amp or Pono, they come alive though. I don't remember if I've tried them with the Dragonfly, I'll have to give that a shot this weekend and let you know.

Second, on the Grados, if you buy the large cushion, they turn into over-ear headphones.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5 ... m_Ear.html
once you have them, put one line of black electrical tape around the outside of the cushion to slightly tweak the sound. Google "grado tape mod" for more. Cheap mod and nice way to change the sound a bit. Till over at innerfidelity, who doesn't like the Grado sound very much, found this was a noticeable improvement.

"Now, the taped bowl mod, have a good hard look at the blue trace second from bottom. Again, an even narrower 2kHz blip; but more of the highs remain. Cool. How does it sound? "Much less barky; better impact; better controlled highs; still open and fast without tizz." "
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/ev ... ads-page-3

Hope that helps.

Bjorn

Great information Bjorn, thank you!

I think I'm going to order another pair of Grados soon and try the L cush/tape mod. Also, it's in my plans to get a great pair of headphones this year, but I just made an unplanned watch purchase yesterday so that will have to wait until mid/end 2016 (still looking at hifiman, audioquest, sennheiser and any other recommendation I can get).

As for right now, I just ordered a pair of Shure SE215's, as my bose in ears are very comfortable but lacking in the bass department (they are like "open" in ears, if that make sense).

Love the SE215's. Nice "slight bass-head" headphone and quite different sound than most other Shure stuff from what I understand.

One tip on the 215: Do not wear them at the gym / get them sweaty. The removable cable connection can corrode if you get enough sweat in there frequently and you'll have cutting out eventually. If this does happen, use a piece of paper towel to clean the connector and make sure there is no build up and the cutting out should stop.

The sound blocking is quite good, I use mine on motorcycle road trips to listen to music and they do a nice job blocking wind noise.

But that means that for a pedestrian / cyclist they are a bit dangerous for walking around in traffic because, well, they block a fair bit of noise

Enjoy them!

[SCM64]

Klipsch in ear for me.

And mega props for not one DWC'er mentioning Beats. That would have resulted in an immediate banning and public flogging.

As it is, everyone has earned 5 bonus points.

[jeckyll]

Klipsch in ear for me.

And mega props for not one DWC'er mentioning Beats. That would have resulted in an immediate banning and public flogging.

As it is, everyone has earned 5 bonus points.

Apparently the beats2 aren't nearly as horrible...

[toxicavenger]

to many gear queers here, these are the SKX of the headphone world.

[lilhoody]

Bose. Period.

Bose is the Bell&Ross of audio. An expensive way to get reasonable quality sound.

[cdnwatchguy]

Interesting thread. I am a bit of an audiophile but never warmed up to listening through headphones. I do have a set of Grado SR 80s left over from when the kids were little and I didn't want to wake them up. Couldn't even tell you where they are now.

I like the music to fill the house.


A good buddy of mine works at a high end audio store. This was a few years ago at a display evening. Standing beside a set of Focal JM lab Grande Utopias. (for reference I am 6'1") They retailed for about $250g a pair. They were being powered by Audio Research tube amps and if I recall correctly a massive ClearAudio turntable.

[Joeprez]

Them speakers!!!!!

I also prefer using speakers to listen to music, but I started getting into headphones because of the kids. However, I mostly listen to music when working, and at that time I had a home office and an actual office at work, so both my setups had speakers: Audioengine A2's with Nuforce ICON uDAC (nothing super special but I enjoyed the sound a lot).

Right now I don't have a home office and I have a cubicle at work, so I'm looking at headphones again, but tons of new stuff so not sure what to do. I spent the weekend researching new equipment and I might pull the trigger on the Hifiman HE-400s soon, plus the Oppo HA-2 portable amp/dac looks great for a night stand rig (using the iphone/ipad as the music source). Then again, for the price of the HA-2 I could get the aforementioned Schiit stack and use the macbook as the music source. Decisions, decisions.

[mbakes]

Interesting thread. I am a bit of an audiophile but never warmed up to listening through headphones. I do have a set of Grado SR 80s left over from when the kids were little and I didn't want to wake them up. Couldn't even tell you where they are now.

I like the music to fill the house.


A good buddy of mine works at a high end audio store. This was a few years ago at a display evening. Standing beside a set of Focal JM lab Grande Utopias. (for reference I am 6'1") They retailed for about $250g a pair. They were being powered by Audio Research tube amps and if I recall correctly a massive ClearAudio turntable.

I've heard those speakers at an audio show. I prefer speakers to headphones but there are times with a good headphone rig that listening to music and being shut out from the rest of the world. My modest speaker rig:

[cdnwatchguy]

I've heard those speakers at an audio show. I prefer speakers to headphones but there are times with a good headphone rig that listening to music and being shut out from the rest of the world. My modest speaker rig:

Nice.

[jeckyll]

I've heard those speakers at an audio show. I prefer speakers to headphones but there are times with a good headphone rig that listening to music and being shut out from the rest of the world. My modest speaker rig:

Nice.

Proper listening room. Nice. Looks like you put some effort into proper speaker position and setup (just a bit ).

I've had to shoehorn a bit to get my speakers into the living room for my 5.1 setup. Since I live in a condo, can't turn the music up as much as I'd like for 'proper' listening, so headphones are handy. Different experience than full sized speakers, I find both enjoyable

I still have a pair of Mission m72's that I'm looking to setup in a small room as for pure stereo listening. So sweet, bit laid back and warm, punch way above their price. Too bad Mission 'lost their way' in the late 90's / early 2000's.

[zepp21]

How does porn sound on them? I'm sure you guys listen while the wife and kids are sleeping.

[jeckyll]

Interesting thread. I am a bit of an audiophile but never warmed up to listening through headphones. I do have a set of Grado SR 80s left over from when the kids were little and I didn't want to wake them up. Couldn't even tell you where they are now.

I like the music to fill the house.


A good buddy of mine works at a high end audio store. This was a few years ago at a display evening. Standing beside a set of Focal JM lab Grande Utopias. (for reference I am 6'1") They retailed for about $250g a pair. They were being powered by Audio Research tube amps and if I recall correctly a massive ClearAudio turntable.

Keith: do you mind sharing a bit about your home setup? I remember you'd posted a few shots in the past of different gear.

What has made the biggest difference / is the piece that you found the most impactful?

[jeckyll]

How does porn sound on them? I'm sure you guys listen while the wife and kids are sleeping.

You probably want some closed headphones then