Headphones

Hey all,

I'm looking for a decent pair of headphones around $100ish US. I would like the following:

• Wired
• A mic or a slot to put one
• Some kind of spatial audio
• Comfortable to wear for long periods
• All features available without the use of proprietary software

The headphones will be driven by a desktop computer and used for communication, gaming, and listening to music. Can anyone here recommend something?

Anyone got suggestions for a good pair of headphones to use in the gym and/or for running? Cannot stand earbuds, have tried several, including very expensive ones and they just don't do it for me.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/[email protected]/t/447034

Technically the successor owner of the gaming brand.

Epos has announced that it will be exiting the gaming headphone business and will instead focus on enterprise communications products. The company's gaming products...

Hi @ll,

I was wondering, after using a loaned SPL Phonitor X for a while, whether there is some software solution for Windows that modifies the sound output similar to what the Phonitor's "Matrix" does?

I'm very much hooked to what I can do with that amp, but it's VERY hard to swallow that kind of monehs just for this feature.

Regards,

• Michael

Over the past few years, I have bounced from iem to iem. Most of them were around $20, so I just replaced them when something went wrong (and I couldn't fix it or had to buy something to fix it). However, I had a recurring problem after about 2-5 months of daily use. The left channel gets super quiet. This has happened on every single iem I have owned over the past 3 years (except for my er2se which got stolen very quickly after I got them). This happened recently to my Arias, which I do not want to replace ofc.

I have tested the device or dongle, and they are good. However, I do not have a spare cable, so I cannot figure out whether it is the cable or the actual items themselves. I have been storing them in an iem pouch from another fallen iem. I have coiled the cable up every time and have kept it mostly in my pocket. I have also cleaned the nozzles of the iems, and my ears. Should I buy a new cable, or is there something else I could try to fix the problem?

I am looking for advice on how to manage the cable of my In-Ears. I need ones with cable because of lack of bluetooth, and I need them to be small because I usually have other stuff to carry around, so please don´t recommend wireless or Over-Ears.

I currently use a small zip lock bag to put them in after use, but even there, they get tangled up, unless I spend the same amount of time storing them as I do now untangling them.

So...has anyone got an idea on how to store them better, that is, faster and without getting a giant knot? Or are there small and easy-to-store In-Ears that I am unaware of?

PS just to explain my use case: I recently got a mini-keyboard that fits in my backpack which I use to play on my train and bus transit. It only has a 3.5mm jack. Sometimes I get carried away a bit while playing and then have to frantically pack everything in order to not miss my station.

For gaming, I've been rocking cheapo Superlux 668b with velour pads for 5 years or so and I'm looking for a bit of an upgrade.

What I like about them is just how wide they are. That's what I was looking for when buying them, it's what I've gotten used to over the years and it's what I still want.
Second to that is comfort. The 668b themselves are pretty bad in this regard but the velour pads are truly transformative here. Comfort is pretty decent with them, so I'd like at least that or (ideally) better. On-ear or shallow pads are out of the question.

What I don't like is how bright and kinda sharp they sound. It kinda gets on my ears after a while. This is what I'd like to upgrade the most but build quality is kinda wonky too.

I had a pair of Sennheiser 660s for a while and while and while I much prefer their sound signature (still a bit odd tbh) and greatly appreciate their comfort and imaging, they just don't do it for me in the sound stage department, so I returned them.

I tried the HD800S at a local HiFi store and they're amazing. Probably my end-game as I didn't like any of the other (supposedly) HiFi headphones they had there (x000€ headphones that rattle when shook and/or have the comfort of a 30€ gaming headset; wtf?).
They're a tad too expensive for me though. They're extremely good but not 10x as good as my 668b, so they fall very flat w.r.t. value, and kinda overkill for my purposes (mainly gaming).

Other headphones I have tried:

• AKG K712: Didn't immediately seem to be a downgrade in sound stage but I don't think I fully liked them. I'll have to re-test them.
• ATH-M40x: Didn't buy them for gaming but they're obviously very tight. While also quite V-Shaped, they're not as "sharp" as the 668b
• HiFiman Ananda: Decent sound stage but terrible material quality (I want to upgrade away from that). Also too expensive for what it is and the bass makes me sick

Other constraints:

• AMP is a MOTU M2. Should be able to power everything that isn't terribly inefficient.
• No wireless.
• Must be reasonably purchasable in Germany

What other headphones do you think are worth checking out?

I was initially going to get Bluetooth earbuds, but was recently informed of IEMs. They sound appealing and worth their cost so I’d like to try em. My requirements are durability and (less than 50 euros), and something that blocks out the world. Kindly advise.

I would mostly use them to listen to music on Spotify (iphone), or my Walkman.

If there is a pair that would cost 20 euros, kindly suggest as I would like to get one for my sister.

TLDR: KIndly suggest good pair of IEMs in the nor more than 50 euros range, and not more than 20 euros range.

IEM’s:

Sony XM4: Great sound (for TWS) and noise cancelling, but a tad uncomfortable and not great for working-out (in my ears anyway). Creates a loud thumping noise while running

Senn Momentum 3: My favourite all-round TWS. Comfortable, solid sound quality, stays in my ears well, noise cancelling is good (a small step behind Sony tho)

Jabra 85t: Okay and comfortable, but I wouldn’t pick them in 2023

Pixel Buds Pro: Great comfort, great case, poor sound quality. These are a substantial step behind Sony/Senn in sound quality imo which makes it hard to recommend.

Moondrop Starfields: Sound quality is solid but, not very good comfortable in my ears. Very pretty though :)

Blessing 2 Dusk: A solid upgrade from Starfields, better comfort by a lot and sound feels more detailed. Starfields have a slight graininess to them in comparison.

Moondrop Chu: Best sounding IEM’s I’ve tried in this price range. Also super comfortable. Only worry is durability and QC.

Moondrop Chu 2: A great followup with a detachable cable. Build qualify feels even better and more premium than the original. It noticably bassier than the first, perhaps slightly too warm now for my preference but, still great

Blon BL03: Okay but, don’t fit in my ears well and don’t sound as balanced as the Chu’s

Truthear Hola: Great choice. Is my go to recommendation in this price range (now replaced with Chu 2). I prefer Chu’s sound but Hola have the detachable cable and likely more consistent QC which makes them a safer choice.

KZ CRN: Was surprised how poor these sounded. Almost suspect I received a defective unit as the Chu and Hola both sound much better.

SA6: I hate the cable it ships with, it’s thick and heavy. But after replacing it, these are my single fav IEM’s i’ve tried. Excellent comfort, sound quality, and noise isolation. They’re my daily drivers

Headphones:

Focal Bathys: The best sounding closed-back headphones I’ve tried and it’s not even really close. The Senn and Sony options are far behind primarily in soundstage and imaging.

Sony XM5: I have a small head and found these actually always felt a bit too large. Noise cancelling was good but, not as impressive as I was anticipating. I prefer the Momentum 4 overall

Senn Momentum 4: Main complaint is the 2.5mm jack, not sure why they couldn’t have gone with the much more standard 3.5. They also feel surprisingly cheap for the price. Despite this, they feel like good all-rounders if you can find em on a good sale.

k371: Hot take - I don’t like them. Perhaps it’s just the way they fit on my head but, the sound isolation is very bad for me. It’s to the point where I’d scarcely use them instead of just using my open-backs. Sound quality is fine but I’m not convinced it’s a subsantial upgrade from a M40x which is much cheaper here in Canada.

M50xBT: Hope you like no-mids. Seriously for some this will actually be a totally viable headphone but, the recession in the mids is a deal-breaker for me.

Aeon Closed X: Comfortable and feel well built but, generally not that impressed. I’d prefer saving up and getting the better-sounding and feature rich Bathys. Personally I also prefer headphones with standard 3.5mm jacks as well.

Senn 560S: My first love and intro to audiophile headphones. Sound excellent and feel highly durable. Even take to well with bit of EQ bass boosting. Compared to some higher-end open-backs they sound slightly grainy and less detailed but, these are great value. I wish they didn’t use an annoying locking-mechanism for the cable tho.

Hifiman Sundara: My daily drivers. Lots of QC issues so buyers beware, but they sound excellent. They respond very well to my 6db bass boost and don’t need a ton of power to drive (no I don’t think an amp is a requirement, sound great off apple dongle).

Focal Elex: My second daily drivers, I love them equally to Sundara. Sound a lil more punchy but not a hugely different to my ears. I’m willing to bet many buyers will prefer Elex or Sundara largely based around comfort (both excellent on my head).

Harmonicdyne Zeus: Most comfortable pair of headphones I’ve ever tried. Sound quality is fine and really quite great with some EQ, but without EQ they’re just too warm to me. I’d take Elex or Sundara instead unless comfort and soundstage are the only priorities.

X2HR: Punch sound and pretty pleasant but, treble was kinda spikey. I do quite like these overall but sold them after I got my Elex which made them kinda unnecessary.

Audeze LCD-X: Only demo’d them a bit in store but, they sound wonderful. Even without EQ I loved their signature and they’re super comfortable.

Airpods Max: Too warm, too expensive, and no analog-in. They’re not bad and noise-cancelling is ahead of Bathys, I’d never purchase such expensive headphones that charge with a proprietary port, don’t have proper analog input, and only sound decent.

Equipment:

FiiO E10k: Unnecessary for sound quality, just buy apple dongle. Only helpful for having volume knob which is a nice pleasantry

Ifi Hipdac: The balanced jack here sounds great. Not night/day from apple dongle but, good. The 3.5mm jack has an audible noise-floor with some IEM’s though which is disappointing so, hard to recommend. At least it doesn’t drain your laptops battery like e10k.

Schiit Heresy: Sounds good, impressive noise-floor, and more power than you’ll need for 99% of headphones. Mine did break and, while Schiit did repair it with no issues, makes me nervous that it could happen to others outside the 1-year warranty.

Tempotec Sonata HD Pro: Just a small upgrade from Apple Dongle with some extra volume control which I find useful.

Apple Dongle USB C: Easy recommendation. Cheap, sounds great.

DX3+: Sound quality difference was inaudible coming from Heresy/Sonata HD combo. Not bad but, not impressive to me

Qudelix 5k: Love it, and the features and functionality have improved a ton since launch via updates. Only wish is that it had an easily user-replaceable battery.

BTR5: Qudelix makes this obsolete to me. The app is very bad in comparison (although I sold it more than 1yr ago so perhaps it’s improved) and simply has fewer features.

Feel free to ask any questions :)

(Post originated from my Vlemmy community which is now gone)

Nice to see more companies taking this kinda concept seriously (altho if concerts weren't obnoxiously loud it wouldn't be necessary :D )

I wonder if some headphone reviewers will be able to measure the FR of these vs competitors like Vibes and Etymonic

anyone had any luck with sourcing replacement earbuds? seems kinda wasteful to junk the whole thing because one earbud is gone.

Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS, if it matters. searching turned up nada, same with filling out the contact form on their site.

So, I bought a JBL Tune Beam two months ago. I'm overall happy with the headphones, only it feels like the noise cancelling doesn't really work. I've never had headphones that I was really happy with their ANC (Jabra elite 75t, Bose quiet comfort 35II, and Anker liberty 3). Only here, I feel like there is no real difference, only if I pay close attention I can feel some difference. With the others, the differences were more noticeable.

So is it just me? Any of you know how I can configure this somehow?

I took this from an old post I made using a post template from reddits headphone community.

Budget: I think I would like to stay around $50. But if they are a truly good investment I’ll go up to $100. If they would change my life up to $120.

Source: Bluetooth/wireless. I will listen on my iPhone.

Requirements for Isolation. Will you be using these Headphones in Public?: I think I would like medium isolation as these will be in public. It is safer to be able to hear my surroundings while also indicating to others not to talk to me in the train.

Preferred Type of Headphones: I suppose over the ear. Wireless earbuds make me nervous they’ll fall out

Preferred tonal balance: I love me some some bass! I want sweeping jazz orchestras to blow me away.

Past headphones: I had my Bluetooth Panasonic RP-HTX80B. They served me years. Before that I had the same kind but wired for even more years. I also had two pairs of JLab Bombara matte brown. They got a lot of use till they broke. They weren’t very durable. Did not last years lol

I am very careful with my headphones. It’s telling that both my Panasonics lasted that long and not the JLabs. They were all nice overall, but I wished they fit better. They never sat close enough to my ear to get that strong bass. They were alright.

Preferred Music: I listen to everything. From R&B to Motown, Golden Oldies to Metal, movie soundtracks to jazz.

Here are samples of my general taste in music: Agape | Nicholas Britell

Respiration | Black Star

Them Bones | Alice In Chains

Sunlight | Esperanza Spalding

Be Ever Wonderful | Earth Wind and Fire

I suppose I want something that can handle sweeping jazz and R&B, and some strong bass as well. Of all these songs, I would want Be Ever Wonderful to sound like absolute perfection if that helps. I would just die if it sounded as good as possible.

What would you like to improve on from your set-up: Everything. Just set me on the right path.

I posted before elsewhere but got no hits.

Have you guys ever had the problem of slippery headbands or "unstable" headphones?

I have a rather big head (hat size 62 EU) and don't like headphones with super strong clamping forces. Apparently these two factors make headphones quite prone to moving on my head and even slipping straight off.

Headphones with rubberized or "not so slick" headbands tend to stay quite well, however headbands made of nylon or similar materials don't do such a great job.

It's not a problem as long as I don't move my head, but some movements like bending over are guaranteed "slip offs".

Do you run into these problems? If so, what's your solution? Do you glue the drivers straight to your ears?

I have a collection of headphones and iems that is probably unhealthy, but we are not here to talk about that. Instead, I came into work and realized I've been using the same KZ-zs10 pros for a few years of zoom (has a mic on the wire), music, and whatever else at work with no complaint.

Given all the other options out there, or that I own, it surprises me that such a humble iem has performed so well. Which brings me to my question: what is your old reliable? Your everyday workhorse? What headphone or iem do you reach for over and over again?

I will be doing a good amount of international travel in a month and have been looking for some headphones in the $300ish range with solid ANC. I have a pair of AirPods Pro, and they are just alright on flights as far as ANC goes, and I don't want to deal with charging them every few hours.

I went around to multiple local Best Buys to try out the Bose QC45, Sony XM4, and Sony XM5, and was honestly very disappointed. All three of them only had a tiny change between ambient mode and ANC mode. I also had the same experience with a pair of Bose 700s in all ANC modes. I could still clearly hear customer and employee conversations going on around the store, and I could hear my partner talking next to me, all with none of the demo music playing. I tried out my AirPods Pro immediately after each one and was able to cut out significantly more noise. This experience was the same at each of the Best Buys I went to, and I went to multiple hoping that the first Best Buy just had broken demo units maybe.

One of the Best Buys had a pair of Airpods Max to try, those also cut out significantly more noise.

I have seen nothing but praise for how good the ANC is on all of these Bose and Sony headphones, I would expect them to at least be as good as AirPods, I have tried a family member's XM3s a few years ago and was absolutely blown away by how good the ANC was. Do these demo units just suck? I don't really want to spend $300 just to find out, but I cannot think of another reason.

I am looking for new earbuds as my airpods are not functioning well anymore. I am mostly using them with my iphone and I like the experience with the airpods, however the price on new models seem quite high so I am considering other cheaper options.

I came across earfun air pro 3 earbuds and they look like they offer great features given their cheap pricing. I wanted to ask if anyone have them here, how was your experience with them? Does it look bulky compared to airpods, how do they sound and how is the day to day experience? I think they dont have auto pause when taken out of ear, but are there other annoying/poor experience with them?

A while ago my headphones (HyperX Cloud II) fell and the left ear pad detached from the head band, but the cable is still there and sound works on both sides. Is there an easy way to put it back for free, or if not for cheap? I've tried putting one end in and forcing the other but the support is made of metal and doesn't bend easily.

I am currently using Sennheiser's ocx 686g but they're just staring to lose connection to the port when the cable gets pushed around, so I was looking to see if there's anything better than just replacing these every 3-5 years at a ~100$ price point wired preferred but not a hard deal breaker or anything

Hi guys, I'm trying to find something to watch movies with in my bedroom from my tv. Mostly for when it's late at night so I wouldn't disturb others while they sleep.

I don't want a large, over the ear headphones as I'll be lying down sometimes and I also don't want to stick earbuds in my ear due to problems I've had before.

I've been looking at air conduction earphones (not bone conduction) that just slips over your ear without the band that goes behind your head. Anyone familiar with any of these that has quick charge capabilities like a 10 minute charge for a couple hours use? I found some but none seem to have that quick charge feature.

Hey guys, I'm in a looking for an advice on how to deal with a situation.

I play digital piano which is connected to my computer so I can use it with a DAW. The problem is that I live in an apartment located in a very noisy street and it's driving me crazy whenever I try to practice anything. I have an open back headphone that has a very decent sound quality, but it doesn't provide much isolation.

So I was thinking about buying a noise-cancelling headphone for that purpose, but I fear that the noise-cancelling wouldn't work well for that kind of environment (I heard it works well for planes, which is different from traffic noise I guess?) or if I should buy a closed headphone instead.

Does anyone here have faced a similar situation before?

I am trying to use a lav mic with my headphones cause the inline mic for them broke. The headphones only have a TRRS output and the mic has a TRRS with a TRS converter/adapter. Can I find a 2 female TRRS and TRS to 1 male TRRS 3.5mm adapter? Would a 2 TRS female to 1 TRRS male adapter work in this scenario even tho my headphones are TRRS only? I know the mic sleeve is the end ring so maybe I dont need to fully plug in the headphones cause I'm trying to use another mic anyway.

These are the three things I have found -

Lav mic - https://www.amazon.in/Maono-AU-400-Lavalier-Microphone-Black/dp/B07JF9B592

Splitter(jack type unknown. possible 2 female TRS to 1 male TRRS) - https://www.amazon.in/Kinsound-Male-Female-Smartphone-Laptop（Grey）/dp/B089NVPFYY

Splitter(apparently 2 female TRRS to 1 male TRRS. practically perfect for my purpose) - https://www.amazon.in/CABLESETC-Universal-Microphone-Duplicator-Splitter/dp/B01MXPFQ85

I am not an avid electrical engineering guy. Just trying to fix some stuff with the limited knowledge I have.

Hello!

I've had these headphones for a really long time now but it's really uncomfortable (see attached image).

I've seen a lot of people recommend the replacement ear pads from Brainwavz, saying that it makes the headphones way more comfortable. But a lot of people are also saying that it changes the sound in a negative way. Now I'm not really an audiophile but I'd prefer if I could avoid altering the sound by a lot while making the headphones more comfortable.

Someone also suggested the Shure SRH840A pads, which would be preferable since I could get it locally, but I'm not sure whether it fits on the ATH-M20x, since the seller's website says that it's only compatible with that model of headphones.

Which ear pad should I buy?