Headphone Upgrade suggestions (Personal Use)

[PurpleMoustache]

I started with the Sony MDR-V6 in 1990 when I acquired six pairs for the One World One Voice project I was working on. I used them constantly for many years, but they were effectively replaced with the MDR-7506 which they labelled 'Professional' - almost identical design. I do still have one pair of V6s I acquired recently, but I have always preferred the much clearer/crisper sound of the 7506s, although I do find they need to be played in for a while before they sound perfect to my ears!!

I spent a good couple of days on assorted audio forums before I bought my own 7506s (which desperately need a pad replacement), and near as I can tell the *only* difference between the V6 and the 7506 is the sticker on the cups themselves. Some swear the tuning is slightly different but otherwise they’re 1-to-1

 

[stoopid]

Determined that most sub-$1000 closed back headphones are only a nominal bump in quality over what I'm using, and I've concluded that going in-ear/earbuds isn't for me either. So after spending time today looking at options, wading through advice here and elsewhere, and pouring over reviews and various forum posts I've landed on the Audeze LCD-2 closed back. They're $900 new, so I'm hoping to find a lightly used pair for less.

https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-2-closed-back
It's MUCH more than I wanted to spend, but there's a real chance these could be the last good headphones I'll ever need to buy and music's important enough to me that $600 or 700 to maximize enjoyment of it is justifiable. I also spend as much or more time listening to music on headphones as any other source, so it's the money being spent on the 'right' equipment.

I also plan to buy some extra ear pads to toss in the drawer to ensure that longevity (finding replacements could prove difficult as decades pass).

Huge thanks for the input, everyone's ideas sent me in differing directions that were all necessary for arriving where I did.

 

[stoopid]

And as luck would have it, while reviewing some LCD-2 listings on eBay I stumbled on the Monoprice 'knock-off' of the LCD-2 closed back, for significantly less ($225 after shipping and tax, new).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/374979485106
The reviews I could find were all positive, in line with similar performance and weight as the LCD-2. So I ordered a pair, at worse I can return them only costs me return shipping. But it looks like I may have stumbled on my solution AND stayed within budget. Now the question is -- is this the beginning, middle, or end of the hunt? lol

 

[JediJoker]

Determined that most sub-$1000 closed back headphones are only a nominal bump in quality over what I'm using, and I've concluded that going in-ear/earbuds isn't for me either. So after spending time today looking at options, wading through advice here and elsewhere, and pouring over reviews and various forum posts I've landed on the Audeze LCD-2 closed back. They're $900 new, so I'm hoping to find a lightly used pair for less.

https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-2-closed-back
It's MUCH more than I wanted to spend, but there's a real chance these could be the last good headphones I'll ever need to buy and music's important enough to me that $600 or 700 to maximize enjoyment of it is justifiable. I also spend as much or more time listening to music on headphones as any other source, so it's the money being spent on the 'right' equipment.

I also plan to buy some extra ear pads to toss in the drawer to ensure that longevity (finding replacements could prove difficult as decades pass).

Huge thanks for the input, everyone's ideas sent me in differing directions that were all necessary for arriving where I did.

If you're looking for a more "conventional" frequency response, I'd go for the LCD-XC over the LCD-2 Closed. It's one of the more neutral Audeze offerings (along with the MM-500 and significantly cheaper MM-100, plus perhaps the Maxwell "gaming" headset for a cheaper closed-back option).

 

[Bob Romano]

I started with the Sony MDR-V6 in 1990 when I acquired six pairs for the One World One Voice project I was working on. I used them constantly for many years, but they were effectively replaced with the MDR-7506 which they labelled 'Professional' - almost identical design. I do still have one pair of V6s I acquired recently, but I have always preferred the much clearer/crisper sound of the 7506s, although I do find they need to be played in for a while before they sound perfect to my ears!!

The V6 phones were the ones I used during my time as a club DJ. You could crank them and they were really clean sounding. When I went to get another pair I found they were no longer made so the 7506's were my new go to headphones. I like them just as much.

 

[stoopid]

If you're looking for a more "conventional" frequency response, I'd go for the LCD-XC over the LCD-2 Closed. It's one of the more neutral Audeze offerings (along with the MM-500 and significantly cheaper MM-100, plus perhaps the Maxwell "gaming" headset for a cheaper closed-back option).

I'm not looking for flat/neutral, per my original post:

"Good bass response is a must, improved mid-upper end response over the ATH-M50s is where I'm focusing the most"

The LCD-2 closed have 'good' bass response based on all the reviews. One review described it as a few db more than flat.

The Monolith headphones I found are modeled after the LCD-2 closed (from what information I can find), and the reviews follow the same pattern of flat mid/high frequency with slightly more bass. Exactly what I'm looking for - more detail and bigger soundstage than the ATH-M50, but with solid bass. Most higher end headphones try to stay flat, which has always sounded a bit too boring to my ears for casual music consumption.

 

[CWillCalho]

I use Sennheiser 800 S headphones with a Sennheiser HDV 820 Headphone Amp. I would highly recommend both.

 

[armyjazzer]

I have some HIFI man planars that sound amazing, but require a high power headphone amp to get the "magic" from them. I run them with a Schiit Lyr tube amp. I have always wanted to try some electrostatics, but never have been willing to drop that much cash. The planars sound great and get a little more on the low end, I've been told but can't confirm, compared to the electrostatics.

 

[Stephen W Tayler]

I use Focusrite Clarett interfaces for all my systems, and they have pretty good headphone amplifiers, but my most ideal situation is to feed the great sounding Clarett D/A converters into the simple but astounding spl Auditor headphone amplifier - what a difference that makes to my ability to work for hours on end with the Sony headphones.

 

[slotkar]

I love my Sennheiser HD 650 cans for serious listening. I couple them with a Matrix M.Stage HPA headphone amp which has both analog and digital inputs.

 

[jefe1]

Fascinating thread. I have learned a lot here.
I'm going to pick up a pair of the Sonys to share with my son. I have a pair of open back Grado headphones that I am happy with.

What fascinates me is the audiophile in ear buds mentioned here
Do you have to use a separate amplifier with them?
And why do they come with Jacks not USB C connectors?
And are they overkill for listening on your phone?

I bought some USB C converters for my old earbuds to use with my Samsung phone. It appears they are Dacs too.
I never investigated what was in them just wanted to use the earbuds I had.
Can those Fiios eh7s be plugged directly into a cellphone for use?

 

[stoopid]

Fascinating thread. I have learned a lot here.
I'm going to pick up a pair of the Sonys to share with my son. I have a pair of open back Grado headphones that I am happy with.

What fascinates me is the audiophile in ear buds mentioned here
Do you have to use a separate amplifier with them?
And why do they come with Jacks not USB C connectors?
And are they overkill for listening on your phone?

I bought some USB C converters for my old earbuds to use with my Samsung phone. It appears they are Dacs too.
I never investigated what was in them just wanted to use the earbuds I had.
Can those Fiios eh7s be plugged directly into a cellphone for use?

Lots to unpack here...

Most in ear solutions are 'efficient' so I'm not aware of any that require a dedicated amp. That answers a few of these questions.

I've used various headphones with cell phones over the years, they're fine for small headphones and in ear monitors / earbuds.

Your 'usb c' converter is most likely an adapter, the usb-c pin assignments allow for analog signals. So basically there's no "digital to analog", it just detects the headphones connected and sends the signal.

People use in ear monitors and earbuds in a variety of ways, it would be limiting their potential audience of buyers if they came as usb-c. It's easy/more common for people to convert 1/8" to usb-c than it is to convert usb-c to 1/8". But there's still a large number of people using audio equipment, and all of that is still analog headphone outs. The market for wired headphones intended for cell phone use is small now with the advent of Bluetooth earbuds, and with more laptops and desktops coming with bluetooth standard this is also becoming the case for computing.

 

[jefe1]

Many thanks @stoopid for your response

as @marpow above had asked about Bluetooth earbuds any suggestions anyone?
But Happy Holidays everyone.

 

[Bob Romano]

Fascinating thread. I have learned a lot here.
I'm going to pick up a pair of the Sonys to share with my son. I have a pair of open back Grado headphones that I am happy with.

What fascinates me is the audiophile in ear buds mentioned here
Do you have to use a separate amplifier with them?
And why do they come with Jacks not USB C connectors?
And are they overkill for listening on your phone?

I bought some USB C converters for my old earbuds to use with my Samsung phone. It appears they are Dacs too.
I never investigated what was in them just wanted to use the earbuds I had.
Can those Fiios eh7s be plugged directly into a cellphone for use?

Fiios can be plugged directly in but my phone doesn't have a 3.5mm jack. So I use either the Dragonfly Cobalt or, more recently, the Fiio KA5 DAC in addition to the buds. I quite like the sound as, to my ears, it matches the sound of what Is being played to my speakers. Bass heavy music is smooth and albums like Gaucho or more "audiophile" stuff sounds clean and full. The DAC seems to be cleaner than just the mini plug out. At least on my laptop anyway.

 

[atrocity]

(which desperately need a pad replacement)

My biggest complaint! I've got a pair of Sony MDR-V6, Audio-Technica ATH-M50 and Shure SRH440 and the pads are ALL in various stages of crumblifying. It's really annoying.

 

[Bob Romano]

Many thanks @stoopid for your response

as @marpow above had asked about Bluetooth earbuds any suggestions anyone?
But Happy Holidays everyone.

I have the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 pro which are my favorites out of the Airpods, Beats and Bose. Clean sound with pretty great battery life.

 

[atrocity]

My biggest complaint! I've got a pair of Sony MDR-V6, Audio-Technica ATH-M50 and Shure SRH440 and the pads are ALL in various stages of crumblifying. It's really annoying.

And as soon as I posted that I got the bright idea to check Amazon for replacement pads and found that they're plentiful.

 

[stoopid]

And as soon as I posted that I got the bright idea to check Amazon for replacement pads and found that they're plentiful.

I was about to post something to that effect. For my ATH-M50s, I have memory foam velour pads that I think were a drop.com exclusive a while back. My headband on the M50s also fell apart, so I found a replacement wrap that attaches via zipper that's bought me many more years since.

 

[stoopid]

Many thanks @stoopid for your response

as @marpow above had asked about Bluetooth earbuds any suggestions anyone?
But Happy Holidays everyone.

There's a lot of options. What are you willing to spend?

I ended up getting a set of Earfun BT earbuds on Amazon when they were on sale, and they sound very good for $60-ish. Included a battery pack to put them in/charge, and the whole pack is wireless charging capable so to top that off I only have to set the pack on my charging base. I don't spend a lot of time wearing earbuds so only needed something that sounded decent for the occasional use, otherwise I can see spending more on something more premium. But for the price these are one of the better 'bargains'.

 

[atrocity]

I was about to post something to that effect. For my ATH-M50s, I have memory foam velour pads that I think were a drop.com exclusive a while back. My headband on the M50s also fell apart, so I found a replacement wrap that attaches via zipper that's bought me many more years since.

Funny you'd mention that because it's the headband that's absolutely in the worst shape on my A-Ts.

At the risk of jinxing it, it just occurred to me that none of what I'm currently using has suffered from my previous biggest complaint: Audio connections that gave out entirely or became unreliable. The Shures work around that by having a very easily-swapped cable, but the others don't.