Headphone Upgrade suggestions (Personal Use)

[stoopid]

My needs have changed as I exit recording and enter the 'listening' leg of my musical journey. 8 years ago I tried a bunch of headphones, some still available, with the intent of finding a compromise between something I could daily drive for casual music listening and tracking, and something more detailed for getting mixes most of the way there/fine tuning (before moving to the studio monitors for the final tweaks). I'm parting ways with my Sennheiser HD600 open back headphones, used only for that detailed mixing stage. I still have the same Audio-Technica ATH-M50 from many years ago, and these have been very good overall headphones. I like the solid bass delivery and of course the relatively bargain-level price. But they're weaker in the mid and high frequency response, which I'm looking to improve with the purchase of a new set of primary headphones for 99% personal use.

I realize selecting headphones is a very personal process, but finding someplace local with a good selection even in Las Vegas isn't going to suffice. So I'm going to turn to HR.com and other online sources for suggestions and reviews, then make a pick from there. Worse case I'll possibly have to return something as I plow through a short list of contenders. But hoping my due diligence can help me avoid that.

Today being the start of the process I have a blank slate of contenders. I'd prefer closed back, there's times later at night I like to jam out a bit and play things loud, and open back might allow for too much bleed. I'm not opposed to in ear solutions (IEM, earbuds). I have a mid tier pair of BT earbuds that are fairly good, impressive really for what they pack into such a small design, and that's certainly a possibility. But I don't find earbuds as comfortable and certainly not over an hour or two straight wearing them. I'm not opposed to a wired set of earbuds, and they might be the better long term solution because they don't have batteries that will eventually die (planned obsolescence anyone?).

My primary requirements "put into words"...

• Under $500, preferably $300-ish but willing to splurge for something I may use for the rest of my days
• Good bass response is a must, improved mid-upper end response over the ATH-M50s is where I'm focusing the most
• Closed back (for when I like to crank 'em), and these usually provide tighter bass response
• Comfort - some smaller ear cup designs are not comfortable. I'm also not a fan of leather/plether for long listening sessions. Earbuds tend to fatigue after an hour.

I have a headphone amp, so just about anything on the market I could sufficiently power.

 

[marpow]

I absolutely love Beats Studios Wireless
I am not a home headphone listener, I do have Sennheiser HD 700 for home but NEVER use them.

Back to the Beats, wireless, spatial audio enabled and noise canceling.
I use them in the gym and on airplanes, absolutely perfect.
Regarding spatial audio, you do here a little different, but not like my home rig Atmos.
@PurpleMoustache I am adding him as I feel he is an expert at all things stereo and Atmos via Apple and Tidal and might have more info.
I did learn from him that the pure lossless of Apple for instance comes from the phone whereas from the Apple4K at home is lossy.

 

[humprof]

Audiophilestyle's Josh Mound does extremely detailed headphone reviews. Here's one; you could search the site for others:
https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/zmf-atrium-headphones-review-r1137/

 

[stoopid]

Audiophilestyle's Josh Mound does extremely detailed headphone reviews. Here's one; you could search the site for others:
https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/zmf-atrium-headphones-review-r1137/

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll put that in rotation when I get to the internet review crawl I expect to undertake.

My goal of this thread was to get personal opinions / favorites (anecdotal).

 

[stoopid]

I absolutely love Beats Studios Wireless
I am not a home headphone listener, I do have Sennheiser HD 700 for home but NEVER use them.

Back to the Beats, wireless, spatial audio enabled and noise canceling.
I use them in the gym and on airplanes, absolutely perfect.
Regarding spatial audio, you do here a little different, but not like my home rig Atmos.
@PurpleMoustache I am adding him as I feel he is an expert at all things stereo and Atmos via Apple and Tidal and might have more info.
I did learn from him that the pure lossless of Apple for instance comes from the phone whereas from the Apple4K at home is lossy.

Neat, this was the 'unexpected' factor I was hoping for. Beats are well off my radar, but I'll look more closely at the suggested model. I kinda forgot about BT solutions, and they're certainly on the table (only con would be the increase weight of the batteries).

 

[PurpleMoustache]

I absolutely love Beats Studios Wireless
I am not a home headphone listener, I do have Sennheiser HD 700 for home but NEVER use them.

Back to the Beats, wireless, spatial audio enabled and noise canceling.
I use them in the gym and on airplanes, absolutely perfect.
Regarding spatial audio, you do here a little different, but not like my home rig Atmos.
@PurpleMoustache I am adding him as I feel he is an expert at all things stereo and Atmos via Apple and Tidal and might have more info.
I did learn from him that the pure lossless of Apple for instance comes from the phone whereas from the Apple4K at home is lossy.

Theoretically *all* headphones work with Apple’s “Spatial Audio” layer… at least for Apple Music. To enable it on android et all as a selling point on the service there is a default renderer (I’ve seen some mention that this is Dolby’s one and not Apple’s one but I do not know this for certain) that kicks in if you go into Settings>Apple Music>Always On. That way any pair of headphones would work. I’ve listened to Atmos on my Sennheiser 6XX’s (a $200 budget model of the 650 made exclusively for drop.com), and Etymotic ER3XR’s (which are my recommendation for IEM’s btw. They are *the most closed off* IEM possible, going deep in your ear, but sound phenomenal. If you have the dough to spare, spring for the ER4’s). I usually use a DAC/Amp to my iPhone or iPad for this, the FiiO BTR5, which doubles as a “Bluetooth adapter” for those headphones, should I wish to go wireless.

For Apple’s own headphones: AirPods Gen 3, AirPods Pro 1 & 2, AirPods Max (which would be my wireless over ear recommendation… with the caveat that all Apple insiders seem confident that a new model is coming next year, possibly late in the year), as well as the full Beats suite of headphones… they have their own “secret weapon”: the H1 and H2 chips. Initially pitched as a chip for lower latency when watching videos, it’s expanded to offer head tracking, and additional help with respect to Atmos playback. If you get any of these headphones (possibly not some beats but I’m not sure) you will be prompted on set up to do “personalized Spatial Audio” which does a Face ID scan of your face AND ears to build a custom renderer profile for your head. This is synced on your Apple ID and will work on other Apple devices like a MacBook or Apple TV (the secret perk of AirPods is the ability to stream all of your Apple TV’s audio to your AirPods, perfect for late night viewing). Notably, the “free” Spatial Audio renderer for all headphones starts and stops with Apple Music. There is no way to apply Spatial Audio to all headphones for things like watching movies and TV shows. That is locked away behind Apple’s own headphones. And there’s no way to apply that special profile from scanning your head to regular headphones.

So in short: if you’re looking for Atmos streaming capabilities… get kind of anything. But if you want the “best” experience go for Apple’s own headphones.

I’d recommend the Etymotic ER3XR’s for IEMs, but would also point you in the direction of the IEM wizard Crinacle, and his site In-Ear Fidelity, which contains The Worlds Largest Public IEM And Headphone Measurements Database™. He also has a YouTube channel rating/reviewing/announcing IEMs he helped tune. Here’s a “under $100 guide” he made (warning; language).

P.S. The Apple TV *does* output Lossless, it just tops out at 24/48. For full 24/196 you need a iPhone/iPad/Mac/Android device. The setting to flip lossless on is in the settings for Music. My best guess as to why it’s limited is *technically* the HomePods run the same OS, and they’re hard limited to AirPlay 2 as a codec which tops out at 24/48. This could potentially change in the future but who knows. And at the moment all streaming Atmos from everyone is lossy. And that also could change. But who knows.

 

[stoopid]

... Etymotic ER3XR’s (which are my recommendation for IEM’s btw. They are *the most closed off* IEM possible, going deep in your ear, but sound phenomenal. If you have the dough to spare, spring for the ER4’s) ...

Thanks for the Etymotic ER3XR / ER4 suggestion. The ER4XR are $250-ish, so within the $300-ish budget.

I'm not sure about any of the Apple stuff being posted, I never mentioned Apple or streaming. I don't own a single Apple product and consume 0% of my music online/via streaming (I will on the rare occasion check something out on Youtube). I have an extensive CD, FLAC, high bitrate MP3 and of course surround media locally from my PC through a Presonus headphone amp.

 

[Horbus]

I recently bought the Beyerdynamic Amiro Home (DT1990 is the Pro counterpart I believe) directly from the companies webshop as B-grade. It is like the Sennheiser an open HP and I am very pleased with the sound (had some Shure before) but as you mentioned it's a matter of personal taste. Probably you have come across with this brand before since they are well regarded within the Pro and Recording Community like the Sennnheisers are.

 

[kfbkfb]

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/sony-mdr-7506-review-headphone.19099/
I rarely use headphones now, I bought 2 Sony MDR-ZX110 several years ago, I plan to buy 1 Sony MDR-7506.


Kirk Bayne

 

[Stephen W Tayler]

I guess it is probably what you are used to and serves you best - I see headphones and speakers as instruments that are a totally personal taste.

While they may not be absolutely perfect or accurate, I have probably been through at least 20 sets of these over the last 25-30 Years!

Sony MDR-7506 - I do a lot of work with them especially these days. They just work for me. SWT

 

[Bob Romano]

I have Senheiser, Beats, Bowers and Wilkins but my faves are
Sony MDR-7506 Professional Closed-Back Headphones | Guitar Center

I think they sound incredible with nice bass and a smooth bu crystal clear top end and nice mid. And at $99 it's a great deal too.

 

[Bob Romano]

I guess it is probably what you are used to and serves you best - I see headphones and speakers as instruments that are a totally personal taste.

While they may not be absolutely perfect or accurate, I have probably been through at least 20 sets of these over the last 25-30 Years!

Sony MDR-7506 - I do a lot of work with them especially these days. They just work for me. SWT

They are my go to phones if I'm not using my FIIO fH7s Earbuds. The Fiios are amazing!!

 

[SmcAustin]

I can recommend the Etymotic and Sony headphones mentioned but the latter requires a touch of eq to be pleasant rather than revealing. Whatever you end up with, including eq in the listening chain can solve a lot of problems.

 

[~dave~~wave~]

I can recommend the Etymotic and Sony headphones mentioned but the latter requires a touch of eq to be pleasant rather than revealing. Whatever you end up with, including eq in the listening chain can solve a lot of problems.

https://www.schiit.com/products/loki-mini-3

 

[humprof]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll put that in rotation when I get to the internet review crawl I expect to undertake.

My goal of this thread was to get personal opinions / favorites (anecdotal).

Sure--I get that. One thing I like about Mound is that he's primarily a(n exceptionally careful & critical) listener, not a professional reviewer. I don't know him personally, but I always feel like he's giving detailed personal recommendations rather than dispassionate reviews.

As for me: I don't actually do much headphone listening, so take my recommendations with a grain of salt. But when I do put on some cans, I happily return to the open-backed AKG K135/S I've had for decades. Cheap, comfortable, relatively flat, crisp, and detailed, good for all kinds of music. (They're no longer made, and I think the semi-open K142HD may be the closest equivalent.) As a longtime volunteer radio programmer, I also like the Sony MDR-7506 that Bob and others recommend. For IEMs: although "Crinacle" later rescinded his endorsement, I think the KZ x Crinacle CRN (Zex Pro) is really impressive, especially for the price, though after 45 minutes or so, they get to be uncomfortable. When I upgrade, I plan to study Mound's exhaustive reviews of low- and mid-price IEMs.

FWIW: there was a thread similar to this one back in February 2019. I can't find it right now, but my notes say that the Sennheiser HD-280 Pro and the AT ATH-M50x were QQ favorites, with the Grado SR-60 and Sony MDR-V6 (discontinued in 2020, though I think the 7506 is equivalent in most regards) close behind.

 

[marpow]

I am curios as I find, sometimes threads on QQ fascinating for information in the real world.
Would you above me have an opinion of wireless headphones?
All suggestions are home wired headphones, which is of course what the OP is asking for, but do wireless ever play into the home or best always with a headphone amp and wired headphones?
Thanks in advance, I'll take answer off air.

 

[par4ken]

My four ears require that I use "Quadraphones"!

Seriously if you must stick to stereophones I recommend getting a pair of electrostatics.

I have a very old pair of Magnavox phones driven by a tube based amplifier and the sound is amazing. The detail is many levels above that of any phones using dynamic drivers.

Stax is the most well known brand of electrostatics with many models available.

 

[Wagonmaster_91]

I have several pairs of headphones including a set of RBH HP-2, but my go-to phones are the Sony MDR-V6. A classic closed back model, smooth response with no coloring. They are said to be discontinued, but can easily be found with just a little searching. I think they have been replaced with a couple of other models in the series, but I haven't heard those so I can't say how they compare. If you want to impress your friends with how much you paid for headphones, these won't fill that bill - You can find them for well under $100.

 

[Stephen W Tayler]

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!!

 

[stoopid]

I recently bought the Beyerdynamic Amiro Home (DT1990 is the Pro counterpart I believe) directly from the companies webshop as B-grade. It is like the Sennheiser an open HP and I am very pleased with the sound (had some Shure before) but as you mentioned it's a matter of personal taste. Probably you have come across with this brand before since they are well regarded within the Pro and Recording Community like the Sennnheisers are.

100%, they were on that list 8 years ago when I was doing this same process in reverse (looking for a good studio combo, versus one pair for personal listening now). The DT770, 880, and 990 Pro are all good in their own ways. The DT770 Pro could be a contender at the price, but they're more like a crossgrade than upgrade from the ATH-M50s. I think the same could be said of the Sony MDR-7506, although the MDR-7506 would be flatter (similar to the AKG K240) than I'm looking for personal playback. The AKG K240 always sounded papery to my ears, which landed me in the HD600s for 'flat' and accurate mix sessions.