Cans! (Headphone thread inspired by Dolly Parton)

progbethyname wrote: Nice to see this thread revived a bit. My latest acquisition for the ultimate headphone listening experience has been purchasing an AC Regenerator and incorporating that into my chain. I’ve had it for 3 months now and I have never been happier. The importance and improvements given from clean and proper AC is absolutely huge. I hope you will all look into a regenerator. It is expensive, but the improvements in the stereo imaging and low end is absolutely huge. Anyway. My CANS are getting some serious treatment these days. Love being an audio guy.

Things are about as dead as you make em out to be, I find. Just this morning I had this visceral sensation of sitting next to Miles Davis all because of In A Silent Way.
...but I also know what you mean

It would seem that I shamefully omitted one of the finest headphones in production today from my earlier recommendation, the Audio Technica ATH-R70X. It’s basically a lightweight bag of gummybears strapped to your noggin that sounds like a slightly warm pair of studiomonitors.

What a wonderful cameo from my main man José and Dolly herself.

^Nice headphones Grumpy
I had a long listen to a friend’s DT880 a little while back and was a little surprised by how much I liked it. It was the 250 ohm Pro version. I think the last one I heard before that was the 600 ohm version, which to my ears, sounded brighter. There’s also something about those velour pads that feels so inviting.
Btw if your pads have turned brown and/or flattened, I’d suggest a pad swap. Sure they’re a tad pricey, but you effectively get a ‘brand new’ headphone in return ie the intended frequency response/presentation relies on the pads. Pads are similar to ‘the room’ in which you place your speakers. They dictate how far your ears are from the drivers as well as the fabric choice and overall density of the material all being factors in the tuning. When pads deteriorate they also change the presentation. We don’t really notice because it happens so slowly over time - somewhat similar to not noticing the natural ageing proces happening in the mirror.
It’s only really when you swap to a pair of fresh pads you realise how much the sound has changed.

I really dig the K240 - especially what one gets for the dough. Last time I bought one I ended up paying something like 400 kr for it...aka cheap as chips...and it sounds very good.
I do prefer the HD600’s more neutral and smooth presentation, but I guess the extra energy found in the uppermids and treble of the AKG occasionally makes it easier to make productional decisions.

Let’s get Dolly back on track with some saucy headphone factoids:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/study-headphone-price-and-sound-quality.956469/

The above link is to a thread that discusses the correlation between sound quality and price tag. Spoiler? There’s no correlation.
Funnily enough I’ve learned this for myself over the past few years having tried all kinds of cans spanning from dirt-cheap to trying out friends’ coconuts that effectively cost car-money.
The truth of the matter seems to be that the higher up the price ladder one goes...the fancier and heavier the headphone gets. The sound though is still comparable to headphones that are 10 times as cheap.
Case in point: the Abyss AB1266 TC. This headphone costs in and around 5-6000$. Yup It is designed so as you can drive it over with a Jeep (if held in a very specific manner no less) yet listening to it very quickly told me one thing: the company forgot to tune the mids! A/b’ing against a Sundara and an HD600 was quite frankly awkward. I had to watch what I said..mostly because my friend was looking for a sign of approval...and I honestly could not fathom how this supposed flagship had accumulated the rep it had.

For peeps out there thinking about getting a good headphone - do yourself a favour and get a Sennheiser HD600/HD650/HD58X and never look back. If you want something beautiful with gorgeous wood to look at (with slightly poorer sound quality)..well then save up for a ZMF

I think the Sennheiser is a way better headphone than either the Audio Technica and the AKG...but it is also an open-back headphone. When you play music through them people around you will be able to hear your tunes..but then again I remember living with this in the late 80s early 90s without any problems besides having to turn up the volume considerably during car trips..and of course my dad/mom telling me to turn it down
But in short: if you need your headphone to isolate you from outside noise you’ll be better off with a closedback headphone.
Hope this helps

Yeah the ATH-M50X is another great rec Always loved the sound of that.
Though to some (me fx) the earpads are slightly on the small side - meaning my ears touch the drivers. The AKG does not have this problem.

Also...I am waiting for an HD58X
I was obviously off my meds when I sold that the last time...

geekfreak wrote: Headphones I am looking for a pair can someone recommend a pairs one for long listening and one for out door use please

ATH - M50x would also be a good choice.

^I take it you’re looking for something closed-back ie a headphone that doesn’t let outside noise in and doesn’t play your tunes to your neighbour on the parkbench?
In any case I’d recommend the AKG K371
I own it myself and can testify to it’s wonderful sound as well as it being extremely comfortable. You can literally wear this thing all day.