Headphone survey

[Marco]

I have a pair of Koss Pro 4AA and pair of Koss ESP6 (self-energised electrostatic design).

They are hot, heavy and uncomfortable to use for long periods...

I agree, Barry, but to be fair they probably are heavy and uncomfortable compared with most modern designs.

Marco.

[Marco]

Educate me, Ali... What's a "Lumin"?

And exactly what does the transmitter do?

Marco.

Marco.

[Floyddroid]

I keep hearing really great things about Sony cans

[Gazjam]

Traditionally not a headphones guy, but wanted something good for late night movie viewing.

After listening to the usual suspects at this price point (Senn 660's and the like) I much preferred the sound of the Beyerdynamic Amiron Home.


Took a while for them to open up, sounding a bit flat and etched in the high end initially, but started to do their thing with a couple of weeks on 'em.

Originally just for late night movie watching, I never realised how good cans could be for music too.
Very deep crisp bass drives the tune, very open mids and focussed highs.
Soundstage is downright spooky sometimes, things appearing behind you apparently feet away from your head.

They have a detachable cable, a good and bad thing I learned when I accidentally tripped over it and broke it one hungover morning!
Replacing it I took a punt on Beyer's upgraded 7N ONCC cable, and sound quality took a nice jump.

Can wear them for hours at a time, so comfortable.
Quite lightweight, very little cup pressure on your ears and they are covered in Alcantara fabric.
Even after a few hours with them you hardly notice they are there.

Not a headphones guy as I said, but these made me see what all the fuss was about.
Good headphone amp in my Pre, the Amiron's (especially with the upgraded cable) bring me a lot closer to whatever I'm listening to, whether music or movies.

Late night listening...Done.

[Floyddroid]

Traditionally not a headphones guy, but wanted something good for late night movie viewing.

After listening to the usual suspects at this price point (Senn 660's and the like) I much preferred the sound of the Beyerdynamic Amiron Home.


Took a while for them to open up, sounding a bit flat and etched in the high end initially, but started to do their thing with a couple of weeks on 'em.

Originally just for late night movie watching, I never realised how good cans could be for music too.
Very deep crisp bass drives the tune, very open mids and focussed highs.
Soundstage is downright spooky sometimes, things appearing behind you apparently feet away from your head.

They have a detachable cable, a good and bad thing I learned when I accidentally tripped over it and broke it one hungover morning!
Replacing it I took a punt on Beyer's upgraded 7N ONCC cable, and sound quality took a nice jump.

Can wear them for hours at a time, so comfortable.
Quite lightweight, very little cup pressure on your ears and they are covered in Alcantara fabric.
Even after a few hours with them you hardly notice they are there.

Not a headphones guy as I said, but these made me see what all the fuss was about.
Good headphone amp in my Pre, the Amiron's (especially with the upgraded cable) bring me a lot closer to whatever I'm listening to, whether music or movies.

Late night listening...Done.

Cheers for that Gaz. I will sound em out.

[Ali Tait]

Educate me, Ali... What's a "Lumin"?

And exactly what does the transmitter do?

Marco.

It’s the Lumin D2 streamer-

http://www.luminmusic.com/lumin-d2.html

The transmitter is the Bluetooth one I linked to in my earlier post.

[brucew268]

Monoprice Monolith M1060

I've always liked planar sound and while I loved the Tin HiFi P1, my ears have a problem with the pressures involved in IEMs so I started looking at full sized headphones. The Sundara were what I wanted but didn't want to spend that much so I was looking at the HE-400i (2020) and Monoprice M1060. There is quite a modding community surrounding certain cans and the M1060 is one of them. It seemed like I could get the planar sound I wanted for £200 and with a minimum of easy mods I could tailor the sound a bit to my preference... which is about what I've got, though a little tinkering left to do. I tend to be attracted to the tinkering aspect of HiFi along with my musical enjoyment.

[Marco]

It’s the Lumin D2 streamer-

http://www.luminmusic.com/lumin-d2.html

The transmitter is the Bluetooth one I linked to in my earlier post.

Thanks, Ali. That's interesting.. How much is the Lumin, and how easy is it to add existing hard-drives/files of music to it?

Marco.

[Filterlab]

I don’t have any headphones these days as I’ve no need, but in the past I’ve owned...

Sennheiser HD25s
Sennheiser HD600s
Sennheiser HD650s
Beyerdynamic DT770 Pros
Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pros

Plus a pile of non-Hi-Fi stuff.

By a long shot, the DT1990 Pros stood out for me. Open backed, so transparent, weighty and clean, musical too. I drove them with a Beresford Headphone amp (can’t remember the name) plus an Audioquest Dragonfly Red.

[Sherwood]

Monoprice Monolith M1060

I've always liked planar sound and while I loved the Tin HiFi P1, my ears have a problem with the pressures involved in IEMs so I started looking at full sized headphones. The Sundara were what I wanted but didn't want to spend that much so I was looking at the HE-400i (2020) and Monoprice M1060. There is quite a modding community surrounding certain cans and the M1060 is one of them. It seemed like I could get the planar sound I wanted for £200 and with a minimum of easy mods I could tailor the sound a bit to my preference... which is about what I've got, though a little tinkering left to do. I tend to be attracted to the tinkering aspect of HiFi along with my musical enjoyment.

I use the HifiMan 400i with a balanced cable. It makes a huge difference. May not be so important with the more efficient 2020 model but it transformed my 2018 set. Only cost £30 or thereabouts!