Help with open back headphones.

cu3ed

cu3ed

cu3ed

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Budget about £200, purely for listening to music, mostly electronic stuff like Overwerk, Justice, Protorapter etc. I have a pair of Beyers DT 770 and FiiO K5 amp which is great for producing etc, but for playback I was looking a touch more bass in them.
Playback on Samsung Fold 2 on Tidal, was looking at the FiiO K3 as an amp. Headphones for open back I'm totally lost to be honest.
Looked and Seinheiser but reviews seem mostly negative, AKGs, Beyers etc.
 
Take a look into some Denon's. I've only ever listened to D2000 and D5000 IIRC, but always enjoyed the airy bass they had, might not be what you're after though. Not sure what their newer HPs are like now.

990's are a solid contender for bass and soundstage, hard to get better than the Beyer here, great for electro music, weak in other genres imo.

Maybe have a look into some DACs that give wider soundstage?
Is it soundstage you want primarily, or sound separation?
I can't help there with examples for full size headphones, but when you hear the differences you know.
 
stuman said:
can you not EQ at source? I’ve not researched it, but windows is easy, not sure about android or IOS but pretty sure there’ll be an app’ fir that...
Click to expand...
Does the rule of EQ'ing damages sound quality not apply so much any more? I mean I guess im just splitting hairs in quality sacifice on a £150 ohh pair of headphopnes I suppose.
 
Philips Fidellio’s are on a deal on the rainforest at the moment. They’re great bang for buck and are supposedly comparable to much more expensive ones. I’ve the X2s and they’re great.
 
cu3ed said:
Does the rule of EQ'ing damages sound quality not apply so much any more? I mean I guess im just splitting hairs in quality sacifice on a £150 ohh pair of headphopnes I suppose.
Click to expand...

fir the cost of an app or time it’s vs. A new set of headphones etc it would be worth it.

I would also guess that mildly adjusting a digital signal at source would have such a minimal effect it would be a real challenge to identify.

do a back to back listening test with the EQ in place and working but not changing the profile, have a 3rd party switch between the two options without you knowing which is which.

Psychoacoustics Can play tricks on us, so back to back blind testing is always the best way.
 
cu3ed said:
Budget about £200, purely for listening to music, mostly electronic stuff like Overwerk, Justice, Protorapter etc. I have a pair of Beyers DT 770 and FiiO K5 amp which is great for producing etc, but for playback I was looking a touch more bass in them.
Playback on Samsung Fold 2 on Tidal, was looking at the FiiO K3 as an amp. Headphones for open back I'm totally lost to be honest.
Looked and Seinheiser but reviews seem mostly negative, AKGs, Beyers etc.
Click to expand...

For bass Fidelio X2 but they aren't that great sonically tbh they are a level below proper higher end stuff like akg and sennheiser.

So if you want something truly special I'd recommend akg k702 and bass modding them.

The mod is called bass port mod and involves opening them up and removing a sticker. Simple as that. The problem with akg is they can get squeaky as the ear cups are made of plastic and plastic on plastic rubbing against each other squeaks. I managed to fix this by shoving cardboard in-between the bits so the plastic tubs against the cardboard instead but I assume silicone lubricant if you can get it in there would also work.

Now if you want a truly decent off the shelf solution I think planar magnetic will be your best bet from the likes of audeze or hifiman and just cranking the equaliser up in terms of bass.
 
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