My trusty old HD580's have met their end. 
So time to replace. But I get to try some new toys.... 
Went out for some testing over the weekend. Tried a few sets out and have some thoughts.
Meze 99 Classics - So comfortable. Just instantly fit right. Sound is very warm and quite enjoyable, but not the most precise things ever. Symmetrically identical headphones and left/right is assigned from the cable being plugged in. Nice touch.
Austrian Audio Hi-X65 - Comfort was ok. Headband interestingly is angled forward which take a bit to get used to. Cable will annoy me as it is a twist locking cable. Audio is almost the complete opposite of the Meze's. So analytical and detailed. But I wouldn't call them relaxing to listen too.
Focal Elegia - So pretty. Now massively reduced in price but still a bit more expensive than those above. Comfort is really nice, but getting a good seal on them was tricky. When I did, the bass was quite subdued, but still there. Mid range frequencies are very much the highlight here.
Now, the place I tried all these at also brought out another set that they have had in the stock room for a long time, signed over to them from AKG for demos but no one really wanted to demo them. So they've just sat in their stock for ages. And given the dust on the box, I'd suspect from maybe 2017. Manager said he's give me a really good price if I was interested. I suspect similar to the price of the above just to get them off the books.
AKG K872 - Ok, these are pretty serious headphones. The earpads were pretty much done. They've been in the case for years most likely, so they didn't fit well, but they did get better as they relaxed a bit, but they never came all the way back in the time I had with them. So new pads would be a must. Cable had a real solid locking mechanism for it's tiny xlr style connector. Also means you can't use balanced cables without modifications to the headphones themselves. When I had a good fit with them, the audio was just clear, there was nothing I could really point to that was out of place.
These were all though a small streaming system using Qobuz (not a service I've used before, seems ok) to stream the audio. I only used tracks that were in what they called Hi-res lossless audio. I also tried them all through my phone using flac files just outputting through the 3.5mm jack. These all sounded just fine. Would work better with a little USB-C Dac & amp naturally, but for some mobile listening around the house, I was pleasantly surprised.
Went somewhere else and got to try a pair of headphones I've always wanted to try. Stax Electrostatics.
These were slightly above my potential budget...for a holiday... £5k for the headphones and about the same for the energiser that was needed for them as well. I only spent about 10 minutes with them and to say that I'm am considering trying to find a way to buy some of their older models would not be a lie. Not even vaguely sensible or portable, but damn.
At the moment the one's I would consider would be the Meze 99's and depending on the price the K872's (given they needed parts)
Got a friend coming next week with a couple of set's he's had for a while for me to try out. MassdropXSennheiser HD6XX's and some Hifiman planar magnetic headphones. Not sure which ones. I know he's got the Deva Wireless things that he uses around the house with the bluetooth module. Read up on it a bit, looks interesting.
Have looked briefly at the DT700 and 770 Pro X's, but there's nowhere locally I could try them at the weekend. I do like the replaceable cable on them.
Anyone got any other suggestions of things I could look at trying? Ideally, I don't want to get some that are too hard to drive, so not more than 80Ω as my headphone amp isn't all that powerful, but I like how it sounds. As for what I listen to, they've be used pretty much everything. In the couple of days I've listened to some classical, 1930's blues recordings, 1960's Motown, 70's Queen and various live concert performances (Gabriel, Queen, CC Smugglers, Pink Floyd). So it's varied use.
So time to replace. But I get to try some new toys.... Went out for some testing over the weekend. Tried a few sets out and have some thoughts.
Meze 99 Classics - So comfortable. Just instantly fit right. Sound is very warm and quite enjoyable, but not the most precise things ever. Symmetrically identical headphones and left/right is assigned from the cable being plugged in. Nice touch.
Austrian Audio Hi-X65 - Comfort was ok. Headband interestingly is angled forward which take a bit to get used to. Cable will annoy me as it is a twist locking cable. Audio is almost the complete opposite of the Meze's. So analytical and detailed. But I wouldn't call them relaxing to listen too.
Focal Elegia - So pretty. Now massively reduced in price but still a bit more expensive than those above. Comfort is really nice, but getting a good seal on them was tricky. When I did, the bass was quite subdued, but still there. Mid range frequencies are very much the highlight here.
Now, the place I tried all these at also brought out another set that they have had in the stock room for a long time, signed over to them from AKG for demos but no one really wanted to demo them. So they've just sat in their stock for ages. And given the dust on the box, I'd suspect from maybe 2017. Manager said he's give me a really good price if I was interested. I suspect similar to the price of the above just to get them off the books.
AKG K872 - Ok, these are pretty serious headphones. The earpads were pretty much done. They've been in the case for years most likely, so they didn't fit well, but they did get better as they relaxed a bit, but they never came all the way back in the time I had with them. So new pads would be a must. Cable had a real solid locking mechanism for it's tiny xlr style connector. Also means you can't use balanced cables without modifications to the headphones themselves. When I had a good fit with them, the audio was just clear, there was nothing I could really point to that was out of place.
These were all though a small streaming system using Qobuz (not a service I've used before, seems ok) to stream the audio. I only used tracks that were in what they called Hi-res lossless audio. I also tried them all through my phone using flac files just outputting through the 3.5mm jack. These all sounded just fine. Would work better with a little USB-C Dac & amp naturally, but for some mobile listening around the house, I was pleasantly surprised.
Went somewhere else and got to try a pair of headphones I've always wanted to try. Stax Electrostatics.
These were slightly above my potential budget...for a holiday... £5k for the headphones and about the same for the energiser that was needed for them as well. I only spent about 10 minutes with them and to say that I'm am considering trying to find a way to buy some of their older models would not be a lie. Not even vaguely sensible or portable, but damn.At the moment the one's I would consider would be the Meze 99's and depending on the price the K872's (given they needed parts)
Got a friend coming next week with a couple of set's he's had for a while for me to try out. MassdropXSennheiser HD6XX's and some Hifiman planar magnetic headphones. Not sure which ones. I know he's got the Deva Wireless things that he uses around the house with the bluetooth module. Read up on it a bit, looks interesting.
Have looked briefly at the DT700 and 770 Pro X's, but there's nowhere locally I could try them at the weekend. I do like the replaceable cable on them.
Anyone got any other suggestions of things I could look at trying? Ideally, I don't want to get some that are too hard to drive, so not more than 80Ω as my headphone amp isn't all that powerful, but I like how it sounds. As for what I listen to, they've be used pretty much everything. In the couple of days I've listened to some classical, 1930's blues recordings, 1960's Motown, 70's Queen and various live concert performances (Gabriel, Queen, CC Smugglers, Pink Floyd). So it's varied use.
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He managed to get a set of the DT770 Pro X's early. No idea how.