What are the best headphones ever!?

[mjg]

This won't be like a head-fi thread i promise.


What is your favorite headphones, why are they the best (to you), and how much do you hate threads like this ; ).

Best can be best for alot of reasons, price, availability, or price no object... just plead your case, and mention something silly or we'll take you too seriously then have to start debating stuff.Hopefully, people like dr arthur wells will not show up and start acting like one and only one thing has to be the best... then pissing on people because they disagree.


If anyone starts being mean, i'll go nuts about pretzels and everyone will become mesmerized by pretzel talk. So lets keep this fun.

I chose alessandro ms2i, I love their treble energy (yet it doesn't pierce the ears). Great midbass, a smooth presentation that isn't emphasized up top or down low, doesn't have to cost 20,000 bux to build a system around these... In fact, they only cost around 260 used!

[tiberian]

big O.
maybe stax OII.
sennheiser hd650s.

[EdipisReks]

Grado HP-2, because they are the most natural sounding headphones i've ever used.

[Thaddy]

HD650's.

They fit my profile of sonic characteristics that I look for fairly well, and are tweakable with different cables etc. They look good, they are comfortable, they are built well and from a respectable manufacture, they are easily replaceable and definately affordable.

Oh yeah, plus they are really the only high end cans I've owned and listened to extensively. I did hear Tkam's L3000's once and was floored, so maybe sometime in the distant future I could edit this post!

[fante7]

I love the DT880. I don't think anything I've heard in the same price range comes anywhere near to its resolution/fidelity and soundstage. It's easy to forget I have headphones on with them. Oh yeah, they're really comfy too.

Oh, and I love threads like these!

[GoRedwings19]

Hmm good question.

I do like the he90's a lot. It's starting to grow on me. The Sound is very relaxing and easy going once you get use to the sound. Yet is very expensive. I still think it is overpriced for what it is. I do not think it's the best ever but certainly good.

But my faves are the Rs-1's warts and all.

[overlunge]

I just recently reunited with the pair of RS-1 that I used to own, and dare I say, I love it to bits. Sure, the PS-1 is better, smoother. But to me is right up there with it... despite its the universal fuzz.

I don't mind threads like this!


Overlunge

[EdipisReks]

i like the RS-1. i like threads like this. so much that i'm going to immortalize it

[hirsch]

But my faves are the Rs-1's warts and all.

What warts?

I'm a rather big fan of the balanced RS-1. I wish I had thought to take it to NJ so that the people there could have heard it at the meet. Very nice mix of warmth, detail, bass and imaging. Balanced, the RS-1 becomes my favorite Grado, and one of my very favorite headphones. I think the Qualia 010 may be technically better, but the RS-1 is more fun. (Note: my balanced RS-1 was wired with a double run of the Joseph Grado High Bandwidth Reference cable used in the HP-1000 series. The cable is several times the weight of the headphone :P)

Of course, it's not as good as an R10 (obligatory comment about my favorite headphone)

[PsychoZX]

I'd have to say the R10s. I know this sounds pretty clich? by now but everytime I put them on I tend to focus more on the music than the equipment. No other headphone I've heard can do this for me. Not even the HE90s.

[mjg]

oh yea, a total pretzel fest....


r10s are so nice,they are just unattainable... To me, def the best dynamic cans....

Ill be honset the first time i put them on im like yea right, these are just cd3000 with wood cups, boy was i wrong. I believe it's tom's setup (bozebuttons) with the cary 300 sei that made me understand why people spend money like they do in this hobby.

Then of course hearing them on an SDS was something else as well ; ). Yet realisticly, i'm never going to ahve them, and i'll never want them $4000 bad... that's just out of control.

Oh yea, and h650's just cannot even touch them at that level, i don't care if u have them hooked up to a 10 gagillion dollar amp, the r10s are the most euphoric cans i ever heard... I never heard such creamy vocals and textures in sound out of anythign else. Not to use gay audiophile words, but def so organic its like tastey.

[philodox]

SA5000... and if anyone disagrees with me they are wrong!

[PsychoZX]

SA5000... and if anyone disagrees with me they are wrong!

Don't forget the Eastsound and Bada or else you won't get the best highly resolving most natural sound ever.

[strid3r]

I'll go against the grain a bit here and say Koss KSC-35s. Certainly not the most refined or detailed headphone, but for the price, I don't think it can be beat. It's a little bit of audio heaven for under 20 bucks.

[Dusty Chalk]

Of those I've heard, it's one of these, but I haven't really decided on which:

Orpheus
Baby Orpheus
Leatherhead
balanced Qualia driven by SDS-XLR (if not driven properly [I.E. by a complete monster amp], I hate the Qualia)
balanced DT880's
top o the line Stax (properly woken up Omega II's, or maybe even the 4040's, need to hear the top-o-the-line closed ones)
AT A100Ti (used to be W2002, but I've since sold it and kept this -- what does that tell you?)
Grado HP-2 (simply the most transparent headphones i've ever heard)

[PsychoZX]

Of those I've heard, it's one of these, but I haven't really decided on which:

Orpheus
Baby Orpheus
Leatherhead
balanced Qualia driven by SDS-XLR (if not driven properly [I.E. by a complete monster amp], I hate the Qualia)
balanced DT880's
top o the line Stax (properly woken up Omega II's, or maybe even the 4040's, need to hear the top-o-the-line closed ones)
AT A100Ti (used to be W2002, but I've since sold it and kept this -- what does that tell you?)
Grado HP-2 (simply the most transparent headphones i've ever heard)

Is that list in order best to worst?

[thrice]

Right now the K1000. After hearing the K1000 Pass Aleph 3 at the NJ meet, I am compelled to build one of the Pass DIY amps for my K1000s. I have a balanced M3 and that does a good job with the K1000, but that Pass amp went above and beyond. I was non-plussed with the Darad monoblock setup at the NJ meet and while the Antique Sound Labs amp I'm borrowing does a good job with the K1000, I know there is better. So why settle. The ASL amp is a good affordable tube amp for the K1000. The RKV is also a great match with the K1000. I'd love to have a head-to-head with that and the Pass Aleph 3

Of course the R10 and HE90 are up there as well. I have never owned these, but I have heard them on many occassions. The R10 is on my shortlist of headphones to purchase as well as the RS-1 I would agree with Dusty on the Qualias and with Hirsch on the balanced RS-1.

Overall my dream stable of cans would be (in no particular order):

R10
K1000
HE90
RS-1
W100
HD600

[PsychoZX]

Well since everyone else is doing it. Out of the stuff I've heard:

1. R10
2. HE90
3. Balanced 650s
4. K1000
5. L3000
6. PS1
7. Headphile HF1

[Dusty Chalk]

Of those I've heard, it's one of these, but I haven't really decided on which:

Orpheus
Baby Orpheus
Leatherhead
balanced Qualia driven by SDS-XLR (if not driven properly [I.E. by a complete monster amp], I hate the Qualia)
balanced DT880's
top o the line Stax (properly woken up Omega II's, or maybe even the 4040's, need to hear the top-o-the-line closed ones)
AT A100Ti (used to be W2002, but I've since sold it and kept this -- what does that tell you?)
Grado HP-2 (simply the most transparent headphones i've ever heard)

Is that list in order best to worst?

Nope. Kind of a random order.

And I forgot the K1000.

EDIT: There is no order. In all headphones, there are trade-offs. For example, the K1000's are the best "imaging", but worst at low frequency response (of that list -- I'm not saying they're bad, it's just that they're relatively lite in the bass department). HP-2 is the most transparent but least engaging/euophonic. A100Ti is best without an amp. And so on.

[hirsch]

For me, it's come down to two, but it's more complex than that because a headphone in and of itself isn't great. It's potential only. A system, starting from the wall socket, can become great. With that caveat, the best system I have now is actually my SDS/R10 rig, I think. With some upgrades that I've already done to SDS, the SDS-XLR may overtake it at some point. The biggest upgrade may be a balanced R10, which would still keep the R10 on top, but switch best amp for it. Finally, right now my HE90 rig ranks behind either SDS-XLR/Qualia or SDS-XLR/RS-1 as far as what I like to listen to. However, with ES1 on the horizon, the HE90 may finally come into its own. In the end, a headphone is only as good as the system driving it. HD-650 driven by SDS-XLR is closer to "best ever" than unbalanced Grado anything, IMO, and I'm a Grado fan. If the components don't fit together to form a system, the "best" anything is still not going to sound as great as it should.