Headphones

From what I can tell there are two main competing companies when it comes to in-ear monitors: Sennheiser and Shure. I'm looking to drop between $200 and $400 on some nice in-ear monitors and wanted to make sure I get the best bang for my buck. I've checked out a few local music stores for information on in-ear monitors but none of their audio experts have too much experience with them and referred me to some online sources. My main use for the monitors at the moment would be for listening to music; however I do have an electric drum kit and plan to do some recording (with the kit and other instruments) in the near future. I was talking to a friend of mine who is a drum…

I'm enjoying my e.530s recently, which has got me thinking about Ultimate Ears customs (UE10 and UE11) again. Has anyone heard both?

They're here!

More expensive than the LCD-4, yo!

The HE90 is one of the best, if not the best, headphone I've heard. I'm currently using a Stax plug adapter to connect it to a HeadAmp KGSS.

So where to start... I didn't want to post anything until I actually got my hands on at least a few of the new "un-veiled" LCD3s. I've heard three of these new ones and measured two so far. I suspect these new LCD3s don't quite sound the same as the "un-veiled" ones heard at CanJam, because they depart from the Audeze house sound quite a bit. The two pairs I've measured have excellent driver matching, and they even match each other quite well too. This would be a first for Audeze (at least from the cans that I've heard myself.) BTW, I'm not going to bore anyone with graphs - you guys know where to get them - or you can just ask. On that topic, I would like to see Audez…

I bought a pair of physically very good condition K340's from head-fi a while back, and found that the left driver was not working properly - the electrostatic element wasn't doing anything. I contacted AKG who informed me that they can repair the K340, and charge a flat fee of $80 for any electrical work. So, I sent off my cans and today, true to their word, they called me to inform me that the would completely replace both drivers for the said flat fee if I wanted to go ahead, and would return them tomorrow FedEx Express! I'm very excited! Any suggestions for a K340 noob?

Going to post this here and not even bother with the other place. So I have wanted a pair of snake wood Darths for some time now. I figured I would like how they sound seeing as I like my '03 880s and how much they are hyped at the other place. So when a pair showed up at half price in the for sale section I jumped on them. I received them today. Really? People really like these? I know they were going to be a bit bass heavy but not bass bloated. The low end totally ruins any chance they have of sounding good. Or okay for that matter. Makes me really question all the people that talk them up as being a great sounding headphone. No offense if your reading this and …

Link To Audiocubes Thoughts?

I've often promised to write reviews, but have never followed through. This, then, represents my first-ever attempt to write a full review of an audio product. Setup: I'm at Todd's in Three Forks MT. The T50's are plugged into an awesome system consisting of a Meridian G08.2 CD player, APEX Peak and Volcano headphone amp and power supply, with Cardas Golden Reference cables. Summary: Worst headphones ever. Really bad. Nothing good at all, and I really tried to like something, anything, about them. Shrill, hollow, muffled, tinny sounding like you have pillows over your ears. Thing is, this particular pair is well broken in with over 100 hours on them. The…

Just got these in a week ago, just got back from Kerry’s comparing these with his SR007mk1 and SR009. some photos of them https://imgur.com/a/sFUOz0S the website for them https://www.eslabhk.com/

I think the W5000 and the HP-2 are very pretty. I also think the GS1K is a very attractive headphone, even with those big ass bagels.

I've had a couple weeks or so to get used to my RS-1, so far I'm really happy with it and it has for the most part replaced my heavily modified K340 as my main headphone. I guess I'll give a summary of the larger differences for now and then go on to cover other things. Headroom: The RS-1 can play a hell of a lot louder without sounding strained. If I push my K340 it'll start sounding a little plasticky and echoey, and if I want to play Slayer at earbleed volumes it goes to crap. The colourations get really bad, the soundstage mushes into a shitty blob, and it sounds very compressed and strained. The RS-1 just keeps getting louder until my ears hurt. The treble gets a…

As a group of veteran audiophiles who have repeatedly espoused the sentiment that "end-game is the point of the game", I'm curious what that actually looks like. What air vibrators consistently end up strapped to your noggin? Or have you all abandoned headphones in favor of speakers and whiskey?

I just bought a pair and love them. I know that they aren't liked very much around here but can't for the life of me figure out why?

Check out the state of my R10s after I got them back. I am pretty sure they were like this before they went out on loan. The foam has completed melted/congealed into a sticky mess on the wood around the drivers. There is even a bit on the driver grills. I sent these pics to Alex to see if he was willing to resurrect them. I can get new pads and foam from Mikhail. Please let's have a moment of silence for the speedy recovery of my R10s .

So it's time for me to build a new home rig. I haven't been keeping up with the new stuff much. I stopped looking at gear around when the HD800 was FotM. I've been enjoying my ES3X for quite some time now but have been missing having proper cans. My budget is around $3k for cans and an amp. I might be able to stretch it to $4k, but would really prefer to keep it down. I will probably be building a DAC over the winter/spring. DIY isn't out of the question as I'm not in a RUSH to have a setup. (sooner the better though ) I will mostly listen to classical and folk when it's not just background noise. So as far as options I was thinking of these: HD800 or…

I'm curious what cans some of you consider to be the most revealing of the signal chain and still have a 3 figure price tag? I'm not looking for your favorite headphones for listening, but which ones you'd choose if you were evaluating say sources and wanted to hear the smallest of details? I'm hoping "most revealing" is less of a wide open question than "favorite" and there might be some reasonable consensus on at least a few choices?

Well, this document would at least seem to suggest that some of the rumors that I have been hearing over the past 6 months are true. From what I've heard the rumored street price in the US is ~$1000. There's also a thread on Head-Fi about this, but I don't think there's much in the way of additional information there, just a couple of new pictures.

So I sold some stuff and want to use the money to hardwire my K1000s. Should I go Equinox as tried and true, or explore other options. I've only heard a Mogami hardwire,which offered minimal improvements to my ears and made the highs a little too much for me (I'm overly sensitive in this area), and the Equinox, which I liked very much, but heard it on a system very different than my own, so can't really compare. What have you guys heard that you could recommend? I'm using an Exemplar modded Denon 2900 > Extreme Platinum > FirstWatt F1. If I can't decide soon, I know I'm going to blow my money on that dang TakeT group buy, so help me out here.

These East Indian Rosewood woody Grado 225s were the biggest and nicest surprise for me at CanJam bar none. Who knew Nate could not only build nice cables and amps, but is more than pretty handy with a lathe? The pics, as often happens, don't do them justice, but I'm loving the looks, and, lucky me, they also sound good. Thanks again Nate and Dan.

Bob Katz is an audio mastering engineer and author of a popular book on audio mastering. Katz has mastered three Grammy Award-winning albums and one nominated album. He has received acclaim from audiophiles and his book on mastering has received acclaim, with some considering it the "definitive work on mastering Spritzer is cited in the video regarding his Stax expertise, mods, amplifier design and building - Congratulations !

Got a package from Israel today: Its hard to capture the beauty of the wood with my limited photography skills, but they really are gorgeous to look at. First impressions: yeeeeeouch! Man that is a loud upper midrange. \ Which is a shame because a) that is where a lot of my favorite vocals are, and obviously my preference for Grados shows I love a silky warm midrange, and because these cans get so much else right. Midbass (bass guitar) is wonderfully textured and natural sounding, drums have amazing snap & crack and are very lifelike. And actually the highest highs are sweet, not overly bright like the upper midrange/lower highs. The AT fitting syst…

Oops, I mean $40k. But it has to be a complete system. I've been thinking about downsizing. Any advice? Newbie here. Things seem a little turned upside down here. It might take me a while to adjust and get myself turned right side up, but I'll try. So that's it for my first post. Oh, except to say "Hi, all you mother fuckers and pond scum lickers!" I can say that here, can't I? It was nice talking to some of you at CanJam.