Currently it seems a lot of the hobby is too focused on the next big thing, the new hype product, flavor of the month to the supreme. It’s not like this is anything new to the hobby, but I personally feel it’s got too out of hand and too prominent than it has been in the past. With this being the case, figured it would be an interesting discussion to see what people feel has lived past the limelight and continues to remain worthwhile today (whether it be a few years old or a few decades old)
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Senn HD-6whatever! Called it first. lol
Just a solid hp even today that will reward you as you go up in source gear.
Lasts long too (except the pads).
ZMF headphones
Definitely not the best in sound but overall for what you get I think it’s worth owning at least one.
If you’re a fan of the wood, then even better. Also, parts are easily replaceable and user-friendly.
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Even the hd700, some of the 5 series lol? But yes, the 600 and 650 are timeless classics, the 800 is still widely loved and competitive today, and I’d also include the he60 and he90 too, the he90 holds up better than the modern he1 imo lol. Also the pro lineup like the hd280 pro or hd25 are still well loved. Although I might be an outlier in saying that I don’t think many of the pre 580 senns hold up well
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I edited it to say “6whatever” lol.
I haven’t heard any of the other Senn hps though…
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I’d also personally of course give a nod to the beyer 770, 880, and 990, specifically the 600 ohms, still excellent. I think the T1.1 and T1.2 also hold up extremely well too.
The audeze lcd 2 specifically pre fazor is an easy mention, as is the hifiman he6
Same with the fostex th900 or denon d7000
Stat wise the 007 really has held on very very well for how old the design really is, along with the sr omega
I would mention the sony mdr r10, but I don’t think they hold up as well as how much the market is charging for them at this point lol. The MDR V6 or 7506 def need a mention
Some of the older higher end grados hold up well too, although I don’t know if I’d call out the models in specific. Same goes for older higher end woodie audio technica like ad2000, w5000, etc
Not as old as some of the aforementioned, but I personally foresee the focal utopia, hifiman susvara, and mysphere being sought after and still holding up in the more distant future, although I’m more guessing there lol
And if I mentioned the mysphere I also have to mention the akg k1000, that’s still really good (but the mysphere is overall just better lol)
Edit: also I think audioquest nighthawks have a strong enough following and unique enough sound to bet they would still hold up over time. Same with the kennerton gh50 to a lesser extent imo
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On the cheaper side, the Koss trio KPH30i/PP/KSC75, Grado SR60/80/Alessandro M1, Denon D1000/1001/EMU walnut or PH/CAL, basically stuff that is usually pretty cheap and can’t go wrong
As an alternative to HD6, I think the R70x has the potential to be a classic
Perhaps not old enough but I also think the OG Clear is pretty sweet for the price. I haven’t personally heard a more impressive sub-1k (open back dynamic) headphone on my setup
The Fostex biodynas hold up their place pretty well but I’m gonna mention the cheapest D2000 here as I think it offers the best value and performance compared to the modern EM/Fostex revisions.
Since Denon D7000 is mentioned, how about Audio-Technica W5000 and JVC DX1000? Although they may be more overpriced
Not sure if HE6 and other Hifimans at this era would count too
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Lol those are probably my favourites but I’m also aware they don’t have the best market price
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Audeze LCD-2pf is for my money right behind the HD600 in this category if not tied. Amazing headphones that scale well and still provide something unique at their used price point.
Yup, good call
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A real good topic and one I was thinking about by a different name “audio staples”
The lcd-2pf and hd6-- are two that you will repeatedly see people say they sold and rebought, maybe even multiple times. They both seem to have some x quality that other cans cannot replicate. And right now im so close to finishing moving things around to get the mlp and bhc set up.
For the Beyers, I dont know if I need anymore headphones at least until i move some older ones but the T1.2 may be put on the radar in the future.
I was thinking about that, but I feel like that’s a bit more pushy and kinda suggesting the notation that “everyone has to have one of these” and more focuses on what’s currently good, where this is more discussion around what’s continued to be good throughout the years and hasn’t lost it’s shine or haven’t been replaced for the most part
Also I feel like I’m purposefully mentally avoiding 2ch anything here because there’s so much more history to go back through and it’s a much more mature and developed market than personal audio, too many things to think about and list lol. And I’m avoiding iems for the opposite reason, they are more just starting out in comparison and isn’t that developed of a market, not that stable and moves too quickly to say as much lol
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Forgot to mention Porta Pros and since we are talking gear in general the Bottlehead Crack needs a mention. Idek how old these two are lol.
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This also reminded me. I believe NY bought a bunch of estats to use for in school hearing tests. I remember younger me taking those tests and thinking “man these are funky headphones”. So you know, in before stax were cool.
Does the Hifiman Edition X v2 fit? It’s the planar that did me in…
On 2nd thought, it probably doesn’t. It has been superseded and also not as many in circulation as most of the other mentions. I’m just sentimental and also very new to the game.
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Although, I would encapsulate 2ch in general. It’s too expensive to rotate fotm, so generally most people take their time to demo a pair they like and build around that.
A few of us had a conversation about IEMs as well, in which, I think it is much harder to find one that lasted the test of time. I would say some of the 64 Audio seem to survive, such as u12t, tia Trio, tia Fourte, Noir, u18t/s. Some of the Andros.
You would think that, but it’s extremely common in the higher end, just more typically done through dealers so it’s not as obvious
etymotic er4xr/er2xr, ultimate ears reference monitor, sony mdr-ex1000, fx500/fx1000, fitear mh334/tg334, hidition nt6, shure kse1500, and others that I can’t really think about at the moment, but really not many iems of the past hold up all that well today, most of the things that I would have wanted to mention are before 2015
The Fostex T50RP or some variation of it has been around for a very long time. It has even been the basis or starting model for business’ such as ZMF and Mr. Speakers / DCA.
While not the best sounding it has been cheap enough and allowed people to easily mod it to figure out the type of sound signature they like. It’s also one of the headphones that are built well and would take a fall.
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After my recent round of loans I appreciate these two headphones even more. The hawks have had the longest staying power in my collection and it looks like the GH50 isn’t going anywhere for a long time either.
I wanna say even though they aren’t too popular in the core audiophile space the more consumer oriented tuned v Moda m100 and meze 99 series have managed to stay around and the audio Technica as much as I hate to say it m50x and m40x have been around. Also we can’t forget about the classic akg k240.
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Looking forward to seeing what others have to say as I can get a bit tired trying to keep up with whatever the best new thing is. For me, the two things that come to mind are HQPlayer and RPI based streamers / roon endpoints. Neither are very expensive and can give improvements in sound. If you’ve been using a PC as a source, switching to a RPI with a decent psu like an ifi ipower can improve the sound. I use a pi2aes and there’s also the Allo products. I’ve gone through phases of using HQPlayer and not using it. Seems to work best with NOS dacs which I don’t own but it’s very configurable and offers nice ways to change the sound.
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In relation to the beyers. I kinda wanna say the budget pairing for them the liquid spark being still a good option I think it’s staying power is it’s unique sound sig for the price.
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