Wow, you hate HEkse so much it made your list twice!
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I used to owned the Audeze MM-500 and I really liked it for the price. The biggest issue I had with the MM-500 is the fit is very uncomfortable for me (it was too tight for my head). I am not too sure if the Audeze MM-100 is a scale down MM-500, but if it is, it might be a good headphone under $500 for what your looking for as studio-ish sound. Also if you are really looking for a studio-ish sounding headphone, you can’t really beat a classic Sony MDR 7506. If you can do vintage, from what I owned, I still really like the Sennheiser HD580 Jubilee for what it is, but I think the Sennheiser HD250 Linear 1 600 ohm fits more as a more studio-ish sounding headphone.
You should probably list your current audio chain as it’s not really listed in your profile and your preference of music/use case so maybe other people can give better suggestion.
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HD250 L1, interesting! Don’t think I’ve ever seen that one before. I haven’t heard HD580 yet, either, but I figure I’m not missing much there, not being too thrilled with 560/598/600/650/660s, music-wise(but HD800s was much better, and 660s is a favorite for gaming).
About MM-100(can’t recall if I’ve heard MM-500), do you think it basically sounds like Sundara or HE-400SE, rather light and thin? I liked Mobius quite a lot, but it’s an incredibly hot, uncomfortable headphone. And technicality-wise, XS is the best I think I know of at sub-$500. I feel like dynamic drivers are doing a much better job up to this price. And I don’t think Ananda is what I’m after. I should add that 7506 to my cart, since it’s cheap enough anyway, then I can compare it to the new M1 and/or MV1, and my K533 and M40x.
Right now using: PC > Holo Red > SMSL Sanskrit 10th MKII > Topping A90D.
Or Cayin RU6 for IEMs/portable.
- Sidenote curiosity - what would be the top choices(any price) for legitimate studio/mixing/mastering headphones right now? Something like LCD-4/4z, HD800s, MDR-7506, K553, K872, Aperio, X9000, HiFiMaN something?
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I find this as well, I really enjoy how it handles sound in a lot of games.
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HD580 Jubilee is where it’s at if you want to listen to a headphone with really good timbre. I haven’t heard the OG black paper HD600, so I don’t know how they compare. HD580 Jubilee from what I heard is supposed to be the HD600 prototype before they decided to mass produce into which is how the HD600. So the HD580 Jubilee is the real OG.
I only owned the MM-500 and it’s probably about 2 years ago now. The only thing I remember is I really enjoy the midrange and how forward it was. From my memory, it’s a very vocal focus headphone. Bass from memory was really nice and quick and I don’t remember being offended by the treble. What I really remember of that headphone is I hated the comfort lol. Also, I felt like mids probably stand out too much. Again, this was memories of about 2 years ago.
I honestly think Susvara is one of the most perfect headphone for almost any scenario because of how extremely good it performs in pretty much all category and how natural it sounds. Even though some people like to down talk the Susvara bass, the Susvara was my bass reference headphone for a bit when I was testing out Subwoofer and speakers because of how complete Susvara bass sounds and it sounds good too. If I wanted to hear how a song sound and wanted to dissect it, I really like the Susvara because of how effortless it extract music without being distasteful.
My 2nd choice would be the Raal SR1a and I think I remember how I like the Raal SR1a bass sounds even compare to the Susvara even though it’s not as complete as the Susvara. You have to close in the Raal SR1a to get a good low bass. It loses its amazing soundstage, but you get a really good reference sound. Top it with its really clear mids and amazing detail retrieval, I really enjoyed the Raal SR1a in everything sound related like video games (I mostly like playing horror games) and even some TV Shows.
Keep in mind I did use a 45 vacuum tube preamp at that time when I owned those two, I feel like that help a lot for my setup.
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Question, if I consider the HEkse to be near perfect and just wanted the sound stage to be a tad more intimate, is there another headphone that would be an obvious alternative?
Do any of the Monoprice headphones stand out, in a positive way, I wonder…? M1570, M1070, AMT, etc. I haven’t heard any Monoprice phones, or any Sony, except Z1R and 7506 ages ago.
EDIT: I see even the AMT is massively heavy… Yikes.
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I’ve never heard them, but there was a fairly active following of their Planars a few years ago, though mostly by people who were looking for budget options and heavily modifying them.
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What about the HEKse that make them sound nearly perfect for you? The Aurorus headphones might be pretty interesting to try if you like fun bass, good dynamics, good mids, pretty good details in the music, and the soundstage not huge like Hifiman egg shape headphones.
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I have never considered an Aurorus. For the HEkse, I feel the bass is great. I feel that the timbre across the mids and highs to be brilliant. However, I think that maybe the slight recessions in the midrange are maybe why toms sometimes feel too far away. I had the HEDD V2 in the other week, that, plus the various IEMs I have been listening to, have shown me that it is possible to have a spacious sound while having drums a bit closer to me. The HEDD V2 and Ziigaat Estrella have shown me that toms can sound fuller and more power by tweaking the frequency response, without it getting in the way of the music (something I have experienced a disliked in the past). I otherwise love how the se stages. Great imaging and separation, holographic, etc… I think I wish for it to do depth better. I’m looking and hoping to get a Utopia as I think it may be a step in the right direction.
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Utopia might be good, but I think it might be pretty amp picky. I didn’t like it on my tube amp, the Allnic HPA-5000XL (It was also a quick demo session on the OG Utopia, so take that with a grain of salt). Utopia might be good fit for your gear, but you probably want to ask other Utopia owners on how it perform with your amp (I assuming you have the W22 amp based on your profile). But when I used to own the Cambridge solid state audio gear, I like the Focal Clear OG when I owned it. I remember it as being clear sounding and punchy, but a little too bright sometimes for me.
Another headphone you may want to think about that could possibly be intimate yet spacious sounding is the Raal CA-1A. Again, I don’t know if your amp could run that headphone, so you should probably ask around to make sure.
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I do still have the WA22 but it’s listed for sale. The amps I have in mind V222, V281, Bliss, Prelude, GS-X, all play nice with Utopia as far as I know, so I should be safe.
Speaking of Utopia, looks like I’ve got one. Hopefully it should be with me by the end of next week! I’ll be curious to hear it on the Woo, if it’s still here when Utopia arrives, but I should get thinking about amplification to properly audition Utopia.
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Honestly wouldnt recommend at all
These headphones came right around the time measurements from ASR were dominating the market, thx 789 and thx887 were all the hype and thats just the context.
By this time monilith had already dropped their alex cavalli gems and started putting out random crap both in dacs amps and headphones. And their planars were already getting old against the competition and the never really upgraded them
Quite frankly the m1570 and m1570c sucked, people were only modyifing to cope with the fact that they bought something extremely mid
The m1070 had a strong following for some time as it was monoliths actual good planar, but it doesnt hold up to todays standards at all, for their time they punched harder than price competing hifiman, and the audezes were way more expensive so the m1070 seemed like a solid choice
It aged very poorly, the comfort and weight are atrocious, and it doesnt compete with hifiman many price drops since then, and for the punch and slam its way higher quality and nicer to save up a bit for an audeze lcd2 or lcdx, lcd2c isnt very good but audeze el-8 titanium is a hidden gem often sold for cheap that has all the quality expected from audeze.
I dont remember the AMT model, I never heard one, cant comment about it might be their home run, may be a strike out.
I did heae the heddphone 1 and it needed a very powerful amp, v550, very detailed, not my cup of tea but I definitely enjoyed it a lot.
I have no idea which one is better but I could only recommend the one I heard and liked, heddphone 1 is dropping cost very quickly but the monolith one looks extremely similar, if youre dead set on a monolith can, I hope its almost as good as the heddphone 1.
I know a lot about mid fi cans, feel free to ask if you want any recommendation
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I spent the day listening to all the phones at Hifi Buys on Peachtree Rd in Atlanta yesterday, and they had a HEDD v1! Holy god, it is massive… And weighs just as much. I thought it sounded pretty nice, worth it’s pricetag, off a Lina + Blue Node 2. BUT also not worth its price, because of its mass and clamp and small headband. I picked up Utopia and also thought, “Damn, this is weirdly heavy… :/”.
I was most impressed by Clear MG(great detail, staging, depth, solid bass, nothing too out of control) and Hadenys(awesome clarity and general tuning, but pretty dull sounding due to significant lack of detail), then I liked Elite over Empy 2(2 was too bassy warm, with obviously recessed vocals, compared to the better balanced, clearer Elite). And then Susvara, which sounded very good on Lina with the vomit stock cable, but it’s not a sound I would spend any money on, with things like CA-1a, Immanis, Magna, Bravura, Aperio, OG HE-6 existing. Frankly, I like my KZ PR2 HBB IEMs more than all the headphones at this store. Headphones are a cursed market sector, I swear 
Sure! I mean, what do you think is actually worth trying out there these days, up to $500~? I’ll see if I can recall everything I already tried…
- HD600 - Highly natural, awful one-note bass, too soft sounding, horrible sense of space/staging in 3D environments(games, etc).
- HD660s - MUCH better for space/staging, but worse for music.
- HD650 - Too dark, soft.
- Neuman NDH 30 - Great natural tone, very impressive bass for driver size, detail is mostly good but often masked/muted, suffers from congestion with busy content.
- HE400se - Good tuning, but very basic sounding. Same for HE400/400i.
- XS - Bizarre staging, HFM brightness, but improved bass and treble over Sundara.
- Ananda Nano - Again improved bass and treble over XS, but still HFM brightness.
- K553 - Really great, clear mids-focused tuning? But hot headphone, and lacks a lot of resolution and technical performance. Tried K601/701/712, and felt they were alright, but perhaps overly dry like DT770/880/990, and not very resolving or technical.
- Erupt - Obviously terrible tuning, but I love the treble sparkle and interesting sound, with Dekoni pads.
- M40x - Prefer over the bassier, darker M50x. Poor technical ability and resolution, but interesting, in-your-face tuning.
- HE-5/500 - One of the best performers in this group, probably, but had a treble peak and mediocre comfort IIRC.
- L300 - My upgrade answer to HD600. Had a small treble peak, with nice bass and overall sound, but lacked some resolution and bass texture & density. L300LTD about the same.
- AEON 2 Open - Very nice, but had a treble peak I couldn’t get rid of with any damping pad setup.
- AEON 2 NOIRE - Improved A2O, nearly perfect… But I didn’t feel it’s performance justified its price.
- LCD-2 - I hate how all Audeze sound so dimensionless and compeessed, except LCD-4/4z and GX, I guess. GX was good, definitely lacked bass, which I feel is true for most LCDs.
- Grado GS2000e - Good tuning, mediocre technical ability, absurd price.
- DT770/880/990 - Desert dry sounding… Liked 880 fairly well, but poor resolution and technical abilities, and comfort.
- DT700/900 - Huge improvement over 770/880/990 for sound and comfort. Thought 900 was too bright, but 700 was great, and could be a keeper. Skipped 1990/1770 due to likely brightness issues.
- Shure 15XX? - Think I demoed one in a store, and didn’t like it. Reminds me of Westone. Old and awful.
- GL2000 - Fantastic resolution and detail… But strange tuning, and overly bright. This did one of the most amazing metallic sound reproductions I’ve ever heard. Goosebumpy good.
- HarmonicDyne Zeus - Dark, wooly bass, and wooly detail. Bad.
- MM-100 - Heard at the store yesterday. Neutral, but not natural. Bass light. Poor detail. Mids sound quite scooped/hollow with elec guitar. Plasticy and artificial treble.
- MM-500 - Also demoed yesterday. Way more detailed, but vocals sound a bit smoothed, and pushed some. Not that natural sounding or microdetailed. Good, neutral bass. Good balance. Treble sounds a bit etched and plasticy, causing some grating effect. Lacks effortlessness, and stage sounds dead and congested. (Perhaps Mojo 2 didn’t work well for this, but it certainly didn’t stop Clear MG from shining)
- 109 “Pro” - Woody tone, and also sounds quite metallic. Too distanced/unfocused. Open. Pleasing bass, but soft bass. Not very natural.
- Fostex TH-900/909 - Nice V tuning, but suffers closed back congestion and lack of resolution/technical performance. About the same for Modhouse Argon T60RP, Argon III, E-MU Teak, Denons.
- HD660s2 - Liked the tuning a lot, on HDV820 amp heard at AXPONA, definitely more than HD600 on same setup. Not so technical, ofc, but could be a keeper.
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Thats crazy because of the price and quality difference. But it makes sense, the gear those headphones were connected to are very high level they might even take a more experienced hobbyist by surprise.
so your brain may have heard the music too unnatural from those because its not used to.
If you are completely satisfied with the kz lets leave it at that, but if you wanna try some more things heres the advice u need
-seems like comfort is a huge factor, that would make it a much safer buy if yo go for an IEM, but you could also try over ears that are knowk to be comfortable, or maybe even try classic earbuds
Recommended Iems based on your kz
*simgot ew300 HBB
*kz castor bass
*moondrop may
*letshouer s08
*A bit more expensive with a lot flatter tonality: etymotic er2se or er2xr
*Hidizs mp143 or mp145 but these are more expensive and need medium level amp
.
Comfortable open backs
*Audio tecnicha ad500x/ad900x
*Akg702 just a bit clampy but its comfy for me
*Aune ar5000 (impressibe quality, pad change makes em one the comfiest of all tim
*Senn hd599
*Audioquest nighthawks (discontinued. Used onlyy
Philips Fielio x2 hr (incredible ,build but these are basshead)
Comfortable closed backs
*meze 99 neo v shaped
*audio technica msr7b with yaxi comfort pads
*sony mdr1am2 mid sound extreme comfort
*fostex tr20/50/60/p with zmf oval pads
.
Earbuds, you might like this format, amazing sound thats very cheap
*faeeal iris 2
*yincrow x6
*nicehck vido
*venture electronics monk and zeries
Have nice day
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Dang, I haven’t heard any of those IEMs or buds lol(except X6 and Monk+, Bonus IE). I’m definitely interested in MSR7B(thought it was a Sony!) and the X2 HR/X3/X4! I liked the X2 decently, or maybe it was X1. (Hm, I see all the Fidelios are strangely discontinued)
Sweet, TY! 
That’s a GREAT store and the folks are REALLY patient, i went in there every day for a week a couple years ago and when the weekend came they could not get rid of me that Saturday 
I offered to buy lunch for everyone and that bought me some good-grace. Great folks 
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Yeah! It was a pretty nice, little, over-staffed store 
Most of them pretty friendly! Pretty nice variety of reputable speakers, too, up to ~$20-40K, and tons of cheaper options. 4 private speaker demo rooms, and several main area listening spots. The best overall hifi shop I’ve found yet. 
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3 posts were merged into an existing topic: General IEM/In Ear Disussion & Help Thread
I haven’t kept up much with headphones lately but. What is up with hifiman pricing and why is edition XS like $350? Like I’m not complaining and I’m honestly debating buying a pair cause I’ve always wanted a upgrade to my 4xx but $350 is wild like it invalidates most chifi headphones sub $500. Like new moondrop headphone? Sivga p2? Nah fuck you edition XS