What would you take? Shang?
With a borderpatrol in the source chain.
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Honestly, Iām not super sure. I could see Shang getting there for me, but off of current chains Iāve heard Iād likely still take sus. He1 is also a posability honestly, but I need some more time with it. That thing honestly realy realy made me reevaluate some stuff tbh
Wow, strong statement! Iāve only heard an Auteur from ZMF so far, which hasnāt exactly impressed me, off my current equipment, at least. Have not heard any HFM above HE6sev2/XS/HE66S yet.
Best Bass: LCD-5 (+EQ) for detail / D8KP for quantity & naturalness.
Best Mids: Susvara for detail & naturalness / LCD-5 (Stock) for fullness & euphony
Best Treble: Susvara for detail & naturalness / LCD-5 (+EQ) for clarity.
Desert Island Headphone: If I have access to EQ in HQPlayer/Roon/Peace (system-wide), LCD-5 by a country-mile. It can go from clean & clear to stock mid-forward/euphonic since it takes to EQ extremely well. Additionally, the most source-flexible, imo. Since I get a second entry, Iād choose 1266 TC for durability since you can run it over w/ a Jeep. **
*IEM pick is GL-AMT16 for all categories. Just let me bring a warm source.
**If it was a literal desert island, Iād probably go with some Etymotics, if Iām being realistic about isolation and durability here.
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Best Bass - Has to be 1266 TC for me, at least for quantity. Havenāt heard D8kp but I am getting more and more curious now.
Best Treble - Utopia/Susvara depending on the amp available.
Desert Island Headphone - I am tempted to say Susvara but its still very new to me and its turning out to be too laid back and its not likely going to be my go to (not that I have any really). I think the most balanced ones for me are the OG Utopia.
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Headphones
- Best Bass - Final D8000 Pro or Abyss Diana V2
- Best Mids - Senn HD 600/650 or Mysphere 3.1/3.2
- Best Treble - Focal Utopia or Senn HD 800s
- Desert Island pick - Hifiman Susvara
IEMS
- Best Bass - MMR Thummim or UM Mest Indigo
- Best Mids - VE PHƶNIX or Rhapsodio Infinity MK2
- Best Treble - 64A Fourte Noir/Blanc or Rhapsodio Infinity MK2
- Desert Island pick - Oriolus Traillii JP
This was a headache to think about hahaha and Iām confident I forgot about something 
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I suppose I havenāt noticed a differention, audibly, in a case where one headphone/IEM has mids that sound āplasticyā, and has treble that sounds āmetallicā, or vise versa/any non-matching combination without either being ānaturalā. So the Elegia treble sounds fine and natural, would you say?
I think most people would take the Susvara over the Caldera. The Caldera sounds great but the tuning isnāt for everyone. The Susvara is still the most well-rounded headphone Iāve heard and thatās pretty tough to beat.
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What would you say the 2 most well-rounded estats are?
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I havenāt tried many estats so I canāt say, but the 009 sounds excellent for the price, Iād take a 009 over almost every headphone in its price range (except a utopia). The Shang-sr is incredible but unattainable for most people (including me). The ESP/95x sounds like an Elegia, lol. The CRBN is absolute trash, that headphone popped on my ear, Iāll never listen to another CRBN again.
From my experience, estats usually lack in dynamic range and bass. Even the Shang-sr sounds a bit thin compared to the Susvara.
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No internet no roon after 30 days (i think). Lol
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Ah screw it Iāll give it a shotā¦
Bass; mysphere 3.1 / mysphere 3.2 (with bass frames)
Mids; mysphere 3.1 / mysphere 3.2 (with standard frames)
Treble; mysphere 3.1 / mysphere 3.2 (with treble frames)
Desert; Yamaha yh5k
ā¦
Ok hereās the actual list lolā¦
Bass; final d8kp / sennheiser ie900 (on a doesnāt-make-sense-kind-of-chain)
Mids; mysphere 3.1 / mysphere 3.2
Treble; utopia pre-20 / mysphere
Desert; maybe sennheiser ie900 on a doesnāt make sense chain just because of how āfunā it can sound
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Um, 3.2 is the obvious choiceā¦? What situation would I choose 3.1?
When you have an amp that works well with one. One can sound great on a particular amp while the other one can sound underwhelming. M0n did a great article on it on the website where he tried a bunch of amps on both. Iāve only tried it with my modwright and the 3.1 is clearly better imo
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I have not tried very high-tier stuff like a lot of people here but I will still give my opinion of what I have experienced
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Best Bass?
Audioquest Nighthawk Carbon. For both quantity and quality. Give it a good amp and it scales incredibly well. A good bass boost and these things turn into bass cannons imo.
Another good one would have to be the Sony MDR-1AM2. Really fun bass all throughout. -
Best Treble?
Hard to choose between beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X or Koss KSC75 as my first pick. It might sound crazy but I have to go with the Koss KSC75. These things scale incredibly well and sound so pure and real in the treble on a good amp.
This list is hard the way it is being asked lol because I feel like all the headphones I have tried that are treble-focused are not going for pure realism, but rather different flavors. Itās tough to choose. These might not be super realistic in their tuning but I have to say the detail in the treble in the 1More Triple Driver headphones is pretty amazing. Obviously a bit artificial in its tuning but it has so much clarity and detail in the treble. That would be my second pick along with the KSC75 for treble. -
Desert Island Headphone? - The ONE you take to your one-way trip to Mars, or to serve your lifetime prison sentence.
Only one? Really? Screw that, I will take my Nighthawk Carbon plus the KSC75 as a tiny extra, they literally fit inside the Nighthawk cups lol. If we mean different situationsā¦ I guess for Mars, the Nighthawks, for prison, KSC75 (M0N said it, canāt bring valuables into prison lol).
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Good pick 
EASILY my choice over the 900/990/770, and probably even 880. (I didnāt take them or 109 Pro over NDH 30, however 
)
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Yeah I just tested them out recently, excellent closed-back studio monitors, much better for that purpose than the 770.
I found the Elegia treble to be fine. Maybe a smidge bright with some tracks, but I think that was due to the recording more than the headphone.
But those mids? So odd. Very metallic to me. EQ helped, but I could never wrap my head around them with the music I like, so I sold the Elegia.
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Ignoring craziness like Shang, he1, and oop stuff like he60, I think X9000 and Crbn are both notably well rounded
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