Upgrade or stay?

kennethk · July 20, 2023

Currently have the soundcore q30s and I'm really impressed with their bass quality. I'm not the type that wants to go out and spend $300+ on headphones. I appreciate affordability though from time to time I like to see if anything out there is worth upgrading to from the q30s. I've seen the q45s and believe the 50 model is out currently but from reviews not much improvement or worth an upgrade. The thing about headphones is you can have them for years and they still do what they do. Like I said I'm just curious if theirs been an affordable pair that's really made you go wow lately. Maybe something from audio Technica or Yamaha?

saintlouisbagels · July 21, 2023

3 hours ago, kennethk said:

Currently have the soundcore q30s and I'm really impressed with their bass quality. I'm not the type that wants to go out and spend $300+ on headphones. I appreciate affordability though from time to time I like to see if anything out there is worth upgrading to from the q30s. I've seen the q45s and believe the 50 model is out currently but from reviews not much improvement or worth an upgrade. The thing about headphones is you can have them for years and they still do what they do. Like I said I'm just curious if theirs been an affordable pair that's really made you go wow lately. Maybe something from audio Technica or Yamaha?

You kind of need to tell us more than "I want something better"

What kind of budget are you working with?

Do you want to stay wireless?

Do you want noise cancellation?

Do you want to stay with over-ear headphones or are you okay with switching over to earphones, IEMs, or on-ear headphones?

What is your preferred music and would you like a small emphasis on bass or would you want more analytical?

Do you want open-backed or closed-back headphones if you're staying over-ear?

Psittac · July 21, 2023

I know little about wireless or ANC but I can recommend some wired headphones that I greatly enjoy which have some good bass and don't need an amp to run.

The Rode NTH-100 is great across the board and the Meze 99 Neo is good for a full sound with a lot of bass too. If you want wireless I really enjoyed my AKG K361bt but they really want some thick pads on them then they're golden. Another good closed-back is the Beyerdynamic DT770 80ohm but this one isn't quite as bass heavy as the others I mentioned.

A lot of consumer headphone companies know that their product will sell if they just crank the bass and do little else, not saying that yours are bad but as you go up in budget and get away from consumer headphones you will find that bloated bass isn't nearly as prevalent. Think more quality and control than quantity and volume.

I recommended all closed back headphones since you have them now and those tend to have more bass. But I would answer the questions @saintlouisbagels asked before getting real recommendations.