Best Audiophile headphones rankings

[Lethal Seraph]

I am ready to replace my Sennheiser HD 518 that I have used since 2015. Nothing wrong with it, figured I'd dive in to whats available. I tried searching a long list from the forums like before to no avail. Will someone post it please? 

[HAL90000]

crinacle. Google it. That's the only list that matters and I swear by it.

Please keep in mind that any headphone, but especially good headphones, will benefit from a better source. A dac/amp is a must, and you should scale up the quality of the dac/amp in concert with higher end headphones. 

 

If you're not a basshead, and you just want a solution, and you enjoyed the direction the HD518 was going in sound quality and signature wise, I'd suggest considering a pair of HD600 and a Fiio K7. Total cost would be a little under $550 USD + tax. Consider buying a higher quality signal cable for the K7, whether you go with optical or USB. It sounds better via optical but you lost access to sample rates above 96Khz and DSD. Still good for Tidal/Spotify. 

 

Also Sennheiser wise, there are additional headphones in the 600 series, yes. There is the 650 which is a warmer (more midrange) 600. There is also 660S and 660S2. Those use the old HD700 driver which sounded like a dead racoon in the HD700 cups. It sounds good in HD600 cups. bla bla I still like HD600 the best. Your call. They all cost about the same when they're on sale.

 

If you want a cheaper solution that's still going to be better than what you had and can go portable, look into a dongle dac for your phone (works with PC too) and a pair of Shure SRH840A the total cost there would be about $250 USD + tax. Very high performance for the price. You can get a dongle DAC/amp on amazon for about $100 from companies like Moondrop, Shanling, Fiio, etc etc. 

 

You could also get into IEMs, also with a small dongle dac/amp. I really like The 7Hz Timeless, Truthear Hexa, and Moondrop Blessing 2/3 those are all excellent and will run well on a cheap pocket DAC/amp. 

 

Whatever amp you go with, make sure it has balanced out, either 2.5mm or 4.4mm, and buy balanced cables for your headphones. It makes a difference. Everything I've mentioned has a detachable cable. Tripowin is the best choice brand for entry level but still good quality cables. Their Zonie and Petrichor lines are excellent for the price. 

All of the above is available on Amazon in the USA/Canada.

[ImWilly]

Several easy to recommend and not expensive headphones:
1. Sennheiser HD600 series (6XX, 600, 650, 660S)

All of these versions are open-back and somewhat similar sounds, a bit different if you're a critical listener. Get whichever version that you find comfortable, especially if it's available in your region and on sale

2. Hifiman Sundara, a bit more expensive than Sennheiser HD600 series, but offers a wider sound stage, which some would say 'better' for gaming

3. Hifiman Arya, good dynamic and depth

 

Just remember for these headphones, you will need a good DAC and AMP to maximize your headphone of choice potential, you can go either stacked DAC and AMP, or combo all-in-one for a more simplified setup

 

EDIT:
There's is no such thing as "The best of all headphones", as some headphones excel at some category, so it comes down to your personal preferences of which headphones you want to have

Edited September 12, 2023 by ImWilly
Additional Info

[Stahlmann]

If there's nothing wrong with them, why buy a new one? Are you looking for something specific, like more bass, more open headphones, lighter ones, more comfortable ones, etc. ?

 

If you don't know what you're looking for you're just throwing money at a problem that doesn't exist.

[Lethal Seraph]

On 9/12/2023 at 10:01 AM, Stahlmann said:

If there's nothing wrong with them, why buy a new one? Are you looking for something specific, like more bass, more open headphones, lighter ones, more comfortable ones, etc. ?

 

If you don't know what you're looking for you're just throwing money at a problem that doesn't exist.

I figured I've gotten most of my money out of my HD 518 that has been used non-stop for almost 9years. I finally did a total system overhaul and thought I should step-up my audiophile headset. 

[Stahlmann]

9 hours ago, Lethal Seraph said:

I figured I've gotten most of my money out of my HD 518 that has been used non-stop for almost 9years. I finally did a total system overhaul and thought I should step-up my audiophile headset. 

Imo as soon as you go avove $200 you reach diminishing returns very fast, and headphone technology has pretty much come to a halt. So if there's nothing wrong in particular with your headphones, there is no guarantee that a new headphone will be better just because it isn't 9 years old. So if there's nothing particularly wrong my advice still stands. Upgrading just for the sake of it is rarely a good decision.

[HAL90000]

On 9/14/2023 at 4:49 AM, Stahlmann said:

Imo as soon as you go avove $200 you reach diminishing returns very fast, and headphone technology has pretty much come to a halt. So if there's nothing wrong in particular with your headphones, there is no guarantee that a new headphone will be better just because it isn't 9 years old. So if there's nothing particularly wrong my advice still stands. Upgrading just for the sake of it is rarely a good decision.

First of all, you don't reach diminishing returns at $200. If that were true, Sennheiser HD600 wouldn't sound twice as good as something like SHP9500 or SRH840A, and they do. Have you even listened to top tier headphones? Even LCD2C approaches sounding 2X as good as HD600 (for about 2x the price) if you amp them properly. I strongly wonder if you've been listening to high end headphones without a proper source. In any event your advice is dead wrong and just ridiculous and you shouldn't gatekeep or stifle someone's journey into better sound. You could be plucking the flower of a budding audiophile and that's just terrible. 

[Stahlmann]

4 hours ago, HAL90000 said:

First of all, you don't reach diminishing returns at $200. If that were true, Sennheiser HD600 wouldn't sound twice as good as something like SHP9500 or SRH840A, and they do. Have you even listened to top tier headphones? Even LCD2C approaches sounding 2X as good as HD600 (for about 2x the price) if you amp them properly. I strongly wonder if you've been listening to high end headphones without a proper source. In any event your advice is dead wrong and just ridiculous and you shouldn't gatekeep or stifle someone's journey into better sound. You could be plucking the flower of a budding audiophile and that's just terrible. 

What does "sound twice as good" even mean? Audiophile like to say stuff like that but are rarely ever able to describe it. Just like they love to pay a premium for lossless audio formats even though they probably wouldn't even be able to hear the difference in a blind test.

 

More money is not more better but sadly that's how many audiophiles think, which is why being an audiophile isn't a good thing and more of a meme to me.

I'm just trying to give another opinion instead of trying to entice someone to waste their hard earned cash on becoming an audiophile.

Shouting into an echo chamber isn't the way to make good buying decisions.

[Spuriae]

5 hours ago, HAL90000 said:

First of all, you don't reach diminishing returns at $200. If that were true, Sennheiser HD600 wouldn't sound twice as good as something like SHP9500 or SRH840A, and they do. Have you even listened to top tier headphones? Even LCD2C approaches sounding 2X as good as HD600 (for about 2x the price) if you amp them properly.

Crinacle ranks the SRH840A above the LCD2C. Rather than being 4x as good in general, it's more accurate to say that most of the differences above ~$200 tier are more a matter of different preferences and tradeoffs than strictly being better.

 

For what it's worth, if I could only own one and they were the same price, I'd rather have the HD600 than the LCD2C. The LCD2C is better in some ways and worse in others, and I value the HD600's advantages more. You may feel differently, and that's entirely valid. If anything, it's a good reminder that trying out headphones in person before making a purchasing decision is the best approach, whenever practical.

[saintlouisbagels]

On 9/14/2023 at 4:49 AM, Stahlmann said:

Imo as soon as you go avove $200 you reach diminishing returns very fast, and headphone technology has pretty much come to a halt. So if there's nothing wrong in particular with your headphones, there is no guarantee that a new headphone will be better just because it isn't 9 years old. So if there's nothing particularly wrong my advice still stands. Upgrading just for the sake of it is rarely a good decision.

Very strong disagree.

Headphones DO sound dramatically better as you go up in price. Not 2x 3x better, but it is a very noticeable difference. Going from $150 DT770 Pro to $600 Audeze EL8 to $1500 MrSpeakers Ether headphones have all been incredibly different tiers of audio fidelity and enjoyment.

 

If we're talking about DAC/headphone amplifiers then I agree with you. I hear zero enhancement in fidelity and no increase in enjoyment going from $100 DAC/amp to $400 DAC/amp to $3000 DAC/amp.

 

On 9/13/2023 at 7:47 PM, Lethal Seraph said:

I figured I've gotten most of my money out of my HD 518 that has been used non-stop for almost 9years. I finally did a total system overhaul and thought I should step-up my audiophile headset. 

You did not properly respond to @Stahlmann's post at all.

As you get deeper into anything (keyboards, shirts, jeans, mousepads, kitchen knives, etc.) you cannot blindly ask for better or best. You're looking for specific things that are tailored to your preferences. You still haven't given us any idea of what you're looking for in this upgrade.

[cmndr]

Spend most of your cash on headphones. If you're worried about DACs don't be it's mostly a solved problem. If you're worried about amps, consider buying efficient headphones, there's more of them these days. 

 

A better amp opens up what headphones you can consider but it rarely unlocks magic the same way going up a tier of headphones does. Even then most of the benefit on headphones trickles off after around $300 or so. Sometimes I'm lazy and keep my Sony XM4s on after a meeting or going for a run and don't use the HD800 headphones I have despite them being notably better. Quality doesn't mean happiness.