Best Headphones?

[mr moose]

Well the absolute best headphones for me changes depending on how tired I am what I want to listen to.

 

 

 

When you go past around $1500 on an audiophile headphone rig (Headphone + Amp + DAC) the diminishing returns starts to hit very hard.

 

It kicks in at about $300.  Double blind testing FTW.

[VortexBlast]

Well the absolute best headphones for me changes depending on how tired I am what I want to listen to.

 

 

 

 

It kicks in at about $300.  Double blind testing FTW.

 

Not to my ears though.

For me, the best bang for the buck high end audiophile headphone system (Headphone + Amp + Dac) is around $1400 which consists of the HifiMan HE-500, Schiit Lyr Amp and Schiit Bifrost DAC. But then how much you're willing to spend and what you consider reasonable is entirely up to you.

Once you go Planar Magnetic drivers, it's very hard to go back to Dynamic drivers. They're just too good especially in the bass department.

 

But for headphones, pretty much the Sennheiser HD650, AKG K702 and Beyerdynamic DT880 are the last headphones to not be affected by diminishing returns. I will make an exception for the HE-500 though because it might be expensive but it's entirely worth the $600. The trade off is the need of a beefy amp, preferably tube amps.

[mr moose]

Not to my ears though.

For me, the best bang for the buck high end audiophile headphone system (Headphone + Amp + Dac) is around $1400 which consists of the HifiMan HE-500, Schiit Lyr Amp and Schiit Bifrost DAC. But then how much you're willing to spend and what you consider reasonable is entirely up to you.

Once you go Planar Magnetic drivers, it's very hard to go back to Dynamic drivers. They're just too good especially in the bass department.

 

But for headphones, pretty much the Sennheiser HD650, AKG K702 and Beyerdynamic DT880 are the last headphones to not be affected by diminishing returns. I will make an exception for the HE-500 though because it might be expensive but it's entirely worth the $600. The trade off is the need of a beefy amp, preferably tube amps.

Done and double blind testing?  It is a cold hard fact that the human mind will perceive things differently depending on what you know about them.  If you know your DAC cost $400 you will think you are hearing something better than if you were listening to a $50 DAC.

[VortexBlast]

Done and double blind testing?  It is a cold hard fact that the human mind will perceive things differently depending on what you know about them.  If you know your DAC cost $400 you will think you are hearing something better than if you were listening to a $50 DAC.

 

While I haven't had the chance to do double blind testing or ABX testing I don't believe it is necessary. I have to agree though for DACs, the difference are subtler up to a point but I have to disagree for Headphones and Amps up to a price point.

 

The problem with double blind test or ABX testing is that our brain cannot preserve sonic memory for long enough to notice the difference so the results are nullified or simply put, we won't be able to notice any differences. Various other problems with double blind testing is that it puts unnecessary pressure to the listener that will skew the results.

 

ABX testing is essentially flawed and really doesn't matter. Long term testing and a "calibrated" ear is how we are able to make the differences. For instance whenever I want to hear a headphone or a system that I haven't heard before, I would listen to my headphones or system that I know full well at first as a reference point and then I will go and listen to the other headphone. If the headphone measurements are available, I would take a look and cross reference it with what I heard.

 

For amps, the difference are between the headphones and also what kind of amp it is. Tube and Solid State amps sounds radically different and jumping from a portable amp to a more powerful desktop amp is very audible especially if you use hard to drive or low sensitivity headphones.

 

But debating about the objective and the subjective absolutely goes to nowhere. I just keep an open mind and use my hearing and occasionally the measurements as well to judge if a headphone is worth it or not. I'm not saying that I have a "golden ear" and can pick out any differences but I have auditioned numerous types of headphones from low-end to the highest of high-end (Abyss AB-1266 and STAX SR-009) and I know when I hear something amazing or crap.

[mr moose]

 

ABX testing is essentially flawed and really doesn't matter.

I've heard enough.

[VortexBlast]

I've heard enough.

 

ABX testing is a very controversial method of testing in the audio world. It might make sense to you it might not make sense to another.

Here are some articles that mentions why the ABX method is flawed:

http://www.avguide.com/forums/blind-listening-tests-are-flawed-editorial

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue56/abx.htm

And anyway, everyone has a different way to hear, interpret and perceive sound and this is a thread that asks what are the best headphones and not why ABX is the definitive test to differentiate headphones so let's not derail this thread.

[mr moose]

ABX testing is a very controversial method of testing in the audio world. It might make sense to you it might not make sense to another.

Here are some articles that mentions why the ABX method is flawed:

http://www.avguide.com/forums/blind-listening-tests-are-flawed-editorial

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue56/abx.htm

And anyway, everyone has a different way to hear, interpret and perceive sound and this is a thread that asks what are the best headphones and not why ABX is the definitive test to differentiate headphones so let's not derail this thread.

watch the video in this thread:

 

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/63509-git-yourself-educated/

[ShearMe]

The reasoning behind debunking objective tests also debunks subjective tests. If the human ear can't hold enough memory to pass a simple blind ABX test, how can it hold enough information to discern the difference between two audio waves in any environment?

Answer: it can't.

We're not saying no one can hear the difference between two headphones, or the difference between a tube amp and a SS amp, just that the minute differences between two amps of similar design and spec are so small that the human ear simply cannot hear it.

There's absolutely no way anyone can hear the difference between a Little Dot, a Schiit, or a Woo product running the same tubes, let alone pick out which is which or determine a preferred device based purely on the sound.

[h264]

I guess I get to post this one again:

 

http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_issues/The_Audio_Critic_26_r.pdf (end of 6, beginning of 7)

 

 

ABX testing is a very controversial method of testing in the audio world.

 

It's controversial, I'm sure, if you can't tell the difference between a $1500 amp and a $200 amp during the test.  Yet it seems in every OTHER area of science, it gets a "free pass" or something and is regarded as the only way to test things like drugs and social interactions by removing human bias.  Audiophiles really aren't interested in Science, I know, but as a Computer Scientist I stand for the truth and it's pursuit as a concrete moral code.

 

 

Not to my ears though.

 

Your BRAIN is what interprets the sensory information coming at you every day, and you senses are mixed in way that makes it easier for you to survive, no necessarily tell the differences between the sound signatures of two headphones.  For instance:

 

 

You think it's any different with amplifiers?

[jacobffeldman]

Erm, typo?

yes i meant the HE90 otherwise known as the orpheus