Best Headphone Brand in terms of Sound Quality?

[BigMartin]

What's happening everyone?

Just wanted to hear your opinion about the best headphone brands. I know it's a highly debatable topic so would be great to get some insight from some experienced members on here.

So far I have come across 2 lists:-

http://time.com/74886/best-headphones/

http://headfonic.com/best-headphone-brands/

Both are quite similar but the top Time article ignores brands like Beyerdynamic, HiFiman and Etymotic. The Headfonic article is more accurate imo and they also recommend 2 of the best cans from each brand.

Check out both articles if you have the time and lemme know what you think *i-m_so_happy*

 

[Rimse]

studio monitoring headphones in terms of sound quality,other stuff less or more are exaggerated just for marketing

 

[dalethorn]

I don't consider Time to be any kind of reliable source on headphones, and BTW the Headfonic site references the Time site, so that's a clue...

As a more than 30 year headphone user, of more than 200 headphones including Senn HD800 and IE800, AKG K812 and 712, lots of Beyers and Shures etc. etc., my advice is to find small but knowledgeable sites like headfonia and headfonics, and avoid the big chat sites which involve you more into social engineering than into the hows and whys of headphone audio.

Edit: Oh yeah - WhatHiFi headphones!!

 

[JoelSim]

My favourite brands for ultimate sound quality are Beyerdynamic and Shure.

 

[burtdude]

Got to be Beyerdynamics MMX102ie's!

Just need to get myself a decent DAC, preferably portable.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Bose.

 

[dalethorn]

Bose.

The Bose QC-25 in Active mode is very hifi - in Passive mode it's fair, but not hifi. The on-ears are purely awful, and the around ears (AE2 or SoundTrue AE) aren't much better. But the QC3 on-ears I've tried in 3 different Bose stores are among the most muffled headphones I've ever heard.

 

[super]

Grado PS1000. Dale, did you say you were going to audition the Grado PS1000e's soon ?

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Bose.

The Bose QC-25 in Active mode is very hifi - in Passive mode it's fair, but not hifi. The on-ears are purely awful, and the around ears (AE2 or SoundTrue AE) aren't much better. But the QC3 on-ears I've tried in 3 different Bose stores are among the most muffled headphones I've ever heard.

Cheers Dale, what on ears pair of headphones would you recommend then?

 

[dalethorn]

Grado PS1000. Dale, did you say you were going to audition the Grado PS1000e's soon ?

My order is now 10 days old, and was promised in 2 to 3 weeks. Hopefully they will deliver next week.

 

[dalethorn]

Bose.

The Bose QC-25 in Active mode is very hifi - in Passive mode it's fair, but not hifi. The on-ears are purely awful, and the around ears (AE2 or SoundTrue AE) aren't much better. But the QC3 on-ears I've tried in 3 different Bose stores are among the most muffled headphones I've ever heard.

Cheers Dale, what on ears pair of headphones would you recommend then?

The B&W P5s2 are very good, and I've been enjoying them for a couple of weeks. The Thinksound ON1 is comparable, but has a stronger, warmer bass. A rare find is the Aedle VK-1, which has slightly better fidelity than these 2, but is more expensive and less comfortable. The ATH ESW9a is a favorite of mine - comparable in fidelity to the P5, but has a double-entry non-detachable cable. The Grado 325 I had was a great sound I thought, but may be a little bright for some music, and may have comfort issues. The Harman Soho is excellent - better than the B&W P3, but slips off my ears easily, and the bass isn't as strong as the others here.

 

[EBurns]

For sound quality I love Shure. I got them once during a visit to Bay Bloor radio at Toronto for a headphone demo. I was trying out different headphones and tried out a Shure SE846 in the process. It has amazing sound isolating quality and frequency distibution. I bought them that day and have been using the brand since.

 

[nima]

Ultimate sound quality and silly money: Superlux.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Sennheiser.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I was just joking with the Bose suggestion btw.

 

[dalethorn]

Ultimate sound quality and silly money: Superlux.

Superlux gets a lot of recommendations on the various headphone sites. RockGrotto even has a long thread on modifications.

 

[Diamond Joe]

... more than 200 headphones

*shok* Holy cow, I think I've had around 6 pairs in that time!

BTW I'm a big fan of Sennheisers, although I don't actually have any at the moment.

 

[paulkebab]

as many cans as you can lay your ears on. I was about to buy the Audeze LCD-3 and it would've been one of my most triumphant mistakes. Decided to make a round trip of 450 miles to high-end-headphones in Bedfordshire as spending that kind of money means a proper audition of a shortlist and the competition. I walked away with a pair of Oppo PM1's, open back instead of closed back which is what I'd set my head on, and the Audeze I'd set my heart and head on after many reviews got no chance. So, the outing was a nice day out with a couple of friends, I came away with arguably one of the finest pair of cans in the world, and I saved £500. Enough said, so go and listen - above all, have fun!

 

[dalethorn]

Congratulations on the PM-1. I just bought their little HA-2 DAC/amp for my iPhone. Oppo makes nice gear and they make a great impression with how they package it.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100000759563588]

DT990 250Ohm. For surprisingly little money really. *i-m_so_happy*