What HiFi Magazine Headphones Super Test

[bigboss]

Also, Beats and Bose are not respected among headphone enthusiats...

Well actually, Bose is considered to make some of the best noise cancelling headphones in the market, even by "headphone enthusiasts" (whatever that means). Check their reviews online & see what the majority of expert reviewers say.

Same can't be said about Bose home cinema systems though, which can easily be bettered for the money.

 

[Ajani]

Also, Beats and Bose are not respected among headphone enthusiats...

Well actually, Bose is considered to make some of the best noise cancelling headphones in the market, even by "headphone enthusiasts" (whatever that means). Check their reviews online & see what the majority of expert reviewers say.

Same can't be said about Bose home cinema systems though, which can easily be bettered for the money.

I know their rep for noise cancelling... If your primary concern is noise cancelling then Bose is the brand to beat, however if sound quality is your priority, then there are better options for less money... IMO, Bose headphones are the same as all their other HiFi... The 901 was designed primarily to recreate the reflected sounds of a concert hall, rather than to be the best sounding pair of speakers for the money... their home cinema systems are designed to be the ultimate WAF systems, capable of room filling sound from an almost invisible setup... Bose products suceed at their primary goals... The problem being that their primary goals are never sound quality, so they can generally be beaten in that area by cheaper alternatives... But if you want noise cancelling, concert hall reflections or big sound from small packages, then Bose has the products for you...

 

[eggontoast]

It is a pity the attempt by WHF to conduct such a difficult megatest such as this has been belittled by a few forum members - but I guess thats the nature of forums, anybody can join.

Yes that's true, anyone can join and quite rightly so as it brings different points of view which is what forums are all about. What a boring forum it would be if everyone that posted was a clone of yourself.....there would be no discussion just agreement how boring.

I thought that the Headphone test was great and it helped me to make my first 'proper' headphone purchase (Grado SR80i), so I'm very grateful for the comprehensive and informative nature of the test.

I don't know why anyone wants to, or thinks they have a basis for, making such ridiculous accusations of corruption as we've seen on this thread. I think it's something to do with the anonymity provided by the internet - I'm sure these individuals wouldn't have the nerve to walk into someone's office and make an accusation like that face to face.

How can you be sure that it was a ridiculous accusation, as you have stipulated in your post you have just made your first headphone purchase so clearly have no basis to decide whether the reviews are true or not. As for web anonymity, this is a presumption based on your own personality I can assure you it makes no difference to me if you are on the net or face to face the question would still be the same.

While I totally disagree with your conclusion (I hate to see uncalled for accusations of corruption), I see the point of your other comments.

The accusation of corruption was made to provoke a reaction which it did. From these responses I am now happy in my own mind that WHF is not influenced by advertising revenue.

If the world's best headphones are to be declared, then the top contenders should be in the test lineup: Audeze LCD 2, HiFiMan HE6 & HE500, Senheiser HD800, Beyerdynamic T1, Denon AH-D700, Stax Omega etc...

It would be nice to see this line up tested.

And if Stax answered our review requests we'd love to test them too.

Surely Symmetry Systems or the Highend Workshop would loan you some for a review ?

 

[Clare Newsome]

We've requested Stax headphones from several sources previously with no joy - but I will pursue once more....

 

[Anonymous]

I have a feeling that the Hifiman he500 (ask AmpCity for a loaner) would give the grado ps1000s a run for their money at a fraction of the cost...

 

[El Hefe]

This headphones supertest issue have not arrived to Malaysian shores hence I have no idea how it is being presented. How was the test done? Using which headphone amp?

 

[Anonymous]

It was great to read the megatest (or whatever it's called) - any headphone reviews in magazines always spark my interest, far more than reading about the latest 2756 inch 3D flatscreen wonder.

So props for undertaking it and for making it an enjoyable spread.

However, by yet again championing the Klipsch X10i as the dogs danglies of iems, you pretty much shoot yourselves in the foot / ears.

For the same price, you can get a whole heap of earphones which blow those X10is away, both in build and sound quality.

I'm speaking from experience here, having previously owned and used the Klipsch X5, X10, X10i, Audio Technica CK10, Earsonic SM3, Radius DDM, Ortofon EQ7, Monster Turbine Pro Copper, Sennheiser IE7, 1E8, Etmotic ER4P, HF5, Hifiman RE252, RE262 and RE272, among others.

Personally, I'd say the Klipsch models, while decent sounding, are vastly overpriced, shoddily built and offer sound quality that can easily be beaten by quite a few of the models I mention above.

My current iems of choice, for example, is the Hifiman RE272, which are utterly superb and easily available online in the UK for £170. Compared to the Klipsch X10i, the difference is night and day.

You really do seem to be the only people in the industry, whether professional or amateur fanboy, who rate the X10i so highly. They were great a few years ago, sure, but back then single armature BA phones were thin on the ground.

Also - what source player do you test these things on, what EQ settings etc? Cant recall ever seeing that mentioned in your reviews.

 

[Lee H]

Personally, I'd say the Klipsch models, while decent sounding, are vastly overpriced, shoddily built and offer sound quality that can easily be beaten by quite a few of the models I mention above.

And there's the point. Personally. It's a review, an opinion. I like mine, so personally I think they're worthy winners.

 

[Anonymous]

Personally, I'd say the Klipsch models, while decent sounding, are vastly overpriced, shoddily built and offer sound quality that can easily be beaten by quite a few of the models I mention above.

And there's the point. Personally. It's a review, an opinion. I like mine, so personally I think they're worthy winners.

Um, ok, but

1) How many other types of in-ear monitor have you tried?

2) Specialist online headphone forums all seem to support my view.

 

[Lee H]

Personally, I'd say the Klipsch models, while decent sounding, are vastly overpriced, shoddily built and offer sound quality that can easily be beaten by quite a few of the models I mention above.

And there's the point. Personally. It's a review, an opinion. I like mine, so personally I think they're worthy winners.

Um, ok, but

1) How many other types of in-ear monitor have you tried?

2) Specialist online headphone forums all seem to support my view.

1) Several - not as many as you, but so what. Have you tried every pair? No? Then your views carry no more or less merit than anyone elses. Equally, do you have my ears? My exact hearing? The same range of frequencies detected by your ears as mine? Again, I suspect not. So you can't tell me my opinion is wrong. It may be different to yours, but not wrong.

2) You mean Head-fi? Not an especially friendly forum in my view. A leaning towards snooty, Daily Mail-esque posts. The odd helpful member, but woe betide you if you haven't owned more sets of cans than you've had hot dinners.

As you said though. It's a view. We're each entitled to our own, but there's no need to attempt to put down other peoples choices.

 

[Anonymous]

I think headphones are a pain to buy. Now on my 5th set!

Very first post talked about Goldring NS1000 which I did own but they were so poorly made they (literally) fell to pieces, follow up service from manufacturer was also poor. Pity as they did sound quite nice.

Latest ones are Jays v Jays, built like a cheap child's toy but suprisingly good sound. Essentially they seem to have put the money in the transducers and forgotten about fancy packaging, carry cases etc. Going cheap too now, you can bag a pair for £30 or so. DO be prepared thought as they really do look like something from a Lucky Bag. Wife'snow nicked them for the gym so just ordered another pair

 

[Anonymous]

Personally, I'd say the Klipsch models, while decent sounding, are vastly overpriced, shoddily built and offer sound quality that can easily be beaten by quite a few of the models I mention above.

And there's the point. Personally. It's a review, an opinion. I like mine, so personally I think they're worthy winners.

Um, ok, but

1) How many other types of in-ear monitor have you tried?

2) Specialist online headphone forums all seem to support my view.

1) Several - not as many as you, but so what. Have you tried every pair? No? Then your views carry no more or less merit than anyone elses. Equally, do you have my ears? My exact hearing? The same range of frequencies detected by your ears as mine? Again, I suspect not. So you can't tell me my opinion is wrong. It may be different to yours, but not wrong.

2) You mean Head-fi? Not an especially friendly forum in my view. A leaning towards snooty, Daily Mail-esque posts. The odd helpful member, but woe betide you if you haven't owned more sets of cans than you've had hot dinners.

As you said though. It's a view. We're each entitled to our own, but there's no need to attempt to put down other peoples choices.

No, not just Head-fi, quite a few others too. I agree that Head-fi can be rather up its own derriere mostly, but when it comes to analyrtical (with the emphasis on anal) reveiws and comparsions between all available models - from top to bottom end - it is invaluable,

Please - you seem to be taking umbrage with me criticising your choice of earphones. I'm not really - that's your own business and I have no idea if you deserve the Klipsch or not. What I'm really bothered by is WHF's continued promotion of the X10i over and above it's relative merits. In an increasingly crowded, competitive market (which is a GOOD THING for consumers), the X10is really are yesterday's fish and chip wrappers. You can eat far more deliciously elsewhere.

 

[eggontoast]

2) You mean Head-fi? Not an especially friendly forum in my view. A leaning towards snooty, Daily Mail-esque posts. The odd helpful member, but woe betide you if you haven't owned more sets of cans than you've had hot dinners.

I've never noticed this on Head-Fi its always been very useful.....now where's my Daily Mail gone.

 

[Lee H]

2) You mean Head-fi? Not an especially friendly forum in my view. A leaning towards snooty, Daily Mail-esque posts. The odd helpful member, but woe betide you if you haven't owned more sets of cans than you've had hot dinners.

I've never noticed this on Head-Fi its always been very useful.....now where's my Daily Mail gone.

As I said - the odd helpful member. And yes, the reviews are in depth, but not always comparitive.

 

[Anonymous]

Headfi is about the only place you can find an abundance of rich enthusiasts who have tried all the combinations you need compared (e.g. that skylark guy?), but then every man and his dog making vacuous/stupid comments on every silly thing possible, thereby making the reading of the forum posts tedious and dull. Total lack of british humour that makes our forums better IMO

 

[bigboss]

I know their rep for noise cancelling... If your primary concern is noise cancelling then Bose is the brand to beat, however if sound quality is your priority, then there are better options for less money... IMO, Bose headphones are the same as all their other HiFi... The 901 was designed primarily to recreate the reflected sounds of a concert hall, rather than to be the best sounding pair of speakers for the money... their home cinema systems are designed to be the ultimate WAF systems, capable of room filling sound from an almost invisible setup... Bose products suceed at their primary goals... The problem being that their primary goals are never sound quality, so they can generally be beaten in that area by cheaper alternatives... But if you want noise cancelling, concert hall reflections or big sound from small packages, then Bose has the products for you...

In my experience, I haven't found better noise cancelling headphones than the Bose for the money for outright audio performance. I've tried various Bose products, & have been disappointed by most. But I've been very impressed with their noise cancelling headphones & computer speakers.

 

[Anonymous]

The review was really useful, despite a lingering nub of mistrust about your team which stems back to your Arcam A38 assassination a while ago. Of course, in the current market, finding a dealer where you can audition a decent range of headphones is something of a nightmare!

Finally switched from Sennheiser to AKG. I was looking for comfy, tonally-neutral cans and the Q701s fit the bill (after some serious running-in, naturally). The long lead was a bonus for me, since extensions are always problematical.

Now I need to audition some headphone amps (or at least the Lehmann Rhinelander...)

P.S. To be fair, the A38 needs a decent third-party mains cable to give of its best. Some RA "The Silencers" in the mix work wonders too! If you get it right, it's AWESOME.

 

[Zubkabera]

I was too surprised to see no Grados this time, this supertest was like F1 without Red Bull

 

[quadpatch]

I was too surprised to see no Grados this time, this supertest was like F1 without Red Bull

Oh yeah, I knew something felt strange with that test. It says "The Best Cans In The World" for 'on-ear' on the cover. Nothing about price, I guess you could have included the RS1i then? Although nothing went in to that range for the test, the most expensive one they had was £250. If that was their limit they should have used the SR225i, perhaps they are bored with Grado after giving them five star & "best of" awards all the time .

No sign of classics like the Sennheiser HD25-1 II (now with funky addidas colours), Audio Technica ATH-M50 or Shure SRH840. I see BeyerDynamic T50p in here but why not the DT1350 which is more up to date and gets better reviews for a similar price?

I just bought some Denon AH-D1100 for £70 (normally £120) which are my new favourite compared to a lot of these (great bass). Dangerously close to my awesome AH-D7000 (which are £600) but more closed, even easier to drive and fraction of the weight so I would have liked to have seen those in there.

The opening text asks "Want to look the business while you take in the tunes?", why no sign of the V-Moda LP2 or M-80. Maybe it's a little too soon for the Sennheiser Amperior but that's kinda pretty too.

Also speaking of 'on-ear' the Sennheiser HD598 is not, it's 'over ear', or circumaural or whatever you want to call it, nor is the AKG, both are huge and the Sennheiser's are open backed too. Wasn't this supposed to be a test of "best portable sound"? I have to say I don't quite get it.

I enjoyed the reviews but I think the premise was rather flimsy.

 

[Lee H]

I was too surprised to see no Grados this time, this supertest was like F1 without Red Bull

Oh yeah, I knew something felt strange with that test. It says "The Best Cans In The World" for 'on-ear' on the cover.

Did the date on the topic not give you a clue that it was about a different article?

 

[quadpatch]

Did the date on the topic not give you a clue that it was about a different article?

Just in case anyone wants to continue this thread I am moving ours on to a new one...

 

[Andrew Everard]

Just in case anyone wants to continue this thread I am moving ours on to a new one...

Nah – much too confusing having two threads going over same ground. Keep it here.

 

[dalethorn]

I did my obligatory head-beating-against-the-wall at head-fi, so my sympathies to all. It's hard to visit the candy store and just up and go when you've selected the small portion you know you should stick to, yes? On the bright side here, it's good to have a mass review that doesn't just rehash the same items everyone else is reviewing at the same time. Dare to be different.

 

[Anonymous]

While I can understand the problems seem valid, I can also believe it was a unbiased review which needs to just be updated with past good reviews and missing headphones.
Also I believe all monster headphone line to be poor performers so that has to be adjusted in relation to other good cans.
Same for bose as most don't compare to AudioTech or Beyerdynamics.
Too many variables involved so all this is speculative.
I still believe this site is one of best for reviews.
Used to buy the magazine before coming here.
Yeah I am a noob here so thanks for reading my post as I realize I am nowhere near as knowledgeable as all of you here.

 

[dalethorn]

I can't claim to be an expert, but here's my take on Beats and Bose which you mentioned. The high-priced Beats Pro models are considered to be near-hifi quality. The other Beats are truly terrible, with severe rolloff starting in the midrange and essentially no highs at all. Bose QC15's can sound like hifi headphones if you cut the bass somewhat. Bose QC3's have no hifi qualities at all. In my tests, I was unable to make a QC3 listenable with any EQ setting. The Bose AE2i I heard at the Apple store could be made to sound hifi or nearly so by cutting some bass, much like the QC15. I haven't yet heard the OE2 or OE2i.