headphones

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Pro, Audiophile and consumer headphone reviews, pics, news, suggestions, etc.

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I'd like to start out by saying I'm not an Audiophile, but I do have a few methods of getting 80% of the way there. I have some FLAC, I have a pair of open Audio Technicas I use for gaming, an old pair of Sony MDR's, and an H2 I can use as a DAC. I've also tried a pair of Grado sr80s and I've tried portapros and owned HD555's for like a decade.

Cheap stuff in the Audiophile realm, but hey, it works.

These things are mid-treble heavy, with punchy bass, detailed as hell instrumentation, but feel like a rather small, enclosed space. They are in no way echoey. If I could compare them to anything, they're like an IEM pair of Grados with more detail and less shrillness. Fantastic for Jazz, Metal, Hard Rock, anything with a good boom and some highs to send it with. Early Mastodon riffage is goooOOOOoood.

I put some Floyd through them and I felt like I had a very pleasant experience. Every instrument stood out in its own space. I put my DAC to them and quickly found out I didn't really have to, but it did bring up some of the lower bass for better or worse.

Should you buy them? I'm not entirely sure. They were $35. I'm sure something... $70 might knock the pants off of these, and some might say "Well it already stands with $70 offerings". It may, I don't deny that Sennheiser iems probably aren't good. The trick is figuring out which of the few million Chinese ones are just as decent. Threading the needle with Ai Amazon reviews and Audiophile influencers gives you a weird mix of truth and lies and you kinda have to sort it out for yourself.

But, if this brand pulls this off at $35, imagine $70, and that's where I'm aiming next. These will become my new Steam Deck earbuds, but for now, they're great for FLAC and enjoying my music. They're quite fun sounding iems. Put some riffs through them and ride the rollercoaster.

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Just wanted to put this out there for anyone else who might be hitting the same problem and be searching the Web for a solution.

I have a Sennheiser Momentum 4 headset. It worked (reasonably) well most of the time, albeit with some occasional momentary connection losses and what I think was the occasional crash-leading-to-spontaneous powerdown)

However, in an attempt to resolve these, I recently used the Sennheiser Smart Control app to update the headset's firmware (note that the occasional powerdown still seems to occur).

This headset supports Bluetooth Multipoint functionality; it can be paired with multiple devices and used with them concurrently. I have it paired with an Android phone and a Linux laptop.

After this and a restart, I wasn't able to play music back on my Linux laptop. After poking around a bit, I discovered that I could get sound working if, in pavucontrol (PulseAudio's control panel), in the Configuration tab, I chose HSP/HFP. However, this also resulted in degraded audio. If I chose A2DP/aptX, then there were no apparent errors that I saw (and after a few reboots of the headset I did, somewhere along the line, the A2DP/aptX option didn't even show up in the menu once the headset was paired).

I'm fairly confident that this is the same problem that someone on Reddit experienced here, as it sounds identical: a Linux laptop user with his Momentum 4 headset also paired to an Android phone using Bluetooth Multipoint that stopped playing audio in A2DP/aptX mode subsequent to a firmware update).

Further investigation revealed that the headset will indeed play back audio from the Linux laptop in A2DP/aptX mode while concurrently paired with the Android phone, but only if the phone is not set, in the Android Bluetooth system settings, for the headset, to have "Media audio" enabled for it, just "Phone calls".

I definitely had played audio back prior to the firmware update on both the phone and laptop, and the headset is billed as supporting Bluetooth Multipoint, so disabling "Media audio" on the phone definitely isn't a fix. But since I rarely actually play media audio from the phone, it's a good-enough workaround from my standpoint to get the thing usable again. I certainly didn't want to lose media playback on the laptop.

Just a heads-up in case anyone else out there with a Sennheiser Momentum 4 using Bluetooth Multipoint smashes into similar problems, on the off chance that this is also a doable workaround for them.

I would have to add that this hasn't been an very satisfactory experience, for anyone else who might be considering purchasing a Momentum 4 for Bluetooth Multipoint use.

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submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by roserose56@lemmy.ca to c/headphones@lemmy.world
 
 

Hello guys!

In the past I had 2 times the kz zs pro, untill I bought the ouranos tkzk, and changed the game sound for me, a lot of sound detail and balance. Since all of them broke down, I want to get a new pair of IEMS.

My bugget is :50-70 CAD

I will use them every day, walking, sleeping etc.

What I listen? Music, all day long, can't do with out it!!!!

What kind of music ? Genre? uplifting Trance, House, Progressive house, a lot of ASMR to sleep and jazz or pop.

I found Truthear Crinacle Zero, which they look great and on budget, and I also found Tangzu Xuan NV xHBB, which they look stunning, but it's out of my bugget.

Any recommendations?

Ps:2 pin if it's possible .

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Hey! I've looked around for a few hours at different options but I figured I may as well get opinions from people who are really into this stuff. I'm recently in the market for new headphones as my current ones are starting to fall apart. I'm looking for something more professional than just the cheap gaming headphones as I've recently purchased a dedicated microphone so I don't need one on my headset and I'd like to get a pair that will last for quite some time. I've seen a lot of people mention the Sennheiser HD560S which I've tried them in stores and I like them decently well but I'd really prefer closed-back headphones. Here's some stuff about what I'm looking for:

  • My previous headset is a Corsair HS60 Pro Wired Headset. This headset fits me decently well with it only getting a little uncomfortable after a very long time of wearing them. Id like something with a similar-ish fit that can be worn for very long periods of time without feeling uncomfortable
  • Budget - Under $250 USD would be nice but a hard ceiling would probably be around $350 USD, especially since I'm looking for something medium/higher ranged
  • Source - I'd prefer to just have a single 3.5mm output. I don't want to have to use an amp or anything, just something I can plug into my desktop computer
  • Preferences:
    • No active noise cancellation
    • Closed back
    • Over ear
    • Wired
    • Surround sound
    • No attached microphone (this isn't an extremely hard no but avoid if at all possible)
  • This headset will just be used in my house at my desktop
  • I don't have a hard preference when it comes to timbre but I do listen to a very wide variety of music. This headset will be used for gaming, consuming media (videos and audio), and for calling

Thank you for any help and let me know if I can provide any more information

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Hi, I want to buy a headphone for gaming, but I've read a fair few times that it's better to have normal headphones and a dedicated mic than to have gaming headsets. I mean, it certainly has been true for nearly everything except mice so far (I really appreciate the extra buttons), but then again, it hasn't been true for mice. Currently I only have an Apple wired earphone, and it's pretty good, but I would also like to have headphones.

For some context, my budget is about $150, and I necessarily want either wired headphones, or wireless ones that can also operate via an AUX cable. I don't really mind mic quality, so long as does have any serviceable mics that can get my voice across. I can go with both stereo or surround. I do play fps games - but I've played for about 5 years with a stereo gaming headset with no problems in directional audio.

One thing I've noticed is that out of the four gaming headsets me and my family have bought, all of them have disintegrated really quickly - like 2 years from purchase. That's one of the reasons I believe gaming headsets fall into the overpriced category compared to normal headphones, for now. Plus alongside being able to game on a normal headphone, I would have something for movies and music too - all in one device.

So, is it better for me to purchase gaming headphones, or use normal ones? What would be some of your recommendations?

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Hey all, I've narrowed it down to 3 options: AKG K371 (at €149) AKG K361 (at €104) AKG K182 (at €69)

Use case is just at my desk. I have CX Wireless for on the road and wireless listening.

I like a full low end and defined, crisp highs. I mostly listen to soft easy listening like Mazzy Star or rougher rock bands like Evanescence, Bad Omens etc. I also listen to melodic electronic music.

I've read a lot of reviews and I can't really decide on the soundstage. For this I've chosen AKG because I have the K512 mk2's now and I've been very pleased with them.

As for comfort, I need them not to clamp after an hour or two. I don't mind having to pause every now and then.

Any other recommendations welcome.

But bottom line, I think 69 for the K182 is a great deal even though the K3x1s might be better cans.

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So I had a $50 burning a whole in my pocket after a week of my ears being particularly sore after wearing my earbuds while working. Ive seen some reviews and looked into a few sets on Amazon, so I was aware there were different styles and such.

But during a stoned Walmart trip I saw the title product on the shelf and said fuck it.

Spent all day doing house projects with them on. The little bone conducting bits sit just in front of your tiny inner ear flap and the band kind of just floats behind your head? I have long hair currently so this was mitigated by throwing a ponytail on, but also didn't seem too uncomfrtable when my hair was down. Running would be a problem with them if your longer hair was down, to give an idea of the stability.

Bass from music was lacking, and above like 80% volume they still get louder, but you can also hear the vibration motor working overtime lol. I knew this going in so it isn't a dealbreaker for me, I want to primarily use these for audiobooks and podcasts.

Would love to hear some thoughts on the tech in general if you don't have any on these specifics ones!

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I currently have have some Bose QuietComfort earbuds but the case the case for them is quite thick and doesn't easily fit in a front pocket. I am wondering what's out there with a form factor similar to AirPods.

Here's a picture of the current headphones I have


Some other features that are important to me are:

  • Transparency mode

  • Active noise cancelling

  • Comfortable

  • Not going to easy fall out of my ears

  • Decent IP (Ingress Progression) rating

  • Multipoint so I can toggle between devices


I feel like the Jabra Elite 10 looks promising.

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Just discovered this app. I love that it allows me to default to LDAC 16/44/quality settings without having to manually fiddle with developer options every time I connect headphones, earbuds, and speakers. I can also toggle between LDAC 16/44/quality and LDAC/16/44/adaptive settings with one click through saved profiles. Paid $4.13 for the premium app. Well worth it for audiophiles who use LDAC.

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It's hard now. I just need a pair of wired earbuds (not IEM's! I don't want to carry those around with me for washing dishes :p)

I bought a pair of what I thought were urBeats 3 on eBay which turned out to be counterfeit. Upon further research, those are quite rare to find brand new anyway, so that's a bust.

I'm easily impressed. I'll freely admit that. I just need something that'll get the job done, but not sound like crap while their at it