Vinyl & Audiophile

In my (albeit limited) experience with closed back headphones, there's always been some major sound and/ or comfort compromise. I've had Sony MDR-M1's, 7506's, Beyerdynamic DT 770's, a billion Audio-Technicas, and more. They all had a boxy sound, poor comfort, bloated bass, weird tuning, or combination of all the above.

The HD 480 Pro's are the first closed back headphone I have not regretted purchasing in anyway. I need closed backs for the office, and the compromises on these compared to my at-home open-backs are so small, I quickly forgot I'm even wearing closed backs once I put some tunes on and get working.

They are also incredibly comfortable. If you were in the same dilemma as me and needed a closed back for the office or quiet space that doesn't sound like trash, I really recommend checking these out!

Impressions & features:

• Removable XLR cable that can be moved to either earcup you prefer
• Lightweight and very comfortable, no comfort complaints whatsoever (and I have large ears)
• No bass/ sound quality loss when wearing glasses, just enough clamp to reduce outside noise but not enough to make wearing glasses uncomfortable
• EXCELLENT bass performance, they are a tad bass heavy but it's crisp, tight bass
• Despite being "professional" headphones they don't sound overly sterile and analytical to me
• Surprising amount of sound-stage for a closed back
• Treble is clean and crisp without being sibilant
• They can be driven fine by (most) modern devices, laptops, smartphones, etc.
• My only negatives; the plastics feel a bit cheap on the ear cups, they are overpriced at their full MSRP although I got mine on sale, they are generally less "warm" than HD 6 series headphones if that's the sound profile you prefer, you may not like these

I must be a sucker for Robert Fripp- love all his King Crimson stuff and his solo work ( havent heard the League of Gentlemen yet so that is next!). But teaming up with Andy Summers has to be one of the his best collaborations in my book- maybe second place to his production of Gang of Four's Home of the Brave. Anyone heard their (Summers and Fripp) second album? Is it worth a listen? PS-oopsy I meant I Advance Masked

One time used rather tried hifiman HE 400SE stealth magnet for 57 USD. These are pretty effin good on Hiby r4. Might try them on pc with fioo ka15. But dang...

All of my favorite albums that I currently own, finally, proudly displayed under the raining lights. I used to have a setup like this when I lived with my mom, and it took 5 years after moving out for me to stop procrastinating and put it up in my own home.

There's a few I had to leave off for the sake of space and will have to make that space eventually once I start picking up again. While what's up here makes for the majority of my current collection, there's a lot more albums with as much significant meaning to me that I'm missing.

Really nice surprise, i still have the vinyl player, so when i found this i was really happy, thought he didnt have it anymore, it was just really deep into the mess, personal favorites were the jethro tull ones since thats one i'd never have known without him introducing me to it.

I’m a sucker for vintage-esque guitars, and an even bigger sucker for used gear. Pics are in chronological order from my first to most recent acquisition😋

2017 Fender Road worn 50’s tele, 2021-ish Epiphone Shinichi Ubukata es-355, 2021-ish Martin Special 16, 2007 Fender Classic player 60’s Strat, 2010 Edwards E-LP, 2025 Fender Vintera II Jazzmaster

An incredible looking and playing Dunable Asteroid from 2018.

Mahogany body and neck

Ebony fingerboard

Flamed maple pickguard

25.5" scale

Luminlay side dots

Slugwolf pickups

Schaller TOM bridge

Gotoh locking tuners

Phase switch

Kill switch

Love this record and I don’t listen all too often to the boss but I do love this particular record… here is a decent copy of the first run and the songs just resonate with me.

I finally got the z1r and was surprised with how big of a box Sony shipped it in. When going to the post office, I expected it to be a small box which i will easily put in my backpack and then walk home. But I had to carry this huge box(2nd pic) in light rain for like 50 mins as the post office is 40 mins away but it took me longer to walk home due to the size of the package. When I opened the package, it had multiple airbags at the bottom but there was a lot of empty space on the sides and especially at the top so I'd say their packaging is very inefficient and they could have packed it in a much smaller box with some foam. Anyways, I'm excited to use them and they already sound good without an amp but I'm looking to pair it with an amp to get the most out of it.

What amps would you recommend? I'm thinking it would be better to get something with a 4.4mm balanced collection input since I've heard that headphones work better that way. But I've also heard that chord mojo 2 doesn't have the circuitry for a true balanced connection and their input is just an adaptor so you don't really get the benefits of a balanced connection with it. I'm looking at amps from schitt, topping, fiio and ifi. There are so many options and I'm suffering from analysis paralysis. I can't get the tazh1es because it's discontinued and used ones on eBay are 3k+ and I'm not playing this game. I'm also looking to demo multiple amps at a shop. My main use for these cans would be for watching movies and considering that do you have any advice on how to properly compare different amps? I'm worried the store owner might do something with the amps to make the more expensive one sound better so that id buy that. I'd prefer to keep the cost to less than 1k but can go much higher if there's a clear noticeable upgrade in sound quality

Took me a while to get it to this point. My collection goes from The Smiths.. Mexican Bands… Charli xcx so a pretty weird mix but still different music.

1990, blue translucent Blue Sky Mining. Maybe their best. Maybe not. Either way it’s so good.

Got a few in the shop, and a Music Man Armada landing next week, but these are the current favorites. The Tremonti is getting most playing time at the moment, but I honestly cycle through most of these to see what fits new songs I’m writing. The Novo is my main clean, and the Jackson Virtuoso is my main practice guitar, as that flat satin neck is just so nice. I love them all though.

All found in Austin. Melvin’s, Pearl Jam, and Misfits are in NM condition. Although the AIC is in a tattered sleeve the record is VG+. I am blown away of the sound quality. AIC and the Melvin’s have made it into my top 10 of best sounding in my collection.

A smaller-format player, this Musical Fidelity X-Ray sold for about $1000 USD in 2004, when CD was still the primary listening source. It would be about $1700 today, assuming you could find a CD drive manufacturer - Philips supplied this one.

And Stereophile seemed to like it:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/musical-fidelity-x-rayv3-cd-player