So, I own focal Hadenys and before each listening I wash my ears and the area around with soap and water, then wait for everything to dry and only then put them on. Maybe we need to do something else? After listening, I put them on the table for 10-15 minutes and then put them in a set case. And how do you take care of your headphones?

I liked the sound quality of these headphones. Some of the user-friendliness wasn’t amazing, but the battery failed after 7 months of use and the company refused to stand by their defective product. What should I do now? I can’t spend this kind of money every half year. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get it working again? The red light comes on when I charge it, but now they won’t even turn on.

Hello everyone,

I just found a HD660s2 below 300€, so I decided to try it out for my daily use.

The thing is, i'm going to use it mainly at work, but I don't really want to put something on my desk and bring it back at the end of the day, I'd rather find a decent portable DAC. Considering the fact that i'll be using the HD660s with my google pixel 10.

Any recommandation/model to look at in particular?

Thanks alot.

Both are relatively recent dynamic closed backs, with the FT1 being a lot more popular though, of course. The FT1 is also significantly cheaper.

Comfort-wise, the Fiio has less clamping pressure and bigger pad openings. The Azurys is more portable because it's more compact, has a single side entry cable and the cups rotate flat. Isolation is similar.

These two headphones are very similar in character and both are easy to drive. The main difference is that the FT1 has more subbass rumble whereas the Azurys puts a noticably stronger emphasis on voices (mids). Thus the Azurys may sound more "refined" to many people, whereas the FT1 is more "fun". I don't see any clearly superior, it's a matter of preference. The Fiio clearly wins in the price/performance ratio.

Today I visited The Source Audio Video in LA, which holds one of the largest head-fi collections, if not the largest, in the country. I tried about a dozen different headphones and several source gear setups, and here were my impressions-

-Woo flagship tube amps are seemingly noisier on startup for way longer than my $250 Chinese OTL xDuoo TA-66, what’s up with that? Bad tubes?

-HD800S beat out or at least tied with everything I tried there with the exception of HEDDphone 2 GT, more on that in a second.

-Chord Hugo TT2+MScaler is a great system but doesn’t synergize well with HD800S. Could maybe be solved with a tube amp after the TT2 but I didn’t try that.

-Stax SR-009S is, in my honest opinion, worse than HD800S in nearly every way, sorry stax fans. It’s possible the X9000 is better but I haven’t heard it. DCA Corona was less sibilant and had stronger bass, but the overall tonality kinda annoyed me for some reason.

-DCA E3 is the widest sounding closed back I’ve ever heard, but the tonality isn’t my thing.

-DCA Expanse was very good but didn’t do anything really flagship worthy, as much as I love the comfort, name, and design.

-HEDDphone 2 GT is my next headphone purchase. I auditioned it on by far the worst source gear (a dongle and a little solid state headamp) and still adored it. HD800S wins in comfort, emotion, expansiveness and “out of the head” sound but the 2 GT won in pretty much everything else. Imaging, tonal balance, layering, bass extension, separation, vocal presence, and ESPECIALLY haptics. The haptics of a Grado without the Grado of a Grado (no real hate to Grado they make some good stuff but it’s funny to meme on them). Clarity and detail retrieval was very close but might go to HD800S by a hair

-The 2 GT’s adjustment system is hellish

-Meze Empy 2 is incredibly comfortable. HEDDphone 2 GT sounds more fun overall but Empy 2 is an easier listen.

-Some people still think the HD800S are power hungry. They are not, a Q5K is more than enough power wise. However I definitely suggest tubes with them.

I've been using IEMs for around 2 years at this point, and I've been pretty satisfied so far.

But I decided to start exploring some closed back options for when I don't want something in my ears. That's why I decided to go to a nearby audio store and try a couple of closed backs.

Here are my impressions.

• Final DX4000CL:
  • Comfort is mediocre for me. The ear openings are a bit too small for my ears. Touches the rear of my ears. My ears also heat up.But other than that, weight distribution is great.
  • Soundstage is also above average, and it feels like sounds are in a sphere around me. Great imaging/directionality as well.
  • Vocals sound natural albeit slightly recessed for my tastes. Guitars and other string instruments sound natural. Bass feels solid and is speedy. Not bloated at all but doesn’t have the rumble in the subs or the punch I’d want for some EDM. No sibilance in the highs as well. Smooth and natural and not an energetic sound signature by any means. 
  • Stock cable pretty bad and hard to handle
  • I think this set is a case of great headphone but just not my cup of tea.
• Final DX3000CL:
  • Stock cable is much better
  • Bass is also much improved. A lot more thump while not feeling bloated or losing quality compared to the DX4k. It can also feel stringy and tactile if need be. 
  • Staging and imaging are both worse compared to its bigger brother.
  • However it's the final brothers sound pretty similar in the mids and highs. I'd argue the DX4K comes off as slightly more cohesive and natural but that could also be because they're more forward compared to the DX3k.
  • Better value than DX4k and I personally prefer this one
• FiiO FT1
  • Controversial take but I do not like these and I'd go as far as to say these sounded pretty bad.
  • While the bass is great and has the rumble I was wanting on the finals, it comes at the cost of some punchiness.
  • Comfort is good and it's better than the final brothers because of the bigger opening on the pads.
  • However, the vocals sound underwater. It would consistently sound a bit muffled and underwater on multiple tracks I tried. The soundstage also feels in your head and on some congested tracks it gets pretty messy.
• Focal Lensys Professional
  • These are very lightweight and pretty comfortable.
  • However they get slightly spicy and sibilant on some tracks. Other than that, it has great treble extension.
  • The Lensys also has the hardest hitting bass out of all the sets I've tried. It kind of feels like a solid wall of bass, but it manages to not be bloated and it's surprisingly agile. Works great with EDM.
  • Mids are beaten by the final brothers because they can sometimes sound honky. However, when mids aren’t honky they do beat the DX3000CL but i'd put the DX4000CL's mids very slightly above the lensys.
• Aune SR7000.
  • These felt really weird but in a good way. They sounded completely different to any other closed-back I've tried. It sort of felt like those exercise open earbuds and it sounded very open. While these sounded "open", I don't think these had great imaging performance.
  • But other than that, the tonality was very natural and smooth. It reminded me of the DX4000CL in a good way.
  • They are also very comfortable and had the roomiest pads i've tried.
• Meze Strada
  • The comfort on these are insane. They fit my ears like a glove and are a joy to wear
  • These also sound fantastic. I didn't notice any sibilance or harshness with these in the treble. However, I think the mids are beaten slightly by the DX4k and the SR7k. The bass also feels nicely controlled, and I think they make for a well-balanced presentation.
  • I honestly enjoyed these so much I don't have a lot of notes for these compared to other sets lol. They aren't like a super impressive "wow!" set but they're pretty dang good and my personal favorite of the bunch.

If I had to rank them it would go (accounting for comfort and sound)

A tier: Meze Strada, DX3000CL, Aune SR7000

B tier: DX4000CL

C tier: Lensys Professional

D tier: FiiO FT1

All listening was done via my HiBY R4 with stock pads and stock cable. I listened to each headphone for about 15 minutes

Hello,

I'm an audiophile who likes convenience, thererere I'm doomed to suffer for eternity.

We are talking strictly portable sound (Spotify, Lossless). For a long time, I've been running a pair of whatever phone has a loud, decent-enough 3.5mm jack and Shure SE846 (turned 10 y.o. last month; love them). Brand after brand dropped the 3.5mm jack, and now the only 3.5 phone sold in the US is Redmagic, which doesn't fit in my hand or my pocket.

I'm now confronted with the reality of buying a replacement phone without a 3.5mm jack. Which leaves me with five sucky options.

1. Dongle.

This just sucks. This turd of wires is a pain to pull in and out of the pocket, as it keeps snagging and sometimes disconnecting. Also, a decent DAC won't fit, and the better the sound you want, the bulkier and less convenient it gets. The one shown is loud, but low-fidelity. Fixing a 3.5mm end to the phone and getting an L-shaped UBS-C end makes it somewhat better ergonomically, but not by much.

https://preview.redd.it/1ta7pc81h5kh1.jpg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1c34e48920d22d3a28b8f64edc08db9ff0dbaec1

2. Dongle that doesn't dongle.

Same thing as a dongle, minus the wire. Plugs into the bottom of the phone; acts like an add-on. It makes the phone longer, but not by much. The dongle shown sounds very quiet, but it is high-fidelity. Maybe a fluke. Do you have suggestions for this type of dongle?

https://preview.redd.it/ssnshly3h5kh1.jpg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7060350e5f05b80f5147388a55b0a89532c993b

3. Mag-safe dac.

Intriguing and very limited option: Khadas DAC that magnetically attaches to the back of the phone (iPhone or Google Pixel 10). Probably the best sound you'll get when the phone is involved, but it turns the phone into a brick. Google Pixel pair specifically would be 3/4 lb. I think it will actually pull my shorts down in a gym.

https://preview.redd.it/mam0mlyeh5kh1.png?width=574&format=png&auto=webp&s=f7740f9e0d949d279f4f74b6d7325b8e3e7586d9

4. MMDX to USB-C headphone cable.

Shure SE846 has a replaceable cable, which opens possibilities. There are cables that replace the 3.5mm end with USB-C and put a DAC further up the cable, which makes this option the best ergonomically by far... Except that all cable offerings are short. IDK when they all decided to limit cable length to 1.2m, but I'm used to 1.6m. I've tried a shorter one. I run the wire under my shirt, and the shorter wire forced me to use my phone at a dick level. I switched back to the long cable very quickly. If you know of a 1.6m cable like that, or know someone who can make it, let me know.

https://preview.redd.it/06oht4hkh5kh1.png?width=916&format=png&auto=webp&s=dc0984fe374437d96118e8ff197cb2a75ef384da

5. Grey market phone with 3.5mm. A fine option, except the only one left is the Sony Xperia. I ran Sony a few years back and found it very quiet. That said, it wasn't the top-of-the-line phone. Maybe One VIII will be good, but I'd really like to try it before I buy it. Does anyone have it and use wired sound? What are your impressions? And yeah, I'll probably be left without reception a lot, since many US bands aren't supported, which isn't great.

The non-options:

1. "Just buy Bluetooth headphones, you pious prick." If you point me to something that sounds as good as the Shure SE846 wired - gladly. I've been truly ruined by these earphones, as I've hated all Bluetooth headphones I've ever tried, including Shure's own Bluetooth conversion kit. Metal, my primary genre, loses out the most; it just becomes toothless. Also, I have three more batteries to manage, one in each earphone and one in the case, and if the battery in one of the earphones falters, the whole setup must be discarded. Which, I think, is the reason Bluetooth earphones are pushed so aggressively. I'd be on my 5th pair of AirPods, instead of owning SE846 for 10 years.
2. "Run a separate player like a true audiophile." Running a dedicated hi-fi player is inconvenient, as I now have two devices instead of one to carry around. I tried it years ago and just defaulted to the phone.

Any options I've missed? I'm well aware I'm on a sinking ship, but I'm intent on going down with it.

I've seen headphones at department stores and wonder if they're actually good

When should I buy Sony xm5 headphones?

What is the best time to get the maximum discount and from where (website/store)?