My Headphone History and DAC History

nicknameTaken

Hello Dear Community 😁

Over the years I had many headphones.
I let you know my experiences.

Sennheiser HD 25 II => Good for electronic Music
Beyerdynamic DT 770 => Sounds thin
Beyerdynamic DT 990 => Sounds like a Bass, no matter what it plays
Beyerdynamic Amiron Home => Worst experience ever. Artificial depth is added. Everything sounds very far away.
AKG K812 => Sounds pretty great, but highs too harsh.
Focal Utopia => Is on the way to me, I let you know how I feel about it 😄

Over the years I had quite a few of DACs/Amps

ASUS Xonar DX => Too bright, frequent problems with electronical noise
Creative ZX => Somewhat usable
Creative ZXR => Had to return this one. Capacitors charged up and audio glitched
Fiio E07k + E09k => Display turned black, device defective. No more FiiO
JDS Labs O2+ODAC => Great device, difficult to adjust volume on a deep granular level sometimes.
RME BabyFace Pro FS => A bit more volume control and a slightly better control of tone. But not worth the hefty price over the JDS LABS O2+ODAC.

I have right now two O2+ODACS 🙂

Over the years I had many DACS/AMPS.
I let you know my experiences.

David B

My headphone experience is pretty simple. I've only owned one set of decent headphones. Massdrop/Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee. They are the first set of open back headphones I have ever owned.

I never heard about Massdrop until started researching on PW which headphones might go good with the binaural samples on my N1X. Prior to the HD 58X Jubilee, I owned a pair of Shure 440 that someone gave to me and they hurt my head when I used them for any protracted period of time.

Here is my comparison between the two.

1. Fit and finish.
They are lighter and more comfortable than the 440's. I could wear them for hours if I needed to. They are also very quiet compared to the 440's that rattle and make a lot of noise when handling.

2. Musical Sound quality.
There is more clarity and instrumental separation with the 58X's. Also, they sounded better as the volume was increased compared to the 440's that seem to wash out more as the volume went up. I was able to drive the 58X's with both my iPhone and MacBook Air to ear damage decibels if I wanted.

3. Piano Sound quality.
It's easy to preform a comparative analysis with the N1X since it has two headphone jacks. I first listened to the demo songs on the the N1X and it was readily apparent that the 58X's had a more pronounced bass and evenness across the frequency spectrum. The 440's sounded a bit hollow/shallow with less frequency separation. After a while of playing the piano with both I stopped reaching for the 440's

I paid $160 for them and ended up buying a pair for my wife as a birthday gift. She loves hers as well.

Have a look.

God Bless,
David

MacMacMac

My history is simple, too.

Beyerdynamic DTX-900 for about ten years. Replaced with Senn HD579 three years ago.

One DAC … a Presonus Audiobox.

Generally I keep 'em until they die.

nicknameTaken

Hello again my friends.
Having the Focal Utopia now. Realizing, that I require a longer Audio cable. Preferably symmetrical.
That also means I should have an XLR capable DAC / Amp. The cable costs 800 EUR, DAC + AMP 1.500.

The Focal Utopia sounds very balanced. I'm yet to get used to the new comfort.
It's different to my AKG K812.

nicknameTaken

I should update you on my story.
Bought the "RME ADI-2 Pro FS R Black Edition" as a partner for my new Headphones.
The settings within this specific Headphone AMP/DAC make big improvements.

I contacted LavriCables now, they should craft me a new, better cable, as the one I use is pretty stiff.

Soundwise, it's the best I have ever heard.

nicknameTaken

Shipped back Focal Utopia - long term usage is too uncomfortable