[JerseyD]

Hello ladies and gents, may I humbly ask here for an open or closed back headphone recommendation in the price range of 100 to max.200$?
I need it for my uncle, who wants to enter more seriously into our hobby, away from smartphone and his wireless Bose cans.
He wants to have a DAP actually (prefers a semi-portable setup with a circumaural headphone) and I already selected the new iBasso DX180 for him, because he doesn't want to spend more than 700 max. all together.
I don't know, I maybe thought of the HiFiMan Sundara closed, which is 150 now on Amazon, but I guess there might be some good other, more recent contenders in this price range, and I would be very thankful if someone would point me in the right direction?

If I could only spend $200 on a pair, I would probably get the Thinksound OV21. They don’t get much attention here on Head Fi but might be the best closed back over ear for the price. Another direction to go would be the Grado SR225x, open back, on ear.

But then, if my total budget was $700, more of that would go toward headphones, and less toward dap (or more likely, a dongle dac/amp). How about the Sennheiser HD600 or Meze 99 Classic and a Cayin RU7?

 

[nephilim32]

So, my work office is closing and I'm moving to a different, smaller space. At work I had a simple set up of a matrix mini i4 pro and my bokeh. Simple, but pretty darn awesome, actually.

Since I don't have room for it at the new location, and safety of the gear is a concern, I brought them home. On a whim, I plugged the matrix in as a pre-amp in my chain. I have to say, pre-amps are no joke! This is potentially putting some of my upgrade plans on hold, as this is sounding just excellent. I get a similar sonic improvement from the Ampsandsound Booster box, which is essentially a fixed volume preamp. It's always nice to find a simple thing that becomes a bump in quality in your chain.

Yes. Pre amping properly is magic. Definitely no joke. I recently got a Schiit Kara Pre Amp and I love the hell out of that thing. It has really integrated nicely into my main system and given new life to some of my other existing amplifiers.
Insane value for money the Kara is. I can easily recommend it.

 

[Conan1974]

Are these pictures of a store shelf?

 

[DenverW]

Some fun in home demo with the aegis! @theveterans and @Basstutum visiting, and they brought their atrium open and susvara! We also spent some time with the atrium closed and the bokeh.

Awesome people!!!

 

[Pharmaboy]

Hello ladies and gents, may I humbly ask here for an open or closed back headphone recommendation in the price range of 100 to max.200$?
I need it for my uncle, who wants to enter more seriously into our hobby, away from smartphone and his wireless Bose cans.
He wants to have a DAP actually (prefers a semi-portable setup with a circumaural headphone) and I already selected the new iBasso DX180 for him, because he doesn't want to spend more than 700 max. all together.
I don't know, I maybe thought of the HiFiMan Sundara closed, which is 150 now on Amazon, but I guess there might be some good other, more recent contenders in this price range, and I would be very thankful if someone would point me in the right direction?

In my experience, the very best of inexpensive ChiFi audio are the "clones" of the original ISK MDH9000 closed back headphone. There are at least 6 clones I know of: these are identical designs that have somewhat different color schemes and branding. I owned 3 of these clones; gave away 2 and kept 1.

Just listened to mine and was again struck by its very musical, spacious, somewhat bassy sound. It readily scales on better equiment, which is a real bonus at this price range. I use mine on vacation. I own some terrific headphones that cost way more than these clones, but I don't miss the others when I'm listening to my Marantz MPH-2s.

Either of the listings below would do the trick for delivery to Austin:

LyxPro HAS-30: https://www.amazon.com/LyxPro-HAS-3...pcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A2LM6ZPY06LT1N

Marantz MPH-2: https://www.ebay.com/itm/276178409608?chn=ps

 

[LoryWiv]

If I could only spend $200 on a pair, I would probably get the Thinksound OV21. They don’t get much attention here on Head Fi but might be the best closed back over ear for the price. Another direction to go would be the Grado SR225x, open back, on ear.

But then, if my total budget was $700, more of that would go toward headphones, and less toward dap (or more likely, a dongle dac/amp). How about the Sennheiser HD600 or Meze 99 Classic and a Cayin RU7?

I recently head a chance to listen to the Cayin RU7. Sounded excellent, nice R2R organic flavor! If your uncle wants over ear rather than IEM's to pair it with, just make sure they are relatively easy to drive and use a balanced cable to take advantage of RU7's 400 mW balanced output. Options to consider would include Audeze MM-100, FiiO FT5, Grado as mentioned or the soon to launch Sennheiser HD 620S.

I have the xDuoo XD05 Bal2 which is a bit pricier but can drive basically anything, include 300 ohm cans like the Senn HD600. The Bal2 and a pair of HDxx from Drop.com should come in around $600, leaving budget for a nice aftermarket balanced cable if you like.

Enjoy!​

​

 

[goldwerger]

Do we've any feedback on the Noble Fokus Apollo?

@HiFiHawaii808 heard them at CanJam Singapore. Since he's on a family trip, I'm passing along his impressions as shared earlier with me: He loved the Apollo and thought thtey were better for him than the Bathys. They didn't any sense of bluetooth distortion in their bass, which soudned good. And they were more comfortable (less clampy).

Hopefully, when time allows, he may drop more impressions directly here but that sums it up for him I think.

Some fun in home demo with the aegis! @theveterans and @Basstutum visiting, and they brought their atrium open and susvara! We also spent some time with the atrium closed and the bokeh.

Awesome people!!!

wow love it. so nice for you guys to have a local meetup.. sounds awesome!!

 

[fiascogarcia]

Just discovered this thread today. Thanks so much @goldwerger ! Admittedly, I've been spending a lot more time with headphones than iems for the last few months, and think the Decware OTL purchase kind of jump started it for me. And if you have an OTL, ya gotta have some ZMF's! Cheers everyone!

 

[Frankie D]

Just discovered this thread today. Thanks so much @goldwerger ! Admittedly, I've been spending a lot more time with headphones than iems for the last few months, and think the Decware OTL purchase kind of jump started it for me. And if you have an OTL, ya gotta have some ZMF's! Cheers everyone!

It’s about time we get to see you here as well!

Really nice looking phones.

 

[Chronos]

Been looking for something like this since I transitioned from IEMs to full size. I think there was another thread that attempted this. This one is already off to a great start

 

[Chronos]

Some fun in home demo with the aegis! @theveterans and @Basstutum visiting, and they brought their atrium open and susvara! We also spent some time with the atrium closed and the bokeh.

Awesome people!!!

Was this in SoCal?

 

[Frankie D]

I have been chilling out this evening with an old favorite: “Restless” by Bob James. This was released in 1994.

Two of my favorite tracks are “Restless” and “Storm Warning.” I have mostly been using my Sus connected to MK-465 and Holo May ( Bliss sounded great as well ).

On “Restless” you should hear a strong bass beat throughout and at 1:20 the piano should sound full. For the detail heads among us, see how easily you can pick out the guitar in the left channel starting at 5:25. A nice little system/HP test.

“Storm Warning” is a beautiful softer track. Bob James daughter is actually the vocalist. From time to time he has the bass softly pop a bit in his arrangement.

Hope you also enjoy it.

 

[theveterans]

Was this in SoCal?

Yep!

 

[goldwerger]

Just discovered this thread today. Thanks so much @goldwerger

Been looking for something like this since I transitioned from IEMs to full size. I think there was another thread that attempted this. This one is already off to a great start

Welcome guys, it's so wonderful to have you!!

I'm thrilled this is serving a real need for the community and a platform for joyous sharing

think the Decware OTL purchase kind of jump started it for me. And if you have an OTL, ya gotta have some ZMF's! Cheers everyone!

That amp is just so wonderful. I love it !

I have been chilling out this evening with an old favorite: “Restless” by Bob James. This was released in 1994.

Two of my favorite tracks are “Restless” and “Storm Warning.” I have mostly been using my Sus connected to MK-465 and Holo May ( Bliss sounded great as well ).

On “Restless” you should hear a strong bass beat throughout and at 1:20 the piano should sound full. For the detail heads among us, see how easily you can pick out the guitar in the left channel starting at 5:25. A nice little system/HP test.

“Storm Warning” is a beautiful softer track. Bob James daughter is actually the vocalist. From time to time he has the bass softly pop a bit in his arrangement.

Hope you also enjoy it.

You reminded me of this Bob James and Till Bronner collab track "September Morn". Very beautiful trumpet. A mellow listen for end of weekend (and, in my case, as I work against an unexpected deadline)

 

[AudioDuck]

I have been chilling out this evening with an old favorite: “Restless” by Bob James. This was released in 1994.

Two of my favorite tracks are “Restless” and “Storm Warning.” I have mostly been using my Sus connected to MK-465 and Holo May ( Bliss sounded great as well ).

On “Restless” you should hear a strong bass beat throughout and at 1:20 the piano should sound full. For the detail heads among us, see how easily you can pick out the guitar in the left channel starting at 5:25. A nice little system/HP test.

“Storm Warning” is a beautiful softer track. Bob James daughter is actually the vocalist. From time to time he has the bass softly pop a bit in his arrangement.

Hope you also enjoy it.

Thank you!

Looking into Bob James’ recordings now. Ran into this recording, which sounds interesting (binaural!)… anyone familiar with it?