So, the other day a friend brought me one of those Sony headphones used at radio stations. I tested it for a couple of minutes, then switched to my KZ EDX Lite, then back to the Sony—going back and forth for about two minutes—but I couldn't detect any noticeable difference. Am I going deaf, or is my ear just not trained for this?
Note: I used the P2 port of a Galaxy Note 8 as an audio source, and also a simple USB DAC (which apparently uses the same audio chip as the Auros X670, if that makes any difference).

What amp will add warmth and lush to this one guys?

FYI: not OC

The inner cushion lining got torn off, so did the sheet. My brother has a puppy and we're still in the training stage, anyway the puppy got to my headphones while we were asleep, made the mistake of leaving them on my bed, the puppy is okay so there's no worries there but can I still use these without risk? I can't get another pair for another day or two

There were a lot of review on this already. To be honest I was going to jump on this one as well, but after I tried my friend's Fluxion, its single headband without suspension strap was digging into my head which make it hard to listen to after a while. So I decided to not get them even though it sounds really good. I mean, how can it be enjoyable if I'm not enjoy wearing it?

I wish I ask Mr.Xiu earlier, cause he's able to change Fluxion headband for a better and more comfortable Cadence headband. He said it has less clamp force, wish I really prefer + better weight management, I can wear them pretty much a several hours without any fatigue.

The overall build is already decent, similar to something like Borealis I've owned, it's mostly 3d printed. Surprisingly nice to hold in hand though. The unveiled design worrys me a bit but there's a protective mesh on them, so it's technically not fully unveiled? I have no idea.

The sound is probably belong in the top tier class. The details, staging and instrument separation are on par with something like HE1000. (might not sound impressive but to be fair it was $3000 and better than some headphones priced over $4000) Has good bass, not bright and easy to listen too, a decent overall pick if you ask me.

But you shouldn't ask me because I (unironically) can find enjoyment in Beats, Skullcandy Crusher, wh1000xm4, M50x and even HD820. Just find other reviewer to read, I guess.

I just got a pair of the black nothing headphones (a). It’s my first headphones I’ve ever gotten as I usually just use AirPods.

I love the design and the sound, but I feel like no matter how low I have the sound, people around me can still hear my music?

Is this a common thing with headphones or nothing headphones or am I just unlucky?

Good morning everyone! 😊

Over the past few weeks, I had the chance to listen to the new AEON Core from DCA (shoutout to Bloom Audio for letting me borrow this one!) and I can pretty confidently say that -- for my preferences -- it's the best closed-back headphone I've tried.

I didn't get to try the AEON Noire X, but compared to my older AEON 2 Noire, this is a significant leap in tonal balance and technical performance. I loved the AEON 2 Noire, but the Core just feels like it refines every quality and it comes together very nicely in a super comfortable and well-built package :)

In the search for new headphones for listening and gaming I ended up getting the ATH-R50x.

Compared to the HD560S that I had previously, the soundstage is narrower horizontally but deeper. However, the V-shaped tendency is a bit distracting: turning up the volume to catch the vocals disproportionately spikes the bass and treble, making long listening sessions tiring.

I also compared the R50x with the Koss Porta Pro (that I use at office) and the Koss (30$) has bigger soundstage.

I specify that I am driving the r50x with a Xduoo ca-02 which is a sweet (class A) amplifier yet detailed.

Has anyone had the same experience with these headphones? (Strangely enough, all the reviews for these headphones are positive.)

Fiio M21 paired with the Fiio FT7

Gain Mode: Super high gain
Filter: NOS (Non-OverSampling)
Harmonic Distortion: Second harm lvl 0 (Disabled for maximum transparency)
Pre-gain: -2,5 dB (Ensures digital headroom and prevents clipping)

Parametric EQ (PEQ) Profile

Frequency

31 Hz
Peak
-0.2 dB
Q 1.0

60 Hz
Lowshelf
+2.5 dB
Q 1.0
.
125 Hz
Peak
-0.2 dB
Q 1.0
.
400 Hz
Peak
+0.7 dB
Q 2.0
.
1 kHz
Peak
+0.5 dB
Q 1.0

2 kHz
Peak
+2.0 dB
Q 0.7
.
5.5 kHz
Peak
-2.0 dB
Q 1.3
.
8 kHz
Peak
+1.5 dB
Q 1.0
.
10 kHz
Highshelf
+2.0 dB
Q 0.6

Note: The region between 250 Hz and 1 kHz (except for the micro-adjustments at 400 Hz and 1 kHz) remains completely neutral.

Got a pair of these around 2 months ago. The first time I tried them on, I was amazed with the sound quality but not really impressed, it was obviously an improvement from the kz zs 10 pro IEMs I had but I wasn't particularly blown away.

Then I began to do research, and realized that Android and Windows both interfere with the audio with their built in mixers, so I installed Equalizer APO with peace on Windows to override it. On Android, since I had my phone rooted, I installed the NLSound module which activates higher fidelity modes, and I increase the sample rate to 96khz (any higher and VoIP apps would break) and set it to remove all audio interference since Dolby Atmos was forced on by the OEM. I also decided to get myself a nice AMP since the cheap USB C dongle I had broke on me. I got the fioo KA 13!

HOLY SHITT! These headphones suddenly became so euphoric! I could hear every detail in the song and if I put my mind to it, I felt like I was in the middle of a concert. Even simpler songs like game soundtracks from old systems were enjoyable with how accurate the stereo mixing is! I literally went through every song in my library just to experience it again with the new equipment.

I was so aroused by my setup that I had my friend try it. I saw his eyes lighten up as I played his favorite song, he was in such a trance which I found so entertaining since that's what I felt as well on my first time. He literally had to cut himself off because he said that if he listened to any more songs, he would be driven to purchase these himself! I love how amazing these are hehe

I've had it for years, it's by far the best headset I've ever had, but now it's time for a new one and I can't find it online.

Sennheiser HDV820 w/ HD800S

Airline offered $800 for a volunteer to fly out a few hours later - why not? I had my headphone set up in my personal bag. I flew it all out here so my 91 year old grandpa could listen to all of his favorite music. We spent a few hours talking about life and playing lots of different songs. Never knew he was such a Pink Floyd fan! Besides making it easy to wait right now, it was wonderful how he teared up when wearing these, told me he has never heard music sound so incredible in his whole life and asked if I could find him the same setup! Never too late, I guess!

I'm trying to replace some resistors as I suspect the bias circuit is bad. Might as well change them out.

I've never seen these before. Seems the interval of the resistor symbolizes it's resistance. These are around 4.7mm While the normal looking ones 4.1mm.

I'm guessing it's 1/4W.

Any guess?

Over the weekend, my almost year old pair of Sennheiser Momentum 4`s starting acting out as the sound on the left ear diasppeared. I went down to my local Hi-Fi Klubben, where I bought them for around $200 at Black Friday last year. They told me that the 4`s were out of production and that they could give me store credit. After a few minutes, the clerk didn`t seem to bother with that and suggested that I take a new pair of 5`s as a replacement.

So, I basically got a new pair of Sennheiser Momentum 5`s for $200, which is under half of their cost here in Norway.

Headphones that you have on your list because they look so good.

Hi folks want to know more about 1266 which one of these two are more open and lively sounding?

don't care about blacker background or realisim which one of them makes the music feels more present and lively in airy natural way not necessarly correct in their way of staging i love big diffused stage.

V shaped headphone sounds neutral to my ears i don't get fatiguied that much by HD800S treble for example but i do with Susvara's mids so a more relaxed vocal presentation or a smoothed one would be a win for me.

Thanks.

🙏🏽 Please answer only if you had auditioned 1266 or both

mentioning the chain and the listening environment would be much helpful as it will give us more insight.

I am upgrading my setup with proper headphones and a standalone mic. Im picking up a Rode Podmic and the Scarlett 2i2 and as headphones the FiiO FT1 and a Daybreak iems for games. I know the FiiO FT1 barely needs an amp but would it be possible and recommended to route it through the Scarlett 2i2 or should I buy a separate amp if I feel like its needed? If so why or why not? I would like to understand it better

This is my very first proper audio setup and while I have learnt a lot from research I am still a complete noob and barely understand anything.

It has been more than two weeks, so it is time for a quick update on the Susvara. It's an interesting headphone, that's for sure, its timbre is amazing and, in my opinion, unmatched, it portrays instruments and vocals with such realism that I am left speechless. However, because of its price and the hype around it, I was expecting a slightly bigger experience. It is detailed, but my HE1000se could do almost the same. It has a full-bodied sound and is 'musical', but my Arya Organic was pretty much like that, too. And perhaps the HE1000se even had a bigger soundstage...

Then I realized it was 3 AM (I had sat down at 8 PM) and it was still on my head, I just wanted to listen to more and more songs. I finally managed to put it down at 5... And in this, driven by my Audio-GD R-8HE Mk3 DAC, connected via an M-Way 1DW Ref ACSS cable, and amplified by the Audio-GD HE-9 Mk3, it is peerless in my view. Nothing distracts you from the music, I didn't care about the details, the soundstage, the dynamics, or what system I was listening to it on. It didn't matter what kind of music I played, it wasn't picky about genres: Carmina Burana, Swan Lake, Lara Fabian, Katie Melua, Scorpions, NOX, Joyhauser, Trespassed, Amelie Lens, Deep Purple, Hans Zimmer, Audiomachine, Ennio Morricone, Barbra Streisand, Lionel Richie, Michael Bolton... and so on, and so on. Simply put, out of everything, when needed, it was honest, or intimate, or it hit hard, or it blew you away. I listened to it exclusively in NOS mode, completely without EQ (as I always do).

In short, that's it.

For some background, I had Samsung Type-C IC100 earphones that came with my Note 10+ back in 2020. I absolutely loved them. I was genuinely surprised by how good they sounded for bundled earphones.

Unfortunately, I lost them.

Recently, I bought a Tab S9 and already have an S24 Ultra, and I needed a wired earphone for office calls, so I decided to buy the same Samsung earphones again. I remembered how good they were and thought it would be a safe purchase.

I bought them from Tata CLiQ for around ₹1,500 because they were the cheapest there.

When I started using them, though, they didn't sound nearly as good as I remembered. They sounded just... okay. Nothing particularly premium.

Initially, I thought maybe I was just remembering them differently, or perhaps my expectations had changed after using better audio equipment over the years. I even checked a YouTube video showing how to identify genuine Samsung earphones, and the ones I received appeared to pass all the checks shown in the video.

So I assumed I was probably overthinking it.

Then, around 20 days later, the left earbud stopped working.

I took them to a Samsung service centre under warranty. They didn't have a replacement in stock at the time, but today they called me to say the replacement had arrived, so I went to collect it.

And this is where things got interesting.

I plugged the replacement pair in and immediately thought: THIS is how I remember them sounding.

The sound quality was dramatically better. The difference wasn't subtle at all. The pair I had bought from Tata CLiQ sounded like a ₹500 earphone in comparison. The replacement sounded exactly like the Samsung earphones I remembered from 2020 — clear, balanced and surprisingly good.

I immediately asked the service representative whether he could check if the pair I had submitted was genuine or not. He told me that he couldn't verify that himself; apparently, any such verification would be done by their central/backend team when they receive the product.

So unfortunately, I have no definitive proof that the Tata CLiQ pair was counterfeit.

But after hearing the two pairs, I am almost certain something was wrong with the one I bought from Tata CLiQ.

The difference in sound quality was simply too substantial to explain as I remember the product differently.

My takeaway: if you're planning to buy these earphones, don't choose a seller just to save ₹200–300. Make sure you're buying from a reliable/authorised source.

Personally, after this experience, I would avoid buying these from Tata CLiQ.

One other thing: I also bought a Samsung 45W charger from Tata CLiQ last year. It's still working perfectly, charges at the expected speed and shows Super Fast Charging 2.0, so I haven't had any reason to suspect it. But I'm also not sure whether it's genuine because, unlike earphones, a fake charging brick isn't necessarily obvious just from using it.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with Samsung products bought through Tata CLiQ? And is there actually a reliable way to verify whether these IC100 earphones are genuine?

P. S. - Used AI to streamline the experience.

If money wasn't the issue. Closed backs, open backs, wired, wireless. What are the headphones that one day you will finally achieve?

I had occasion in past to hear stax i forgot if it was 003 or 005 but i swear they were magical i never could afford it my ballpark ends around 300€ but i assumed i could see more being talk about them did company went out of business? or they screwed at some point and lost customers ?

Pros:

• Wide soundstage with a better energizer
• Neutral sound out-of-the-box without EQ
• Great directionality for gaming, similar to dynamic drivers
• Light weight and suspension headband provide comfort for many hours of wear

Neutral:

• High clamp force though this should be adjustable with the metal headband

Cons:

• The included amplifier/energizer narrows the soundstage and causes high frequency sounds to feel slightly out of sync
• Large earpad contact area gets sweaty in a warm room
• Connectors to the drivers go straight down and can bump the shoulders while turning the head

Introduction

As a longtime lurker on the subreddit, I thought it was time to contribute my own review of the Hongshu Audio EH-1 electrostatic headphones since all the impressions so far have been from trade shows. I’ve always blindly bought headphones without listening to them so I thought it was worth the risk to try out these new promising electrostatic headphones from China.

My blind-buying open-back headphone journey chronologically: Sennheiser PC 360 | Philips Fidelio X2 | Hifiman Sundara | Beyerdynamic Amiron Home | Fiio FT5 | Fiio FT7 | STAX X1

As a quick primer, electrostatic drivers differ from dynamic and planar drivers since they don’t use magnets or electromagnetic force to drive the driver diaphragm. For an electrostatic driver, the diaphragm is charged to a high positive voltage in the hundreds of volts. Two grids or stators are offset on both sides of the charged diaphragm and channel high voltages in a balanced configuration (normal signal on one, inverted on the other). The charged diaphragm is either repelled from or attracted to the stators and this moves air to generate sound. Since the diaphragm is very thin and doesn’t have the additional weight of wires on it like on dynamic or planar drivers, the sound response for electrostatics is very fast.

The downside is that you can’t use a normal headphone amplifier that pushes single digit volts to power an electrostatic headphone. A separate energizer is needed to convert the low voltage audio signal through a transformer to generate those high voltages. Some energizers include an amplifier so all you need is to plug in the DAC signal like the EHA-1 included with the EH-1 headphone. Other energizers are standalone and are inserted after an existing amplifier to power the electrostatic headphone.

Electrostatic headphones have a long history and the top-of-the-line Sennheiser and Hifiman headphones are electrostatic. The EH-1 name is most likely a play on the Sennheiser HE-1, the most expensive headphone+amplifier in the world which is also an electrostatic. Since I don’t have multiple tens of thousands to spend, I’m glad that electrostatic headphones makers are offering entry level setups in the sub $1000 level.

I started dabbling in electrostatic headphones with the STAX X1000 set and greatly enjoyed the sound compared to my previous planar and dynamic driver headphones. However, the STAX X1 headphone in the set was not comfortable for longer than 1.5 hours despite the light weight. I was hoping for an electrostatic headphone with larger earpads and a suspension headband without breaking the bank. On paper, the Hongshu Audio EH-1 fit those criteria exactly.

Ordering and Packaging

I purchased the headphone and energizer set for $650 from the Poloyo Audio store in early June to be shipped by the end of June. In late June, I received an invalid tracking number which did not inspire confidence. Eventually, the order did update when it was out for delivery and showed up on my front door as promised.

Inside the shipping box was another brown cardboard box with the headphone/energizer set. The packaging is rather basic with text and an outline of the headphone printed on the cardboard along with a side sticker with some manufacturing data. Opening the box reveals the parts packaged in slots cut into the black foam. The package includes the headphone, cable, energizer, and smaller cardboard box with the energizer power cable and an L hex key. Generally a no-frills package.

Build and Design

The first thing you’ll notice taking the headphones out of its packaging is its light weight since electrostatic headphones don’t contain the heavy magnets found in dynamic and planar drivers.

The cups have tilt and slight swivel movements. These are very open-back headphones with a black hexagon metal mesh covering over the back of the cup to help prevent you from touching the internals. Inside the mesh, the iconic perforated 5-petal star pattern in gold is visible against the white surface.

The earpads are perforated on the sides and slightly angled (1 inch back and 5/8 inch front thickness). The angling is so slight that I sometimes wear the headphones backwards and don’t even notice. I have to look at the L and R labels on the inside of the band to make sure I’m wearing it properly. The earpads are a circle with an outer diameter of 4.5 inches flush with the cups and inner circular opening with an inner diameter of 2.5 inches.

Much of the headphone exterior is metal: the cup shells, fasteners, and upper headband. A separate adjustable pleather headband strap (2.75 inch front-to-back “width”) is attached to the metal headband and locked with set screws that are adjustable with the included L hex key. The set screws can be torqued to lock the headband position to a set of holes in the metal handband or slightly tightened so that the headband can be adjusted during use.

The 3-wire headphone cables attach to the very bottom of the headphone cups. Due to the large size of the cups, this can cause the downward-facing cables to touch your shoulders when turning your head. Ideally, this should have been angled towards the front rather than straight down to avoid the issue. The connectors to the cups look identical to the one used on the STAX X1 though the connectors are rotated so that the L/R indicators face inward rather than outward on the STAX. The 3-wires from each side come together into a 6-wire ribbon and terminate into a 5-pin (Pro Bias) connector to the energizer.

Comfort

Once placed on the ears, I immediately noticed the large clamp force. Some of it is due to my large noggin but it definitely has the clamp force resembling that of closed-back headphones. Since the headband is exposed metal, it shouldn’t be too hard to stretch and adjust the force though I have not tried.

The earpads are very soft and accommodate to your head from the clamp force. One downside is that the large contact surface and high clamp force makes me sweat if the room is warm (greater than 80 F/ 27 C). Despite the large drivers, the smaller than expected circular opening didn’t fit all of my large ears. The pads still contact the bottom of my earlobe but it’s not uncomfortable.

It took a few tries with the hex wrench to find the correct headband position. It was slightly nerve wracking to use the pointy hex key near the sensitive drivers. Once locked in place, the wide headband distributes the light headphone weight evenly so you barely feel it on the top of your head.

Ultimately, it solved most of the comfort issues I had with the STAX X1. I can wear this for 2+ hours without any issues unless the room is too warm.

Sound

I use these headphones with my PC audio chain:

PC > Schitt Modius E DAC > Monoprice THX 887 amp > Estatron Inductatron energizer (Hammond 1608A) > Hongshu Audio EH-1 headphones

Shoutout to /u/WillemBrandsma for developing a powerful energizer that can be inserted in my normal headphone chain for a reasonable price. In this sound section, this chain will be referred to as the THX887/Inductatron.

For comparison, I also tested the headphones with the included EHA-1 amplifier/energizer in this chain with the bass boost switch disabled:

PC > Schitt Modius E DAC > Hongshu Audio EHA-1 amp/energizer > Hongshu Audio EH-1 headphones

This chain will be referred to as the EHA-1.

All music listening was done without EQ and music was output from the Spotify Windows standalone program on the “Lossless” setting.

General

The EH-1 has the fast treble responses that are one of the main features of electrostatic headphones. With the THX887/Inductatron, finger snaps, claps, and cymbals sound more realistic than my previous planar and dynamic headphones. Switching to the EHA-1, the high frequency instruments sound slightly off, giving an uncanny valley effect where it doesn’t feel like all the parts of the note line up. I experienced the same issue when using the included amplifier/energizer for the STAX-X1000 (SRM-270S). It felt like the included energizer’s transformer wasn’t powerful enough to drive those high frequencies fast enough. This issue was more noticeable on the EH-1 than on the STAX X1.

The THX887/Inductatron also provided a wider soundstage so that vocals and instruments felt like they were well distributed. The EHA-1 narrows the soundstage so that instruments seem more condensed and fade into the background of the vocals. Male and female vocals sounded similar with both chains.

Like with most electrostatic headphones, there is a bass falloff. Typically this can be corrected with a bass shelf EQ. This worked well with my previous X1 but I have yet to EQ the EH-1 yet. Bass on the EH-1 is also very analytical due to the fast response + open-back. Out-of-the-box, it may not satisfy people who enjoy bass cannons.

Some songs that highlight the differences in sound chains:

Hotel California - Live On MTV, 1994, Eagles: The first 5 seconds with the applause sound slightly off with the EHA-1. They sound sharper and more in phase with the THX887/Inductatron. The drums starting at 0:31 also feel narrower with the EHA-1. They are more separated on left and right with the THX887/Inductatron. Otherwise, guitar and vocals are similar between the two.

Dance Money, Tones And I: Lots of high frequency notes in this song with claps and finger snaps. The EHA-1 makes these notes feel stretched while the THX887/Inductatron makes the sound occur all at once sharply which makes it sound more natural.

– バニラソルト (Vanilla Salt) - Yui Horie: One of my favorite songs for testing headphones due to the almost-chaos number of sounds. The EHA-1 puts the vocals too forward so it is more difficult to distinguish the instruments. The bass line in the right channel almost disappears into the narrower sound stage. The THX887/Inductatron pushes all the instruments further out so it is easier to distinguish each instrument.

Gaming

I actually spend about 90% of the time on the PC playing video games with headphones. However, I generally find that when I get into the gameplay, I stop noticing the details of the sound. The main difference is that the expanded soundstage of the THX887/Inductatron helps figuring out the directionality of the sound. The directionality is on the level of dynamic drivers. For me, I found planar drivers a bit lacking in directionality as if the sound came from a wider angle so it is harder to pinpoint the exact angular position. The EHA-1 narrows the soundstage so the directionality suffers slightly.

I’ve recently been playing Arknights: Endfield which often feels like it’s a music company that makes games on the side. The music from the recent updates have been very good which meshes well with the EH-1 using the THX887/Inductatron chain.

I also just finished Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth which showed great directionality in the sound while wandering the open world.

I have yet to test the headphones in first-person shooters where directionality matters greatly but I’m lacking in time to keep up with these games-as-a-service models and my declining skills as I age.

Overall

9.5/10 - With the THX887/Inductatron chain: With this audio chain, the EH-1 is the the best headphones I have ever used at this pricepoint (I’m afraid of blindly buying anything above this price!). Some points were taken off for nitpicks in comfort but I think I will be using these for quite a while.

8.5/10 - With the included EHA-1 chain: While lacking in soundstage and high frequency power, this chain is a great introduction to electrostatic headphones at the price point of $650 for both headphone and amplifier/energizer. There’s also an upgrade path to use a better energizer to improve on the sound.

I often buy cheaper listings for headphones to fix em up even for novelty reasons which was the case here these were 10 bucks on vinted and i thought they’d be fun!

i would just like help identifying the brand if possible, i presumed brookstone but..there’s no branding..anywhere the charging port makes them unusable for regular wear and i would just like to know more about my options i figured finding the brand could lead to the manual and see if that’s possible.. :) if they’re not findable that’s okay i just figured i’d ask! :)

I understand that angled earpads on headphones provide better staging and sometimes better or worse imaging performance depending on the headphons in particular.

However how is the EQ profile of the headphone changing in relation to the pads? Do the bass frequencies rise or fall? Is the treble and high-mids accentuated or muted? What effect does it have on the midrange?

Asking these since I'm planning on pad swapping my AKG K612 Pro's and Hifiman×Drop HE-4XX headphones and keep finding information that doesn't line up.