I have these and they’re very good noise cancelling headphones, but I had a bit of trouble with the jack for wired play. It’s a bit finicky anymore. But also I fell down on some ice twice in one day and bonked my headphones both times so…that could be it.
But I do love these. I’ve had them for over 2 years and other than the jack problem I’ve had very few issues. I’d estimate I’ve used them 5 hours a day on average for that entire time soo that’s like 3600 hours.
They’re the only headphones I’ve had freeze though which is hilarious. Occasionally they won’t play any sound or turn off at all and I have to plug them in to get them to restart. Minor issue.
EDIT: oh also bootleg pad replacements are like $15 and just as good as the official ones, I’ve done that just once since the previous ones were disgusting and falling apart
If you’re constantly flying and really want some good ANC, it could be worth investing in a headset that’s focused on that. The ones above seem like you’re going down the right path. For what it’s worth, I got a pair of Bose 700 out of my work: my review for that model is pretty good, but not worth that much money. They’ve got pretty good sound quality, good passive isolation, excellent ANC, and an okay onboard mic. Big downside is I get kind of tired of wearing them after more than an hour or so, but I could probably handle four-hour stretches if I were on a plane without too much trouble.
But if it’s only going to be an occasional thing, I would second the recommendation for dt770s. I have two pairs, love them, they sound great, and I can wear them for hours at a time no problem. Then if you really want ANC for flying, just get a cheap second set from monoprice. I bought some from monoprice like five years ago: they’re solid and they’ve held up decently. Looks like that model is no longer available, but the lowest price ANC pair they sell now is about the same price mine cost when I bought them, so maybe they’re about as good?
I haven’t had Headphone Desire since I got the Sennheiser 650s because the gulf from those to anything substantially better seems enormous, but I sure am curious about “entirely new speaker types”
I really need to try a pair of planar magentic headphones sometime, too
I got a pair of Hifiman HE400ses because they were the cheapest model and if these are the bad ones I’m astonished. They give that speaker punch feeling I miss with dynamic headphones or in-ears.
That said, given what you wrote above about bass-heavy HD 580 drivers I don’t think you’ll enjoy the pummeling quite like I do. It’s probably fatiguing long-term, too, but I love “feeling” the music at regular volume.
Last weekend I picked up 400lbs of cabinet and high-end Sansui gear from the '70s (reel-to-reel, turntable, receiver, and floor speakers) at an estate sale so I’ve got plenty to tinker with for the foreseeable future…
bit the bullet and ordered a replacement nuraloop on black friday. all half-expecting my list set to turn up at some point but it was a good discount and they really are almost perfect for me as a commute headphone
also i’ve been wearing my portapros again lately and now i only start getting a headache after two hours’ wear! joyous tidings. do love how loud and basset they are compared to my fancier sets
i tried using the autoEQ curve and sonarworks was way better i think, less fiddly. sonarworks curves are not curving to a flat response but a proprietary “human ear frequency curve” that is based on some research they do
Sonarworks is, i guess*, similar to the others, tuning to a Harman Target-ish curve, but with more bass boost, seemingly.
The AutoEQ guy’s thoughts on the differences between using Oratory1990’s direct PDF-file EQ suggestions/settings (which are aiming for the unmodified Harman Target) vs. the AutoEQ results derived from Oratory1990’s measurments (which are favored among the other measurement sets included in the project, his rig prob. as good as can be got currently, etc.):
oratory1990 adjusts the parametric eq filters by ear because he has the headphones at hand. I can’t do that since everything in AutoEq is, well, automatic and based only on frequency response measurements. AutoEq also uses a bit less bass boost than what the Harman target asks for. I made this decision since not all headphones can do a large bass shelf like that without distorting and I have no way of checking if the headphone would distort. Another thing is that AutoEq’s parametric eq filter optimization algorithm doesn’t have safeguard against narrow bandwidth filters with positive gain which can introduce ringing. I intend to implement this eventually though.
There are differences in the parametric eq filters between AutoEq and oratory1990’s own, but a lot of the differences people have reported have also been caused simply by having different pre-amp gains to avoid clipping and we all know how dominant effect on preference even a small difference in overall volume can have. If you can pinpoint what difference there is when the levels are matched, please tell me because I’m always eager to find out new ways of improving the algorithm.
recent pic… maybe someday i’ll get into the sennheiser 650’s, the sonarworks ppl love em
also upgraded my Sonarworks to SoundID Reference. seems worth it,it let’s you pick the target curve among some presets or create your own. they don’t support the sennheiser pc37x still, so i’m trying to choose between using the HD 598 or 599 settings to emulate it.
The Beyers get most of the daily use just because with two people working at home all the time, closed-back phones are necessary just because the bleedover gets to be too much.
twins!! one affordable, one beyer 770, one senn 500-series (or equivalent)
i wish i liked the 770s more, something about them tires me out… like my ears aren’t getting enough oxygen or something, it’s sort of claustrophobic. maybe something to do with soundstage, or the treble fatiguing them, idk. (my ears can still hear up to 17.4k teenager-mosquito-ringtone range, maybe more)
the pc37x is more… neutral overall, they see the most use for anything needing mic. historically have used the beyers for music more often. but my edifier speakers get used more than either
Sigh, I had been convincing myself that the Beyers were pretty good, and I just swapped the Senns back in on a lark…and they’re so much better. All the stupid audiophile shit, in that everything is clearer, more distinct/separated, you can hear the little nuances in sounds that were muddied-out with the Beyers…bah.
ETA: Oh no, why did you bring up the 650s, you can get them (relatively) cheap right now.
for what it’s worth i realized the superlux 681 evos are actually great to listen to with sonarworks… the soundstage and distance you get with them makes them feel so much more like speakers than either of my fancier headphones, and there’s something very fun about $50 headphones that actually perform well with EQ
i realized i really like this open soundstage thing, particularly the sense that the sound is originating outside my head. feels much less stressful somehow.
I know I’m not helping, but I went from a pair of cream & brown Sennheiser 598’s to the 650 (6xx version) and I thought it was a big upgrade. Much much fuller, crisper bass, about equal on the really clear separation and open stage.
Make sure to apply an equalizer profile through the configurator linked above or Soundworks, it helps even more.
