Tell me what you wish you would have known when you started this hobby.
Peace EQ on PC, i wasted a lot of money until i learned how to custom tune my headphones now iam pretty much in audio heaven.
Buy for longevity and comfort, all other things are secondary. If a hp lasts practically forever with basic care, it’s also got a hell of a driver.
Do not, DO NOT, DO NOT spend more money on dac amps than your headphones. I’ve seen people tried to talk newbie up to buy new dac or amp for something like dt770, hd560 etc because the newbie said they didn’t like the sound. Neither dac nor amp will “fix” the headphones that you do not like.
Great advice, thanks!
Get out of this sub. Like ASAP
Hifi isn’t real embrace EarPods
Learn how to read frequency response graphs and understand the research behind the harman target. I used to watch and read reviews but I found out they never accurately described a headphones/IEMs sound after buying and listening to them. You don’t have to like the harman target or buy headphones/IEMs that are tuned to it, but understanding the harman research will make make buying headphones/IEMS easier and it will SAVE YOU A LOT OF MONEY.
Crinacles ranking list is not accurate for everyone… at all
A Schiit Magni Modi amp dac stack (for desktop use) will pretty much see you sorted for any headphones. Don’t think spending hundreds or thousands more will get you any massive improvements in sound quality.
There are much better headphones then HD650, lol
-frequency response is just a tiny part of how headphones sound, it’s useful info but you can’t see whether headphones are good with just frequency response. -apple dongles are pretty good. -the jack on your pc/laptop will probably sound better than a super cheap amp. -EQ is fun and useful.
A 3000 dollar amp will not magically make your headphone sound any different (unless it’s doing something wrong)
A decent 2-300 dollar amp that has the plugs (inputs/outputs) you need and measures with low distortion will suffice.
Tube can sound slightly different due to higher distortion numbers and a tendency to roll off the bass and treble, making a slight warmer sound.
“Brain burn in” is 100% a thing. Give any pair you purchase at least a week of exclusive listening to get used to its sound signature before making up your mind about it.
“headphones and speakers aint shit when compared to car audio”.
this is just based on a comment I recently read on reddit. but I think it’s kinda true.
Cables are the most important part of any audio equipment /s
Most reviewers are getting paid to encourage you to buy the product they are reviewing unless you go to a small channel.
Many haven’t heard enough headphones or auditioned them long enough to give you an honest review.
This might be obvious, but any youtube video title that ends as a question is clickbait and probably going to give you misleading information. For e.g. “Is this the best headphones for 200!?” Why avoid these.
Reason 1: The best is purely subjective Reason 2: unless they have heard everything for 200, how would they know Reason 3: They are really so great, then just say, " x headphone is great value for $200 bucks"
I’ve been in this hobby for about 10 years or so now. And have spent (wasted) a lot of money chasing the best sound. The only way to know is to demo yourself and see if you like it if you are unable to, then i suggest you compare multiple reviews to get a broader opinion as well as learn how to read frequency response curves and find the curve for a pair of headphones you like, this will act as a base for comparison.
For E.g, your headphone measures with a lot of bass, and you enjoy it. If another headphone measures almost no bass, you probably won’t. It’s an oversimplification, but you get the idea. However, fr curves aren’t everything they are a rough idea of how it will sound not if you will like it.
Best of luck.