Hifiman Sundara’s

AKG k371. Did a lot of research before buying but was still suprised how good they sounded. Bought them 2 years ago and till this day i cant believe how nice they are.

HD 650, though it took me trying out some wider headphones afterwards to realise I was satisfied

Focal Utopia is close, but it’s not great for metal music or anything else with a ton of electric guitars… waiting to stumble over a pile of cash to throw it in the direction of a Susvara or Abyss, they seem to bring punch into the world of highly resolving planars.

Audeze unfortunately has a flagship that might sound good but is sized for toddlers in my wobbleheaded opinion

For me, it was the M50x. Sucked me to completion in a dennys parking lot. I was completely satisfied after.

I’m gonna get downvoted like a MF but 😞😞 AirPods Pro and Sony M9 for real listening.

Abyss 1266 TC+20k in gear tube amp(viva egoista) and tube dac(lampizator)

STAX SR-X9000 with T2 and Weiss 501/502 dac i havent heard the grand cayman yet and blue hawaii is very decent

At first I thought it was my hd660s but I’ve since got he1000s and I adore them

Hifiman HE6se, with velour pads and an old-style Hifiman headband.

They’re always comfortable, and I can always fall back on their tuning, no matter what I’m doing. Just a perfectly pleasant pair of headphones that I can use for pretty much everything.

If I could only keep one pair of open backs, it would be them.

grado sr60e are so good

I’ll say my Abyss Diana TC because it was the first headphone that made it easy to notice the minute sound differences between sources and cables. Prior to this headphone I thought that was a myth. Plus like the Moondrop S8 it’s extremely detailed yet never gets too ear piercing.

BD Amiron Home with oratory EQ. While these aren’t as accurate as the 1990s and tend to be warmer, they’re extremely comfortable and non-fatiguing for long listening sessions. Great soundstage and imaging. Got them for a good price on sale, too! (at their msrp probably a load of better options)

For a long time I was completely happy with my HiFiMAN HE560 -but only after equipping it with an Artisan Silver Cables upgrade cable. That was the biggest and best acoustic upgrade from a cable that I’ve ever experienced, and I have done a ton of experimenting with cables of all kinds over the years, with many other great sonic improvements.

However, I always lusted after a pair of HE1000 and finally got the Stealth Magnet version recently. They are the closest to perfection I’ve ever heard, and my trusty old Astell&Kern AK240SS can drive them nicely! Next step is a couple of custom cables… I sent the 2.5mm balanced cable for my HE560 back to Artisan Silver for re-terminating with 3.5mm plugs and am discussing with Alister (head honcho at Artisan Silver and a real nice guy, always happy to help with my unusual cable requests) a new cable to drive the HE1000 Stealth with my big Plinius SA100 mk3 power amp, since I know the HEK appreciates serious amplification! So, in terms of source and power, in bed it’ll be very simple with just the AK240SS (can’t wait to hear them together with the pure silver balanced cable, considering the vast improvements it made to my HE560!) and in the main HiFi listening room when it gets too late for my Martin Logan hybrid electrostats (I have neighbours!), I’ll just unplug the speakers and plug in the HE1000 Stealth -careful to turn the volume down first! Can’t wait to hear what that sounds like!

I’ve been a part time headphone listener (just at night when I frequently can’t sleep) since getting my ML’s 9 years ago and building the best system possible for them. They’re only the old Aerius i but they’ve kept up with every single upgrade and I love them: so clear, detailed and dynamic, with the legendary Martin Logan soundstage and imaging, but these headphones are so much better that they’re forcing me to upgrade my speakers (to ML Masterpiece range Classic 9)! Sorry to go off onto speakers but I had to put the performance of these headphones in context and this is the only way I personally can do that. Btw, I have no relationship with Artisan Silver Cables other than as a very happy customer - I do not benefit in any way from saying good things about them.

The AKG K3003 in-ears. Many years later it was the Arya stealth through the balanced output of an Oppo HA-1. I’ve had several other cheaper headphones that sounded great, but the Aryas are the first ones that really hit right on the sound signature.

STAX SRL-700.

Just fucking amazing. If a cult member wants to hear their god, give them STAX. They’ll hear god and then more