It depends on the headphone and the market. 10 years ago, the hd560s hadn’t been released yet, while now it’s one of the best for the price, if not the best, at least in the EU market, while in the USA the 6XX was released prior to the hd560s and depending on taste it’s arguably a better deal for that market. Koss 60 ohm lineup has been out for quite some time, and they’re a pretty good deal and probably we’re just as good when they were released. The hd600 has come out in 1997 and for that kind of sound it is to this day the best deal to get it. Then you have the recent hifiman that have come out in the last 10 years and are a pretty good deal and compete well with what’s available today, yet the quality control is still not up to par. I’d say the golden age for headphones happened around the 90’/2000, since most models that come up today have to make up to the good reputation of models that came out in that period. Some stax headphones came even before that, and for some specific aspects they’re still the best, even though new models have come out. I’d say there isn’t a general rule of thumb for this, it depends a lot on what is considered “good” and what price range you’re looking at. Still, some pretty good headphones have come out in the recent years, and some pretty good headphones from the last decades are still relevant today, but there’s still a lot of junk being produced today, as there was some decades ago. What’s true is that good models stay good, no matter when they came out

Sennheiser hd560s/599/598 cable

Other headphones share a similar connector, but as far as I know the sennheiser is unique in the headphone connector part being 4 cores instead of 3 as on other headphones like the m50x

Uh boy, bought a bunch of junk, I need to start selling some things.

Though there were a bunch of cheap surprises, like the Salnotes Zero, Chu 2, Nicehck eb2s and recently the Faaeal rosemary. I guess I have a thing for budget iems and earbuds, since sadly I don’t regret getting any of these. I’m just about to get a pair of Hexa with the black Friday sales though, and I better be done for this year and half of the next one. And the Salnotes Zero 2 when it comes out. Then I will be done. Until I decide I’m allowed to buy a pair of hd600. Then I will have reached endgame. Then maybe I could get the dawn pro dac-amp, it’s just 50€ or less when on sale. Then I will absolutely stop.

(I think this is becoming more of a problem and less of a hobby but, oh well lol)

I already want them. Hope they don’t raise the price compared to the og zero

I mostly listen to my iems when I’m in the train going somewhere, basically anytime I take the train unless I’m with someone else. Then at home to relax when I come back from school/work or when I have free time, either iems or headphones. Sometimes in bed before sleep

Hell yeah this is hifi, I would love to be able to afford this combo right now lol

Also, hifi isn’t really an absolute thing. This is a subjective hobby in all of its aspects, as far as how much money you want to spend, what your specific sound preference is and if you want to spend more money for the amp than the headphones or viceversa. Though from what I’ve read online the setup you’re rocking could be endgame for many people. If not because the sound is almost as good as it gets, just because most people can’t afford the just to get any sort of upgrade from this.

I wouldn’t put my hopes too high. Last “revision”, starfield 2, was almost unanimously disliked, but more importantly it sounded nothing like the original starfield. If they follow the same trend, there’s no guarantee that this will sound like the og Aria, which was praised for its tuning and for being basically a starfield but cheaper. They changed the original starfield tuning for the worse, and we can only hope they don’t do the same with the Aria 2. Even if they don’t change it, it’s just going to be an Aria with marginally better build and what looks like a decently better cable, anyway probably not worth it if you already have the Aria. And even if they change the tuning and it’s still good, there are already many other single dd options in that price and even under, budget dd iems are kind of a solved technology nowadays. Still, let’s just wait for reviews and see if this becomes a better standard recommendation over the og Aria