I put in the mods today for these. They knock the whole volume down a bit, which allows me to turn up the volume more now, which also helps the low end come forward more. They do tame the mids some, and they knock a tad off the high end, but they still sound a little intense to me. Overall it is an improvement, but it isn’t up to par with the 565C in my opinion. But I’ll keep these for now and see. They still need to break in some technically. Not as drastic of a change as I thought.

Very mid forward, which is good for vocals and classical. Treble can be a little harsher than I had hoped. Bass is good and clean, but not bass cannons like the HE-R9. They hit a little harder than I had thought, which I like.

Overall I like it, but I ordered the mods from custom cans in the UK to tame the treble and mids some. I wanted a replacement for my 565c since they are not fixable, which is a warmer/smoother sound. Perfect for classical and less intense music.

For more involving music like electronic, the sound is too intense and feels almost sibilant at times which is still enough to make me feel uncomfortable. These are very good, but they are special use. I wouldn’t consider them good all-around headphones since the sound profile overly emphasizes the mids.

There is a pretty big difference between closed back and open back. If people prefer open back, all closed backs will feel “off.” If people in here prefer the open-back sundaras, they will probably not like the closed-backs.

Personally, I much prefer a close and intimate sound of a closed back. I have sensitive hearing, and open backs are too distracting for me. I still hear subtle things around me, even at loud volumes, so I can’t get into the music the same. I’ve tried a few and they feel too far away. Just personal preference is all. I don’t want to feel like I’m in a concert hall, I want to feel like I’m in a recording studio.

I have ordered these Sundaras and they arrive tomorrow. I very much enjoy the Monoprice 565c, and I’m trying to repair one side even now. I can try to come back and report what I think.

My main pair is Sony 1AM2, and some Koss headphones. While I’ve not tried a lot of higher end headphones, I’ve tried $900Focals and $900 Sonys. I returned the Focals because they had zero bass, and the the highs were not even that good. The Sonys were great, but so were my $300 Sonys, they had such a close sound signature I couldn’t justify keeping them so I sold them. I prefer a slightly W sound signature for reference, and I can’t stand sibilance.

I also have my son’s Dakoni Blues that are nice, and he has 2 watts on them so they are powered well. I’ll compare to these and see.

i’m testing the Ifi Uno now, and it has very obvious rolled off highs. Going from my Qudilex to that sounds like i’m losing detail, but really its just the highs are turned down. You do not want that for professional mixing. It is good for music and taming some sibilant headphones, but not accurate audio.

I’m also testing the Fiio KA13, and it matches the Qudilex more but to me sounds a little richer.

It depends on the headphones. If they have room for more power, then yes they will perform better. The main things that will happen is they “open up” more, and they will have more low end. Both of those typically require more power to achieve.

The Dac side also matters, but only up to a point. I noticed a big difference in clarity and dynamics going from an external Sound blaster card to a Topping E30. I have not tried anything beyond that, but I have tried other usb c dacs, Qudelix 5k, Ifi Uno, Fiio BTR, BTR 5, etc. They are all within “placebo” difference, basically you might think one is better but it is too close to really care.

The short of it is, from my experience, something in the $50-100 range is a big upgrade from your basic motherboard, laptop (except the macbook pro I had), and phone audio. Past that, it is hard to tell. A quality dac makes a difference over cheap, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot. My desktop setup is the Topping E30 with a liquid Spark.

I will add this. My son got the Dakoni Blue planar magentics. They technically work off a phone, but sound shallow and dull. Zero bass. Same from his computer case running off his $400 gaming motherboard “high end” audio. I connected them to my Setup and they opened up a lot and had way more volume, but still didn’t have the bass I expcted based on reviews. My Liquid Spark puts out 1.5 watts. We changed to the Topping D30II we bought to go with these, which puts out 2 watts, and they finally had the punch and volume we were looking for. I also bumped the bass up in windows with an EQ we found. They sound amazing now, but requied a butt ton of power. Also, when i did the same thing with my liquid spark, on the harder bass hits it would trip the amp in it and turn off. It was needing more power than I could deliver. On the flip side, my Sony 1AM2s sound very good, but don’t change much between the amps or running balanced. They do open up some, but it wasn’t enough for me to care. They sound very close running off my setup or just running off an apple dac.

So really comes down to the headphones, and even then I think the amp and power needed make more difference than a dac.

I want in on this rant!! lol

I feel your pain. I did a rant one time before stating we just need to find a pair we like and be happy. Stop chasing better and better. You’ll never find the “perfect” pair because someone says “yeah, but have you tried X!?” What is more frustrating to me is that I have found the ones that are typically more overwhelmingly positive, I don’t like. Especially in the world of Chinese HiFi.

Sound is subjective, and I don’t claim to have the “right” sound. However, I am a musician of over twenty years with brass and percussion, and I have found I have a picky year when it comes to listening to music. I have to be able to tell when things are out of tune, play by ear, etc. So I can be critical if I want to, but I hate doing that because it keeps me dissatisfied. I can tell the difference where many cannot. I’ve also taken the sound tests and for my age (39) I can hear a lot higher frequencies than is avg for my age. That being the case, I can’t stand most of the ChiFi Market. People are like “that treble is insane! so clear!” All I often hear is sibilance to the point of pain.

I have found one reviewer that I trust because he dislikes a lot of the same stuff I’ve tried and think is junk and the stuff he recommends I really like. Oluv’s Gadgets on youtube. I’ve tried his Eqs and they are spot on for me. He often comes back and says all this high-end stuff sounds bad compared to some cheaper stuff he has. For instance, he prefers the ANker Q30s over the Airpod Max and Sony XM4s when the ankers are tuned right. I have a pair and love them. I’ve tried the Sony XM5 and XM4s. I prefer the Ankers (not stock, eq’d right).

I’ve tried headphones all the way up to $700 Focals (not impressed at all). For reference, I use a set of Wharfedale 11.2 bookshelf speakers for my computer with a Topping E30, and a Tube amp. I have a Monoprice Liquid Spark for a headphone amp. Not top of the line, but very good stuff. I did a speaker review a few years ago, and it looks like it was added to a list of reviews for the group r/BudgetAudiophile here. I’ve owned Polk, Klipech, Def Tech, Sony, Yamaha, Jamo, and a bunch of stuff. I’ve had a similar journey with headphones and IEMs.

A few things I can now share:

1. If you can’t hear higher frequencies, you will likely not realize something has sibilance or peaky treble because you literally can’t hear it. You may also claim headphones are “warmer” when, in fact, they are not. You just can’t hear it. I believe this is why some people say some headphones are sibilant, and others say they are not. I like my treble turned up a bit, but just before sibilance at louder volumes. This is why I don’t like Beyerdynamic.
2. Bass has to be defined. Do you want to hear lower tones, or do you want to feel lower tones? This is often where people get mixed up on what has a “lot” or bass or doesn’t. If you like to hear things flat, hearing a little rumble means it has a LOT of bass. I tried the Hifiman HE-R9 because I like rumbling bass. It was said to have a lot. It did, but it wasn’t as much as I expected based on the reviews. My son’s Dakoni blues with 2 watts of power hit just as hard with some EQ, but sounds better. The Dakoni’s are not considered the bass cannons the HE-R9s are, yet they are.
3. Once you hit the $300 price point, it is harder to find something “better” about the next pair. There are trade-offs that I find are simply not worth the money. Those focal’s were clear but had zero bass. I mean, they were lifeless in my opinion. Btu like I said, I like rumbling bass. I heard the lower frequences, but I didn’t feel them, so to me, it didn’t have any bass.
4. Sony 1AM2 headphones are my favorite all around I’ve tried so far. I compare what I test to those, and I’ve just decided to quit trying stuff. I feel it just isn’t worth spending more money. The Sonys are consistently better for me, so I leave it. I’ve tried the bigger brother to them that are $600, but I still like the 1AM2s.
5. If you just want to Jam with some way-to-good-for-the-price headphones, pick up a pair of Koss KPH30i or KPH40. I prefer the 30 and it is my go-to almost every time. Super comfortable, hit hard, and are clear. Sure, my sonys are clearer and more detailed, and have a little more bass, but these won’t make your ears sweat like overears normally do. They really are just fantastic. I’ve tried a lot of the “these are amazing for the price” headphones and the only ones that actually are, imo, are the Koss.