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Ask HN: What's your daily-driver headphone model?

23 pointsby methochrisover 7 years ago
At home, at work, on the go... what do you use as your all-arounder for music/games/whatever? Do you have it amp'd? Do you love it or does it leave something to be desired? Would you buy it again if it broke?

27 comments

randcrawover 7 years ago
Denon AH-D2000 for privacy&#x2F;workplace, Sennheiser HD580 (upgraded to HD600 spec) for home use, NAD VISO HP50 for serious mobile use, and Westone W30 in-ear with triple flange for max portability.<p>At work, I amp using a Dragonfly Red outboard DAC, which frankly, I like less than my old NuForce Icon2. (I would&#x27;ve happily stayed with the Nuforce, but Apple cluelessly bricked older &quot;dumb amps&quot; like the Icon2 when they &quot;upgraded&quot; their audio code in MacOS Sierra. Morons.) The Dragonfly just doesn&#x27;t seem to add anything beyond the system amp.<p>On my Mac, I drive the external DAC using the Vox app because it has a parametric equalizer. On my i[Phone|Pad], I playback using the Equ app, which also offers para EQ.<p>I love the Denons. They enhance bass a bit and don&#x27;t export my music enough to annoy coworkers. The Senn HD-580s are great, but feel a bit &quot;cool&quot; compared to the warmer Denons (due to the open cushions). But their smoothness is effortless; I can listen to them all day long. The NADs cut out surrounding noise really well and offer surprisingly good fidelity for such lightweight cans. I like the Westones mostly for their portability; their sound quality just can&#x27;t match any of my full-sized cans and IMHO depend too much on a good seal from the triple flanges.<p>I also own Grado SR325Es, but could never warm to them. Their bass is substantially weaker than my other phones, though mid-to-upper reproduction is exemplary.
Andrenidover 7 years ago
Bose QC35s. Day and night. Pretty much always wearing them. Active noise cancelling changed my life and is up there with the smart phone and Kindle as far as technology that most made my life better.
itnAAntiover 7 years ago
I use Oppo PM-3&#x27;s for just about everything right now; listening to music while working, gaming, travel, etc.<p>I got them because I wanted something that blocked external noise (I don&#x27;t like the &quot;pressure&quot; feeling of active noise cancellation) and they came highly recommended from The Wire Cutter.<p>I consider them &#x27;fine&#x27;. They&#x27;re relatively comfortable for 2-3 hour stretches (after that, the lack of ventilation makes them start to get sweaty, even in cool rooms), they sound decent, and the build quality and carry-case are great.<p>On the minuses side, the clarity doesn&#x27;t match my old Grado SR-80&#x27;s, the noise blocking isn&#x27;t as good as my Shure in-ear monitors, and the in-line mic is worse than what&#x27;s on Apple&#x27;s standard earbuds.<p>Bottom line, they&#x27;re not worth the $400 price tag, but now that I have them, they&#x27;re good enough that I&#x27;m not out looking for another pair.<p>I have to say, I&#x27;m not as impressed with them as The Wire Cutter review led me to believe I would be... and that has affected my opinion of The Wire Cutter. I probably could have bought a generic pair of closed-back headphones for $60 and been just as happy.
l33tbroover 7 years ago
I&#x27;ve been through many listed here. Audio Technica ATX-M50, Sony MDR 7506, Sennheiser HD598, etc - all really great cans with their own strengths, but ultimately lacking in build quality and EQ curves that are too bumpy.<p>Over time, I came to prefer my audio to sound less fun and more &quot;as is&quot;. Ie, without any spikes in the bass, mids, or trebles, from the manufacturer to colour the audio with some kind of wow factor.<p>Eventually, after a bunch of research and a $150-ish budget, I landed at the Beyer Dynamic DT250. They have the flattest EQ curve I know of, are super comfortable, and build quality is sturdy (Germans tend not to fuck around with the quality of the products products).<p>There&#x27;s no excess wires that will get snagged around the can, and Beyer have their own unique cabling and connectors which are super-tough and chunky. Noise cancelling is average, but that&#x27;s not an overly important feature for me.<p>If you want a bit more of a fun set with some more sub bass , check out the DT770. Supremely comfortable headphones and sound amazing.
arca_voragoover 7 years ago
I have been quite rough with my headphones&#x2F;earbuds over the years, so I&#x27;ve used and broken quite a few, and have a little insight. I&#x27;ll split between desktop and on-the-go.<p>Desktop:<p>Favorite - Razer Barracuda (with matching soundcard), great sound, super comfortable. (wish they hadn&#x27;t broken)<p>Runner up - Turtle Beach Ear Force PX21 (just cause it says ps3 don&#x27;t mean you cant use it on PC!)<p>Current - Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma (1st gen, 2nd gen is more sturdy metal) (windows software sucks, but I use GNU+Linux)<p>Others I&#x27;ve used - Logitech G35(wired and wireless versions), Creative Sound Blaster WoW Wireless, Seihnheiser.<p>On-the-go:<p>Favorite - Yurbuds Ironman Focus Behind the ear (lost them recently, so sad)<p>Current - Klipsch R6i<p>Others - Multiple cheap skullcandy, new model Apple.<p>All that said, on-the-go I don&#x27;t trust bluetooth so I don&#x27;t do wireless, but if you do your options expand quite a bit.<p>One more thing to keep in mind, if you really want the best, go to a hearing aid place and get your earmold taken so you can get the perfect fit rubber exterior for whatever model you choose. Personally, I really loved my Yurbuds Ironman Behind the ears because they stayed on the best while lifting&#x2F;running&#x2F;yardwork etc. Most of the time when I select, besides form factor, I mostly base selection on frequency range. Which is how I ended up with the Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma&#x27;s despite how disapointed I have been with Razor the last few years.<p>When I was in the military the best pair I ever had was the Bose sound reduction headphones.
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quantummkvover 7 years ago
Audio-Technica ATH-M50x. Nothing beats the sheer value they give for that amount of money. Definitely the beat pair of cans i have ever owned.
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jotjotzzzover 7 years ago
I own the ATH-M50X and also the Bose QC25, however -- I stick to the Audio Technica ATH-ANC23 or the TaoTronics TT‑EP01 (both noise cancelling earphones) for my daily driver for commute.<p>I think the biggest question for choosing a daily driver headphone is whether you want to use a headphone vs. in-ear earphone. For my daily commute, I prefer earphones because they are less bulky, they don&#x27;t warm-up my ear during the summer time, and I can easily take it off and put it in my pocket. For headphones, taking them off and storing them in my bag is so bulky that it is so damn annoying.<p>For long trips like air plane rides or bus rides or for in the office usage, I prefer headphones.<p>For at-home only listening, I use Grade SR80e, this is an open headphone and it is not great for commuting but awesome for listening at home.
kskover 7 years ago
At home - JVC HA-SZ2000 &amp; AKG K701 (10 yrs old, still going strong, recently replaced the pads), Both driven through a MHDT DAC and a Magni 2 amp. I also have a tube amp that I rarely use these days. (Little Dot MK3, need to replace the tubes) I avoid in-ear headphones as I don&#x27;t like the compromised sound quality.
hood_syntaxover 7 years ago
Sennheiser HD 650s at home, with an Asus Xonar Essence STX for the amp. I love them, pretty much exactly what I wanted since I can&#x27;t imagine myself going more expensive than that unless I had far more expendable income.
DonutDeflectorover 7 years ago
Daily Driver - Sennheiser HD518 &#x2F; This open-backed pair is warm with some emphasis on the low end. The pads on the HD518 are very comfortable. I can use the headphones the whole day without fatigue.<p>Music Production - Audio Technica Ath-M35 &#x2F; This closed-back pair is relatively flat. The pair puts more pressure on my ears so their not very comfortable for more than an hour or two.<p>On-the-Go - Panasonic Ergofit RP-HJE120 &#x2F; This is an inexpensive V-shaped pair of IEMs that I typically throw in my pocket. Not the greatest when it comes to audio quality, but it does the job.
herbstover 7 years ago
Sennheiser 25-II. I love the clear and real sound these beasts have. Plus they are durable enough so I can just throw them in my backpack
rl3over 7 years ago
HD598, no amp. Just recently upgraded from my decade old pair of 595s, and the additional bass in the 598s is remarkable. Totally changes the sound stage, and not necessarily for better or worse.<p>Both models have a special place in my heart now.<p>Also, bravo on the &quot;daily-driver&quot; pun.
relearnover 7 years ago
Sennheiser HD598 without an amp for around the house. They are hands down worth every dollar.
fairbraxtonover 7 years ago
Usually I use JBL J88&#x27;s for mostly everything, they are very comfortable and sound great. Personally I&#x27;d like a little more base to them but would recommend them for someone who isn&#x27;t looking for much.
ccdevover 7 years ago
Technics RP-DJ 1200. It&#x27;s hooked up to an Asus U3 sound card, which is more basic as far as sound cards go but better than using the built-in Realtek chipset found in my motherboard.
Yaa101over 7 years ago
I use the Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO for heavy duty stuff like my Bach or other music with a large dynamic range. For my other music and mobile sessions I use Beyerdynamic DT 231 PRO.
wingerlangover 7 years ago
I had to google and scan images to find the pair, but I use Panasonic RP-HJE355 (in-ear). I bought a random pair in an airport but I still use them 2 years later every day.
blcArmadilloover 7 years ago
Sony MDR-7506
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beaker52over 7 years ago
AKG K712 at home for gaming and general computer audio. Great headphones for an flat, yet appealing sound. An audio engineer friend of mine bought the same set after sampling mine. I have a Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 driving those.<p>At work and on the go I&#x27;m using Shure SE215. Great isolation, clear sound and some of the best bass I&#x27;ve sampled from earphones.<p>I&#x27;d recommend both in a heartbeat and I think both of these represent good bang for their buck. Since I like my music (it&#x27;s a hobby of mine) I wouldn&#x27;t tolerate anything that I didn&#x27;t think fell into the category of high quality.
jettiover 7 years ago
Sennheiser 280PRO. I had a pair that I accidentally destroyed by slamming the car door on the cord but love &#x27;em so much had to get a new pair.
michalptover 7 years ago
Bose QC35. Best money I have spent on any audio equipment so far as it always puts me into that &quot;hyperfocus&quot; silent mode.
8draco8over 7 years ago
Audio Technica ATH-M40x at home and AKG K92 with upgraded ear pads. For 95% of the time I am using K92, they are light, comfortable (with new earpads) and have surprisingly good sound quality. I&#x27;ve moved to them from full time ATH-M40x as they broke twice in 2 years on my head (cracks) and are in general to tight. The sound it self is great on AT but it&#x27;s not worth lack of comfort that they offer.
smittysahnover 7 years ago
I thought wearing headphones while driving a vehicle was illegal, but I see it all the time now. What gives?
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m-p-3over 7 years ago
At work, some cheap Koss headphone supplied by the office.<p>At home, a Logitech G430 headset.<p>On the go, some in-ear bluetooth earphones from Aukey.
iDemonixover 7 years ago
Sennheiser Momentum over-ears for the office (closed back)<p>Sennheiser HD600 + Marantz PM65005 amp for home (open back)
geoelectricover 7 years ago
I&#x27;ve switched across the board to wireless for the most part. I use a number of different headsets based on location, so here are my choices for various settings.<p>Work:<p>Bose QC35 -- sound quality is somewhat compromised but the NC and comfort levels are second to none. Bose customer service is also excellent, particularly if you buy (and therefore can return&#x2F;exchange) through a branded store.<p>Out and about:<p>Airpods, with foam covers. Without the covers, these were very convenient headphones that wouldn&#x27;t stay in my ears for the life of me and so sounded thin and leaked noise. Then I added old-school thin foam earbud covers; Amazon sells some that are donut-style with a hole that exposes the light sensors, and they still fit in the charger. They don&#x27;t compare to my audiophile headphones, but they sound &quot;pretty good&quot;--about on the same level as my SoundMagic E10s, maybe a little better. More importantly, now I actually will use headphones for 20-30 minutes at a time on walks, whereas before it was too much of a hassle to carry a fat case around, wedge them in my ears, etc.<p>Home, in living room:<p>MDR-1ABTs. I don&#x27;t actually like these as much as I should for what I paid for them. The pads are thin and hurt my ears. But they do connect to my Sony sound bar using their LDAC low-latency&#x2F;high-def protocol, so I use them for late night viewing.<p>Console:<p>Playstation Gold or Platinums. I have both. The Golds are more reliable about connecting to the dongle. The Platinums fit over my PSVR headset. Neither sounds great for anything but games, but they integrate tightly into the OS.<p>PC&#x2F;Mac:<p>SteelSeries Arctis 7. No blinkenlights, and they sound very good for pretty much everything. They&#x27;re comparable to my wired Sennheiser PC360s (basically a 55x&#x2F;59x with a mic) but even cheaper. That said, buy the add-on leatherette pads from Steelseries--they make a world of difference for isolation and sound quality. They shouldn&#x27;t sell these without those pads TBH.<p>Audiophil(ish):<p>Keeping in mind I like &quot;fun&quot; headphones and not monitors, I oscillate between Plantronics Backbeat Pro (one of the best sounding BT headphones I&#x27;ve heard with a phenomenal range and hellaciously cheap, but fugly and with round pads that don&#x27;t really fit anyone), V-Moda M100s (add the fat pads to these too for comfort and sound; they&#x27;ll last forever--built like a tank), and Master and Dynamic MH40s. (by far the nicest pair aesthetically with real leather pads, and they sound great if you can get a good seal, but I&#x27;m not a huge fan of cables anymore).<p>Gadgets:<p>I do have a JDS labs O2 amp+DAC setup. I use it with the M&amp;Ds and the M100s sometimes since those are the two cabled headphones still in rotation. However, Apple headphone outputs have historically been good enough to not really benefit <i>that</i> much since all my headphones have lowish power requirements. Planars or some other &quot;need a bunch of juice&quot; headphones would be different.
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nipover 7 years ago
Audio Technica ATH-A900