If distortion doesn't become an issue and FR is not littered with narrow spikes and dips, who says we cannot turn a turd into something amazing?

If you have ever tried a Beyerdynamic T1.3 with and without Oratorys EQ, you will know how truly powerful that tool is!

Coming up on a year since I last bought audio equipment(desktop dac-amp). I'm probably done for a while. My go to is still moondrop aria. Maybe I'd purchase a headphone if I were in a less noisy place but that doesn't seem on the cards.

These days, I keep tabs on new releases only to recommend (cheap) stuff to friends and family. Or to know what to replace my current hardware with if it ends up breaking.

R2R-11mk2 and HD660s. Longest I've gone in 2 years without getting something new. Before that, have gone through Ares II, Soloist 3xp, OG Clears, SA-1, D1se, Bifrost 2, Asgard 3, THX 789, El Stack II, E30/L30, K5 Pro, M50x, X2hr, HE6seV2, Sundaras, G6, E10k, DT1990, HD600, and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting.

Though Canjam is coming up and maybe the 660s2 will change my mind. And still want to give the Meze 109's another listen. And try some ZMF stuff. And look at some tube amps.

Sigh, I think I'm in trouble.

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I'd say I average 5 years between each headphone purchase. Once a pair starts to wear out, I either repair it or upgrade if I have the money and want something new. My path went Senn HD555 > Grado SR 60 > Philips X2 > Beyer DT1990. I figure in 5-10 years I'll see what Stax has that might interest me. Or maybe see if Hifiman has upped their build quality/QC.

No no you were cooking in the beginning. Sell M50X and buy HD600

I've been using the same battle-scarred Blessing 2 (I scuffed the housing haha) for the past 1.5 year. I really don't feel the need to upgrade and probably won't do so unless it actually proper broke down, unusable.

If I'm bored with the sound tho, I'd just use EQ presets to simulate other IEM "sound" with my IEM for a day or two then revert to stock sound or my custom EQ after I'm done, repeat. Not for everyone, I know, but doing so is enough for me to satiate my curiosity on the new hot thing on the market.

Once I found the parts express headband for my KSC-75s my roaming days were finished.

Any money I ever put aside to buy new phones got spent on whiskey.

In that case your best bet is parametric EQ.

What’s that?

Nope, it's addictive, the chase for prefect audio

I have owned the HD 660S for three years. I used to have a K371 for a year but "upgraded" to the Noire due to comfort reasons, which I have now owned for a bit over a year.

I used to be an in ear guy. My daily driver were the shitty ones that came with the MP3 players I used to own. Then, I found the Sony MH750 and stuck with that for five years. Recently they died on me, so I tried the Truthear Hola, which has pleasently surpised me.

The only purchase I am currently considering is some proper speakers. I am talking Genelec 8030Cs and a sub here.

I have tried countless headphones and none of them truly left a lasting impression on me, other than HD 800. Sadly I find it very uncomfortable to wear, so I do not plan on buying one.

I think a lot of the buying hype is fueled by FOMO and NTS. People seem to always be chasing a new high, as they say. Nothing wrong with that approach, don't get me wrong, it just ain't my cup of tea.

Right now I have stopped at HD 660s because they’re just that good.

However, for IEMs, I’m still on the search for the perfect pair.

I've got a Cavalli Tube Hybrid with SDAC, and use it with HD6XX headphones. I use PEQ and crossfeed from a Linux app called Easy Effects. I've had this set up for several years, and don't want anything else.

I could but I already have some decent IEMs. Had the zs10pro, after they failed me bought the zsx (both obnoxious but fun), after that came the arias and the timeless. I am more into IEMs afterall. The M50x’s served me well for 6 years, want to have some fun with them now

If you participate in these communities and have the disposable income for it, you're probably going to get caught up in the hype/FOMO/upgraditis cycle.

I've been at a place I could happily stop for like 15 years and go through many-year stretches where I don't touch my setup but then I break one of my headphones or something and start researching the market and go down the "maybe there's something I'd like better" rabbit hole for a while.

(shout out to the Qudelix 5K - best headphone-related gadget I've bought in a long time)

I bought Sennheiser HD800S + JDS Labs Element III, EQ'd them using u/oratory1990's profile, then tweaked it to taste. I haven't bought anything else. Use-case is mostly gaming (I love the expansive sound and imaging accuracy.)

I'm a geek like most people here, and I don't kid myself into thinking that I'll never buy anything else, but I'm very happy for now. I've had this setup since Spring 2022.

Thanks a lot, pads surely need to be changed

I find bass quite satisfactory, it’s a bit muddy in some parts but wouldn’t want more. For me the bass is the best part of them, just the right amount. I just cannot understand the dip in the frequency response in the vocals range and have no idea how to bring them out. The treble seems pretty straightforward to dampen. Oh, thanks for the tips!! Will have some fun with those. Converting them into open cans seems tempting, would definitely give them more soundstage which they lack. But I am not sure how drastic a change in sound it would be, probably will be the last mod to try out

Edit: now that I think about it maybe there is a happy medium that wouldn’t boost too much bass and bring out the lower mids

Thanks, for the tips, will start with those mods. If any of the ones you suggested would work then great, if not will probably try something more drastic.

When it comes to selling, they are pretty heavily used wouldn’t probably ask more than 50$ for them. And I can afford a new pair and I have a few pairs of good iems, it’s all about the fun

Sell them and buy a pair of AKG k371 or use parametric eq (specifically oratory 1990 profile)

I have an ATH-M50s (older coiled cable version) and I have tried pad rolling but it doesn't really work. Only thing that has is parametric EQ. If i could do it again I would sell it and buy something like an AKG K371 or a pair of good IEMs.

With this kind of music u should avoid sennheiser

I feel similarly about the HD 600s. They're good headphones for music I don't listen to and not so good for music I do listen to (mostly /r/symphonicmetal), so now they're sitting in my drawer as a backup pair most of the time.

Maybe try EQ as the other commenter suggested. If you still don't like the 600s after applying EQ, or can't/don't want to use EQ for some reason, I think it's best to return them.

Equalizer APO with the Peace GUI on windows.

No idea about MAC.

I tried the hd660s twice myself but prefer bass heavy music too much (mainly dubstep, dnb, hiphop, rap) so kept going back to my dt1770 for that reason. Dt770/dt700x/dt1770 is some quality bass.