HeadMania

Open Headphones

Audeze LCD-4

These headphones are absolutely amazing and they offered me the most realistic sound reproduction I have ever heard.

LCD-4 are the best headphones I have ever heard and I think they might be the best headphones in mass production today.

Read the full review here.

Read the comparisons to HD800, HD800S and LCD-3 right here.

Sennheiser HD800

While not the most musical headphone out there, it has some qualities no other headphone reach. Their soundstage width and depth are unmatched. They also have excellent imaging, a very detailed sound presentation and excellent dynamics and micro-dynamics. I believe that technically it is number one in my recommendation list.

These are very pretentious headphones amplifier wise. If not properly amplified, you won’t get their best as they will lack in bass and will be brighter than usual.

They have a treble peak that will make them a little bright and sibilant sometimes, but with the right setup they can be very enjoyable!

One other thing that I observed with HD800 is that they scale a lot, and when I say a lot…I really do mean that. I haven’t heard any other headphone to scale like that. When I used it with MSB Analog Dac, it blew me away and got the most headtime compared to LCD-3 and LCD-X.

While on lesser or even mid fi systems (especially dac wise, if you already have a good amplifier like Master 9 or Burson Soloist) , they could sound a little more boring or incomplete.

That changes drastically with a high-end dac, as it scales enormously, reaching another level of audio nirvana.

Adding a top end headphone amplifier like Audio GD Master 9 it will just amaze you with the transparency, details, soundstage, etc. and how much these headphones can scale.

I would also advise you getting a custom occ copper cable like Norne Draug Series or Toxic Cables Black Widow. It will make it a lot more fun and punchy.

Sennheiser HD800S

These headphones are the response from Sennheiser to the what the community asked for years and tried to fix with diy mods.

Overall, they are great headphones, and if you liked HD800 but wanted a more natural, slightly less tiring sound and more weight in the bass, you should really try them.

If you love the old HD800 for what they really shined at, you might still prefer them to the newer model.

Read the full review here.

Audeze LCD-3

I just love these headphones as well. If I could I would have kept both LCD-3 and LCD-X . These headphones have a magical sound with excellent, deep, full bass, a creamy presentation, great tactility and musicality.

Edit:

After briefly hearing the new LCD-3 fazer edition, I ended up liking the LCD-3 more again, as it brought some of the qualities I like so much in LCD-X to the listening experience, things like speed, transients, transparency and impact.

Audeze LCD-X

This is one of my favorite open headphone at the moment. While at first it was hard to decide between LCD-3(non fazor) and LCD-X, after a while, LCD-X won me over with it’s excellent transparency, fast transients, awesome instrument separation and imaging, very opened sound and excellent treble. I’ve had LCD-X for more than half an year now and recently I tried to listen to a LCD-3(non fazor). I found that LCD-X easily won, as the difference in transparency, attack,  energy and treble extension was not little at all. Hope to hear the new LCD-3f, soon.

Audeze really did some magic here from my perspective. They made the sound more neutral, very balanced overall, keeping the house signature, not loosing too much from the euphony and making them suitable for every music genre out there.

LCD-X is proof that Audeze listens to it’s customers and respects their opinions. I feel like X marks the spot, in the essential places the fans said that LCD-3 could be improved.

HiFiMAN HE-560

As I said before, HE-560 has a more different sound signature than I expected, even though they are planars. They have a very interesting and addictive sound signature offering a whole lot for their price. At the moment I cannot think of another competitor at that price level to offer the same level of quality.

At 899$ they are capable of fighting with more expensive headphones and can offer some very nice qualities over the competition.

It has an unique signature that still reminded me of orthos, especially in the bass region but it manages to keep it neutral, adding speed, smoothness and air that leads to openness.

Read whole review here.

Audeze LCD-2

These headphones contributed a lot in my getting so deep in this hobby and it is one of the reasons I started this blog. When I first heard them, I just fell in love with them. I will never forget how excited I was with them and how much joy they brought me.

They really won me over with their very musical  and liquid sound presentation. Let’s not forget their incredible deep and punchy bass which gave the whole sound a full tonality.

Be careful with their weight as if you have a sensible neck, these may be uncomfortable for you. I never had that problem with them but I have heard some people complaining about that.

Sennheiser HD650

I’ve had these headphones for more than one year, before LCD-2, and I loved them for their beautiful warm and smooth tonality, very good mids with nice vocals and for their weighty and impactful bass. HD650 amazed me sometimes on how much they scaled with good amps/dacs. I sometimes miss them and often think of buying them again. Even though they are not the best with classical music, I think they are very good for pretty much everything else.  They were also very comfortable and easy to wear.

 Pioneer SE-A1000

These headphones amazed me with what they can do at that price. They have a good soundstage with a present midrange and sparkly treble. Their sound signature  reminds me of hd650 and grado rs2i. Actually,  A1000 has similar measurements with grado rs2i. Overall I find them very good for that price and they are my first recommendations for open headphones as an intro in this hobby.