4 ms·

I grew up listening to music on $20 dollar earphones (taking into account inflation). In later life I've upped my limit to around $80. I thought that was extrav

I grew up listening to music on $20 dollar earphones (taking into account inflation). In later life I've upped my limit to around $80. I thought that was extravagant. I'm never going to come to grips with the concept of $500 headphones. It just seems insane.

matwood 6y ago
I agree, and I own a pair AirPod Pros which I love.
iamben 6y ago
TBF, until I spent what I considered 'proper' money ($200+) on headphones I didn't really 'get it'. But the difference my first 'proper' pair of headphones made to listening to music, I'm not sure I'd ever be happy going back. Agree $500 is a punchy headphone purchase though!
- throwanem 6y ago
  TB equally F, by the time you have headphones, amp, and DAC, you'll be pretty close to that price anyway. HD 6XX + Magni/Modi is about the most cost-effective you can get, and with shipping you're looking at about $450 all told. Worth it for sure, but it's pretty rare when you get into this kind of stuff that you're just paying for headphones. (That said, an HD 598 or whatever replaced it in Sennheiser's line is a great intro - the quality of reproduction is very much in the same ballpark, and you don't need specialized equipment to drive it. Considerably cheaper, too.)
larrywright 6y ago
A few years ago I bought a pair of Hifiman HE400i headphones for around $300 (they’re less than $200 now I think). These are wired, open-backed and have planar drivers. Going from a pair of $100 headphones to these was like night and day. I’m not an audiophile by any stretch, but wow is there a big difference. If you enjoy music, and are in a position to use open-back headphones, I’d highly recommend trying something like them in the ~$200 range. With proper care they should last many years.
- 542458 6y ago
  I have a pair of HE-400 headphones that I love - the sound quality is outstanding. But dang if they aren’t the heaviest and least comfortable things around (Compare to something like a nice pair of those seinheisers that everybody owns - those feel like you’re wearing a cloud and still sound 85% as good). To me the HE400s are very much “special occasions” headphones that I bust out for when I’m really sitting down to just listen to music. For everything else I need something a bit more... usable.
throwanem 6y ago
It's one of those things where you don't know what you're missing until you know what you're missing. If I'd never tried a pair of HD 598s, I'd have stayed satisfied with $50 whatever. If I'd never tried a pair of HD 650s, I'd have stayed satisfied with HD 598s. I don't try headphones any more.
kkapelon 6y ago
I think the sweet spot is around $100-$120. At this price point you also get the capability to easily replace cables and pads. So essentially you buy a headphone for ever. Some examples are Beyerdynamic custom, ATH-50, sennheiser 599, hd-25 etc
rodgerd 6y ago
> I'm never going to come to grips with the concept of $500 headphones. It just seems insane. In the 90s, when high-end audio in cars was really first ramping up, I read an article which made what I consider a salient point: people buying an executive-type car with a high-end audio system built in would happily spend a fortune on a stereo for the house that they might listen to for a few hours a week, and then drop pennies (by comparison) on car audio that they could easily spend far more time with. From that perspective, the move into high-end car audio made perfect sense. I see headphones in the same light; if you like listening to music, and your tastes run to music where the quality of reproduction will significantly be improved by spending more on your headphones, it's a much more rational spend to upgrade your headphones - which you use for hours a day - than your home audio.

matwood 6y ago

I agree, and I own a pair AirPod Pros which I love.

iamben 6y ago

TBF, until I spent what I considered 'proper' money ($200+) on headphones I didn't really 'get it'. But the difference my first 'proper' pair of headphones made to listening to music, I'm not sure I'd ever be happy going back. Agree $500 is a punchy headphone purchase though!

throwanem 6y ago
TB equally F, by the time you have headphones, amp, and DAC, you'll be pretty close to that price anyway. HD 6XX + Magni/Modi is about the most cost-effective you can get, and with shipping you're looking at about $450 all told. Worth it for sure, but it's pretty rare when you get into this kind of stuff that you're just paying for headphones. (That said, an HD 598 or whatever replaced it in Sennheiser's line is a great intro - the quality of reproduction is very much in the same ballpark, and you don't need specialized equipment to drive it. Considerably cheaper, too.)

larrywright 6y ago

A few years ago I bought a pair of Hifiman HE400i headphones for around $300 (they’re less than $200 now I think). These are wired, open-backed and have planar drivers. Going from a pair of $100 headphones to these was like night and day. I’m not an audiophile by any stretch, but wow is there a big difference. If you enjoy music, and are in a position to use open-back headphones, I’d highly recommend trying something like them in the ~$200 range. With proper care they should last many years.

542458 6y ago
I have a pair of HE-400 headphones that I love - the sound quality is outstanding. But dang if they aren’t the heaviest and least comfortable things around (Compare to something like a nice pair of those seinheisers that everybody owns - those feel like you’re wearing a cloud and still sound 85% as good). To me the HE400s are very much “special occasions” headphones that I bust out for when I’m really sitting down to just listen to music. For everything else I need something a bit more... usable.

throwanem 6y ago

It's one of those things where you don't know what you're missing until you know what you're missing. If I'd never tried a pair of HD 598s, I'd have stayed satisfied with $50 whatever. If I'd never tried a pair of HD 650s, I'd have stayed satisfied with HD 598s. I don't try headphones any more.

kkapelon 6y ago

I think the sweet spot is around $100-$120. At this price point you also get the capability to easily replace cables and pads. So essentially you buy a headphone for ever. Some examples are Beyerdynamic custom, ATH-50, sennheiser 599, hd-25 etc

rodgerd 6y ago

> I'm never going to come to grips with the concept of $500 headphones. It just seems insane. In the 90s, when high-end audio in cars was really first ramping up, I read an article which made what I consider a salient point: people buying an executive-type car with a high-end audio system built in would happily spend a fortune on a stereo for the house that they might listen to for a few hours a week, and then drop pennies (by comparison) on car audio that they could easily spend far more time with. From that perspective, the move into high-end car audio made perfect sense. I see headphones in the same light; if you like listening to music, and your tastes run to music where the quality of reproduction will significantly be improved by spending more on your headphones, it's a much more rational spend to upgrade your headphones - which you use for hours a day - than your home audio.