6 ms·

DIY-Audio-Heaven

149 points by bfm 3y ago

bfm 3y ago
Given the recent discussions about hi-fi headphone misleading marketing https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36377875 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36377875, and how hard it is to quantify quality, I found this resource a while ago and loved how they tear them apart and fixed the shortcomings of $40 headphones with simple hacks like adding a coffee filter on the cup to make them sound better than $500 models
- grugagag 3y ago
  Got some SHP9500 open ear headphones, as far as I can tell of outstanding quality for the money, $39.99. It’s true that bass is quite soft but I find myself jamming out for longer sessions because they are very comfortable. There are various hacks and mods out there for these as well. I highly recommend these headphones for good bang for the buck ratio.
  - daef 3y ago
    USD 40,- sounds like a steal. azn offers them for 180 eurodollar: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00ENMK1DW/ https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00ENMK1DW/
    - dylan604 3y ago
      >USD 40,- sounds like a steal It also sounds like a band name
    - nine_k 3y ago
      Even 30 USD: https://www.thomannmusic.com/superlux_hd_662_bk_evo.htm https://www.thomannmusic.com/superlux_hd_662_bk_evo.htm It's amazing how prices of an item fluctuate across markets. (One can remember iPhones and macbooks priced the same number of USD and EUR during pre-COVID times.)
      - ivandenysov 3y ago
        These cost 33 EUR in Germany (VAT included). So not much of a difference compared to the USA. https://www.thomann.de/de/superlux_hd_662_bk_evo.htm https://www.thomann.de/de/superlux_hd_662_bk_evo.htm
      - chuchana 3y ago
        That's a different pair of headphones, isn't it?
  - bfm 3y ago
    After purchasing the Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO, I discovered the Superlux HD 662 EVO on this website and decided to buy them for $38 to see how they would compare. I was pleasantly surprised by the significant difference in quality, considering the Superlux headphones were almost five times cheaper. This experience led me to return the Beyerdynamic headphones and approach overpriced headphone reviews with more skepticism.
    - astrange 3y ago
      Reviews of Beyerdynamic headphones shouldn't tell you they're good without also telling you they have poor audio tuning with a treble peak that makes things sound "sibilant". You might be the kind of person who puts an EQ in your headphone path, but most people should go for something more neutral instead.
      - bfm 3y ago
        I don't know what in my comment made you assume I use an EQ. As a first-time Hi-Fi headphone buyer, the reviews on Amazon and Youtube didn't surface the nuances of the different headphone models using quantitative information as DIY-Audio-Heaven does.
        astrange 3y ago
        That was a generic "you".
    - mellavora 3y ago
      > I was pleasantly surprised by the significant difference in quality, considering the Superlux headphones were almost five times cheaper. Maybe your post needs an edit?
rainbowzootsuit 3y ago
Headwize used to be the place I'd hang out to discuss and enjoy DIY headphones and headphone amplifiers. The site is now memorialized below but has a wealth of information. https://headwizememorial.wordpress.com/ https://headwizememorial.wordpress.com/
- CobaltFire 3y ago
  It's been a few years since I went there, and now I'm sad to see it's gone. Those reviews helped me get some excellent bang for the buck headphones years ago.
lagniappe 3y ago
This reminds me of Crinnacles In-Ear Fidelity graph database of IEMs. https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/ https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/ iirc it is the largest database of IEMs in existence. Also, wow I haven't seen this wordpress theme in 10 years, it used to be my favorite!
- jeffbee 3y ago
  Kind of an odd undertaking, though. The biggest improvement you can get with IEMs by far is custom fitting. You could take one of those middle-of-the-pack IEMs from that big list, spend a few hundred on fitted tips, and get a better result than the non-custom stuff at the top of the list.
  - slapo 3y ago
    What's this based on? AFAIK, custom molded tips, should create a better seal than generic ear tips, but unless they're molded with optimal insertion depth for a given in-ear, they might change the perceived frequency response. Bearing in mind that the material of the tip also matters, one might not necessarily get an "improvement", but merely a change in sound signature and a more secure fit.
syassami 3y ago
Since we're on this topic: a great thread on modding the Fostex T50RP. Some folks even turned this into a few small businesses. Some were selling modded versions and others selling mod-kits. https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fostex-t50rp-incremental-mods-and-measurements.618659/ https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fostex-t50rp-incremental-mod...
ruph123 3y ago
Looks great, there goes my Sunday afternoon. On the topic of trustworthy review sites, especially for headphones, I thought rtings.com is the standard. Detailed data-driven reviews and supposedly crowd-funded. What do people think about rtings?
- astrange 3y ago
  Objective headphone reviews are only valid in the same setting, which means if your room sounds different, your head is shaped different, or you're wearing glasses they stop being true. Noise cancelling headphones and IEMs are better than reviews make it sound due to this.
  - spurgu 3y ago
    > Objective headphone reviews are only valid in the same setting, which means if your room sounds different, your head is shaped different, or you're wearing glasses they stop being true. I get this with speakers but how are any of these valid with headphones?
    - astrange 3y ago
      You don't get bass or spatial imaging if they don't fit on your head. Glasses are enough to break the seal.
    - yetanotherloser 3y ago
      Hang on a moment. Headphones can be the best in the world but uncomfortable on my wonky head or incompatible with my glasses and they're worthless to me personally, so I'll give him a pass on that. I have some not-audiophile-but-better-than-meh headphones I rate very highly because they're nicely made and super comfortable; they sound good but that would count for zero if they didn't feel nice. Room acoustics, though, ought not be very important with headphones unless I'm missing something...
      - astrange 3y ago
anotherevan 3y ago
What I'm after and can't seem to find are good quality¹ glasses frames that have (bone-conduction) headphones built in to the stems. I want to replace my existing prescription glasses with this. ¹ E.g. Spring hinges, nose pads.
- password4321 3y ago
  These have nose pads: Cooyee CY02 https://amzn.com/dp/B0BS5KRC5X https://amzn.com/dp/B0BS5KRC5X $100 Source: https://www.headphonesty.com/2023/02/bone-conduction-sunglasses/ https://www.headphonesty.com/2023/02/bone-conduction-sunglas...
patchtopic 3y ago
it would be really great if someone did this level of objective measurement to settle the "HD555 is a crippled HD595" debate :-)

149 points by bfm 3y ago

bfm 3y ago

Given the recent discussions about hi-fi headphone misleading marketing https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36377875 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36377875, and how hard it is to quantify quality, I found this resource a while ago and loved how they tear them apart and fixed the shortcomings of $40 headphones with simple hacks like adding a coffee filter on the cup to make them sound better than $500 models

grugagag 3y ago
Got some SHP9500 open ear headphones, as far as I can tell of outstanding quality for the money, $39.99. It’s true that bass is quite soft but I find myself jamming out for longer sessions because they are very comfortable. There are various hacks and mods out there for these as well. I highly recommend these headphones for good bang for the buck ratio.
- daef 3y ago
  USD 40,- sounds like a steal. azn offers them for 180 eurodollar: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00ENMK1DW/ https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00ENMK1DW/
  - dylan604 3y ago
    >USD 40,- sounds like a steal It also sounds like a band name
  - nine_k 3y ago
    Even 30 USD: https://www.thomannmusic.com/superlux_hd_662_bk_evo.htm https://www.thomannmusic.com/superlux_hd_662_bk_evo.htm It's amazing how prices of an item fluctuate across markets. (One can remember iPhones and macbooks priced the same number of USD and EUR during pre-COVID times.)
    - ivandenysov 3y ago
      These cost 33 EUR in Germany (VAT included). So not much of a difference compared to the USA. https://www.thomann.de/de/superlux_hd_662_bk_evo.htm https://www.thomann.de/de/superlux_hd_662_bk_evo.htm
    - chuchana 3y ago
      That's a different pair of headphones, isn't it?
- bfm 3y ago
  After purchasing the Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO, I discovered the Superlux HD 662 EVO on this website and decided to buy them for $38 to see how they would compare. I was pleasantly surprised by the significant difference in quality, considering the Superlux headphones were almost five times cheaper. This experience led me to return the Beyerdynamic headphones and approach overpriced headphone reviews with more skepticism.
  - astrange 3y ago
    Reviews of Beyerdynamic headphones shouldn't tell you they're good without also telling you they have poor audio tuning with a treble peak that makes things sound "sibilant". You might be the kind of person who puts an EQ in your headphone path, but most people should go for something more neutral instead.
    - bfm 3y ago
      I don't know what in my comment made you assume I use an EQ. As a first-time Hi-Fi headphone buyer, the reviews on Amazon and Youtube didn't surface the nuances of the different headphone models using quantitative information as DIY-Audio-Heaven does.
      - astrange 3y ago
        That was a generic "you".
  - mellavora 3y ago
    > I was pleasantly surprised by the significant difference in quality, considering the Superlux headphones were almost five times cheaper. Maybe your post needs an edit?

rainbowzootsuit 3y ago

Headwize used to be the place I'd hang out to discuss and enjoy DIY headphones and headphone amplifiers. The site is now memorialized below but has a wealth of information. https://headwizememorial.wordpress.com/ https://headwizememorial.wordpress.com/

CobaltFire 3y ago
It's been a few years since I went there, and now I'm sad to see it's gone. Those reviews helped me get some excellent bang for the buck headphones years ago.

lagniappe 3y ago

This reminds me of Crinnacles In-Ear Fidelity graph database of IEMs. https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/ https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/ iirc it is the largest database of IEMs in existence. Also, wow I haven't seen this wordpress theme in 10 years, it used to be my favorite!

jeffbee 3y ago
Kind of an odd undertaking, though. The biggest improvement you can get with IEMs by far is custom fitting. You could take one of those middle-of-the-pack IEMs from that big list, spend a few hundred on fitted tips, and get a better result than the non-custom stuff at the top of the list.
- slapo 3y ago
  What's this based on? AFAIK, custom molded tips, should create a better seal than generic ear tips, but unless they're molded with optimal insertion depth for a given in-ear, they might change the perceived frequency response. Bearing in mind that the material of the tip also matters, one might not necessarily get an "improvement", but merely a change in sound signature and a more secure fit.

syassami 3y ago

Since we're on this topic: a great thread on modding the Fostex T50RP. Some folks even turned this into a few small businesses. Some were selling modded versions and others selling mod-kits. https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fostex-t50rp-incremental-mods-and-measurements.618659/ https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fostex-t50rp-incremental-mod...

ruph123 3y ago

Looks great, there goes my Sunday afternoon. On the topic of trustworthy review sites, especially for headphones, I thought rtings.com is the standard. Detailed data-driven reviews and supposedly crowd-funded. What do people think about rtings?

astrange 3y ago
Objective headphone reviews are only valid in the same setting, which means if your room sounds different, your head is shaped different, or you're wearing glasses they stop being true. Noise cancelling headphones and IEMs are better than reviews make it sound due to this.
- spurgu 3y ago
  > Objective headphone reviews are only valid in the same setting, which means if your room sounds different, your head is shaped different, or you're wearing glasses they stop being true. I get this with speakers but how are any of these valid with headphones?
  - astrange 3y ago
    You don't get bass or spatial imaging if they don't fit on your head. Glasses are enough to break the seal.
  - yetanotherloser 3y ago
    Hang on a moment. Headphones can be the best in the world but uncomfortable on my wonky head or incompatible with my glasses and they're worthless to me personally, so I'll give him a pass on that. I have some not-audiophile-but-better-than-meh headphones I rate very highly because they're nicely made and super comfortable; they sound good but that would count for zero if they didn't feel nice. Room acoustics, though, ought not be very important with headphones unless I'm missing something...
    - astrange 3y ago

anotherevan 3y ago

What I'm after and can't seem to find are good quality¹ glasses frames that have (bone-conduction) headphones built in to the stems. I want to replace my existing prescription glasses with this. ¹ E.g. Spring hinges, nose pads.

password4321 3y ago
These have nose pads: Cooyee CY02 https://amzn.com/dp/B0BS5KRC5X https://amzn.com/dp/B0BS5KRC5X $100 Source: https://www.headphonesty.com/2023/02/bone-conduction-sunglasses/ https://www.headphonesty.com/2023/02/bone-conduction-sunglas...

patchtopic 3y ago

it would be really great if someone did this level of objective measurement to settle the "HD555 is a crippled HD595" debate :-)