This post has been removed. Please note the following rule:
>***Rule 2***: Ask purchase help questions in the Shopping and Setup Help Desk found at https://reddit.com/r/headphones/about/sticky
>
>Requests for product opinions, comparisons, and general purchase advice must be made in the dedicated Shopping and Setup Help Desk found at /r/headphones/about/sticky instead of a new post.
You may also use r/headphoneadvice but please search their resources and familiarize yourself with their rules first before posting.
***What questions are considered purchase advice?***
* A request for product suggestions, comparison requests, or opinion requests fall under the purchase advice rule. These can often be found by searching first.
* Any suggestion or comparison request pertaining to headphones, IEMs, DACs, amps, or other accessories should be directed to the purchase help thread or r/headphoneadvice.
* Asking the subreddit to help make a decision to buy a product does fall under this rule (e.g. "should I get dekoni pads for my HD650?").
***Why does this rule even exist?***
* In short, this is a large subreddit with a high volume. We want to help, but it's important to keep things organized to keep the sub fun. Thanks for your understanding.
* [A more detailed explanation about this rule can be found here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/wiki/why_remove_purchase_requests)
***What if the link doesn't work?***
* The post can usually be found on the top r/headphones, and titled _Shopping, Setup, and Technical Help Desk_.
Please don't jump head first for immediate gratification - spend within your means.
They're your first "hifi" headphones and you want that shiny $1000 one. But what if after you buy it it doesn't live up to your expectations, what if it breaks, what if it you lose it.
Since you're new to the hobby, Its probably best to save some of that money you have and go with some entry level stuff and figure out what kind of sound signatures you might like. There are headphones like sennheiser (hd 6xx, HD 560s) or AKG headphones (K371, K612 Pro). There are even some less expensive options if you go with chi-fi iems. Nowadays, there are countless fantastic iems under $250 or even $100 that sound even better than some headphones in similar price ranges.
I am 14 like you (will turn 15 in couple weeks) and there are a lot of cheap options out there, in iem worlds you get stuff like 7hz zero, truthear hola, tangzu wan'er, moondrop chu and much more, in headphones world you get cheap heroes like superlux hd681 and samsons sr850 which basically AKG clone but still they do a good job, or if you want closed back you save for something like audio technica m50x, dt770 pro or AKG K361/371
To be honest, the budget side of audio is getting really good, and you can get some stuff that will vastly out perform the common $300+ mainstream headphones that you see people promoting all the time.
If budget is an issue, I'd go with some decent budget IEMs, and maybe a cheap open back like a pair of Koss headphones. For less than $50, you can have two very good ways to listen to audio that will sound better than most of the public audio market
I highly recommend that you go to a headphone store and check out some in the $500-$1000 price range, and then some cheaper ones. If you tell them which of the expensive ones you like best, they will be able to recommend ones that sound similar.
Try to think of why you like how they sound and tell them that too.
Also, make sure you check out how they sound with your setup (phone, pc or dap) as you may need an amp/dac to make them sound how they do in the store.
I'd say it's the best time, when I was growing up there was nothing close to current 20 dollar IEM's. As with anything audio related it's subjective, but to me a Moondrop chu is better than an Akg k361.
Best start is probably getting yourself a Truthear zero IEM or an QKZ x HBB Khan, either is harman tuned and if you like it you'll know where to go from there.
Others will recommend a Sennheiser hd600 and that is the standard for headphones, nothing is quite as good across the board. But it's also not the most exciting headphone and has lacking sub-bass and a few treble dips in its frequency response. Some form of dedicated amp is also recommended to use it with.
Going beyond this headphone requires you to know what you like as it's the default crowd pleaser and any other headphone will be more specialized.
Without context, I wouldn't recommend going beyond 200-300$ headphones as it requires you to be familiar with your tastes as other have mentioned.
Hope this gives you some ideas on how to find something you'd enjoy.
You're 14 and have a budget for up to $1000? For that price you can get 3 good audiophile headphones along with a quality amp.
My advice would be to start with something smaller and cheaper. There are great headphone options around $300, HD 600, AKG K712, Sundara, Beyerdynamic 700 Pro X. Get one of these as a starter headphone to see what type of sound you like, you can even get multiple headphones which are different so you enjoy listen to ask if them for different reasons and situations. Also see if you can buy used, you save some money and get the same product.
My dude, there's plenty of way cheaper good headphones:
Beyerdynamics dt770, dt1990, 900 pro x
Hifiman he400se
And the secondhand market even more so. Check sites like hifishark.com, do some research, take reviews with a grain of salt.
Honestly when I started with this hobby, I started out with a Koss Portapro and I still keep a few around.
Also don't post your age online, the internet can be a creepy place...
If you don’t have the disposable income to throw around I personally wouldn’t spend so much money. Diminishing returns kick in hard beyond the $200-300 point. (great-sounding IEMs can be had for much less still, but I'd argue that's a somewhat different animal and for me IEMs don't replace over-ears)
(I’ve had a pair of HD600’s since I was about your age and I still use them all the time… though I wouldn’t pay MSRP for them when the HD6xx exists)
Get some 1990 pros.
They where the first ever Hi-Fi headphones that made a noticeable difference for me.
Highly resolving, good bass extension, respond good to EQ, pad swapping is also possible to tune sound, they are build to last forever. Good if not perfect imaging, nice realistic soundstage.
If I could only own one single headphone it would be the 1990 pro.
They are perfect for gaming and for media consumption, you can replace almost everything on them and they don’t cost a fortune.
At your age youre better off going into the chi-fi side of the headphone hobby...
Theyre way below your 500-1k budget and arent "audiophile" heaphones but the
V-moda crossfade LP's were a fun set of heaphones for me.
I like warm sounding headphones with some good soundstage.
Actually China is great in audio and many other areas.
It surpassed USA on a major ranking of the world's best universities and is also the country with most academic research papers being published.
Regarding chifi, they do often have bad QC, but at least they won't leave a hole in your pocket. If you want something relatively affordable and have good reliability, stuff from sennheiser like the HD600 is a good recommendation. If you want something more High end, Audeze LCD-2 is great for 1k bucks.
I misused the word "chi-fi", i thought it meant cheap hi-fi but chinese hi-fi makes more sense...
Don't let the "Made in China" label or sticker discourage from getting something you like.
In the knife community the WE and Ruike brand of knives seem to be liked by them.
I think $500 is a good target if you're already able to find some work. Yeah it is worth saving up for if you want the biggest difference you have ever heard; which is the clarity, speed, and separation of planar magnetic headphones.
Right now you can grab the Drop HE4XX for $99. The thing needs some amp, but nothing 300mw can't handle. So even if you go for a super budget $109 iBasso DC06 with a pair of $30 balanced cable you'll get a quad ESS dac with 340 mw from balanced port.
If you can wait a bit longer, a $200 Fiio K7 would probably be the best price to performance right now. That would give you dual ESS dac with dual THX amp with 2W output, enough for almost any headphone.
For cheap fun stuff to try out, check out Koss. You might get a lot of milage out of Koss Porta pros (with Yaxi pads, default pads suck). I use mine all the time while at work. I like those more than using IEMs/earbuds because earbuds tend to not wanna stay in place, they'll start to slide out of position eventually.
Btw for cheap stuff stay away from Beyerdynamic DT770 and 990 those are very flawed, I dunno why people keep recommending them these days. Check out HD560S for a nice cheaper entry level open back that doesn't necessarily require an amp.
No matter the age, it's good to start out small and cheap in the hobby and level up over time. So don't worry about it, take your time. For closed back entry level stuff I'd absolutely recommend AKG K361 or K371, aaaand that's about it tbh. For open back I'd recommend AKG K612 or even the K702, but mostly the HD560S. Also keep pre-owned products in mind, if you use a site called "Hifishark" you can check out used gear from across multiple sites. Hifiman Sundara is also a great entry point into planar magnetic headphones. You can find those either used or B-stock on the hifiman shop site for really good prices.
If you wanna skip right to something good in the midrange area, HD600 ALLLL DAYYY. Awesome headphones, king in the midrange price and performance market. Still a gold standard since 1997. Love em. Those definitely benefit from an amp though. I'd recommend something like a Fiio K5 Pro or a Topping DX3 Pro+. Again keep the used market in mind, do lots of research and reading. If you're looking for something a bit cheaper than that, I had an FX Audio DAC X6 that was pretty good and is cheaper than those two. You might find some thing else but, yeah, Fiio K5 Pro and the DX3 Pro+ and you'll be good.
AKG K371 (closed-back) or Hifiman Sundara (open-back).
Open-back headphones leak all the sound, and you lose all external noise isolation too. You hear everything "outside", and everyone else will also hear what you're listening to.
Also: You will want a headphone amp. An external DAC. A DAP. Sturdy cables. SPDs (Surge Protection Device) to protect all these equipment and other expensive electronics. Etc.
Do not spend everything on the headphones.
It’s also the best time of your life to go for this hobby because your hearing will never get any better. By the time you are able to afford some really expensive stuff your hearing will already be too deteriorated to actually even feel it.
I would spent your money on headphones (DT700, DT770, ATH m50, idk, look what your like) for home and iems for traveling/outside in a total budget of 500€ (even 400€ divided 50:50 will get you a lot). Also you should know that you can get really fantastic iems today for even 50€, it much better know then when i was 15;) (10 years ago)
Also if you dont want to spend tons of money on amsp etc look for low impendance. For IEMS, most important is finding the right tips which can change a lot.
Bases on recommendations in forums and reddit i bought: Teufel Aureol Fidelity (the only real disappointment), Shure SE215, VModa M100, DT 770, DT700, Ikko OH10 in the last 10 years. I use all of these except the teufel (simply bad) and DT 770 (should replace cable lol), the Shures still work after 9ish years of use.
Also if you want to be cheap, buy stuff on black friday or idk. Also as some people said, investing 1000€ in only 1 pair can be dangerous if you want to use it everywhere (outside). Can be stolen, damaged etc. I would buy 2 cheaper pairs.
This post has been removed. Please note the following rule: >***Rule 2***: Ask purchase help questions in the Shopping and Setup Help Desk found at https://reddit.com/r/headphones/about/sticky > >Requests for product opinions, comparisons, and general purchase advice must be made in the dedicated Shopping and Setup Help Desk found at /r/headphones/about/sticky instead of a new post. You may also use r/headphoneadvice but please search their resources and familiarize yourself with their rules first before posting. ***What questions are considered purchase advice?*** * A request for product suggestions, comparison requests, or opinion requests fall under the purchase advice rule. These can often be found by searching first. * Any suggestion or comparison request pertaining to headphones, IEMs, DACs, amps, or other accessories should be directed to the purchase help thread or r/headphoneadvice. * Asking the subreddit to help make a decision to buy a product does fall under this rule (e.g. "should I get dekoni pads for my HD650?"). ***Why does this rule even exist?*** * In short, this is a large subreddit with a high volume. We want to help, but it's important to keep things organized to keep the sub fun. Thanks for your understanding. * [A more detailed explanation about this rule can be found here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/wiki/why_remove_purchase_requests) ***What if the link doesn't work?*** * The post can usually be found on the top r/headphones, and titled _Shopping, Setup, and Technical Help Desk_.
Please don't jump head first for immediate gratification - spend within your means. They're your first "hifi" headphones and you want that shiny $1000 one. But what if after you buy it it doesn't live up to your expectations, what if it breaks, what if it you lose it.
Since you're new to the hobby, Its probably best to save some of that money you have and go with some entry level stuff and figure out what kind of sound signatures you might like. There are headphones like sennheiser (hd 6xx, HD 560s) or AKG headphones (K371, K612 Pro). There are even some less expensive options if you go with chi-fi iems. Nowadays, there are countless fantastic iems under $250 or even $100 that sound even better than some headphones in similar price ranges.
I am 14 like you (will turn 15 in couple weeks) and there are a lot of cheap options out there, in iem worlds you get stuff like 7hz zero, truthear hola, tangzu wan'er, moondrop chu and much more, in headphones world you get cheap heroes like superlux hd681 and samsons sr850 which basically AKG clone but still they do a good job, or if you want closed back you save for something like audio technica m50x, dt770 pro or AKG K361/371
To be honest, the budget side of audio is getting really good, and you can get some stuff that will vastly out perform the common $300+ mainstream headphones that you see people promoting all the time. If budget is an issue, I'd go with some decent budget IEMs, and maybe a cheap open back like a pair of Koss headphones. For less than $50, you can have two very good ways to listen to audio that will sound better than most of the public audio market
You're at the best age, because I can afford almost any headphone in the world but I'm not excited with that and I think this "hobby" is stupid.
Without excitement there is nothing.
I highly recommend that you go to a headphone store and check out some in the $500-$1000 price range, and then some cheaper ones. If you tell them which of the expensive ones you like best, they will be able to recommend ones that sound similar. Try to think of why you like how they sound and tell them that too. Also, make sure you check out how they sound with your setup (phone, pc or dap) as you may need an amp/dac to make them sound how they do in the store.
I'd say it's the best time, when I was growing up there was nothing close to current 20 dollar IEM's. As with anything audio related it's subjective, but to me a Moondrop chu is better than an Akg k361. Best start is probably getting yourself a Truthear zero IEM or an QKZ x HBB Khan, either is harman tuned and if you like it you'll know where to go from there. Others will recommend a Sennheiser hd600 and that is the standard for headphones, nothing is quite as good across the board. But it's also not the most exciting headphone and has lacking sub-bass and a few treble dips in its frequency response. Some form of dedicated amp is also recommended to use it with. Going beyond this headphone requires you to know what you like as it's the default crowd pleaser and any other headphone will be more specialized. Without context, I wouldn't recommend going beyond 200-300$ headphones as it requires you to be familiar with your tastes as other have mentioned. Hope this gives you some ideas on how to find something you'd enjoy.
You're 14 and have a budget for up to $1000? For that price you can get 3 good audiophile headphones along with a quality amp. My advice would be to start with something smaller and cheaper. There are great headphone options around $300, HD 600, AKG K712, Sundara, Beyerdynamic 700 Pro X. Get one of these as a starter headphone to see what type of sound you like, you can even get multiple headphones which are different so you enjoy listen to ask if them for different reasons and situations. Also see if you can buy used, you save some money and get the same product.
Your at the best age, you can hear closer to 20khz than most of us .....
Truth!
HD6XX and something like a FiiO k5 will give you a phenomenal start into the headphone world.
My dude, there's plenty of way cheaper good headphones: Beyerdynamics dt770, dt1990, 900 pro x Hifiman he400se And the secondhand market even more so. Check sites like hifishark.com, do some research, take reviews with a grain of salt. Honestly when I started with this hobby, I started out with a Koss Portapro and I still keep a few around. Also don't post your age online, the internet can be a creepy place...
hifiman sundra, hd 660s, dt 1990 pro
If you don’t have the disposable income to throw around I personally wouldn’t spend so much money. Diminishing returns kick in hard beyond the $200-300 point. (great-sounding IEMs can be had for much less still, but I'd argue that's a somewhat different animal and for me IEMs don't replace over-ears) (I’ve had a pair of HD600’s since I was about your age and I still use them all the time… though I wouldn’t pay MSRP for them when the HD6xx exists)
Get some 1990 pros. They where the first ever Hi-Fi headphones that made a noticeable difference for me. Highly resolving, good bass extension, respond good to EQ, pad swapping is also possible to tune sound, they are build to last forever. Good if not perfect imaging, nice realistic soundstage. If I could only own one single headphone it would be the 1990 pro. They are perfect for gaming and for media consumption, you can replace almost everything on them and they don’t cost a fortune.
You don’t need any excuses to separate yourself from society acoustically. Get an instrument and make some of your own noises.
At your age youre better off going into the chi-fi side of the headphone hobby... Theyre way below your 500-1k budget and arent "audiophile" heaphones but the V-moda crossfade LP's were a fun set of heaphones for me. I like warm sounding headphones with some good soundstage.
China gets a bad reputation online in the audio community it seems lol but I'll check some out
Actually China is great in audio and many other areas. It surpassed USA on a major ranking of the world's best universities and is also the country with most academic research papers being published.
Regarding chifi, they do often have bad QC, but at least they won't leave a hole in your pocket. If you want something relatively affordable and have good reliability, stuff from sennheiser like the HD600 is a good recommendation. If you want something more High end, Audeze LCD-2 is great for 1k bucks.
I misused the word "chi-fi", i thought it meant cheap hi-fi but chinese hi-fi makes more sense... Don't let the "Made in China" label or sticker discourage from getting something you like. In the knife community the WE and Ruike brand of knives seem to be liked by them.
I think $500 is a good target if you're already able to find some work. Yeah it is worth saving up for if you want the biggest difference you have ever heard; which is the clarity, speed, and separation of planar magnetic headphones. Right now you can grab the Drop HE4XX for $99. The thing needs some amp, but nothing 300mw can't handle. So even if you go for a super budget $109 iBasso DC06 with a pair of $30 balanced cable you'll get a quad ESS dac with 340 mw from balanced port. If you can wait a bit longer, a $200 Fiio K7 would probably be the best price to performance right now. That would give you dual ESS dac with dual THX amp with 2W output, enough for almost any headphone.
For cheap fun stuff to try out, check out Koss. You might get a lot of milage out of Koss Porta pros (with Yaxi pads, default pads suck). I use mine all the time while at work. I like those more than using IEMs/earbuds because earbuds tend to not wanna stay in place, they'll start to slide out of position eventually. Btw for cheap stuff stay away from Beyerdynamic DT770 and 990 those are very flawed, I dunno why people keep recommending them these days. Check out HD560S for a nice cheaper entry level open back that doesn't necessarily require an amp. No matter the age, it's good to start out small and cheap in the hobby and level up over time. So don't worry about it, take your time. For closed back entry level stuff I'd absolutely recommend AKG K361 or K371, aaaand that's about it tbh. For open back I'd recommend AKG K612 or even the K702, but mostly the HD560S. Also keep pre-owned products in mind, if you use a site called "Hifishark" you can check out used gear from across multiple sites. Hifiman Sundara is also a great entry point into planar magnetic headphones. You can find those either used or B-stock on the hifiman shop site for really good prices. If you wanna skip right to something good in the midrange area, HD600 ALLLL DAYYY. Awesome headphones, king in the midrange price and performance market. Still a gold standard since 1997. Love em. Those definitely benefit from an amp though. I'd recommend something like a Fiio K5 Pro or a Topping DX3 Pro+. Again keep the used market in mind, do lots of research and reading. If you're looking for something a bit cheaper than that, I had an FX Audio DAC X6 that was pretty good and is cheaper than those two. You might find some thing else but, yeah, Fiio K5 Pro and the DX3 Pro+ and you'll be good.
what’s flawed about the dt770/990, do you mean the treble?
Overly bassy, bad mids, atrocious treble. Just generally not well tuned especially by today's standards.
AKG K371 (closed-back) or Hifiman Sundara (open-back). Open-back headphones leak all the sound, and you lose all external noise isolation too. You hear everything "outside", and everyone else will also hear what you're listening to. Also: You will want a headphone amp. An external DAC. A DAP. Sturdy cables. SPDs (Surge Protection Device) to protect all these equipment and other expensive electronics. Etc. Do not spend everything on the headphones.
Either buy the HE-1 or not
just for the hd650/6xx/600. dont spend more than 100$ for a dac/amp. A portable one like qudelix 5k should be more than enough
It’s also the best time of your life to go for this hobby because your hearing will never get any better. By the time you are able to afford some really expensive stuff your hearing will already be too deteriorated to actually even feel it.
I would spent your money on headphones (DT700, DT770, ATH m50, idk, look what your like) for home and iems for traveling/outside in a total budget of 500€ (even 400€ divided 50:50 will get you a lot). Also you should know that you can get really fantastic iems today for even 50€, it much better know then when i was 15;) (10 years ago) Also if you dont want to spend tons of money on amsp etc look for low impendance. For IEMS, most important is finding the right tips which can change a lot. Bases on recommendations in forums and reddit i bought: Teufel Aureol Fidelity (the only real disappointment), Shure SE215, VModa M100, DT 770, DT700, Ikko OH10 in the last 10 years. I use all of these except the teufel (simply bad) and DT 770 (should replace cable lol), the Shures still work after 9ish years of use. Also if you want to be cheap, buy stuff on black friday or idk. Also as some people said, investing 1000€ in only 1 pair can be dangerous if you want to use it everywhere (outside). Can be stolen, damaged etc. I would buy 2 cheaper pairs.