I'm a game developer, professionally!

You may know me from things like: Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, The Museum of Mechanics: Lockpicking, Gone Home, Bioshock 2, or maybe something else.

Right now I work as a Technical Narrative Designer at Remedy Entertainment in Stockholm, Sweden

Perhaps there are other aspects of my personality that may also be revealed here on this website


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johnnemann@dimbulbgames.com
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Johnnemann

damon
@damon

Hello Cohost, I am soliciting opinions, since Google is useless now.

Considering buying a new pair of headphones to replace my ATH-M50X. I love how they sound but my main pain points are:

  • low-quality materials failing, unreplaceably (specifically the earcups, for which you cannot get exact OEM replacements, and the headband, which is not replaceable at all, and has been leaving fragments of black fake-leather shite in my hair for a year now)
  • need a 3rd party peripheral (BAL-M50X) for wireless audio, and even though it claims to support low-latency audio through aptX, that is apparently half-cooked or maybe just bullshit

My main usecase is wired, at my desktop computer, fed through a FiiO K3, but I own the BAL-M50X peripheral for a reason, and like having the option to go wireless with my phone or laptop when I'm on the go.

What I'm after, roughly in order of priority:

  • high quality materials which mean I won't have to replace the entire thing after owning it for four years
    • or at least, like, repairable
  • over-the-ear
    • and decently roomy
  • decently insulated from the outside world (my current pair do this well)
  • ...but not heavy enough that I can't wear them for the majority of my day
  • wired is good
  • wireless is ok if the latency is really low and the battery life is good
  • wired/wireless would be ideal
    • I am A-OK with plugging in an extra peripheral to my headphones to make them wireless. That's fine. I will buy the peripheral as long as they don't turn the quality to shit

What's unimportant to me:

  • active noise cancelling (I have persistent tinnitus and ANC is extremely uncomfortable for me)
  • microphone (I like that the BAL-M50X has one that you can plug in, but I have a nice desk mic and I don't often take work calls outside of the house)
  • gamer shit

maybe what I'm actually after is headphones for my desk and maybe wireless earbuds for elsewhere??? I don't know! I have been using the same headphones for over a decade (ATH-M50, then ATH-M50X) and I am very open to change.



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in reply to @damon's post:

I'm using a Sennheiser HD600. It's wired only, and I've found its build to be excellent. It's also incredibly comfortable (for long term use), over-ear, and it's also open-backed, which means you can hear everything around you (absolutely no noise isolation). I don't know if you've tried open back headphones before, but they give a very wide soundstage and I absolutely love that for enjoying music. They also work well with my DAC and amp (just like the ATH-M50), but no surprises there. They handle highs extremely well, and they don't have that overly bassy boost that sony equivalents in the same price range do.

Here are the cons:

  1. I don't know how repairable it is, but--
  2. FUCK THE (proprietary) WIRES. They're somewhat fragile and they're extremely expensive to replace. You can get second party wires for cheaper on amazon, but almost all the negative reviews tend to point to the wires being the stress point. So I baby them. I have a 3m hook on the side of my desk just to wind up the wires in a nice circle so they don't put too much stress on the attachment part.
  3. expensive

seeing the 600 is funny cos i have the 599, which is like the best you can get without having a DAC and amp. they're also good headphones! prolly all i'll need until i feel like getting the tools to get better stuff idk

As a klutz with ADHD, I was gonna recommend these if someone else didn't, despite any conflicts with Damon's requirements. I'm still gonna pitch them, b/c they're just that good.

I've daily-driven the HD600's for... Fuck me, more than a decade now. Best cans I've ever had, in every respect but the cable. They lack the ability to rotate the earcups 90 degrees, such as for comfort when wearing off-ear around the neck, which can be a dealbreaker for some. Padding is good and replaceable, tension is decent on a large head. Adjustability is otherwise nice. They're OVER-ear, too, thank the stars, but they're also comfortable when pressed on an ear (such as when wearing half-cocked, to listen to others talking or something.)

They don't need a DAC - I can drive mine from my Samsung S9+'s 3.5mm jack nicely, but they won't blow my eardrums out. They ofc benefit greatly from even a low-end DAC. Don't bother with the FocusRite Scarlett DACs, mind you; they're cheap and typically review well, but they're not the highest quality in important areas. My SoloGen2 has a very crackly cable-port issue that seems to have been common on the older models. Can maybe offer reccs if desired.

If you want high-quality open-stage all-purpose daily cans, these are absolutely worth the time, money, and dogshit-quality cable.

The cable sucks ass. It's not braided or reinforced in any particular way, but the point of failure has always been the weak strain relief on the connector joints themselves. I've destroyed 4 in my time owning them (which is less than I had destroyed wired IEMs in a similar timeframe). Cheap replacements can be hit/miss in quality at times - had one replacement sound markedly worse. OEM ones are still fragile garbage, but at least they're available.

And, to clarify: the HD600 does have detachable cables, they're just small, and not really intended for daily detaching - mostly for the purpose of repairability, which is still huge. Could be much stronger with more strain relief around the connector itself, honestly considering bulking mine up with a bunch of heatshrink layered over itself, but we'll see.

They're very repairable, in addition to being quite durable. I've worn them out when travelling, at the gym (with good cable management), long roadtrips, on flights, while touring Europe, and more. They ARE open-stage, which means they throw pretty much everything out into the room a fair ways, so they're a 'be mindful of others' kind of situation, but it makes for a much richer and less head-in-a-box soundscape, even for mono recordings. I've since acquired respectably priced IEMs, so much of their travelling days are over, but their quality is still top of the line, even against modern products.

I've reshaped driver cones deformed due to impact/droppage/etc. Even with some very minor creases from past deforming, the sound quality is still exceptional. I have even replaced one of drivers directly, for about $80AUD (open up, pop out, pop new one in). Should have done them both, honestly - the quality difference is noticeable, as one struggles within a certain kHZ range, while the newer one is still flawless. Ah well; a bit like car tyres - buy half and rotate. One point of concern for any driver capsule/cone repairs are the tiny fucking wires that connect the two cable pins to the driver itself... Broke one completely by accident. Bam. Driver's gone. Didn't have the skills to consider adding a new one at the time. Might be different now, not sure.

Over the time I've had them, I got the original pair at a decent discount over base (I think I got them for maybe $350AUD inc postage, second hand?, might find them for $500-600AUD new nowdays, pending stock), and have since paid maybe another $200AUD on top of that in repairs over almost a decade for largely the same quality as the day I got them.

Regardless of other features, I will never again buy a pair of headphones that are not as maintainable as these. As long as they keep selling replacement parts, I'll probably never upgrade them. (The HD600-ish range also seems to be a long-standing quality product, tho.) They are, without a doubt, the most repairable (for less than buying new) 'audiophile'/'monitor' headphones I've ever used.

Optional (high quality) wireless would be a GODSEND for something like these, given the absolute disappointment of a cable, but IDK if that's a thing that can be added onto headphones nowdays or not, and similarly IDK how they'd feel weight/use-wise w/ a battery and extra stuff on them.

Happy to answer any questions you might have on them! You know how to hmu.

AFAIK, the HD6XX from Massdrop are basically just minor redesigns of Sennheiser's HD650, using the same drivers as the HD650 as well. Compared to the HD600, they're a little harder to drive, so you'll definitely lean more toward needing an amp or DAC or such. Overall audio quality is apparently very similar, with 'more bass, less treble', and apparently 0.2lb less clamping force on the head. Based on Rtings, at least. I've read a lot of hearsay that says the HD6XXs and HD650s can be less neutral than 600s, but YMMV.

Again, the HD600s do have removable cables just like the HD650s and the HD6XXs, and they are, in fact, all interchangeable with each other - HD650/6XX/600/580/58X and more all use the same plug. You can even get custom braided or reinforced cables as well.

The main benefit of the HD6XXs is, IMO, getting a pair of HD650s for $288AUD, vs the retail of up to $700AUD. o_o

I can't recommend these, since I haven't used them myself so idk how they are. But I just learned they exist and they seem cool in theory. https://ploopy.co/headphones/
its going after the repairable but I think it fails some of your other criteria.

I have used https://steelseries.com/gaming-headsets/arctis-1-wireless (which I realize is positioned as "for gamers", but I don't think it matters) for several years now and they do the wired/wireless pretty well I think.

in reply to @damon's post:

I am an extremely big fan of the Sony MDR-7506, the workhorse of every music studio and film editing booth on the planet. they are not the most rugged headphones around, but i have owned the pair i am wearing right now for over five years and they're still going strong (and i don't treat them well, i throw them in a backpack almost every day and i brought them to the beach the other day lmao). i specifically also like them because they are lightweight enough for me to wear them all day without even noticing. there are lots of options out there for the most commonly replaced component (the ear pads), i just replaced mine for cheap and they're back to feeling like new.

the only thing i don't really like about them is i wish that they had a replaceable/detachable cable, though you could absolutely replace the cable yourself if you're even a little comfortable working with electronics (TRS connectors are extremely simple).

if you want more options, i also highly endorse the wirecutter for all your product recommendation needs. they have a list of all the headphones they recommend, which includes earbuds and headphones, wired and wireless.

also i've never personally used them but ive heard enough audio professionals recommend the Beyerdynamic DT 770 to also say that they're probably a good choice too.

if you're willing to spend a lot on headphones, the TMA-2 Studio Wireless+ are probably the best combo wired/wireless option. they're made for zero latency wireless stuff for musicians, but they also support bluetooth and you can plug them in wired, and they're designed to be modular and repairable.

Oh shit, the TMA-2 is looking very very tempting to me. That modularity is exactly what I'm looking for. Thank you very much for the detailed writeup, I really appreciate you taking the time!

Thirding the sony mdr 7506s for specific cases. Have had my current pair for a decade and only had to replace the foam padding once (easy and cheap). They're not the highest quality sound, but they're very transparent and flat (great for me as an editor, maybe not as good if you're a listener or want huge bass). They get a bit hot, but I haven't used a pair of over ear headphones that don't. They've been dropped, lugged around, tossed, chewed on, and still work 100%.

Absolute workhorses and good for the price, though they won't impress anyone visually or sonically too much. They feel a bit more comfy to me than the ATH m50s I have, but the ATHs feel a bit more dynamic with heavier music. If you're going ~$100 usd it's hard to beat

As an aside to my recommendation of the HD600s as main/gaming/at-home cans, a good, reasonably priced pair of IEMs have entirely stopped me from travelling with my HD600s. Are they of even remotely similar audio quality? Not sure about the HIGH end ones, but not the ones I got! They're good enough for going for a walk or on errands or what-have you.

For a recommendation, I can proudly say I actually found this via Tildes (thank you for the invite!): someone actually does a really comprehensive round-up leaderboard of IEMs with an amazing variety of price ranges; a certainty you'd find something that fit any specific needs you have!

I'll always go to bar for MDR-7506s but if you want something that feels much more solid that fits your description, I'd recommend giving some DT-990s a spin. The 250ohm sound ridiculously pristine but they need a hell of a lot of power, so you'd need a headphone amp. The other versions don't have that problem and still sound great imo. So if you want "7506s but better", the MDR-CD900ST is a classic favorite of a lot of Particularly Cool Producers since the 80s.

I think I have what you're looking for! Cowin Audio E7 They're over the ear, dual wired/wireless, and they've surprised me in durability

So part of being neurodivergent for me is that really solid headphones are extremely important, and I'm wearing them and using them for the majority of a given day, so with that said it's really noteworthy that my pair has still held up after four years despite only costing like $60 when I bought it (seems like the price is down to $45 now). I bike everywhere in all weather so they've taken a beating and held up. Battery life is pretty good too, I'll plug them in while I'm in the shower and that's about all it needs

Also the yellow one is pretty fashionable lol I've gotten a fair amount of complements for it