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.
From a durability standpoint, probably look for some chonky studio cans. I've never used them, but maybe look at something like the closed-back Beyerdynamics (7- series)? Those have a good rep for comfort and durability as far as I know.
(The headphones I actually use and can recommend from experience are the Modhouse Argons, which are a mod of the Fostex T50 line, with ZMF pads. However, these are kind of hard to drive, so they aren't necessarily the best suggestion for wireless use. Also, if you were to like, wear them outside, they look ridiculous.)
For a wireless dongle, I believe the current state of the art is the Qudelix 5K, which is the successor to the Radsone ES100. Lots of customizability including EQ. I don't have one, but have used the ES100 and it was great. (But any wireless dongle is going to be semi-consumable.)
Oh, also: for wireless use, many of the more durable, studio-type headphones, may have a cable that is annoyingly long or beefy or terminates in a 1/4 jacks. Something to look out for.




