Aune - SR7000

If only they veered away from that abysmal builld. The hinges are prone to breaking due to their design. It's the only thing stopping me from considering their SR7000. If they were cheaper maybe, but at high of a price with that build... no thanks.

The differences between headphones is often imperceptible at first listen but become more obvious over time. The human brain is just not well equipped to make these distinctions on the fly. As for price vs expectations, more expensive doesn’t often equate to “better tuned”. Money will buy you resolution, but not necessarily enjoyment. I think you went into the experience with the correct mindset, which is “what tuning speaks to me?”. The most enjoyable headphones are not necessarily expensive. As for the AR5000 - I love this headphone. It has a unique quality to the tonality. Kind of like a hint of harmonic resonance or reverb. I prefer the tuning of the SR7000 to the AR5000 but the SR lacks this resonance characteristic. It’s also $300 more expensive than the AR which I feel was a marketing blunder on Aune’s part.

Interesting question. I own roughly 17 headphones from low to high end. It’s maybe an obsessive hobby for me that turned into a collecting endeavor. I’ve owned the older DCA Noire, the DCA E3, Audeze LCD2, HiFiman Arya V2 and HE1000V2, ZMF Atrium and Aeolus, Beyerdynamic T1 and DT1990 and DT880, Meze 99 Classic, both Aune AR5000 and SR7000, Sennheiser 6xx, and some bass cannons like the Modhouse Argon and Harmonicdyne Eris. And a bunch of others that don’t really meaningfully stand out. I tend to notice a disparity between my “best” headphones and the ones I listen to the most. The DCAs and HiFimans are objectively excellent, but I rarely pick them up. For me, personally, I’m in love with a rich, full-bodied and impactful sound. The ZMF Aeolus on an OTL Tube amp takes the win for me every time. It just makes every single song sound so enjoyable. It is soulful and “weighty”. Many of my headphones are technically better in many categories, but if enjoyment is the most important factor then the ZMF Aeolus hits the mark every time. It is just so well rounded and engaging with every type of music.

That's actually a bit tough for me to answer considering I typically do not use closed backs for that kind of thing. My mind goes from the FiiO FT1 (non pro of course) straight to the Aune SR7000. Those are the closest thing towards neutral that still sound good enough to me for that type of work.

Fiio FT1 (Cheap but awesome) to Aune SR7000 (Better but not that much better than the FT1, but not $3x better than the FT1) to SJY Horizon Closed Carbons (little bit over your budget but probably worth it). If you are considering spending the dough, I would say skip the Aune SR7000 and go straight to the Horizon closed carbons if you can live with the look. Also, you would probably need a amp or dac or decent audio interface to run the SJYs. Regarding sound sig, if you don't mind doing EQ, i think all the headphones i mentioned can do what you want. The FT1s in particular have exceptional bass response.

From the top: Fiio FT1 - what can I say? Satisfying and clean bass, great bass texture, fun but clean and clear mids. Treble on the smooth side, but still pretty revealing. Aune SR7000 - great stage with good bass and more natural timbre. They're very comfortable. Sennheiser HD620S - neutral, warm with bloomy mid bass. Analytical, and revealing without being offensive in the treble. Great passive isolation. Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X - neutral with extended sub bass. Shimmery treble, but inoffensive. Very revealing and detailed. Meze 99 Classic - fun, bassy sound. Quite smeary in the mids, but I'm going for them for relaxed listening without fussing details. Harmonicdyne x Zeos Eris - very bassy, very sharp treble. Bass murder if I ever see one. But they're strangely fun. Hifiman HE-R9 - wonky, all over the place. Very bassy and messy. Very v-shaped. A roller coaster of tuning.

Fiio FT1 for sure. Aune SR7000 are also very good, but I can't justify the asking price.

Your third requirement severely reduces the amount of options you have. Aune SR7000 are quite solid and very open sounding for being closed-back, but you have to deal with dual entry cables. Another option is the DT1770 mk2, but you have to deal with the Beyerdynamic excessive treble. FiiO FT1 is an affordable option and really good at $150, but dual entry cables.

Finally someone plugs the AR5000!!!! Such an underrated headphone!!! It's amazing. I have the SR7000 as well and it's incredible. She could get the AR5000 and the Meze Audio boom mic. That would be perfect and significantly outperform every one she's listed above.

The AR9000 are very anticipated for me as well. Love the AR5000 and SR7000, and excited for them to have a flagship to pair with their powerful amp offerings.

A little bit of rage bait in the first picture, but I do think it holds some weight. I’m an HD 600 truther, and I usually use with the Aune S9c Pro DAC/amp stack. But a “return to office” call from my job had me rethinking my listening setups. I had space for a stack on my desk, and intended to just get a closed back pair of headphones. Well, I couldn’t find any I liked, and I auditioned the FT1, HD 620s, Aune SR7000, and even the DCA Noire X. None of them worked for me without huge sacrifices, so I didn’t keep any of them, and decided to just go the IEM route. I’ve liked the Tea Pro for a while, and got lucky on Head-Fi and won a giveaway for the UTWS5 2025, and I honestly can’t tell a difference wired vs. apt-X HD on my DX180 with them. I then hawked an open back HDB 630 from Bloom Audio, and lo and behold, I like it better than any of the closed backs I mentioned earlier. They do lack some in comfort/build materials/ANC, but purely from a sound perspective they’re fantastic, and the included BTD 700 dongle is a game changer if you are in the Apple ecosystem like me. There’s obviously still a place for our beloved wires, but the right devices are causing us to give up much less quality than we used to when going the Bluetooth route.

If you like detailed and bright sound Hifiman Arya Stealth (used/refurbished) but beware they are quite bright and Hifiman build quality is poor. If you want balanced neutral sound Aune SR7000 (much better, build quality and comfort compared to Hifiman). HD660S2 is the most bassy and fun (not bass head) sounding of the Sennheiser HD6 lineup. It is not worth the msrp but you could find it for 250-300 used.