HIFIMAN - SUNDARA Closed-Back

Not many as expensive. Some Abyss and Stax. Some mid price ones. I own both Beyerdynamic Amiron Home and HifiMan Sundara closed back.

1. Hifiman sundara closed back 2. Sony WH-1000XM6 3. AKG K240 made in Austria 1993

i have too many headphones, it became a hobby, when i get up in price, i think the biggest differences are between "types" so is it Closed or open, is it Eletrocstat, Planar or normal.. and i love to play around with it.. but must be honest, before sound there is 1 thing that is KEY for me.. Comfort, are they comfortable, can i wear them for a long time.. comfort is SO important, and yeah most modern headphones wear "okay" but some are just a different world.. That is the key, then after, Sound. and yes, some people cannot hear the difference, and to be honest, i stopped collecting many years ago, i know there a many other headphones today, and i kinda just "switch" between the same pairs, my Stax for my Recordplayer (have the MK700II) for my PC i usually just use either my TR-0X Fostex which are OLD massdrops, a pair of Sundera (open back) i have both open and closed the closed was a failed buy... And yes the old K712pro or K240studio, those are SO light, and i still like them. (and the K240studio are like my REALLY old first pair of decent headphones) and for me that ended up being the endgame, even though i still look at cool new editions ... (and then i just have like a bag of old first gen X2 fidelios, bunch of AKG´s and Hifimans and to be honest i don´t know why) And my wife cannot hear ANY difference between any of them, and hates them all because they are not airpod pros.. so we are different :-D

You really need to try them out yourself to know. Closed are going to be tougher than Open. I'd start with maybe the Sundara Closed Back. To me the DT series are a little hot and seem like they would be too much clamp.

Audeze Sine > Sundara Closed Back > DT 700 Pro X > Mobius

I'd probably recommend Drop/ Sennheiser PC38x for multiplayer/ directional audio and HiFiMan Edition XS (or perhaps Sundara if you have small ears; not comfortable for me) for cinematic single player games for fairly affordable headsets within a few hundred bucks. I've read good things about the Audeze Maxwell. Going much higher will probably require an amp and get MUCH pricier. For PC and listening to music, I use an HE1000SE, which will challenge your statement about budget not mattering. It's by far the best set of headphones I've ever used for gaming (including the also excellent Sennheiser HD 490 Pro, which I also own) or music but definitely not low budget.

A lot of people are loving the Maxwell. I don’t have it, but apparently it’s a super super high quality, comfortable, Bluetooth planar. Has a swoosh mic too. I’m thinking of getting a pair soon myself. If u really want a wired experience, hd6xx have been treating me really well. I have that, the sundara, and the PC38X and love them all.

I had a Hifiman Sundara for a long time, coming from the Dt990. The Dts can't reach them at all. Get the Sundaras and don't look back.

I literally just bought some sundaras (I know I'm years late to the party) as an upgrade to my well used he400i but honestly might return/sell them for these instead, seems to be a bigger jump in fidelity without costing much more

Facts, it sounds good on my gfs sundara too. I have been considering getting an arya se and an hd650 in the future for similar reasons.

I’ve spent way too much money chasing the perfect sound, and after burning through a pile of headphones and IEMs, I think I’m finally there. The headphone path went: Sundara → HD600 → HD650 → Edition XS (good but too sharp and sibilant) → Focal Azurys (Did not get the hype here) → Audeze MM-500 (good but painful clamp). On the IEM side I tried the Kiwi Ears Astral, Moondrop x Crinacle Dusk (didn’t understand the here either), Moondrop Hype 4, and DUNU Brain Dance. Brain dance was my favorite until I randomly tried The Campfire Moon Rover, though, which has become my IEM of choice for a reason I’ll explain later. For over ears, eventually I gave Dan Clark Audio a shot. First the Noire X, then the Noire X Open… and wow. The Noire X Open is the first headphone I’ve heard that delivers incredible detail without stabbing me with harsh “s” and “t” sounds. It can be just a touch energetic above 10k, but a simple high-shelf EQ at -3 dB takes care of it instantly. I also like adding a +2 dB bass shelf, which rounds out the sound beautifully. What really surprised me is how perfectly this same EQ profile works on the Campfire Moon Rover as well. It feels like they were made to share it, and having one tuning that works seamlessly between both is a huge win. I’ve saved the preset on my HiBy R4, so switching back and forth between the XO and the Moon Rover is effortless. So at this point, my perfect setup has become the Moon Rover for IEMs and the Noire X Open. Ironically, the gear I’ve ended up loving the most has all been from American brands which I didn’t expect. I know endgame is a dangerous word in this hobby, but right now this feels like it. Has anyone else had that moment where you put something on and thought… yeah, this is it?