I've tested all of these and have similar conclusions. The E3 absolutely floored me. It's my new "white whale" headphone that I hope to be able to afford one day. Utopia and HEKSE are also excellent. I didn't have any issues with the Arya organic's treble but I would still EQ them to make them more in line with my preferences.
I just wrote this comment about a week ago on another post:
Off the top of my head, the best headphones I've heard are:
1. Stax x9000
2. Hifiman Shangri-la Sr
(After these 2, it's in no particular order)
3. Focal Utopia
4. LCD-5
5. DCA E3 (I prefer it over the stealth and expanse, my current dream headphone.)
Other favorites: ZMF Atrium Open, Hifiman HEKSE (not a fan of the Susvara line), RAAL Magna (prefer over Immanis), Austrian Audio Composer
I've been to Axpona 4 times so I've tested a lot. Still have not tried the HE-1 though.
Whoops, missed the whole open back part lol. It is considered semi-closed so it is more open than a true closed back. Large soundstage and punchy bass is sort of the magical combo people look for but it's usually one or the other. The hifiman Ananda nano fits this criteria but you have to EQ it. DCA expanse and the Utopia also fit what you are looking for but they're both very expensive.
Edit: ZMF Atrium open is also a great option but also expensive.
I think you misunderstood how to use the tablets at the hifiman and moon audio booths at Axpona. Both of them had full Quboz on them. You just had to use the search function instead of looking in the library which only had their saved songs. Congrats on the atrium though, that's definitely my favorite ZMF headphone.
Well I had the open version of the atrium and never had an issue with the treble. I am very treble sensitive and HDB630 also was too bright pre-eq.
Probably the closed version is brighter? I am not surprised at all, as far as I know the atrium closed is not generally very well regarded
Entirely unpopular opinion:
-abyss ab1266tc (overpriced as hell with a wonky tuning but the bass is real damn punchy. It will adjust between punchy mid bass and subbass depending on whether or not you toe in or out the headphones).
More reasonable opinion:
- Zmf atrium open (punchy bass)/closed (punchy subbass)
-JM headphones are generally pretty punchy
-LCD-4
-focal utopia
I tried the HE1000 stealth for gaming and thought it sounded a little off. If I recall correctly, the soundstage was a bit more “tall” than it was wide, which didn’t work well for games.
Currently, I’m using a ZMF Atrium Open and use it for gaming on occasion. It’s been great so far and really adds a three-dimensionality to games. Other ZMFs may work as well depending on budget.
Top Headphones (Over / On Ear) on Reddit
1
Sennheiser
HD 560S
79% positive of 626 users
Budget gaming king with clear sound, but tight fit.
Adorable_Design_3301
