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Good sounding headphones, but beware durability concerns. Even people who've babied them have had major failures, I believe it's the headband causing issues.
Best way, without jailbreaking, is to get a Qudelix 5K. It's by the man who made the ES100 that took the headphone community by storm several years ago. He split off to do his own thing, which was Qudelix. Really amazing little device and you can tweak everything through the companion app (also has a chrome extension that does the same). Then apply the oratory1990 EQ settings someone linked above. Or if you dislike the Harman target, use AutoEQ to spit out an auto-generated EQ profile for w.e target curve you like.
Apple has always had very little codec support for BT (AAC and SBC, and very rarely, ALAC), so if you use bluetooth, audio quality will take a hit. Whether or not that bothers you, is up to you.
If you dislike that, you can use it as a dongle (you just need to get your own USB C to lightning cable (or adapter) as they only provide USB A and USB C to C).
There's also the option of finding some way to velcro or otherwise stick the Qudelix to the headphones (these are closed back, so pretty easy to stick it on the sides or on top of the headband). If you stick it on the side, you can use the Qudelix's mic as a headset. Just be aware that the mic sucks (though a fun feature they added is that you can enable the mic while connected via USB).
Other optional longer term upgrades: you can get a balanced cable to connect to the Qudelix's 2.5mm output. Not going to get into details, but balanced essentially doubles power output because it has two in-phase signals instead of one (unbalanced)[boxcast.com]. Dedicated amps generally don't lack for power, and outside of very very long cable runs, EMI on unbalanced doesn't matter. But for portable devices, which are power limited, balanced provides a pretty large power benefit. Shouldn't need it for this pair, but harder to drive headphones would receive some benefit. Just never plug a non-balanced audio device into a balanced port.
You can also use the Qudelix 5K as your desktop dac/amp, or as a preamp (to enable EQ and other settings) to a dedicated amp. You would enable car mode for that; their website has great guides and the support team is very active on the forums.
I use mine for both on the go and on my desktop; I have a USB C cable fixed to my desk that I plug it into. Nice thing about doing it that way is that it'll always be charged for when you want to take it out for portable use. Though you can set it to charge from your phone (or not) or just use a portable charger.
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And yep. These were my first favorite closed back headphones (once I dipped my toes into the hobby). I'm a bass head so I moved on… but I think most people will appreciate what they bring at this price.
And yep. These were my first favorite closed back headphones (once I dipped my toes into the hobby). I'm a bass head so I moved on… but I think most people will appreciate what they bring at this price.
Looks like a nice headphone. The white paper displays impressive engineering prowess. But I'm content with my Sony Z7 which is comfortable, durable, and has great bass.
I bought a pair of these from Adorama in 2018 or 2019.
They worked pretty well for about a year. Then, the left headphone driver moved out of it's housing and stopped working properly. After opening the headphone, the driver had 86 clearly written on it. The middle of the driver cone had a small dent in it as well.
This didn't bother me too much despite the driver clearly saying 86. I fixed the housing and I couldn't discern the difference. I checked the right driver for fun and it didn't have any writing. This year, though, the 86'd left driver started fading out in volume compared to the right driver.
Quality control issues here. I now own pair of Bose 700 wireless headphones instead. I suggest anyone interested in these do the same.
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I bought a pair of these from Adorama in 2018 or 2019.
They worked pretty well for about a year. Then, the left headphone driver moved out of it's housing and stopped working properly. After opening the headphone, the driver had 86 clearly written on it. The middle of the driver cone had a small dent in it as well.
This didn't bother me too much despite the driver clearly saying 86. I fixed the housing and I couldn't discern the difference. I checked the right driver for fun and it didn't have any writing. This year, though, the 86'd left driver started fading out in volume compared to the right driver.
Quality control issues here. I now own pair of Bose 700 wireless headphones instead. I suggest anyone interested in these do the same.
Does 86 mean the same thing in a French manufacturing company as it does in my local American bar?
headphone noob here.. can I get suggestions for good Bluetooth headphones for teenager.. I want to spoil my nephews with a great pair of headphones. budget < $300
headphone noob here.. can I get suggestions for good Bluetooth headphones for teenager.. I want to spoil my nephews with a great pair of headphones. budget < $300
The Sony WH-1000XM3 / XM4 / XM5 are all great noise canceling Bluetooth headphones with solid EQ flexibility, features, and ANC quality. They typically rate as well as or better than the Bose QC35s.
The XM5 is the current model, but the 3 and 4 are still widely available and all rate quite well.
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Apple has always had very little codec support for BT (AAC and SBC, and very rarely, ALAC), so if you use bluetooth, audio quality will take a hit. Whether or not that bothers you, is up to you.
If you dislike that, you can use it as a dongle (you just need to get your own USB C to lightning cable (or adapter) as they only provide USB A and USB C to C).
There's also the option of finding some way to velcro or otherwise stick the Qudelix to the headphones (these are closed back, so pretty easy to stick it on the sides or on top of the headband). If you stick it on the side, you can use the Qudelix's mic as a headset. Just be aware that the mic sucks (though a fun feature they added is that you can enable the mic while connected via USB).
Other optional longer term upgrades: you can get a balanced cable to connect to the Qudelix's 2.5mm output. Not going to get into details, but balanced essentially doubles power output because it has two in-phase signals instead of one (unbalanced) [boxcast.com]. Dedicated amps generally don't lack for power, and outside of very very long cable runs, EMI on unbalanced doesn't matter. But for portable devices, which are power limited, balanced provides a pretty large power benefit. Shouldn't need it for this pair, but harder to drive headphones would receive some benefit. Just never plug a non-balanced audio device into a balanced port.
You can also use the Qudelix 5K as your desktop dac/amp, or as a preamp (to enable EQ and other settings) to a dedicated amp. You would enable car mode for that; their website has great guides and the support team is very active on the forums.
I use mine for both on the go and on my desktop; I have a USB C cable fixed to my desk that I plug it into. Nice thing about doing it that way is that it'll always be charged for when you want to take it out for portable use. Though you can set it to charge from your phone (or not) or just use a portable charger.
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https://www.focal.com/en/french-manufacturing
And yep. These were my first favorite closed back headphones (once I dipped my toes into the hobby). I'm a bass head so I moved on… but I think most people will appreciate what they bring at this price.
https://www.focal.com/en/french-manufacturing
And yep. These were my first favorite closed back headphones (once I dipped my toes into the hobby). I'm a bass head so I moved on… but I think most people will appreciate what they bring at this price.
They worked pretty well for about a year. Then, the left headphone driver moved out of it's housing and stopped working properly. After opening the headphone, the driver had 86 clearly written on it. The middle of the driver cone had a small dent in it as well.
This didn't bother me too much despite the driver clearly saying 86. I fixed the housing and I couldn't discern the difference. I checked the right driver for fun and it didn't have any writing. This year, though, the 86'd left driver started fading out in volume compared to the right driver.
Quality control issues here. I now own pair of Bose 700 wireless headphones instead. I suggest anyone interested in these do the same.
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They worked pretty well for about a year. Then, the left headphone driver moved out of it's housing and stopped working properly. After opening the headphone, the driver had 86 clearly written on it. The middle of the driver cone had a small dent in it as well.
This didn't bother me too much despite the driver clearly saying 86. I fixed the housing and I couldn't discern the difference. I checked the right driver for fun and it didn't have any writing. This year, though, the 86'd left driver started fading out in volume compared to the right driver.
Quality control issues here. I now own pair of Bose 700 wireless headphones instead. I suggest anyone interested in these do the same.
The XM5 is the current model, but the 3 and 4 are still widely available and all rate quite well.
XM5s currently on sale for $279 on Amazon.
https://slickdeals.net/share/iphone_app/fp/787222
For headphones, I'm happy with my Studio Max. My home audio can be the McIntosh and Revel 228Be's.
For headphones, I'm happy with my Studio Max. My home audio can be the McIntosh and Revel 228Be's.
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Or do I need some sort of external amp to drive these?
These are 35 ohms impedance.
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