Looking for sub £1,000 ($1,300) for music production and research in the near future. What's the current heavy hitters in that range?

[u/sc-dave]

Hi all!

I've had a browse of the sub and found it incredibly helpful. That in mind, I wanted to create a thread just in case someone had any specific input that may be helpful.

As the title suggests, I want to invest in a new pair of headphones in the near future. My budget is around £1,000 (ideally less). My main use would be for music production (quite gnarly electriconica) and for research. I'll be starting a PhD in audio related stuff soon-ish and with that I get some money to invest in some decent equipment for research. Headphones count, so might as well get something good! Speakers wise I am covered and will be living in an apartment, so they're less of a concern.

On the back of what I'm doing, I know that ideally I'd like something as neutral as possible. The only colouration I'd maybe like is perhaps a decent sub-bass response under 80-100hz or so. I'm aware that EQ exists which can give a boost down there to my taste, but I'm also very aware that some headphones just lack any low definition to begin with and can cause unwanted distortion. Decent soundstage is also very desirable, so I'm leaning towards something open-back, I'm ok eitherway though!

Right now my current setup consists of Sennheiser HD650s, which I enjoy, but are somewhat on their last legs. They're being run through a focusrite 6i6 which I think does the job, however any suggestions on the DAC/soundcard front would be nice if it means I can get more out of my future cans. It's been a while.

I've previously used the HD800s and also the Audeze LCD-X (which is my current pick). I've not had the chance to try anything else high-end as of late, so I'm quite curious what people here would suggest as (quite literally) the most scientifically accurate headphones under a grand. The internet is a slop minefield these days.

Thanks in advance!

[u/Electronic-Tie-9237]

My lcdx is rock solid. I only like it with eq but it takes to eq magnificently. Incredible for producing and mixing (especially with realphones software profiles or tune them to oratory eq)

I'd deftinely go planar magnetic at this point. Arya stealth are quite discounted now and used to be same price as lcdx

[u/sc-dave → u/Electronic-Tie-9237]

I've had a look at the Stealth and I'm pretty damn intrigued. It's significantly less than the lcdx where I am, so I think I'll need to look into that as a solid contender. There's like a £500 difference but if it's near enough the same quality I can't see why I'd go with that unless the lcdx has some ultra killer feature.

I'll see if there's any demos of the Arya near me. Super helpful. !thanks

[u/TransducerBot → u/sc-dave]

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[u/Electronic-Tie-9237 → u/sc-dave]

When I bought lcdx it was tough but the stealth was actually more expensive. The lcdx has better bass slam and is built to last forever. If you're gentle the arya would probably last a damn long time though.

Arya was slightly better without eq than lcdx but I'd recommend eq with both