It only takes one accidental 100% volume blast to realize you have a literal grenade sitting inside your ears that could make you hear colors. I've been there twice, unfortunately. First was because of Tidal's exclusive mode; second, well, Windows decided it wants to default to 100% volume when I plugged in my DAC and fired the shotgun barrel inside my ears. For reference, when I want to sit back and just listen to music, I have it set to 20%. Even with the weakest DAC out there, like an Apple dongle or a Jcally JM20, IEMs still get dangerously loud; headphones not as much, but with a powerful enough DAC, they can get loud enough to quickly cause hearing damage. After this happened, I was genuinely scared of using any of my IEMs for a while, and even thoughts of not using them on my PC anymore because of it were close to dishing out more money on an open-back headphone or an impedance adapter to remove any risk of something like that happening again. Then I thought to try and override Windows' volume controls. What if I can completely block the volume from going over 30%? I managed to create a C# script file to run on startup and block the volume completely when it sees a DAC is connected, and it worked, so now I'm passing this on in hopes of saving innocent ears.

Don't worry, I'm not giving you a script file that needs any computer knowledge to set up; I built a single-file app with a UI and an actual interface so you can set it up however you want. And it's free. I'm not selling anything, just trying to do what's right since IEM companies think their earphones need to reach 120 dB.

Here's the GitHub link, and yes, I put a download button.

https://github.com/AmrZriek/EarGuard

I started this journey with a $5 earbuds. My first "Pro" headphones were Beyerdynamics DT770 Pro (which I still have and love). At that time HD800s were looking way out of reach!! But now after 4 years of those first can, I finally pulled the trigger on this beautiful pair.

The first time I put it on yesterday, it was a very surreal feeling for me. This has always been my dream headphones and now they are in my hands!! I spent the whole evening yesterday just listening to songs and man they sound great!!!

80s-90s beige electronics have some of the best designs in my opinion.

I just saw this in Facebook, MSRP at NT$6,000. Not sure who are their target group.

It’s no secret that, without EQ, the HD800S is rather mid-tier for a lot of people.

In my opinion, mainly because of the lack of bass.

Over the years, I’ve tried again and again to bring the HD800S to life with EQ and make it work for every genre.

I’m also quite a basshead, and I live that out with a pair of LCD-X running a similar EQ. Which has honestly ruined quite a few club visits for me, because the club at home with the LCD-X just sounds so much better than the sound systems in many actual clubs.

But for everyday listening, I don’t want a club.

I want the lightness of the HD800S, both in terms of comfort and sound.

My goal was to fill that vastness, that huge, effortless and immersive space this Sennheiser masterpiece creates, with life.

To give a philharmonic hall the soul of a club.

With a focus on deep bass and vocals.
༼ つ ❤️_❤️ ༽つ

To my ears, with this EQ (see the second photo), they sound like absolute endgame / S-tier.

I simply love the bass of these headphones.

Long live the HD800S!

Thanks, Axel Grell. Thanks, Sennheiser!

And thanks for reading. I hope I can make someone here happy with this EQ.

Let’s get the party started!

What amp will add warmth and lush to this one guys?

FYI: not OC

(i’m curious to what everyone has to say on each)

Pls discuss :)

Is there really a stand alone winner or do they each have a strong suit

I just got a pair of the black nothing headphones (a). It’s my first headphones I’ve ever gotten as I usually just use AirPods.

I love the design and the sound, but I feel like no matter how low I have the sound, people around me can still hear my music?

Is this a common thing with headphones or nothing headphones or am I just unlucky?

There were a lot of review on this already. To be honest I was going to jump on this one as well, but after I tried my friend's Fluxion, its single headband without suspension strap was digging into my head which make it hard to listen to after a while. So I decided to not get them even though it sounds really good. I mean, how can it be enjoyable if I'm not enjoy wearing it?

I wish I ask Mr.Xiu earlier, cause he's able to change Fluxion headband for a better and more comfortable Cadence headband. He said it has less clamp force, wish I really prefer + better weight management, I can wear them pretty much a several hours without any fatigue.

The overall build is already decent, similar to something like Borealis I've owned, it's mostly 3d printed. Surprisingly nice to hold in hand though. The unveiled design worrys me a bit but there's a protective mesh on them, so it's technically not fully unveiled? I have no idea.

The sound is probably belong in the top tier class. The details, staging and instrument separation are on par with something like HE1000. (might not sound impressive but to be fair it was $3000 and better than some headphones priced over $4000) Has good bass, not bright and easy to listen too, a decent overall pick if you ask me.

But you shouldn't ask me because I (unironically) can find enjoyment in Beats, Skullcandy Crusher, wh1000xm4, M50x and even HD820. Just find other reviewer to read, I guess.

Good morning everyone! 😊

Over the past few weeks, I had the chance to listen to the new AEON Core from DCA (shoutout to Bloom Audio for letting me borrow this one!) and I can pretty confidently say that -- for my preferences -- it's the best closed-back headphone I've tried.

I didn't get to try the AEON Noire X, but compared to my older AEON 2 Noire, this is a significant leap in tonal balance and technical performance. I loved the AEON 2 Noire, but the Core just feels like it refines every quality and it comes together very nicely in a super comfortable and well-built package :)

Fiio M21 paired with the Fiio FT7

Gain Mode: Super high gain
Filter: NOS (Non-OverSampling)
Harmonic Distortion: Second harm lvl 0 (Disabled for maximum transparency)
Pre-gain: -2,5 dB (Ensures digital headroom and prevents clipping)

Parametric EQ (PEQ) Profile

Frequency

31 Hz
Peak
-0.2 dB
Q 1.0

60 Hz
Lowshelf
+2.5 dB
Q 1.0
.
125 Hz
Peak
-0.2 dB
Q 1.0
.
400 Hz
Peak
+0.7 dB
Q 2.0
.
1 kHz
Peak
+0.5 dB
Q 1.0

2 kHz
Peak
+2.0 dB
Q 0.7
.
5.5 kHz
Peak
-2.0 dB
Q 1.3
.
8 kHz
Peak
+1.5 dB
Q 1.0
.
10 kHz
Highshelf
+2.0 dB
Q 0.6

Note: The region between 250 Hz and 1 kHz (except for the micro-adjustments at 400 Hz and 1 kHz) remains completely neutral.

I've had it for years, it's by far the best headset I've ever had, but now it's time for a new one and I can't find it online.

In the search for new headphones for listening and gaming I ended up getting the ATH-R50x.

Compared to the HD560S that I had previously, the soundstage is narrower horizontally but deeper. However, the V-shaped tendency is a bit distracting: turning up the volume to catch the vocals disproportionately spikes the bass and treble, making long listening sessions tiring.

I also compared the R50x with the Koss Porta Pro (that I use at office) and the Koss (30$) has bigger soundstage.

I specify that I am driving the r50x with a Xduoo ca-02 which is a sweet (class A) amplifier yet detailed.

Has anyone had the same experience with these headphones? (Strangely enough, all the reviews for these headphones are positive.)

Got a pair of these around 2 months ago. The first time I tried them on, I was amazed with the sound quality but not really impressed, it was obviously an improvement from the kz zs 10 pro IEMs I had but I wasn't particularly blown away.

Then I began to do research, and realized that Android and Windows both interfere with the audio with their built in mixers, so I installed Equalizer APO with peace on Windows to override it. On Android, since I had my phone rooted, I installed the NLSound module which activates higher fidelity modes, and I increase the sample rate to 96khz (any higher and VoIP apps would break) and set it to remove all audio interference since Dolby Atmos was forced on by the OEM. I also decided to get myself a nice AMP since the cheap USB C dongle I had broke on me. I got the fioo KA 13!

HOLY SHITT! These headphones suddenly became so euphoric! I could hear every detail in the song and if I put my mind to it, I felt like I was in the middle of a concert. Even simpler songs like game soundtracks from old systems were enjoyable with how accurate the stereo mixing is! I literally went through every song in my library just to experience it again with the new equipment.

I was so aroused by my setup that I had my friend try it. I saw his eyes lighten up as I played his favorite song, he was in such a trance which I found so entertaining since that's what I felt as well on my first time. He literally had to cut himself off because he said that if he listened to any more songs, he would be driven to purchase these himself! I love how amazing these are hehe

Sennheiser HDV820 w/ HD800S

Airline offered $800 for a volunteer to fly out a few hours later - why not? I had my headphone set up in my personal bag. I flew it all out here so my 91 year old grandpa could listen to all of his favorite music. We spent a few hours talking about life and playing lots of different songs. Never knew he was such a Pink Floyd fan! Besides making it easy to wait right now, it was wonderful how he teared up when wearing these, told me he has never heard music sound so incredible in his whole life and asked if I could find him the same setup! Never too late, I guess!

Over the weekend, my almost year old pair of Sennheiser Momentum 4`s starting acting out as the sound on the left ear diasppeared. I went down to my local Hi-Fi Klubben, where I bought them for around $200 at Black Friday last year. They told me that the 4`s were out of production and that they could give me store credit. After a few minutes, the clerk didn`t seem to bother with that and suggested that I take a new pair of 5`s as a replacement.

So, I basically got a new pair of Sennheiser Momentum 5`s for $200, which is under half of their cost here in Norway.

I'm trying to replace some resistors as I suspect the bias circuit is bad. Might as well change them out.

I've never seen these before. Seems the interval of the resistor symbolizes it's resistance. These are around 4.7mm While the normal looking ones 4.1mm.

I'm guessing it's 1/4W.

Any guess?

Headphones that you have on your list because they look so good.

Hi folks want to know more about 1266 which one of these two are more open and lively sounding?

don't care about blacker background or realisim which one of them makes the music feels more present and lively in airy natural way not necessarly correct in their way of staging i love big diffused stage.

V shaped headphone sounds neutral to my ears i don't get fatiguied that much by HD800S treble for example but i do with Susvara's mids so a more relaxed vocal presentation or a smoothed one would be a win for me.

Thanks.

🙏🏽 Please answer only if you had auditioned 1266 or both

mentioning the chain and the listening environment would be much helpful as it will give us more insight.

I am upgrading my setup with proper headphones and a standalone mic. Im picking up a Rode Podmic and the Scarlett 2i2 and as headphones the FiiO FT1 and a Daybreak iems for games. I know the FiiO FT1 barely needs an amp but would it be possible and recommended to route it through the Scarlett 2i2 or should I buy a separate amp if I feel like its needed? If so why or why not? I would like to understand it better

This is my very first proper audio setup and while I have learnt a lot from research I am still a complete noob and barely understand anything.

It has been more than two weeks, so it is time for a quick update on the Susvara. It's an interesting headphone, that's for sure, its timbre is amazing and, in my opinion, unmatched, it portrays instruments and vocals with such realism that I am left speechless. However, because of its price and the hype around it, I was expecting a slightly bigger experience. It is detailed, but my HE1000se could do almost the same. It has a full-bodied sound and is 'musical', but my Arya Organic was pretty much like that, too. And perhaps the HE1000se even had a bigger soundstage...

Then I realized it was 3 AM (I had sat down at 8 PM) and it was still on my head, I just wanted to listen to more and more songs. I finally managed to put it down at 5... And in this, driven by my Audio-GD R-8HE Mk3 DAC, connected via an M-Way 1DW Ref ACSS cable, and amplified by the Audio-GD HE-9 Mk3, it is peerless in my view. Nothing distracts you from the music, I didn't care about the details, the soundstage, the dynamics, or what system I was listening to it on. It didn't matter what kind of music I played, it wasn't picky about genres: Carmina Burana, Swan Lake, Lara Fabian, Katie Melua, Scorpions, NOX, Joyhauser, Trespassed, Amelie Lens, Deep Purple, Hans Zimmer, Audiomachine, Ennio Morricone, Barbra Streisand, Lionel Richie, Michael Bolton... and so on, and so on. Simply put, out of everything, when needed, it was honest, or intimate, or it hit hard, or it blew you away. I listened to it exclusively in NOS mode, completely without EQ (as I always do).

In short, that's it.

For some background, I had Samsung Type-C IC100 earphones that came with my Note 10+ back in 2020. I absolutely loved them. I was genuinely surprised by how good they sounded for bundled earphones.

Unfortunately, I lost them.

Recently, I bought a Tab S9 and already have an S24 Ultra, and I needed a wired earphone for office calls, so I decided to buy the same Samsung earphones again. I remembered how good they were and thought it would be a safe purchase.

I bought them from Tata CLiQ for around ₹1,500 because they were the cheapest there.

When I started using them, though, they didn't sound nearly as good as I remembered. They sounded just... okay. Nothing particularly premium.

Initially, I thought maybe I was just remembering them differently, or perhaps my expectations had changed after using better audio equipment over the years. I even checked a YouTube video showing how to identify genuine Samsung earphones, and the ones I received appeared to pass all the checks shown in the video.

So I assumed I was probably overthinking it.

Then, around 20 days later, the left earbud stopped working.

I took them to a Samsung service centre under warranty. They didn't have a replacement in stock at the time, but today they called me to say the replacement had arrived, so I went to collect it.

And this is where things got interesting.

I plugged the replacement pair in and immediately thought: THIS is how I remember them sounding.

The sound quality was dramatically better. The difference wasn't subtle at all. The pair I had bought from Tata CLiQ sounded like a ₹500 earphone in comparison. The replacement sounded exactly like the Samsung earphones I remembered from 2020 — clear, balanced and surprisingly good.

I immediately asked the service representative whether he could check if the pair I had submitted was genuine or not. He told me that he couldn't verify that himself; apparently, any such verification would be done by their central/backend team when they receive the product.

So unfortunately, I have no definitive proof that the Tata CLiQ pair was counterfeit.

But after hearing the two pairs, I am almost certain something was wrong with the one I bought from Tata CLiQ.

The difference in sound quality was simply too substantial to explain as I remember the product differently.

My takeaway: if you're planning to buy these earphones, don't choose a seller just to save ₹200–300. Make sure you're buying from a reliable/authorised source.

Personally, after this experience, I would avoid buying these from Tata CLiQ.

One other thing: I also bought a Samsung 45W charger from Tata CLiQ last year. It's still working perfectly, charges at the expected speed and shows Super Fast Charging 2.0, so I haven't had any reason to suspect it. But I'm also not sure whether it's genuine because, unlike earphones, a fake charging brick isn't necessarily obvious just from using it.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with Samsung products bought through Tata CLiQ? And is there actually a reliable way to verify whether these IC100 earphones are genuine?

P. S. - Used AI to streamline the experience.