Drop + HIFIMAN HE-X4 Open Back Over-Ear Planar Headphone US$117.90 (~A$185.85) Delivered @ Drop

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jasswolf on 06/11/2022 - 00:04 drop.com (405 clicks)
Last edited 07/11/2022 - 16:24 by 1 other user

Exchange rates have weakened this deal, but if you have a new Drop account you get $10 USD off the pre-tax price, that takes this back down to $168.80, and thus competing well as a cheaper alternative to the HIFIMAN HE400SE (currently $209 on Amazon).

I'm just going to paraphrase my previous deal post for the rest of this:

This is a slight variant on the HIFIMAN HE400SE driver implementation, just in the older HE400/HE4XX style headband, but they sound extremely similar. If you're not going to do much competitve gaming, this is virtually unbeatable at this price.

Probably the best review to demonstrate the above is here, with the related HE400SE review here.

Enjoy!

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  jeo on 06/11/2022 - 00:17

  +1

  Can you compare this to the HD 598, the HyperX Cloud II, or the Fidelio X2HR?
  Just kidding, love to see the jasswolf certified audio deals. I'm curious, what do you daily drive?

  • 

    jasswolf on 06/11/2022 - 00:28

    +2

    Sennheiser 6XX, HIFIMAN Edition XS for gaming, AKG K371 for closed back. KOSS KPH30i for a portable if I'm not seeking isolation.

    • 

      jeo on 06/11/2022 - 00:37

      +1

      That's a solid setup, thanks for all the research/knowledge you impart on us fellow Ozbargainers :)

    • 

      piupiupiu on 06/11/2022 - 05:26

      Oh any reason why you’re keeping the 6XX if you don’t mind me asking? Do they sound tonally very different to Edition XS esp the timbre?

      • 

        jasswolf on 06/11/2022 - 10:47

        +1

        The Edition XS has excellent timbre for a planar and a brighter signature, while the 6XX has a more relaxed tonal balance with legendary vocal timbre… it's extremely hard to find a headphone that produces a more natural sound.

        There is no perfect headphone because there are no perfect engineering materials, so a collection is recommended to suit your usage. The 6XX/650 should be a staple of any collection IMO.

        • 

          mrbargainz on 06/11/2022 - 11:10

          @jasswolf: 6XX are great, but it's a shame they didn't use robust and decent quality cables and connectors for them. Enjoyable set of cans and quite comfortable otherwise.

          • 

            jasswolf on 06/11/2022 - 11:34

            @mrbargainz: I have no complaints, but they are a tad cheap in that respect, sure.

            It's just a 650 driver slapped into a 3D printed enclosure really, and you historically saved $200+ for almost no sonic difference.

            • 

              mrbargainz on 06/11/2022 - 22:50

              @jasswolf: Bang for buck they're really good. Just had the cable fail, which is pretty disappointing, but otherwise they've been good. I did think the cable looked cheap when I got them and unfortunately, it seems like I was right! Haha..

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  bargainperson on 06/11/2022 - 09:57

  +1

  Any tips on the best and most comfortable open headphones for audio mastering?

  • 

    jasswolf on 06/11/2022 - 11:33

    +1

    That depends on a lot of factors, including your head shape, and of course your budget.

    But at the end of the day, you should be using quality monitors or a full loudspeaker setup for most of that work, as you can muck up the spatial information of a track way too readily.

    Most sound engineers will just use closed headphones to check for hiss, pops, other artefacts. Multiple form factors will help for checking the final mix though.

    In terms of affordable, tonally balanced open back headphones that don't slouch on imaging too much:

    AKG K612 - $200ish (amp close to class A behaviour for best performance)

    Sennheiser HD 6XX - $300ish (same kind of amp suggestion, way better vocal timbre, slightly less balanced tonally with weaker imaging)

    Audio Technica ATH-R70X - $300ish (tonally balanced bar some warmth, very good imaging, some issues at around the 4kHz mark that might impact female vocals… better amps don't smooth this over as easily)

    Mr Anan's Nan-6 - $700ish via Taobao (much more tonally balanced HIFIMAN HE-6 homage than any current HIFIMAN but apparently blunts a little bit of its soundstage depth performance as a result… requires at least 3W @ 50 Ohms for competent current flow to control bass execution… pick up the Nan-7 pads alongside it)

    Mr Anan's Nan-7 - $1000ish via Taobao (more refined and slightly less current hungry than the Nan-6, details still coming in on this model)

    Sennheiser HD 800S - $1500ish (speaker-like imaging but a somewhat bright tonality you may wish to tame with gear rather than EQ)

    Audeze MM-500 - $2000ish (by far one of the most tonally balanced Audeze headphones, but not really a massive technical step up from the Nan-6, let alone the Nan-7)

    RAAL CA-1A - $3600ish unless you want to buy a completely different kind of amp (ribbon driver headphone with good tonal balance and excellent detail, imaging, and resolving ability, excellent timbre too… low impedance enough that cable choice can matter)

    RAAL SR-1b - $5000ish (ribbon earspeaker so elite imaging for a headphone, but less tonally balanced than the circumaural version… will also need interface box or its own style of amp… minor update of the SR-1a)

    There's other headphone options that lean further into the speaker-like experience of the HD800 S but have too many compromises for the price IMO, and none of them really touch what the SR-1a/SR-1b do.

    I'd probably stop at one of the 6XX, Nan-6 or Nan-7 depending on what you have in mind from your headphone experience.

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  Den on 11/11/2022 - 14:46

  Wow, can you recommend something as a portable noise isolating unit?