Guys,

I am curious - do you use any high end headphones in your day to day work? Or perhaps at home?

I use these Ultimate Ears Capitol Records IEMs in my travel kit. I reviewed them too.

Normally, I use over-the-ear headphones like my Mark Levinson No. 5909s. Those are my favorites with the "Harman Curve" and whatnot. I've beaten the snot out of mine but they are still rocking. I took them to Munich HIFI with me in May. Still kicking.

I had SO MANY OTHER audiophile headphones that I lost in the Palisades Fire. HIFI MAN Divas, Bowers & Wilkins Px8s, T+A Solitaire. Literally, a whole bunch of them went in the dumpster last week. It was painful. Perhaps State Farm will pay for them? Unlikely.

what do you guys use? Most of mine are wireless but open to wired suggestions too.

Thanks in advance.

Jerry

 

Beyer DT1770 Pro, and Audeze LCD-2 Classic. Between those two all my bases are covered. At work I have the Audeze Maxwells which are wireless so it quite convenient.

 

I used HD600's for a long time, I also have 7506's & ATH M50's, then I bought Slate VSX when it came out, that has been a game changer for me. I totally trust it, I have ATC SCM25's which are in VSX and they sound the same. The latest update makes them next level. The bonus is being able to have the ability to have pro monitoring anywhere. I also avoid wireless because you're listening to data compression.

 

ATH M50's all day here.

It's not about what headphones you use, it's ALL about how you are able to learn any pair of headphones and make your work translate.

 

I only use the "Beyerdynamic - DT-990 Pro" it is very comfortable and of good quality.

 

It is my old iPhone earphones, the right channel is working only, and the left one is broken...

 

Last edited: Nov 29, 2025

Anyone tried good IEMs like OP?
I got a pair recently and it's absolutely insane how good they have become. My girlfriend who has nothing to do with music production or critical listening tried them - she was moved to tears and said that she can never go back to "normal" headphones (she has to though because her phone doesn't have headphone jack, damn pixel). Apparently they have developed so much that nowadays even 50$ will get you something that would have been more like 500$ a few years ago.

Highly recommend to try even it just for a having another reference in the arsenal. I got some with a neutral/flat profile for referencing music, out of the box those are absoluty incredible, I suddenly noticed details that I would never get with my beyerdynamics or Audio technica.

 

Beyerdynamic DT-1990 Pro. I trust them making/analysing music with. They've been the only ones out of my local music store I really liked (although I have not asked for some really high-end ones). I enjoy listening to music on them, too. Some reviewers seem to dislike them regarding this.

I'm glad I have covered this ground and not feeling the need of digging into the rabbit hole of high end headphones for now.

 

I'm broke so the most expensive thing I could afford were the Hifiman Sundara open-back headphones. Obviously I eq'd them to Harman. I can say I love them, but to be fair I've never listened to more expensive models to compare. Anyway, the fact that someone like Emrah Celik switched to them (for mixing) from Audeze LCD-X makes me feel kinda sure that it's not just my impression that these sound too good to be "only" $250-300

 

Audio Technica ATH-M50x here.
Might not be high end (around $150) but I'm very happy with these.

 

Hey, mind letting us all in on what make and model? Thanks!

 

I have a FiiO FT3 with custom sheepskin pads, and a Sennheiser HD58X (first batch before they moved production) in storage. I keep trying to sabotage myself by wanting more expensive headphones, but in the end I can't justify that purchase. Might move to a planar next time instead, maybe even FiiO again. They go in my Audient iD24 into a Schiit Magni 2 that I got a little over 10 years ago. Love this little guy and I have zero reasons to upgrade it.

Had this talk a while ago with my brother. We bought two cheap IEMs (Salnotes Zero and Moondrop Chu 2) and even the uplift in quality from previously cheap IEMs from 5 years ago is noticeable. They're getting closer and closer to stuff that sounds like $200, but instead I paid $20 for it. I got the Moondrop for myself and I highly recommend it. I just plug it in my Audient to check my mixes, it's incredibly useful.

Edit: wrong quote

 

Last edited: Jun 25, 2025

I use Beyer Dynamic DT150. Very revealing but not loud.

 

Funny, but I've liked ATH-M40x more than M50x. USing these and Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro & Sony MDR 7506

 

I have a couple of DT770 250 Ohm for casual tracking and recording and the Sennheiser Hd 490 Pro (open back). I enjoy the Sennheiser a lot for extended use - it’s light, balanced, and has great depth, so I can work with it for long hours. But at that price point, I should have considered Hifiman brand because of their planar design.

 

Ah sorry, it's the Truthear Zero Red 2. Very cheap.

I saw this VERY favorable review of the Zeros by Amir on ASR: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ds/truthear-x-crinacle-zero-iem-review.37380/
"Go and buy one of these! I don't care if you don't listen to IEMs normally. You want this IEM so you know what correct tonality is, when you listen with other transducers such as headphones and speakers. Think of it as the tuning fork that a musician uses! This IEM needs to be in your arsenal."

I accidentally ordered the red version instead of the blue but I don't regret it.

 

Hedd Audio - Headphone One.

In a shootout with Audeze and Focal they came out on top.

Most of the headphones listed in this thread don't fit the title of thread, they're generally cheaper headphones.

 

I used to wear Sony MDR-7506 Closed-Back Studio Monitor Headphones as well as Sennheiser and Sharp TV headphones every day. I stopped wearing them when they started to cause fiction baldness. I now wear Sennheiser CX 300S In-Ear Headphones and all of my hair grew back.The Sonys were like wearing a vice on my head.

My Sennheiser TV headpones kept breaking and I got tired of warranty returns so I bought cheap Sharp TV heaphones off Amazon which were great sound wise but not good for my hair. Bearing my mind that I wore them from waking up until gojng to bed 24/7.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jun 25, 2025

Slate VSX are now the only high end headphones I own or need. They're honestly that good, IMO.

I don't consider these necessarily high-end, but I still use my Sony MDR-7506 headphones because I've had the same pair for almost 30 years, and at this point, I can't bear to let them go.