slooploop2 OP t1_iu4gavd wrote on October 28, 2022 at 2:07 PM

Good audio should be accessible to everyone. While it’s very nice that I’m fortunate enough to be in the position to use the kind of gear that I never thought I would be able to have growing up, I recognize that more often than not, I’m yelling into the wind when I talk about how much I like stuff like the ZMF Atrium or Audeze LCD4. In the real world, the sub-$200 USD over ear open headphone market currently is dominated by two headphones: the planar-magnetic Hifiman HE400SE and the Sennheiser HD560S. While I appreciate the opportunity to be able to finally hear both these headphones, I can't help but feel like even for the amount of money they cost, I expect a bigger upgrade from other things that cost less money.

slooploop2 OP t1_iu4guma wrote on October 28, 2022 at 2:11 PM

Right after this was published I found out the DT880 can be purchased straight from Beyerdynamic for $175 in the US, which I think I would rather have than the HD560S, assuming I can EQ down treble. But for the sake of this review, I'll treat the DT880 as a $300 MSRP headphone like I thought I remember it being...

PH-GH95610 t1_iu54yte wrote on October 28, 2022 at 4:53 PM

I bought DT880 for around 150 € brand new with 2 year guaranty. And I think they are amazing.

Giggleplex t1_iu65vr9 wrote on October 28, 2022 at 9:05 PM

How does the HE400se compare to the HE400i?

slooploop2 OP t1_iu6edti wrote on October 28, 2022 at 10:07 PM

I haven’t owned an HE400i in a while but I recall that it’s thinner, but the midrange is less recessed and treble is way less annoying. I’ve seen used ones dip below $100 and for that money it’s pretty solid if the pads aren’t wrecked.

dongas420 t1_iu73wdd wrote on October 29, 2022 at 1:32 AM

It's nice to see someone else in the Anti-Elevated Treble Gang. Too much treble energy is basically the root of all evil, whether it's poor macrodynamics caused by specific harmonic overtones drowning out everything else, plasticky timbre that ravages vocal- and bass-centric tracks, making them sound artifically smoothed-over or limp, or transient smearing that leads to severe loss of detail and congestion.