Meze seems pretty good when it comes to planars. Although their tuning is not something everyone would like

Speakers have a different sound presentation compared to headphones. I prefer that intimate “in your head” sound

My favorite closed back ever would be the Kennerton GH40 ($700-$900 depending on where you buy them from). Super warm and bassy. the closest sounding headphone to it would be the Meze Empyrean, so for people that have heard that imagine it with extra bass, and a slightly more dynamic/less laid back sound (also closed back) and you get the GH40. However, I doubt it could ever compete for best closed back. Soundstage is great and detail are really good, but still not a contender for the objectively “best” closed back.

For soundstage though I can say the best closed back I’ve ever heard for that category would by my Hifiman + Drop R7DX JM edition modded by JM Audio Editions ($240~). The soundstage is absolutely massive and sounds wider than all of my open back headphones

My other favorite closed backs would be the Meze Liric, DCA Aeon 2 Closed, and Sony Z7M2

I use Spotify currently. I cannot tell a difference between the “very high quality” audio setting and a service that offers lossless audio. However, some people swear by it. it can’t hurt for you to try a free trial or something and just cancel it if you end up not hearing that difference

Nope. Although it does sound good I would not recommend it for electronic music or anything that needs bass

I listen to that type of music pretty often and I’d say they sound much better with nicer headphones. However, there is no need to spend $1k. There are plenty of headphones under that amount of money that sound amazing

$700 for something that doesn’t even come with a nice box?! Wtf it’s even less worth the price now than it already was

Maybe get one in the future, but you definitely don’t need one. If you do get any improvements in the sound from an amp there will not be a world of difference. (and if you don’t hear an improvement you can just return it)

Not sure about the XM5 but my old Sony XM2 only has one warning and that was when it only had like 30 minutes of battery left. Your best option would be going wired though like other people here are saying

Right now the one I do that most commonly with is HYËNA by KMFDM

Check out CanJam!

why would you ever buy an amp/DAC for $50 IEMs lol

They wouldn't ever need an amp/DAC anyways, but you should get something wayyy nicer before even considering it

yes cheap rubber can melt over time

Sounds like the need a more powerful amp/DAC. Not really worth getting something more expensive though if you have these as your only headphones. I recommend returning them and getting something more sensitive and easier to drive

It’s all experience. Just keep listening to gear and talking to people and you’ll get it eventually. It also helps hanging out in other forums with more experienced people like head-fi. Ask questions whenever you can because most people in my experience are glad to help.

Also attend local meets/conventions if you have any near you and see if there are any hifi stores near you that allow you to demo headphones (most will allow it)

Also don’t take every word as truth. For example I see people on here criticizing anybody who buys expensive gear, but somewhere else I see people saying that the same gear makes a difference in audio quality. Same thing goes for graphs/data vs personal preferences. Like I said, experience is the best thing for you to learn. Listen to things yourself before discounting a certain viewpoint

For the reference, it’s been 1.5 years since I’ve started out with headphones and I still get confused occasionally. It’s a deep rabbit hole!

None of them will sound remotely close to speakers

Headband adjustment sliders

I think you should try using the S12's for at least a couple of days. You might find out after getting used to them that you actually prefer them over the Truthear Zero. Of course, if you don't you can always just return them.

On a separate note while graphs can give you the general idea of how a headphone/IEM sounds, they really are not the complete story. Head shape, and ear shape also play a huge part in how you hear a headphone/IEM. You might hear more bass on the Truthear Zero because they seal better in your ear canal.

Furthermore, even if someone has the same head/ear shape as someone else they might still hear a headphone/IEM differently because each person has a unique HRTF which will emphasize certain frequencies

TL;DR: graphs are good, but don't always expect to hear something exactly how a graph shows it

probably because the S12 uses a planar driver while the Truthear Zero uses a dynamic driver. from what i understand dynamic drivers inherently have more punchy bass than planar drivers while planar drivers are better at delivering more linear/faster bass

Schiit was always the poster child for cheap american-made headphone amps (and overshadows JDS Labs which is the better company albeit they have less stuff)

I mean you might damage some headphones if you EQ in like 20db of bass at a really high volume, but other than something like that you can't damage headphones with an EQ, and it's actually pretty hard to damage headphones in general

$200? Not much is gonna sound much better than an MDR-7506 at that price point, and anything that does sound better doesn't sound good enough to the point where it would blow your friend's mind. You'd probably have to go into the $300-$500 price range to get something that will surprise them. They already have some pretty decent headphones imo

Yeah doesn’t really matter to me. This has been an issue for years, and Schiit clearly didn’t care enough to fix it until now. A company that doesn’t care about their customers is not a company I want to buy from

mid

That’s that guy who was ranting about the new Walkman right? I still get slightly annoyed when I think about that lol