Too early to tell for me, especially since I've spent the last two hours dealing with PC problems. But I'm off work tomorrow, so I'll have all day to compare, and I'll come back to you then.

Soo, after deciding that I did want to get myself an HD600, and specifically one with the old marbeled design, I finally got these for 180 bucks. They didn't come with the box unfortunately, but for that price and in that condition I'm not complaining.

I just came out of my first half hour of listening to them, and while more listening and comparing will certainly follow, I gotta say: I get it. I understand why these are as popular as they are. I should note this really is my first pair of Sennheiser headphones, despite having gone much further in budget before.

They aren't without flaws of course, but still surprised me positively. I was expecting the timbre, I was expecting the clarity/detail (compared with the R70x which has a similar timbre), but I was not expecting how dynamic this headphone is; it's quite a lot of fun.

I've come to learn that what many people refer to as "detail" is something I would personally call "clarity".

This becomes particularly noticeable in fairly treble heavy vocals. Less "detailed" headphones will make them sound somewhat "grainy", more "detailed" headphones will present them more cleanly.

It is this treble cleanliness that can make it easier to distinguish details, but less easy does not equal impossible, and other factors play into how easily details are heard as well.

That was my experience with the R70x. First impression: Very light, feels cheap. Later: I don't even need to wear it, it just floats by itself!

Aurorus Borealis.

While I do absolutely love the sound, I gotta admit I'd mostly keep it for its uniqueness and to make steamed hams memes:

"Aurorus Borealis? At this time of day, at this time of year, in this part of the country, localized entirely within your headphones?!"

"Yes!"

"May I hear it?"

"No."

After getting into this hobby, the first headphone I actually felt comfortable replacing my old "Gaming" headset daily driver with was the Mod House Audio T60RP Argon.

It is insanely comfortable (including pretty deep pads), has a soundstage that is fairly big, especially for a semi-closed back (but it's also conventionally wide, easily beating for example the Sundara), imaging that stretches a bit to the width of the soundstage but remains precise, and a sound signature that is a lot of fun, with a tastefully executed v-shape.

These make anything sound good, which is why I like them for things like YouTube where cheap productions and compression could otherwise be a problem. With that said, they do have a somewhat artificial timbre, and they lack a bit of clarity as well as bass "speed" compared to what I would hope for with a planar at this price point - they do come in at "upwards of $400" with a price of $479 once you add the pads and strap - which you absolutely want to.

While I personally really enjoy the Argon, you could also check out other less severe (and thus cheaper) T50RP/T60RP mods, or maybe just a T60RP with custom pads or something (you could even get the Argon's pads on their own).

When I wrote Audio-Technica to get replacement parts for the headband, I was able to order those from them.

It seems like they would sell you earpads, too, but that impression could be wrong.

That makes sense. Although, there is one "current" game in which you can clearly hear the compression: GTA 5 / Online, but that came out 9 years ago of course, so it's no surprise it is no longer "current" on a technical level.

When it comes to sounding "like a corrupted sound file", the DT 770 does have a treble peak, which accentuates high-frequency detail. This is exactly where compression artifacts lie. A lot of game audio is fairly heavily compressed, so artifacts are there. They typically aren't all that noticeable in the mix of different noises and sounds, but will stand out more when you're listening to headphones with a lot of treble for the first time.

EQ doesn't avoid compromised, it makes different ones. If these are better or worse depends on the specifics.

For example, distortion. Typically in audiophile headphones, it is below audible levels and thus pretty irrelevant, but if you boost a frequency range with relatively high (although still inaudible) distortion, it can become audible.

And of course, EQ above ~5kHz is always limited by the individuality of our ears and thus can't be very granular if it should work for everyone. So, say, if there is a resonant spike somewhere between 6 and 8 kHz, if you want to address that with EQ, you have to lower that entire region because where exactly the spike is depends on your specific ears. But if you can engineer the headphones so they resonate less to begin with, then this will work regardless of the exact resonant frequency.

With that said, DSP can be a valuable tool in tuning, just like all the other tools available to engineers. So, I wouldn't necessarily say it makes design easier, but in combination with conventional tuning it can be able to overall reduce the compromises that need to be made.

This of course ignores the inherent compromise of needing to have a DAC and amp on-board, which simply won't be able to compete with bigger external stuff (but perhaps with the USB dongles many people use for their IEMs). This, in my opinion, makes DSP most useful for mobile or budget offerings, where it's quite likely the user won't have a sophisticated setup when they use it.

The Jiu, then, which builds on a strong basis of conventional tuning but with room for improvement, and is of course a budget IEM, should be a perfect fit, but for example a Blessing 2 DSP might make less sense.

That's of course just my opinion, based on my understanding of DSP and its effects. Feel free to form your own opinions and please do correct me if I'm wrong.

I use the Accessory House DN8PRO, both the regular and XL version (don't have a DT 900 Pro X though).

I think the DT 900 Pro X should fit in either, but the non-XL would likely be pretty tight; the XL would be a bit loose but has a strap to hold things in place.

I had used the non-XL with a DT 1770 Pro, and while it fit, the (wider than the DT 900 Pro X) earcup forks left imprints in the lining. I had used the XL with that same DT 1770 Pro with Dekoni pads, and it fit with room to spare.

Did it make them sound more musical, though?

The ending of the 1812 overture, particularly the recording of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Slatkin.

It has enough soundstage to test staging and imaging, covers a wide dynamic range, will show off the headphones' timbre, gets so busy that even the most detailed headphones will be pushed to their limits, and shows bass impact and sub bass extension with the cannon shots.

Medically speaking, I would guess that open backs with absolutely no seal are best as they don't touch your ear canals and allow some ventilation.

"no bass"

Guess he was holding them 10cm away from his ears.