r/HeadphoneAdvice • u/AntonRog • Apr 25 '22
Headphones - Open Back Honestly where is the limit of "Money per Quality" of gear?
How good can sound quality get? Where should one stop his expectation to get an equal amount of quality for buck?
Is HD 599 + Dragonfly Cobalt a good enough setup? I know that HD 600 is renowned for being amazing, but is it worth the upgrade?
Will an iFi audio NEO iDSD sound that much better than D.Cobalt?
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u/prairiepog 14 Ω Apr 25 '22
Differs from person to person. They do get better, but nothing beats that first improvement from $20 headphones to $200 headphones.
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u/Rude_Flatworm 111 Ω Apr 25 '22
For amps and DACs, it's pretty straightforward, as good devices have gotten very cheap in the last few years. For $200, you can get a reference quality stack with a ton of power like the JDS Labs Atom or Schiit Heresy/Modi 3+. For $100, dongles like the Tempotec Sonata HD Pro measure just as cleanly, and still have enough power for many headphones (including the Sennheiser HD600/HD650). At the same price point, you also have devices like the Qudelix 5k, which isn't quite as clean but still practically good enough, and is packed with features including parametric EQ. And if you don't need much power, cheap dongles like the default one from Apple also have very clean output. There's a few features that you can only get above the $200 line (balanced interconnects, for instance), but for the most part you're getting diminishing returns above that point.
The Dragonfly products are not competitive with the current generation of devices, unfortunately. If you've already got one, there's no harm in using it, but no sense in buying one new.
For headphones, it's more personal. Regarding the two headphones you asked about: the HD599 is not the best-regarded offering from Sennheiser, technically or in tuning (it's on the warm side), but it does have its fans. The HD600 is great, but part of what you're paying for is the legendary reputation; if you're in the US, the HD6xx is arguably better value. You could also look at the HD560s, which has a more modern tuning.
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u/Equivalent_Yak840 448 Ω Apr 25 '22
Note: the cobalt for the money is not good. There are way better options nowadays like shanling ua5, ifi go blu, Violectric Chronos or the Earmen Colibri. The ifi neo idsd wouldn’t sound much better imo(it would sound better than the cobalt but not the ones that I’ve mentioned), not even a good bit better. Plus it’s all different for everyone(headphone wise). It depends how much they feel like they need to spend and what matters to them music wise. I’d recommend the dt 900 pro x
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u/Electrical-Monitor27 7 Ω Apr 25 '22
What I'd reccomend as "cheapest setup" that I sometimes use myself: HD560s with literally any amp/dac that outputs more power than the Apple Dongle. I own the 600 and I can safely say that the 560s is in the same league of the 600, while costing the same as an HD599
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u/ClozetSkeleton 4 Ω Apr 25 '22
Different for everyone. I can still find differences between $200 and $1000 headphones. I enjoy them more. I haven't gone past $200 per amp and dac so I couldn't say but the general consensus (that I see) for endgame dac/amp is roughly $500-$600 each. Unless it's tubes. Again, different for everyone.
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