Well, I certainly wouldn’t have an expensive headphone rig if I didn’t like headphones, but ultimately different folks have differenent degrees of giving-a-shit about headphone sound quality. At some point the average person is just going to reach a point where they’re not going to be 2x more impressed for 2x the money invested money invested. Maybe for OP the AT50X is that point, or he needs to listen longer and attune his ears to the XS. Maybe he doesn’t like Hifiman. I would try a new headphone before a new amp, anyway.

Get better amp.

I use them with a Fiio btr7 when gaming and they sound good - are there any settings that might be causing it (spatial sound or whatever it's called)? Or the sound card on the pc perhaps?

As gunshots etc sound beefy rather than hollow on mine...?

I finally got to try them out today and they soundn pretty great already!

Nah that ain’t basic, HD600s are basic. They’re the sh*t, but they’re basic as hell.

What a pick pile of Schiit :))

Congrats on your shiny, OP!

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I remembered owning something like this, but couldn’t remember what it was.

You both seem like reasonable people that just caught each other on a bad day. I took the liberty and nuked the tail of the exchange to stop the escalation.

Happy to re-instate the exchange if both parties think it's worthwhile.

> Ultimately every single headphone discussed here is just a headphone. It doesn’t sound like good speakers in a room, it doesn’t sound like you’re in a concert hall, it’s a pair of little drivers strapped to your head

Obviously since we’re in r/Headphones , I’m a little biased towards personal audio. Headphones will never be able to render a soundstage or the chest feel of speakers in a room. But I’ll argue that for pure audio quality (at least what that means to me) and when equally priced, headphones trump speakers. I’m speaking from my experience with LCD-5s and my pair of Philharmonic BMR Towers speakers.

And good luck trying to make a stereo sound like a concert hall. That’s an exercise in futility and will burn a massive hole in your pocket. You’re better off accepting that a pair of speakers is just a pair of speakers. It’s in a room that is a fraction of the size of an actual concert hall and has 2 point sources of sound (assuming 2.0 setup) instead of dozens points of sound that a symphony has.

There’s no 3 blob effect for me.

I use my t2s for working out and cardio, I use my 600s for gaming. The t2s are awesome. What kinda drink is that?

Is the 660S still the “3 blob” imaging though where sound can only be in front and to the sides? The 6– series is known for that. I’m wondering because is the Focal Clear OG worth it over the 660S for $500-$600 more?

I also have the T2s and the same SpinFits but yet the fit is bad for me. But most headphones have bad fit for my weird ears.

I’d like to chime in as I purchased both for comparison recently, I ultimately preferred the AE. I posted my own mini review as well if you’re interested, but the AE to my ears sounds fuller without compromising the treble that made the original great. I personally hear more of a difference than just a bass boost

almost every android phone has a limitation that whatever quality of your media is, it will always be sampled to 16 bit 48 kHz. So all your 24 bit 96kHz, 16 bit 44.1 kHz will all be sampled to this. Unless you are using UAPP or use exclusive mode on tidal, both with an external dac, the sampling to 16/48kHz will always happen on most android phones. the external DAC will be used to process the signal without being resampled by the phone and it will be transparent.

I wholly agree with your second point. The sound signature is controversial, but the technical performance is unrivalled at that price.

[removed]

Yeah I’d say they’re both worth trying in the future but there’s no rush to it. Play around with EQ to get more out of the k702s.

I wish I could be more help. Hopefully someone will chime in.

I have got it on at the moment, I will double check on this. thank you

Yes. I thought could be a problem so i also ordered a balanced cable. I been using only the 2.5mm Output at 50-80%. I think i have to get used to them. have had the m50x for long time. Probably i was expecting something similar when i went from shitty stereo school/home desktop speakers to a mid-end equipment. or $15 in-ears to m50x. but most noticeable difference was i can't enjoy that cheap equipment as i used to do hahaha.

I can't comment on apple, but I have a z fold 3 that I use to run my ie300, I notice that if I don't turn on the Dolby Atmos setting in the drop down (swipe down from top of screen) the sound stage isn't very good, and kind of sounds lifeless. I'd make sure atmos is enabled (if not already)

i was looking into trying out the DT990 pros and the HD 6xx to get a taste of what the other brands have but i should probably practice some self control and stop myself before i fall down the rabbit hole

i love the clarity and detail the 702s provide

I would set expectations from a new amp low if it's not money you're comfortable spending. There are probably cheaper ways of getting your placebo effect fix (like trying the balanced output, if you're not using it already).

Ultimately every single headphone discussed here is just a headphone. It doesn't sound like good speakers in a room, it doesn't sound like you're in a concert hall, it's a pair of little drivers strapped to your head, and past a certain point of quality, nothing is going to blow your mind, you're just getting different flavors of... headphones. If you're not interested in optimizing various fairly minor differences, just buy something cheap/good, EQ it to your taste, and move on with life.