Right, a 650, regarded as one of the best headphones of all time for the money and not out dated by any means. Except they made it more affordable, pretty cool.

Man, as others have said, I have no doubt that their higher end headphones are constructed more solidly. But I just needed the feature for this pair. Wireless, mic, with acceptable audio quality. I don’t want to put BT in there since I already know this is the only pair. Don’t know any other pair that does this for any cost.

That sucks. I've only had good experiences. Owned the LCD-X for almost 2 years now with heavy usage and they're still in excellent condition (as should be expected with mostly a metal construction). They also sent me frequency response measurements months after purchase.

I'm a Hifiman degenerate, similar boat different brand.

A blue HD650. Which came out in 2003.

> It in itself isn't a major problem, its more what it might say about their processes, business model and/or customer care that concerns me.

Yeah and given OP's experience with one of their inexpensive products it seems like Audeze does more harm than good. Like what if OP gets a higher headphone budget and can afford something like an LCD-X and now they will automatically avoid it. Seems like a quick way to save $100 now but lose more in the future.

Anyway, my experience with Audeze CS has been solid but I'm a degenerate with an astronomically expensive headphone so their more inclined to help me.

I don't know how they managed to do it, it's pretty much magic.

Unfortunately my experience with IEMs is limited to the two that I have and both are outside your budget so I can't give you any good suggestions.

But if you follow this sub you'll see there is a new IEM coming out basically every other week that is somehow the most budget friendly and also best IEM. So I think you have a lot of options to choose from, probably even more than headphones.

Yea good point. If it's a deliberate design decision then I certainly don't have enough knowledge to debate that. As you said, I'm just basing my assumption on the competition successfully producing high end headphone with easily replaceable pads. It in itself isn't a major problem, its more what it might say about their processes, business model and/or customer care that concerns me.

Focals snapping?

I've seen mention of IEM's but haven't looked into them yet. Do they perform as well as headphones? How would an IEM have any soundstage being inserted into the ear?

Also, have you considered trying IEMs? I'm sure you can find one that fits your needs perfectly in your budget.

2 or 3 units that people posted about. I actually find it way more unacceptable than the post. The fact that it was even a possibility for an eye-watering $4,500 headphone is unacceptable. One of the reason why I’m such a fan of meze is that they treat the build quality of their product above what is expected for their price point. Yeah sound is number one, but it shouldn’t be excuse for cutting corner for build quality, which is also why I will never buy Hifiman again.

> That's seriously shows a lack of forethought... Or a distinct anti consumer design.

The pads are still replaceable albeit more of a pain to replace. They even wrote an article explaining why they glue on pads (article) but that doesn't explain why other companies can accomplish non-glued on pads while they can't / won't. Anyway I view it like some speaker manufactures really going on and on about how inert their speaker cabinets are.

Eh, I thought Meze was just poor in price to performance ratio? From what I've read their build quality and comfort are top notch. Basically the polar opposite of Hifiman.

Hifiman has 0 QC but great CS. Abyss and focal have generaly top tier QC but the worst CS I've ever felt with. Ime, only having owned their higher end stuff and being from the US, audeze has the best QC and the best CS I've ever dealt with in audio.

Exactly. China means it can be cheaper but China is capable of producing truly top tier quality just like anywhere else. It just costs more to do so just like anywhere else

That was only 2 or 3 units of the first batch out of thousands and they immediately replaced. Tbh I don't give them as much of a hard time for that as I do for what happened in this post

The Audeze Maxwell is coming out soon, something to think about. Of those, I really like the Sennheiser 38x.

Koss ksc75 are cheap and great! I own "many" headphones. Koss ksc75 are my go to gaming headphones. The sound is clear and the soundstage is wide. Before tuning them down read some reviews about them! :)

AKG 712 Pro is supposed to be an amazing headphone for soundstage and imaging. I haven't owned them though.

Same boat as you. Sad the Maxwells won't be able to do this, and the Penrose has a ticking clocking until it breaks. Mine has held up well for about a year though so I am thankful.

You could try something like this

https://drop.com/buy/drop-dan-clark-audio-aeon-open-x#overview

On sale for $429 currently. I don't personally have any experience with that headphone but I've heard good things about them.

I mentioned that in the post. At the bottom. $400 as I am not willing to go nuts with this purchase. Even paying over $300 feels ridiculous for headphones.

>closed back ear cushions. They are next level.

I totally agree with this. The headset clamping force is perfect for my big ol noggin and the depth of the earcups are amazing. How are the earpads for the open backs different from the closed backs?

What's your budget here? You can probably find a used HD8XX for relatively cheap.