I have my standard headphone testing tracks:

Generally: Aether - Illusion: Perfect for testing bass and dynamics.

Basically everything that Qumu makes, he/she produces very high quality gaming remixes, if you like that stuff.

Also "Theophany", same category, same incredible quality, different style.

Surprisingly also the soundtracks of a lot of Korean MMOs, incredible production quality: Blade&Soul(<-) ; LineAge / 2; Aion...

I think they are very prevalent with Audeze and Focal. Particularly Focal, they were having driver and headband failures on certain models at an extraordinarily high rate.

They had to up the warranty on the Utopia to five years to try to reassure people, because they were crapping out left right and center. The Elex, even worse, a very high percentage of them were breaking. I have the Clear and Utopia myself, so nothing against Focal, but I'm more concerned about them than I am my Hifimans. Listen to this for headband quality.

>And do not even get me started on [...] Focal and Fostex.

Never heard of it. What's up with them?

Ebay, r/avexchange, head-fi (forums).

These are the options I'm aware of. Good luck!

even if the price is double and there is a good performance gain I will be happy

I may just keep my BTR7. I like to walk around the house with my headphones on.

and sell the k9 pro. Where can I sell it?

I keep mine in plastic storage boxes (like this) with a few silica gel packets to keep moisture away (you can usually find those in the original packaging that headphones and other electronics came with... that is if you didn't toss them right in the trash). Works fine for me.

There are failures with every brand. But it would be a stretch to say that other brands have issues as widespread as Hifiman. And consistently across their models, too.

>Shure SE 215 will last forever. ;)

This is the worst par of it.

You don't need to tell me about overkill! I went for the RME ADI 2 for my (original) HD800. For me it was just the perfect all-in-one solution. Quality is perfect, Dac/Amp all in a very small form factor. All the settings, functions and tweaking possibilities I could ever want, parametric EQ, crossfeed, you name it.

And when I one day have a speaker system, it can do a fine job with those too.

That, and it's gorgeous. Nothing more mesmerising than watching the frequency bands dance.

Can I get something 1/5th the price? Sure. But for me, this is perfect, and always will be.

Only thing I still want to audition is tubes...

Focal quality is worse than Hifiman. They sound great, but incredibly creaky (Hifiman doesn't do this) and I would be more concerned about Focal headband or driver failure. And if it's out of warranty Focal want stupid money to fix anything, even the pads are like $200+.

Shure SE 215 will last forever. ;)

I use "fool me once" logic. I give a brand a chance. If it's good - great. If it's bad - never buy from them again. Does not matter how good of a "bang for a buck" they are (while they last). If they fail in a year or two - garbage.

Good headphones/earphones can last a lifetime.

BTW, doesn't Schiit have their Schiit together already? I blacklisted them long time ago (Asgard damaging Sennheisers drama and their response) . But recently I've read that they changed their ways and make better stuff now. Dunno it that's true though.

...says the Focal / Audeze owner

Its FIIO k9. Maybe it’s overkill. My $200 dac amp sounds the same to me. But it does have extra features.

I have six, no issues

Reading some comment on this Reddit make me worrying, but I always forgot that my He-400i 2020 is working like a charm after 3 years already. At 5-12h usage by day.I mean, I changed the ear pad and the stupid angled cable for a balanced cable(Fanta ) + Fio K3 v2.

Had plan to upgrade to a Sundana since my revenue allow it. Maybe am I going to hold on my gold Sample. I take really care of it lel. I even put it back in its box when I don't use it because I don't have a stand.

Wow a Sony collab, he's really moving up in the world

Maybe some do. Arnold wrote about ketosis and fasting when he competed. But I think others rely on diuretics drugs nowadays. My ex roommate took chembuterol drugs to shredd for competition. Probably not healthy way.

GSP is vocal about fasting too.

I purchased a pair of used Aeon 2 Closed online that sadly had a very quiet left driver, but it was also one of the early units that had chipping on the yolks, too. I contacted DCA and even though I bought 3rd party, I was still able to send them in for repair! All out of pocket, of course, but the fact they were willing to repair them still was quite surprising.

I had the Aeon Noire for a week and really wasn't sold.
The treble really hurt my ears on many songs, even with the "lvl 3" dampening inserts, even as a Beyerdynamic user.

Speaking of Beyerdynamic: I know this isn't a fair comparison, since it's open vs closed back, but my Dt 1990 completely smacks the Aeon 2 Noire in terms of imaging and resolution for less than, or around half the price.

this style is kinda boring these days

What's the amp and how do you find it?

Is this for BODYBUILDING? As I'm not sure in what other sport you need to FAST so aggressively?

BoAt is the definition of lipstick on a pig.

For me, trying to lose a few pounds for an upcoming summer trip. So far I lost 10 pounds.