My Favorite Headphones at Every Price! 

why no chapters?

You should do a similar video but with amplifiers/DACs!

This was a really, really fun video. As far as the under $100 price range, I really do like the HD 569, but the HD 599 is often discounted to $98, I actually got it for $79 on prime day! And the HD 599 is to me the more refined headphone, the best Sennheiser, under 100 when it is under 100.

Lot's of retailers are selling the Focal Clear Pro MG for 200-300 off and I pulled the trigger on them last week. They do have fantastic mid-range focus especially in the vocal area. They aren't warm sounding like you'd get from sennheiser vocals, but in terms of overall detail and analytics, the Pro MG's are just fantastic for picking vocals apart. I love using them for rock and not so much for orchestral music because the timbre/soundstage is lacking for me personally.

I wish I could have a 20 sec timer for every time I wanna buy a new headphone

Wow, 2 videos below 24 hours. That's Insane.

$200-$500 - Dont forget Hifiman Edition XS.

I can't believe there was actually some love thrown at the HD569. Years ago I picked up those and the K361 because I needed something closed and not too expensive for at the office. I really enjoyed both, but ended up keeping the HD569. Eventually I sold them too, since I've been working from home for years, but we just had to start going into the office so I did another head-to-head battle. Once again, I picked the HD569. I like the tuning and detail on the K361 a bit better, but they are extremely narrow, not quite as comfortable (even with my small ears and head), build quality is not as good, and their sound is very seal-dependent so things get wonky when you move your head around.

This is one of the most awaited content we were looking for. This is a great concept josh:) Thank you for sharing us your favorites!

this was SUCH a fun video, adding a lot of personality to, as you mentioned, usually slightly boring audio review videos. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing, thank you !

Notable misses IMO: Edition XS, FOCAL Bathys, HE1000v2, ZMF Atrium, ZMF Verite Closed, FOCAL Clear OG

Nice quick video list! While the Sundara are understandably the go to recommendation under $500 from Hifiman, for anyone shopping around, the Edition XS can be had for $380 right now and are definitely worth considering at that price!

Under 1k: Focal Clear OG, HD600 1k~2k: Arya Organic, HE1000v2 non-stealth, L700mk2 2k+: Susvara, Caldera, X9000 There are other good ones but I haven't heard them so I only recommended the ones I owned.

I know everyone is going to roast me as an idiot, but sort of went with the Grado cult ever since the first gen SR-80 wowed me 16 years ago and never really steered away from it. (Staring at my desk.) I was even crazy enough to just mod a pair of SR-225i drivers into the old SR-80 and change the cable instead of spending $200 in buying a new headphone for an upgrade just a week ago. The upgrade worked surprisingly well as a first gen SR-225 replica and I think I can still let my modded SR-80 go strong for another 16 years as my daily driver. I was even a bit upset that I was dumb enough to skip the original first gen SR-225 as everyone said it was only the sweetspot if you don't have enough budget. It wasn't a budget friendly sweetspot and it have it's charm that belongs to itself. Grados just have a weird magic that works on me that I never really found in other brands so I just stuck with the same formula evertime I bought a new headphone for my collection. I mean there was that time when a really sick bargin for a 2nd hand Audeze LCD-2C came out, but the owner of the store also had a displayed Grado GS-2000e on sale. After giving both a fair try, I still ended up bringing a fourth pair of Grado back because I think God almighty really don't want me to miss out my dream target. (I've set my goal on owning a set of GS series of any model as a personal trophy on my early years into the hobby, and it didn't dissapoint.)

I liked my SHP9500's but after watching reviews (including yours) I bought a pair of PC38X's and absolutely love the improved detail and overall sound for any listening need (music, games, etc.).

*I watched till $200-$500 range headphones!*

Kinda surprised the Clear OGs didn't make it into your $500-$1,000 bracket!

I can't believe you are releasing videos whilst sick AND with family around. Dude, have a rest, we can wait for your excellent content. REST my man.

For $100 more than the Arya Organic I think the HE 1000 Stealth is a much better choice.

I'm glad the lcd 2c is still reccomended. I bought it back in 2020 for 500 thinking it was a steal, now they go for 400. The value is amazing and the raw technicality is on par with some low midrange studio monitors, while still being easy to listen to. Needs eq but with them they are my favorite headphone, only beaten by the stax sr009, lcd 5, and the susvara. Everything else I've tried is only nominally better technicality wise and none have as pleasing a bass response. Its like 85% of the best audio I could imagine possible for 400 dollars.

No HD800s? That's pretty surprising. Nice list!

Awesome video! Though it's not a new headphone anymore, I was surprised to not see the LCD-X on the list, given that it even warranted a follow-up video on how great it still is. Loving the content!

I’m an ex audiophile for 52 years this is something for you Joshua to try for yourself love your channel too. I’ve owned 30 pairs of headphones in 52 years and there is a headphone sleeper that no one talks about and it’s old and 300 ohms and needs an amp it’s the Sennheiser hd 250 linear these are the best headphones I’ve ever owned or heard period. Dynamic range soundstage there around £100 on e bay and made in the 90’s even Sennheiser reps in the 90’s and factory workers brought them and took them home they are great. I own the hd 250 linear and mk2 I honestly mean this they compare to ANY £600 headphones today peace out

Highlights 🎧 Best budget option: SHP 9600s for an all-rounder experience. 💰 Great value: K361 offers clean sound for under $100. 🎶 Sennheiser choice: HD 569 is ideal for entry-level audiophiles. 🔊 IM recommendation: Zex Pro delivers solid sound for $40. 🎮 Gaming headset: PC 38x excels in sound staging and microphone quality. 📈 Mid-range winner: HD600 is a staple for audiophiles. 💎 Luxury pick: Imperion 2 stands out as a top-tier headphone.

what a great and high paced video. I would have loved if you'd have overlayed the actual product name somewhere in the corner as I am not familiar enough with all these great products. they are in the description which is great

The timbre of the Arya Organic bothered me when I demoed them. Acoustic instruments sounded plasticy, which is a deal breaker for me. The search continues.

What do you think about the He1000 stealth vs arya organic ?

I couldn’t figure out which connectors and numbers went together. Website was bad enough at explaining any thing that it gave me anxiety and I didn’t order anything.

I liked the 20 second format, linking to the other longer vids and chapters would help a lot tho

dt770 pro is just unbeatable for price to value and closed.

Audeze are a staple for recording/mixing engineers/mastering engineers, and I confer. The LCDX is where it's at. The new MM's have too much in the bottom end for me. The LCD1's($400 ish?)are good when paired with Goodhertz Canopenr plugin, and some sort of eq correction software(anyone will work, however the exact eq curve for this specific headphone is different in each plugin!). And the Sennheiser 600's or 650's are the entry point into the mixing realm, they are too bright for me though so need to keep that in mind with them, but their usable you'll have to check your mix quit often however! The Audeze Maxwell are surprisingly good entry-point as well, when used with a cord. However their software is crap, and doesn't work half the time, and still a year after they came out, does not work completely on PC(you cannot use the eq on PC, only on the phone), which is pointless for me personally...For this reason I wouldn't get them. Oh and the mic absolutely sucks! Would love to know if there's a 3rd party replacement that will cure the terrible sound quality of the mic at all? Oh and I forgot Hedd's HEDDphone TWO, the closest thing to have studio monitors strapped to your head that I've ever heard. However I haven't delved into audiophile prices above this point. Surprised that Audeze isn't more in the list tbh.

you missed the HIFIMAN Edition XS for under $500.

After following you, DMS and Resolve for a year, I pulled the trigger and ordered the HD600 for Xmas. Everyone should own a pair as a reference, right? Up to this point I've only used sub 200 headphones (DT 770 Pro 80 Ohm and AirPods Pro). I'm curious to see how much of a difference I hear with the new headphones.

Love your vids, you can be hilarious when you're in rare form and this one was no exception. I usually watch Z just for entertainment and you for the real deal on equipment, but you were the whole package today!

Giving yourself 20 seconds (ok and a minute for the big ones) this made the video really fun. While you might have gotten a little stressed, I enjoyed it at least!

bro were are the timestamps 😭

Here's the thing: After the Sundara, everything else to me is diminishing returns - and fast. In fact I prefer the Sundara to most other headphones in general regardless of price.

No Edition XS... interesting

I'm still at $100-150 range, just got to the Hifiman HE400se.

You completely missed HE400 series in the $100 range, which beat all your own recommendations.

HD 560s is $150 on Amazon. Great deal. It's right there with the HD 600 and 650/6XX

Saved up and got the HE1000se. I fricken love it. This wrecked other open backs for me. I have put away all my other headphones including the Utopia. I might be done chasing the open-back headphone dragon. One and done hopefully.

I'm so surprised the DT770 pros didn't make it on the list.

SHP 9600s (timestamp: 2:12) HD 569 (timestamp: 2:42) PC 38x (timestamp: 3:22) Odyssey Maxwell (timestamp: 4:12) HD 600 (timestamp: 4:42) Himan Sundara (timestamp: 5:02) Stealth Arya (timestamp: 5:42) LCD-2C (timestamp: 6:12) Aro (timestamp: 6:42) H1000 SE (timestamp: 7:42) Vocal Clear MG (timestamp: 8:12) Imperion 2 (timestamp: 9:12) Diana Mr (timestamp: 9:42) Abyss 1266 (timestamp: 12:42)

Recently snagged a pair of Sansui SS-100s and man…….these sound great! Of course in older and have lost some levels of my hearing I’m sure but they are keepers.

Good morning ☕️, I hope that you had a great Thanksgiving and heal up this weekend. Great cables btw !

Well my two high end headphones at the moment are the arya stealth and the lcd 2c. I bought the 2c last year during audeze's b stock sale and absolutely love it. The bass and vocals are insane on it. I recently bought the arya stealth for a change of pace and because I'm really getting into music now as my go to after work. These headphones are insanely comfortable and they sound full. I can tell the vocals are a little more recessed than I'm used to, but everything sounds really filled out. The arya sounds how I expect the music to sound if that make sense. I love them both though and switch them throughout the day. I'm running them off a fiio k7 and loving the experience.

hi, comfort level is important .. so pls make a vid with references to the comfort level of headphones

is there a reason you've never really covered ZMF?

Just got my Dali io 12. Best sounding Bluetooth headset i ever heard.

Wheres the guy with the list and time stamps?

And there's me over here enjoying my dt1770 as the stupid purchase to see what all the rave is about on these expensive headphones lol

What do you like better about the empyrean 2 over the he-1? I can’t imagine a bmw 3 series being a better drive than an aventador.

I’m back to the channel after a long time and the quick fire jokes are epic lol, Joshua’s older videos were much more analytical

The Monolith m1070's are the best-sounding headphones I own. Got them during the Prime sale for $258; reg. price $399. Comfortable and will enough bass to satisfy.

i wish you just let yourself talk instead of limiting yourself to timed sections, but a helpful video

Denon AH-D5000, they are simply brilliant...

That was a great vid, Josh, I really enjoyed the new forma- :)

58x and Edition XS?

Susvara ruins the 1266 phi tc in my book though dang

I would have preferred you to talk a lot longer about each one.

Nice video, but i abandoned using Sennheiser and AKG until i found my main Beyerdynamic.

I have to STRONGLY disagree about the AKG K371. First, I HAVE owned inexpensive AKGs in the past that I've loved (the old K518LE), but this one to me sounds unpleasantly nasal and congested. They've been generally well-reviewed, so this was a disappointment. By contrast, I have an inexpensive over-ear headphone from a Hong Kong company called OneOdio, their Pro-50, which has a much more balanced and open sound. It has some problems of its own, but overall it's an easier sound to live with. Are reviewers paying attention here to measurements, or the actual listening experience?

For decades only thing used in the studio was Sonys. With that said just picked up some Neumanns

I can't figure out how you like the Clear OGs and don't recommend the Elex enough. Maybe the lack of bass? Frankly I find it refreshing as it lets the mids take center stage in the overall sound presentation. I also suggest to explain the overall sound quality a bit more concisely : e.g. Focal's entire lineup is very punchy, dynamic and rhythmic, Hifimans are airy and wide etc. Love your content creation skills but please be a bit more concise because a lot of us rely on opinion leaders like yourself to guide a meaningful purchase decision.

I’ll share my journey here if it can help someone chose. So i had the dca open x for three years with a ifi zen dac v2 and thx 789, sound wasn’t for me, fatiguing, sharp… Got a chord mojo 2, the sound improved alot, then got a zmf auteur classic and it is great, no fatigue, amazing sound…. I can safely recommend these cans

Are you sure not the HD599? The HD569 are closed back Sennheiser's. Very surprised with that choice.

It's too bad that Josh doesn't review ZMF headphones.

4:44 Oh no... I am on the path.

loving the uploads

I just binge watched like all videos in the middle of the night. I have just a steelseries nova pro gaming headphones so this is totally new to me. Was curious on the Sennheiser 800s since many RU-vid audiophile recommended them. But after watching I will try the HD 6xx from drop. I think it will be a massive improvement overall and can´t wait to get them and try them out

For under the $100 range...my favourite is the Happy God Lucky Cat (Beets RGB Edition).

Although they are hard to find anymore and you can pretty much only get them secondhand now for $500 or less I turn to the Koss ESP95x (headphone and energizer) or if you don't need to include the energizer the Stax SR-l300 (preferably with a pad upgrade). I don't think I touch any other of my sub $1k headphones anymore since grabbing each of those although I am currently looking for some good $500 planar magnetics

Awesome vid, thanks! If you were interested in making an IEM edition of this style of video, I'd be so glad, I'd watch it in a heartbeat ❤

You don't think the HE400SE at 109$ is one of the best deals in audio right now? imo, it's the best entry to the hobby. You need a dac and amp to use it, but it's still cheap enough that it's competing with basic headphones, but it's NOT a basic set of cans, from a sonic perspective. Controlled base, decent sound stage, instrument separation, etc. all the goods of being an audiophile in cans barely more than 100$.

For $500 it must include a high quality travel case and a luxury enclosed saddle rack made of the finest Italian leather. No dust should ever molest.

Aw expected to see Focal Radiance get honorable mention as closed back option

I'd say, Drop 4xx is tremendous value and great introduction to planars. I liked it better than 400SE. Also Drop's Sen 6xx- I compared them side by side to my 650 - the differences were so minute it borderlines to placebo.

Looking at you holding your Iphone is way more interesting than looking at the actual headphones you are talking about. Good job... Or something.

I genuinely double checked my equalizer after hearing your voice, because I thought something got messed up on my side.

Joshua, I need some quick advice. I'm retired but have a nice speaker system with Martin-Logan Classic ESL9 Electro statics. I just bought an Aune S17 Class A headphone amp. I have good DACS too. Back around 2016 and later, I bought several pairs of headphones without seeking advice. They are in nice condition but today appear not to be worth more than around $50 each. They are: Sennheiser Momentum Brown leather, NAD VISO HP50, Sony MDR 7506, Phillips Fidelio X2, and Sennheiser HD660S. Which 2 or 3 should I sell and how much would I have to spend to get something better than any of them?

Any reason why does no one review Stax?

I just switched to the Maxwell from the HD600 and I agree both are the best headphones in the 200-500 dollar category but dude the Maxwell blows out my HD600 in terms of sound quality for EDM/hip-hop/pop/other modern tracks. HD600s cannot compete and were made for older tracks or those involving heavy acoustics to be honest

I’m surprised not to see the LCD X on the list.

Weird. I thought it was a well known fact that the Monolith M1060C crushes the Sundara.

I love how scuffed and authentic this is lmao. First time here and I'm in

HBB Dq6s is best sounding iem for only 30bucks. Sounds as good if not better than iem costing hundreds more with really good textured bass. HD560s with the right dac/amp is awesome. More cleaner vocals than Ananda stealth. Instruments sound bigger and even more detail. Sub bass is pretty good for open back, but better if there was more. Makes Ananda and all HD600 series sound all around more veil.

Its easy, Jay low end flat midrange okay highs airy and good sound stage. 👌

One of my fav lists and would be my go to lists in headphones aside from the site of crinacle

Super interesting! I'm curious to know how much better headphones are as the price goes up, assuming we are comparing the best headphone at each price point. Let us say that we give 100 points to a $1,000 headphone. How many points would you then give a $200-300 headphone? 90 points? 60 points? Or is it really a lot worse, so maybe only 30 points? And what about a more expensive headphone, e.g. a $10,000 headphone? Is it 10 % better, so 110 points, or is it twice as good, so 200 points, or...? Thanks a lot!

You’ll have to get your hands on Austrian Audio’s Composer. A highlight from CJ SoCal this year.

where 58x

im so surprised that you, and you aren't the only one, are comparing, or even prefering the Empyrean over the HE1, that is just nuts, could you elaborate ?

AKG K702 all the way to $1000 budget my next pair is probably going to be the focal Clear OG. Selling my Elegia which I loved till I got the AKG had the HD700 and its was good but way to V shaped. I might consider the hd800s but we will see

*New Contenders:* Sennheiser HD 490 PRO/PRO+, Altiat Cal.1h, Fostex T60RP Anniversary Edition

i thought youll be talking about headphones, how'd u abruptly jump into iems>

i hope u will hear stax sr x9000 with t8000 in the near future, it beat the sus with a good amp or the 1266 in my hearing comparison.

100 to 200 I think the Hifiman HE5XX specially on sale are a tremendous value.

Im surprised you didnt have more headphones for the 500-1000 range. Its a big range for under 1000. Also, Ananda nano is only $500 now

This is always interesting to have a look at 'HiFi reviewers' favorite products but i must say that Joshua not mentioning the current best planar headphone at below 500$ rises a lot of questions. I m talking about the Hifiman Edition XS. This headphone is an improved Sundara on every aspects. Especially when it comes to its bass response compared to the Sundara that has a sound signature that doesn't provide a lot of punchiness to bass. And as said before you can get the Edition XS at about 350-450$ depending of sales. So don't bother looking at anything else than the Edition XS if you want a headphone between 200-500$.