Someone stop me please

Submitted by philosophyisawesome t3_yh9c95 in headphones

(edit: resolved—please see comment for my decision. Thanks everyone!)

Please talk me out of getting back on the headphone train…

I’ve been an “audiophile” since my childhood (father always owned insane systems), but always managed to stay within “reasonable” limits myself.

Anyhow, other than my KEF speaker system that I mainly use for movies, I’ve also most recently had a pair of Sundaras with an XDUOO TA-20. I then went down the IEM route, with blessing 2, then S6 and SA6.

Long story short, I got fed up with being tethered to cables—and especially with IEM body sound.

I ended up getting the new AirPods Pro 2 and am really impressed with their ANC and even their sound.

I was minding my business, when I saw that Hifiman was doing a sale (here in Japan) on their Sundaras and even Aryas. So here I am now, debating on which ones to get…I know that I shouldn’t be so easily influenced by sales like this, but please talk me out of it!! lol

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mjstealey t1_iud7chf wrote

Asking the addicts to help you quit sounds like a solid strategy

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TheHiddenToad t1_iuclj7h wrote

Hey, man, I know it looks tempting, but you’re in Japan

Buy 3 grapes or something if they’re still in season

I went almost a month ago, I wouldn’t know

Anyways, buy small amount of fruit, it’ll cost about as much as a Sundara and you can say you didn’t buy headphones

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philosophyisawesome OP t1_iucmgkh wrote

lol yeah you’re right. Or maybe an Apple 3.5mm dongle. After the recent price hike here and the weak yen, it’s almost as expensive as the Arya…

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TheHiddenToad t1_iucqsja wrote

TFW you go to the local famima or Lawson and a Coke there is cheaper than a dollar in the states

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KruelKris t1_iud25qb wrote

How much would you listen to these after new purchase excitement has worn off?

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philosophyisawesome OP t1_iugwj8i wrote

Very good point. I kinda feel like I picked up my AirPods (Gen 1 at the time) quite often even when I had the Sundara... Maybe I'm just very picky about comfort.

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_7o3L t1_iue0oh4 wrote

From my own experience, to stop on the audiophile road has more to do with your financial resources and how you are satisfied (or not) with your current gear.

And if we're considering there's not always a proper upgrade for what you seek, you might end up with several systems, which is more easy to do with headphones/IEM compared to speakers.

Overall you could ditch your Sundara for a pair of Arya which provides better resolution. It's not bad by any means, it does make sense you'd want them if you had a good experience with your Sundara.

If say you choose the Arya you could stop it there (openback-wise) as the Arya is well known to be an all rounder in this high end segment. Now if you don't have any budget limitation whatsoever why not just get the Susvara and be done?

Another thing to consider is how often do you use open back headphones in your daily life? If you're using most of the time your speakers at home, maybe there's no need for you to consider buying new headphones. Basically you need to brainstorm that and think of what gear will address your needs. And i wish i did that earlier as i have active speakers, 4 open back, 1 closed back and 1 IEM in my collection.

Hope that will help you in some way.

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christ4robin t1_iufqmnp wrote

Also both generations of AirPods Pro fucking rule and anyone who disagrees is a Reddit cultist.

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matefeedkillrepeat_8 t1_iui6c1w wrote

Your opinion, not everyone else's. Not everyone has to agree that they're great, what happened to personal preference of sound, build, and comfort?

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christ4robin t1_iuiibp2 wrote

I personally prefer the comfort of these nuts in your mouth

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RubenRag t1_iucw2lh wrote

Get the aryas, don’t deny yourself, the sundara sound ok but the build quality, imo is shit

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PutPineappleOnPizza t1_iud7xfq wrote

How are the SA6? They look so nice and I would love to own a pair one day.

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philosophyisawesome OP t1_iuddyil wrote

Yeah they were pretty great while I had them.

Major take-aways: much smaller (including nozzle) than most of the competition—therefore great fit. Good bass for a full-BA set. Good resolution (but there are better). Very intimate—little "soundstage". Even though the bass-BA is "vented", these still wear like sealed IEM I feel (might be uncomfortable. YMMV)
I also drew a great color combo for them—blue/green. Many people get mostly orange ones, but those can look nice too.

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PutPineappleOnPizza t1_iudetr8 wrote

I always wonder what a little soundstage in IEMs means because the stage for IEMs is generally smaller.. How do they separate the sound? I love good separation and at least sort of a three point soundstage.

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philosophyisawesome OP t1_iudi201 wrote

Yeah…I’m afraid not a lot of separation either? The S8 that I compared them to were just way better for that, but also too “sterile” at the same time. The SA6 had great punch and “grit”. Worked well for metal :)

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synthwav3z t1_iue8kry wrote

I’m not here to stop you, but rather to get some clarification… airpods are actually satisfying the ear of an audiophile? 😵‍💫

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hoy89 t1_iueb3yi wrote

They sound good to me. I bought them for wireless convenience, but was surprised at how well they are tuned for a mainstream audio product (Airpods Pro).

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philosophyisawesome OP t1_iug06ti wrote

Yeah it’s really about the convenience—but then you’re also surprised about how well they sound.

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suchbsman t1_iuefrsx wrote

Just buy the sundaras

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trbd003 t1_iuf24qy wrote

I could literally never spend that much money on a pair of headphones I have not tried. And I just don't understand people who do, either. Is there really a hobby in blind-buying expensive headphones just to own them?

I have 6 pairs but they were bought to fulfil purposes that I identified through hearing about them and confirmed by listening to them. And I didn't always buy the ones I'd heard about.

I started with HD650s and HD25s because I inherited them from my dad (the HD25s were his in-flight headphones from Concorde, they're still branded). I found the 650s often sounding very dull with a lot of music I like, so I bought Grado RS2Es which compensate well on that front and also add a bit of a spatial separation which I enjoyed enough to decide I wanted them. That said they majorly lack deep bass and I found myself wanting something that could really do sub bass properly, which Audeze were a clear contender for, and after lots of testing I arrived at the LCD-2 closed back, being my favourite. So I bought that. I also have Sony MX4s (over ear) for flying as they are ANC. I liked their sound a lot but didn't want to always carry the big case around for my daily commute, so I bought the in ear version as well.

What I'm getting at here is that every purchase was made as the result of me identifying that I wanted something specific, and trying multiple models to identify which one did that best for me. I have never just gone and bought headphones off the cuff because to me there is simply no point. I don't understand what you gain.

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philosophyisawesome OP t1_iug0l1w wrote

Thanks—good advice. I’ve listend to the Aryas before and liked them. However, I’m mostly wondering whether or not I’ll actually use them enough to justify their cost… Might just sit this one out and reconsider in a couple of months.

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christ4robin t1_iufqhxo wrote

Just try to focus on enjoying the shit you already have. What's the point of blowing your life savings on product after product if you only give each of them 30 hours of listening? Saying this as a fellow addict. Find something that meets all of your needs, satisfies at least a couple of your wants, and enjoy it to the fullest before even looking at advertisements for something else. You can make your own decisions ofc, and I'm not saying buying a good product (I own the Focal Clear) isn't worth it, but I've been happiest when I've forgotten to think about whatever else is out there.

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philosophyisawesome OP t1_iug0sej wrote

Good points, thanks. Especially the point about just using them for a few dozens hours before selling off is too familiar… that happened with lots of my audio gear (and cameras for that matter…). What I use most is what I end up keeping, so maybe I should just call it quits :P

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christ4robin t1_iugs8uc wrote

If you do get the Arya's, maybe at least make sure that they fit your sound preferences before ordering, and keep in mind that returns to China are a fucking pain. As someone who's dipped into high-fi a number of times now and kept expecting to suddenly like a type of sound I hadn't previously because "it's x headphone everybody likes it!" or because I thought the resolution would make up for it, it never went as planned.

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hamipe26 t1_iugmg0y wrote

Go to a soapland and request one of those otokonoko they have in there. They’re always looking for a nice master like you to spend money on them.

💀💀💀

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philosophyisawesome OP t1_iuh28e9 wrote

Update:
Thank you everyone for your comments and opinions!

After cooling my head down a bit and using my APP2 and a pair of Beyer T90 that I still have, I concluded that I shouldn't get another set of over-ears at this time...I should have mentioned it, but since I wear glasses, using overheads during work is really uncomfortable, even with headphones as light as the T90. Anyhow, I'll hope to get a good near-field setup for work after moving to a new place in the new future :)

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AntOk463 t1_iuhauas wrote

Like John Candy said in Cool Runnings, "if you're not enough without it, you'll never be enough with it."

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AntOk463 t1_iuhb8yi wrote

I became an audiophile and have baught 3 headphones. I got the Sundara a month ago because Amazon had a 20% sale and I was already looking into getting them for a month. I told myself that it's unreasonable to have a bunch of headphones that will ask sound the same, but I told myself those would be my first planner magnetic headphones and if I get then they will be my only pair and I don't get anymore. Then after a lot of thinking, I told myself if I quit one of my bad habits permanently, I can get them. So I got them and quit my bad habit because of it. I'm not going to say what it was, but I've been trying to quit for a while.

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AntOk463 t1_iuhbkcx wrote

Why do you want to get Aryas if you have Sundaras

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Odd_Relative_8131 t1_iudpoad wrote

Buy some portapros and get a headphone that's 80% as good as the best headphone ever made. That'll hold you over for a while. They cost like $30

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