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Best Headphone under 1k$?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K2LHB1J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I had enjoyed using SoundMAGIC E11C while out of town for 3 weeks on May.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077XDWT7X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

But I also got HIFIMAN SUNDARA from Amazon 10 days ago to compare it with SoundMAGIC E11C .


Although I will keep SoundMAGIC E11C for travel, I enjoy the sound from HIFIMAN SUNDARA much better.
It sound open and balanced.
I use Chord Dave to drive it.


Now my question is whether there is any headphone under 1k$ which will sound significantly better than HIFIMAN SUNDARA.
I wish to get transparent and open sound out of it with just enough tight bass.
Of course, if it provides wide and deep soundstage, it will be better.
I do not wish to get bright sound.


Can anyone recommend best headphone under 1K$?
thanks in advance
Thomas
128x128shkong78
big_greg
6,674 posts
 
Thomas,

One other thing you might consider is investing in a good headphone amp.  Most built in headphone amps are under-powered and will rarely do a good set of headphones justice.  
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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Looks like I’m going to have to gut it out. I just read a very comprehensive review of the HIFIMAN 600S V2 which, among other things, pointed out that 200 hours is required for break-in, the headphones sounding initially rather dry, anemic and bass shy. That would certainly explain the negative reviews, probably done by those who don’t believe in or ever heard of break-in.
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,485 posts
 
Chord Dave has enough power to drive most of headphone.

I am not going to buy headphone hard to drive.

I do not use headphone very often.

Thus I limit the budget  to 1K$ or less.
glupson
7,842 posts
 
"Anyone know the burn-in time for earbuds?"
It probably depends on the earphone model, but for Sennheiser IE80 (not 80S) is a couple of weeks of light use. Maybe 100 hours?
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