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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
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,485 posts
 
This morning I had compared between  SoundMAGIC E11C earphone,  HIFIMAN SUNDARA and  HIFIMAN RE800s driven by Chord Dave Dac/preamp.

I played "Centerstage" which is a forgiving Audiophile CD.

Sundara still sounds musical with neutral sound.

SoundMAGIC E11C sounds also nice driven with Dave with more dynamics and neutral sound.

HIFIMAN RE800s  sound vivid and dynamic but with occasional bright edges.

HIFIMAN RE800s  may work in forgiving system but not with Dave which offer vivid and clear sound.

Tomorrow I will  get  Periodic Audio Be earphone.

After burning it overnight, I will do comparison between three earphones.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
If the 800S is anything like the 600S V2 it’s going to take longer time to burn them in. Much longer. For my new HE-600S V2 after 10 hours per day for 4 days the sound is still decidedly peaky and bright with no bass. As I mentioned somewhere along the line the reviewer of the HE600S V2 stated that no significant changes to bright bass-shy sound occurred until AFTER 200 hours of burn in and that 300 hours is probably about right for the burn in period. If my math is correct that would mean perhaps as much as 600 or 700 hours might be required for one person to do a proper evaluation of THREE such earphones.
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,485 posts
 
Some reviewers reported 7Khz peak of RE800S even after full burn in of around 300 hours.

After 50 hours of burn in, it still sounds too bright to my taste.

It is almost certain that I will return it to Amazon after comparison of three earphones.

But it may work with some forgiving system.

Thus I do not discourage other people from trying this out.

This one has vivid and dynamic sound with clear soundstage which will suit some people’s taste.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
I am saying you should expect the brightness to continue for at least 200 hours. Rome wasn’t built in a day. 😬 At this point in time my Grado 60s sound much better than the HE-600S V2s. And the Grados are relatively inexpensive headphones. The HIFIMANs are FAST, I’ll give them that! It is what it is.
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,485 posts
 
As Geoff mentioned, Hifiman RE800S earphone sounds very fast and exciting.

With Cocktail Audio X12 music server and CD player, it is listenable while it sounds too bright to listen with Chord Dave.

Thus with some system matching, Hifiman earphone could be good value.
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