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List your state of art headphones for smart phone use!

I am looking for over the ear headphones that can play at a satisfactory volume and do not drain the battery.
I currently have Sony Pro MDR 7520 headphones that list at $500 and are on Amazon for $275.
They are comfortable and fairly good for the price.
I use an Audioquest dragonfly cobalt D/A with my iPhone, iPad, and laptop.
If I moved up to $1000 or more what would be much better?
Are earbuds an alternative at all?
At home I use Stax L700 and get very close to SOTA sound quality with a Stax tube/fet driver amp.
I do not expect the same Stax sound quality.
Can I get close to my home headphone quality?
don_c55
erik_squires
16,007 posts
 
I have the Fiio FH5 and have used it with two different portable amps.

The Hifiman wireless spanks it in all ways.
don_c55 OP
1,025 posts
 
Eric

Bluetooth is not even CD quality!

Have you ever even heard Tidal lossless ?

Your ears are not to be trusted IMO.
shkong78's avatar
shkong78
1,475 posts
 
I paid 1K$ for Massdrop Empire Zeus earbud.


That is the best piece for smart phone with nice dynamics, nuanced details and high efficiency.

I had been happy with it for more than 4 months of use.

https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-x-empire-ears-zeus-universal-iems

I also have Stax 009S driven by Carbon amplifier.

Empire Zeus sounds almost 90% as good as Stax 009S.


asahitoro
244 posts
 
I don't know about state of the are but my iBasso IT01 IEMs and AQ DragonFly Red combo sounds really good through my iPhone. I'll probably grab a Cobalt if I see a deal on one but I'm happy with the Red.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,461 posts
 
Easy. These guys are the pro's.  https://www.etymotic.com/er4-new.html
You can not control the frequency response without isolating the ear canal. These are the only plugs that do that effectively. They also have a 31 dB noise isolation factor, better than any head phones. Most people use these as their only headphones. No weight on your head. No sweating under the seals. They are also tough as h-ll. There are kevlar strands in the wires. You can hang yourself and you won't hurt them. If your wife accidentally throws them in the blender with your strawberry daiquiri they will send you a new pair at 1/2 price. Great Company! 
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