As a retirement present to myself I intend to buy myself my first set of decent headphones for sole use via the headphone socket on my SN3.
The intention being that as I will have a bit more time on my hands I will be able to have more listening time while Mrs Hanumike is at home hence the need for a closed back design.
I have very little experience with headphones and am not sure of the capabilities of the SN3’s on board headphone amp (no rack space for an additional dedicated headphone amp I’m afraid) so I’m unsure on where I should be pitching my search in relation to make, model and specification.
The above being said I do like the look of the Audeze lcd 2 which seem to be well reviewed and I can get new for around £700 but I have no idea if the SN3 headphone amp section would drive these successfully.
Budget wise I’m happy to go up to £800 as long as something in this price range would not be overkill for the SN3’s capabilities.
Any advice and or suggestions would be great fully received
Comfort is a huge factor, as well as sound character. My advice/suggestion is to make sure you either try some options before buying or at the very least have a free return period! Audeze for example can be pretty heavy.
I’ll let others suggest specific models but be aware there’s a huge choice and very personal preferences are only of limited value.
Just to add to @BruceW comments, if you can demo that would be ideal. Planar Magnetic headphones are a little harder to drive, so not sure how they would be with the SN3. Something like the Shure SRH1540 may be a little better match. But again, comfort is king here.
Do yourself a favour and do the rounds of local dealers and listen to a few - comfort is king and all headphones have a different signature - I don’t believe there is a universally accepted best!
Maybe worth buying something like Sony wfm5 - not expensive and sound good with an iPhone and are closed back - it may help you decide if Headphones are your thing and if you want to go further down the rabbit whole you can!
I have a pair but I find the experience quite restrictive and it makes my ears hot!
I was in the market for my first headphones a few weeks ago. I trialled a few and then put the B&W Px8 s2 and focal Bathys in a head to head. Both plugged in (to a node ultra I think) and wireless. Both lovely but B&W were lighter, more comfortable and sounded better to my ears.
I’ve since used them via an extension lead/6.35mm adapter into my xs3 and they sound great. I also stream via tidal on phone and may suit them even more! Yiu could add a Bluetooth dongle if you use iPhone to stream at higher res.
I’m a bit limited as to what’s available locally so might just have to take a punt based on advise / reviews and look to buy from somewhere that has a hassle free returns policy if they are not to my liking, I think the overriding issue is will they work with my SN3 hence my initial post.
A place to start is to Google Crinicle’s “In Ear Fidelity Ranking List +Head Fi”. Then find the headphones section. It will give you a good idea about what to consider.
It is a little out of date but it was pretty spot on for my Shure SRH 1540 headphones, which are very well rated in your price range. The really top notch closed cans are in the €1500+ range.
The Shure 1540 is aimed at the professional market, not hyped much. They play very well with my Astell&Kern.
I found the headphone amp in the SN3 pretty ordinary when I tried it, so if headphones are a priority I think you would do well to consider alternatives. The newer Naim amps are much better with headphones - an Atom HE with a small separate power amp, despite being 2 boxes, wouldn’t take up more rack space, or you could even consider a Nait 50.
I used the headphone amp in the SN3 for more than a year, without issue. It has some advantages over a dedicated non Naim headphone amp. It can be less of a hassle than a dedicated amp.
I have heard good things about the Focsl Stellia. I use the Utopia which are open back which won’t help you. Not sure of your budget.
Did my reviews/demos this time last year.
After many settled on the Meze 109 Pro (open back).
Very comfortable and very accomplished, punching way above their weight.
Meze do closed back products too and I would say they’re well worth a listen.
Good luck
Simon
I have previously and still use B&W P7’s with my SN3, so I think the current B&W PX8’s will work very well.
I upgraded my P7’s with Beyerdynamic T5 Gen 3’s and these are much better sound quality than the P7’s being used with the SN3 which drives the T5’s very well.
The current B&W PX8 and Beyerdynamic T5 Gen 3 should be in your GBP800 budget.
Both the P7’s and T5 Gen 3’s are very comfortable to wear on my head for long listening sessions.
If you can try headphones out before you buy for sound quality and also comfort, this would be the best option, but appreciate that this is not always possible.
Lots of people on here, including myself, have been v happy with the Meze 99 Classics which are closed back. I used them with a Nova which I imagine has a similar headphone amp to the SN3. Worked really well.
Normally about £300 but I see that Sevenoaks have them on for £230 at present. You’d be foolish not to at that price?
I had the Meze 99 Classics as I needed closed backed for the same domestic reasons. They were good but I found myself not using them as the closed back version inevitably sounded closed in! The plugs are awkward too and so you can’t easily change the cable - believe me I tried!
I also had a pair of Grado 80s which obviously leak a lot but as we had moved house, this was no longer an issue. However it did show the Grado’s suited me better than the Mezes.
So, sold the Mezes and am now investigating alternatives. From what I have heard so far, you have to go up in price a lot to beat open backed phones but my wife’s closed, wireless Bose Quiet Comforts are definitely better to me than the Meze Classic. Appreciate you need closed back phones so enjoy trying various brands - I found Richers carry quite a range you can listen to.
