Originally Posted by TKimages
I tried quite a few headphones and found the Shure 1840 headphones to be a nice balance between the 'dark' Sennheisers and the Grados. I had to go to a music/studio warehouse to audition them.

I increased requirements as I went along.

Comfort is really high as I want to listen while I work. Otherwise the just won't get used.
Looks, I don't want to look like I'm mixing an Album at work.
Not excessively hard to drive. Although Explorer 2 is said to handle a wide range it's not exactly a beefy headphone amp.
Prefer elonged cups, they tend too be more compact and less mixing engineer looking.
Light weight, related to comfort. No matter how well built for comfort less weight helps and size increases a lot as weight goes up to maintain comfort. Less than 300 grams was goal.

Good suggestion On the Shure 1840 and ended up ordering these.

I bounced between these. I did not go to a shop because I won't pay parlor prices. It's to easy to trial via Amazon Prime.

Shure 1840, lots of great reviews, much better build than HD600/650. Better comfort than HD600/HD650. Similar to HD600 but not as hard to drive and better build. Might have less bass though. These are easy to try first to even see if open back is doable in the office.

Sens HD650, clamping force made me nervous but these are supposed to be easier to drive than HD600 or 1840. And supposed to have better bass than 1840. This was close. Cheaper too

Sens HD600, all negatives of HD650 plus very hard to drive.

Audio Technical AD2000x, I was VERY tempted to get these. The reviews sound amazing. Not very expensive either. But they fail the looks department. They are HUGE. They are not easy to get in USA and have to be ordered from Japan. If I could have ordered on Amazon Prime I might have still tried them, knowing they violated a bunch of requirements. If listening in private at home I would have tried these. Tough to return if I didn't like. AD1000x is similar, available and wicked cheap.

Focal Elear, heavy and pricey. But look very nice.

HIFIMAN X V2, very pricey and heavy. Very efficient is attractive, looks stand out a bit much for the office. They were tempting. My wife really balked too at the price.

Last edited by Fiddler; 2017-02-05 23:05.
- Fiddler (IMHO)

If you think listening to music is fun, try learning an instrument.
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