Audiophile Headphone Models and Prices
Audiophile headphones, also known as Hi-Fi or High-End headphone models, are the types of headphones that deliver the sound to our ears in the most natural and realistic way. Audiophile headphones give their best performance by connecting them to the devices we call amplifiers in a wired way. Audiophile earphone models are open-back and closed-back on-ear headphones. With open-back audiophile headphones, you hear ambient sounds and the driver's back is visible. In the open-back headphone model, the environment where we listen to music should be areas such as the study room, where we are alone, rather than crowded places such as the office. While listening to the music, we should pay attention to the environment in which we listen to the music in open-back audiophile headphones in order to enjoy the music by focusing on the song even better without disturbing the people around us. Closed-back audiophile headphones basically isolate the sound coming from the outside, like all other headphones, and do not transfer the internal sound to the outside as much as possible. Closed-back audiophile headphones are much more suitable for use both in crowded environments and outdoors. Audiophile earphone types are not only on-ear, but there are also in-ear audiophile earphone models. These are generally earphone models where the cable coming from the back of the ear wraps the ear and fits perfectly into our ear. Audiophile earphone models vary depending on the model type, features and brand power of the earphones. The compatibility of the audiophile headphones you buy with the amplifier in your hand, and your personal preferences are among the factors that affect the price of the audiophile headphones.
What is Audiophile Headphones?
Audiophile earphones are earphone models that those looking for detail, instrumental richness and naturalness in music want to buy. Audiophile headphones are preferred by users with sensitive hearing ability, who can separate the sound into layers from the moment they hear it, unlike normal people, which we call audiophiles. Audiophile headphone models go through more sensitive production processes compared to classical headphone models, and many audiophile hifi headphone models are also handcrafted. These cost variables in the production process cause audiophile headphones to be the most expensive headphone models. Audiophile headphones are earphone models that we can take wherever we want and customize them according to our own ears, just like play dough. We can apply the treble, mid and bass levels we want by playing with the equalizer settings of our hifi headphones that we drive through the amplifier. With the advantage of adjusting the Eq, we can listen to different types of music in the tones we want.
Audiophile Music
Audiophiles usually listen to songs in which instruments come to the fore with their audiophile headphones. Classical music is the type of music that audiophiles love the most. With the conductor starting the music, in the classical music genre in which string instruments, wind instruments, percussion instruments and string instruments move at the same time, audiophiles who distinguish the sound of each instrument layer by layer, distinguish these sounds in the best way. prefers audiophile headphones to be able to Audiophile headphone music includes music genres such as jazz, blues, rock and metal, in addition to classical music. In fact, audiophiles like to listen to all kinds of music, in some songs they listen to the instruments in which the vocals are prominent in some songs.
Features of Audiophile Headphone Models
Audiophiles and sensitive users enjoy shaping the sound by playing with the headphones they want. Audiophile headset models are wired models, they do not have wireless connection options such as bluetooth, they do not have microphones, there are no control buttons on the headphones and their cables. Audiophile headphones are mechanical products because they do not have any smart features and software, you get all the performance according to the quality of the hardware in the headphones. Audiophile headphones are also called reference headphones. Reference headphones are headphones that allow musicians to listen to the first version of their songs in the studio environment after recording their songs and have an idea before they make adjustments such as mixing, mastering and equalizer. Reference headphones, just like reference monitor speakers, are used to ensure that the users who will listen to the songs all hear similar tones, so reference headphones are of great importance for artists. We can drive the audiophile headphones through portable music players and change the equalizer settings as we wish. Since the capacity of each earphone is different, our possibilities to play on it may also vary. In some earphones, when we turn the volume up to 80%, we will see distortion in the sound, as in some earphones, there may not be any distortion in the sound even at 120%, this is due to the quality of the driver inside the earphone and the materials used in the components. Compared to other bluetooth and over-ear headphone models, audiophile headphones are larger, have fuller pads, much higher quality of material, and thicker cables.
Studio and Reference Headphone Brands
Studio headphone models and reference headphone models are used by artists in studios. Artists prefer studio and reference headphone models after every change they make in their songs in studio environments where they record vocals and instruments and make mix – mastering settings on their songs. Hifi headphones produced by Sennheiser and Focal brands are examples of studio and reference headphone brands. Sennheiser's HD series audiophile headphones and Focal's High-End class audiophile headphones are among the brands that come to mind when it comes to studio headphones.
Audiophile Headphones Prices
Audiophile headphone prices vary depending on the headphone brand, headphone model and audiophile headphone type. First of all, you should decide whether you prefer in-ear or over-ear audiophile headphones in line with your needs, then you should choose a brand and model. While Focal's High-End headphone models start at a higher price, Sennheiser has audiophile entry headphone models. However, Sennheiser also has an audiophile headphone model, such as the HE 1, which is specially produced and costs millions. Prices are increasing exponentially in audiophile headphones, because the quality of the equipment, the quality of the equipment and the precious metals used in the equipment directly affect the price.
Who is an Audiophile? How to Tell Audiophile?
The audiophile is an audiophile and has made music a lifestyle. Audiophiles, who are highly knowledgeable about music culture, are also known for having collections such as records and music CDs. Audiophile is a refined pleasure, just like watch enthusiasts. Being an audiophile is a costly job in the advanced high-end class. Passive speakers, audiophile headphones, amplifiers, music players, speaker and headphone cables, audiophile is a job that requires serious effort and effort. Audiophiles are people whose ears are extremely sensitive to sound frequencies, who can distinguish sounds, and who can distinguish each beat of the instruments in songs. Audiophileism often starts with a love for sound from an early age, and this love for music continues to increase in later ages.
How to Tell Audiophile Headphones?
When we take the audiophile headset in our hands, we do not see buttons on the headset or its cable, the headset does not have any wireless connection and smart features. Audiophile headphones are controlled only with the help of the amplifier, the lowness of the sound and other changes in the character of the sound are managed only through the amplifier. The cables of audiophile headphones are noticeably higher quality than normal headphones, you can understand the workmanship in the input sockets even at first glance.
Things to Consider While Buying Audiophile Headphones
The first thing we should pay attention to when buying audiophile headphones should be the type of headphones. Let's think that we choose on-ear headphones, this time we should pay attention to whether they are open-backed or closed-back headphones. Then, in line with the budget we have, it would be right for us to turn to strong and well-proven brands. The audiophile headphones that you will buy today from an unknown brand will cause you a shortage of spare parts in scenarios that cause problems tomorrow. If the amplifier in your hand is very weak, you should choose the appropriate headphones for it, because you will not be satisfied with the sound performance of your headphones, as the headphones that the amplifiers cannot drive properly will not give you the performance you want. When you buy audiophile headphones, if the input type of the headphone cable is universal, you will get a more performance sound experience by increasing the conductivity quality with an external silver headphone cable that you will buy in the future.
What is High-Quality Hi-Fi Audio?
Hi-Fi sound, which stands for high quality sound, refers to the ability of hifi sound drivers to reproduce music down to the finest detail, faithful to its original recording. Hi-Fi is short for High Fidelity, which literally means high fidelity, and generally focuses on the natural and pure form of music.
When determining the quality of Hi-Fi sound, certain features are considered. First, its frequency response is a musical standard that can accurately convey the lowest and highest tones of sound. An ideal Hi-Fi headset usually covers all frequencies between 20 Hz and 20 kHz, which refers to the range of sound that the human ear can perceive.
Another important issue in Hi-Fi headphones is to preserve the details, the details in the music must be preserved and each instrument and vocal must be distinguished. Sounds in which the instruments and vocals are distinct from each other and the texture and depth of the music are preserved are called hifi sound.
Distortion is also an important issue in audiophile headphones. Audiophile hifi headphones should have minimum distortion while reproducing music with as accurate tones as possible so that we can get the natural sound we call hifi sound. This is usually measured by the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) ratio. It is recommended that the total harmonic distortion value is ideally less than 1%.
Dynamic range in hifi headphones is also one of the issues to consider. Dynamic range shows us how well an audiophile headphone can handle the difference between the quietest and loudest sounds. Audiophile headphones should be able to handle music with a wide dynamic range smoothly. The smoother the dynamic range of an audiophile headset, the cleaner and more efficient the sound performance you will get from that headset.
In essence, high-quality Hi-Fi sound is the name given to a set of experiences in audiophile headphones that meticulously work with every element of the music and present the sound in its completely natural state in detail and clearly. This extremely rich and detailed sound experience offered by hifi sound for music lovers takes music listening to the next level.
Hifi How Many Kbps?
Audiophile headphones usually require a high bitrate to achieve hifi sound quality. Bitrate is the number of bits per second of the audio file and is usually the factor that determines the sound quality. Higher bitrate usually means higher sound quality. Higher bitrate music, on the other hand, needs more storage space.
If we want to get a good Hi-Fi sound experience in hifi headphones, we should make sure that the song we listen to is usually at least 320 Kbps bitrate. This bitrate value usually refers to the highest quality in an audio file in MP3 format. However, true Hi-Fi sound quality is generally considered CD quality, which corresponds to a bitrate of 1,411 Kbps. This quality is usually found in a WAV or FLAC file and is the highest resolution version of a song.
Some digital streaming services offer high-quality audio formats that can achieve "lossless" quality in music. Digital music services like TIDAL offer Hi-Fi and even higher "Master" quality sound options. This can mean bitrates of 1411 Kbps and higher, with sample rates and bit depths as high as 96 kHz/24 bit.
To get higher sound quality, it is necessary to listen to high-bitrate music, but high-bitrate music also needs more storage space. To listen to higher bitrate music, your headphones and audio player/amplifier must be compatible with it. It would be more accurate to prefer audio files with the highest possible bitrate in order to fully enjoy the Hi-Fi sound experience in audiophic headphones. Both the hardware and the formats and quality of the audio files used are factors that affect the hifi experience.
Where to Listen to Hi Fi Music?
To listen to hifi music, we should prefer digital music services that support hifi music and high bitrate standards. For example, any song you listen to on current Spotify is not in hifi standards. Platforms that can provide high-quality audio data for listening to hifi music and do not make any compression in the music in their library are shown as hifi music services.
Digital music services offer monthly or annual payment plans. In streaming services, the annual subscription plan is more affordable than the monthly subscription plan. It is recommended to use audiophile headphones and amplifiers for better efficiency on platforms where you want to listen to high quality hifi music.
Tidal : Tidal is one of the first platforms that comes to mind when it comes to hifi music, offering high quality audio streaming service. Thanks to the Hi-Fi subscription on Tidal, you can get lossless sound in 1411 Kbps quality, CD quality. There is also MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) technology, which provides 'Master' quality streaming for selected tracks on Tidal, which is above hifi sound quality. This wide music library and possibilities offered by the platform on hifi are one of the biggest reasons why audiophiles prefer Tidal.
Amazon Music HD : Another digital music service that offers streaming high definition audio files. Amazon Music HD Music stated that it offers studio quality sound quality in Ultra High Definition, the top package it offers.
Qobuz : A music service platform that offers Hi-Fi and even higher quality audio files. The platform also offers audiophiles an extensive catalog of music and detailed album information. In addition to listening to music, audiophiles also enjoy cultural information about musicians and songs. An audiophile is also known as a very good music historian.
Deezer HiFi : It offers 1411 Kbps music quality in FLAC format. Thanks to its wide library, Deezer is another digital music platform that audiophiles often prefer and where albums can be accessed in high quality.
Spotify HiFi : Thanks to the Spofity Hifi feature that Spotify will launch in 2023, you will be able to experience CD quality hifi sound. This feature has been planned regionally by Spotify and will gradually become active and broadcast all over the world.
How Does the Amp Affect Sound Quality?
When audiophile headphones and amplifiers are used together, we get the best out of audiophile headphones. Of course, audiophile headphones can also work on a phone, tablet and computer, but in such a usage scenario, the performance we will get from that headphone will not satisfy us. If we want to get a sound experience beyond the use of ordinary headphones, we should use the audiophile headphones with the amplifier. Amplifiers increase the signal strength of the hifi headphone.
They allow us to hear the sound more clearly and in detail.
Power and Driver Control : Amplifiers provide more power to the audio drivers of audiophile headphones. Fully operational drivers begin to offer better performance and higher sound levels across all frequency ranges. Another detail is that with the additional power provided by the amplifiers, the drivers move faster and become more agile at the point of sudden reactions. This provides more detail and clarity in music.
Less Distortion : A good and quality amp like Naim Uniti Atom amplifies the signal from the headphones while minimizing the distortion, that is, the distortion of the sound. This is especially noticeable at high volumes, because amps generally produce less distortion than low-power devices such as phones, tablets, and computers.
Dynamic Range : Amplifiers offer a wider dynamic range for audiophile headphones. Dynamic range is a state where it represents the difference between the quietest and loudest parts of sound. A wider dynamic range gives us a more detailed and balanced sound when listening to music.
Impedance Matching : Amplifiers also ensure the smooth operation of high-impedance reference headphones. High-impedance reference headphones usually need more power. In scenarios where no amp is available, high-impedance hifi headphones can deliver a poor music experience, such as low volume levels or poor sound quality.
In the final, the amplifier is the only element that significantly improves the sound quality in audiophile headphones. Ideally, amp and audiophile headphones should be considered together and chosen to work in harmony with each other. In response to the questions of whether to buy a hifi headphone or an amp first, whichever you buy, you will need to choose the appropriate amp for the headset and the appropriate headphone for the amp. In short, priority does not matter, but to add, if you buy a good amp, you can use your amp for a long time. When you buy a cheap amp and a cheap headphone today, when you choose a quality headphone in the future, you will have to buy a quality amp again, the amp in your hand will not be able to successfully drive that headphone. When it comes to hifi music, sound source, amplifier and headphone quality determine the overall sound experience. Care must be taken to ensure that all three components are of high quality for an audiophile sound experience.
Audiophile Headphones Recommendations
Entry Level Audiophile Headphone Recommendation: The audiophile input headphone models that can be preferred by those who enjoy listening to music, which we can call audiophile input, but now want to listen to music in hifi quality, are as follows:
- Sennheiser HD 559 Hi-Fi Headphones
- Sennheiser HD 560S Reference High-End Headphones
- Sennheiser HD 569 Hi-Fi Headphones
- Sennheiser HD 599 Hi-Fi Headphones
- Sennheiser IE 200 High-End In-Ear Headphones
- Focal Bathys Hi-Fi Bluetooth Active Noise Canceling Headphones
- Focal Celestee High-End On-Ear Headphones
Intermediate Audiophile Headphones Recommendation: Audiophile knowledgeable, using digital hifi music listening platforms, culturally embracing music
For audiophiles who are aware of their sensitivity, the recommendations for medium-level headphones are as follows.
- Sennheiser HD 600 Hi-Fi Headphones
- Sennheiser HD 650 V2 On-Ear High End Headphones
- Sennheiser HD 660S Hi-Fi Headphones
- Sennheiser HD 660S2 On-Ear High-End Headphones
- Sennheiser IE 600 High-End In-Ear Headphones
- Focal Clear MG High-End On-Ear Headphones
- Focal Radiance High End On-Ear Headphones
High-Level Audiophile Headphones Recommendation : It is obvious from every move that he is an audiophile, and is accepted as an expert on the music world by his surroundings,
High-end audiophile earphones for users who are hypersensitive to frequencies, who probably also have a hifi sound system at home.
The high-end audiophile headphone recommendation is as follows:
- Sennheiser HD 800 S Hi-Fi Headphones
- Sennheiser HD 820 On-Ear Hi-Fi Headphones
- Sennheiser IE 900 High-End Reference In-Ear
Earphones
- Focal Stellia High-End On-Ear Headphones
- New Focal Utopia 2022 Hi-Fi Headphones
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