Ranking List Updates
Crinacle’s Headphone Ranking List: Public Release
The IEM boi dips his toes into the world of headphones.
May 24, 2020
26 Comments
S: Superb
A: Amazing
B: Beautiful
C: Capable
D: Desirable
E: Excellent
F: Fantastic
★: Buy this if you want to
★★: Buy this eventually
★★★: Buy this NOW
↓↓↓ READ THIS: Notes & Disclaimers ↓↓↓
Oh who am I kidding, you’re never going to read this.
Remember: This list is specifically designed to shill.
The IEM boi dips his toes into the world of headphones.
| Rank | Value Rating | Model | Price (MSRP) | Signature | Comments | Tone Grade | Technical Grade | Driver Type | Fit/Cup Type | Based on | Note weight | Ranksort | Tonesort | Techsort | Pricesort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | ★★★ | Sennheiser HE-1 | 59000 | Harman neutral | Mostly neutral, slight bass lift, highly resolving and natural both in tone and timbre. The world's best headphone. | S | S | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Showfloor demo unit | 6 | 3 | 3 | 59000 | |
| S | ★★★ | Hifiman Shangri-La Jr | 8000 | Bright neutral | A tad too shouty for my tastes, but far less offensive tonal characteristics than the average estat. | S | S | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 6 | 3 | 3 | 8000 | |
| S- | ★★★ | Audeze LCD-4 | 4000+3000 (GS-X mk2) | Warm | A classic example of a highly resolving yet wonky sounding headphone. Needs more upper midrange. | S- | S- | Planar | Open Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7000 | |
| S- | ★★★ | Hifiman Susvara | 6000 | Neutral | Subtle refinements to the already-great HE1000 makes this arguably the best planar in the world. | S- | S- | Planar | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 14 | 7 | 7 | 6000 | |
| A+ | ★★ | Stax SR-009/SR-009S | 4325+975 (SRM-353X) | Bright neutral | Detail and resolution worthy of being called "the best", marred by the tonally-off midrange. | A+ | A+ | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 26 | 13 | 13 | 5300 | |
| A+ | ★★ | Abyss AB-1266 Phi CC Abyss AB-1266 Phi | Replaced with TC | "Balanced" | Sinfully addictive bass and treble reponse, but the midrange tonality needs a lot of work. | A+ | A+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 26 | 13 | 13 | 5000 | |
| A+ | ★★ | Final Sonorous X | Discontinued | Unique | Quirky artisanal Japanese handiwork so quirky that they forgot that it's supposed to play music. | A+ | A+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 26 | 13 | 13 | 5000 | |
| A+ | ★★ | Final D8000 Pro | 4300 | Bright | Highly resolving headphone with solid imaging capabilities, limited by its somewhat wonky tonality. | A+ | A+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 26 | 13 | 13 | 4300 | |
| A | ★★ | Focal Utopia | 4000 | Neutral | Solid tuning with close to top-tier resolution. An inoffensive all-rounder that lives up to its reputation. | A | A | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 42 | 21 | 21 | 4000 | |
| A | ★★ | Final Audio D8000 | 4000 | Bright | High treble-to-midrange contrast makes things sound shrill and borderline-sibilant. | A | A | Planar | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 42 | 21 | 21 | 4000 | |
| A | ★★ | RAAL-requisite SR1a | 4000 (Jotunheim R bundle) | Neutral | Weak, limp bass is the killing blow for what is an otherwise highly resolving and decently-tuned earspeaker. | A | A | Ribbon | Earspeaker | Treoo demo unit | 42 | 21 | 21 | 4000 | |
| A | ★★ | Audio Technica ATH-L5000 | 4000 | "Balanced" | Quirkiness not unexpected of an Audio Technica; arguably their worst closed-back. Sure took an L on this one. | A | A | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 42 | 21 | 21 | 4000 | |
| A | ★★ | Kennerton Odin | 3600 (Bog Oak) | Warm neutral | Generally "okay" tonality with some odd dips here and there. Lacking serious extension for a planar. | A | A | Planar | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 42 | 21 | 21 | 3600 | |
| A- | ★★ | Kennerton Thror | 3600 (Bog Oak) | Warm neutral | Kind of a "nothing headphone"; not bad, not great, just good enough to be okay. | A- | A- | Planar | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 62 | 31 | 31 | 3600 | |
| A- | ★★ | Hifiman HE1000se | 3500 | Bright neutral | Basically a brighter and slightly shoutier version of the OG; may be a little too intense for some. | A- | A- | Planar | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 62 | 31 | 31 | 3500 | |
| A- | ★★ | Audeze LCD-24 | 3500 | Warm neutral | A slight tonal improvement over the LCD-4, but also comes with a slight hit in resolution. | A- | A- | Planar | Open Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 62 | 31 | 31 | 3500 | |
| A- | ★★ | DCA Voce | 3300 | "Balanced" | Wonky, honky, whatever you want to call it. Probably the worst e-stat I've heard. | A- | A- | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Stereo demo unit | 62 | 31 | 31 | 3300 | |
| B+ | ★ | Stax SR-007 (Mk2.5) | 2100+975 (SRM-353X) | Warm neutral | Arguably the least wonky-sounding of the mainstream Staxes, with resolution just shy of the flagship 009. | B+ | B+ | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 3075 | |
| B+ | ★ | Hifiman HE1000 (V2) | Discontinued | Neutral | A planar that comes unnervingly close estat speed, but not quite. Solid technicalities with excellent tone. | B+ | B+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | Personal unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 3000 | |
| B+ | ★ | Final Sonorous VIII | Discontinued | Unique | Quirky artisanal Japanese handiwork so quirky that they forgot that it's supposed to play music. | B+ | B+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 3000 | |
| B+ | ★ | Focal Stellia | 3000 | Neutral with bass boost | "Harman-inspired" tuning works decently well, though a myriad of small quirks ultimately screws its tonal balance. | B+ | B+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 3000 | |
| B+ | ★ | Meze Empyrean | 3000 | Warm | Bland and unexciting tuning with compressed staging and generally underperforming technicalities. | B+ | B+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 3000 | |
| B+ | ★ | Abyss Diana Phi Abyss Diana V2 | 3000 (V2) 4000 (Phi) | Warm | Needs a little more upper midrange to balance out the honkiness. Good dynamic performance especially in the bass. | B+ | B+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 3000 | |
| B+ | ★ | Audeze LCD-MX4 | 3000 | Warm | Classic Audeze combo of solid resolution with a confusing lack of upper midrange. | B+ | B+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 3000 | |
| B+ | ★ | Stax SR-4070 | Discontinued | Mid-centric | Surprisingly wide and spacious soundstage for a closed-back. Good low-end extension but rather shouty. | B+ | B+ | Electrostatic | Closed Circumaural | Third party unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 2875 | |
| B+ | ★ | Rosson RAD-0 | 2600 | Warm neutral | Middling technicalities with suppressed upper midrange. | B+ | B+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | E1 demo unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 2600 | |
| B+ | ★ | Stax SR-L700 | 1570+975 (SRM-353X) | Neutral | Probably the most balanced tuning of the L-series, with the usual e-stat technicalities. | B+ | B+ | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 2545 | |
| B+ | ★ | Hifiman Jade II | 2500 | Bass-rolled neutral | Suffers from typical estat timbre and bass extension issues, but otherwise a very resolving and well-tuned headphone. | B+ | B+ | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 2500 | |
| B+ | ★ | ZMF Verite Closed (Hybrid Universe pads) | 2500 | Neutral with bass boost | Far more tonally balanced than its open counterpart, whilst retaining its reverberant staging. | B+ | B+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 2500 | |
| B+ | ★ | ZMF Verite (Pref. lambskin Verite pads) | 2500 | Warm | Excellent resolution unfortunately marred by suppressed harmonics and a harsh upper-midrange. | B+ | B+ | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 2500 | |
| B+ | ★ | Pioneer SE-Master1 | 2500 | Bright | Treble daggers applied directly into ear. | B+ | B+ | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | E1 demo unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 2500 | |
| B+ | ★ | Sennheiser HD820 | 2400 | V-shaped | The mystical acoustic properties of Gorilla Glass could not save this monstrosity. | B+ | B+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 2400 | |
| B+ | ★ | DCA Ether 2 | 2300 | "Balanced" | Hard to explain what exactly this sounds like, but the first thing you'd hear is probably the treble roll-off. | B+ | B+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | Stereo demo unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 2300 | |
| B+ | ★ | Spirit Torino Radiante | 2250 | Unique | Humps for days. Wouldn't be a stretch to call this "ꟿ-shaped". | B+ | B+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | E1 demo unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 2250 | |
| B+ | ★ | ES Lab ES-1a | 2050 | Bright neutral | Seems inspired by the tuning of the SR-009 with some minor improvements, though not enough to call it "good". | B+ | B+ | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 86 | 43 | 43 | 2050 | |
| B | ★ | Audio Technica ATH-ADX5000 | 2000 | Bright neutral | Clean, open sound reminsicent of the HD800, with a bit of midbass bloat and upper midrange shoutiness. | B | B | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 2000 | |
| B | ★ | Timsok TS-1024 | 2000 | Warm V-shape | Somewhat warm midrange plagued with sharp and offensive treble. | B | B | Planar | Open Circumaural | Review unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 2000 | |
| B | ★ | Audeze LCD-3 | 1950 | Mid-centric | Classic Audeze combo of solid resolution with a confusing lack of upper midrange. Now with extra honk. | B | B | Planar | Open Circumaural | Stereo demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1950 | |
| B | ★ | HEDDphone | 1900 | Warm neutral | An interesting in-between of DD and estat timbre, though tuning around the lower midrange may be off. | B | B | AMT | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1900 | |
| B | ★ | Audio Technica ATH-AWKT | 1900 | Bright | AWKT, more like AWKward... I'll leave now. | B | B | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Third party unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1900 | |
| B | ★ | Stax SR-L300 Limited | 900+975 (SRM-353X) | Neutral | Honkier version of the standard L300. | B | B | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1875 | |
| B | ★ | Hifiman HE6se | Discontinued | Neutral | Comes with an odd midrange dip. It's no HE6 replacement for sure. | B | B | Planar | Open Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1800 | |
| B | ★ | Sony MDR-Z1R | 1800 | V-shaped | Holes in the midrange. Big spike in the treble. Strangely disjointed soundstage. Decently resolving. | B | B | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1800 | |
| B | ★ | Fostex TH909 | 1800 | V-shaped | A slightly more balanced TH900 with similar sibilance issues. | B | B | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1800 | |
| B | ★ | DCA Ether Flow 1.1 | 1800 | Warm V-shape | Has elements of the DT880/HD800 tuning, with extra note thickness and more piercing treble. | B | B | Planar | Open Circumaural | Stereo demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1800 | |
| B | ★ | Stax SR-L500 | 792+975 (SRM-353X) | Neutral | Generally pleasing tuning with a little honkiness in the centre-midrange. | B | B | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1767 | |
| B | ★ | Sennheiser HD800/HD800S | 1700 (HD800S) | Bright neutral | Arguably the king of soundstage and raw detail, though at the cost of its infamous treble spike. | B | B | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Personal unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1700 | |
| B | ★ | Audeze LCD-X (Pre-20201) | 1700 | Neutral | Probably the worst tuned Audeze available. At least, this specific unit is. | B | B | Planar | Open Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1700 | |
| B | ★ | Hifiman Arya | 1600 | Bright neutral | High resolution planar that may be a little peaky in the treble for some. | B | B | Planar | Open Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1600 | |
| B | ★ | ZMF Auteur (Teak) (pref. lambskin Auteur pads) | 1600 | Bright neutral | Very pleasant tonality but lacking that last bit of definition for true top-tier status. | B | B | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1600 | |
| B | ★ | Fostex TH900 | 1600 | V-shaped | Spicy sibilance and bloated bass are disappointments in what is otherwise an extremely dynamic headphone. | B | B | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1600 | |
| B | ★ | DCA Ether C Flow 1.1 | 1600 | Neutral with bass boost | Sounds like something went wrong with the upper-midrange tuning. | B | B | Planar | Open Circumaural | Stereo demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1600 | |
| B | ★ | Denon AH-D9200 | 1600 | Mid-centric | Generally weird and wonky tuning that can also get rather harsh at times. | B | B | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1600 | |
| B | ★ | Stax SR-404 Stax SR-404 Limited | Discontinued | Neutral | Similar tuning to that of the Lambda Pro. Sonically identical between 404 and 404LE. | B | B | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1575 | |
| B | ★ | Nectar Hive | 600+975 (SRM-353X) | Bright neutral | Some spiciness in the treble that is HD800-esque, but with a better midrange presentation. | B | B | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Personal unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1575 | |
| B | ★ | Focal Clear | Discontinued (Replaced by Clear Mg) | Warm neutral | A decent Utopia alternative for thinner wallets. Slightly warmer sound may be more pleasant for some. | B | B | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1500 | |
| B | ★ | MrSpeakers Ether C | Discontinued (Replaced by Ether C Flow) | DF-neutral | Forward, in-your-face sound that's shouty and thin at the same time. A good reference for "true DF neutral". | B | B | Planar | Closed Circumaural | Third party unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1500 | |
| B | ★ | Focal Clear Mg | 1500 | Warm neutral | Lacks upper mids and resolution compared to its predecessor. | B | B | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1500 | |
| B | ★ | AKG K872 Pro | 1500 | "Balanced" | Strange pad shape makes for wildly-varying bass. Generally a tonally weird headphone. | B | B | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1500 | |
| B | ★ | AKG K812 | 1500 | Bright | Sharp, shrill, piercing, sibilant, and all other synonyms. | B | B | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | E1 demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1500 | |
| B | ★ | Stax SR-507 | Discontinued | Neutral | Similar tuning to that of the Lambda Pro. | B | B | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1475 | |
| B | ★ | Stax SR-L300 | 430+975 (SRM-353X) | Neutral | Generally pleasing tuning, though a little honky and fatiguing in the treble. | B | B | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1405 | |
| B | ★ | Audio Technica ATH-AWAS | 1400 | Mid-centric | Rolled off bass with somewhat suppressed treble. Not the worst but far from being tonally balanced. | B | B | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1400 | |
| B | ★ | ZMF Eikon (Lambskin Eikon pads) | 1400 | Bright | Hole in the mids with a sharp piercing peak in the treble. | B | B | Dynamic | Semi-open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1400 | |
| B | ★ | Hifiman Edition X V2 | Discontinued | Neutral | Excellent tonal balance though limited by blunted notes and resolution. | B | B | Planar | Open Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1300 | |
| B | ★ | Hifiman HE6 | Discontinued | Bright neutral | Clean, resolving yet intense sound scratches the detail itch but is a little too edgy for long listens. | B | B | Planar | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1300 | |
| B | ★ | Focal Radiance | 1300 | Harman neutral | Probably the best of the closed-back Focals. Some tuning refinements over the Stellia, though technically limited. | B | B | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1300 | |
| B | ★ | Audeze LCD-XC | 1300 | "Balanced" | Definitely the least Audeze-sounding Audeze. A little quirky tonally, but nothing too offensive. | B | B | Planar | Closed Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1300 | |
| B | Stax SR-Lambda Pro | Discontinued | Neutral | One of the original Lambda models, and arguably the best tuned of the Lambda-styled Staxes. | B | B | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 114 | 57 | 57 | 1275 | ||
| B- | ZMF Aeolus (Pref. suede Universe pads) | 1200 | Bright neutral | Tonally, a vast improvement over the Aeolus with stock pads, bringing in extra clarity and bite. | B- | B- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 1200 | ||
| B- | Audeze LCD-X (2021) | 1200 | Warm neutral | Tonally, a massive improvement over the previous version(s) though with the usual pitfalls of the Audeze house sound. | B- | B- | Planar | Open Circumaural | Review unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 1200 | ||
| B- | Klipsch HP3 | 1200 | Warm V-shape | Lots of bass bloat, way too thick-sounding and lacking definition. | B- | B- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | E1 demo unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 1200 | ||
| B- | ZMF Atticus (Suede Eikon pads) | 1100 | Bassy | Bloated bass with wonky midrange, a killer combination. | B- | B- | Dynamic | Semi-open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 1100 | ||
| B- | Sony MDR-SA5000 (w/ AliExpress replacement pads) | Discontinued | Bass-rolled neutral | Surprisingly competent for a decades-old set. Midrange is a little uneven but beats out many other modern TOTLs. | B- | B- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 1000 | ||
| B- | Stax SR-3 | Discontinued | Bass-rolled neutral | Similarly tuned to the SR-X, albeit with a much more blunted presentation. | B- | B- | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 1000 | ||
| B- | Focal Elear | 1000 | Warm neutral | Subdued upper midrange with the odd treble spike makes this a weird headphone to listen to. | B- | B- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Treoo demo unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 1000 | ||
| B- | Denon AH-D7200 | 1000 | Mid-centric | Generally weird and wonky tuning that can also get rather harsh at times. | B- | B- | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 1000 | ||
| B- | Beyerdynamic T5 (3rd Gen) | 1000 | Bassy | Wibbly-wobbly midrange with far too liberal a bass boost makes for a terrible sound. | B- | B- | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 1000 | ||
| B- | Beyerdynamic T1 (3rd Gen) | 1000 | Warm V-shape | When you answer "yes" to the question "how much lower mids do you want?" | B- | B- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Stereo demo unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 1000 | ||
| B- | Focal Celestee | Discontinued | Neutral with bass boost | Thin and uneven mids with narrow, congested staging. | B- | B- | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 990 | ||
| B- | Hifiman HE560 (V1) | Discontinued | Neutral | Slight wonkiness around the lower midrange, but otherwise a capable planar headphone. | B- | B- | Planar | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 900 | ||
| B- | Hifiman HE500 (w/ FocusPad-A) | Discontinued | Warm neutral | Perhaps the warmest of the Hifiman lineup. Not the most resolving. | B- | B- | Planar | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 900 | ||
| B- | Aurorus Borealis | 900 | Neutral | Sounds like an odd mashup of the HD600 and the Clear, in a good way. | B- | B- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 900 | ||
| B- | Audeze LCD-GX | 900 | Warm neutral | As a gaming headphone, possibly the best technically though with the usual pitfalls of the Audeze house sound. | B- | B- | Planar | Open Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 900 | ||
| B- | Audeze LCD-2 Closed-back | 900 | Warm V-shape | Not the worst Audeze in terms of tonality, but its tuning still doesn't live up to its technical capabilities. | B- | B- | Planar | Closed Circumaural | Stereo demo unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 900 | ||
| B- | DCA Aeon 2 Closed | 900 | U-shaped | Passable tonality with dulled and blunted transients make for lacklustre detailing. | B- | B- | Planar | Closed Circumaural | Stereo demo unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 900 | ||
| B- | DCA Aeon 2 Open DCA Aeon 2 Noire | 900 | Warm V-shape | Arguably the best tuned DCA headphone with a slightly thick midrange and least offensive treble. | B- | B- | Planar | Open Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 900 | ||
| B- | Sony MDR-Z7M2 | 900 | U-shaped | Sounds like a "Z1R-lite", with arguably better bass response but peakier treble. | B- | B- | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 900 | ||
| B- | Focal Elegia | 900 | Neutral with bass boost | Severe lack of upper midrange and treble results in a muffled, dulled tone. | B- | B- | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 900 | ||
| B- | Sony MDR-MA900 | Discontinued | Bass-rolled neutral | Imaging as expected of an earspeaker configuration; surprisingly good tonality and expected bad extension. | B- | B- | Dynamic | Earspeaker | Third party unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 850 | ||
| B- | Audio Technica ATH-AD2000 | Discontinued | "Balanced" | Quirky tuning with imbalanced upper harmonics. Similar to that of the AD1000X. | B- | B- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 146 | 73 | 73 | 800 | ||
| C+ | MrSpeakers Aeon Flow | Discontinued (Replaced by Aeon 2) | Warm | Reminds of the NightHawk a bit, except with far worse resolution. | C+ | C+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 800 | ||
| C+ | Audio Technica ATH-A2000Z | Discontinued | Neutral with bass boost | Odd upper-midrange tuning results in a scratchy, uneven presentation. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 800 | ||
| C+ | Audeze LCD-2 Classic | 800 | Warm | Classic Audeze combo of solid resolution with a confusing lack of upper midrange. | C+ | C+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | Stereo demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 800 | ||
| C+ | Campfire Cascade | 800 | Bassy | Competent midrange tuning let down by a loose, bloated bass response. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 800 | ||
| C+ | Quad ERA-1 | 800 | Mid-centric | Kind of a "nothing headphone"; not the worst thing in the world but no praises either. | C+ | C+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 800 | ||
| C+ | Beyerdynamic T5p (1st Gen) | Discontinued | V-shaped | Choppy midrange response is its biggest turnoff, but otherwise a decent V-shaped headphone. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 750 | ||
| C+ | Beyerdynamic Amiron Home | 750 | Warm V-shape | Mid-bass bloated and shouty at the same time. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Stereo demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 750 | ||
| C+ | Denon AH-D5000 | Discontinued | V-shaped | The usual "Foster biodyna dynamics" are at play here, with a somewhat fatiguing treble spike. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Semi-open Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 700 | ||
| C+ | Fostex TH500 (w/ worn pads) | Discontinued | "Balanced" | An interesting oldschool planar, vastly outpaced by today's market. | C+ | C+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 700 | ||
| C+ | Audio Technica ATH-A1000Z | Discontinued | Neutral with bass boost | Odd upper-midrange tuning results in a scratchy, uneven presentation. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 700 | ||
| C+ | AudioQuest NightOwl | Discontinued | Dark | Heavily downsloped response makes the upper harmonics completely disappear. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Third party unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 700 | ||
| C+ | Hifiman Ananda | 700 | Neutral | One of the best tuned headphones available, only limited by its raw resolving ability. | C+ | C+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 700 | ||
| C+ | Denon AH-D5200 | 700 | Warm neutral | Probably the least wonky of the new Denons. Suffers from some mid-bass bloat. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 700 | ||
| C+ | Hifiman HE5SE | 700 | V-shaped | Strong contender for an excellent headphone, if not for the inexplicable hole in the mids. | C+ | C+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 700 | ||
| C+ | Audio Technica ATH-A2000X | Discontinued | "Balanced" | Somewhat mid-centric runing that's far too coloured for its own good. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 650 | ||
| C+ | Beyerdynamic T70 | Discontinued | Bright neutral | Treble peak may offend some, but otherwise very well balanced and natural tonality with decent technicalities. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 600 | ||
| C+ | Hifiman HE5 | Discontinued | Neutral | The original Hifiman. Midrange is a little too scooped out but remains competitive even today. | C+ | C+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 600 | ||
| C+ | Acoustic Research AR-H1 | Discontinued | Neutral | A tempered, almost bright-leaning planar (but not quite). Decent tonality and technical ability. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 600 | ||
| C+ | AudioQuest NightHawk | Discontinued | Warm bassy | Thick, grand, heavy... muddy. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | E1 demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 600 | ||
| C+ | Audio Technica ATH-AD1000X | Discontinued | "Balanced" | Quirky tuning with imbalanced upper harmonics. Similar to that of the AD2000. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 600 | ||
| C+ | Fostex TH610 | 600 | Mild V-shape | The most neutral of the Foster biodyna models. If you want a little more balance than the Teaks. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 600 | ||
| C+ | Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pro (Balanced pads) | 600 | Warm V-shape | An intense sound given its significant treble boost, but countered by a smooth lower-midrange bump. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 600 | ||
| C+ | Sendy Aiva | 600 | Warm neutral | A slightly worse-tuned B20, kinda. | C+ | C+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 600 | ||
| C+ | Beyerdynamic DT1770 Pro | 600 | U-shaped | A slightly more balanced version of the old DT770. | C+ | C+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 600 | ||
| C+ | Audeze Sine DX | 600 | Mid-centric | Decent bass extension, honky midrange presentation. | C+ | C+ | Planar | Closed Supra-aural | Stereo demo unit | 182 | 91 | 91 | 600 | ||
| C | Apple AirPods Max | 550 | U-shaped | Great tonality, sub-focused bass emphasis, bassy without being muddy. Average imaging and resolution. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Personal unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 550 | ||
| C | iBasso SR2 | 550 | Bright | Shouty, shrill and lacking the proper heft in the bass region. | C | C | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 550 | ||
| C | Shure SRH1540 | 500 | Neutral with bass boost | Almost "Harman" tuning with some undesirable mid-bass bloat. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 500 | ||
| C | AKG K712 Pro | 500 | Warm | Sizeable mid-bass bloat that's barely reigned in by an equally sizeable upper-midrange emphasis. | C | C | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 500 | ||
| C | Neumann NDH 20 | 500 | Neutral with bass boost | Feels like an attempt at Harman but ultimately missing the mark in the midrange tuning. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Third party unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 500 | ||
| C | iBasso SR1 | 500 | "Balanced" | Wonky midrange is one thing, but dying after 6kHz is another. | C | C | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 500 | ||
| C | AKG K701 | 450 | Bright neutral | The brightest and arguably harshest of the K7-- lineup, but still very competent overall. | C | C | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 450 | ||
| C | BLON B20 | 450 | Warm neutral | Basically a darker planar HD6X0, with equally closed-in staging and lacking the final resolving edge. | C | C | Planar | Open Circumaural | Review unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 450 | ||
| C | Massdrop x Koss ESP/95X | 450 | Mid-centric | Good resolving ability and imaging, marred by its odd and honky midrange. | C | C | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 450 | ||
| C | B&O BeoPlay H7 | 450 | "Balanced" | Wonky, honky midrange. Not great. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 450 | ||
| C | Grado The Hemp Headphone | 420 | Bass-rolled neutral | Nothing much different from your average Grado; paid extra for the novelty, not the sonic improvements. | C | C | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 420 | ||
| C | Oppo PM-3 | Discontinued | V-shaped | Fairly well-tuned, if very technically limited in both resolution and imaging performance. | C | C | Planar | Closed Circumaural | Third party unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 400 | ||
| C | Sennheiser HD600 | 400 | Neutral | The legendary neutral reference. Slightly better clarity and imaging than the HD650. | C | C | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 400 | ||
| C | E-MU Teak | 400 | V-shaped | Excellent dynamics with one of the best bass I've heard in a headphone, though the midrange can be a little harsh. | C | C | Dynamic | Semi-open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 400 | ||
| C | Sennheiser HD660S | 400 | Warm neutral | An even darker HD6X0. A comparatively muffled mess just barely propped up by its decent resolving ability. | C | C | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 400 | ||
| C | Audeze LCD-1 | 400 | Neutral | The best tuned Audeze headphone with the worst resolution. | C | C | Planar | Open Circumaural | Stereo demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 400 | ||
| C | Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 | 400 | Neutral with bass boost | More subdued presentation compared to its precedessor, almost to the point of being boring. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 400 | ||
| C | B&W PX | 400 | Warm | Warm, bloated sound with a largely muffled midrange. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 400 | ||
| C | Shure Aonic 50 | 400 | V-shaped | A parody of the V-shaped response. Scooped mids, hollow sound. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 400 | ||
| C | Drop + THX Panda | 400 | Warm | Well-tuned but with overpowering mid-bass and extremely dulled transients. | C | C | Planar | Closed Circumaural | Review unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 400 | ||
| C | Audio Technica ATH-R70x | 350 | Warm neutral | Excellent imaging. Mostly neutral/flat tuning with an ever-so-slight tilt towards warmth. | C | C | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 350 | ||
| C | Hifiman Sundara | 350 | Neutral | Solid tuning with a little treble spiciness for the daring. One of the better midrange planars out there. | C | C | Planar | Open Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 350 | ||
| C | AKG K702 | 350 | Mid-centric | Slightly more upper-mid-forward (read: shoutier) version of the K612. | C | C | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 350 | ||
| C | Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro (32Ω) | 350 | Warm V-shape | Certainly a "mini-HD800" in terms of tonality only, however still far inferior in technical ability. | C | C | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 350 | ||
| C | HarmonicDyne Zeus | 350 | Warm | A rare combination of a warm-focused tonality with decent technicalities. | C | C | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Review unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 350 | ||
| C | Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless | 350 | U-shaped | A massive improvement over its predecessor. Limited resolution and potentially intense tonality. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Showfloor demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 350 | ||
| C | Bose QuietComfort 35 II (QC35) | 350 | V-shaped | The typical mainstream V-shape response with middling technicalities. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 350 | ||
| C | Sony WH-1000XM4 | 350 | Bassy | Consumer-friendly heavy bass unfortunately bleeds into the mids, but otherwise fine. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Stereo demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 350 | ||
| C | V-MODA Crossfade 2 Wireless | 330 | V-shaped | The typical mainstream V-shape response with middling technicalities. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 330 | ||
| C | Audio Technica ATH-EW9 | 330 | Mid-centric | Forget shout; this thing screams. | C | C | Dynamic | Open Clip-on | Third party unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 330 | ||
| C | Meze 99 Classics | 310 | Bassy | Just excessive bass that unfortunately screws with the tonality of the mids. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 310 | ||
| C | Sennheiser Amperior | Discontinued | Mid-centric | Extremely nasally vocals and lacks weight in the mids. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Supra-aural | Third party unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 300 | ||
| C | Hifiman Deva | 300 | Neutral | Probably the most "mellow" of the Hifiman planars with the least resolving ability. | C | C | Planar | Open Circumaural | Stereo demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 300 | ||
| C | Sivga Phoenix | 300 | Warm neutral | A fairly competent warm-neutral monitor slightly held back by limited detail retrieval. | C | C | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Review unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 300 | ||
| C | Audio Technica ATH-M70x | 300 | Neutral | The most neutral of the M-series. Good tonality but still suffers from narrow imaging. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | E1 demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 300 | ||
| C | Sony MDR-1AM2 | 300 | Warm U-shape | Harman-ish tuning with a strong mid-bass presence and piercing upper treble response. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 300 | ||
| C | Audeze Mobius (Default preset) | 300 | Warm neutral | Not the total lack of upper midrange I expected, but a hole in the upper mids nonetheless. | C | C | Planar | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 300 | ||
| C | Audio Technica ATH-AD900X | 300 | "Balanced" | Extremely uneven tuning, mediocre resolution, not a great choice unless you only want a wide soundstage. | C | C | Dymanic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 300 | ||
| C | Focal Listen Professional | 300 | "Balanced" | Not sure if this is supposed to seal, but in the event that it isn't: why? | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 300 | ||
| C | Beyerdynamic DT1350 | Discontinued | Warm | Muffled, narrow-sounding, and lacking surface-level detail. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Third party unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 250 | ||
| C | Harman Kardon FLY ANC | 250 | Neutral with bass boost | Peaky, mid-bassy attempt at a Harman tuning. | C | C | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Third party unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 250 | ||
| C | Grado GW100 | 250 | "Balanced" | Not the worst Grado, but you could still do better than Grado. | C | C | Dynamic | Open Supra-aural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 222 | 111 | 111 | 250 | ||
| C- | Master & Dynamic MH40 | 250 | Bassy | Too much bass, and not the good kind either. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | E1 demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 250 | ||
| C- | Audio Technica ATH-MSR7b | 250 | V-shaped | Thin-sounding yet bloated at the same time. Intense upper midrange. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 250 | ||
| C- | Precide ERGO 2 | 250 | Bass-rolled neutral | Sounds exactly like what it is: a headphone with a broken seal. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Earspeaker | Third party unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 250 | ||
| C- | Fostex TR80 | Discontinued | Neutral with bass boost | A very well-tuned monitor-style headphone, if heavily bottlenecked by narrow imaging and blunt hits. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 240 | ||
| C- | Beyerdynamic DT860 | Discontinued (Replaced by DT880) | Bright | Upwards-sloping bright and lean sound. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 240 | ||
| C- | Sennheiser HD650/HD6XX | 220 (HD6XX) | Warm neutral | The legendary neutral reference. "Veiled" with a warm tilt (in comparison to HD600), and pretty terrible at imaging. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 220 | ||
| C- | Audio Technica ATH-A990Z | 220 | V-shaped | Odd cup resonance results in wonky imaging. Prefer the original A900X. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 220 | ||
| C- | Pioneer Monitor 10 | Discontinued | "Balanced" | Slightly honky midrange, weird uneven treble, and hard to get a proper seal. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Third party unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 200 | ||
| C- | AKG K612 Pro | 200 | Neutral | Basically dead-neutral tuning, emphasis on "dead". Strong all-rounder whose only fault is not having that "wow-factor". | C- | C- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 200 | ||
| C- | Sennheiser HD560S | 200 | Neutral | Well-balanced tonality with good bass extension, just slightly hot in the upper-mids and treble. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 200 | ||
| C- | Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro (250Ω) | 200 | V-shaped | Pretty bog-standard V-shaped response with forward upper-midrange and decently high resolution. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 200 | ||
| C- | Beyerdynamic TYGR 300 R | 200 | V-shaped | Very reminiscent of the DT990. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Stereo demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 200 | ||
| C- | Sennheiser HD25 Plus | 200 | U-shaped | Punchy, energetic sound with decently balanced tonality. A pretty good beat-tracking monitor. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Closed Supra-aural | Stereo demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 200 | ||
| C- | Sennheiser HD599 | 200 | V-shaped | A little too sharp, a little too midbassy, but overall not the most offensive headphone out there. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 200 | ||
| C- | Massdrop x AKG K7XX | 200 | Warm | A more bloated-sounding K712. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 200 | ||
| C- | Sennheiser HD579 | 200 | Warm neutral | More or less a HD599 with slightly worse resolution. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 200 | ||
| C- | Logitech G933s | 200 | Bassy | Too much bloat going on in the bass, which is a shame given that the rest of the mids are alright. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 200 | ||
| C- | Beyerdynamic DT250 | 200 | Mid-centric | Horrible treble extension and a honkiness that gets worse the longer you listen. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 200 | ||
| C- | V-MODA Crossfade LP2 | 200 | Bassy | Big bass, bad bass, no treble extension. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 200 | ||
| C- | Audio Technica ATH-AD700X | 200 | Warm | Extremely uneven tuning, mediocre resolution, not a great choice unless you only want a wide soundstage. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 200 | ||
| C- | FiiO EH3 | 200 | Bassy | Sounds as if the ANC is trying to cancel out its own sound. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | E1 demo unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 200 | ||
| C- | Sony MDR-CD900ST | Discontinued (Replaced by M1ST) | Warm neutral | Solid dark-ish reference tuning, with the usual V6/7506-esque absence of soundstage. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Closed Supra-aural | Third party unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 190 | ||
| C- | HarmonicDyne Helios | 180 | V-shaped | Lack of bass extension is its biggest dealbreaker of what would be an otherwise solid headphone. | C- | C- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Review unit | 266 | 133 | 133 | 180 | ||
| D+ | Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 Wireless | 180 | Unique | Probably the worst headphone Sennheiser has ever made. Yes, even the HD820. | D+ | D+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 314 | 157 | 157 | 180 | ||
| D+ | Hifiman HE400i (2020) | 170 | Neutral | Well-executed reference-ish tuning with a slight treble emphasis. | D+ | D+ | Planar | Open Circumaural | Treoo demo unit | 314 | 157 | 157 | 170 | ||
| D+ | Audio Technica ATH-AD500X | 170 | Warm | Suppressed and uneven upper-mids, mediocre resolution, not a great choice unless you only want a wide soundstage. | D+ | D+ | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 314 | 157 | 157 | 170 | ||
| D+ | Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro | 160 | U-shaped | Sounds like a parody of Harman with its excessive 200Hz notch and overblown treble. | D+ | D+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 314 | 157 | 157 | 160 | ||
| D+ | Stax SR-X Mk2 | Discontinued | Bass-rolled neutral | Surprisingly good tonal balance marred by its complete absence of bass response. | D+ | D+ | Electrostatic | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 314 | 157 | 157 | 150 | ||
| D+ | Audio Technica ATH-A900X | Discontinued (Replaced by A990Z) | Warm with bass boost | Subdued upper mids and enhanced mid-bass. If anything else, this is a headphone that wouldn't fatigue. | D+ | D+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Third party unit | 314 | 157 | 157 | 150 | ||
| D+ | Stax SR-40 | Discontinued | Bass-rolled neutral | One of the few Stax electrets out there. Not great in tonality nor technical performance. | D+ | D+ | Electret | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 314 | 157 | 157 | 150 | ||
| D+ | Sony MDR-7510 | Discontinued | Neutral with bass boost | Everything just sounds strange and oddly sharp in tone, but extremely blunted in transients. | D+ | D+ | Dynamic | Closed Supra-aural | Connect IT demo unit | 314 | 157 | 157 | 150 | ||
| D+ | Shure SRH840 | 150 | V-shaped | Extremely well-executed V-shaped tuning with no erronous peaks or dips. More mid-bassy than sub-bassy. | D+ | D+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 314 | 157 | 157 | 150 | ||
| D+ | AKG K371 | 150 | Harman | Expectedly Harman tuning but lacks a bit of bite in the upper midrange for "true Harman". | D+ | D+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Third party unit | 314 | 157 | 157 | 150 | ||
| D+ | ASTRO A40 TR | 150 | Warm V-shape | Middling technicalities, but for a gaming headphone its tonality is surprisingly balanced. | D+ | D+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 314 | 157 | 157 | 150 | ||
| D+ | Koss SP540 | 150 | V-shaped | The typical mainstream V-shape response with middling technicalities. | D+ | D+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Treoo demo unit | 314 | 157 | 157 | 150 | ||
| D+ | Audio Technica ATH-M50x | 150 | Neutral with bass boost | The headphone that the elites love to hate... isn't that bad. An alright starter headphone, if generally overrated. | D+ | D+ | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 314 | 157 | 157 | 150 | ||
| D+ | Sennheiser HD559 | 150 | Warm | Big, thick sound that muffles everything but the most surface level details. | D+ | D+ | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 314 | 157 | 157 | 150 | ||
| D | Koss Pro4S | 150 | V-shaped | Horrible lower-midrange scoop screws with every instrument. | D | D | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Treoo demo unit | 366 | 183 | 183 | 150 | ||
| D | Logitech G431 | Discontinued (Replaced by G432) | Warm | Bloated bass like the rest, but further exacerbated by the recessed midrange. | D | D | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 366 | 183 | 183 | 130 | ||
| D | Logitech G PRO X | 130 | Bassy | Too much bloat going on in the bass, which is a shame given that the rest of the mids are alright. | D | D | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 366 | 183 | 183 | 130 | ||
| D | Sony MDR-V6 | Discontinued (Replaced by M1ST) | DF-neutral with bass boost | Somewhat thin-sound and shouty but overall a very well-tuned set, if extremely blunted and narrow in imaging. | D | D | Dynamic | Closed Supra-aural | Third party unit | 366 | 183 | 183 | 110 | ||
| D | Fostex TH7 | Discontinued | Neutral | Fairly neutral monitor-style headphone with poor imaging and detail retrieval. | D | D | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | AV One demo unit | 366 | 183 | 183 | 100 | ||
| D | Shure SRH440 | 100 | Harman | Closest thing to Harman thus far. Comes with a small upper treble spike and lacking raw resolution. | D | D | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 366 | 183 | 183 | 100 | ||
| D | Audio Technica ATH-M40x | 100 | Neutral with bass boost | Well-balanced tonality with disappointing detailing and claustrophobic imaging. | D | D | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 366 | 183 | 183 | 100 | ||
| D | E-MU Walnut | 100 | "Balanced" | Tonality is somewhat off with peaks and dips here and there, but overall not a bad sounding headphone. | D | D | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 366 | 183 | 183 | 100 | ||
| D | Philips SHP9500 | Discontinued (Replaced by SHP9600) | Bright | Decent imaging chops held back by its intensely bright presentation and below-average resolution. | D | D | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Third party unit | 366 | 183 | 183 | 90 | ||
| D | 1MORE MK801 | 80 | Neutral with bass boost | Smooth, generally pleasing tonality throughout with no offensive characteristics. | D | D | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Jaben SG demo unit | 366 | 183 | 183 | 80 | ||
| D | Koss Portapro | 80 | Bass-rolled warm | The KSC75 is better. | D | D | Dynamic | Open Supra-aural | Third party unit | 366 | 183 | 183 | 80 | ||
| D- | Grado SR60e/SR80e | 80 (SR60e) | Bright neutral | Forward, almost nasally midrange with an intense treble response. | D- | D- | Dynamic | Open Supra-aural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 422 | 211 | 211 | 80 | ||
| D- | Koss PRO DJ100 | 80 | DF-neutral with bass boost | Good tuning but unfortunately weird pad shape that makes it hard to get the proper bass response. | D- | D- | Dynamic | Closed Supra-aural | Treoo demo unit | 422 | 211 | 211 | 80 | ||
| D- | AKG K240 Studio | 70 | Mid-centric | Abysmal bass extension with overly-boosted lower mids makes for a strange listening experience. | D- | D- | Dynamic | Open Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 422 | 211 | 211 | 70 | ||
| E | Audio Technica ATH-M30X | 70 | Neutral with bass boost | Scooped upper midrange with below average technicalities. | E | E | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 9999 | 4999.5 | 4999.5 | 70 | ||
| E | Sennheiser HD400S | 70 | "Balanced" | At least it's not the Momentum 2.0 Wireless. | E | E | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Zeppelin & Co demo unit | 9999 | 4999.5 | 4999.5 | 70 | ||
| E | Stax SR-84 | Discontinued | Bass-rolled neutral | Surprisingly coherent tuning for what is effectively an unsealed electret. Lacks too much resolution. | E | E | Electret | Open Supra-aural | Third party unit | 9999 | 4999.5 | 4999.5 | 60 | ||
| E | Shure SRH240A | 60 | V-shaped | Compressed, honky and lacking all but the most surface-level of detailing. | E | E | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 9999 | 4999.5 | 4999.5 | 60 | ||
| E | AKG K92 | 60 | V-shaped | Hole in the bass, hole in the mids, hole in the treble. AKG's struck a turkey. | E | E | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 9999 | 4999.5 | 4999.5 | 60 | ||
| E | Sony MDR-CD380 | Discontinued | DF-neutral | Shouty and thin-sounding, though surprisingly competent imaging ability. | E | E | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Third party unit | 9999 | 4999.5 | 4999.5 | 50 | ||
| E | Yamaha HP-50S | Discontinued | Warm | Bloated, lacking resolution, narrow imaging. Just a bad headphone all around. | E | E | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Third party unit | 9999 | 4999.5 | 4999.5 | 50 | ||
| E | AKG K72 | 50 | V-shaped | Hole in the bass, hole in the mids, hole in the treble. AKG's struck a turkey. | E | E | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 9999 | 4999.5 | 4999.5 | 50 | ||
| E | EKSA E900 Pro | 50 | Dark | Typical cheaply-made headphone that's all bass with zero technical ability. A waste of any money. | E | E | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Review unit | 9999 | 4999.5 | 4999.5 | 50 | ||
| E | AKG K52 | 35 | V-shaped | Hole in the bass, hole in the mids, hole in the treble. AKG's struck a turkey. | E | E | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Connect IT demo unit | 9999 | 4999.5 | 4999.5 | 35 | ||
| E | Yamaha HP-300 | Discontinued | Complete failure | Virtually no records of this exist on the internet, and maybe it's better that way. | E | E | Dynamic | Semi-open Circumaural | Third party unit | 9999 | 4999.5 | 4999.5 | 30 | ||
| F | Koss KSC75 | 20 | Bass-rolled neutral | Non-existent sub-bass and poor resolution. But it's so well-tuned you may not even care. | F | F | Dynamic | Open Clip-on | Personal unit | 99999 | 49999.5 | 49999.5 | 20 | ||
| F | Pioneer SE-2P | Discontinued | Complete failure | The pads look like toilet plungers. Sounds like one too. | F | F | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Third party unit | 99999 | 49999.5 | 49999.5 | 10 | ||
| F | Sansui SS-10 | Discontinued | Complete failure | A simulation of how it's like to have hearing damage. | F | F | Dynamic | Closed Circumaural | Third party unit | 99999 | 49999.5 | 49999.5 | 10 |