Tyll Hertsens

You know what's funny about this job? You travel half way around the world and then talk to people you know well. Fang is one of those people. I'm thinking I should go to China one of these days and talk to him again.

Anyway, HiFiMAN had a couple of cool dynamic IEMs that were a good listen. Check it out.

Ed. Note: I've posted my show impressions for Stereophile, you can read them here.

Steve Guttenberg and I have gone back and forth on whether measurements are useful to consumers, but we both agree that the measurements don't tell you whether it's a good headphone or a great one. The V-Moda M-100 doesn't measure great, but that sure as heck doesn't mean they don't sound great.

I'll untangle all those double negatives in the article.

It's warm and fuzzy, with a big bottom and a lively top.

No, it's not my girlfriend silly, it's the new Philips Fidelio X1. And while it may not be a mate for life, it's sure fun to have for a little fling.

Back before the Sennheiser HD 800 broke the $1000 high-end headphone barrier and started a flurry of ground-breaking new reference cans, there were three staples for enthusiast searching for great sound: the Sennheiser HD 650 ($649.95 MSRP); the AKG K701 (now reincarnated as the Quincy Jones Q701; $399 MSRP); and the Beyerdynamic DT 880 ($313.95 MSRP). All three, in my mind, remain good value when properly chosen for your listening tastes. (HD 650 – warm and smooth, though somewhat lacking in detail; AKG K701 – articulate, but slightly hard; DT 880 – detailed with depth and air, but somewhat lacking weight through the mids.)

A rather cool and unusual feature of the Beyer DT 880 is that it is available in three different impedance values in order to give you better options in suiting them to your needs. I thought it would be fun to have a look at the three different versions, and evaluate their suitability to home, portable, and general use.

Read on for the techno-geekly details, but go ahead and skip to the summary if you just want the recommendations….