Looking for a Pair of Very, Very 'Balanced' Open-Ear Headphones with Max Cost of $200

LlamaFace on 24/08/2020 - 15:27

Hi team,

I have a close friend who makes customised open-back headphones. He loves doing it and goes out of his way to find components that suit the person he is making them for. He's got a birthday coming up in a few months and I figured a nice present would be to get him a set of cans that have a very balanced sound that he could then use as a tool for doing comparisons with and tweaking his various bits of audio equipment - kinda like a sonic metronome.

I have a budget of up to $200 so I'm looking for something in the same reputation-to-value range as the Sony MDR-7506 but with an open-backed design.

Thank you friendly audiophiles!

Electrical & Electronics Headphones

Comments

  • Hybroid on 24/08/2020 - 15:29

    Probably best asking one of the audiophiles here: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/558578

  • 87percent on 24/08/2020 - 16:02
    +5

    i wouldn't be getting a friend who makes headphones, his own pair… surely something else would be better?

    • MagicMushroom on 24/08/2020 - 17:48
      +2

      Agree, maybe a $200 audio cable

      • Chirse on 24/08/2020 - 17:56
        +2

        maybe a $200 soldering iron

      • endotherm on 24/08/2020 - 21:43

        I hear Monster Cable is good…

    • captaincabinets on 24/08/2020 - 18:55

      I'm a bit of a headphone person and have a decent setup (Behringer / JDS / Khadas). However I'm with Saiyan, be sure that's what he wants before you head down that route. I'm a person who hates surprise presents for a reason, I'm very particular about what I want. Sometimes getting the wrong thing is more frustrating than getting nothing at all. A person who makes custom headphones sounds like a very 'particular' person too.

      It's a very kind thought and you clearly care a lot about your friend, as you're planning their present several months in advance. I think some more scouting may be needed, is all.

  • wannagrababargain on 24/08/2020 - 16:03

    Open back designs are generally going to cost more money. Also depends what you mean by 'balanced.' If you are looking for a sonic metronome, ie completely flat and truly uncoloured sound, that could be different from being considered a 'balanced' sound signature for listening to music. Flat/reference open back designs can get expensive. For example, a good and popular closed-back reference headphone is ATH-M50x. Within the same brand the closest open-back reference is ATH-R70x which is double the price.

    • LlamaFace on 24/08/2020 - 20:35

      I feel like what I’d want is more the latter (‘flat and uncoloured’) as I’m kinda hoping to give him a tool that he can use when he’s making other sets of headphones.

  • CheapandUsed on 24/08/2020 - 19:18
    +2

    I'm a big fan of the rule of 'never buy a gift related to a person's hobby or business unless explicitly stated that it is the item they need'.
    It's definitely the best way to avoid the awkward 'can I have the receipt' conversation.

    I'd also figure out how far into it they are before even buying something related, they might be into the thousand dollar snake oil cables already.

    Perhaps, they like to enjoy a class of refreshing Tasmanian bottled tap water whilst relaxing and enjoying their products, that could be an avenue to explore?

    • LlamaFace on 24/08/2020 - 20:29

      Yeah, I’m thinking of it from the angle of ‘never buy a carpenter anything made of wood, but they might like some good-quality tools’.

      He’s into it insofar as he buys a lot of stuff second-hand via eBay from audiophiles, then prys them apart, makes sure everything is working, changes the bits he wants to change, then puts everything back together and assembles the final product using cutomised stuff he orders on a job-by-job basis.

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