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List your state of art headphones for smart phone use!

I am looking for over the ear headphones that can play at a satisfactory volume and do not drain the battery.
I currently have Sony Pro MDR 7520 headphones that list at $500 and are on Amazon for $275.
They are comfortable and fairly good for the price.
I use an Audioquest dragonfly cobalt D/A with my iPhone, iPad, and laptop.
If I moved up to $1000 or more what would be much better?
Are earbuds an alternative at all?
At home I use Stax L700 and get very close to SOTA sound quality with a Stax tube/fet driver amp.
I do not expect the same Stax sound quality.
Can I get close to my home headphone quality?
don_c55

Showing 2 responses by cd318

cd318
2,636 posts
 
Do headphones get any better than the Koss Porta Pros? 

Not heard Stax, not heard HD600s but out of all the ones I have heard up to 4/5 times the price none of them have spanked the Pros when it comes to sheer joy and life in the music. In fact some of them have been real dullsville efforts.

I'd love to hear some Grado woodies (if only half the stories are true!) but they wouldn't do for portable use.  


cd318
2,636 posts
 
@extravaganza, yeah Grado is definitely on my want to hear list.

Not sure if I'm brave enough to wear them each day on my 25 minute stroll to work. My Porta Pros in red get the occasional odd stare as it is, but I love the sound, and the comfort.

I'd guess that 9/10 headphone users/commuters I see are still using in -ear phones but all my experiences with them have uncomfortable and unsatisfactory. The slightest movement of the earpiece has a dramatic effect on the bandwidth, and keeping that oh so right fit seems to be beyond me.  
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