Mama Beyer - Beyerdynamic T90
This is my favourite. Mama Beyer is comforting, sexy, tells the truth and makes you melt into the music like little else. A 250 Ohm Tesla driver open-backed beauty. Surprisingly easy to drive, and just glows with musical magic with a tube amp, like my little Sabaj PHA3. Clarity, air and detail like I?ve never heard before, but also deep, warm and tight lows with mids that are never too forced, but who?s presence is just perfect food to my ears. Add to that the soundstage that extends for days and pin-point imaging she is glorious. To some she might be a bit too bright and sibilant - but this also depends how the recording is mastered as all flaws in the mix are evident. And a great mix sounds truly unbelievable at times. I?m quite treble sensitive, but the highs from her are never fatiguing. No other headphone I own makes me feel like I?m in the recording studio or on the stage watching and listening the artist perform to only me - such is her intimacy. She?s rare too, after having been discontinued some years ago. I get the analogue-vibes tingles almost every time - as close to amazing stereo speakers in a headphone. So she?s a soul-mate and one to grow old with.
Papa Beyer - Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 Ohm
Nothing beats a ear-hug like a Papa Beyer ear-hug. Built like a rock, yet light on the head, his giant velour ear cups are like soft loafers for the ears. He prefers to be dac-ed and amped. And will always be found travelling with a flight-case filled with a mixture of reggae, acoustic, hip-hop & jazz. Connected to his iFi Zen DAC, they mos def jive together. He is a first-love, the one that made me fall in love with headphones all over again, and got me diving deep into the rabbit-hole into almost-poverty ha ha. A closed-back giant with a budget-fi price tag. You?ll have to probably aspire to a closed-back wooded Denon or Fostex to get close to the DT770 dynamics, but then you?d have to fork out 3x the money, or more. While Mama Beyer might be as close to an end-game for me, Papa Beyer is the trusted soul provider. With a surprisingly large soundstage, and sub-bass you can actually feel, yet with warm mids and silky highs he?s like the audiophile who hangs out in old record stores like the guys in the movie ?High Fidelity?. He?s experienced, but doesn?t come across as a know-it all. Papa Beyer, I love you!
Baby Beyer - Beyerdynamic TYGR 300 R
This is the fun one. The punk. The rebel. The one you wanna dance with to in the wee hours of the morning. Electronic and 80?s jams are just the business with the open-back TYGRs, so is house, R&B, hip-hop, classical, live, heck pretty much anything you throw at the TYGRs are terrific. It?s like the DT990 and the DT880 had a baby with an almost W-shaped sound signature that never fatigues. Oddly at 32 Ohms it?s not the easiest to get very loud, so amps make him amped. Baby Beyer loves to jam with the iFi Zen CAN, it brings out the best in him. Yet, he?s just at home with my iPhone and the dangly (yet amazing) Apple 3.5mm dongle. You?ll experience surround-sound like you we?re in your living room surrounded by dynamic speakers - incredible! Designed for gamers in mind, the TYGRs are actually an audiophile wonder for not a lot of money. You kick him out the door when he comes home late after a night of binge-drinking, but then he keeps coming home to destroy your sofa and eat all your food. And you love him all the same. This one is ?Ferris Bueller?s Day Off?.
Goldilocks - Koss KPH30i
Ahh Goldilocks. She?s just so sweet - honey to the ears. Light as a feather and sound like an angel. On a good day she is Mama Bear, Papa Bear and Baby Bear all rolled into one. She brings the balance, the reason and is always smiling. Lows, mids and highs in seamlessly perfect harmony. Yet, she is not perfect, and that is perfectly ok with me. Diminutive, yet heroic is Goldilocks. She scales with amplification. And yet is joyously happy with a 10-year old iPod. I love the Koss KPH30i so much I have two - one for work and one for home. And for around 30-dollars I can find anything to beat them. If I was stranded on a desert island and could have only one headphone it would be the Koss KPH30i. I probably would not want to even be rescued.
And this brings us to the end of the fairy-tale.
PS: As you can tell, Beyerdynamic and Koss rock my socks. I also love my beloved little ?cheapie? Final E500 IEMs - like the TYGR 300 R they?re highly resolving and magnificent fun too. And in the rest of my extended headphone family I have the Grado SR80e, HifiMan HE4XX, Koss Porta Pro, Koss KSC75, Vido Earbuds, Beyerdynamic Beat Byrd IEMs, Monoprice Modern Retro & Klipsch Image One - but they mostly gather dust.
