Best Headphone under $500 (kind of) Moondrop Venus vs Hifiman Edition XS and Meze 109 Pro
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
- Moondrop Venus shenzhenaudio.com/?ref=ML3ehv...
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0:00 Start
0:33 Intro
2:14 Build Quality
5:49 Other Headphones
7:40 How they Sound
12:11 Final Thoughts
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Развлечения
Nicely done Cheapaudioman! Being honest and true to your impressions about this particular level of headphone design and what they actually sound like means the world to me. Build quality and fit matters, and you nailed that point to the head. Thanks for taking the time to make my audio experience more meaningful and informed.
And the Edition XS for the win
I really, and I mean really like down to earth normal reviewers like you. By the way, my only headphone is Hifiman Edition XS and paired with SMSL MK3 sounds absolutely great. And I also liked the comment you made about spending time with your family. Merry Christmas 🎄
Dood it’s so funny this is the exact video I wanted, I wanted someone to compare these specific headphones.thank you so much!
Wonderful comparison, very entertaining. Yes we do love to hear about your life's moments. My missus said it makes you Human and humorous, which is great.
Love your videos mate. Always entertaining and informative 👌
Thank you for making this video! Would have liked to hear you speak more about the Meze 109 Pro. Seems like you would almost start to talk about them, but then not. I'd like to hear an opinion on the sound quality of the Meze 109 Pro compared to the Hifiman XS.
Great review. Thanks alot. You are really down to earth and honest and don't talk absolute nonsense like manyyyy other (wannabe) audiophile reviewers on this platform, who don't even give any conclusion to if the headphones are worth the price in their bracket or even ANY sort of comparison to other similarly priced headphones / audio items in general. You just gained a subscriber, good sir. :)
after 3 magnifying glasses, I 'remembered actual glasses exist. It was fun to be able to see my skin again.
I have a few of those metallic-paint sharpies with which I colour in those invisible letters on HPs and stuff to increase the contrast and if done carefully, they look sweet
really enjoy these videos where everything feels so organic and human (:
I love your headphone reviews! More please. Or not. Thanks!
Although I came in to indulge my bias towards the XS, I couldn't stop looking at how handsome and relaxed you are... I like that, Subscribed!
Just in time as usual. Thank you so much for your review and perspectives. I just don't know what to choose. Probably the Meze 109 Pro in the new year.
Go for the Pro!!!
Honestly love your headphone reviews. I have some Fidelio 50MM X2HRs that I wonder what your input would be on them, they're affordable, but I feel like they're definitely contenders within the $200-$300 dollar range and they're just $150
8:31 man i really love to hear this kind of comments about yourself in the video ❤️
Dude! So true about vision falling off of a cliff suddenly! I’m also 46, and just like two months ago, I’m suddenly the old man having to pull off my regular glasses and hold junk right up to my nose!
You're not alone. I'm 48, and only few years ago I couldn't imagine this.
I'm interested in the Meze 109 Pro. My 99 Classics are very comfortable other than the ears are a hair too small for me. Still debating on returning them and saving up for the 109's with their larger cups. They're also easy to drive, no need for expensive amps. Right now I've been getting way more use out of my Ikko OH10, which is how you know you've found something that works well for you.
You cannot go wrong with the 109 Pro. I got them working with the Schiit Hel 2e amp/dac and my goodness. I use them to game on the PS5.
Josua Valour just did a review on these
@@MJordanisGod23 how are they for FPS games?
@@ryanpowell2793 I think they are great for them. The sound is very clear and you can hear the footsteps.
Hi, for the $300..ish price bracket, I would recommend you to listen to the Yanyin Canon (with 3 switches that do something), I love it. I heard also many great things about the Penon Serial.
Thanks for the video.
Just picked up the HiFiman edition XS for £339 from Amazon returns. Arriving today 🙂
Wish you added verum mk2s as well to the comparison.
More headphone and IEM reviews please.
@cheapaudioman Could you tell because heard both... It is worth to purchase the verum 1 over meze 109? Thanks!
Which sounds better Edition XS or 109 pro? In what ways are each better than the other?
Moondrop Headphone makes you look like a Cyberman from Dr Who.
lol I thought the same thing
That's a selling point :)
Are these 15X as good as the cheap Koss headphones you just reviewed?
How do you think the Edition XS compares to the Meze 109 Pro and Hifiman Ananda's??? Never saw a direct comparison between those three
I would love to know how on every aspect the XS compares to 109
What would you recommend between 109 pro or xs. Im a metal head, rock and jazz person
I sold my sundara for 109 pro and 109 pro just sounds much better. More bass and detail.
The comfort is also a big factor to consider and the build quality whereas sundara would literally just creak when you open them.
Did u ever eq rhe sundaras tho? The sundaras eq'd to the Harman curve sound so much better. I am looking to try an upgrade though. I really want to try lcds
@@David-gp3fd Harman curve is overrated just eq to your liking
If you EQ the sundara's they can actually handle the bass really well
Stuck between the 109 pro still :| not a fan of the raised treble in the 109 pro, but it's the PERFECT headphone in every other way, specially comfort, gosh it's SO freaking comfortable. and so well built...
In that $800 range I'd get the Ananda Stealth Magnet for $700. Probably the benchmark HP under $1K
THIS
untill 250 dollars what would they be???
Try a Hifiman R9 at $249. I get a good amount of space for my bass tone contained. It's like listening to an open back but cupping the outside to capture the bass and other intricacies.
He should also check out the hifiman r9 jm edition
I'm really interested in the Hifiman EXS. Tried to pull the trigger the last few days.
I bought the XS and they're one of my favorite sets. Ear cups are big and open. I have the Focal Clears too and the XS sounds more open to me. According to a quite a few people that have compared them to the Ananda and Arya they are almost as good or better than those more expensive models. The only negative I can think of is if you have a small head they probably won't fit that great. Otherwise, if you're looking for an open headphone you won't be disappointed. They do take some power to drive though, IMHO.
The Ibasso SR2 is the best 500 dollar headphones I've heard so far, and they just released the SR3. You should try to grab one for a review.
I find MoonDrop Venus more amp picky because power needed and Edition XS just easier to drive. With correct amp the Venus is awesome. My only complaint is my set has cut imperfections around the edge of the cups. It bothers me because how good they look.
Hmmm……. Just demo’d these briefly yesterday and didn’t get any of the spicy-ness you refer to. If anything, I thought they were a touch on the warm side of things. I should have listened to the XS while I was at it but I’m not a fan of Hifiman.
I would love to see how these headphones compare to the Focal Celestee. It's expensive but if you search you can get it in the $600-$700 range.
Sound wise I love the Grado headphones, punchy,detailed,easy to drive. Although for bild quality I am not sure and the are not the most confortly. But sound wise the 60 and the 125 sounds for the money fantastic.
Ludo Belgium
So around 8:58 til about 9:17 I thought I could hear the wind whipping around outside your house with my Sundaras.
I *love* the build quality of the Moondrop and the Meze - they seem to be close to ideal? I like the looks of the Meze best - very "classic" and timeless, in my opinion.
I've never been looking for good, just spectacular, brilliant amazing headphones and the only ones that meet this criterion are staxy. Good headphones can be purchased for $50
Is that wind I hear in the background?
I'm upgrading my dongle amp/DAC to a Chord Mojo2 soon and my HE5XX to Edition XS. The 5XX are fragile AF. Only had them a couple months and already cracked the plastic driver housing twice after they already came with a crack from shipping. I'm so done with Drop.
I had the drop hifiman 4xx and the driver blew out within a few weeks. Never ever had that happen on a headphone before and I send love drums through them! (I didn't do that with the hifiman)
Use a Amp to support your mojo 2.
XS will benefit from it.
Very curious how these would compare to the Verum and the HE6SE. Is the Moondrop a serious upgrade from the Verum? Is the HE6SE better than the lot? I think that would be a good comparison if you can.
Is Verum the Ukrainian set he loved? I was wondering what happened to those.
I like my Breyerdynamic DT 1990.
I just got the DT 880's and thought they were quite nice. Any idea how the 1990 compare to the 880.
is it really windy where you are living at, Randy?
I heard it, too
It might be that storm making its way across the country. I'm supposed to be getting high winds soon.
Based on Randy's reviews, I gifted a bunch of $38 Koss kph40 headphones for Christmas and now I see that Emotivas $300 headphones are on sale for $182. It's all too bad that I am deaf in one ear! LOL
mabe you can also try beston rh85a headphone
The best at screaming metal or the best at grinding out EDM? :)
I love the sight comment - very relatable. Ugh 50 is when things start not working / breaking. Kind of like vintage in that way. I wish I had wood paneling and VU meters so I would look stylish at least, not just a "dad bod". Anyway - great review, I agree they make you look like a 1970's Dr. Who villain (I think @Ramon Mendoza pointed this out first). I am not surprised by the "hot" sound as that seems to be a common Chi-fi tuning with IEMs. It must be for a specific genre that is more popular on that side of the planet? I would love to know the reason. After I save up for the AKM J2, XS is my next goal! P.S. Did you replace your XS after the blow-out or were they repaired?
The tuning is for both sides of the planet. CHiFi seems like it's popular with the PC enthusiast/gamer type market and tend to be younger buyers and tunings reflect that. Luckily they make such a diverse range of sizes/shapes/tunings that you can usually find one that suits you.
Moondrop Venus are sharp looking headphones.
Sharp but don't cut!
that Venus reminds me of Cybermen from Doctor who
Oooops. Forgot to say Merry Christmas, or as you say over there, Happy Holidays.
Interesting, I love the sounds of the XS as well, but for me, i hate how they feel wearing them, and I hardly use them because of that…. Headband is awful. Been thinking about buying the MEZE 109 and selling the XS…. Thanks for your review and comparisons.
I'm a headphone guy, and I definitely think those Venus headphones (and most others with that sort of headband) look ridiculous.
Meze 109Pro is twice the price of Edition XS here in Australia 😭
Isn't that annoying? I'm trying to compare headphones.... I've read that people are debating between the 109 and the Hifiman Arya. ???? The Hifiman is $750+ more than the 109's, here in Canada. I don't understand it.
@@ruger6049 about the same gap here in Oz between Arya and 109 pro
AKG K702 for a linear experience. The Beyerdynamik DT-880 Pro is similar. If you prefer a slighly more colored sound with a bass and treble boost, the Beyerdynamik DT-990 Pro would be my choice. They all cost between 120 and 140 Euro. For me, that's the price to performance sweet spot.
Thank goodness there was no comparison to HD 6XX; would not want more than a few dozen folks to benefit.
I tried the HD6XX and was not impressed. It sounded good but didn't do it for me.
Agreed. I don’t care for the HD 6xx at all.
6xx is endgame sadly
His "comparison" to the Meze 109 was virtually not existent too. "Dynamic vs Planar, different animal, Venus needs more power" then proceeds to move on
8:40 as a 27 year old with 20/20 vision, that is really really scary
I closed my window 5 times during this video 🌬
I love headphones and consider myself an audiophile, and I think that particular headphone design, which I've seen on several high end headphones, looks ridiculous.
$500 for headphones? Kind of blows the cheap audio man model of hifi out of the water ..
IME, $250 should be plenty.. In the late 60’s, Koss had a closed back low impedance brown colored headphone that wasn’t much more than the cost of couple vinyl records. They even used them in some studios, and I can’t remember the model. They probably had 3 or 4 inch drivers in them. I can’t seem to find info on them online, but I’ve even seen them on the heads of some famous musicians. In today’s $$, they’d be $150. They had a nice balanced sound and could kick ass on bass if you put some power into them.
Not a headphone man so $500 would be a no go for me anyway. What is a good one around the $100 mark?
I'll list the most popular choices on our local price comparison site:
Sennheiser HD 280 Pro
Sennheiser HD 560s
Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO
Philips Fidelio X2HR
Audio-Technica ATH-M50X
Sennheiser HD 599
Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro
Audio-Technica ATH-M40x
None of these have a lowest price over €150 but I didn't follow the links so some might not be stock and just low priced to lure you into a shop.
Hifiman HE400SE $109
I own 'em. I love' em. Period.
Concur on the Hifiman HE400SE, planar at $109 on Amazon cannot be beat. see homestudiobasics cheeky review. You could get it before Christmas! What do you listen with currently, IEMs? Speakers?
@@D1N02 I'd recommend the Sennheiser HD 560S (when you can get them at or below $150) or HD 599 SE (at or below $80), maybe factor in a replacement cable for around $20, because the included cables are a bit stiff. But the others are great choices, too. (or € instead of $ with the same values)
@@kontrolenthusiast1099 nothing really headphone wise. Speakers always. Just when I'm in a train a few times a year. Sennheiser PX100, but I recently got a new DAC that is also headphone amp (SMSL M500 MKIII), so I thought I could sometimes relieve the neighbours a bit at night. The Hifiman is Currently €139 on dutch Amazon, But €119 on the German one (Dutch Amazon is supplied from the same German warehouses as the german one so they like to rip us of ;) )
4:21 lmaoo
Eyesight: everyone in their mid forties gets 'age related myopia'.... it's normal. 🙂
... waking up and needing glasses is still better than waking up and having hearing loss.
BUT TEDAAAAY!
Never was a fan of the Sundara - tinny, thin - maybe veiled too yes.
HE6se v2 is $399 now on adorama with the promo e-mail link
Sith do a verity of $500 headphones, driver sizes 8" 10" 12" 15" 18"
inches?
what??? those are subwoofer sizes lmao
You openly admit you don’t care or put as much effort into your headphone reviews and you wonder why they have lower views…..some of us come here looking for your opinion and looking for your normal video effort and quality.
Headphones at these and higher prices are extreme niche products that are not consistent with the “Cheap” theme of this channel.
I'm not sure, but I think his definition of cheap is below $1000 (to counter people stating that you need to spend multiple thousands on every component to get audiophile quality)
No grado?
What about high end headset that also has a mic, and can be used for gaming as well as music.
Best bet is probably audeze maxwell
wait you do brolls? headphone stuff is all i´m watching really...
… there is no difference between comparing headphones and speakers apart from listening environment. That and you’re already ahead of the headphone reviewer curve by basing your “review” on comparing them to multiple other similar headphones. That’s getting dangerously close to proper scientific method. Oh wait,… that’s as close as one person can get,… It’s almost like you’ve done your research or something.
Wait. You're the guy who said in the other video that it doesn't matter what you have. Money is nothing, everything is the same. There is no audiophile products. I know everyone is a hypocrite these days but your going to lose your main base the Gen Zers. This will be fun watching your numbers after this.
Yo My Personal Opinion, You Could BENIFIT, From Some UNLEADED...
😆 🤣 😂
Now that he's reached his subscriber goals, Randy should change his name to the not so cheap audioman since he spends all his time hawking more high end gear. I've unsubscribed you should to.
Nudder expensive crap phone.. oh joy.
Commenting on plastic vs metal when you talk about headphones is beyond silly. Sennheiser, for example, has been making stellar plastic headphones for decades
I'm half with you. I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with plastic but at a certain price point people spending that much money don't want it. And you know how fussy audiophiles can be lol.
I love my Sennheiser HD560S, but their plastic sometimes makes squeaking noises when moving my head, while my Hifiman Sundara don't. I didn't buy the XS due their amount of plastic and the fear that they might exhibit the same issue. Ananda would probably be great, but slightly above what I'd like to pay at the moment.
@@spamcan9208 I get that but one of the biggest selling points for headphones is weight. Not many people wanna wear 10 lbs on their head for hours of listening.
@@keithmulkey3352 I agree, that's why I don't mind quality plastic on even more expensive models. Above a certain price point I think that's why manufacturers start using things like magnesium and titanium to keep weight down. They can't get away with using plastic or something that's heavy and uncomfortable, which means it ain't gonna be cheap lol. I'd rather have that money go to the drivers tbh.
That's not entirely true. A largely plastic build can be an indicator of cheap quality vs. a metal/wood build in most cases. Sennheiser does it right, but a lot of their plastic builds are below $350. So it is acceptable. Excluding their 800 series which use higher quality plastics than their 600 series IMO.
The best Headphone under $500 is without a doubt the HD 6XX.
What's the fun with headphones..? It's more fun to piss off your neighbors at 2 AM :)
Especially if your neighbors live 50 yards away...
I still like my beats !
You're on the wrong YT channel, take your headphone to this channel "cheapandterribleaudioman"
If you're not joking, you're the joke.
Its edition xs. No contest
the most I'd spend if I really wanted good headphones is $500, $600+ is absurd, that extra $$ would be better spent on good towers or bookshelf speakers
dt 990 best gtröck / allround
mb quart / gm önlie wörth ´wearinG -:-
styx yör hät vveißsy$ -.-