I’ve owned a headphone at one time or another from just about every company - Meze, ZMF, Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, Focal, Audeze, Hifiman, DCA, you name it. I have my favorites but I usually find they’re not the ones that seem to glean the most popularity or engagement online. Leaving your own personal tastes out of it, which companies do you get the impression are the most popular or successful?

First, the bottom line: I usually listen to Moondrop and Truthear IEMs, and TWS for me is basically just for commuting and calls. But this Harry Potter Edition Buds T500 Pro actually surprised me—not because of the sound (12.4mm dynamic driver, a fairly mild V-shaped tuning, clear mids, bass that has quantity but isn’t bloated; normal for this price range), but because of how well the design is executed.

The charging case has a dark brown, textured leather-like finish, with the Hogwarts crest on the front and “Welcome to Hogwarts” on the back. The earbuds themselves are dark brown with gold stems, and the Hogwarts “H” logo is on the stem. The overall color scheme doesn’t feel like those cheap collabs that just slap a logo on and call it a day. At least the details were thought through.

For fit: 4.5g per earbud, noticeably lighter than my Truthear Zero. No obvious pressure after two hours. 50dB ANC is basically over-spec at this price. In practice it kills most low-frequency noise on the subway. Supports LHDC 5.0 and Bluetooth 6.1, three-device multipoint. Probably not a big deal for iOS users, but if you’re on Android with LHDC, it’s worth trying.

A few downsides: the charging port is on the bottom, so it’s a bit awkward to charge while lying flat; the brown textured surface does pick up fingerprints; and if you’re not a Harry Potter fan, the standard T500 Pro is about half the price with identical hardware.

They’re also running an official giveaway recently, so you can check it out if you’re interested.
https://www.reddit.com/r/realmeGlobal/comments/1wz4b10/six_pairs_of_the_harry_potter_edition_realme_buds/

Bought these Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones back in April 2026. Just a few weeks ago I noticed this delamination. Contacted Sony, but "physical damage" is not covered under their limited warranty. Is this normal? I've only ever used these under normal wear conditions. Took good care of them but it seems as if there is a defect in the outer coating. Is there anything I can do? I bought these from Best Buy, but I assume they will want me to contact Sony, which has been pointless. Any tips would be appreciated.

Hifiman is infamous for driver failures and QC issues. And it seems to be amplified with the Unveiled lineup. Drivers failing automatically. Maybe due to dust, humidity, condensation, etc. I don't know how, but they simply give up. Even Late Knight Talk's unit had driver failure in one month. The second unit has creaking sounds.

Are there any long term owners of the unveiled headphones?

1: What kind of environment do you live in? Dusty, Humid. 2: and how do you take care of the headphones?

Pic is just for representation.

Hi, I bought the DT 770 PRO 80 ohm based on all the recommendations I received, and I was tired of my Hyper X, i wanted a change. The problem is that even at full volume, whether on Windows or even on my LG C1 TV, the sound isn't very loud at all, it's barely there, and it sounds a bit muffled. Maybe it’s just a matter of getting used to it, but in any case, the volume is too low for my taste. So I’ve heard that it depends on the motherboard, whether it has a good sound card or not. Personally, I have a B450 Tomahawk Max, i thought that would be enough, but it’s not great.

First of all, I’d like to know if this is normal? I’m thinking of getting an amplifier to see if there’s really a difference, otherwise, i’ll send it back. What do you recommend? Is the FiiO KA11 enough, or should I get something with better performance? Keep in mind that I mainly use it for listening to music, gaming, and watching movies, the usual stuff. Thanks for your help.

(Not asking support, not technical not shopping, not sure was removed)

After hours try out and read reddit for about an hour, some posts (from months ago) tell the hissing, just wanted to ask if this is something happen on every unit?

Anyone has had hissing on one unit and replaced another one without?

Or still have it on new replaced one?

Please advise, thanks!

I’ve been experimenting with different DACs and headphones lately, trying to find that perfect combination of detail, musicality, soundstage, and instrument separation. I think I’ve finally found something special.

My current setup is the Cayin RU9 paired with the Meze 99 Classics V2, using a balanced 4.4mm connection and streaming from my iPhone.

And wow. I’m genuinely blown away.

The instrument separation is phenomenal. I’m hearing individual instruments with a level of clarity and separation that makes familiar recordings feel completely new. Instead of everything blending together, each instrument seems to occupy its own space. I can follow the bass line, pick out subtle background instruments, and hear little details in recordings that I honestly never noticed before.

The vocals are absolutely amazing. This is probably one of my favorite things about the RU9. Voices sound incredibly natural, rich, intimate, and full of emotion. There’s a beautiful sense of presence, almost as if the singer is performing right in front of me. Nothing sounds overly analytical or artificially sharpened. It’s detailed but wonderfully musical.

The soundstage and imaging are another highlight. There’s a wonderful sense of space, depth, and dimension. Instruments don’t just sound like they’re coming from the left or right. There’s actual layering and placement. Some sounds feel closer, others further away, creating this almost three-dimensional presentation.

And the bass? Deep, controlled, textured, and satisfying without overpowering the midrange. Exactly the kind of bass I enjoy.

What really impresses me is how effortlessly everything comes together. The RU9 delivers a presentation that’s detailed and revealing without becoming fatiguing. I can sit back, close my eyes, and completely disappear into the music.

I’ve tried several DACs recently, including the iBasso DC07 Pro, and to my ears, the Cayin RU9 offers a more enjoyable, natural, and immersive listening experience. There’s something about its presentation that makes me want to keep listening for hours.

Now, one issue worth mentioning:

I’m experiencing some faint static/interference when using the RU9 attached magnetically via MagSafe to my iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Interestingly, when I try the same setup with my wife’s iPhone 16 Pro Max, there’s absolutely no static.

That makes me wonder whether there’s some type of electromagnetic interference or a difference in how the two phones interact with the RU9 when positioned magnetically. I’m not sure what’s causing it yet, but I wanted to mention it for anyone considering this combination.

Aside from that, the sound quality has been nothing short of spectacular.

My final thoughts:

I’ve spent a lot of time chasing better sound, trying different headphones, Bluetooth solutions, and portable DACs. This setup has reminded me why I love wired audio so much.

It’s not just about hearing music louder or getting more bass. It’s about hearing the space between instruments, the texture of a voice, the subtle details buried in a recording, and the emotion behind the performance.

The Cayin RU9 has made listening to music exciting again.

I’m genuinely impressed, and I couldn’t be happier with this purchase.

Anyone else using the Cayin RU9? I’d love to hear your impressions, especially if you’ve experienced any MagSafe-related interference with the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Sharing a free, open source Mac player I built, in case it's useful to anyone here.

The two things this crowd might care about:

• Bit-perfect playback. The output device follows each song's sample rate and the deepest integer format, with optional exclusive access, and the volume slider controls the device's own volume instead of scaling samples. A quality panel shows what the file is and what actually reaches the DAC, so you can confirm nothing's being resampled.
• 15-band parametric EQ. Every band has type (peak, shelves, pass, notch), frequency, gain and Q, a draggable response curve, and automatic preamp to avoid clipping. It imports and exports Equalizer APO / AutoEq ParametricEQ.txt files, so you can load your headphone's correction directly.

Plus FLAC/hi-res/ALAC/APE/WavPack and friends, gapless, ReplayGain-based leveling, and synced lyrics.

https://github.com/irwingbraga/groovelight

Meze Audio 99 Classics V2
1DD
$350USD

Hi everyone, welcome back ! In today’s review, we’ll be talking about a very gorgeous looking closed back headphone. The Meze Audio 99 Classics V2.
Rest assured, as always this review is 100% my own personal opinion.

Unboxing
Here’s what you get inside the box:

• Headphone
• Hard Case
• Cable
• Type C Dongle
• Foam Inserts

Build Quality and Comfort

The 99 Classics V2 build quality is exceptional, it’s made out of walnut wood, it screams high quality and luxury, especially paired with the gold accent of the headband.
Talking about headbands, 99 Classics V2 uses a suspension type headband, which is actually pretty comfortable even for my super big head size.
I believe other individuals are going to be more than happy with the comfort of this headphone.
I cannot stress this enough, I do have a very large head, and this headphone accommodates it without any issues.

Continuing with the comfort of this headphone, it has this snap on earpads, which actually somewhat limits the possibility of earpads swapping, though I do believe this is by design because the 99 Classics V2 comes with acoustic foam inserts, and by doing this snap on design, it is designed to somewhat “installing the inserts easier” and “easier stock earpads replacement”.
The earpads themselves are pretty soft and accommodating for glasses users like me.

Specs

The 99 Classics V2 uses a single 40mm dynamic driver. It is rated at only 16ohms.
As for the dongle, Meze does not publish the specs to the public.

Power Requirement
This headphone is without any surprise, easy to drive.
BUT, obviously if you plug it to a better source it will present you with better technicalities and nicer tonality.

Sound
Setup Used:

• Meze Audio 99 Classics V2, Stock dongle, FIIO QX13, Fosi Audio ZH1, Apple Music + YT Music  (J-POP, EDM, Rap, Metal, Jazz)

My impression with the 99 Classics  V2 without the foam inserts is that it sounded “Harman-esque” with extra mid bass thump and mid treble.

One could argue this tuning could be called a somewhat mild V-Shape.
But, it is closer to harman target rather than V-shape.

And IF you do use the foam inserts, it dampens the mid treble and shifts the tonality to be warmer. Meze said this is for individuals who want a closer tonality to the original 99 Classics V1.

I found myself personally liking the tonality without the foam inserts. It simply sounds a bit more “balanced” for me.
Continuing on, I will describe the tonality without the foam inserts.

Bass : Deep, very good transient response, and thumpy because of the extra mid bass tuning.
I found the bass to be usable for all genres, yes even double pedal music and EDM.
It’s an allrounder bass tuning, and it digs deep.

Midrange : Nice clarity, without being shouty.
I think Meze tuned the midrange quite on point with the 99 Classics V2.
I found vocals presented in a very sweet and musical sounding, especially female vocals.
Granted some male vocals could sound a bit thicker than normal due to the extra mid bass that bleeds slightly to the midrange, but overall, me being a vocal lover approved this midrange tuning.

As for instruments, it sounds really musical yet again.
And not only that, thanks to the spectacular technicalities, instruments such as Violin, Piano, and even drum solo, sounds very realistic and I love it so much.
I literally play Violet Evergarden OST on repeat everyday because of how inviting and musical the midrange of this headphone is.

Treble : This is probably where people are going to debate quite a bit.
I found the treble without foam inserts to be a bit too airy, but on acceptable level, at least on my tolerance level.

But some people actually find this to be a bit too sibilant for them and is fatiguing.
And here is where the foam inserts come to play.
It dampens the treble and shifts the tonality to be warmer, BUT at the cost of some loss in imaging quality and details.
The treble itself, actually on the lower part, has a dip that reminds me of the M20x and Audeze MM100 tuning, but on the 99 Classics V2, after that dips, it has a rise, and this for some people could sound tiring.

I found the treble itself actually not that bright, BUT the tuning because of the dips near the 4k region, and suddenly it rose. What it does, is that it basically emphasises 5k to 9k of the headphones.

Also on the upper treble, it does have a peak around 14k which adds nice airy quality to the sound.

Just in case you don’t like this kind of treble tuning, you can just simply add the foam inserts and call it a day.

Technicalities
For $350USD, the technicalities are excellent

Stage: Large with excellent layering.
Ironically I found the stage to be larger than my HD650.
The Classics 99 V2 stage for closed back headphones, probably the largest that I’ve ever tried.
Imaging: Spectacular
Even plugged just with the included dongle, it sounds holographic. But the imaging does suffer a tiny bit if you do use the foam inserts.
Separation & Positioning: Very good, I actually use this for mixing purposes and I could set panning of certain instruments exactly where I wanted it to be.
Translation for music use case? You could enjoy a very nice panning stereo left right separation with the 99 Classics V2 and locate everything easily.
Detail Retrieval: Very good, you definitely going to enjoy all the textures this headphone offers.

Usually we have to choose between musicality and technical performance, but not with the Meze 99 Classics V2.
It sounds so musical yet it has superb overall technicalities, especially for the price and again for the price you get this superb build quality and luxurious look and very nice accessories.

Conclusion
The Meze Audio 99 Classics V2 in my opinion is definitely worth every penny you spend.
It has excellent craftsmanship, luxurious looks, premium accessories, very comfortable to wear and it has a very inviting musical tuning without sacrificing technicalities.
I could even do mixing work with this, knowing that the 99 Classics V2 sounds close to harman target tuning.

And what does that mean?
Basically the chance your mixes are going to translate well to other sources are high.
Another respectable point that I should mention is that the 99 Classics V2 has excellent passive noise isolation.
I could barely hear anything if I wore the 99 Classics V2 even without any sound playing in the background.

And this also means you could use this for tracking purposes in the context of being in a home studio and POV of a musician and audio engineer.
I’ll catch you in the next one. Bye for now !

• littlenezt

I ordered a pair of AFUL P5+2 through HiFiGo and am having some issues with either the 2 pin cable or the left IEM itself. It cuts out entirely very occasionally if the cable/connector gets moved in just the right way. The socket on the iem is extremely tight so the hardware troubleshooter in me is inclined to believe it's just a faulty cable, and have another on the way to test this theory. Received them the day before yesterday so I would think I'm well within an acceptable window for support here. I've reached out and haven't heard back yet.

Curious if anyone has had to deal with their support and your experiences so I know what I'm getting into.

This might be a weird question, but…

I’m home with him three days a week and I go a bit feral without something in my ears, so I moved to open-ear stuff a while back specifically so I could still hear him. The OpenFit Pro ones hook over the top of the ear, nothing in the canal, so I can hear what’s going on. Him, the kitchen, the dog, all of it. Including when he goes quiet in the other room, which is the one that actually matters.
None of which matters to him. As far as he’s concerned, if there is something on my ears then I am Unavailable.
And I don’t think I’m actually missing him. He’ll hold up a dinosaur and tell me it’s the big one, I say yes that’s the big one, and he’ll still go “you’re not listening.” So I take them off, we talk. Which I suspect just teaches him he was right.
My guess is he’s pattern matched it off phone calls. Thing on ear, dad is talking to someone else. Tried letting him hold one. He thought that was great and wanted to put it on me himself. Tried explaining it. He’s three, so......

Does this wear off on its own?

still havent found a way to use all of them same time... sadly

99 NEO

DT880

K712 PRO (currently most actively used)

IFI Hip-Dac 2

i think i might have gotten carried away when i herd "used audio is a good way to save some money"

Funnily enough i payed basically the same for the 99neos as i did for everything else tho the 99neos have been in heavy use for a few years already.

i also have pair of KZ ZSN PRO iems, If anyone has some good recomendations for iems (under 50e) that would be fun as id like to try some other iems at somepoint.

I got these Kraken Razer headphones on Ebay recently, and it's been slowly flaking since I got it. Came out of the box just fine, but using it has caused the pictured damage. Does anyone know why that may be? If it's a dupe with bad quality materials, I don't really mind because I didn't pay more than $40-45 and they work great otherwise, but I am curious. Is it maybe because it was packaged for a while? Is this an issue with a specific "era" of the razer headsets? To clarify, my old ones (cord chewed up by cats, RIP) never ever flaked like this in the 5 or so years I had them.

Thanks!:)

Just received it, anyone has similar situation? (Not asking support or setup, not sure why always get removed)

• Situation1: Left ear ANC is weaker than right ear, 2 situations:
  • 1.1. At common situation, for example i move a chair, the left ear can hear clearer the touch sound with the ground.
  • 1.2. When ANC is on, if I turn the head right, my left ear can hear more clear environment sound than what ca hear on right ear if turn head left.
• Situation2: When ANC is on, very clear buzzing sound/noise on right ear.
• Situation 3: Sound stays longer at left side if I turn my head: Under "Still" setting of immersive mode, if i turn head right while moving (e.g. walking), then turn head back (face front), I can feel the sound stays longer in left ear before turning to the middle compare to the sound stays at right ear if I turn head left.

Already calibrated.

Are these known issues?

Anyone same?

Please advise if I need to return it or not.

I was looking for something to replace my dying QC45 and after I read a ton of information I ordered the Px8 with their carbon fiber drivers and alleged incredible detail. I read on Reddit how they make you fall in love with music again and how you hear things you never heard in songs. For those people I can only imagine they were upgrading from listening to music on a phone speaker.

Just for background: I have the QC45 which I don’t like the sound of, but they are incredibly comfy so I use them for books and office work. I got the Moondrop Blessing 3 for at home and AirPods Pro 3.

I tried the bowers and on songs where I know where certain instruments are I can’t hear them at all. I have to really struggle on some mixes to hear more than 60% of the song. I tried firmware upgrade, cable, BTD700 dongle, nothing. They are a bloated muddy muddy cans. I tried the incredible 2 band EQ which helped a little but still ew.

This is a warning to not trust glowing reviews all too much. These are skullcandy level sound. I am returning tomorrow.

PS: Build quality is phenomenal and they are sooo beautiful.

Just picked up the Dan Clark stealth and the woo audio adjustable headphone stand, rounding out the collection with a closed back. Getting married this month so wanted to make sure I had a closed back ready for adjusting to living together.

I had tried to fill the closed back gap with a meze liric before but male vocals just sounded way too wonky for me to live with.

Was also struggling to find a good headphone stand to pair the stealth with, so glad I found this one. Its not as nice as the stand the yamaha came with, but it keeps up with the D8000 stand and overall matches aesthetics.

A wired mode sounds reassuring, but there's a pretty big difference between 'takes a cable' and 'still sounds good with the power off.'

At this price, I think being useful after the battery gives up should count for more in reviews. Losing Bluetooth and ANC is one thing. Losing the sound you bought them for because the tuning depends on powered processing feels like a different compromise.

The counterargument is fair: if DSP makes them sound better for years of normal use, why compromise that design for a fallback mode? An accessible replacement battery might matter more than passive playback anyway.

Where would you draw the line? Should a good passive mode be expected at this price, or is repairable battery access the thing we should actually be asking for?

These just give me a musically enjoyment not the 660s2 or even the planar beast fiio ft1 pro can give me..i don't know what it is but they add emotions to music

Hi there,
I have two pairs of 770 Pros, both second hand. The first one (80 ohm) fits perfectly, but the second (32 ohm) presses at the top of my left ear. I can't see any difference in angle of the cups or whatever, it all seems basically the same apart from the 80 ohm pair look a bit more knackered and used, and perhaps that's why they're more comfortable.

I'm very carefully trying to widen the headband, placing books slightly larger than the size of my head between the cups, but I'm not going crazy with this as I don't want to permanently expand the width so it's too loose.

Any ideas what this could be? I've even exchanged the black cups of the 32 ohm pair with the cream velour cups of the 80 ohm.

I'm doing this more out of curiosity, but also the 32 ohm are better for travelling as its cable is much shorter.

I appreciate any advice you might have here.

Cheers!

hi! i just got a pair of px7 s2 on a good deal and they arrived today, for context i own a pair of beoplay hx, the sound of the px7 was mildly disappointing, to say the least, but maybe i have to get used to the sound, anyone had similar experiences?

Got myself a new DAC for my wired earphones, got my q20i cushion changed and also boat rockerz 450 cushion to give it to one of my friends as it was staying in my drawer for too long.

Also trying to find a case for t310 and amidst that got into a beef with one of the guys for the same thing.

And now I got a neckband in my hand from one of the teachers who used to teach me English to get her neckband fixed.

I recently bought the Logitech g pro x 3 headset and it's incredible overall. It's so good that I am almost tempted to try them as daily driver to replace my current headsets. Anyone here have experience using gaming headsets as general use headsets? Anything to know about doing that, even if it sounds pretty straightforward?

Hi ! just wanted to share my first impression with the Snowsky Nature, I bought this myself with my own money.

Build : Plastic with wood textured hydrodipping (?) it looks convincingly like a real wood.
It uses dual 3.5mm for connection.
Comfort : OK-ish, kinda pinch my glasses, a tiny bit, maybe stretching the headband could help. The earpads definitely not memory foam, the headband adjuster has lots of notches, it could accomodate my big head very well.
Sound : The general tuning of this headphones reminds me of M20x, but without the 4k dip of M20x.
It has somewhat boomy sub-bass, a bit anemic body at the 200hz BUT Nature definitely has brighter uppermidrange - treble compared to M20x.

The tuning here is definitely aimed towards clarity.
The treble here is on the edge of being too edgy for my taste.
IF by any chance you listen on a louder volume, maybe it could feels a bit too treble-y for you.

Technicality wise, it has large stage for closed back headphones due to the dip on 200hz area, it creates that sensation of space, at the cost of overall body of the sound.

I found this tuning to be "attractive" for Valorant, though the comfort could be better.

That old boi in the middle will have its 12th birthday on the 18th! Had to cover the headband DIY as it is flaking.

This question is bugging me for quite a while, and I don't quite understand which ones to go with.

I like to listen to high resolution audio, and I play the piano and wanted a pair of good quality and good sounding headphones. I came across two of the well-known headphones from the two categories (although there are many more brands) - the AudioTechnica ath m40x/50x and the Sony wh1000-xm5/6s. Now these are arguably some of the best pair of headphones commonly recommended for music listening.

I've read countless arguments favouring both and I do understand that they are for different purposes, while also having wildly different prices. But since my use case lies somewhere in between, where I'd prefer good sound as well as accurate sound, I'm confused which ones should I go for. I wanted to understand how these two are different. P.S.: Listening through each and trying them out would've been great, but I don't have that option around where I live :)

Can you guys help? If anyone of you tried both, how're they different and how did you decide on which ones to go for?