Phil's Superpower of Enthusiasm

A place to write about things I enjoy, for my own edification. Headphones, audio gear, albums, whiskey, wine, golden retrievers etc.

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Lawyer, unabashed nerd and geek. Purveyor and pusher of excellent sci-fi/fantasy, good food, and repartee. He/him. Dog dad/servant to @Goldendenali.

I’m experimenting with Amazon Affiliate status in an attempt to defray some of the costs of headphone reviews; Amazon links may be affiliate links (depending on whether or not I’ve figured out how to use them correctly). Please feel free to buy elsewhere; this is just one way to recoup the costs of this hobby.

  • On the importance of understanding use cases before buying technology, Part 1 (of undoubtedly many parts).

    One day in September of 2022, I had a remarkably bad technology day. I went into my home office and tried to turn on my PC and it would not start. At all. I had a few things I needed to take care of that morning so I immediately started my 27” 2012 iMac … and it would barely turn on. Opening a webpage was a five-minute exercise, and opening a Finder window locked up MacOS every time I tried it. I turned to my Microsoft Surface tablet, and discovered that while it was technically running, it was not capable of handling a reasonably large spreadsheet and wasn’t properly charging anyway.
     
    After a couple of hours of troubleshooting, I was still unable to get any of them running, and I needed to get some things done. I needed a new computer, stat. I had just gotten my mom a new Apple laptop and I was doing a fair amount of troubleshooting for her, so I figured I should just get another Mac. Apple wasn’t making the 27” iMac anymore, and the 21” iMacs available at the time seemed … underwhelming. I also knew that Apple had phased out the ability of iMacs after 2011 to operate as a monitor for another computer, so a Mac Mini wasn’t going to cut it. I was pretty much left with just the Apple laptops: the various MacBook Airs and Pros. After a lot of waffling and price-shopping, I decided that I needed more power than the M1 Air provided (I was wrong, but more on that later!), and Best Buy was having a substantial sale on the 16” MacBook Pro M1 Pro in the middle configuration I wanted, so forty five minutes and a drive to Tacoma later I had a shiny new Apple laptop. It was my first since my last year of law school, in 2007, when I replaced my failing MacBook with one of the first Intel-based MacBooks.
    Puuuurrrty.
    This doesn’t do the screen justice. It’s really quite something.

    [This was, incidentally, also when I began my journey with network-attached storage and a centralized file server, because as it turned out, I had a lot of important files on those computers. I would eventually get most of the files I needed off the iMac, but the PC hard drive was DEAD dead, and I discovered the folly of storing any files on a PC on the hard drive with your system install. I won’t make that mistake again.]

    I figured out pretty quickly that as beautiful as the MacBook Pro’s 16” screen is (and it is GORGEOUS), it was too small for a lot of what I wanted to do after a decade of working on 24+” screens. After some research (and seeing the price tag of the Apple Studio display), I bought a great ASUS ProArt Display, It’s not *quite* as nice as the Apple display, but was about a third of the cost and is a USB-C monitor that doubles as a dock/hub so I don’t have to keep plugging and unplugging mice, keyboards, headphones, etc. At the time, I thought “This is great! This is exactly what I need for working in my house, and I can take it and my files with me whenever I go!”

    The current setup.

    Cut to eight months later, despite a job that requires me to live in Seattle two days a week, and a few trips home to see my mom in Hood River, the MacBook Pro has left my house a grand total of … twice. It turns out it’s so big, and heavy, and pretty, and costly, and easy to scratch, that I’m reluctant to take it anywhere. If it got damaged or stolen, I’d be out almost $2,500, and it’s enough of a deterrent that it sits. It’s a lovely artifact that lives tucked in the bottom shelf on my desk, being used as a desktop, with the beautiful 16” display more or less permanently closed.

     

    I had committed a classic Phil blunder when it comes to technology: I had not considered my real use case(s), and had gone for the MOAR POWER IS MOAR approach with the top middle tier configuration. And ended up, as a result, with a stunningly pretty paperweight.


    An expensive paperweight.

    I really have three use cases for computers at this point in my life:

    1.    A reasonably safe and secure desktop computer for things like banking, storing important files, doing my budget, managing my network, etc.

    2.    An easily-portable computer for word processing and web surfing and things like that.

    3.    A computer for gaming/video editing (admirably filled by my gaming PC, now that I’ve replaced the failed hard drive with a 2TB SSD, split my file management and system installs across different hard drives, and created network storage for backups)

     

    For neither of the first two use cases did I need the power of a MacBook Pro. And, in fact, because of the way the Pro is designed (particularly the locations of the ports), it’s really bad as a desktop! I ended up buying another dock just to be able to plug things into the Pro without having to spend ten minutes readjusting my monitor afterwards, and even that makes it really difficult to get things plugged in or unplugged from the ports on the sides. Because of the size and weight and cost, it’s also pretty bad as an easily-portable computer, especially after four years of using a Surface tablet as my primary out-of-home machine.

    The magnetic charging port is great! Unless it’s tucked under a low shelf and moving it at all (or opening the blinds, or looking at it sideways) disconnects power. And that’s actually a high-impedance headphone jack, which is great for an audiophile who likes hard-to-drive headphones like me. It’s just nearly impossible to use when stored under a shelf.

     

     These ports are great! But totally useless under a shelf.

    In retrospect, I would have been much better off getting a Mac Mini for desktop use and a MacBook Air for on-the-go computing. Even at the time, it would have saved me a few hundred dollars. With the current generation, it would have saved me even more. And, in fact, as my Surface Pro has continued wearing out and slowing down, and with some trips planned in 2023, I ended up buying a M2 MacBook Air anyway a month ago on sale at Costco so I could have something to carry with me. So the Pro will 100% be a paperweight for the foreseeable future.


    Almost nearly as pretty.

    Laptops that leave the house get cases. And stickers.

    C’est la vie.


    [I’m honestly tempted to sell the Pro and buy an M2 Pro Mac Mini just because it seems like a real shame to use this beautiful piece of technology this way, but … meh.]

     

  • Things I Should Review

    1. 13″ M2 MacBook Air (particularly vs. 16″ M1 Max MacBook Pro)
    2. Senneiser x Drop 6XX (how have I not reviewed these yet?!?)
    3. Ubiquti Dream Router
    4. ZMF Bokeh Closed
    5. Campfire Audio Orbit (done)
    6. Bose 700 (done)
    7. Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro
    8. Drop x Focal Elex (now out of production so probably not?)
    9. Schiit Fulla & Hell 2E
    10. Dragonfly Red USB DAC
    11. KEF LSX (they died)(they live again!)
    12. Roon
    13. Mac Studio
    14. HomePod & HomePod Mini
    15. Anker Soundcore A40
    16. M2 Mac Studio?
    17. Hifiman Edition XS
    18. PS Audio Sprout
    19. Kef LS50
    20. Devialet 140 Expert Pro
    21. Schiit Modi/Magni Stack
    22. Schiit Modius/Jotunheim 2/Magnius Stack
    23. Schiit Hel 2 (are they still making it?)
    24. Schiit Fulla (are they still making it?)
    25. Schiit Vali 2
    26. IEMS
      • Moondrop Chu/Chu II
      • Truthear Hexa
      • CRA CCA
      • Dunu Titan S
      • Campfire Audio Holocene
    27. Apos Gremlin

    Bourbons/Wines

    1. Redwood Empire Emerald Giant CS
    2. Redwood Empire Lost Monarch CS
    3. Sagamore CS Rye
    4. Peerless Rye
    5. Peerless High Rye

  • Beats Studio Buds

    [MSRP $149, purchased at full price in October on Amazon, price matched down to $80 in November when they went on Black Friday Sale. Currently $99.99 at most retailers).

    [Tl;dr: Great true wireless earbuds at the $99 price point, only okay at MSRP. Pretty good sound isolation, reasonable (but non-defeatable) active noise cancelation and passie noise isolation. Like most Beats products, the bass is a little boosted but not distractingly so, and it plays pretty well in the Apple ecosystem. These live in my gym bag and I use them in environments where I would worry about using my AirPods Pro 2. They’re great for that.]



    Scores:

    Cost-agnostic: 5 out of 10 Denalis

    Cost-sensitive: 8 out of 10 Denalis (at $99.99, 5 out of 10 Denalis at MSRP)


    Intro. Quick, short review because I just realized that I never actually reviewed them in the fall. Good, solid headphones with good, solid sound and decent active noise canceling. Perfect for the gym or other loud environments where you don’t care a whole lot of about audio fidelity and nuance. They play nicely with most of my devices and I don’t mind just throwing them in a bag or in my pocket because if they get damaged or lost, it won’t bother me all that much. These live permanently in my gym bag and if they ever go on a big enough sale I’ll snag another pair to live in my car.


    Sound. They’re good. Not amazing, but basically what I want from this price point. The soundstage is wider than the AirPods Gen 3, and comparable to the Beats Studio3 Wireless, but nowhere near as wide as the Pro 2 or Max. Basically I’d say they’re the Studio3 Wireless in earbud form. Overall, they’re pretty flat headphone, sound-wise. Nothing jumps out as either exceptional or insufficient.


    Treble: Perfectly serviceable. Can be a little muted on some tracks like Prides “What’s Love Got to Do With It” where the piano is very forward and the rest of the treble a little soft, but none of it is a deal breaker for me.


    Midrange: Perfectly serviceable. Voices are pretty clear and feel about right in the mix, if occasionally a little lacking in dynamics.


    Bass: Repeat after me: perfectly serviceable. Like most Beats products I’ve used, the bass is ramped up a bit but not enough that it distracts or detracts from the music. Good enough to keep you on a driving beat in the gym, but balanced enough that they won’t annoy you if you’re using them while working. Particularly good for quick bass hits on things like Jack Harlow’s “First Class,” and nimble enough to keep up with Radio Citizen’s “The Hop” (a track you all should listen to now).


    Spatial Audio. Nope!


    Noise canceling. Decent, but not defeatable. Like the Studio3, the active noise cancelation is always active and creates a little bit of over-pressure. The ANC is nowhere near as good as the Pro 2, and definitely can’t compete with over-the-ear offerings like the Bose 700 (another one I really should review) or the QC25/35/45 but that’s not what these are for. They’ll block out the grunts from your weight-lifting neighbors and quiet the gym’s speakers, but will leave you with enough situational awareness to duck when something gets dropped and rolls your way. They’re also good at blocking out low-level background white noise like fans, but I wouldn’t count on them to block out jet engines.

    Unlike most Apple/Beats products, they don’t turn off automatically when you pull out one earbud. Not sure if I prefer it this way or that.

    I would love a transparency mode like we get from the Pro 2, but that’s probably too much to expect for a $100 pair of headphones.

    [edit: I take it back. ANC is defeatable by holding the right earbud button. It sounds SUUUUUPER weird when it’s turned off. I would not recommend.]


    Controls. Pause/play, skip, and Siri on the right earbud. All are accessed by pressing in on the end of the earbud, which is … weird and slightly uncomfortable? I really don’t like pressing things into my ear, but it works. You can also control things on your audio source (like a phone or watch), which I’d recommend.


    Connectivity. Bluetooth only. You can read my brief rant about Bluetooth here, but I will say that Apple’s implementation of Bluetooth is pretty great within the Apple ecosystem, and Beats are an Apple product (their USB-C charging notwithstanding). It seamlessly swaps between iOS devices and Macs, though I had some difficulty getting them to work with a Windows 10 machine for video conferencing and the stream from my MacBook Pro occasionally shorted out for a few seconds.

    Like the Studio3 Wireless, the Siri implementation leaves something to be desired. There’s a noticeable delay between hitting a button to activate Siri and the microphone actually listening for a command, which can be frustrating. Honestly I’d rather turn off the microphone in the headset for Siri purposes, and I hope a future version of the software or headphones will let me do it.


    Comfort. They’re surprisingly comfortable, at least for an hour or two. The silicon tips come in several sizes and I was able to find one that fits pretty well. The ANC creates a little bit of overpressure which can be fatiguing for a long period, but I don’t ever see myself wearing these for more than an hour or two in my use cases. They’re pretty stable even when moving around and sweating, which suits my needs pretty well.


    Construction. They’re Beats. If you’ve ever had any Beats, you know that they’re generally pretty lightweight, cheap feeling plastic and that’s what you expect. They charge via USB-C and don’t have a Magsafe charger built into the case. Apple says you’ll get 24 hours of use between the Buds and the case, and that sounds about right based on how often I have to charge them.


    Appearance. I actually like the way these look. Who knew, right? I went with the red version and I’m pretty happy with it. If nothing else, they’re easy to find in a pile of headphones!


    Value. Like the Studio3 Wireless, these aren’t a great value proposition at MSRP but they seem to be constantly on pretty reasonable sale. I’ve seen them for as little as $70, and at that price point they’re a damned good value. At least in 2022, they were on sale everywhere around Black Friday. If you’re in the market, keep an eye out.


    Comparisons. In my opinion, these are a way better headphone for the money than the AirPod Gen 3 and I recommend them over those with no reservations. If you have an extra $150 in your pocket the Pro 2 is a much better headphone in just about every category, but I personally wouldn’t want to use them in the gym or any wet environment for longevity reasons. Since I bought these, I’ve almost entirely stopped using my Jabra Active 65t, as these sound better, fit better, and connect much more easily to my various Apple devices. I’m sure there are a lot of headphones in this general range in the market, but I like these enough that I’m not inclined to go try a bunch of others.



    Overall.  They’re great. If you want a solid gym headphone that will give you consistent sound and noise cancelation, these are what I would recommend with no reservations. If they break or I lose them, I’ll absolutely replace them the next time they go on sale. If you’re looking for more in terms of audio quality or nuance … well, you probably shouldn’t be looking at true wireless earbuds, or should just go with the Pro 2.


    #reviews #headphones #apple #anc #bluetooth #spatialaudio #earbuds #beats

  • Apple AirPods (Generation 3)

    [December 2025 Pricing: $139 with updated Magsafe Case at Costco. May be cheaper elsewhere; I’m a little skeptical of some posted prices actually being the 3rd Gen and not the second.]


    [December 2025 update: I won a pair of these as a door prize at a conference, and I’ve been using them pretty regularly while walking Denali a couple of times a day since September. I was perhaps … uncharitable in my original review. 

    I stand by most of the specifics in my review, but they do sort of hit the sweet spot for listening to podcasts or NPR in an environment where you want to hear the world around you. For me, I find that walking Denali with ANC on can result in me not nearing or seeing people or dogs walking around, and that can give some folks a bit of a fright (weirdly enough, not everyone wants to be accosted by a 65-lb golden lovebug when they’re not expecting it. I mean, they’re wrong, but they are allowed to be). 

    As I noted in the original review, the mid-range is where these headphones shine. Anything that’s mostly vocals is going to be fine, and unless you’re in a super loud environment, you’ll be able to hear people talking on a podcast. I still grab a better pair of headphones when I know someone is working on a roof or running a mower or blower in the neighborhood, but because I mostly don’t use these for music they can just live near the backdoor. Plus, they stick out enough that people mostly can see that I’m wearing them, and they fit reasonably well under a beanie, and they’re surprisingly good for phone calls.

    The price has also come down a bit on these with the release of the 4th Gen (with the upgraded H2 chip): Costco has these on sale for $139 with the updated Magsafe case. For most use cases, I’d prefer the much cheaper Soundcore A40 (less than $60 on Amazon right now, review forthcoming), but if you like the Apple aesthetic (no judgment; I certainly do), these are a perfectly serviceable option. For another $61 you can get the AirPods Pro2, though, which continue to be the best ANC I’ve ever used and remain my (begrudging) favorite.

    At some point I’ll probably snag and review the 4th Gen; they did upgrade the chip like I hoped they would, and the move from H1 ->H2 in the Airpods Pro2 was a seachange in their quality.

    Scores:
    Cost-agnostic: 6 out of 10 Denalis
    Cost-sensitive: 5 out of 10 Denalis]

    [Original purchase info: MSRP $169 for a Lightning charging case, $179 for a Magsafe one, purchased on sale for $169.99 at Costco, currently $149.99 at Target).]

    [Original Tl;dr: They’re … fine. They feel like a product in search of a purpose, and for the price range they’re lacking a lot of pretty basic things. If you’re already in the Apple ecosystem, really want the pretty white earbuds, and can’t pay the extra $30-40 to get the AirPods Pro Gen 2… you do you. The sound isn’t bad, but it’s hard to really appreciate it in anything other than a pretty quiet room and I just don’t experience those very often. I’d suggest either spending a little more or a lot less to get a much better sound experience.]



    Scores:

    Cost-agnostic: 5 out of 10 Denalis

    Cost-sensitive: 1 out of 10 Denalis


    Intro. I’m going to try to keep this pretty short (and will fail in that effort), as I try not to yuck other people’s yums. I left my AirPods Pro Gen 2 at home this week when I headed to Seattle for a week of meetings, and I wanted something to listen to music in the office around meetings for the week and I’ve long been curious about the Gen 3 of AirPods (particularly after being really stunned by how good both the Pro 2 and AirPod Max were).


    Basically, these are what I would have expected them to be before my expectations were (unfairly?) raised by the Pro 2 and Max. The total lack of any sound filtering/isolation or ANC makes them hard to hear in any environment that’s not close to silent, and that’s hard no for me. Maybe these will get an updated version in 2023 with the H2 chip and better sound characteristics the way the Pro 2 did in 2022? I’d like these to be better headphones given how many people I know have and love them.


    Sound. Fine, I think? It’s hard to tell because these lack even basic passive noise filtering which means that you hear everything around you even in pretty quiet environments. As I’m listening to them and typing this alone in my sweltering house, I can hear the clack of my (not particularly loud) Apple keyboard as well as the fan on low two rooms away, and the sound of Denali’s claws as she wanders around, looking for grandma. When you can hear them, they’re mostly pretty clear and crisp, but the soundstage feels a little claustrophobic.


    Treble: clear and precise, if occasionally a bit sibilant. Definitely magnifies the problems with poor mixing, like on Vampire Weekend’s “2021”, where the guitar gets a bit splattery in the chorus. Ditto the synths on Sylvan Esso’s “Coffee.”


    Midrange: This might be the strength of these headphones. Voices are clear and precise, and you really hear the power in Eyrkah Badu’s voice on “Afro Blue” and Dave Matthew’s quaver on “Out of My Hands.” Some male voices sound a little washed out, though, like Leonard Cohen on “Hallelujah.”


    Bass: Like the corded white iPod headphones of yore that came with the original iPod (and every other iDevice up until they decided to remove the headphone jack from things), these have a slightly elevated bass. It’s perfectly serviceable, if occasionally a little distracting on tracks like Brasstracks’ “Intro” or JARV IS’ “Save the Whale (Deltoid Remix)”.


    Spatial Audio. Sure, it’s there. Theoretically. I never found a room quiet enough to really be able to hear it, and the onboard H1 chip isn’t nearly as sophisticated as the Pro2’s H2. Spatial audio is noticeable and a big quality of life improvement for the Pro 2 (and to a lesser extent the Max), but not really a thing here.


    Noise canceling. Non-existent, even in terms of sound blocking or isolation. One of the biggest omissions of these headphones is any kind of custom fitting. Unlike the Pro 2 (or even the much cheaper Beats Studio Buds) these don’t use silicon tips or anything else that would help you get a good seal. As a result, you hear EVERYTHING around you. It’s pretty distracting for me, at least.


    Controls. Pause/play, skip, answer/hang up call, and Siri on the right earbud. No volume control, no audio modes, etc. which for me was a difficult transition from the Pro 2.


    Connectivity. Bluetooth only. You can read my brief rant about Bluetooth here, but I will say that Apple’s implementation of Bluetooth is pretty great, at least within the Apple ecosystem. It seamlessly swaps between iOS devices and Macs, though I had some difficulty getting them to work with a Windows 10 machine for video conferencing (not unlike the other AirPod products).


    Comfort. They’re surprisingly comfortable, even after a couple of hours. I barely feel them in my ears, and I actually left them in for part of a meeting this week without realizing it. However, the comfort also means that they’re not super stable, and I dropped them out of my ears a couple of times when I wasn’t even moving around a lot. The lack of silicon tips is, frankly, a little baffling in 2023.


    Construction. Lightweight, cheap-feeling plastic, which is what you expect from an Apple headphone that isn’t the super-heavy Max. Up to thirty hours of listening with a few charges in the case, pretty normal for Bluetooth headphones. I don’t think I’m getting anywhere near that, but I’ve also been listening in relatively short spurts so your mileage may vary.


    Appearance. I knew what they looked like. You know what they look like. Everyone knows what they look like. You either like them or you don’t, and you know which camp you fall in already. Honestly, I think they look kind of dumb and I think the old wired ones were a slightly better aesthetic (I was a sucker for those ads after all), but Apple is Apple is Apple.



    Value. They suck on value. Apple products are rarely a super great deal (except, randomly, the new MacBook Air and Mac Mini, which absolutely slap on value). Because of how bad the noise isolation on these is, I am hard pressed to think of any situation I regularly encounter where I’d prefer these over say the Beats Studio Buds (which I thought I’d reviewed, but apparently, I still need to do). You can find the Buds for less than $90. Are these *slightly* better headphones in terms of sound quality? Sure. Will you ever be able to hear that difference in the real world? I really, really don’t think so. Even at pretty high volumes, a whole lot of the sounds gets swallowed by the environment and you lose a lot of the nuance.


    Comparisons. As a practical matter, these don’t compete with anything else I have, in or out of their price point. The Pro 2 are $31 more right now at Costco than the lightning case, and $21 more than the Magsafe case version (and they always come with the mag safe case, which I should probably have highlighted in their review), and they are immensely better headphones. The Beats Studio Buds are almost half the price and I think are still a much better, more practical headphone. I think the AirPods Gen 3 are probably around on par with the old Jabra Active 65t (which you can get for like $60), but the Jabras at least have silicon tips and a much better fit and are more likely to stay in your ears while you’re running around. It would suck to have a $80 headphone fall, say, into a street grate.



    Overall.  Honestly, skip these unless you only want to use them in very quiet environments. And even then … spent the extra $30 to get the Pro2 (which are truly excellent), or save yourself $90 and go with the Beats Sound Buds (which are good and cheap now). I guess the Siri integration is pretty great? And it’s easy to connect to Apple products. Mostly. The case is great (though magsafe frankly ought to be included). That’s about it.



    Pretty sure I’m returning these this week and either picking up a second pair of Pro
    2s to live in my bag, or snagging the new Campfire Audio Orbits. 


    Sorry, y’all. Even this Apple fanboi is out.


    #reviews #headphones #apple #anc #bluetooth #spatialaudio #earbuds

  • Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro (250 Ohm Edition)

    [$179.99 on Amazon, purchased on sale (which they regularly are on) and renewed for $109. These are the open-backed version of the DT 770 Pro (MSRP $160). Available in 80 and 250 Ohm versions.] [March 2023]

    Update September 2025:

    I really liked these headphones; they were the second real pair of audiophile-style headphones I’d ever owned, and at that point I hadn’t heard many pairs of well-tuned, non-consumer headphones. In the last two and a half years, I have rectified that problem, and oh boy have these suffered in comparison. I thought these would potentially replace the 6XX as my daily desk driver, and the reality is that I haven’t used the DT 990 for anything other than conference calls in years until I picked them up last week for a re-listen.

    A couple of quick updated listening notes:

    • The bass is weirdly hollow; this may just be a result of the wonky treble unbalancing everything but what was a strength is not to my ears anymore. This is particularly true of the midbass, which starts to interfere with the low mids (including male vocals).
    • The treble … wow, this treble is *SPARKLY* and unpleasant on about half of the things I listened to with them. Cymbals in particular are harsh and a bit clicky in places where they shouldn’t be.
    • The microdynamics aren’t great; on “Angel (Blur Remix)” neither the bass bell tones nor the treble chimes have any depth, hit, or bend.
    • The soundstage remains pretty good left to right, but is virtually non-existant front to back.

    Volume notes (to get to comfortable listening levels for me, between 60-65 dB):

    • 85% volume on the North American Apple Dongle
    • 9:15 on the Nitsch Piety/Schiit Magni

    Updated Scores:

    Cost-agnostic: 4 out of 10 Denalis

    Cost-sensitive: 5 out of 10 Denalis]

    1. Update September 2025:
    2. Intro.
    3. Sound.
    4. Build
    5. Value. 
    6. Comparisons. 
    7. Overall. 

    [Tl;dr: I really like these headphones. They’re not headphone I’ll carry around with me, but I’m pretty sure they’ve dethroned the Massdrop x. Sennheiser 6XX as my go-to/daily driver at my desk in my home office. They greatly benefit from external amplification, but they’re even pretty acceptable sounding with a cheap iPhone dongle. Color me impressed, especially at the price.]

    Scores:

    Cost-agnostic: 8 out of 10 Denalis

    Cost-sensitive: 10 out of 10 Denalis

    Intro.

    I picked up the DT770 Pro (the closed back version of these) when I started a new job that required me to be in the office a lot (mid-pandemic). I particularly wanted them to be able to block out a lot of office noise, and they worked pretty well and I mostly liked the sound. However, unless I’m in a super noisy environment or a completely silent one, I generally prefer the sound and comfort of open-backed over-ear headphones and I’ve been intrigued by these for a couple of years. Back in January they popped up for sale around $100, so I decided to take a flyer on them.

    Sound.

    Excellent, especially at this price range. Stereo separation is clear without being distracting. Dave Matthews is sitting just left of center on “So Much to Say”, and you can feel the percussion shifting around in the back. Dynamic range is very good, as is general resolution and clarity. The horns on Brasstrack’s “Intro” are bright and sharp without being harsh or painful, and the bass is clean and bouncy. I used these at my office desk for a few weeks, and I was surprised by how frequently I thought I heard a noise behind me, only to discover it was just a part of the mix I’d never heard before.

    Be warned, these are headphones that will punish badly mastered tracks or albums. Born Gold’s self-titled album sounds terrible through them as a result, sounding muddy and out-of-sync.

    These headphones (especially the 250 Ohm version) will really benefit from an external amp to drive. The sound is noticeably more muted when using a thumb drive DAC/amp like a Dragonfly or an Apple dongle/DAC, though weirdly enough I think they do better paired with a lower-powered Schiit Hel 2E than the Asgard 2.

    Treble: Super-clean and precise. Some people complain about sibilance in the treble or a little harshness, but I don’t hear it at the volumes I’m typically listening at.

    Midrange: excellent. These are really good headphones for vocals. Little Simz’ voice on “Gorilla” (a track you should listen to!) is clear and forward without dominating the mix. Karen O’s voice cuts through on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Spitting off the Edge of the World” despite the lush and jam-packed mix, which can be challenging for some headphones. You get real bounce and precision in “Why We Speak” by Robert Glasper, featuring Esperanza Spalding. Bassier male voices like Gang of Youths’ David Le’aupepe don’t get quite as much separation and clarity, but are still quite pleasant.

    Bass: The 990 Pros are studio-style headphones so bass doesn’t get a particularly noticeable bump, which I really appreciate. Bass is present without being overpowering, and you can hear some nuances that get lost with other headphones. For example, I can hear more movement in bass-heavy tracks like Doja Cat’s “You Right” or H.E.R.’s “Damage” or Ghost’s “Bad Choice.”

    Noise canceling.

    Non-existent. Open-backed headphones mean you’ll hear an awful lot of your environment (and in a quiet enough one, your neighbors might hear your music too).

    Build

    Controls. None. (not uncommon for wired headphones)

    Connectivity. 1/8” jack only, with an included ¼” adapter. Non-detachable 1M curly cable that extends to 3M.

    Comfort. They’re really comfortable. My current glasses have a habit of digging into my ears and temples without headphones on, which can make tight headphones pretty painful after a short time. The way these are constructed makes them very comfortable and able to maintain a good seal without high-pressure.

    Construction. These have a very similar design to the DT990 Pros. Light and made mostly of plastic without feeling cheap, with a very nicely padded top bar and soft cloth ear cups, both of which are pretty easily removed and replaced with a number of after-market options. They do not fold, and with a non-detachable cable, they’re not super easy to transport. Clearly designed for use at a desk or in a fixed location rather than while out and about.

    Appearance. A stylish, classic studio headphone look. I like the black slats and the contrast to the white speakers and grey earcups.

    Value. 

    [Update: I’d rather pay a little more for a better pair of headphones. Hell, Hifiman has a number of better pairs cheaper on their site right now, though I would never personally chooes to buy directly from Hifiman at this point.]

    These are an older model, so are often available on sale, renewed, or both. At $109, these were an absolute steal.

    Comparisons. 

    [Update September 2025: These aren’t … bad headphones, but the ~$200 open back market is crowded and I would prefer most of the other things out there over this: the Sennheiser x Drop 6XX, the Fiio FT1 Pro, the PC38X/PC37X, Hifiman’s HE-4X/400se, etc. are all better options with a more pleasant tune to my modern ears.

    I stand by the comment about the 770, though; I know that people really like that headphone but for me it’s painful and harsh after a few minutes of listening. ]

    In my collection, these compare most directly to the Massdrop x Sennheiser 6XX as high-resistance open-backed headphones. It surprises me to say this, but I think purely from a sound standpoint, I prefer the DT990s over the 6XX. At least with the Hel 2E as the amp, the sound is richer and fuller and more precise (though the gap drops substantially when I move to the Bifrost/Asgard 2 stack). The 6XX is a better form factor for me, particularly on the go (and the ability to disconnect and replace cables is huge!), and I think the treble is slightly better balanced on the 6XX, but I’ve been finding myself gravitate towards the DT990s when I’m at my desk.

    The other natural comparison is to the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro, the closed-back version of these headphones. The 990s blow them out of the water, sound-wise. I generally like open-backed headphones a lot more than closed-backed, and these are not an exception. I’m guessing the 770s will end up in my desk in the office where I want a little more isolation from the environment, as I cannot imagine a situation in my home office where I’d go with them over the 990s (or the 6XX for that matter). They were mostly collecting dust even before I got the 770s.

    Overall. 

    These are a great headphone, especially at their price point. They seem to play well with inexpensive DACs/amps, and though I do think they really benefit external amplification, they’re mostly surprisingly good-sounding when plugged into an iPhone using Apple’s (oft-maligned) inexpensive dongle (though treble gets a bit splattery at even moderate volumes). They’ve been plugged into the Hel 2E on my home office desk more or less constantly since mid-January, and I think that won’t change anytime soon.

    #reviews #headphones #overear #cans #beyerdynamic #dt990pro

  • Massdrop x. Meze 99 Noir

    [MSRP $199, purchased on sale (which they regularly are on) for $179. These are identical to the Meze 99 Classics, which retail for $309.]

    [September 2025 update: While the 99 Noir are still a perfectly nice headphone, the shine is coming a little off as some great closed backs have hit the market over the last year or two. In a world where the Fiio FT1 are around $150-60, I’d be hard pressed to recommend the 99 Noir for anything other than aesthetics. Also, be aware that both the head cage and the cable are WILDLY microphonic, making these a poor choice for any application where you’re moving around.

    Updated scores: 

    Cost-agnostic: 6 out of 10 Denalis

    Cost-sensitive: 6 out of 10 Denalis]

    [Tl;dr: These headphones are really solid for their price range, though they are a little sensitive to DAC/amp fit. I think most audiophiles would rather spend a little more to get headphones that play more nicely with higher-end output devices, but they’re a really good upgrade option for consumer-grade headphones. I’ll definitely keep using them, and I’m curious to explore after-market cable options to see if they address the few shortcomings.]

    Scores:

    Cost-agnostic: 7 out of 10 Denalis

    Cost-sensitive: 8 out of 10 Denalis

    1. Intro. 
    2. Sound.
    3. Noise canceling.
    4. Comfort. 
    5. Construction. 
    6. Appearance. 
    7. Comparisons.
    8. Overall. 

    Intro. 

    I bought these initially as a gift, only to find out that they were too large (something that has never been a problem for me!). I decided to hold on to them instead of returning them as I’d been eyeing this particular pair of headphones for a couple of years based off of reviews and how much I liked the way they looked.

    Sound.

    Generally; really, really good. The soundstage is pleasantly but not distractingly wide, with excellent separation both between right and left but also within each channel in the mix. Sound is clear and sharp, if a little bit punchy: notes with prominent accents can feel borderline harsh at louder listening levels, particularly in the mid-bass. Dynamic range is good, and you get a clean crescendo throughout “So Incredibly Loud” by Glass Animals. The only knock on these is that they start to feel a little hollowed-out at low listening volumes, and over the course of several hours of high-level listening they can get a little fatiguing.

    Also, these headphones seem to be a little sensitive to the amp you’re using to drive them and the system that’s converting digital music to analog signals (aka the DAC). Interestingly, these may be headphones that benefit from cheaper/less transparent amp/DAC combinations.

    [Audio nerd interlude: the 99 Noirs are a little sharp running through a Schiit Bifrost/Asgard 2 stack, and much less punchy running from either a Fulla or a Hel 2. I think the best sound came from a Dragonfly Red USB DAC running off an iPhone 12 or 13 Pro, or maybe even running straight from the audio jack on my MacBook Pro. No, I don’t get it either.]

    Treble: clear and precise, if very occasionally a little harsh on particularly accented notes. The clapping on Massive Attack’s “Paradise Circus” sound like you’re standing in the middle of the group. The opening synths on “Coffee” by Sylvan Esso jump out at you and give a real sense of motion but let Amelia Meath’s voice cut through. It’s also the first time I’ve really gotten how Peter Gabriel arranged all of the percussion on “Games without Frontiers”.

    Midrange: excellent. These are really good headphones for vocals. It feels like Tracey Thorn is sitting right next to you in her collaboration with Massive Attack, “The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game.”

    Bass: excellent, especially at this price range. Pretty low frequencies come through cleanly and pleasantly, even on some EDM tracks like Bondax’s “You’re So” and Flume’s “Go.” I haven’t listened to very many headphones that can really reproduce Q-Tip’s bass melody from Janet Jackson’s “Got ‘Til it’s Gone”, but these keep up nicely and cleanly. Overall, they move cleanly through mid-bass to full bass without any problems or particularly noticeable drop-offs. Every once in a while at high volumes, a note or two would get splattered, but that’s true of most headphones I’ve used and it doesn’t detract from the overall experience.

    Noise canceling.

    Non-existent. That said, they’re closed back and have surprisingly good isolation for a lightweight, comfortable headphone. I wore them at work a few weeks ago and didn’t realize there was a staff party thirty feet down the hall until a coworker came over to talk to me about how loud they were being.

    Controls. None. (not uncommon for wired headphones)

    Connectivity. 1/8” jack only, with an included ¼” adapter. The cable detaches from each ear cup, which would make it easy to upgrade the cables.

    Comfort. 

    They’re surprisingly comfortable, even after a couple of hours. They’re reasonably light, have minimal clamping force, and fit well around my ears. They don’t’ seem to be prone to getting too warm the way a lot of over-the-ears do.

    Construction. 

    They’re an interesting design, eschewing the standard extensible arm construction of most headphones in favor of an auto-adjusting strap suspended from a rigid metal frame a la some of the Sony headphones from the mid- to late-90s. They generally feel nice and solid, though anything hard that bumps the metal frame can cause a slightly annoying ring.

    Appearance. 

    I think they’re very appealing. They’re a slight departure from their more expensive fraternal twin the 99 Classic in that everything on them is muted in color. A combination of black metal and dark-stained walnut ear cups make them nicely understated, and appeal to my particular aesthetic.

     

    Value. These are a pretty good value buy at $200, and even better at $180. Generally reviewers thing the 99 Classics are a reasonably good value buy at $310, and unless you’re really married to gold fittings and lighter-stained walnut ear cups, these are a much better option.

    Comparisons.

    These compare favorably to headphones in this general class that I’ve listened to. They’re warmer in tone and less harsh than the Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro, my previous closed-back headphone pick (though they are substantially more expensive, with the DT 770 Pro dropping to around $130 recently).

    The 99 Noir also come with a well-constructed and attractive molded carrying case that provides reasonable protection for carrying in a backpack or suitcase.

    Overall. 

    These are really good headphones in their class and at their price point. They seem to play well with inexpensive DACs/amps, including the outputs of laptops and the dongles produced by Apple and their licensees, which has real value.

    Unfortunately, Massdrop may ultimately be a victim of their own success when it comes to value. For only about $80 more ($40 right now on sale), you can get the Massdrop x Sennheiser 6XX, my favorite overall headphone. The 99 Noir are closed-back instead of the 6XX’s open-back design, so they have a niche and I’d imagine they’ll live in my desk drawer at my office for use when the cube farm gets noisy, but I can’t think of very many scenarios where *I* will reach for these when the 6XX are available.

    For most people who want some sonic isolation and quality audio playback, I’d recommend these without hesitation. I am curious to get some after-market cables for it to see if that balances out some of the punchiness.

     

    #reviews #headphones #overear #cans #meze

     

  • Phil's Top Ten Albums of 2016

    1. The Range–“Potential” (electronica)
    2. Brass Tracks–“Good Love” (electronica/jazz/hip-hop)
    3. The 1975–“I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware” (electro-pop)
    4. Dawn Golden–“Still Life” (electronica/ambient)
    5. Blood Orange–“Freetown Sound” (rock?)
    6. James Blake–“The Colour in Anything” (electronica/ambient)
    7. Phantogram–“Three” (electro-rock)
    8. Massive Attack–“Ritual Spirit EP” (trip-hop)
    9. Jack Garratt–“Phase” (electronica/rock/???)
    10. Various Artists–“Hamilton Mixtape” (broadway/hip-hop)

    Honorable mentions:

    • School of Seven Bells–“SVIIB” (rock)
    • Various Artists–“Day of the Dead” (Grateful Dead covers organized by The National)

    It was also a good year for EPs. A few of my favorites:

    1. Petit Biscuit–“Petit Biscuit EP”
    2. Verite–“Living EP”
    3. The Range–“Superimpose EP”
    [Editor’s note: I spend a surprising amount of time looking for these through my FB archive over the years, so I’m dropping these here mostly for my own ease of use.

  • Phil's Top Ten Albums of 2017

     2017 was a year of change–much of it bad (pretty much everything political, other than the reawakening of liberal activism), and some of it good (new job, etc.). It was also a pretty good year for music. So here’s my top 10 (with four bonus albums) for 2017:

    1. Sylvan Esso “What Now” (alt rock/electro-pop–I’ve been wanting this album for like two years now and it’s finally out and so so good)
    2. The xx “I See You” (alt rock–a lot of people knock this album, but I think it shows an interesting evolution for their sound, post Jamie xx’s solo works)
    3. SZA “Ctrl” (R&B–been a fan of her projects for some time, but only heard this album in its entirety like a week ago)
    4. Jidenna “The Chief” (hip hop)
    5. The War on Drugs “A Deeper Understanding” (alt rock–think 1980s Grateful Dead)
    6. Jaymes Young “Feel Something” (best surprising live opener of 2017)
    7. Gorillaz “Humanz” (alt rock/electro-pop/????)
    8. The National “Sleep Well Beast” (alt rock–not their best album, but that’s a damned high bar)
    9. Kendrick Lamar “Damn” (hip-hop/rap–not up to Butterfly standards, but still good)
    10. The Chainsmokers “Memories . . . Do Not Open” (mostly mindless EDM/pop)

    Honorable mention:

    • Kaskade “Kaskade Christmas” (Christmas music. Which normally I intensely dislike. The fact that I like this really weirds me out)
    • This is the Kit “Moonshine Freeze” (Alt rock–second best surprise live opener of 2017)
    • Vallis Alps “Fable – EP” (???)
    • ODESZA “A Moment Apart” (EDM–good, but unrealistic expectations based on his last album)

    So, music loving friends and family: what did I miss this year?

    [Editor’s note: I spend a surprising amount of time looking for these through my FB archive over the years, so I’m dropping these here mostly for my own ease of use.

  • Phil's Top Ten Albums of 2018


    1. Janelle Monae–“Dirty Computer” (nothing else was even close)
    2. Brasstracks–“For Those Who Know, Pt. II EP”
    3. Kurt Vile–“Bottle It In”  
    4. The National–“Boxer(Live in Brussels)” 
    5. Marian Hill–“Unusual”
    6. Various Artists–“Black Panther The Album”
    7. Chvrches–“Love is Dead”
    8. Let’s Eat Grandma–“I’m All Ears”
    9. Lo Moon–“Lo Moon”
    10. twenty one pilots–“Trench”
    11. Little Dragon–“Lover Chanting EP” (couldn’t leave this off)

    Honorable mentions (things I discovered too late in the year to really listen much, but that I’m liking a lot so far):

    • Christine and the Queens–“Chris”
    • The 1975–“A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships”
    • Young Fathers–“Cocoa Sugar”
    • Blood Orange–“Negro Swan”

      It was also a great year for soundtracks–in addition to Black Panther, I particularly loved “Annihilation” (very Alt-J-esque at times), Ali Shaheed Muhammed & Adrian Younge’s “Luke Cage: Season 2”, and Thom Yorke’s fascinating “Suspiria” score.

        [Editor’s note: I spend a surprising amount of time looking for these through my FB archive over the years, so I’m dropping these here mostly for my own ease of use.]

      1. Phil's Top 10 Albums of 2020

        Waiting to join an online birthday party for a dear friend, looking at a plate with five high-end ryes for my tasting pleasure (spoiler: Templeton’s 2018 barrel strength rye is better than it should be), seemed like it was finally time to pull the trigger on my 2020 top ten albums.

        What did I miss? (I enjoy the new Thundercat but haven’t listened to it that much yet.)

        1) “Free Love”, Sylvan Esso

        2) “Folklore”, Taylor Swift

        3) “Fall to Pieces”, Tricky

        4) “Circles”, Mac Miller

        5) “some kind of peace”, Olafur Arnalds

        6) “Good Souls Better Angels”, Lucinda Williams

        7) “The Slow Rush”, Tame Impala

        8)- “Serpentine Prison”, Matt Berninger

        9) “Womb”, Purity Ring

        10) “Punisher”, Phoebe Bridgers

        Honorable mentions:

        1) “Have We Met”, Destroyer

        2) “Golden Ticket”, Brasstracks

        3) “Warnings”, I Break Horses

        4) “New Me, Same Us”, Little Dragon

        5) “Your Hero is Not Dead”, Westerman

        Best Eps:

        1) “Dear Illusion”, Adaline

        2) “Flight Tower”, Dirty Projectors

        3) “I Shine, U  Shine”, Rimon

        [Editor’s note: I spend a surprising amount of time looking for these through my FB archive over the years, so I’m dropping these here mostly for my own ease of use.]