by James Wallace Harris, 4/21/26
I’m a sucker for audiophile reviews that claim a new product sounds great for the money. My current headphones are Sennheiser HD 560 S, which sound wonderful, and I was completely happy playing through a FiiO K5Pro headphone amplifier. But then I saw several reviews praising the FiiO K13 R2R Desktop DAC & Headphone Amp. I’ve always wanted to try an R2R DAC, so I bought it. (See my review.)
The Fiio K13 R2R was very good, but it didn’t produce that night-and-day difference I was expecting. After years of seeing reviews of planar magnetic headphones, I’ve wanted to try them too, hoping the technology would take my music to a new level. That’s why I ordered the FiiO JT7 headphones. Plus, they offered two sets of cables, one of which worked with balanced circuits. In other words, the JT7 had two tech upgrades to try.
My previous headphones were Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO, and before that, I bought a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50x. Astute observers will notice that all of this equipment originally cost between $100-$200. I’m not sure if that isn’t the limiting factor determining the sound quality.
Between four headphones and two headphone amplifiers, I got a range of treble and bass responses, sound staging, and musical details. But nothing was ever night-and-day. I can say R2R sounds smoother than the ESS Delta-sigma DAC, but the Delta-sigma DAC had more detail. I can say my open-back headphones have a larger soundstage than closed-back headphones.
After switching between the four headphones and two headphone amps, the biggest factor in determining what I liked was power. The DT990s have 250 Ohm impedance. The Sennheisers have 120 Ohms. The ATH-M50x are 36 Ohms. And the JT7 is just 18 Ohms, but with a relatively low sensitivity of 92 dB/mW.
Comparing these four headphones is very difficult because once I got them to the same volume, which is very subjective, they were hard to tell apart. Like I said, soundstage and instrument placement varied, but mainly between the open-back and closed-back headphones. The overall tone varied between the K5Pro and K13. That was because of the ESS and R2R DACs.
I don’t know if I can ever find a true night-and-day difference in my audio equipment unless I spend a great deal more money. But the headphones don’t sound significantly different through my Bluesound Node 2i or AudioLab 6000A amplifiers, both of which cost over a $1000.
I’ve listened to “True Love” by Anna Ash so many times that I’m not sure which headphones actually delivered better sound quality. There are so many variables. I prefer the Sennheiser and FiiO JT7 the most, I believe. And I like the FiiO best for how they feel on my head and the way they look.
I will never buy $1000 headphones. I might buy $500 headphones if they did produce that El Dorado of night-and-day improvement in sound quality. However, I’m not sure that exists. I’m starting to wonder if audiophile reviewers have superior hearing to mine. I’m 74.
I’m not sure if technology or cost makes a difference anymore. I think I like the Class A-B AudioLab 6000A better than the Class D Bluesound Node 2i, but I’m not sure. It could be that they sound different because of the rooms they are in. I do know that equipment that costs under $100 doesn’t sound as good. The DAC in the Wiim Mini ($89) is terrible.
To me, everything I currently use sounds fantastic once the volume gets around 85 decibels.
I need to stop watching YouTube audio reviews. And I need to stop thinking that new equipment will blow me away.
I’m quite happy with the FiiO JT7 headphones. I just can’t tell you if they will sound better or worse than what you already own. My wife likes them, because when I use headphones, I’m not playing my stereo at 85 decibels while she’s trying to watch TV in another room.
JWH
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