Looking for a headphone with budget RM1000 below. Hope to get some advice, & suggestion.

Few headphones looked into after few days research:
1. Philips SHP9500/9600
2. Philips Fidelio X2HR
3. Sennheiser HD58X

My usage: Youtube, Movies, Gaming, Casual listening when working long hours.

My past Headphone/earphone history:

1. Koss Porta Pro (semi open back). This is the first "more serious" headphone I owned. I loved it. I actually used it for 3-4 years, changed the earpad 2-3 times, and finally spoiled after much abused. Listening to this , I do not feel ear fatigue when listen to music for long hours, but I still need to remove them once a while to let my ear breath, since it is an on ear. Is really good for the bucks, and do everything rather well.

2. 1more triple driver (earphone) I never like this despite many positive reviews. It is so ordinary that I suspect I might even get an imitation copy. Or is just very hard for me to get back to in-ear after using Koss for many years. I sold it after 1 year. No love here.

3. Edifier X3 (wireless earbud). Bought this super cheap during sales at rm70. I just need something I can use on bed, and convenient to bring around. I still use it today...  anywhere when I just need to hear sound... Never have any proper music listening with these.. Also cant stand wearing them for long.

4. Airpods Pro (true wireless earphone). I bought and used it for only 2 weeks and sold it.  I thought this would be my "endgame", and took me by surprise that I never kept it. Sound quality is just ok... I don't even think my Edifier x3 is anything inferior in comparison. I test around with its ANC and transparency mode for a while... it is is amazing when first experiencing them, but later feel that it is more of a gimmick for me. I thought I would be using the Transparency mode all the time, as I prefer to be a little aware of the surrounding sound, and prefer a less catastrophic experience.. It works in someway, but still not in a way I am hoping for. I constantly still need to remove the earbud every 5 minutes, but the main reason I sold it is because it just feel painful around my left ear when using them. The plastic housing actually touching the inner part of my ear, causing discomfort. As for ANC, do I need them? At the moment when I am stuck at home 100% time, there is no way I can tell if I will ever need them. When used at home, the ANC does block my aircond/ceiling fan really well, but I don't find myself enjoying them. Maybe I just dislike the sensation of ANC, especially when music finish playing, and I am feeling this empty white noise sensation.

What's next?

Sony MDR1000XM4. After I sold Airpods Pro, I thought I should just try the xm4 (It has always been in my top list every since I tried it the XM1 many years ago in Sony store) And the brief experience with it, I really love the sound quality and soundstage it delivers. I really want that wide sound separation.

But before I jump in and buy it, I RE-ANALYSIS everything from scratch to see if this is really what I need with the budget I have to buy the XM4 (RM1000), or I could actually get something better for my usage.

So here is what I think I am looking for:
1. Over the ear headphone. I realised I really dislike In Ear headphone. I can't wear for long. For convenience, I still have my Edifier for basic stuff. But this time, I want go all comfortable... and able to wear for hours listening to music

2. Open back headphone. I think the reason I like my Koss Porta Pro is because of its semi-open design. It just feel more airy and I can hear longer, despite not able to block the outside sound, which might be benefit for me. So I think open back headphone will work better for my listening.

3. Sound signature I prefer. I am not audiophile at all, so my terms might be very incorrect.  but hopefully I am able to describe them. I generally don't like sound that hit me right in my face, I love sound that has more layers, and I am able to tell all the instruments spread apart. Even in my car audio system, I set the profile to "Hall" which create that slightly "echo-ing" listening experience... like watching concert hahaha. Maybe that is a bit extreme, but that gives an idea of my preference. I don't see myself as bass-head.. as long as there is decent bass is good enough for me. I will put more emphasize on the treble , vocal , instrumental part.

4. Preferred Music Selection For artists, I like listen to acoustic, vocal artists Adele, Sam Smith, some alternative , coldplay etc. Also like to listen to a lot of soundtracks, hans zimmer, John william, Hiroyuki Sawano, all these. I do listen to EDM, Pop, Chinese pop. That not saying I don't need Bass *I am just wondering sometime the music i choose to listen, is due to my past headphones, that are weak in the bass, therefor do not enjoy as much as genre like acoustic.

5. Noise Cancelling. Do I need them? I been questioning myself about this... but after trying out Airpods Pro, I feel like ANC is not something I will be rely on, or even enjoy with. So I decided to go for headphone without ANC. That open up a lot of options!

6. Bluetooth or Cabled. Having used bluetooth earphone, it is definitely convenient. But I realised 90% of the time I still use them in front of my computer, or in the bed ...So I guess cabled isn't too bad for me. But in return, I need to make sure I get a Much better sound quality from wired headphone compare to bluetooth headphone.

7. Amplifier. I don't think I want to go to that extend yet   maybe in the future. So now I want to look for a headphone that will sound great straight out of the box, or straight from laptop or handphone.

8. Music Source: I use Apple Music. currently they support lossless quality, so I am hoping that having a proper headphone can really make use of this. Other usage would be just netflix, youtube, and pc gaming, Switch gaming.

I apologize for this super long msg and not sure if anyone even reads them. But I think it gives myself a better breakdown of the headphone I want in the end. Can anyone advice or give suggestion of other headphones I should try? or maybe I am more suitable with more consumer friendly headphone like sony XM4?

Thank you.

Looking for a headphone with budget RM1000 below. Hope to get some advice, & suggestion.


I apologize for this super long msg and not sure if anyone even reads them. But I think it gives myself a better breakdown of the headphone I want in the end. Can anyone advice or give suggestion of other headphones I should try? or maybe I am more suitable with more consumer friendly headphone like sony XM4?

Thank you.

Your benchmark is Koss Porta Pro, not an easy opponent.

Sounds like what you need is dark/very warm sounding headphone that has good clarity and soundstage. 1 headphone that immediately come to my mind with such description, Audeze LCD series (except LCD-1). But the price is way over your budget.

Other recommendation on the internet is AKG 702 or 701 but I never personally heard of it so can't give my experience.

Some also recommend HD6XX/650 for warm and detailed headphone. I have 650 and feel it is just slightly warm sounding, the vocal is very intimate though, as if the singer is very close to you. I think this is the opposite of what you want for vocal. HD58X is said to have more bass than 6XX/650, so that might make it more toward your preference, I don't know.

Hifiman got few models that is within your budget. It have very good details but is bright signature. I have the model 4XX and after changing to pleather pads, the bass increase and give more echo-ing sound. It still not dark sounding though, I'll say it is now as warm as HD650.

maybe u just need an akg y30

58X wont get you that spacious hall soundstage. While it's not as intimate as HD600 or HD650, i wouldn't say it has a wide soundstage. But it should be better than the Porta Pro at least.

For vocal and soundstage, only Ananda and HD800s comes to mind. But these two are way above budget, unless you can hold out and save for the Ananda. I know it's twice the stated budget, but the Ananda really gives you that concert hall feeling.

I see like no one suggest this but I'll do it. It's not much of a big upgrade for you but it should be something you are comfortable with since you use portapro.

How about following zeos idea of Koss KPH30i ultra modded with Grado G-Cush pad? KPH30i is like your portapro but with the grado pads it's a different experience. And if you got spare money maybe you can send your new KPH30i to someone for MMCX detachable wire mod

I'll look into this set up. probably can save me a lot of money for something else.. but it is using the exact same driver as the porta pro
right?

Is it me or in ear earphone often leads to slight migraine? or only me
Used Edifier GM3se but can hear the screw drop off even after sending back anyone experienced it?

Not quite sure what you meant by "screw drop off"? Means something loose inside the earbuds?

Ya the right earbud will resonate when I play heavy music and when you shake the earbud can clearly hear the screw shaking inside

Hi, I’m looking for a TWS mainly for my jogging/sports needs.

I’m currently using AirPods Pro but I find that it keeps getting lose when I jog, and it’s annoying and distracting to need to always take care of them, because I don’t want them to fall and hit the road or drop into the drains or whatsoever.

So I would like something stable and decent, my budget is about rm100-rm300.

Any recommendations?

personally recommend aftershokz aeropex although over your budget and they do have cheaper ones, or u can try looking with those with earhook design

it's those bone conducting thing right?
Is it not weird? I have never tried it before.

I see. Anyway, im in the same boat as yours. Easily get headache with earbuds. You can either opt for third party tips that may be better fitting and more comfortable, or just use headphones.

Audio Technica M50X is pretth good but slightly above your budget. It isolates the surrounding noise quite well even without ANC.

The Sony XM3 earbuds has ANC and much cheaper than the new XM4. It fits pretty well and very comfortable, although I still get headache after few hours of use.

Do you have any other headphone suggestion? And why is the Sony XM4 so good? Dont really have much knowledge in this sector