Transcription
2024 is coming to a close, and it seems like a good time to make a tier list of closed backs. This one's probably going to be slightly controversial, but closed backs are, in general, let's get into it.
So, it's me and Resolve today, and a whole bunch of closed-back headphones—ones that I know he loves so much. I'm sure that a ton of these are going to get high rankings, aren't they?
Yeah, especially the Sindara closed. No, I'm just kidding. It is going to be, and that's why we're doing this close-back tier list video. Because they are good, they can be good, and they are good. They've gotten better and better, especially this year.
I've done some slightly different tiers than normal. We have S tier, which is the best; A, B, C, D, F; and then at the very bottom, there's a category called "Shame," because I feel like that's going to be necessary.
Yeah, that works well. Wait, hold on, do we have criteria? Do you have criteria? Is there anything you want to like—any disclaimers?
Oh yeah, do we want to do this completely agnostic of price, or should we be including value in this? 'Cause I don't want to include that here. I feel like this should just be across the board of just like how good is the headphone, period.
'Cause there are some cheap ones that are great. I think we don't consider price. I think, you know, I think we just say how good it is. We do include things like comfort, right? So just overall how we like—there are so many different ways to kind of like skin this cat, right? Or to slice it up. We could say just sound quality, or like sound quality and comfort, or sound quality and comfort and value, whatever.
I think build quality—like I think it's just like at the end of the day, how do we feel about these products? What's our tummy feeling about this?
Your tummy? Are you eating the headphones?
Well, maybe. I mean, like if I'm really hungry.
So one of them is on here twice, so we're just going to ignore that one.
Let's start with something that's not too controversial, how about that? And then we'll get into the juicy stuff later.
Sure, Sony MDR Z7 Mark II. I do not have an opinion on this headphone. I would be comfortable putting that in C tier, maybe D tier, because the tuning is wonky. The comfort and build are great, but the tuning is still better than anything Hyman has ever made that's a closed back.
Or Fostex.
Okay, 'cause didn't they have some good ones? Like the Fostex driver ones?
Oh, we'll get to that.
I say no. I mean, like it's not Fostex branded necessarily, but like the Denon D2000 was incredible.
The Denon was okay.
Yeah, well, where would you put the Denon? Is that next?
Yeah, ah, D2000. The Denon that you told me to add to this list.
Oh, the 9200?
No, I was making a reference to an older Denon, the AHD 2000, which I don't know if they even make it anymore. If they don't, it's a shame, but it's one of those Fostex headphones, which was probably the best one.
The D2000, I would have put that in A tier, but the newer Denons have not been nearly as good. The 9200 is in C tier. It's actually very good with EQ. It's very comfortable, but the default frequency response, default tonality is a bit wonky.
I have to stress as well that like closed backs in general are often a bit more wonky, and so like the bar is not nearly as high for closed backs. So I think like if this were—if I were comparing this against like a 650 or something like that, the 9200 is just not even close.
Yeah, there are some closed backs though that go above and beyond.
Yeah, exactly. And so it's almost like you get a much bigger range, right? Well, I shouldn't say that; there are pretty terrible open backs too, but the bar is lower. There's going to be a notable jump in quality between like S and the rest.
Yeah, so for the Denon D9200, great look to it. It's very able. Love the build quality. The sound quality is a bit wonky. I'll place it in C tier. It's got a bit of that sort of like roller coaster ear gain, but it was actually pretty easy to EQ, and it did have a reasonably smooth treble presentation for the fine grain features, which was nice.
So, C tier overall.
All right, what's next?
Next up, how about H280 Pro? Old Siser. I'm going to put that in D tier just 'cause it's like, it's okay. Good at isolating, but not too much else.
Similar vein, Rode NTH 100?
Maybe also, I would probably also put that in C because it's pretty comfortable, needs some EQ, but it's decent.
Yeah, C. What about the closed-back ODS, the LCD 2 closed and the LCD X closed? I know you like one of those.
The LCD 2 closed, I would put that in D tier. The LCD X closed, man, that's a tough one. I still think it needs EQ, and it does have the leakage effect issue, and it is heavy. But it is one of those where it's like when you do EQ it, it is remarkable.
It's kind of the story with O.
I don't know, B tier? I could live with B tier 'cause we still have some room above that.
Yeah, let's drop in a bit of a hot take one here. Where is it? Actually, I guess this take wouldn't be too hot if I can find it. Here we go, K361 and 71. I feel like that has to be B.
A?
Yeah, I mean, man, do we put it in B or do we put it in A? I feel like it's A if we're talking about sonic performance. The only downside of it is the build quality.
Yeah, the thing is as well, in a list of overall headphones, there's no way I would put those that high because the build quality is so poor. But we're talking just closed backs, and in just closed backs, it has to be pretty high, I would say, right?
What if we moved that LCD down to C and we put this in B tier?
Yeah, I'm comfortable with that.
Okay, 'cause I feel like there are things that are better than the 361 and 71 that aren't S, so there's got to be that gap.
Yep, I agree. I agree. Speaking of, but they're very good, just to stress, very good.
How do you feel about the DCA closed X?
Oh, the Aon X closed from Massdrop?
Yeah, I would say at least B. I'm going to put that in A tier. This is freaking fantastic.
Okay, I'm good with that.
Yeah, this unit happens to have a bit of a channel imbalance, but like I think I'm just sort of unlucky there. The performance of this one, like objective and subjective, everything about it is really solid, so A tier for me.
You know what? I think we're going to need an S+.
Okay, so I'm just going to add that up at the very top.
You're just going to write it on the tier list?
No, I just added a row to it just 'cause I think we're going to need S+ here.
Okay.
I don't know if we need it, but I think we need another level of separation for just like a couple things that are between like the best and that DCA, 'cause that DCA is really good.
Where would you put the Aon X closed?
I would also say A tier.
Okay, but like for—okay, I'm going to go straight to this next one. Nox, I would put Nox at S, but I wouldn't say it's the best. I would say it's better than the closed decks, but it's not as good as other things.
You know, here's where we get controversial. I am going to place the Noir X in B tier.
No way!
Yes, yes! I actually prefer the Aon X closed from Massdrop, and the reason for that—and this is also just, I have to consider like this is mostly for me, but I'm the one giving this judgment about it—for me, it's in B tier because the AMTS stuff doesn't work for me.
And I think that that's—I have to recognize that there are going to be people for whom it does work, but there are also people for whom it doesn't. So the AMTS is their sophisticated wave guide thing. For anybody who has no problem with this, it'll sound like it does to you, I imagine, and it would be much higher ranking.
But for me, it actually sounds not nearly as smooth as it measures, and it doesn't sound as good as the Aon X closed to me.
I will say there are meaningful improvements for the Aon Noir X over the Aon X closed, which is that the bass is so much better on the Noir X that is not affected by the AMTS, or at least I don't have any issues with that.
So I'm S, you're B.
Let's split the difference.
Let's split the difference. A, it goes.
Okay, I'm going to—I think I can take away S+. I don't think we need it then.
Okay, let's do Z1R. I'm thinking C tier, maybe D or C. Probably C, 'cause the Z7—yeah, the Z1R probably does too.
I’m not sure if I'd put it in B or C. I would say C.
C, but a high C?
Yeah, a high C.
Yeah, like that citrusy beverage.
Oh, you know what? The R9 and R10 from Hyman, I'm just going to put those straight into the shame tier.
Or should I put those in F? 'Cause there are worse things on this list still.
Yeah, yeah, F.
Lyric 2, interesting.
Yeah, that's a tough one. I would put it B too for high C or low B, 'cause it's better than—I would say like its default tonality is better than a lot of the stuff that's in C tier. Like it's better than the 9200.
But that's true, but it's not as good as a K361 for sound quality.
Yeah, exactly, which some people are going to get really upset about, but it's true.
It is true. It is also built beautifully, it is comfortable, and it's better than its predecessor. Like the original Lyric just—I don't—I have a hard time putting it any higher than B tier.
T50 RP Mark V or Mark III, I would put them interchangeably in F tier. No modifications, it's pretty rough.
Yeah, if you mod it heavily, it could be better, but if you're just getting a T50, maybe doing a pad swap, it's F.
Now, the Mark V is just not good though. I would say the T60 I would put in at least D tier.
Yep, that works.
109 Pro, that's O back, not 109 Pro. What am I saying? 99 Classic, D.
D, D has to be D.
Yeah, probably D.
T5P F?
Oh, the Dami? Yeah, that's definitely F.
That's not selling headphones.
A slightly better closed back, the DT 00 Pro X, I would be comfortable putting that in C tier.
Yeah, easily.
High C again with that beverage.
Actually, you know what? Oh, I'm torn between C and B because the comfort on it is really nice.
Not for me. I found it very uncomfortable.
No, so we'll stick to C.
Pain.
Nman Indie H20, D tier.
Oh no, I put that in C tier.
It's a headphone.
It's a headphone.
It's a headphone that exists.
Uh, Shure 1540, I would probably put in F 'cause that's just nothing but mid-bass. Infinite mid-bass.
More mid-bass than anyone I know can handle.
Sony MDR7506, I mean, it's legendary, but I wouldn't say I enjoy it. I'm thinking C or B.
Yeah, for me, it's a C tier, but I wouldn't be upset with B.
I'm going to—that's so hard. High C.
It's—there's a lot of high C.
I would be—if that one is in C, I would be comfortable putting this next one, the CD900ST, in either C or B.
That's all you. I haven't heard that one.
It's a little bit better in the treble than the Sony 506, but actually, you know what? No, I'm putting that C.
I'll put the new Sony MDR-M1 in B 'cause that one was slightly better than the old ones in some ways.
I heard it; I thought it was competent. I'd put that in B tier.
DT 77D, B or D tier?
Really?
Yeah, well, it depends which pads are you talking about 'cause they changed the pads at a certain point. The leather ones would be straight to D tier, but if you have the one that has the suede pad, it's considerably better.
It's way—it's so much better.
It's velour.
Velour, yeah, yeah, it's with Joshua velour pads.
Um, it's much better with the Joshua velour pads.
Um, it's still a bit on the silent side, but I would say it's actually ahead. I would prefer it over the 700 Pro X with the velour pad.
I would prefer it over the 700, but I would never take it over the 75, or I would never take it over the M1 or the 361.
Fair, that's fair.
Okay, high C.
High C, yeah.
High C.
I don't think it quite deserves B.
It's funny 'cause like all the ones that we said were high C are now like mid C because there are new ones that are in high C.
M50X, I maybe C.
D?
D.
Yeah.
The 569 from Sennheiser, I would also put that in C probably. It's kind of warm, but it's not bad. If you are a warm poo enjoyer, it would be higher, but 'cause the rest of it, not bad.
The HD 620s, I would be very happy to put in B tier.
I would also put it in B tier. It has some scrungle. I don't like that boxy character to the mids, and the mechanical design is mildly cursed, but it's not a bad headphone by any means, and it's better than many of the other ones.
It fits my head shape really well. The big thing for me is that it's very isolating. I love that for working. I'm wearing it right now for this call 'cause it's just like, it's one of the easiest headphones to film with for me.
I put it low B.
Yeah, low B is good.
HD820, do we put that in F or in shame?
In F 'cause there are worse things.
I'd put it in F, yeah. It's a headphone that sounds like you hit your head on the back of a bathtub every time you listen to it.
I used to say the HD820 is a great headphone for someone who likes listening to their speaker or listening to their music through a Bluetooth speaker at a bathroom sink.
Should we just go straight to shame and drop in the H and D in a shame?
Do we also put the Sara closed there?
Yes, this is like the most disappointing thing ever. It bears the Sandara name, which is legendary, but this is not it.
This is not it. Very peaky, horrible treble.
Focal Stellia, very detailed, wonky tuning. C tier. Nice build quality, comfortable. There are Focals I would—there are several Focals I would put above this. Like it wouldn't be my first choice for a closed back Focal.
Yeah, I agree. I think they've made improvements after they made those initial ones.
I'm going to drop it in C.
C works for me.
Y, how about the Celestee?
Celestee?
B tier.
B tier, yeah, I agree with that. My only issue with it really is that it clamps a bit much, so there's that.
It does, and I would put the Radiance right beside it.
I would too. I also have those.
Those are interchangeable.
The thing with the Radiance is that I was just actually listening to it again. It's really bassy, and that's my one concern with it, but for the rest of its balance, it's actually pretty solid. B tier.
Let's do—oh, this is going to be a bit controversial. DCA Stealth?
B or C?
Yeah, I would say B.
B tier?
B, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, not my favorite, but it's decent.
Hyman's Vara?
Haven't heard. I would give that a—it’s like a comfortable D tier, I would say.
Okay, so they made some improvements.
Nice.
They did. It's probably the best Typhon closed back, which means it's almost as good as some really mid-tier closed backs.
So that's the one where they did multiple drivers, right? They had a dynamic driver for the dynamic and planar?
Yeah, which is interesting. I mean, it seems like they're aware of the challenges and they're trying to improve things, but I haven't heard it yet, so I can't really comment on it.
Atrium closed, um, was not for me.
Um, I know you liked it though, right?
Yeah, I'd feel comfortable with that in B tier.
Caldera closed?
Caldera closed, I would be inclined towards A tier.
Yeah, this is one where I argue with a listener about it all the time. He doesn't like it at all, but I actually quite liked it.
I put it in A tier as well. I think it depends on the pads.
It depends on the pads, and also like it kind of depends on what you're trying to go for. If you're looking for something super neutral, like that's not going to be it, but it's still—so it's like one of those where you can sort of sink in and enjoy and just relax.
It's laid-back, warm, kind of a bit esoteric, but in a nice way. So I liked it a lot. I put it in A tier.
So we have two more ZFS on here. We have the Ver closed and the Bokeh.
I've enjoyed the Ver closed a lot. Liked it better than the open.
Yeah, it definitely has too much of that sort of 5 kHz, 5 to 6 kHz peakiness going on, but pretty easy to notch that out.
Yeah, threw on some tubes, sounded great.
So where would you put that? 'Cause I'm torn between B and A.
Yeah, me too. Low A, high B?
Yeah, I'd say high B.
High B?
Yeah, I think S probably.
So yeah, we do have S.
I'm torn on Bokeh because Bokeh is—it's like Harman plus a little bit of warmth, and it's pretty good.
I almost want to say B tier though 'cause I don't think it's—
Yeah, I would think easily. I think it's competent.
Yeah, it's competent, but it's not quite as good as the other two closed CMFs we have up here.
Yeah, out of the two, Bokeh was definitely my favorite.
The closed is pretty good.
How about the TH610 from Fostex? I'm thinking D, maybe D tier.
Yeah, 'cause it's not quite an F.
I did, yeah, not for me.
The Audio Technica W 2022?
Oh, that's the really high-end one. That's like the $9,000 one.
Yeah, yeah. It is horrifically warm, but the balance isn't awful. Like the balance is actually a lot better than many closed backs.
It's just like the whole thing put in C, and the whole thing is just mega warm.
Um, I don't know. I kind of liked it. I'd put it in B.
I put it—it's not for me. Like I would EQ it, but, you know, there's a place for it. It's comfortable, it looks nice.
That's fair. I'm with that.
Yeah, the other Audio Technicas, the ones that have those four-letter acronym names, I can never remember.
Okay, so one of them is better than the other one, but they are both in F tier. Like they're both—like you listen to them and immediately you know that this is not what sound should be from headphones.
Um, and speaking of those, AP200 TI, which I think should go in the shame tier.
Okay, it's like relatively linear, but then it's so bright that it makes a lot of Beyers sound dark.
Wow, it's remarkable.
I—that's an accomplishment.
Wow, it is impressive.
We have one more Beyer, by the way, on this list, and that's the 1770 Mark I, which I would put in probably—I'm torn between C and D.
It's the new one that came out, right?
Yeah, I'm thinking D tier just because there's—it's not as good as the 700X.
Okay, the new Fostex closed back planar RP that I can't think of the name of. It's either the 1,000 or the 1100, but I've got it in the other room.
I think you were supposed to send me that.
Yeah, I am going to send it to you. It's a very comfortable F tier.
Yeah, um, and then TH900, the most recent iteration of the TH900 closed back, maybe D also.
These are ones that do not perform well. They don't measure well.
I think you sent me a frequency sense measurement of that, and I was like, "What is that?"
Yeah, it just doesn't really do bass well or mids well or treble well, but at least it looks nice.
Yeah, and that's what matters. Audio files listen with their eyes.
We are down to three headphones because one of these is a duplicate.
Okay, Focal Auris, I would put probably B, maybe A.
Probably B 'cause it doesn't work at all on my head 'cause the clamp variation changes the response so much, but some people I know it works really well for, so I feel like B is probably okay for me.
I would say A because it is also very comfortable.
Um, so the mechanical design is good. We could put it in A 'cause I can use it with EQ.
So my main—my only issue actually isn't to do with the sort of shifted ear gain thing as much as it is to do with the high acoustic competence and being prone to leakage effects.
So if you wear glasses, you might not get the same bass response on that one just because of the way that the pads kind of conform.
So I don't know. I would place it in A, but in low A.
Low A?
Yeah, yeah.
We're down to two, and they're both really good.
I have to put E3 in S.
E3? S tier?
Yeah, there's no other—like it's just incredible to me.
And it's funny because I was saying how like the AMTS doesn't really work for me on the Noir X, but it does kind of work for me on the E3, and it might just be because it's also like a larger cup, so it's actually propagating sound the way that it's supposed to.
It's a hair on the shouty side for me, but I thought it was very, very good.
Yeah, Best Year.
Oh, the goat, the FT1.
It's remarkably good.
Okay, so this—like the best bass quality out of all of these closed backs. It's so good.
Yeah, I think it needs—I think it deserves A tier.
I think it also deserves A tier.
Um, like we're not considering this for like good value because it is good value. I'm saying if this stacks up with the others in A tier, well, its treble performance is its biggest weakness, but its bass is so exceptional, and the mids are very good as well, and it's comfortable.
I don't like the pads on it. I swapped the pads out and I made some adjustments and did some modifications. That's a topic for another time.
I strongly prefer the Capper strap on it.
So I would—here's the thing, right? I like the bass on the FT1 better than the Auris, but I like the mids similarly, and I like the treble on the Auris better.
I hate the treble on the Auris; it's so bright to me.
But we measure that. That's because of the clamp differences.
Exactly, yeah. If you get more clamp with it, it's going to sound great in the treble. If you get less clamp with it, it's going to start getting brighter.
Yeah, so man, I don't know which one I would put ahead. Like I would put the FT1 ahead personally.
I was listening to them side by side like just yesterday, and I would still put the Auris ahead, but barely.
So I think that solidifies it belongs in A tier.
It belongs in A tier, yeah.
And it really is just because like—so the thing for me is like if I take my glasses off, then the Auris' bass comes back in.
So it's kind of like it depends if you wear glasses, right?
And with the FT1, like the treble, to describe it a bit, it's like a little bit on the dark side for the ear gain, and then there's like a—it's punctuated by like a 5 kHz, 6 kHz kind of forwardness, making the treble sound a bit on the compressed side.
The Auris doesn't have that issue. It's more that there's the sort of like tambal shift, and as you put, it's more like the clamp—the different clamp force can yield a different response at the eardrum, so it can be brighter too.
So I don't know. To me, it's like those are the two runners for the ones that I would personally be looking at, or the E3 just because like, you know, if I had infinite money, I would go for one of those three, I think, right now.
Yeah, because the comfort—like to me, comfort is so important, and they're all comfortable.
So whereas a lot—some of the other ones are not as ergonomic, like the Sara closed.
Yeah, that's the one I'm going to consider.
So the one downside is the E3, and it's the similarly designed DCA still have a bit of a hard pad on top.
Yeah, I prefer the original pad that they had on the Noir, like the non-X version of the Noir, but the pads on the Noir X are so much better.
Like they're so much more, I don't know, premium feeling and consistent.
But then the pad shape on E3, that just—that fits my ears way better.
Yeah, did—by the way, where do you place the regular Noir?
B?
Not A?
Not A. I would put it the same tier as the—well, I also would have put the closed X probably in B tier, right?
But I feel like the Noir, the old Noir, not the Noir X, the old Noir and the closed X, I would put in the same tier as like the Celestee and the Shure Radiance and stuff like that.
Whereas Noir X, I would put a little above that.
I would put the Noir, the old Noir, and the X closed in the same tier.
So I'd have to put it in A.
I mean, I could see that either way. I think the old Noir was a great headphone.
Yep, so this has been an exercise in controversy. I'm sure that the comments will be super chill, and nobody will be upset by this ranking, and everyone will recognize that these are just the opinions of two on the internet.
And that when we're critical of headphones you love, this does not mean that we are critical of you.
Oh, maybe a little bit.
Make good decisions!
You know, it's interesting if you looked at like a spread of like the brands that, you know, more ended up—more of a certain brand would end up in the bottom, more of a certain brand would end up in the top.
DCA did pretty dang good with their current models.
They do closed backs well.
Yeah, they do closed backs well. Your DCA's all up in kind of the top, and your Hyman's all kind of in the bottom.
Focal only having the one on this list just obliterated that ratio.
Yep, CMF did pretty great.
Focal, pretty solid.
Yeah, Sennheiser, bit of a spread.
Sennheiser had a pretty big spread.
Yeah, they did. They just kind of—as Siser normally does, they filled out the mid-range.
They had some decent stuff and some horrible stuff.
Yeah, what else? Beyerdynamic, also a bit of a spread.
Yeah, they didn't have anything above C tier, but they had a couple things in C tier.
Oh, I would have put the 770 in B tier, or did we put it in C?
Well, maybe we did put it in C.
Where did we put it in B?
No, it was in C.
It was in C?
C, okay.
Yeah, yeah, you said that was a high C.
Yeah, I'm all about that citrusy drink, man. I want it now.
You're never going to get scurvy.
Never!
Yeah, I have had scurvy in the past. It was a dark time in my life.
Darker than now? Imagine that!
I wouldn't be able to see.
On that note, do you want to wrap it up?
Oh, who makes all these videos possible? The place that you can go to to buy headphones and make it so that we can continue to eat—the place that has 365-day returns and really, really amazing customer support.
Big plug: headphones.com for making all this possible. Go to headphones.com, and you might make Resolve smile again.
On that note, I think it's time we wrap this video up.
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Let us know what other closed-back headphones you guys want us to test.
What he said.
Peace!
Bye!
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