Sonic Getaway

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ABOUT US

Sonic Getaway is a diverse community of high-end audio enthusiasts.
We share a passion for the music we enjoy, and swear by the importance of the gear we experience it on.

If you are a fellow audio and/or music enthusiast, we welcome you to join us in our Telegram Group* or our Community Discord Server.

Here on the Sonic Getaway Website, you will find gear recommendations that are officially endorsed by our community! Our goal is to help you find the audio equipment and/or combination of gear that will work best for your particular needs, with the utmost ease.
This is why we maintain ourselves as a public portal, to speak with our community members and founders that both directly and indirectly contribute to this carefully curated guide.

Please excuse the current limitations of website content. The development of this SG site is a small operation with steady progress. Additional pages and indexing are due soon, but we implore you to join us on our public community platforms!
As an Amazon Associate, Sonic Getaway and its developers may earn from qualifying purchases.

Hifiman Ananda

The Hifiman Ananda is a high end planar-magnetic headphone boasting a neutral and diverse presentation. It is easy to drive as opposed to most Hifiman planars, yet performs among the top of its price range. Ananda's sound signature is forgiving, regardless of most user preference. It could be driven to most folks' desired listening levels off of an Apple audio dongle, yet deserves a more advanced (yet inexcessive) amp/dac stack such as the iFi Zen Air DAC and the iFi Zen Air CAN. (which will require a pair of RCA interconnects to stack).
As for those looking to get the most out of their equimpent in this price class, the iFi Zen DAC Signature and iFi Zen CAN Signature, which have a fully balanced topology and upgraded components over their standard non-signature alternative, compete at best in their class for the new market.

Sennheiser HD560S

The Sennheiser HD560S is a decent budget heaphone choice, especially for the avid music listener that wants a reliable headphone with decent performance for the cost, whom needs something easy to drive and acceptable for gaming and general use without need for expensive source gear. The HD560S is efficient enough to have the output volume you need with as little as an Apple audio dongle. For a more advanced integrated DAC/amp, the best AIO device (which may operate as a standalone DAC as well) is the iFi Zen Air DAC, which is more than sufficient to pair with the HD560S on its own, to get the most out of the headphone without breaking the bank.

Hifiman HE400SE

The Hifiman HE400SE is the best budget planar-magnetic headphone you can get in the new market, period. Though you may think to compare it to the He400i (2020) that precedes it, but with an updated driver design involving different membrane tensioning and the HifiMan "stealth magnets", the older model is blown out of the water and it would make for an unfair comparison.
HE400SE is fairly easy to drive, especially for a planar. For the majority of new hobbyists, it is reccomended that you pair HE400SE with an iFi Zen Air DAC as an AIO solution. (to get most of the potential out of the headphone without unnecessary over-spending).
In all practicality, we recommend the Hifiman HE400SE over the Sennheiser HD560S.

Koss Kph30i Clear

Koss Kph30i Clear is an on-ear budget-killer headphone for around $30, that can be powered well by a phone or especially an integrated dacamp dongle such as the Apple audio dongle.
Kph30i has a warm sound signature, but with a surprising level of detail, staging and imaging coherency for this price bracket.
Modders would often remove the internal damping of the classic Kph30i; in order to improve the sound. However, the newer clear variant comes without the excess damping material in it from the factory.
For only around $30~ we suggest giving these ulra-budget headphones a try!

Headphones

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