> I paid (a very reasonable) $2k for a set of reference headphones and a suitable amp/DAC to drive them. I could have spent a lot more.

Have you done any blind testing against, for example, a $100-200 pair of headphones?

So you bought an amp instead of making one. That's a fine solution, but it probably means that the $2K you spent on headphones was irrelevant.

> It is hard to drive a set of headphones with enough SQ to make them worthwhile.

I disagree. Most headphones are really easy to drive, including many high end ones. And DIY builders are making perfectly good & cheap amps using parts that have been available for more than two decades now. Parts that used to make it in stereos and other off the self supermarket stuff.

I'm more than happy to plug my AKG K812 to laptops (such as a thinkpad T460s), android phones (such as LG G4, One Plus 6), portable media players (such as the Cowon D2). My Sennheiser HD650s, HD800s, and AKG K701s are generally plugged to external DACs and amps mainly because I use them at the desk (or with my music gear). But I've tried all of them on various consumer gear and many of them can deliver good sound. The Sennheisers, however, can be a little too quiet with some of the portable devices.

What the author of the linked story here is complaining about is the race to the absolutely garbage bottom (though it isn't nearly as bad for people with less sensitive phones).

I used to plug my AKG k702s (which are maybe not 'audiophile' $2k headphones, but are good enough) into a pixel 1 without any issues.

Alas after an 'upgrade' to a pixel 3 after I crushed the first one against the deck while sailing, I had to buy a bluetooth dac and that doesn't seem to do as well.

If you're over 12 you just wasted some money. Your ears are going downhill pretty much from the day you are born. Really good audio equipment is wasted on almost every adult.

Is it just me, or are $10 branded earbuds just fine for music?

Probably.

I've tried a few different pairs and the pricepoint where sound quality becomes "good enough" seems to be somewhere around ~£35. If you want a microphone too, bump that up to ~£50.

My _purely anecdotal_ experience is that cheaper headphones tend to work well for pop music, likely because their reproduction range is bass heavy. Sadly the moment you want to add podcasts into the mix, the balance is off. Spoken word just sounds stuffy.

When I'm not on the move, you can pry my AKG K270 off my cold, dead hands.

Did you try any more expensive ones? If not, how can you compare? I don't think you know what you're missing. From my experience, you realize how bad cheap ones are is when you try something better. For example, I thought AKG Y20 sounded pretty good before getting the chinese TFZ series 2, which are just so much 'more'. I am aware that those tfz are also lower range (~45$ on aliexpress). I also own a pair of Beyer DT770 80ohm 100 eur headphones and those are something else, esp when I had a Focusrite Saffire to drive them. Of course there is a price point after which it gets harder to notice improvement. But only after trying out different types and price points do you start to understand what sounds good and what you actually like. For me, all cheaper ones just sound muddy or like the sound is trapped in some box or tin, and I also notice sounds and instruments missing in songs I know well.

If I'll enjoy my current ones less after trying more expensive ones, isn't that a reason not to try them?

I do see a difference between the branded ones I've used (mostly Panasonic and the Samsung AKG one that comes with phones) and the cheaper generic ones I've tried out here and there

For example, I couldn't tell the difference between some ~100$ and "reference" ~1000$ headphones, so I am not the person to buy high end DACs, fancy shielded cables or whatnot. But I like some thumping bass and clarity in the top end. It's therapeutic for me to have an immersive experience where the sound just floats around you, sort of 3d vs flat.

Same here. I've found that cheap (£10-15) sony "ear-plug"-style ones [1] have been really surprisingly good for just wandering around shops and listening to pod casts or some music on my phone. Not worth paying more IMO since they get lost, or you lose one of the silicon-bits, or the wires get lose fairly frequently.

There are some very crap ear buds around (e.g. Norwegian Air's freebie handout ones are quite possibly the worst things I have ever used), but I was pleasantly surprised by the sony ones. No relation - just a satisfied customer.

1 - https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/in-ear-headphones/mdr-ex1...

A $100 amp and good headphones do the job just fine. The current generation of phones has very high quality DACs, beyond what was considered top of the line for premium audio players 5-10 years ago.