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Comment by atoav | Hacker News Reader

As someone who worked as a freelance audio engineer I have certain pairs of (chorded) headphones that I just want to use to hear my mixes (or other music) on.

I know how they sound and what they do to sounds. Every in-ear solution I had in my ears up to now doesn't even get close in terms of "resolution" (this is not a technical term but it is true, that some monitoring solutions will let you hear more of the recording than others).

Additionally my on-the-road headphones (Sennheiser HD25) last for a decade now. If the cable ever should fail I can get a replacement. If the earpad is through I can get a replacement. The only problem recently is, that phone manufacturers decided they need to be stingy about adding a 3.5mm TRRS-jack.

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I can't recommend Sennheiser headphones enough. They are, by a wide margin, the most comfortable headphones I've been able to find; I can wear them for 5+ hours without any problem (whereas most headphones get uncomfortable within an hour, and earbuds just start out being uncomfortable for me).

I’ve got a 18 year old pair of HD25’s. They are indeed excellent. On their third cable and ear pads now. But quite frankly I don’t use them any more. Switched to AirPods (2nd gen). They are absolutely no good for pro audio due to the latency but general audio perspective they are perfect.

Can't get enough praise for HD25 as a heavy user. It's portable, modular structure, replacement part is dirt cheap, comfy as hell, sounds awesome, cable is your choice, isolation is top notch and even quite cheap for what it is. As a DJ, I've been abusing it for a decade and it's still going strong. For me it's a peak mass product.

I got two Sennheisers, HD 25 and one wireless one (PXC 550). I do use wireless ones more when I'm on the move, but when I'm home and want the reliable sound I'm used to, nothing beats HD 25s.

It's like the opposite of planned obsolescence. They first came out five years before I was born, and here I am using them in my late 20s. I have no doubt they'll outlive my PXC 550s, which after about three years of usage have a degraded battery and a slow charging speed (micro USB is inexcusable).

Yeah. I’ve been using my HD25s for almost 20 years at this point. I’m going to need to replace the drivers at some point but that’s fine, and they’ll probably do another 20 years.

+1 for HD25

I "upgraded" mine with a fiio BTR5. Now I just wrap the cable around the BT receiver and put it in my shirt pocket. Wireless freedom with wired 'phones!

Do you maybe have a recommendation for around-the-ear model with same/similar repairability?

Sony MDR7502. I swear by these like other commenters have been swearing by the HD25s. The packaging comes with a pamphlet with all of the pieces exploded and their replacement part numbers. The only time I've had to get new cans is when some unfortunate soul unable to afford their own pair took mine while I was packing up from a gig.

As replaceable batteries turned into science fiction audio jack is literally the last thing I look for on a mobile phone.

I got a poco because I won't replace my HD-25 II anytime soon.

Before that I even took a MP3 player with me most of the time. Fiio Xsomwthing. However it broke, and for some reason you don't find good MP3 players with actual buttons anymore either.

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