The Budget Kings Series

Updates:

3/30/19: Replaced the Sennheiser HD558 with the Samson SR850. Reason being that the 558 is no longer budget and was discontinued. It’s going for roughly $200 as of this update. The 850 is also a phenomenal value and seemed like an easy decision/replacement given how much I’ve recommended it lately and how much I love it. It’s a perfect Gaming headphone as well, and has a fantastic Soundstage. What is Soundstage? The SR80e was also replaced with the 60e because after demoing both again, I found no audible differences between the 2. The 60e is a true under $100 headphone also, while the 80e toes the line at around $99 most of the time.
6/2/19: Replaced the Samson SR850 with the venerable AKG K240. The SR850 is a great headphone, but suffers from a sibilant, somewhat harsh treble. While I do love it for Gaming and Movies, and it does sound great for Rock, the K240 just does everything better. The quintessential studio headphone deserves a spot in the Budget Kings series for sure.
12/29/19. Replaced the Audio Technica ATH M40x with the Creative Aurvana Live! The CAL is a more balanced headphone and also more comfortable. The M40x, while a good headphone, is outclassed by the more focused, less metallic sound of the CAL. There are also no mid-bass issues on the CAL. The 40x tends to be a bit “bump happy” around 100 – 200Hz.

Hey there friend!