S= ★★★ Focal Utopia

4000 Neutral Natural timbre, solid tuning and close to top-tier resolution. An inoffensive all-rounder that lives up to its reputation. S= S= Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 2 2 2 4000

S- ★ Hifiman HE1000 (V1/V2) 3000 Bright neutral A planar that comes unnervingly close estat speed, but not quite. Solid technicalities with excellent tuning. S- S= Planar Personal unit 3 3 2 3000

A+ ★★ Hifiman Arya 1600 Bright neutral A very well-tuned planar headphone with no offensive characteristics. S- A+ Planar Connect IT demo unit 3 3 4 1600

A+ Stax SR-007 2100+975

(SRM-353X) Neutral Arguably the least wonky-sounding of the mainstream Staxes, with resolution just shy of the flagship 009. A= S+ Electrostatic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 3 5 1 3075

A= Audio Technica ATH-ADX5000 2000 Bright neutral Clean, open sound reminsicent of the HD800, but with less offensive treble. A= S- Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 4 5 3 2000

A= ★ Focal Clear 1500 Warm neutral A decent Utopia alternative for thinner wallets. A= A+ Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 4 5 4 1500

A= ★★★ HEDDphone 1900 Warm neutral An interesting in-between of DD and estat timbre, though tuning and technical capabilities still need some work. A= A+ AMT Zeppelin & Co demo unit 4 5 4 1900

A= ★★ Hifiman Ananda 700 Neutral One of the best tuned headphones available, only limited by its micro-detailing. S= A- Planar Connect IT demo unit 4 2 6 700

A= Stax SR-009/SR-009S 4325+975

(SRM-353X) Bright neutral Detail and resolution worthy of being called "the best", just slightly marred by the slightly off midrange tone. A- S+ Electrostatic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 4 6 1 5300

A= ★ ZMF Aeolus

(Universal pref. pads) 1200 Bright neutral Tonally, a vast improvement over the Aeolus with stock pads, bringing in extra clarity and bite. A= A= Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 4 5 5 1200

A- ★★★ Sennheiser HD600/HD650/HD6XX 220

(HD6XX) Bass-rolled neutral The legendary neutral reference. Could use a little more bass extension and treble to round it all off. A+ A- Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 5 4 6 220

A- Stax L700 1570+975

(SRM-353X) Bright Sounds a little suppressed in the higher harmonics, but also sharp at the same time. B+ S- Electrostatic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 5 7 3 2545

A- ★ ZMF Auteur

(Teak, pref. Auteur pads) 1600 Neutral Very pleasant tonality, but could use some extra definition. A+ B+ Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 5 4 7 1600

A- ZMF Verite Closed

(Verite pads) 2500 Neutral with bass boost Far more tonally balanced than its open counterpart, whilst retaining its reverberant staging. B+ S- Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 5 7 3 2500

B+ ★ Audeze LCD-X

1700 Neutral One of the better Audeze tunings, but I'm not sure if this is representative of all LCD-Xes... B+ A= Planar Connect IT demo unit 6 7 5 1700

B+ ★★ Audio Technica ATH-R70x 350 Bass-rolled neutral Very similar in tone to the HD6X0. Good imaging chops but notes sound a little compressed. A= B+ Dynamic Third party unit 6 5 7 350

B+ Final Audio D8000 4000 Bright High treble-to-midrange contrast makes things sound shrill and borderline-sibilant. B= A= Planar Zeppelin & Co demo unit 6 8 5 4000

B+ Hifiman Sundara 350 Neutral Solid tuning, some may call it bright but I don't hear it. One of the best budget planars out there. A+ B= Planar Connect IT demo unit 6 4 8 350

B+ ★★★ Sennheiser HD800/HD800S 1700 Bright The prince of soundstage and raw detail, though at the cost of its infamous treble spike and midrange quirks. B- S= Dynamic Personal unit 6 9 2 1700

B+ Stax SR-L300 430+975

(SRM-353X) Bright neutral The usual Stax combo of slightly wonky tuning with solid technical capabilities. B= S- Electrostatic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 6 8 3 1405

B+ Stax SR-L500 792+975

(SRM-353X) Bright neutral The usual Stax combo of slightly wonky tuning with solid technical capabilities. B= S- Electrostatic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 6 8 3 1767

B= Abyss Diana Phi 4000 Warm Audeze-like tuning with good detail retrieval. Needs more upper midrange, lacks bite and energy. C+ A+ Planar AV One demo unit 7 10 4 4000

B= Abyss AB-1266 Phi CC Lite Replaced with TC V-shaped Sinfully addictive bass and treble reponse, but the midrange tonality needs a lot of work. B- A+ Planar AV One demo unit 5 9 4 99999

B= ★ Audeze LCD-2C Closed 900 Warm Not the worst Audeze in terms of tonality, but the tuning doesn't live up to its technical capabilities. B- A= Planar AV One demo unit 7 9 5 900

B= Audeze LCD-4 4000 Warm A classic example of a highly resolving yet wonky sounding headphone. Needs more upper midrange. C= S- Planar AV One demo unit 7 11 3 4000

B= ★★ BLON B20 450 Neutral Basically a darker planar HD6X0, with equally closed-in staging and worse resolution. A= B- Planar Review unit 7 5 9 450

B= Meze Empyrean 3000 Warm The cream cracker of headphones. Bland and unexciting with smeared bass, with underperforming technicalities. B= B= Planar Zeppelin & Co demo unit 6 8 8 3000

B= ★ Sendy Aiva 600 Warm neutral A slightly worse-tuned BL20, kinda. A= B- Planar AV One demo unit 7 5 9 600

B= ★★ Sennheiser HD660S 400 Warm neutral An even darker HD6X0. A comparatively muffled mess just barely propped up by its decent resolving ability. B= A- Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 7 8 6 400

B= ZMF Eikon

(Eikon pads) 1400 V-shaped Spiky, uneven treble makes this a little hard to listen to for long periods of time. B= B+ Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 7 8 7 1400

B- ★ Audeze LCD-1 400 Neutral The best tuned Audeze headphone with the worst resolution. A= C+ Planar AV One demo unit 8 5 10 400

B- Audeze LCD-24 3500 Warm Classic Audeze combo of solid resolution with a confusing lack of upper midrange. C+ A= Planar AV One demo unit 8 10 5 3500

B- Audeze LCD-2C 800 Warm Classic Audeze combo of solid resolution with a confusing lack of upper midrange. C= A= Planar AV One demo unit 8 11 5 800

B- Audeze MX-4 3000 Warm Classic Audeze combo of solid resolution with a confusing lack of upper midrange. C= A+ Planar AV One demo unit 8 11 4 3000

B- Focal Elear 1000 Bass-rolled warm The odd hole in the mids with the unsatisfying bass response is not pleasant. B- B+ Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 8 9 7 1000

B- ZMF Aeolus

(Oval pads) 1200 Warm Lack of head gain with middling upward extension, yet strangely sharp at the same time. C+ A= Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 8 10 5 1200

B- ZMF Verite

(Verite pads) 2500 Warm Sounds really wonky. At least the resolution is pretty good. C= S- Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 8 11 3 2500

C+ ★ Audio Technica ATH-M40X

100 Neutral with bass boost Well-balanced tonality with disappointing detailing and claustrophobic imaging. A= C- Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 9 5 12 100

C+ ★ HarmonicDyne Helios 180 V-shaped A little too sharp, a little too midbassy, but overall not the most offensive headphone out there. B- C+ Dynamic Review unit 9 9 10 180

C+ ★ Sennheiser HD599 200 V-shaped A little too sharp, a little too midbassy, but overall not the most offensive headphone out there. B- C+ Dynamic Connect IT demo unit 9 9 10 200

C+ Sony MDR-CD900ST Discontinued Neutral Solid dark-ish reference tuning, with the usual V6/7506-esque absence of soundstage. A- C- Dynamic Third party unit 9 6 12 99999

C+ ZMF Atticus

(Ori lambskin pads) 1100 Bassy Bloated bass with wonky midrange, a killer combination. C= B= Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 9 11 8 1100

C= Audio Technica ATH-M50X 150 Neutral with bass boost The headphone that the elites love to hate... isn't that bad. An alright starter headphone, if generally overrated. B= C- Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 10 8 12 150

C= Campfire Cascade 800 Bassy The Atlas in headphone form. Or is the Atlas the Cascade in IEM form? C+ C= Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 10 10 11 800

C= Focal Elegia 900 Neutral with bass boost Severe lack of upper midrange and treble results in a muffled, dulled tone. Also, nearly impossible to get a good seal. C- B- Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 10 12 9 900

C= Focal Stellia 3000 Neutral with bass boost A little better than the Elegia in terms of higher frequency response, but the seal issues are still major. C- B- Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 10 12 9 3000

C- Audio Technica ATH-M30X 70 Neutral with bass boost Not the worst thing in the world, but you can tell this was made with too many compromises. C= C- Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 11 11 12 70

C- Hifiman HE5SE 700 V-shaped Why is there a hole in the mids?! D- A= Planar Connect IT demo unit 11 15 5 700

C- Drop + THX Panda 400 Neutral with bass boost Well-tuned closed planar, but with overpowering midbass and extremely dulled transients. B= D= Planar Review unit 11 8 14 400

C- Sony MDR-Z1R 1800 V-shaped Holes everywhere in the midrange. Big F-U spike in the treble. Strangely disjointed soundstage. D= B= Dynamic Connect IT demo unit 11 14 8 1800

D+ Klipsch HP3

1200 Warm V-shape Lots of bass bloat, way too thick-sounding and lacking definition. D+ C= Dynamic E1 demo unit 12 13 11 1200

D+ Audio Technica ATH-A990Z 220 V-shaped "Yes Audio Technica, I would like all the cup resonance." D= C= Dynamic Zeppelin & Co demo unit 13 14 11 220