Phil's Superpower of Enthusiasm

  [MSRP $199 at drop.com , occasionally on sale. Bought for $199.99 in September 2018.] [ Tl;dr: These are a screaming deal for $199. They really benefit from a little bit of power (beyond what most consumer audio jacks will provide, though they sound surprisingly good through the free dongle DAC that comes with iPhones), so if you get a pair it’s worth considering an inexpensive DAC/amp like the Moondrop Dawn Pro, especially if you’re willing to spend $20 for a replacement cable and explore balanced audio. These continue to be my first recommendation for almost anyone interested in getting into audio, and will be my go to when people ask me if balanced makes a difference.] Scores: Cost-agnostic: 7 out of 10 Denalis Cost-sensitive: 10 out of 10 Denalis Intro.  This was the first pair of “audiophile” grade headphones I ever bought, way back in September 2018. I’d had a couple of pairs of over-the-ears cans as a kid (one of which died because Dylan stepped on it while getting ...

[Non-RX MSRP $316 in shiny black with green lenses, I paid … substantially more for prescription in shiny black.] [ Tl;dr: I’m genuinely surprised by how much I like these. Are they great, audiophile-grade headphones? Nope. But that’s not their use case, and not what they’re designed for. For what they’re designed for, they’re surprisingly excellent.] Scores: Cost-agnostic: 8 out of 10 Denalis (for their use case) Cost-sensitive: 6 out of 10 Denalis (for their use case) Intro. Years ago, I made a lot of fun of one of my friends for wanting the original Bose headphone sunglasses . I didn’t see the point of combining the two products; I had long been committed to Oakley for glasses, sunglasses, and prescription sunglasses, and while I owned and enjoyed a number of pairs of Bose headphones, I didn’t understand why someone would want to tie themselves to a combined product. Fast forward to this year, where I found myself with some FSA funds that I needed to use, and in a world where I ba...