[Thenewbie76]

Greetings,

I am looking for a close-backed headphone and am having a hard time choosing between the Argon MK3 and Emu wood. This is the music that I mainly listen to. Bass-heavy and/or vocal-focused music, like RnB, Rock, Hip-hop, and Electronic music.
I also game a bit but it doesn't have to be exceptional in the soundstage, I am not super into competitive games, more into single-player/atmospheric games.
Pretty much looking for a daily driver which is also good for movies/tv shows with amazing sound productions, like Dune or Dunkirk.

Also, are there any alternatives I should look at?

Thank you

 

[mildmannered]

The Argon MK3 will have better soundstaging/imaging than the EMu Teak, though the EMu Teak may have a better overall balance of sound especially coming into Rock / RnB.

It doesn't immediately sound like you are prioritizing the soundstage but particularly for movies I don't think the EMu Teak really bring anything special to the table for that whereas the Argon MK3 would via soundstage. The EMu Teak would still give you impressive bass especially when EQd for more bass, but otherwise I wouldn't say their detail retrieval is anything to write home about so the Argon MK3 probably win that use case.

If you're saying Argon MK3 vs EMu Walnut, definitely the Argon MK3.

 

[Thenewbie76]

The Argon MK3 will have better soundstaging/imaging than the EMu Teak, though the EMu Teak may have a better overall balance of sound especially coming into Rock / RnB.

It doesn't immediately sound like you are prioritizing the soundstage but particularly for movies I don't think the EMu Teak really bring anything special to the table for that whereas the Argon MK3 would via soundstage. The EMu Teak would still give you impressive bass especially when EQd for more bass, but otherwise I wouldn't say their detail retrieval is anything to write home about so the Argon MK3 probably win that use case.

If you're saying Argon MK3 vs EMu Walnut, definitely the Argon MK3.

I was looking at the Emu Teak and Emu bamboo on Drop. I am not prioritising sound stage but it would be 2nd on my list. 1st being sound.

How would you quantify the better sound signature of the Emu over the argons? I asked on the Argon thread and someone else also said the Emu will sound much better and detailed. So how much more better/detailed? Like 50%? If the Emus sound slightly better than I will just get Argons. I already have the HD 600, ZMF Aeolus, LCD2 which I can use for better details.

Im just looking for a fun sounding headphone, a daily driver for gaming.

 

[mildmannered]

First I would say if someone is responding to you and A/Bing them then I defer to their judgement as I don't have the Argons around. I'd be curious to see if anyone has recommendations other than the Argon in this price range for soundstage and bass; I was thinking Beyerdynamic 150 but they're not particularly bassy so maybe DT 700 Pro X is a better fit, the Shure SRH1540 would probably be good but I doubt they're on the level of EMu Teaks for bass quantity, perhaps the Hifiman R9, or Meze 99 Classic although not sure about their soundstaging?

I haven't heard the Bamboo variant but the EMu Teaks have been my primary headphone since late 2017. I have had Dekoni TH900 Elite pads as well as attenuation rings installed on them for all these years, so that is my reference point when I discuss them. I also recently applied a decent bass EQ for more of a good thing. EMu Teaks are ridiculously fun bass cannons with a small soundstage - this soundstage is one of the reasons the bass is so good because it is boosted and forward-presenting without overpowering the mids or treble. With this, they can be used for any genre for a good experience with the understanding that they do NOT soundstage, so classical and atmospheric Electronic will sound fine but not amazing. All of the headphones you listed for detail retrieval have much more soundstage, imaging, and also detail retrieval than the EMu Teaks, so not to harp on it too much but I feel it's important to emphasize that the EMu Teaks really have no soundstage, it's not what they do. Coming to gaming, I can hear footsteps in FPS in the EMu Teaks but I can't always accurately place them - again the imaging is just not really what they do.

EMu Teaks are noticeably better than Argons for music, I don't know what I'd put the percentage at but I'd be surprised if anyone said they weren't an upgrade. It's just that you also mention gaming and movies, neither of which I'd really attribute as strong-suits for the EMu Teak. They'll do fine and everything will sound good but outside of emphasizing the bass they really are not going to do anything special for either of those applications vs something with more soundstaging or imaging capabilities.