Recommendations for Best headphones on the market (new and old)

[yapooza]

The residual echo from the thicker wires was just a fancey way of saying some people believe that thicker wire comprimised the signal. This is an extreme audiophile opinion, they would probably have you listen thru a single run of pure uncoated silver wire suspended from the floor in a lead walled room.
Lets be practical, the e4 will sound fantastic and it wont snap when you catch your headphones on something because its robust.

If you truely are of elven nature, graceful and delicate with your things, you may go for the Etymotic for its "uncomprimised sound" due to less residual echo from the thinner wire casing. Personally i'd go for the shures cos I dont really go in for all that suspended bear wire stuff

[bikeguy1]

Originally Posted by kelvinz

So it seems to me that the HD650's are the best you can get before you hit the 1,000+ mark?

Kevin, although this is a very subjective topic, I own both the HD-650 s and the Audio Technica ATH-W1000. I feel that the AT product delivers great value for the money (list approx $780, but Audio Cubes sells for $459), with a very high build quality and a more comfortable design then my Senns. Main difference in design is open (Senn) vs closed (AT). Each has merits, with AT being better for the types of music I listen to most (Classical, Opera, Afro-Cuban Jazz). Good luck in your search!

[robm321]

K1000 - best all around headphone on the planet (based on my criteria)

Pros: Best soundstage by far of any phone, very detailed, very fast, adjustable freq. response (by positioning), imaging is very real and solid, and it's under $1K and not by a little bit.

Cons: Can sound metallic, bright, thin - the pro to this con is that all the cons can be eliminated by matching with the right amp. The only con to me is that they make you look like something Doc would come up with in "Back To The Future" - in other words they'll make you look like a freak

Sony R10 - The most resolved smooth sound headphone out there, but to me doesn't have all the attributes the K1000 has. When price is thrown in , it's not worth some refinement to pay 4-5X what the K1000 costs. But if you got money to spare, you'll be in sonic bliss.

RS-1 most addicting, smooth, romantic, sound for far less than the R10 - that's with flats. With bowls it a the best rock headphone (if you can take the ocassional high note through the brain).

Senn 600 - Best boring headphones lol - I still like them and won't get rid of them. The best for piano reproduction and very good soundstaging, frequency response.

To each their own - but it's all there to enjoy

[andyshedd]

The first time I had an "aha!" with headphones I tried using a cheapo headphone amp to power my Grado SR-80s from a cheapo portable cd player with a line out. Then I bought Griffin's iMic for my iBook to use with the same SR-80s...the sound was wonderful--at least in comparison to the standard sound card. Now I mostly listen to Sennheiser HD-595s using a PC laptop with a HeadRoom MicroStack. I think I'm pretty jaded audiophilewise, but the present setup is pretty nice. My next step will be a modded Sony SCD-CE595 with a custom M3 amp with the Grado RS-325i's.

[)v(ajin_R_]

a fully burnt in ATH-A900LTD paired with a decent receiver and source = magic/eargasms

think a900 but with very good mids (not recessed), smoother and richer bass, and clearer highs

[grisjo]

im looking for a pair of cans that can match up to grado ps1's audio technicas
L3000's where can i find this it still has to be in production i was thinking about stax omega 2's any advice would be great i must add that i have never tried the L3000's or the PS1's i just read these are great cans for bass heads

im not looking for cans that are just good at producing bass i want great detail in the mids and highs as well as in the bass regions

help

edit: i have never tried omega 2's either and what about the alessandro ms pro can these cans equal the above cans are these bass head cans

[BennyBoy]

I like my HD-555. I'm sure there's better but whats the point when most
final masters are so F**KUp. It's the same with hi-end home gear. The more
you spend, the more bad CD's you'll find! I like sickly sweet honey pouring out of my speakers/headphones.

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[Fastnbulbous]

Ah decisions. I was ready to go with the Sennheiser HD 650 (can get it for $274 USD), but I've heard enough complaints about it that I'm considering the AKG K701 ($318).

I'd only use cans for about 10% of my listening time, for reviewing music and late night listening. Plan up upgrading to an HK AVR 645, which is what would drive the headphones.