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

[kentamcolin]

With my limited experience:

Grado's: I had RS-1's, and yes for rock it's hard to imagine that anything will beat a Grado. I imagine their other models have similar soundstage characteristics. But...

Sennheiser HD600: Can easily be had for around $225, leaving plenty of $$ for a decent amp, even if you want new. For anything other than rock, this is the way to go, IMO.

[wallijonn]

AKG K501
To some these headphones lack bass. Connected to my Crown D60, which has a high damping factor, and a very low output impednace, the bass is much livelier and extends nicely. It is analytical in nature, with very little colouration, somewhat lacking in detail and transient reponse, but with very little high end harshness, possessing no midrange forwardness, nor lower bass bloat. An overall excellent headphone. As with any set of headphones, maximum transparency and detail can be acheived through class A amplification. Very comfortable, though some may find the earpads a little too coarse. Jazz and Classical seem to be their strong suites. High impedance.


Beyer Dynamic DT831
Another set of headphones which some say is bass lacking. The same stipulation applies here. They are very highly refined, possessing a very sweet sound, good transient response, good detail, good decay, and an overall even midrange. Some say that these can be bright. Their overall character is on the bright side. Instead of being midrange forward, where just the midrange is amplified, these seem to bring every nuance of the music out, thereby giving a very detailed sound. They are very sensitive to source matching and will greatly amplify bright sources. These are some of the easiest headphones to compare other headphones to as they allow the almost instantaneous minute differences to be differentiated. The earpads are not as comfortable as the AKG K501, being just slightly smaller than the AKG K501. Their strong suite seems to be vocals, country music, folk, bluegrass, violins, guitars, banjos, and pianos. High impedance.


Grado SR80
Very bright, forward sounding headphones. As is typical of all Grados their short comings are the pads which are abrasive, and the transducer which touches your ear. These are easily driven. The headband is mediocre, failing to apply an even lateral pressure at the ear cup end. Their strong suite seems to be rock and disco, along with vocals. They possess excellent transient response and decay. Can be sibilant with the wrong sources. Mate with dark sounding sources for an even sound. Be very careful mating to PCDPs. Low impedance.


Philips HP-910
The Philips SBC HP910 bass seems a little more bloated (compared to the DT831) but has very good extention. The DT831 sounds more refined, clearer, with strings sounding more "alive". Transient response was really good. But compared to the DT831, it sounded "veiled". It definitely has it's own colouration. It's nothing that one can not get used too. If you are into bells, triangles, etc. these will impress. They have excellent decay. The midrange seems recessed by no more than 0.3 dB (it sounds reasonably flat, with a slight peak at about 2KHz), not overly forward sounding. The bass will take a little taking used to. At times it seems to appear out of nowhere, depending on the recording. Poorly recorded music may sound bass mushy, approaching resonance bloat.

Through the Corda HA-1, with slight crossfeed, they produced very good sound, throwing the soundstage from "in the middle of your head" to a more spacious and lush soundstage.

You have to get the right amp for it. Has a great amount of bass and treble at low levels. It sounds good from an I-Pod. You should be able to detect different "grades" of bass response according to different volumes. It is easy enough to find the "sweet spot" where it sounds best at a certain volume level. Definitely to a bass head's liking. Their strengths seem to be rock, techno, eurodance, and disco, though classical pieces which contain oboes, kettle drums, triangles and bells will please. Flutes should sound outstanding on these headphones, as well as clarinets, and most wind and bell instruments. As these headphones are on the bright side, do not mate to bright sounding sources. Apex dvd players need not apply. Discreet transistors make them sound best, with tubes negating some of the high end energy. They have "eggo" ear pieces which are formed to follow the contour of the ear. They are very tight fitting, and, as most "eggo" headphones, ear comfort may conflict with optimum transducer placement. Those that can not afford a Sennheiser HD590 may wish to audition these and buy on a temporary basis. Grado owners may also find their sound acceptable. Low impedance.

[LTUCCI1924]

SONY EGGO D66 REVIEW
Source SONY MZ-R700
AMP. Super Mini V3
The built of the D66 Eggo is well thought out. The headband is metal covered by rubber. The one wire is angled toward the back of the headphone somewhat and don’t get in your face. The ear cups are well made and small but big enough to cover the ear when the ear is inserted into the ear cup. The drivers are 40 mm and are angled from right to left and give a very nice sound stage. The comfort is fantastic and just disappears after a short while. The headphones fit like a glove with no space around the head. They fit snugly around the head to the ears. The ear cups look great and small and real good-looking and stylish. The wire is of a nice grade and well made and sturdy. The ear cups fold up very nicely to about the size of a mans fist. They are very portable and they are also Very light weight. The isolation is not all that much without any music playing. With the music off I can hear my TV sound but with the music on I only hear the music at a normal level. The sensitivity is 106 dB and can be used right out of a pcdp or mini disc but I always use a amp to better the sound and volume.
SOUND
These are the very best portable headphones that I ever heard bar none. The HIGHS are very strong and smooth. The MIDS are very actuate and up front and very clear. The BASS is real nice and strong but not overpowering. The headphones sound almost like full size headphones that I find most amazing especially for a portable headphone. The clarity is fantastic in all areas. These are real fun also to listen to for they have that certain fun sound of boy it is fun to listen to these headphones. The cost is 99.00 a bit high for a portable headphone but once you hear them the cost is just fine for the amazing Eggo D66 portable headphone.
RECOMENDATION
I highly recommend the Eggo D66 headphone for portable use. I have had many portable headphones, earphones, and ear buds and never had this caliber of portable sound

These headphones are not nearly as refined, detailed, or have the transparency of many other high-end headphones, but what they do have is the ability to bring enjoyment to the music. Overall, they are a dark sounding headphone, but still have that Beyer treble, that tick, tick, tick on top. First thing that most people notice is the bass, which is almost overpowering, and goes very deep. The mid-bass can be described as anything, but boring; it will knock your socks off with the right recording. As for the soundstage, it is extremely wide, and open for a closed phone of this caliber. But, what impressed me the most about this headphone is the midrange; it is liquid smooth, and sounds great with female vocals.
Like anything in audio, everything that is said is nothing, but opinion, so the equipment best suited for this phone is the equipment that makes it sound best to you. I will comment however, that a more detailed, faster, analytical source is probably a better match. Also, find an amp that has good extension in the treble with a low to medium impedance output.
In ending, I really wish I had had a pair of these phones in college. They have good isolation, are very comfortable, and are killer for hard rock music, which can be played a little louder, because of their dark character. Because of their dynamic nature they definitely get my vote for the best college beer drinking, rock out phones on the planet, with an amp of course.

[DBvader]

i have a pair of sennheiser HD600s that i use with my powermac, iPod, and reciever. though it sounds edcent on the iPod and the powermac, neither deliver the current it needs. it sounds amazing on my reciever back home. i guess i need an amp for school.

gotta say AKG 501's, quite simply an amazing headphone.

[phonatic]

Sennheiser PX100 continues to be my preferred portable headphone. The PX100 is sort of like like a cheap, portable Grado SR225.

Full-size open cans: Sennheiser HD595 when low impedance is required or HD580 when it's not. Some say the HD595 is the Grado of the Sennheiser range. It is not. If you love Grado, you probably won't like the HD595 any more than any other Sennheiser product. It is really not much like a Grado at all, although I do agree the soundstage seems a bit closer than with other Senns, so in that aspect it is vaguely Grado-like. If you're after a really good all-rounder that is comfortable, non-fatiguing, and tolerant of a wide variety of consumer sources and headphone outputs, the 595 is a great way to go. But you gotta let it burn in. A lot.

FWIW, I've owned a variety of Senns, AKGs, and Grados.

[radrd]

Becoming more and more common with very few complaints.

[wallijonn]

DT880
~US$235 Jan Meier Audio

A direct competitor to the Sennhesiser HD600. Has nice, mostly even, midrange. Not possessing overly extended bass nor strident high end. Mostly neutral. Good dynamics and transients. Possesses very wide soundstage (some may say the soundstage is too wide). Great vocal reproduction. Has great dynamic headroom, hard to drive to distortion. Can be sibilant with sibilant recordings. Prefers neutral to warm sources and amps. Can be driven from CD player headphone jacks, but prefers a dedicated amp. Very easy to listen to for hours; non-fatiguing. Sounds uncompressed (dynamics), therefore one must be careful to not set the volume level too high as massive pressures can easily be acheived. Very clean sounding. Good positioning and detail. A very smooth sounding headphone, with very little smearing. Slight forward presentation. Excellent for just about all gendres of music.

Semi-closed design. Short 4' cord, although it comes with an extention cord. Comfortable; light; not too much lateral pressure. Comfortable headband. High impedance. Likes lots of clean power.

[Duncan]

Thanks everyone, for your input so far...

I've changed the thread title here...

Its now open house... not everyone wants to be capped to a $500 spending limit

So... if anyone has ANY hot favourites, whether in or out of production... that they want to rave about... feel free

As has been though, please keep all discussion / flames out of this thread... this thread is for impressions / recommendations only

Thanks