SONY and $100 - Page 2

Actually, I meant the opposite. It's not really an indicator at all. For example, the Sennheiser HD600 and the Grado RS-1 are both considered to be among the best headphones in the world, and yet the impedance of the Grados is only about one tenth that of the Sennheisers. (about 300 ohms for the Senns, and only about 30 ohms for the Grados)

I should probably also note that even though low-impedance headphones can be driven to reasonably loud levels by low-power sources, ALL headphones can benefit immensely from a headphone amp. Headphone amps are are there for sound quality, not just quantity.

I dont know all the jargon you guys talk about here but I use the MDR-7509 now on a daily basis with my minidisc. It's like a comfy version of the MDRV700DJ. I ve had both (until this afternoon when I managed to unload the MDRV700DJ finally) and they sound the same. I'm perfectly happy with it and if anything the MDR-7509 is REALLY bad value in comparison with the MDRV700DJ.

s.c., since it seems to be the question of the day, check out this thread to see how the V6/7506 looks on someone's head.

kerely

Certainly. I'll leave the marshmallow sticks outside, and perhaps stick a shish kebab outside as well...

Besides, with your aim I have nothing to worry about

s.c. - I'm on T-Board as well and I think I've said enough about the V700's and also in the website I did for members of T-Board to look at.

To summarise, they're good general purpose phones if you don't have plans to carry an amp as well as a Minidisc (especially a Sony). It's very hard to get something that sounds quite good and is a 'full' headphone which works with the weedy outputs of, say, an MZ-N1.

The V700 is one of the few which does the job pretty well, especially if you like bass (it can be cut out and made 'normal' sounding by using the EQ on a Sony MD).

OMG, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place right now!

If I say that "I like the V700's", then I'll be flamed out of Head-Fi for 'treason'! (Or at least lose the title and privileges of 'moderator'.) Likewise, if I say that "the V700's are crap", then TeamShinyPrettyPhones will yell "What the fsck did you say?"

s.c,
at around $89 you should give the sony d66 eggo a try. smaller size, and more balanced sound than the v6, with better soundstage but not the deep bass extension. plus it is semi-open, which means it has some isolation but lets a certain amount of outside sound in.

sc, that is not a sad answer. if you ask these guys, "what's the best car?" what kind of answers would you expect?

i could have easily suggested denon, audio technica, philipps, beyer dynamics, etc.

headphone listening is a hobby here - not just occasional head banging. some of these guys take their music (and recordings) seriously.

are you into bass only? or do you like clear vocals? do you prefer string instruments (like violins) over trumpets? is live music the majority of your music? or is rap or heavy metal your thing? or do you just want the phones for tv viewing? will you driving them from a portable cd player or a home cd player or a computer? how much are you willing to spend?

all dj phones emphasis the bass so that you can sync up tracks according to the base beat. lots of bass.

start by going to your local bestbuy, compusa, circuitcity, fry electronics stores and listening to a few headphones. be wary of the source, though. i suggest j and r (nyc), tweeter, Tower Records, and any other place that sells music and allows you to audition (HM Records?) the cd's before buying. they usually have a wide range of headphones to listen to.

in the end, whatever you buy, you're gonna have to live with it. just like a car. or a woman (or man, if you're a woman).

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listening to AHA - Blue Sky

That may be next to impossible in the stores here near where I live, wallijonn. The Tweeter near where I live has some headphones to audition - but they had the ********* source disconnected! Same with The Great Outdoors in Lombard. And NONE of the Best Buys or Circuit Cities have any headphones whatsoever for auditioning - Best Buy has only the Bose TriPorts out, and the music racks at Circuit City generally have only the Sony MDR-V600's out for listening, making comparisons extremely difficult! (That is, you either buy a pair or leave them alone.) And all of the music racks at Virgin have only the cheap closed Cobys, the open AKG K66's and the closed Sennheiser EH2200's to listen to - and Virgin has only the latter of those three in stock. (I haven't been to a Tower Records "big store" yet.)

Now that's craptacular!!

in terms of so called "audio fidelty(sp)" i have a pair of philips ear buds that sound just fine to me, but i put them next to my HD-497's and they are obviously flat sounding.

in the end, your ears simply adapt to what they are being fed, and dont complain that much.
only thing i use the ear buds for is school computers and portables anyhow (taking up no more than 1 square inche folded up makes them VERY portable *grin*)

s.c., regarding impedence - there should be a thread here that talks about "damping". supposedly lower headphones do not sound better than high impedence because of the damping that's presented to the amplifier. supposedly low bass will sound better on high impedence systems. damping also plays into voltage and current. lower impedence headphones need higher current, whereas higher impedence headphones do not.

which is why i always advocate class-A amplifiers. best of all worlds.

as to circuit city, compusa, fry's, tower records, tweeter, bestbuy - see if they accept returns with a FULL refund. that way you can buy a set and if you don't like them you can return them within 7, 14, 21 or 28 days. and yes, they all have crap. that's why a forum like this is indispensible. also check the usual epinion.com and ebayreviews of equipment. and be willing to pay a little bit more from a store if they allow you to return the phones for a full refund or exchange for a different type.

see if there's a member near you so that you can hook up and listen to cans over a few beers and pizza. it helps if you listen to people's opinions with respect to their musical tastes and speaker types that they have.

and of course you can try different phones by buying from ebay for about $50. any more than that and you'd better know what you want. i suggest you call high-end audio stores in your area and see if they carry headphones.

don't be surprised if you end up with 2 or 3 different headphones. supposedly no headphone sounds best with classical and techno, jazz and disco, etc.

at least if you buy sony v6's you should be able to sell them here. speaking of which, have you seen the classifieds in this forum? obviously we all want you to buy the best that you can so that if you don't like them (they don't suit your tastes) you can find a quick buyer.

from what you describe as musical tastes, you "want" a forward sounding can like the grado, with forward and clear mids, and a nice tight bass, without it being boomy or muddy in a closed can.
i would think sharp transients for movies and games are important to you. (west coast / rock sound).

there are quite a few cans that you could start with. stay away from VERY dark (boomy bass, coloured lower midrange) cans and fatigueing 'sibilant' highs.

so guys, what do you suggest?