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Finally upgrading, could use some advice

post #1 of 10
12/8/09 at 8:26pm
Thread Starter 
I'm looking to spend in the neighborhood of $400 on trying to improve my audio setup.

Currently, I'm listening to MDR-V6's through my dell laptop's headphone jack. I had the opportunity to hook them up to some decent vinyl once, and it was an entirely different experience - much smoother and more organic.

I want closed circumaural headphones, something that won't leak out too much noise and will help me block out noisy environments around me.

Right now, I'm thinking of getting the Total BitHead, since it sounds like I could use both an amp and DAC, and I sometimes listen to an ipod, so the portability would be nice. After that, I'm considering the Ultrasone HFI-780, but I'm a little concerned because I've heard the bass is so powerful on those, and I'm not really a huge basshead.

I'll be using them to listen to music of every genre, but especially rock, and the place I'd really like to hear my headphones excel is in reproducing vocals. I want voices that sound as "alive" and detailed as possible.

Does it sound like I'll be upgrading wisely? Is there other equipment that would be a better fit for my situation and tastes?
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post #2 of 10
12/9/09 at 3:12am
I don't know too much about amps but the AKG 701 is nice!
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post #3 of 10
12/9/09 at 12:18pm
Thread Starter 
It looks like the AKG 701 is an open headphone, no? I'm really just in the market for closed right now.
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post #4 of 10
12/9/09 at 12:43pm
"I want voices that sound as "alive" and detailed as possible" think that is description of open headphone !
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post #5 of 10
12/9/09 at 4:47pm
Thread Starter 
That may be, but I specifically want the sound isolation of a closed headphone.

No actual recommendations?
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post #6 of 10
12/11/09 at 1:20am
Thread Starter 
Trying one last time for some advice...
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post #7 of 10
12/11/09 at 1:56am
I have Shure SRH840s and they isolate ok while having some soundstage for a closed can. They are quite cheap and yes there are better cans [Denons etc] but these are at a nice price point.
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post #8 of 10
12/11/09 at 2:08am
SRH840's are great overall cans, but for OPs needs I can't really recommend them. Their ability to handle vocals aren't really stellar IMO. It has slightly peaky upper mids and bit recessed low mids that sits back overall which makes some vocals sound plain weird and not right (it's actually by biggest sonic gripe with SRH840; their inability to portray vocals to my standards. I like pretty much everything else about them). They're also IMO not really strong on rock overall.

I'm thinking for his needs something like a ESW9 or if he can stretch his budget a bit, a used ESW10JPN (said to have almost perfect mids).
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post #9 of 10
12/11/09 at 2:10am
Yet neither of those isolate well at all.

Catch 22.
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post #10 of 10
12/11/09 at 2:13am
Depends on how much isolation is needed I guess. IMO, both of them isolate an average amount, fair enough for something like street/office use but not something heavy duty like bus or train. Nonetheless, yeah, there may have to be some sacrifice made in some areas (closed cans are picky like that) and OP should prioritize what's more important (mids quality, form factor, isolation, etc).
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