[ravis217]

Hi guys, 
 
I'm looking at the following. Going for clean and deep bass. Mainly listen to rap, metal, trance
 
ATH-M50 
M-Audio Q40
Ultrasone DJ1 
Beyer D770 Pro 80 ohm 
 
 
I'm new to the headphone scene, I have Astro A40s for gaming (not great for music imo), and Sony XB500s. While the XBs are ok (good bass), the mids and highs leave something to be desired. I tried EQ'ing them some but I'm still not completely happy with them.
 
Any thoughts on the 4 I mentioned above? 

 

[Orion519]

Edit: I'm not looking for a headset. I'm looking for a separate headphone and mic.
 
Hey, I would just like to say that I have tried to search for a similar question to mine, but the amount of results that I got back were overwhelming. Searching by date leads to posts with no relevance and searching by relevance leads to posts from many years ago.
 
 
Wrap-up:

1. Location: Home office. They will likely never move from there.
2. Budget: $100. But less it better. This encompasses a microphone and possibly a soundcard if it is suggested.
3. Music: Gaming, classic rock and pop. But really, I listen to everything. I listen to a bit of dubstep, some classical, some electronica, etc.
4. Notes: Build quality or a rock solid warranty is important. This is currently coming off of on-board sound.

 
 
 
What I'm looking for:
 

1. A full sized headphone, microphone, and possibly a sound card. 
2. On these headphones, I will mostly be gaming and listening to semi-low quality music sources. We're talking pandora or CD quality music. I don't have a specific genre of music that I listen to, but if I had to guess which I listen to more often it would be classic rock and pop. But I really listen to anything. Gaming will be, by and far, the most used aspect.
3. I'm thinking I would get a pair of open headphones for the better soundstage. I will exclusively use these in my office. I don't think I need to worry about isolation. Just regular house noises. Wife watching the TV a few rooms down. Kids running around. I'm open to closed headphones, though.
4. Above all else, I'm looking for build quality. It isn't like I'm hard on my headphones, but they have a habit of breaking. The worst they see is the occasional cord under the chair rollers and basic wear and tear from putting them on the desk/my head. As far as I can tell, they "break" where the cord enters the ear portion.

 
Restrictions:

1. I can't spend more than $100 and less would probably be better. I understand what this entails. I'm not expecting to have absolutely mind blowing quality.
2. As it stands, I only have my on-board sound card. From a Asrock Z77 extreme4. I'm open to getting a soundcard if it is deemed necessary, but it will likely have to come out of the headphone/mic budget.
3. I've only ever had Circumaural headphones before. I'm not opposed to Supra-aural.

 
 
Thanks for the help. -Tim

 

[Doc-holliday]

• A full sized headphone, microphone, and possibly a sound card. 
• On these headphones, I will mostly be gaming and listening to semi-low quality music sources. We're talking pandora or CD quality music. I don't have a specific genre of music that I listen to, but if I had to guess which I listen to more often it would be classic rock and pop. But I really listen to anything. Gaming will be, by and far, the most used aspect.
• I'm thinking I would get a pair of open headphones for the better soundstage. I will exclusively use these in my office. I don't think I need to worry about isolation. Just regular house noises. Wife watching the TV a few rooms down. Kids running around. I'm open to closed headphones, though.
  Restrictions:
  • I can't spend more than $100 and less would probably be better. I understand what this e

• • 
    
    
    You want so much out of 100 dollars. Open and a mic, may exist but that really narrows down things. I personally cant think of a single open model with a mic.
    
    For closed you can look at the philips uptown. Thay have a mic and i picked up a pair for 60 bucks.

 

[cel4145]

Quote:

Hi guys, 
 
I'm looking at the following. Going for clean and deep bass. Mainly listen to rap, metal, trance
 
ATH-M50 
M-Audio Q40
Ultrasone DJ1 
Beyer D770 Pro 80 ohm 
 
 
I'm new to the headphone scene, I have Astro A40s for gaming (not great for music imo), and Sony XB500s. While the XBs are ok (good bass), the mids and highs leave something to be desired. I tried EQ'ing them some but I'm still not completely happy with them.
 
Any thoughts on the 4 I mentioned above? 

 
Also check out the Ultrasone HFI-780. I originally demoed the HFI-580, but the bass is a little hot with those making the mids a little recessed. Since I like to listen to both EDM and rock, I wanted something that was a little more suitable for rock, too. The 780 has more balanced bass, mids and highs, yet the same bass quality as in the 580.  This not only helps with rock, but also vocal trance. The 780 is also a slightly more refined sound over the 580 (upgraded driver material). 

 

[Doc-holliday]

Hi guys, 

I'm looking at the following. Going for clean and deep bass. Mainly listen to rap, metal, trance

ATH-M50 


M-Audio Q40


Ultrasone DJ1 


Beyer D770 Pro 80 ohm 



I'm new to the headphone scene, I have Astro A40s for gaming (not great for music imo), and Sony XB500s. While the XBs are ok (good bass), the mids and highs leave something to be desired. I tried EQ'ing them some but I'm still not completely happy with them.


Any thoughts on the 4 I mentioned above? 

The most comprehensive info you can find ont the Q40 is prolly Malveaux's review here.

The M50 I would scratch from my list in terms of deep bass and plentiful bass (if you like the XBs you will think these are thin in comparrison.

The other one i would SERIOUSLY consider is the UE6000. I saw a pair at a best buy the other day even. You could give them a listen before buying but the highs are detailed and natural sounding to my ears and they definitely have empasized bass which is not too muddy or loose.

 

[Doc-holliday]

Hello,

I've been doing a bit of research in the differences between the Beyerdynamic DT770/880/990 using Sonic's guide and other users thoughts on the forums. I've come to the conclusion that anything above 250Ohm is going to be extremely overkill for me. Mainly because my ear isn't trained and I highly doubt I'll be able to tell any differences between a 250Ohm and 600 Ohm; I'm still unsure if I can notice the difference between 80 Ohm & 250 Ohms.

I've come to the conclusion that the DT 880 or 990 will cater to type of music I do listen more often: Alternative Rock, Trance, HardDance, and death metal.

My question is should I go with the 80 or 250 Ohm, and which amp would I require to power each these headphones. As well, is there a noticeable differences in 80 & 250 ohms for person who's ear isn't "trained"? I was considering the (Pro) version due to having it a bit more bass.

What matters to me is the comfort and hitting the low notes tightly, but with a bit of a shake. I'm currently using HD595, which doesn't really cater to my taste of music, but I can wear it for 3+ hours without it bothering me one bit.

Any other suggestions to other par of headphones along with amps would be greatly appreciative. I have only looked at beyerdynamis & ultrasone (ruled this out due to the lack of comfortability when testing a friends.)

Thanks,

Side note: I'm going to be using my pc w/ foobar2000, and hopefully with an amp that does optical in otherwise I might get a DAC.

This subject of impedance sonic differences in the beyers has been covered a LOT on here

Honestly I wouldn't worry too much about the impedance so much as picking the model that fits your needs. That being said the 250 ohm is very handily run by my E10 desk amp and my E11 portable with PLENTY of headroom to go. They are more sensitive than you would think. I have even been told that the 600 ohm can be handled by the E10 quite easily. Beyers are very sensitive despite impedance ratings.

 

[Piano man]

Quote:

If you don't mind waiting, I recommend a Ross Martin DAC, it is custom made by Ross himself (based in the US), I have one and their was some people comparing it to the Benchmark DAC-1 (which is a $1k+ DAC), I compared mine to one myself and sounds a good 80-90% of its sound for a fraction of its price. There are also customizations for the Ross Martin DAC on his website, such as balanced XLR inputs, headphone out etc, for the price around $250-300, it is very hard to beat, blows the Cambridge DACMagic (which doesn't sound as good as the the Matrix DAC), the Bifrost, most of Hlly's range and few others. The first thing you would notice with a Ross Martin DAC is how dead quiet the background is, it is that good.

Since I live in Brazil its complicated to wait almost a month for build the dac and another one month to deliver in my country.
But on the Bifrost to Dacmagic comparison, what do you think I should Buy for the hd 600? Another DAC Recommendation?

 

[Orion519]

Quote:

You want so much out of 100 dollars. Open and a mic, may exist but that really narrows down things. I personally cant think of a single open model with a mic.
For closed you can look at the philips uptown. Thay have a mic and i picked up a pair for 60 bucks.

I'm unsure if this was clear, but I don't intend to purchase a headset. My plan was use something like the Zalman clip-on or the Antlion modmic. Though, with the Antlion being half my budget, probably not that. I've edited my previous post to clarify that I am not interested in a headset.
 
Edit: Spelling.

 

[cel4145]

Quote:

I'm unsure if this was clear, but I don't intend to purchase a headset. My plan was use something like the Zalman clip-on or the Antlion modmic. Though, with the Antlion being half my budget, probably not that. I've edited my previous post to clarify that I am not interested in a headset.
 
Edit: Spelling.

 
Look at the Superlux HD668B. It's semi-open. Then combine it with an Asus Xonar DG or DGX sound card and the microphone of your choice. 

 

[Nonentity]

I've been looking for some budget headphones (around $40) and I think I've narrowed it down to the following:

Panasonic HTF600
Panasonic HTF890
JVC HARX700
Sennheiser HD 428 (refurb for $24) - Edit: no longer available
Superlux 681
Audio-Technica ATH-AD300

Going to be used for Industrial/Electronic music and general computer use over long periods of time, so comfort is top priority. Any other recommendations in that price range are welcome.

Thanks for any input!

 

[fjeena]

Hi guys, 

I'm looking at the following. Going for clean and deep bass. Mainly listen to rap, metal, trance

ATH-M50 


M-Audio Q40


Ultrasone DJ1 


Beyer D770 Pro 80 ohm 



I'm new to the headphone scene, I have Astro A40s for gaming (not great for music imo), and Sony XB500s. While the XBs are ok (good bass), the mids and highs leave something to be desired. I tried EQ'ing them some but I'm still not completely happy with them.


Any thoughts on the 4 I mentioned above? 

Also check out the Ultrasone HFI-780. I originally demoed the HFI-580, but the bass is a little hot with those making the mids a little recessed. Since I like to listen to both EDM and rock, I wanted something that was a little more suitable for rock, too. The 780 has more balanced bass, mids and highs, yet the same bass quality as in the 580.  This not only helps with rock, but also vocal trance. The 780 is also a slightly more refined sound over the 580 (upgraded driver material). 

I have the HFI-780 and I strongly recommend you try them out!! They fair well with all genres but excel when it comes to electronic music, ie Trance. The bass is really clean, its no basshead can though, so you get a bit more quality over quantity. This way you wont be loosing out on any of the detail in the mids. As Cel4145 pointed out, it does have a very refined sound.

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

The AD700 is very easy to drive---it should be fine driven out of any reasonable computer.  (I am listening to it now, out of my Fujitsu Lifebook TH700 tablet PC!)

Can I get some LINKS yall ;3.
 
and sounds Good, I'm most certianly SOLD on this one :3. I'll most likely Tube Roll not sure If I'm going to mod the hard ware e.e

 

[Retrias]

http://www.amazon.com/Technica-ATH-AD700-Open-air-Audiophile-Headphones/dp/B000CMS0XU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352808878&sr=8-1&keywords=ATH+ad700
 
this is the ATH AD700 on a discount in amazon

 

[brunoyujikc]

Hello Everyone,
 
I hope I can get some good advice, although I feel a bit skeptical about a thread with so much traffic and so many replies. But anyway I'll cut to the chase:
 
I am interested in buying a closed back headphone to use at work. I'll be using a portable amp (E10) to drive it, mainly because of the built-in DAC, but also because it sounds better than plugging directly to my MacBook Pro.
 
I don't want to spend a lot, something around 125 dollars tops. I looked up the ATH-M50, since it's one of the most hyped here. But I'd like to know if you have any good recommendations around the price of the ATH-M50.
 
I'll be listening to classical, rock (lots of classic rock, but also some indie and hard rock), folk, a bit of jazz, bossa nova and samba. I'll still listen to some pop, RnB and others genres but not nearly as much as the genres mentioned before.
 
It doesn't need to be super portable and collapsible but I don't want anything bulky. A detachable cable would also be nice, although not essential. Oh, and if I get the ATH-M50 should I get the coiled or the straight? I'll be sitting in front of the computer and I'm thinking the straight is better because I don't want to have a heavy coil hanging from my headphone and weighing it more, but I'm not sure, what are your opinions?
 
So it's something like this:
 
-BUDGET: $ 100.00 ~ 130.00
-MUSIC PREFERENCES: CLASSICAL, ROCK, FOLK, JAZZ, SAMBA, BOSSA NOVA
-DESIGN: CLOSED
-AMPED
-NOT BULKY
 
Oh and one more thing, how do you think the Noontec Zoro compares to the ATH-M50 or ATH-M30? Just want to know if it's worth the money or not.

 

[xiujk71]

Hello Everyone,

I hope I can get some good advice, although I feel a bit skeptical about a thread with so much traffic and so many replies. But anyway I'll cut to the chase:

I am interested in buying a closed back headphone to use at work. I'll be using a portable amp (E10) to drive it, mainly because of the built-in DAC, but also because it sounds better than plugging directly to my MacBook Pro.

I don't want to spend a lot, something around 125 dollars tops. I looked up the ATH-M50, since it's one of the most hyped here. But I'd like to know if you have any good recommendations around the price of the ATH-M50.

I'll be listening to classical, rock (lots of classic rock, but also some indie and hard rock), folk, a bit of jazz, bossa nova and samba. I'll still listen to some pop, RnB and others genres but not nearly as much as the genres mentioned before.

It doesn't need to be super portable and collapsible but I don't want anything bulky. A detachable cable would also be nice, although not essential. Oh, and if I get the ATH-M50 should I get the coiled or the straight? I'll be sitting in front of the computer and I'm thinking the straight is better because I don't want to have a heavy coil hanging from my headphone and weighing it more, but I'm not sure, what are your opinions?

So it's something like this:

-BUDGET: $ 100.00 ~ 130.00
-MUSIC PREFERENCES: CLASSICAL, ROCK, FOLK, JAZZ, SAMBA, BOSSA NOVA
-DESIGN: CLOSED
-AMPED
-NOT BULKY

Oh and one more thing, how do you think the Noontec Zoro compares to the ATH-M50 or ATH-M30? Just want to know if it's worth the money or not.

I've heard the ATH-M50, and did not like it. U might want to consider Shure SRH440, which i liked better.
Sound Quality Comparison (from memory of last week. Do not own any high ends but heard them for quite sometimes)
Ath M50 is bassier, 'hyped' or ag
gressive, but smaller soundstage. While its a fun headphone, its not fun for me as i hate bassy headphones, and small soundstage, not natural to me.
Shure SRH 440 is not so bassy, which i liked. Clearer Vocals and more laid back. Somehow i felt sound comes out from a layer of wall, so its kinda one dimension to me. Never heard anyone making that comment so it can just be me.

Btw im going to get my first set of audiophile headphone. SR 60i vs SRH 440. What u guys think? My genre is J-Pop,and mostly Hatsune Miku if it matters. Preferred for her sometimes bright voice to be the focus. Heard both SRH 440 and SR 80i, but SR 80i is $20 more expensive than SRH 440, so I can't buy them. Have nor heard the SR 60i