Hello again to everyone. I took a small break from head-fi and recently re-bookmarked the site... Bad idea. I’m coming down with a sever case of upgradeitus. The problem is, the upgrades are rather substantial. I own four pairs of headphones currently and would like to reduce my collection to roughly two. One for when I’m on the go and one for at home listening. My problem is the headphones I’m considering are so different lol. I feel like I need to be true to my personal tastes in music, but can’t help notice all of the incredible reviews some other cans get. Essentially, here’s what I want to do.
 
 

1. Sell all four pairs of my headphones, and hopefully get about $500. I figure, $150 for the TPGs, $170 for the DJ1 Pros, and maybe lke $130 for the DT770/80s and $50 for my AD700s.

 

1. Buy a new pair of at home listening cans. So far, the choices are ridiculously all over the place. I’m looking at the HD650s, HD600s D2000s and maybe even some SR325is.

 

1. Buy a small desktop amp. E9 maybe, or a headroom. I have my Auzentech Forte as a DAC.

 

1. Buy some portable cans. I’m honestly not considering IEMs again, even though I love my TPGs with all my heart. I was thinking ESW9s

 
Here’s the thing, I know this is impossible with the mere $500 I’ll be maing off of selling my headphones. So I’m considering keeping my TPGs and selling the other three, which would only leave me with $350 and not enough cash for an amp. SO I might just say too bad for me on the portable side of things, and just splurge on a nice set of cans.
 
What do you think Head-Fi? I’ve dreamt of having the HD650s for so long now, but others say the HD600s are better suited for me. I know the D2000s will be safe, but I don’t like living life safe. The SR325is are something I’ve also dreamed of. I’ve never heard that Grado sound and it intrigues me dearly. 
 
So, here’s my musical preference in order from most listened to to least. Hip hop (90s underground,) Electronic Dance Music, Alternative, Rock, Metal, Classical. 
 
So now you see why I consider the D2000s to be on the safe side. Would I be satisfied with the HD650/600s or even the SR325is? Help me Head-Fi!

Anyone?

Live on the edge. DT990/600.

Quote:

mad lust envy said:

Live on the edge. DT990/600.

Click to expand...

QFT!!

Listening to the Inception soundtrack. OMG, these sound soooooooo good.

I watched that movie but can't recall the soundtrack. Might have to look into it.

Nothing wrong with upgradeitus. This is a great hobby: no diseases or other health issues, no moral dilemmas, nothing illegal, you can pursue it your whole life,
nothing to be embarrassed about, you can pursue your habit proudly, it's one of the few joys that lower animals can't experience, and there is always new music to keep it fresh.
 
So rock on.
 

Well said rgs!
 
The reason we go to work every day is to earn money to do things that makes us happy. You can't take it with you and everyone has something they spend the disposable part of their income on.
 
An earnest desire to appreciate the greatest music history has to offer in the highest quality presentation you can afford?
 
Well there are much worse thing you could be doing with it!

Would it be possible to wait and save up some more?  As I understand it, an amp is highly recommended for hd650 and hd600, not as much for d2000.  $350 for the sennheisers with an amp, that would be tough, you could go used I guess.  325i would be living dangerously, but maybe a step too far.  I've had one now for 3 months with e7/e9, mostly happy after a simple earpad modification, but feel that stock they are uncomfortable and too bright.  They play fast music well cause the instruments don't get blurred and my favorite part of them is the bass, which is kind of wierd cause they're going minus db below 50 hz.  It's not boomy and bass drum hits sound like th-fwump, instead of just thump thump.  Examples would be all tracks on "The Sky Is Crying" (SRV), "Skullgrid" (Behold...The Arctopus), and "Miles of Aisles" (Joni Mitchell).  I dunno, wish I could describe it better. Uh, any chance of going to a store to listen to any of the above headphones?
 
Any rate, I'm being a hypocrite because I'm also snooping more expensive phones and I've only had mine for 3 months.  But if you've always wanted a hd650, go for it and save up to do it right.  I'm also curious about hd650/600.  I've listened to them without an amp and I was like What? why are they so expensive.  But I know a little more now and want to try them again with my amp.  Good luck.

My answer for everything lately has been the AKG K240 Sextett, though of those you listed... perhaps the 325, or maybe the MS2.

Spend the money on new music. And beer. I guarantee that everything you listen to will be a revelation when you mix those two ingredients. 

 
Quote:

rgs9200m said:

Nothing wrong with upgradeitus. This is a great hobby: no diseases or other health issues, no moral dilemmas, nothing illegal, you can pursue it your whole life,
nothing to be embarrassed about, you can pursue your habit proudly, it's one of the few joys that lower animals can't experience, and there is always new music to keep it fresh.
 
So rock on.

 

Click to expand...

Quote:

eddiee said:

Well said rgs!
 
The reason we go to work every day is to earn money to do things that makes us happy. You can't take it with you and everyone has something they spend the disposable part of their income on.
 
An earnest desire to appreciate the greatest music history has to offer in the highest quality presentation you can afford?
 
Well there are much worse thing you could be doing with it!

Click to expand...

One problem guys.  The whole point of headphones is music.  What's the point if you have every headphone in the world but when you get them they just collect dust?  And when you do listen to them, you're so busy dissecting the sound and finding flaws that you're never happy and don't even enjoy the music anymore.
 
My advice, after you hit play forget about what's on your head and hear the music.  That's another reason not to buy cans with colored sound signatures, because you should be hearing the music, not the headphones.
 
And seriously dude, you don't need four pairs of headphones.  Keep the iems since you apparently are satisfied with them.  Keep one pair, say the dt770's or whatever you use most.  Sell the other two.  Wait several months and save up.  Buy said DT990's and a decent amp.  Once you are satisfied that you will not sell them off or return them, sell your last pair of headphones.  Delete head-fi.org bookmark.  Now you have dt990's for home, and iems for portable.  Spend your money on more music.  Sit back, relax, and forget about upgrading.  I guarantee you will enjoy the music more and your headphones will sound much better if you are not worried about the gear.  Placebo exists both for good and for bad, and if you know your headphones are relatively low end you won't enjoy them as much.  Instead of hearing how beautiful they sound you'll hear the flaws because "the ppl on head-fi say they're just meh".  Yes that does happen whether you realize it or not.  I rarely come on here and occasionally I'm able to forget about the gear and hear just how good my M50 sound even coming straight out of onboard...I still haven't upgraded my source, and I still enjoy them and am even amazed by them sometimes.

Haha, thanks for the feedback everyone. So far only one person has recommended one of the headphones on my list haha. Anyways, I've decided I'm going to sell all my cans and get a nice new pair with an amp. So, now that this is the case, what do you guys think? I'm just not sure about the choices because of my musical interests. Any experience?

Bro, the DT990 is a 'refined' basshead's headphone. The boominess of headphones like the DT770 Pro 80 are gone, for much higher quality and fast bass. Even after having listened to the 880s, K701, ESW9, 770/600 and some others, I can't see myself ever parting from the 990s. They have just the right amount of coloration without going waaaay off the audiophile path. They sound like a funner version of the 880s. Don't let anyone else fool you into thinking otherwise. 880 sound with more bass and treble emphasis. That's how I feel about them. And yes, they are quite a step up from the DT770 pros.
 
For me, there's no use in going the full audiophile route, if you don't have fun listening to music. I loved the 880s, but they bored me at times. You love bass with your music. So do I. Though nowadays I prefer quality of the bass, and not so much the quantity, even if I feel the 990s have the quantity I yearned for.
 

 
I wholeheartedly agree with this graph. As you can see, the mids are on par with the 880s, just that the 990s have more emphasis in the extreme regions. So I feel it's indicative of how audiophile friendly the 990s are, considering the overall praise the 880s get.
 
I honestly don't know why I'm even continuing to suggest the 990, lol. I'm just enthusiastic about them.

i can recommend you not get 325's.