Unamped Mostly Female Vocals: Phiaton MS 400 VS Ultrasone 780/750 Vs ATH-PRO700MK2

Thank you to everyone for the many helpful posts one Head-Fi. I have been doing a lot of reading trying to find something that would best fit my needs.

I listen to music a lot at work (mostly from my laptop or smartphone and usually through Pandora or mp3s). My listening is 75% female (Feist, Lenka, Lilly Allen, Eliza Dolittle, etc.) vocal-centric songs and 25% hip hop/rap (big difference between the two).

I purchased the KNs-8400s and found them too neutral, not loud enough for me driving them just from the phone, and lacking in bass response.

I am leaning toward a closed ear design and need to focus on comfort as well.

Based on my reading, I have narrowed it down to Piaton MS 400 ($170), Ultrasone 780 ($160), and the Audio Technica ATH-PRO700MK2 or M50 ($150).

Any help is apprieciated

I updated the thread after additional reading yesterday and today and really have it narrowed down to the three (Phiaton ms 400, Ultrasone HFI 780, and ATH-PRO700MK2 or M50).

If anyone has experience listening to these unamped with the genre(s) identified above, I'd appreciate your feedback. I hope to order something today so I can get back to work and stop obssessing over headphone reviews during the work day ;-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BotByte 

Phiaton MS500 - yes, the 500's

 

Do you really need that much help?

 

Eitherway, Grado would be best and even unamped

Thanks for the feedback. I may have to look into the PS 500s-it seems they are a bit larger in the earcup (maybe?) and perhaps a bit more comfortable.

In terms of needing that much help, I'm not sure what you are getting at-so I can only respond with - Dunno, there are a lot more options than I realized and I tend to get paralysis by analysis.

I had a chance to audition a couple of Grados yesterday unamped. They did sound good. I was a little concerned about noise leakage though as they may have to be listened to in bed in addition to the office.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joelpearce 

The MS400s are my portable headphone of choice.  It is comfortable for an on-ear (like, really comfortable), and they sound excellent with the singers you've listed.  They are probably a safe bet, especially considering how easy they are to drive.

 

The 780s will be a better or worse choice for you depending on how you feel about treble.  I find that they can make female voices come out a bit metallic because of those sharp highs, especially before modding them.  Unless you have steel ears, the MS400s might be a better choice.  They would probably do a bit better for the hip hop/rap, but the Phiatons can deliver some bass as well.

Thanks for the reply. I went ahead and ordered both the Phiaton ms 400 and Ps 500s and will demo side-by-side. With them both being the same price right now, I figured it would be interesting to see the differences between them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BotByte 

Online?

 

I hope you got them from a seller that has no restocking fees.

 

Yep-I just have to cover shipping fees.
 

Received both the MS 400 and the PS 500 today and have been alternating listening to both. Both are warmer than my KNS-8400s that did not match my listening preferences.

The PS 500s are incredibly comfortable-wow! The sound is warm but not necessarily as rich as the 400s. On a related note, the 400s have great bass and seem to match my listening style out of the box-however, I do not find them to be that comfortable...nuts.

I guess my question is whether or not I could expect the 500s to warm up a bit with an amp (and/or get a bit more responsive with the bass) or over time through break in.

On a side note, both are driven to a louder level unamped than my 8400s were.

Thanks again for all of the feedback and helpful suggestions. I will say that the MS 400 sound matches exactly what I said I was looking for. I am wearing them today to see if I can get used to the comfort. If I do keep them, I will try out some of the modifications listed. I will say though, that for me the comfort...or lack thereof, comes from the headband and not the ear cups. Since I shave my head, I am pretty sensitive to the materials used in the headband and how they distribute weight. The one thing I really liked about the KNS-8400s was the headband with its two pads, one on either side of the band.

I am still considering a couple of other options: The pro 750s, the dt770s, and a couple of Audio Technicas

The Pro 750s seem to have several people who identify them as uncomfortable (may not be good for me) and some feel they are two sharp (especially unamped/not broken in) for female vocals.

The Beryerdynamic 770 32 seem to get a wide range of feedback from being the most comfort headphones people have used. However, the description of the sound seems to vary from person to person quite a bit and I am not sure if they would provide what I am looking for.

Audio Technica has caught my attention in that they appear to have several options with headbands setup in a way similar to the KNS-8400 that I found to be very comfortable-but most of those seem to be open back and not closed.

I don't have to have a closed headphone per se. I have my own office, I just need something to keep me from blaring music loudly enough that it disturbs people with offices on either side of mine or down the hall. I would probably use whatever I buy to travel, but that is only about 3-4 times a year compared to daily listening at work. I just figured that closed would provide me with the best range.

Went and auditioned some cans today at a local Guitar Center

Beyerdynamic dt770 80ohmz: Ear cups were comfortable, band clamped pretty hard/tight. We ran it through an unamped computer as well as off my phone. It was a bit like driving a sports car in idle only-not enough juice to really see what they could do. As such, they did not stand out to me.

ATH-M50: Fairly comfortable, good all around sound stage, able to drive louder off the unamped sources, a strong bass-particularly in the mid range.

Senn Pro 380: Great noise isolation and minimal sound leakage. Comfortable if a bit tight. I really liked the sound of these. They actually felt like they had more bass at the low end then the M50s, but less so in the mid range than the M50s.

On the way out, I also listened to an Allen and Heath XD-53s. I actually really liked the sound of the 53s as well. The ear cups weren't quite as large (didn't fit my ear as well) as the Senns though.

I am feeling stuck at this point for sure....