HE300 or HD600?

HD 650? Does not get more 'zero' sibilance than that.

 

The HRT Streamer II does 24/96 over USB as a DAC

for a very good price.

 

Schiit Asgard to balance things out. Although, something

like a Violectric V90 would be almost ideal.

 

 

Edited by Gwarmi - 9/18/11 at 12:35am

Hmm, you're going to have to lean one way or the other. No one set of cans can excel at all these genres

 

"female vocals, techno, jpop/rock, jazz, orchestra, metal"

 

The Shure 840 is not easily blown into the weeds either.

 

Thought about scoring the DAC & amp first to see where you're at with the 840?

 

 My concern is your 'zero' tolerance for sibilance and yet you find the HD 650

 slow and sleepy (which can really depend on the source in a big way)

 

 I'd recommend a Grado but I'm reluctant to - your taste appears at odds.

 

I think you'd be happy with the HD-650.

As for a DAC/amp, consider the PreSonus Central Station. Very nice with the HD-650 and had a brief moment of popularity here. I loved the one I had - it has two separate headphone amps (great for sharing or comparing), a clean DAC and a wonderful relay-based attenuator for use as a preamp. It's a good deal because it's aimed at pros, not audiophiles.

I would have kept it, but got deeply into vinyl and SACD and moved to a more traditional system.

Add the Ultrasone HFI 2400 to your list of possible purchases. They are absolutely and completely sibilance-free and are also definitely not veiled-sounding like the Sennheisers. They also have an impedance of 70 Ohms, which means that they most likely won't even need an amp to be driver well, although they would probably benefit from one. 

 

I can't really give any good recommendations for an amp/DAC as IMO, a FiiO E7 is already good enough for most applications and it is very cheap. It measures extremely well and this is what matters.

Ibasso DB-2 > Ibasso PB-2 > IBasso reterminated HD650 Cable - It's balanced, it's fast and it is $$$.

HD600 all the way, I'm a bit worried about the driver matching in the HE-300.

Never heard the HE300 but I want to like it more just because the HD600/580's have been around FOREVER...

 

Also yeah the DACport would kick the HD650's ass in that matchup haha. I honestly have no idea how they packed so much amp into something that size, included a DAC, and made it sound good...

 

If youre looking for something with bass body, the HD600's will leave you disappointed, I own basically an HD-600 (even has the grills), it's a neutrality beast, the treble comes off as bright to some even, it doesn't have the weight in it's tone like you seem to be looking for.

 

You sound like you want something very lush, silky smooth, and full bodied, I think only the HD650 really does it...

 

Also gotta throw in the obligatory Grado recommendation, the SR-225... the bass is pretty gnarly, yet isn't the main focus of the headphone at all

The HE300 and the HD650 (new) sound absolutely nothing alike. I can attest to this personally (having heard them in a direct comparison). My thoughts on the HD650 was, overall, of sweetness. Literally, the headphones sounded very sweet to me, almost unrealistically so. It was a more comfortable sound, but it wasn't as... Well, I'd call it engaging, foot-tappingly awesome in some ways - that's how I feel about the HE300's. The low-end especially is amazing - it's solid and powerful but it also sounds really tight. The headphones do bring out the recording a bit more - Norah Jones' voice sounded more grainy and realistic than on the HD650.

 

All-in-all, I think you might prefer the HD650, although I prefer the HE300. The HE300 is really good at making you feel involved with the music, but the HD650 is more of a lean-back phone. The only thing I don't like about the HD650 is the low-end, where I can without question say I prefer the HE300.

 

Hell, it's got me thinking about the HE-4 and orthos, that's how much I like it. (I've also owned DT880's and W5000's, and UE-11's.)

Definietly HD 600 with your preferences.

I heard that the HD598 has a similar sound to the HE500, and it's like $180 on amazon.

No way....

 

The HD598 sounds closer to the FA-003 than the HE-500. The HE-500 has a very distinctive sound signature. It's fairly neutral with an emphasized high end sparkle. It's definitely brighter than a LCD-2 but less bright than the HE-6.