Headphone Question with Reference Audio

Alright ladies and gentlemen,

I stumbled upon this site today while looking for some headphones that won't disappoint. Up until now I've been taking people's suggestions and have been progressively more disappointed in my purchases. I honestly didn't know that there was a word for really liking music and the quality of delivery until today, nor did I know that headphone amplifiers existed. So, to that end, I'm seriously considering ordering a set of Beyerdynamic DT990's and the FiiO E11 headphone amp. To give you some background, I was in the military and my hearing is about half-way shot. My current headphones are the much-disliked (at least here) Beats in-ear. On top of the right earpiece slowly going out, they have horrendous high-end response, at the volume levels that I listen at they sound over-driven, and most of all, the bass completely saps the mids and highs. I love good bass response, but for crying out loud, when the bass thumps and you listen to the rest of the frequency range fall out, that is unacceptable. For being billed as, and commanding the price of high end headphones, I'm severely irritated.

On to the questions I need to ask. The four songs linked below are ones that I use to test out earphones when I get them home or test them in the store, along with being in my day-to-day playlist. I'm reaching out to those of you that have either or both of these pieces of equipment to find out if they will handle these four with acceptable results. Also, if there is better equipment out there, let me know. I have a 300 dollar initial budget. I know that the requirements I'm going to list makes it sound like I'm trying to buy a Ferrari with minimum wage, but I'm trying to get into the hobby a bit more seriously without going all-in on the first hand.

So, as promised, below are the requirements for the headphone/amp combo and below that the two links to reference audio.

1: Must not "crackle" at any point of frequency transition or at high sound levels (kinda deaf)

2: Must have good to excellent reproduction of sounds across the entire sound spectrum without fade in higher sounds during bass.

3: Must be over-the-ear.

Reference Audio listed in order of priority:

The Prodigy - Stand Up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yvkoGZVajg

Clint Mansel - Requiem for a Dream Remix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE0UA8RREX4

A Perfect Circle - Weak and Powerless [Tilling My Grave Mix]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ggAoionBks

Excision - That Girl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0CLws5Y-8E

Any help y'all out there can give me would be much appreciated. Keep in mind that I'm new to this game, but don't hesitate to tell me I'm doing something stupid if I am.

Thanks

P.S. I'm sorry for the quality of the audio on the youtube videos. Its the best I could find.

I was really hoping that wouldn't be the case. I'm glad for the quick response though. I'll do some digging and see what I can come up with as a replacement for the E11. I'm really hoping to get those headphones as every review I've read has painted them in a good light. I'll research the DT770's as well, just in case.

Thanks.

Thanks for the advice. After some more research, I've decided to put a little bit more skin in the game. My heart is set on the DT990 250 ohm phones, so I'm not only ordering the E11, but also the E7. The E9 will be following on the first of the month as a desktop setup with the E11 running as a portable velcro'd to the back of my iPod.

I'll be running both the E11 and the E7 as a solo amp on the iPod and I'll let everyone here know how they work out that way with the 250 ohm cans. I'm relatively certain that the E9/E7 combo will have no issue driving them, but I'll still write the review once it arrives. I'm going to look into picking up a set of the 32 ohm 990's or 80 ohm 770's as a mobile set once I budget them in later on.

Again, thanks for the advice.

I hear you on the battery side of things. I'm already trying to dig up some of the lithium battery packs we've got laying around out here. As long as it supplies 3.7 volts, it should work. I know I've got a 3.7v 3600 mAh pack around here somewhere. I like battery life a whole lot.

Also, the DT880 and 770 are already on my hitlist. The 880 in 250 ohm and the 770 in 32 for mobility. The 990 is going to end up being my relaxing set with the 880 for lighter listening while doing machine and RF engineering work. The 770 is going to be my at-work and around base pair, as they're closed cans versus the other two.

Once I get this monstrosity all set up, I'll be doing an in-depth review of everything involved. I've seen more than a few newbies like myself asking almost the same question when it comes to the 250 ohm stuff. Getting everything all tested out should help the board at least somewhat.

As a side note, my current beats are really putting me at the end of my leash as far as patience and I can't wait for my initial order to get here. Just a week and a half or so to work their way to this side of the planet.

That's why I'm getting both of the Amps, to see how much of a difference in sound there is between the two.

I know there's no way those little Amps have a chance of driving 600 ohm cans. Heck, from what I've been reading, I'm doubting that I'll get much out of them hooked up to 250 ohm cans. I'm still going to get the 250's unless my email to the shipper arrived in time to switch to the 32 ohm 990's. I want to experiment, but with my Beats slowly inching towards six feet under, I need a set of headphones soon, and they need to perform.

We'll see what happens, and with any luck I'll have a good to great setup in 10-16 days that I can then tell y'all about. Be it 32 or 250 ohm cans.

Alright, the order is in and confirmed. I'm going to be receiving the Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro 250 Ohm's, FiiO E11, FiiO E7, FiiO E9 and the L3 cable. Total cost comes in just over 450 dollars. 50% over budget, but to hell with it. I need sound. Full review will be posted as soon as all the gear arrives. Arrival is expected between 10 and 16 days from now.

Thank you for the advice gentlemen. We'll know in around two weeks if I've shot myself in the foot with an expensive bullet.

Oh, I'm not worried about the wallet. Being a contractor in Afghanistan has its perks. The speed of mail isn't one of them unfortunately. The only thing I'm worried about is getting sufficient volume out of them for the bass to thump a bit and the highs to sing. I have no doubt that the headphones themselves are capable of it, the only thing to chance is whether the amps will put out enough wattage to satisfy me.

Now comes the part I hate. Waiting.