What's next?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omerta 

I have the AD900s and the M50s. I had the K601s and did not like it too much. I don't really have a budget, and I want a good all-rounder. I want something really good for hip-hop and classical/jazz music. And it needs to be as comfortable or more than the AD900s. I have an e7 dac and e9 amp, and I have no interest in upgrading them. I personally do not trust spending hundreds/thousands of dollars on these amps/dacs. I just want that one last final headphone.

Hifiman HE-500.

Very best,

^ 2x.  Runs nicely out of the E9 but can improve significantly with proper source and amps.  

Interesting take on things, but I have a few counter points. Burn in won't be accepted by the majority as a result of an unknown reason that I have yet to deduce.  It is a mystery I cannot grasp with words quite yet but hopefully in the future I shall find a way to construe. There are some threads and videos created by very reputable figures in the audio world who have proven the existence of burn in, not only with sonic qualities that are audible to their ears but with actual frequency response changes and shifts from stock to X amount of time later.  Check out Tyll's burn in video here.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jxdOEpiCTs&list=UUs5A6Gg74iPHyTFJh69w-RA&index=13&feature=plcp

The HE500 is an Orthodynamic set of headphones that happens to sound very good with budget amplification, but requires astronomical amounts of electricity to properly transmit sound.  This is not debatable, it is absolute fact.  The technology isn't quite there yet for production of efficient Orthos.  They require copious amounts of wattage to sound their best and require excellent source quality.  The larger and more spacious the dac or source, the better the HE500 will sound.  Budget Dacs simply do not have staging qualities sufficient enough to do the HE500 justice.  I recently investigated this exact topic.  Source itself is equally as important as the Headphones.  Depending on the headphones, you may or may not need amplifiers.  In the case of Ortho technology, you need Jesus in the form of an aluminum case with wires that output insane wattage or else you will be missing out on 25% less of what the headphones are capable of :P

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omerta 

I don't buy it. I think burn in and price are placebo. I've read a ton of studies where "expert audiophiles" could not tell the difference between high-end amps/dacs and budget stuff. I think the headphone/speaker is 95% of the equation so as long as you are listening to high-quality recordings.