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Am/DAC/Headphones setup for 500-600 USD

post #1 of 17
1/26/12 at 6:52pm
Thread Starter 

 

Budget: 500-600 dollars for a pair of headphones, an amp and a DAC.

Music: I listen to basically everything. Lots of jazz, rock, pop, electronic, etc. Very wide tastes. Even a bit of metal and speedcore, and hell, baroque!

Portable: Not too important.

 

It's not too important whether it's closed or open, but I'd prefer open.

 

I'm coming from Grado phones, and those were great, but I want to try something new. Something that'll fit better with my wide tastes.

 

 

Currently, I'm looking at the HE-400 with the E17. That's 565 dollars for headphones, amp, DAC, and a Grado mini adaptor. Is that a good option? What's a better option?

 


Edited by dorino - 1/26/12 at 7:15pm
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post #2 of 17
1/26/12 at 7:34pm

well, the Cheapest way for getting good sound is like buying the DT990 32ohms at BHphotovideo for 200 dollars around, and then you decided to weither or not buying a dac amp.

 

the other all in one way, is to buy a denon D2000 or denon d5000 (new in open box from ee) or even a d7000 ( 585 at EE), and you start ur rig from that. if later on u decide to go amp+dac, you can then invest seperately.

 

In my opinion, i think making compromise for 600 dollars is like a waste, because with in 1 year u will change them all....

 

 

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post #3 of 17
1/26/12 at 9:01pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by weipim View Post

well, the Cheapest way for getting good sound is like buying the DT990 32ohms at BHphotovideo for 200 dollars around, and then you decided to weither or not buying a dac amp.

 

the other all in one way, is to buy a denon D2000 or denon d5000 (new in open box from ee) or even a d7000 ( 585 at EE), and you start ur rig from that. if later on u decide to go amp+dac, you can then invest seperately.

 

In my opinion, i think making compromise for 600 dollars is like a waste, because with in 1 year u will change them all....

 

 


I stick with headphones I enjoy for quite a while. I'm not looking for the "cheapest" way, I'm looking to put 500-600 dollars in to getting some good sound. That's all I can afford but I think it's doable. I won't be getting the best, but that's fine. It's not a compromise as much as a requirement.

 

If I could spend more, I probably would.

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post #4 of 17
1/26/12 at 9:06pm

It sounds like you have the same wide tastes that I do. I'm currently using 650's at home driven by an E10, but I'm on the pre-order list for the HE-400's which should arrive 2nd week of Feb. according to Hifiman. I'm also getting the E17 for travel, so I'll let you know how the HE-400 + E17 sound together when it all comes in. As for portable, I don't think you'd want to carry HE-400's everywhere, but I don't know how active you are with headphones on.

 

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post #5 of 17
1/26/12 at 9:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rivalyoung View Post

It sounds like you have the same wide tastes that I do. I'm currently using 650's at home driven by an E10, but I'm on the pre-order list for the HE-400's which should arrive 2nd week of Feb. according to Hifiman. I'm also getting the E17 for travel, so I'll let you know how the HE-400 + E17 sound together when it all comes in. As for portable, I don't think you'd want to carry HE-400's everywhere, but I don't know how active you are with headphones on.

 


I'm not really interested in portability. These are for home or other private settings. The HE-400's are very tempting - I love ortho headphones but could never afford the necessary amping (and, to another extent, the necessary headphones!) until now. I'd imagine if the HE-400's work on your E10, they'd work on the E17 as well.


Edited by dorino - 1/26/12 at 9:14pm
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post #6 of 17
1/27/12 at 8:47am
Thread Starter 

Any other recommendations, or is it a good buy to pre-order to HE-400 and the E17?

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post #7 of 17
1/27/12 at 9:09am

maybe sennheiser hd650 with e7/e9

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post #8 of 17
1/27/12 at 10:03am
Thread Starter 

I don't think the HD650 would perform very well with the e7/e9, would it?

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post #9 of 17
1/27/12 at 12:05pm

I enjoy the HD650 with my E7/E9.  Though admittedly I have not yet listened to them on any nicer amps (HA-160D coming soon).  I've seen a handful of posts debate this, some centered around the E7/E9 being a piece of junk, others praising it as great value.  Again, I do not have experience with more expensive equipment; but I enjoy what I heard from the HD650 and E7/E9.

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post #10 of 17
1/27/12 at 1:11pm
Thread Starter 

I'm not a *huge* fan of the Senns, so I think I'll stick with the HE-400 unless there's other ideas. The impressions on headfonia are fairly promising - The poster says it sounds very good with low-end amp/DACs (specifically mentioning the e17!)

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post #11 of 17
1/27/12 at 2:31pm
Thread Starter 

Went ahead and pre'd the HE-400. It's very, very different than the Grado sound I'm used to but hopefully it's nice. A demo'd HE-500 sounded very pretty. When I found out that the E17 would likely be enough amp for the 400, well, that settled it.

 

Also bought the E17. Pre-order off mp4nation - Hopefully it'll pop up elsewhere sooner.

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post #12 of 17
1/27/12 at 3:17pm


My HD 580 are fine with the E9; didn't notice anything vs more expensive amplifiers. Sounds good. In your ~$600 price range, I'd say Koss ESP/950. Hands down and worlds apart. No idea about the HiFiMan designs; the claims of "lots of" bass and an "etched" sound signature, combined with the return to 'stats, and I've lost all interest. The blue does look neat though.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dorino View Post

I don't think the HD650 would perform very well with the e7/e9, would it?



 

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post #13 of 17
1/27/12 at 3:45pm
Thread Starter 

I didn't hear much about bass. I've never heard the term "etched" before - what's that refer too?

 

I eventually settled on the HE-400 because it's got more treble than its counterparts but more bass than what I'm used to (change is good!)

 

Being a gradohead for so long, and always being tempted by that mysterious totally different "dark side" that is orthos, an affordable one sounds good to me.

 

Thanks for all the ideas.

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post #14 of 17
1/28/12 at 9:54am

http://www.head-fi.org/a/describing-sound-a-glossary 

 

See "harsh," "hard," or "piercing" - and note that I haven't actually heard the HiFiMan headphones, I'm just going on comments from the CSD thread. 

 

Like here:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/566929/headphone-csd-waterfall-plots/120#post_7736210

 

Regarding the bass, this is just the general trend I've read related to Orthos - it's not a "bad" thing; many people are happy with their Audez'e, HiFiMan, and Fostex parts - I personally don't like "lots of" bass.

 

See a comparison between FR graphs:

 

HE-500

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/HiFiMANHE500.pdf

 

HE-6

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/HiFiMANHE6.pdf

 

vs 

 

HD 650

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SennheiserHD650.pdf

 

SA5000

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SonyMDRVSA5000.pdf

 

None of those are "bass boost" headphones, but the two dynamics there are going to sound "lean" or "leaner" compared to the Orthos. 

 

For comparison, here's a Grado:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/GradoSR325i.pdf

 

The Grado has the bump at around 10k, and very lean bass. The low-end extension available from something like the HD 650 is "more" - the HE-500 is "even more" than that. You're also likely to pull some stored energy out of the equation, but who knows - the HE300 is pretty scary:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/566929/headphone-csd-waterfall-plots/255#post_7791432

 

None of the Grados do that:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/566929/headphone-csd-waterfall-plots/435#post_7852298

 

Again, I'm simply stating that based on reviews I've tended to shy away from the orthos; for all I know they're the bees knees. What I can tell you though, is that I enjoy my 'stats, and for the money, wouldn't do it differently. Fiio also seems to make some fairly competent kit; so that's a plus too (I think you did good there). I think you'll be well served by your choices, but I expect things to be "very" to "extremely very" different coming from Grados. The Koss, compared to Grados, will still "bite" when they need to, but they don't "pierce" and can be very smooth when the media calls for it. I would consider the AKG K701 very capable of this as well, but you said $500-$600, and the K701 + amp should not cost $600 (then again, there's nothing wrong with saving money). I don't think you can really know if you like the HiFiMan purchase or not, without trying it out, is basically my point. I'm simply meaning to provide you some more options. If you love the HE-400, then you've hit a home run. If not, sell/return and try again.

 

 

 

 

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post #15 of 17
1/28/12 at 3:43pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks. I'm definitely interested in trying the HE-400's - The impressions I've heard of them show they're really different than the HE-500, and I wouldn't even bother comparing the HE-300 to these. After all, it's using a dynamic driver rather than planar magnetic drivers - so it's not like any of the other hifiman headphones at all! The Headfonia impression said they were easier to listen to than the other HE headphones, too, IIRC. I'm definitely interested in trying something "very" different. I loved my Grados, but jazz was admittedly lacking, electronic music was kind of eh, and indie rock didn't sound right.

 

If they don't work out, I'll try other things.

 

The only thing that worries me is driver matching but I'm not sure if that's an issue? My Grados always sounded quite matched. I don't know if HiFiman has the same kind of matching.


Edited by dorino - 1/28/12 at 4:05pm
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