Good flat headphones under $150 to match Fiio E17 - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by rongallant 

I am really thinking on ordering the ATHM50s  Would that be a good choice? Thanks for all the help. Lots to think about.

If you are after neutral sound, it is a pretty good choice as you can use this Lunatique's EQ curve for neutralisation... He is an audio professional and my D7000 curve does miracles, I can use them now for pretty much any genre without loosing their transparency. I have tried to EQ it myself but I would never be able to do it that great.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rongallant 

This forum is going to cost me money, isn't it?

Yes...lots and lots of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rongallant 

I am really thinking on ordering the ATHM50s  Would that be a good choice? Thanks for all the help. Lots to think about.

They're pretty good, with a seeming preference from those who like a bit more bass and body to their music. but MHOE's EQ tips may change that.

There's also however a bit of a consensus that they're not worth the 150$ they sell for some places, and the original release pricing of 100$ is a lot more reasonable, so it depends where you've seen them for sale I guess

Quote:

Originally Posted by rongallant 

This forum is going to cost me money, isn't it?

Just buy everything :P

I'll second the suggestion for the KRK KNS 8400. Flat, closed, comfy. Should go well through the E17.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nezhac 

They're pretty good, with a seeming preference from those who like a bit more bass and body to their music. but MHOE's EQ tips may change that.

There's also however a bit of a consensus that they're not worth the 150$ they sell for some places, and the original release pricing of 100$ is a lot more reasonable, so it depends where you've seen them for sale I guess

Yeah, I think it is going to work more than very well... Lunatique's eq for D7000 is really something I would not be able to achieve in my life as it erases its flaws for serious listening sessions and still doesn't change the transparency and other aspects of my phones. I love D7000 without Eq for gaming, movies and non-serious listening but his EQ transforms them into very good all-rounders.

If anyone want more info about, ask Lunatique personally through PM or read this: http://www.head-fi.org/t/551426/my-eq-curves-for-lcd-2-hd650-m50-and-007mk2

Heya,

So you picked up a DAC/AMP without having a headphone first. That's ok. You will be able to power almost all headphones short of a few quite well with this, so it's not like it's a loss, you just have more than is necessary for now, but plenty for later which will inevitably come if you keep visiting Head-Fi. You'll upgrade headphones all the time since something will be "flavor of the month" so often that you'll be squeezing your wallet and yelling "Click it away! Click it away!" as they pop up and tempt you.

That said, what you want is relatively easy to achieve. You want a closed, neutral, headphone, for $150ish or less.

Here's some suggestions:

Brainwavz HM5 (deep cups, isolating, detachable cable, multiple ear pads for swapping, very durable)

AKG K272 HD (velour padded, neutral, detachable cable, a little anemic and dry, but studio worthy)

AKG K271 MKII (pleather padded, detachable cable, neutral, studio worthy)

KRK KNS 8400 (pleather padded, detachable cable, neutral, studio worthy)

Sennheiser HD PRO 380 (pleather padded, warmer than neutral, you've already tried this one and liked it, therefore, I suggest you definitely try others)

Shure SRH840 (pleather padded, detachable cable, neutral, natural, studio worthy)

Beyer DT770 (velour padded, warmer than neutral, but still quite natural and musical, very durable, deep cups, great sound stage, one of my favorites)

AudioTechnica A700X (pleather padded, neutral, good sound stage, big cups)

I think all the above would please you to a degree. It will come down to you simply trying some house signatures to see what really floats your boat.

I would get all of the above instead of M50 any day, which is why it's not even listed there. It's a very stereo monitor headphone with little sound stage. DJ headphones in general are just not very good for musical qualities. They're tuned for loud environments. Some seem to love it, but I guess they just haven't tried very many non-DJ headphones, or perhaps it just happened to suit their tastes for their music types. But if there was any headphone that had too much hype around it, it would be the M50. I say this as a M50 owner, amongst 40+ other headphones.

Very best,

If you want the opinion of a sound engineer, it seems that a good chunk of them prefer the MDR-V6/7506, the Shure SRH440, the Sennheiser HD280Pro, and the ATH-M50

As a neutral fanboy myself I can attest to the Sony and the Shure having owned both.  Both headphones are relatively flat with reasonable extension on both ends.  And when I say "flat" I mean both measurable and subjetively.

Personally I prefer the SRH440 sound-wise over the 7506 (but only marginally), although the 7506 was wonderfully comfortable and lightweight (borderline portable).
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by rongallant 

Allll righty than.  I have the ATH-M50s.  I have to say, they are OK, but not to my liking.  In my ears, the PortaPros sound better.  Clear and smooth.

Told you to avoid them. 

Very best,

I hear lots of positive things about the ATH-M50, but I have to say that every FR response graph I've seen shows a distinct decline from bass through to treble relative to others in the price range.  It is for that reason alone that I went for the SRH440 and the MDR-7506.