looking for exciting headphones | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

pretzelfiend · Feb 24, 2015 at 7:59 PM

So I'm looking for a pair of headphones that not only sounds good but are exciting to listen to. right now i have the hd598 which are good headphones but don't have the exciting nature I'm looking for. I use the magni modi as my amp/dac. Im starting to increase my .flac collection but also use spotify which give 320kbps mp3 which isn't .flac quality but still good and i can't tell the difference easily. I listen to everything from rock to rap to country to alternative to indie to classical to pop to funk to jazz, if its good music ill listen to it. I want an over the ear(preferred) or in ear pair (not on ear), over ear can be open or closed i have no preference on that. I just find the 598 to be be more like studio headphone (which i do have a use for and like that about it) than a pair designed to only listen to music. I guess by exciting i mean less like a studio headphone, less pure accuracy and better for just sitting back and listening. Price range anything around 300 and under and that would work with my magni/modi setup. Also want to add while i like base I'm not a base head. I was looking at the HD650's and the Beyerdynamic 990 250ohms premium version but kinda want to branch out and find more options before i choose.

Me x3 · Feb 24, 2015 at 8:19 PM

pretzelfiend said:
So I'm looking for a pair of headphones that not only sounds good but are exciting to listen to. right now i have the hd598 which are good headphones but don't have the exciting nature I'm looking for. I use the magni modi as my amp/dac. Im starting to increase my .flac collection but also use spotify which give 320kbps mp3 which isn't .flac quality but still good and i can't tell the difference easily. I listen to everything from rock to rap to country to alternative to indie to classical to pop to funk to jazz, if its good music ill listen to it. I want an over the ear(preferred) or in ear pair (not on ear), over ear can be open or closed i have no preference on that. I just find the 598 to be be more like studio headphone (which i do have a use for and like that about it) than a pair designed to only listen to music. I guess by exciting i mean less like a studio headphone, less pure accuracy and better for just sitting back and listening. Price range anything around 300 and under and that would work with my magni/modi setup. Also want to add while i like base I'm not a base head. I was looking at the HD650's and the Beyerdynamic 990 250ohms premium version but kinda want to branch out and find more options before i choose.

Having the Magni you can pick the DT990 600 Ohm version.

DT990s vs HD650s, bright vs dark, is up to you to decide.

HD650s are more forgiving of poorly recorded music and have more midrange presence.

DT990s are more 'explosive' with crystal clear treble and full bass. The midrange is smooth and clear.
As far as you don't listen to many recordings with bright metal winds or sibilant vocals, this is a very nice 'exciting' headphone.
As far as I know, the 250 Ohm version has more bass, while the 600 Ohm is just a tad more balanced.

Best Luck!

ProtegeManiac · Feb 24, 2015 at 11:47 PM

me x3 said:
HD650s are more forgiving of poorly recorded music and have more midrange presence.

DT990s are more 'explosive' with crystal clear treble and full bass. The midrange is smooth and clear.
As far as you don't listen to many recordings with bright metal winds or sibilant vocals, this is a very nice 'exciting' headphone.
As far as I know, the 250 Ohm version has more bass, while the 600 Ohm is just a tad more balanced.

Looking at that comparative graph it's not so much that the HD650 is "more forgiving of bad recordings," but that even a good recording can suffer from that treble mountain on the DT990.

Me x3 · Feb 25, 2015 at 11:20 AM

protegemaniac said:
Looking at that comparative graph it's not so much that the HD650 is "more forgiving of bad recordings," but that even a good recording can suffer from that treble mountain on the DT990.

Well, HD650 are more forgiving anyway = D
Darker headphones tend to be more forgiving.

It's true that even a good recording can suffer from DT990s treble. It's quite difficult (complex) to analyze whether that kind of treble response is 'right' or not.

Listening levels and other personal preferences play an important role here.

ProtegeManiac · Feb 25, 2015 at 11:46 AM

me x3 said:
It's quite difficult (complex) to analyze whether that kind of treble response is 'right' or not.

Only in the sense that no transducer has a perfectly flat response; however, in this case it's between one (two) headphones with a Matterhorn from 6khz to 10khz (relative to its midrange) vs another with a comparatively shallow valley from 3.5khz to 8khz, and by 9khz its almost level with the midrange already. In this case the Matterhorn there is a bigger issue than that valley, however it is theoretically easier to correct, since in general it is easier to cut than boost when using an EQ.

That said, it won't result in too much distortion to correct the valley, and the Q-factor necessary isn't too narrow either - I have a +3dB boost centered at 5.5khz using NeutronMP for my HD600.

me x3 said:
Listening levels and other personal preferences play an important role here.

In some cases it may work the other way around also - most people tend to listen louder to hear more of the bass and treble (or not as loud if the headphone or speaker boosts those frequencies). It's natural for human ears to not perceive low and high frequencies in the same manner by default - anthropologically the argument can be made that organization being hte key to human survival the brain has a bias for perceiving the midrange frequencies. Of course, that doesn't mean there's no nurture factor involved that can reduce that effect.

It's kind of like with our vision - in reality our nose is always on our FOV, but our brain just ignores it. Pay attention to that after reading that and you'll realize that even if you're looking straight you can now see your nose with your dominant eye.

Me x3 · Feb 25, 2015 at 7:20 PM

protegemaniac said:
Only in the sense that no transducer has a perfectly flat response; however, in this case it's between one (two) headphones with a Matterhorn from 6khz to 10khz (relative to its midrange) vs another with a comparatively shallow valley from 3.5khz to 8khz, and by 9khz its almost level with the midrange already. In this case the Matterhorn there is a bigger issue than that valley, however it is theoretically easier to correct, since in general it is easier to cut than boost when using an EQ.

That said, it won't result in too much distortion to correct the valley, and the Q-factor necessary isn't too narrow either - I have a +3dB boost centered at 5.5khz using NeutronMP for my HD600.

Those graphs are compensated, flat response in those graphs only means the headphone is flat according to the compensation curve applied. The right compensation curve vary from person to person.

Recordings play an important role as well, if you listen mostly to bright recordings, HD650s might be better (ie. more natural). If you listen mostly to neutral/darkish recordings, DT990s bring some interesting things to the table.

In some cases it may work the other way around also - most people tend to listen louder to hear more of the bass and treble (or not as loud if the headphone or speaker boosts those frequencies). It's natural for human ears to not perceive low and high frequencies in the same manner by default - anthropologically the argument can be made that organization being hte key to human survival the brain has a bias for perceiving the midrange frequencies. Of course, that doesn't mean there's no nurture factor involved that can reduce that effect.

As far as I know, the u-shaped frequency response work pretty well at low/moderate listening levels (Related to the Equal-loudness contours)
Similar logic behind the 'Loudness' control present on some integrated amplifiers.

It's kind of like with our vision - in reality our nose is always on our FOV, but our brain just ignores it. Pay attention to that after reading that and you'll realize that even if you're looking straight you can now see your nose with your dominant eye.

This is interesting!

Back on topic, pretzelfiend is looking for 'exciting' headphones to contrast with HD598.

I guess both HD650 and DT990 can be considered 'exciting' vs HD598, but both are also very different.
Is up to pretzelfiend to decide if he/she wants a darker/fuller sound (Senns) or Beyer's more u-shaped response.

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