Help me picking a headphone
Jan 12, 2016 at 7:43 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 6

Zoro

New Head-Fier
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Posts
5
Likes
0
Hi guys
First ,I am a big fan of this great community and this is my first post
smily_headphones1.gif

Secondly , I am looking for a very good headphone for listening to music and watching movies. I had enough of cheap earphones.
I did my research and ended up with this list:
 
Hifman 400i (I love it because of thier drivers and very close to buy one but the lowest frequency 20hz bother me , I think it is a little bit high comparing to other dynamic headphones. Is it noticeable on 400i and how to deal with it?)
 
Beyr dynamic dt990 250 or 32ohm
Audio Technical 2000x (the fact that the cables come attached to these headphones bother me)
 
Sennhieser hd700
 
Please help me to choose one or feel free to write what you think is better option than them.
Budget within 500$
I have Schiit stack
Sorry for my bad English
biggrin.gif

Thank you in advance
 
Jan 12, 2016 at 7:49 AM Post #2 of 6
u can delete hd700 
 
Jan 12, 2016 at 8:51 AM Post #3 of 6
 
Hifman 400i (I love it because of thier drivers and very close to buy one but the lowest frequency 20hz bother me , I think it is a little bit high comparing to other dynamic headphones. Is it noticeable on 400i and how to deal with it?)

 
It's not "high," the dynamic headphones are the ones with a low response. If you look at planar headphones they're usually almost perfectly flat from 20hz to 1khz. If I'd be worried about planar response, it's that somewhere between 1khz and 4khz they tend to have a weak response, and then some rise sharply somewhere above that range, which at times can make them sound shrill overall, or you have a narrow dip next to a narrow peak that is more difficult to EQ properly than a couple of wideband cuts to trim the upper bass plateau (that makes 20hz to 40hz, where the response tapers off sharply coming from a tall plateau, even harder to hear) and then a narrow boost at 20hz to complement those.
 
Jan 13, 2016 at 3:17 AM Post #4 of 6
Thanks guys
But also I need your recommendations and why you chose them
So far the winner is the Hifman he 400i , is it worth its price and how its performance? also please mention any headphones (if there any) within price range 500$ better than it.
________________________
UPDATE
Hifman HE 400i vs Sennhieser HD 650 or 600 vs Beyerdynamic dt 880 32ohm vs Audio Technica 2000x
Which one ? and why ?
Please Help
 
Jan 13, 2016 at 4:41 AM Post #5 of 6
Planars usually have overall better sound presentation than dynamic drivers (which you described as Tesla drivers - but that's only a trademark branding used by Beyerdynamic on their drivers with at least 1 'tesla' of magnetic power).
Simply put, they often have faster decay and more accurate bass detail.
Also you can pretty much ignore the 20hz thing, since planars mostly present sub bass in better detail and often more realistically than dynamics which mostly rely on acoustic venting to produce sub-bass frequencies at good volumes, while planars simply produce these frequencies directly from driver to ear.
 
The biggest drawback of planars is weight. Most of them are heavier than dynamic headphones.
If you're worried about discomfort being a possible issue during a 2 hour movie, then go dynamic.
 
Jan 13, 2016 at 5:10 AM Post #6 of 6
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoro /img/forum/go_quote.gif
UPDATE
Hifman HE 400i vs Sennhieser HD 650 or 600 vs Beyerdynamic dt 880 32ohm vs Audio Technica 2000x
Which one ? and why ?
Please Help

 
Just a few notes on four of those based on this graph:

 
1. HE-400i : First off, they don't have the "i" version in their database, but from what I've seen on another site, it's a lot smoother than that (this is just there so you can see them in comparison with each other).
 
Second, basically, from 20hz to 1khz, it's about as flat as you can get for that much money. That means no big bass plateau that can make some bass notes thump hard but otherwise seem lacking in deep bass as the upper bass overpowers the very low bass, which are already less audible even if the response at 20hz and 70hz was equal.
 
Third, it's got a relatively "hollow" midrange from 1khz to 9khz. Note however that while 9khz would seem a little bright, that's only in comparison to the lower midrange response; otherwise, since it's roughly equal to 1khz anyway, it isn't otherwise a problematic "peak." 

Lastly, it's slightly less sensitive than the dynamic drivers, but unless you have a weak (ie, even if it can produce more mWatts, it will do so with more noise and distortion) amp with which you can get away with the others, this isn't really a problem.
 
2. HD650 : Second safest bet - it has a dip in the range where treble can more easily be perceived as sharp, but as a typical dynamic driver, the response has more variances than the planar, and of course there's that bass plateau from somewhere near 1khz all the way down to around 30hz.
 
3. HD600 : Peak at 3.5khz may not necessarily be sharp but can still make some sound "tinny" compared to HD650,
 
4. DT 880 32ohm : Huge treble peak, even taller than the bass plateau. This will be perceived as a very sharp treble response.
 
----
 
One other thing to note: earpad prices. The Sennheisers sell the earpads plus the foam driver cover for around $60; Beyer sells just the earpads for a little over half that; and the HiFiMan sells angled earpads that are a little cheaper than the Beyers. If it's on the basis of earpad maintenance the HE400i wins hands down.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top