Uriel41
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2015
- Posts
- 43
- Likes
- 15
Dear Head-Fi Community
I am looking for a different pair of headphones, but before I begin talking about what I'm looking for, I'll let you know what I listen to:
Electronica (mostly ambient) and some jazz.
Now I'm spending a lot of my time these days researching headphones. At this point, I use an O2 ODAC to drive a Beyerdynamic DT1350 and an Audeze EL-8 Open. I've had and sold the Audio Technica M50x and the Sennheiser HD598. Liked the former (despite the muddy bass and the tinny highs), didn't like the latter at all.
I absolutely adore my little Beyerdynamic, but it sounds small and it doesn't offer the openness and spaciousness I need for ambient electronica. So I got a good deal on a pair of EL-8O (480 dollars) and went for it. I really like the width and bass of the EL-8O, it's perfect for ambient electronica. However, it sounds very artificial and has crappy highs, which really bugs me when I listen to jazz. So I went to my retailer of choice and listened to the HD800, the Beyerdynamic T1 and the LCD 2 (i think it was the version with fazor technology, but i'm not certain). All of them were driven by an AMP/DAC by Marantz, worth about 1000 dollars.
Instruments sounded incredibly natural on the HD800 and the soundstage was phenomenal, but it lacked the sub-bass impact and intimacy I got from my EL-8O. When I tried the Beyerdynamic T1, I felt like it was a compromise between the HD800 and the Audeze Headphones... but it didn't manage to impress me in any particular way.
The LCD 2, to my surprised, had too much bass for my taste and lacked width. In opposition to a lot of head-fi members, i feel that compared to the LCD 2, the EL-8O has WAY more width and leaves the instruments quite a bit more room to breathe. So I preferred the EL-8O over the LCD 2, even though the LCD was more detailed and had better highs.
To summarize: I want to sidegrade, downgrade or upgrade from my EL-8O because the EL-8O sounds artificial and has ****ty highs. I am therefore looking for a headphone which combines the following three qualities:
- Quite a bit of sub-bass presence and good slam, but NOT as much bass as the LCD 2
- Natural sounding instruments and clean highs for jazz
- Lots of width and some depth for ambient electronica
I've tried the Hifiman 400i recently, but the mids were too forward and there was not enough sub-bass presence for my taste. Also, the amount of detail it shoved into my ears got fatiguing over time.
Can anyone give me some advice? Looking forward to reading your suggestions.
Lots of love from Switzerland,
Uriel
I am looking for a different pair of headphones, but before I begin talking about what I'm looking for, I'll let you know what I listen to:
Electronica (mostly ambient) and some jazz.
Now I'm spending a lot of my time these days researching headphones. At this point, I use an O2 ODAC to drive a Beyerdynamic DT1350 and an Audeze EL-8 Open. I've had and sold the Audio Technica M50x and the Sennheiser HD598. Liked the former (despite the muddy bass and the tinny highs), didn't like the latter at all.
I absolutely adore my little Beyerdynamic, but it sounds small and it doesn't offer the openness and spaciousness I need for ambient electronica. So I got a good deal on a pair of EL-8O (480 dollars) and went for it. I really like the width and bass of the EL-8O, it's perfect for ambient electronica. However, it sounds very artificial and has crappy highs, which really bugs me when I listen to jazz. So I went to my retailer of choice and listened to the HD800, the Beyerdynamic T1 and the LCD 2 (i think it was the version with fazor technology, but i'm not certain). All of them were driven by an AMP/DAC by Marantz, worth about 1000 dollars.
Instruments sounded incredibly natural on the HD800 and the soundstage was phenomenal, but it lacked the sub-bass impact and intimacy I got from my EL-8O. When I tried the Beyerdynamic T1, I felt like it was a compromise between the HD800 and the Audeze Headphones... but it didn't manage to impress me in any particular way.
The LCD 2, to my surprised, had too much bass for my taste and lacked width. In opposition to a lot of head-fi members, i feel that compared to the LCD 2, the EL-8O has WAY more width and leaves the instruments quite a bit more room to breathe. So I preferred the EL-8O over the LCD 2, even though the LCD was more detailed and had better highs.
To summarize: I want to sidegrade, downgrade or upgrade from my EL-8O because the EL-8O sounds artificial and has ****ty highs. I am therefore looking for a headphone which combines the following three qualities:
- Quite a bit of sub-bass presence and good slam, but NOT as much bass as the LCD 2
- Natural sounding instruments and clean highs for jazz
- Lots of width and some depth for ambient electronica
I've tried the Hifiman 400i recently, but the mids were too forward and there was not enough sub-bass presence for my taste. Also, the amount of detail it shoved into my ears got fatiguing over time.
Can anyone give me some advice? Looking forward to reading your suggestions.
Lots of love from Switzerland,
Uriel