Before you buy headphones: A hopefully helpful guide for newbies
Apr 23, 2010 at 12:00 AM Post #138 of 150
Realize that the better your headphones, the more miserable you will be if your CDs are poorly mastered. I still enjoy some of the "hot" CDs that I have (not horribly hot ones like "Californication", just ones that are kinda hot - the XTC remasters, for example), but the older and/or better mastered CDs are so much better to dive into.

I wish I had known about the "loudness war" earlier.
 
Apr 23, 2010 at 10:39 AM Post #139 of 150
Hey boo, I was wondering if you might include a warning like this somewhere in the guide. I posted it in a newbie asking for help thread and IMO most people new to headfi could use the advice.

Quote:

A note about purchasing stuff on head-fi based on lurking here and so on: I was in your shoes when I got here. Reading about stuff, not trying it out and then buying some items. One thing to realize is that most people posting here are passionate about audio / gear / music and thus tend to exaggerate. A reason for exaggeration is that when comparing two things that are similar, the reviewer will obviously notice and voice the differences more.

Another reason is psychological, if you shell out a couple of hundred/thousand dollars on a product (be that an amp, a dac, a piece of wire), you will want to feel good about yourself and you will happily notice small differences (or even imagine them) and post about the "night and day change". I'm not implying people here lie, just that to someone who isn't a music tech and is new to this world, most amps and sources reviewed here will sound very much alike. And yet if he doesn't have a chance to check these things out, he will feel the need to buy a new amp / dac / whatever, so he can achieve these night and day differences.

Just to check these things out, I popped my senns off the amp/dac combo and onto a jvc minitower (a good quality one, nice (digital) amplification for the speakers, but not a "high end" headphone choice). I listened to a track off a cd, then I came back to the PC and popped that into foobar. Is there a difference? Yes. Is this a HUGE difference? No. Add to that that I have a tubed headphone amp, which is supposed to be again a huge difference from solid state amps like that in the jvc. The receiver had enough power to drive my headphones. The differences are in nuanced things like presentation and soundstage, and some additional detail.


 
Apr 23, 2010 at 10:41 AM Post #140 of 150
Quote:

Originally Posted by luckybaer /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Realize that the better your headphones, the more miserable you will be if your CDs are poorly mastered. I still enjoy some of the "hot" CDs that I have (not horribly hot ones like "Californication", just ones that are kinda hot - the XTC remasters, for example), but the older and/or better mastered CDs are so much better to dive into.

I wish I had known about the "loudness war" earlier.


smily_headphones1.gif
btw, for me californication is one of the few albums which sounds better as a ~160-192 kbps mp3, because you notice the clipping less.
 
Apr 30, 2010 at 4:53 AM Post #141 of 150
Oh, it's really hard to feed the headphones. The headphone itself may cost 300 bucks but a good system for it will cost over 1000.
Anyways, thanks for shareing. I am thinking of a pair of K701, but I definately know I do not have the source, amp, etc.
frown.gif
 
Aug 4, 2010 at 5:26 PM Post #144 of 150
It used to be sticky, but all the stickies got lost when the site got switched over.
 
Jun 30, 2017 at 12:37 PM Post #148 of 150
jung said:
Quote:

Originally Posted by roadcykler /img/forum/go_quote.gif
A quick check of the respective websites will reveal that both headphones are low impedance but both have a pretty high sensitivity at 105 and 106 respectively. I think the writer may have gotten the 701's and Grado's (98) backwards.


SR60 is 98 dB/mW, while K701 is 105 dB/V.

When converted, SR60 is 113 dB/V, or K701 is 93 dB/mW.

To output 110dB, SR60 needs 716 mV, while K701 needs 1782 mV.
Click to expand...
In order to provide this info it's obvious you know what you are talking about and therefore in order to save me a lot of time and trouble/expense I am hoping you could advise me which headphones to buy as follows;- I now have Tinnitus, so my Grado SR325iS Headphones sound great but make Piano for example sound brittle/harsh - so I bought a graphic equaliser to tone things down a bit but this is not a simple solution as you may well know? I am thinking that maybe a pair of OPEN Headphones with a more mellow, yet accurate tone - might suit my music tastes, as in Blues, Classical in the main. Residing in the UK prices are high - so I'm looking at best value per buck and affordable, or a used pair in good condition. Can you help perhaps?
 
Jun 30, 2017 at 12:46 PM Post #149 of 150
jung said:
Quote:

Originally Posted by roadcykler /img/forum/go_quote.gif
A quick check of the respective websites will reveal that both headphones are low impedance but both have a pretty high sensitivity at 105 and 106 respectively. I think the writer may have gotten the 701's and Grado's (98) backwards.


SR60 is 98 dB/mW, while K701 is 105 dB/V.

When converted, SR60 is 113 dB/V, or K701 is 93 dB/mW.

To output 110dB, SR60 needs 716 mV, while K701 needs 1782 mV.
Click to expand...
Forgot to mention that I usually listen via a Headphone Amplifier or Integrated Amplifier and that I am a experienced listener - however I do not want to hear about STREAMING or PORTABLE Players such as phones and such like - I much prefer listening to quality music via CD and real amplification, although I do have some WAV Files that I can play through my computer and via a quality DAC into the Headphone Amplifier or Integrated Amplifier. I tend to avoid MP3 for serious listening though. Hope this helps and appreciate any response.
 
Jun 30, 2017 at 1:55 PM Post #150 of 150
microchip said:
Forgot to mention that I usually listen via a Headphone Amplifier or Integrated Amplifier and that I am a experienced listener - however I do not want to hear about STREAMING or PORTABLE Players such as phones and such like - I much prefer listening to quality music via CD and real amplification, although I do have some WAV Files that I can play through my computer and via a quality DAC into the Headphone Amplifier or Integrated Amplifier. I tend to avoid MP3 for serious listening though. Hope this helps and appreciate any response.
Click to expand...

You probable want to aim for something that people describe as having lots of warmth, since that usually comes with a slight rolling off and avoiding of peaks at the top end.

I'm not familiar with UK pricing, but I may be able to give you a few starting points for research. I would avoid pretty much anything from Beyerdynamic, Ultrasone, Grado, and Sony, all of which tend to be quite bright and can get a bit harsh.

The AKG K7xx range are nice, but also might be a bit bright for what you are looking for. Many people swear by the open Sennheiser sound, which I find too warm for my tastes, the 598 and 650 getting the most respect from what I understand. Since it sounds like you have decent amplification, you could also look into some open Orthodynamic headphones, which are also generally roll off at the top of the spectrum. They really, REALLY do need solid amplification, though, so most integrated amps and stereos that don't feed the headphone amp from the main amp will likely not drive them successfully. The Hifiman HE400 gets a ton of respect, and is priced more reasonably than most planar headphones.

If you are wanting more responses, you might want to create a post where more people will see it. This one's been dormant for six years.
 
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