[tom hankins]

If I was putting together a system for electronica or any other type music in your price range it would consist of....
Used Rega Planet 2000
Singlepower PPX3 amp
Senn. HD650 headphones
Grover Silver reference IC's
This would fit into your budget. Later I would add the RCA cleartop tubes to the amp and the Zu Mobius cable to the phones. Followed by LAT International AC2 power cords for both the amp and CDP. Good luck with whatever you do, I hope it works out for you.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

CD3000 vs HD650/600/580 is all about what kind of sound your prefer. To me the CD3K sounds lively, the Senns boring. Somoeone who finds the Senns fun might find the CD3K overexcited or fatiguing. You just need to try both and see what camp you're in.

 

[commando]

Since this guy cross posted to lots of forums, i'm going to cross post this too.

A warning: I went to raves every 2nd or 3rd weekend for 2-3 years, and listened to VERY loud music through my headphones at work. I occasionally had ringing in my ears, but it always went away within a few hours or a day at most.

One night I went to one rave that was very loud, the floor was shaking. In some parts of the dance floor the sound was painfully loud. I had ringing in my ears the next day, and it never went away. I now have mild tinitus. You wouldn't believe how much it changes your life: I avoid even moderately loud bars because my ears hurt and ring the next day. Going to even quiet movies I have to wear ear plugs. When it's quiet at night I have ringing in my ears.

THIS WILL HAPPEN TO YOU IF YOU LISTEN TO VERY LOUD MUSIC FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME. Take my advice and focus on quality of music at a reasonable volume, because one day you'll find the straw that breaks the camels back. You're not special or unique in this sense, it CAN happen to you. The damange is cumulative, so like me you'll be fine then one day your ears will keep ringing. There is no cure, and no prospect of one in the near or even medium term future.

This was a public service announcement by commando, trying to help prevent others damaging their hearing as i've done to mine. Take it seriously.

 

[cmk]

I reckon the Grado SR325 would be a good bet for that jump factor. I feel it is also well balanced from the lows to the highs. Although some complain that it can sound bright, I think these are just problems with their source equipment being amplified. The only complaint is with the somewhat uncomfortable headset, but you can get around that by stretching the headset and changing the pads to comfort pads.

 

[commando]

While i'm here I could give my opinion too

I listen to a lot of dance music, from hard house like Steve Hill to mellow stuff like BT (who btw you should definitely check out). I also listen to stuff like Norah Jones.

The Senn 280 was my first purchase, but they're too harsh for dance. The AKG 271 was next, and it was a good improvement. Not as detailed as the 280, but much smoother and with a LOT better bass. Currently i'm using CD3000s, which are fantastic. They offer so much detail, and ellectronic music has lots and lots of details. Their bass is a little bit lean, so sometimes I use bass boost, and my new PPA will have hardware bass boost.

I rarely if ever use the AKG271 now, even though the bass is a little better I prefer the detail and clarity of the CD3K. Going from 271 -> 3000 it was like someone had taken cotton wool out of my ears.

 

[james__bean]

Markl that was some really good advice. I think I've found the sound that I'm looking for. I bought some ATH-A900's and I love these things. Now only a source and amp to go.

 

[AdamZuf]

from the headphones i heard (CD3000, HD600, DT880, SR80, RS-1, ER-4P, Shure E5, HP-1000), i rate the RS-1 to be the absolute best elecronica headphones. the CD3000 are second best, but only with the DI/O (but not a mensa, like mine).
however, i'm very slightly eq'ing my RS-1 with bowl pads. using the RA-1 amp fixes the highest frequency problem completly - yet tht range is a bit lacking that way.
with flat pads, the sound is increadible, but ain't very "true" to the recording. it does blow my mind sometimes..

you can read my review of the CD3000 for electronic music in here. in many terms, the CD3000 beat the RS-1 (soundstage, certain aspects of "contrast", macro 3D structure, frontal imaging)
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...threadid=47421
i used to make psytrance parties with friends, and i know what good amplification sounds like.. the CD3000 has that intoxicating darkness in them with the DI/O when the track supposed to sound scary. the way they diffrentiate between the different part of the spectrum is remarkable, but the RS-1 are more detailed. the note of high pitched electronic sounds is the most precievable, making your mind to "sing" the note more easily.
the RS-1 are more "bad"; attacking, growling, grooving. they are stiff, yet they fly.. however, you might find the CD3000 to fly just as well; they both speak a very different language, both are awesome.
the RS-1 has something that is missing in all other headphones i've heard; honesty. the meening of music just come out with no effort (something people would say about ety's, but they are no match for the RS-1 IMO). female vocals are amazing.. my guess is that you like house music... sometimes female vocals are present.. and the RS-1 definetly stand up to the DT880's class in that area.
the RS-1 more reminds me of car audio (small drivers characteristics), while the CD3000 reminds me big amlification. of coarse that the big picture is that the CD3000 have more speaker like presentation.

the E5 sound too fake for me... something very bad is going in the lower midrange over there.. that's responsible for soundstage but destroys fidelity..

the DT880, HD600, ER-4P/X/S and HP1000 (with bowls!) are definetly behind.
the ER-4's does have good detail, but are too sterile for me. i don't tap my feet.

BTW, a friend of mine, which is DJ for a lot of years, prefered the CD3000+ DI/O on top of the DT880 and HD600. i used to home mix too, and i think that the RS-1+RA-1 combo would be best.
however, i would look into the MS-Pro's if i were you

 

[tktran]

I've DJed for 8 hours non-stop with Sennheiser HD25. In a club environment with 90dB+ continuous. The slightly boosted bass means that I can turn down the volume (protect my ears) and not skip a beat.

In the privacy of my own home I enjoy the same headphones. When I go record shopping I carry them with me as they will give me a feel for what that track will sound like when I play out.

But the majority of my personal listening & production is done with HD600. If I find it a bit too boring to my ears I can always play with EQ. That's what consoles/mixing desks are for. You need good reference equipment when listening to your recordings. eg. BT mixes his albums using MDR-V7506 (see: BT- ESCM [Warner])

IME targetting a flat response = Accuracy, for home listening that may not be everyone's liking. I'm sure everyone's perception of tonal balance and distortion are different (Associates who say the HD600 is sound a little laid back or boring for dance music tend to be the same about most speakers, or tend to run pairs of 12" sealed monopole subwoofers alongside their 3 way full range floorstanders)

But when you get a headphone with over/under emphasised frequencies it may compensate for certain program material and hence sound great. No problems if you have very select musical diet but if you listen to all sorts (or don't have $$$ to buy handfuls of different headphones) of music it severely restricts the type of music you can enjoy.

Bottom line- I agree 99% with Markl's headphone search advice. (except for the bit on amount spent on source vs amplification but I suspect my bias is due to coming from a speaker/recording environment, that's another long story...)

But if you're on the cheap and just want to recreate the feel of that club or rave event There's plenty of affordable lower-fi options to match low-fi club sound. KSC-35/55 & EX71SL will get you dancing in no time.

 

[DRuM]

Well, I listen to a lot of deep house and funky house, and I've got some stuff here in a techno or electronica style. To me, it sounds incredibly detailed, powerful, smooth, and very musical. Makes me dance ( in my seat) everytime. 580's that is.

But I guess with the sort of money you have available, you'll do a lot better.

 

[Sphinx]

Buendia,

I just recently put together a nice headphone rig that comes close to you're budget.

It comprises of the following

MAD Ear+

Meridian 206

Electrocompaniet ECD-1 DAC

Grado RS-1

The sound that this produces when it comes to electronica is quit phenomenal.

When I first hooked it up and put in some Shpongle(Psy-trance) I couldn't believe the amount of seperation and the clarity of everything. THe bass is also extremely tight and clear no bloating whatsoever.

I would strongly recommend at the least the MAD Ear+ and RS-1's as a starter as far as sources go I havn't herd to many to compare so that is entirely up to you.

If you like to know some more info just shoot me over a PM.


Good luck

 

[buendia]

THREADS CONCERNING DANCE/ELECTRONICA VS IDEAL HEADPHONE RIG ARE PLACED ON SOURCE, AMP AND HEADPHONE FORUMS.
MAIN THREAD IS ON HEADPHONE FORUM.

You guys are really cool, you enlightened my mind, especially Markl with the information where to start the search. I have about six months for that. I`m going to be in the U.S. in summer so maybe I`ll have the occasion to buy an amp and the cans.
Nevertheless, I`m going to stay in Colorado and it ain`t be easy to hear sth over there. Maybe there will be something in Denver?
To be honest I don`t know how to begin. I would love to hear the sound I like - a few days ago I`ve heard in some club Pioneer CDJ 700 and I was surprised how close was it to the sound of vinyl. I was impressed, but there was a few question tags. There was too much bass and it was more boomy than
precise, but that could be thanks to the amplifier and 4 JBLs that gave out really loud sound. I don`t like that kind of bass too much. It`s too `clubby`. I like it more spacy, liquid and organic. With better low bass. And there should be that special quietness in the air. I know that my budget maybe a little bit sucks. But I believe there is a rig for me. I think one of you has got it. Hmmm...

CD3000, HD 650 (similar to hd600?), SR325 (rs 1`s too expensive for my budget - does this difference is so meaningful?).
What would be the effect with Rega Planet (orig.1, 2000, 3)? Probably the original REga Planet had the heights a little bit veiled - is there someone who listened to it through CD3k? Is it a good match? Or better would be some arcam? I really care about the lowest octaves. They must play the music and not just be a background.

What is the difference in bass and overall sound between solid state and tube amp?
What makes you prefer one or another?
These are just the most urgent of my questions.

 

[commando]

And now there's two threads in the headphone forum with the same title. A mod should close this thread.

 

[tom hankins]

If your going to be in Denver area, contact Mikhail. Singlepower is located there. You can probably hear all of his amps.

 

[Geek]

The HD650s are the best headphone here, I've heard CD3000, HD600, RS-1, DT880 on $3000+ amp and source combo and the best by far are HD650s.

AND OH BOY DO THEY SOUND GOOD LOUD!

I listen at low volumes, but I can crank them up really loud without distortion of any kind, the bottom end is incredibly deep, highs are perfect; smooth, detailed, and absolutely no weirdness (the other phones are too bright). Mids are nautral and flat, the emphasis if any is on the midrange, and bass.

What attracts me to the HD650 is their tonal and fundamental center is in the bass, where it lies in real life. Therefore its logical to use these phones. I havent heard other high end open phones that do this effectively.

They sound great with a nice amp and a good source, so you'd be looking at spending $1000 at a minimum overall. Get an amp by Headroom if you like a slightly warmer sound, and an amp by Corda if you like a slightly brighter sound, both are good amp manufacturers; I'd stick with the headroom amps for dance music to provide a stronger bottom end with the option to toggle brightness but thats personal taste.

Cheers,
Geek

 

[asdfeproiu9]

If you are dead set on a Rega Jupiter, I cannot help you there since I have never heard them before - although I am sure any of them would make a fine source.

With regards to CD3000, HD650, or SR-325 - they each sound completely different from each other and it is a matter of personal taste. Coincidentally, I have a pair of HD650's for sale ...
Hehe.

With regards to amplifiers, this is my approach: a certain amplifier sounds good not because it is solid-state or tubed, but because it was designed and built well. Essentially, there are a few generalizations one can apply to them: such as solid-state amps having more bass impact or tube amps producing smoother music. However, these generalizations, more often than not, do not provide the whole picture and there are obvious exceptions to these 'rules.'

Also, system synergy is a very important factor, especially between the headphone and the amplifier. That is why I suggest you decide which headphone you want first, and then perform research on amplifiers that match well with it.