Shiymmas
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2010
- Posts
- 16
- Likes
- 0
Hello good people of Head-Fi!
TLR; getting this out of the way, I'm looking to spend ~$400USD (give or take) on a new headphone setup. I listen to (almost) all genres of music, which will be their primary function, as well as game and watch movies with them, but am far more concerned with their performance for music. Source will be my PC, which has a Soundblaster X-Fi Xtrememusic, and I also have an old Pioneer SX 312R that I can run a pair of headphones through (although it does hiss on my current headphones). My current headphones are the AKG K240 Studio which I have loved dearly and have always been extremely comfortable, and great sounding for their price. Main complaint with them is sibilance when I turn up the volume and lack of bass (though I don't want a ton of bass). I'd probably prefer an open headphone (isolation is a non-issue), but am open to suggestions towards closed/semi-closed models as well. Also, I will be wearing these for quite a few hours on a daily basis, so they need to be comfortable.
That aside, I've been reading here quite a good bit (hours a day for a couple weeks), trying to learn as much as possible before even attempting to make a buying decision. While I was fairly sure in my thoughts before coming here, I've wound up cross-eyed, half dumb, and completely incapable of making a decision, all from browsing and reading in these boards. Fantastic source ofover information and awesome community, though.
As I mentioned above, I do have a receiver that I can run my headphones through. After reading about people using theirs as amps, I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised at the improvement to my current headphones (though not a massive difference). The trouble is that it hisses when nothing's playing with my current phones. After a while of listening to music, it's little bother, but on a regular basis I imagine it would/will get quite annoying (I only read about using receivers as an amp a day or two ago). I don't know if the trouble is my current headphones' impedance, or what, but the hissing remains regardless of which input is selected, or whether or not it's hooked up to a source. Point being that I'd be open to suggestions for an amp/headphone suggestion within my price range. Of course, if my sound card alone, or combined with my receiver will be sufficient for a higher Ohm headphone, then that definitely opens up even more options, but just yet I'm not positive how my setup will fare with higher impedance models (and is still a part of my confusion). That in mind, if it comes to it I may very well try hotrodding my X-Fi since I could do so cheaply. Also, it's worth noting that I might have use for a portable amp given that I will likely use these with my iPhone a bit as well, but I'm not too concerned about that given that it powers my K240s just fine and they aren't going anywhere.
I've always loved my AKGs. In fact, my first pair I purchased somewhere between 2001-2002. Since then, I've bought a second pair and, of course, replaced their cables a few times. I really enjoyed them from day 1, given my previous headphones were all junk. The k240 was comfortable, and sounded great right out of the box, so I never really looked any further than that. At this point, however, my current pair's cable is all but trashed, and the pads' pleather is practically falling apart, so simply replacing the cable and pads seems a bit of a waste at this point - hence my current search.
That in mind, I've kinda narrowed things down (plenty open to suggestions still!) to the AKG K702s, Beyerdynamic DT880 (ugh, which ohm?!), Denon AH-D2000, and ATH AD900. I picked these while considering (in order of importance):
I really wanted to make up my own mind, but unfortunately, my experience with headphones is limited to running through cheap-o's many years ago, until I got my AKGs. Living where I do, the nearest meets are too far away to really be feasible, and there are extremely limited options on actually auditioning headphones. I mean; there's only so much you can learn without actually hearing this stuff, so I will be having to buy blind (or deaf?).
The bottom line is: I'm trying to keep this at a budget of about $400. I'm a little flexible on that, and am definitely willing to hear suggestions that go beyond that given the potential of the classifieds here and elsewhere, as well as eBay and online stores holding sales (or coupon codes even). I mean, new is nice and all, but getting as good as I can within my price range is even better.
TIA for any help/suggestions. Lord knows; at this point, I need help.
PS - Is there any way to not default to the last post on every thread I open? It seems to be related to read/unread, but man it gets old going through hundreds of threads and being shot to the bottom, only to scroll back up every single time.
TLR; getting this out of the way, I'm looking to spend ~$400USD (give or take) on a new headphone setup. I listen to (almost) all genres of music, which will be their primary function, as well as game and watch movies with them, but am far more concerned with their performance for music. Source will be my PC, which has a Soundblaster X-Fi Xtrememusic, and I also have an old Pioneer SX 312R that I can run a pair of headphones through (although it does hiss on my current headphones). My current headphones are the AKG K240 Studio which I have loved dearly and have always been extremely comfortable, and great sounding for their price. Main complaint with them is sibilance when I turn up the volume and lack of bass (though I don't want a ton of bass). I'd probably prefer an open headphone (isolation is a non-issue), but am open to suggestions towards closed/semi-closed models as well. Also, I will be wearing these for quite a few hours on a daily basis, so they need to be comfortable.
That aside, I've been reading here quite a good bit (hours a day for a couple weeks), trying to learn as much as possible before even attempting to make a buying decision. While I was fairly sure in my thoughts before coming here, I've wound up cross-eyed, half dumb, and completely incapable of making a decision, all from browsing and reading in these boards. Fantastic source of
As I mentioned above, I do have a receiver that I can run my headphones through. After reading about people using theirs as amps, I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised at the improvement to my current headphones (though not a massive difference). The trouble is that it hisses when nothing's playing with my current phones. After a while of listening to music, it's little bother, but on a regular basis I imagine it would/will get quite annoying (I only read about using receivers as an amp a day or two ago). I don't know if the trouble is my current headphones' impedance, or what, but the hissing remains regardless of which input is selected, or whether or not it's hooked up to a source. Point being that I'd be open to suggestions for an amp/headphone suggestion within my price range. Of course, if my sound card alone, or combined with my receiver will be sufficient for a higher Ohm headphone, then that definitely opens up even more options, but just yet I'm not positive how my setup will fare with higher impedance models (and is still a part of my confusion). That in mind, if it comes to it I may very well try hotrodding my X-Fi since I could do so cheaply. Also, it's worth noting that I might have use for a portable amp given that I will likely use these with my iPhone a bit as well, but I'm not too concerned about that given that it powers my K240s just fine and they aren't going anywhere.
I've always loved my AKGs. In fact, my first pair I purchased somewhere between 2001-2002. Since then, I've bought a second pair and, of course, replaced their cables a few times. I really enjoyed them from day 1, given my previous headphones were all junk. The k240 was comfortable, and sounded great right out of the box, so I never really looked any further than that. At this point, however, my current pair's cable is all but trashed, and the pads' pleather is practically falling apart, so simply replacing the cable and pads seems a bit of a waste at this point - hence my current search.
That in mind, I've kinda narrowed things down (plenty open to suggestions still!) to the AKG K702s, Beyerdynamic DT880 (ugh, which ohm?!), Denon AH-D2000, and ATH AD900. I picked these while considering (in order of importance):
- that I might need to buy an amp to go with them (tried leaving $100-150 for an amp)
- sound quality (I can only go by reviews
- how comfortable they are (this goes x2)
- not overly heavy in bass, and no sibilance trouble (I don't crank up the volume too often, but when I do - damn shrilly S sounds)
- open - I like soundstage I suppose, but willing to bend there as sometimes semi-closed or closed might be nice (since reading about soundstage, I occasionally cup my hands over my phones and the result definitely isn't terrible)
- design - yeah, kind of a dumb thing, but some of the phones I've read about just look plain stupid, or poorly made (whether or not that's the case)
I really wanted to make up my own mind, but unfortunately, my experience with headphones is limited to running through cheap-o's many years ago, until I got my AKGs. Living where I do, the nearest meets are too far away to really be feasible, and there are extremely limited options on actually auditioning headphones. I mean; there's only so much you can learn without actually hearing this stuff, so I will be having to buy blind (or deaf?).
The bottom line is: I'm trying to keep this at a budget of about $400. I'm a little flexible on that, and am definitely willing to hear suggestions that go beyond that given the potential of the classifieds here and elsewhere, as well as eBay and online stores holding sales (or coupon codes even). I mean, new is nice and all, but getting as good as I can within my price range is even better.
TIA for any help/suggestions. Lord knows; at this point, I need help.
PS - Is there any way to not default to the last post on every thread I open? It seems to be related to read/unread, but man it gets old going through hundreds of threads and being shot to the bottom, only to scroll back up every single time.