[Makiah S]

   
I recommendation is to go with the balanced cable. My experience with the NFB series amps, I owned the 6, was that there was a significant improvement when using the balanced out. Plus the MD will respond well to balanced power. Go for it!!

I'm also curious about the sound of a balanced MD... 

 

[nehcrow]

Loving these, wow. Amazing sound for the price I paid...
Any portable dac/amps that can improve the sound? Currently just driving straight out of a Macbook

 

[eron]

  Loving these, wow. Amazing sound for the price I paid...
Any portable dac/amps that can improve the sound? Currently just driving straight out of a Macbook

The Centrance HiFi M8 thread

 

[mrspeakers]

There is also a fairly active Mad Dog amplification thread here.

 

[jmass03]

This is a funny question, but do your Mad Dog's squeak? I mean, when the headphones rotate a little bit when you pull them apart, do you find them to squeak at all? Also, do you find the Alpha pads to be consistent in their "plumpness" - as in how much filler is in the pads? Or do you find that it is lacking a little bit in certain areas, or dips down, not completely uniform.

 

[zach915m]

I've always found the Alpha Pads to have a great amount of consistency, every pair I've had/used was seemingly just as good as the last.   They're just great pads.

 

[Oregonian]

I've always found the Alpha Pads to have a great amount of consistency, every pair I've had/used was seemingly just as good as the last.   They're just great pads.

X5............as I now have five pairs in use.

 

[sonitus mirus]

  I've always found the Alpha Pads to have a great amount of consistency, every pair I've had/used was seemingly just as good as the last.   They're just great pads.

 
I agree.  The only very minor issue I've had is that they are not too wide from front to back.  I have my pads slightly tilted back so that my ears fit in them better and the headband rests at an ideal spot on my head, it's possible for me to have the pad seated up against the side of my ear and applying a slight amount of pressure.  I can get a minor ache after an hour of listening if this pressure persists.  This is really a small complaint, and it is easily remedied by making a slight adjustment to properly center my ear within the cup; however, this is something that only started happening after replacing my J$ pads that I was previously using for a couple of years or more with the pair of headphones I'm now using the Alpha pads on.

 

[eac3]

  I'm also curious about the sound of a balanced MD... 

 
 

  Please share your result with me if you don't mind. I think that you'll be quite happy. 

 
I just thought I would drop in with a quick note. I have been listening and burning in both my new balanced Mad Dogs 3.2 and my NFB-28. I recently switched back and plugged in my original Single Ended (1/4") Mad Dogs v3.2 to my new NFB-28.
 
I have only compared it with one song that I am really in love with (so I know alot of the cues and different parts of the song to look forward to) and what I immediately notice is that the single-ended version sounds a little bit dark, sort of cramped, or closed in whereas the balanced version sounds wider, having more room for minor details to be heard. I am not sure if this is what you guys refer to as a wider soundstage, but that was my impression. I am definitely thinking about an all balanced setup from now on, and will most likely be upgrading my single ended version of the Mad Dogs to the balanced version of the Alpha Dogs or something else.
 
Oh, also the bass is more present on the balanced version. I believe it is subtle, but noticeable. I will do more listening now that I was able to steal my single ended Mad dogs back from my fiancee 

 
 
 
EDIT: Had my fiancee listened to both and she can definitely hear a difference. Her words for the single ended version were "sounds muffled" and "I didn't realize something could sound better than these"

 

[Makiah S]

   
 
 
I just thought I would drop in with a quick note. I have been listening and burning in both my new balanced Mad Dogs 3.2 and my NFB-28. I recently switched back and plugged in my original Single Ended (1/4") Mad Dogs v3.2 to my new NFB-28.
 
I have only compared it with one song that I am really in love with (so I know alot of the cues and different parts of the song to look forward to) and what I immediately notice is that the single-ended version sounds a little bit dark, sort of cramped, or closed in whereas the balanced version sounds wider, having more room for minor details to be heard. I am not sure if this is what you guys refer to as a wider soundstage, but that was my impression. I am definitely thinking about an all balanced setup from now on, and will most likely be upgrading my single ended version of the Mad Dogs to the balanced version of the Alpha Dogs or something else.
 
Oh, also the bass is more present on the balanced version. I believe it is subtle, but noticeable. I will do more listening now that I was able to steal my single ended Mad dogs back from my fiancee 

 
 
 
EDIT: Had my fiancee listened to both and she can definitely hear a difference. Her words for the single ended version were "sounds muffled" and "I didn't realize something could sound better than these"

:O YAY another fan of balanced WOOT. THat's pretty much what I noticed as well with my DT 880 :3 and HE 400, every time balanced had more bass presance, more details and slighty wider sound
 
WOOT another fan of balanced sound! 

 

[rollingsheet]

How are they with rock and metal music? and what about the vocals?
thank you very much.

 

[C.C.S.]

Vocals: Sound great. Female vocals are a little dark. The upper midrange is just a touch lower in amplitude than I think is probably ideal.
 
They are great headphones for rock and metal. I listen to a pretty wide variety of rock recordings and have a small collection of symphonic metal, japanese metal and some thrash. These headphones do them all justice.

 

[imackler]

 
They are great headphones for rock and metal. I listen to a pretty wide variety of rock recordings and have a small collection of symphonic metal, japanese metal and some thrash. These headphones do them all justice.

 
I really liked them for quartets, whether jazz or classical string but I didn't love them as much with some alternative stuff when there was a lot going on. Tough to put my finger on, but kind of felt muddled to me when there were a lot of competing instruments. 

 

[slim shady]

for all the mad dogs owners i want to ask a question :
 
1). both balanced and single ended 3.5mm mad dogs with the best of the amps/dac (apparently the best pairing is hi fi m8 by the looks of it) how good do they sound and how do they compare to nad hp 50 and sony mdr-1rbt is the difference too big in the areas of neutrality , flatness , accuracy , multi genre friendliness.
 
2.)Second what has been the best config for u guys in both versions balanced mad dogs+amp/dac and the single ended version+amp/dac.

 

[SpyHunterBG]

Hey everyone,
These were suggested to me in another thread. I've been seriously considering ordering a pair, but I have a question:
Currently, I have a FiiO E12 Mont Blanc, and I've been seeing mixed responses on whether or not the Mad Dogs pair well with it. Some have stated that Mr. Speakers himself said that they pair relatively well, while others have said the pairing is just nigh of terrible. I got my E12 rather recently, and don't really have the spending money to shell out for another, higher quality portable amp. I was simply wondering if anyone here knows if the E12 is a good pairing for my price range.
Any responses are greatly appreciated!
-Spy