[the Ortherion]

So i'm starting out this long journey and i want some recommendations from you guys.
 
Im no audiophile but i like good music and ways to listen to it properly. 
I live in Portugal and i'm 24years old. My first music device was a mp3 player from creative the Creative Zen Micro. Loved that player and the earbuds (ep-480 i guess) that it came with. Since then i had a lot if hearphones mainly the Sennheiser CX300 II and the Sennheiser CX880. The later were a really impressive IEM for the price i payed. Unfortunately they broke and until now i couldn't afford a new one so im using the ones that came bundled with my Xperia T together with some Sennheisers CX215.
 
Recently i've made up my mind that i want a set of headphones for home listening. Considering my background in IEM and considering my sources: Macbook Aluminium (first edition), Xperia T and iPod Nano 4th gen what headphones should i get. I don't want to spend a lot of money for now, like 100usd tops. Later i plan to get a DAC + AMP for home use too. So my options for now are:
 
- Creative Aurvana Live 1 ou 2
- Fischer Audio FA-003/Brainwavz HM5/Jaycar 
- Used Sennheiser HD580
 
I've been tempted by the second ones since people say these are really good and i can get them pretty cheap from Jaycar. What do you guys think?
 
Also, for amps and or DAC? Since  my main source for desktop will be my Macbook with FLAC musica should i get a DAC or the internal sound card is enough? The Amp is a must also?
 
For DAC+AMP i considered 
 

- iBasso D-Zero High Performance DAC & Headphone Amplifier

- Topping TP30 MKII Class T Amplifier & USB DAC with Headphone Amp
- Topping D1 Mark 2 USB DAC & Headphone Amplifier
- FiiO E07K Andes USB DAC & Audio Amplifier
 
Also one more question there is a guy locally who is selling some used Sennheiser HD600 for about 164£ (negotiable) with a ruined cable. Do you guys think this is a good buy? Whats the good price for a used pair? If this is a good deal i will try to stretch my budget to get them but will not be able to buy the Amp for them right away. Do you think the amp's i listed are good enough to drive the Hd600?
 
Thank you and sorry for this huge topic

 

[sinnottj]

  So i'm starting out this long journey and i want some recommendations from you guys.
 
Im no audiophile but i like good music and ways to listen to it properly. 
I live in Portugal and i'm 24years old. My first music device was a mp3 player from creative the Creative Zen Micro. Loved that player and the earbuds (ep-480 i guess) that it came with. Since then i had a lot if hearphones mainly the Sennheiser CX300 II and the Sennheiser CX880. The later were a really impressive IEM for the price i payed. Unfortunately they broke and until now i couldn't afford a new one so im using the ones that came bundled with my Xperia T together with some Sennheisers CX215.
 
Recently i've made up my mind that i want a set of headphones for home listening. Considering my background in IEM and considering my sources: Macbook Aluminium (first edition), Xperia T and iPod Nano 4th gen what headphones should i get. I don't want to spend a lot of money for now, like 100usd tops. Later i plan to get a DAC + AMP for home use too. So my options for now are:
 
- Creative Aurvana Live 1 ou 2
- Fischer Audio FA-003/Brainwavz HM5/Jaycar 
- Used Sennheiser HD580
 
I've been tempted by the second ones since people say these are really good and i can get them pretty cheap from Jaycar. What do you guys think?
 
Also, for amps and or DAC? Since  my main source for desktop will be my Macbook with FLAC musica should i get a DAC or the internal sound card is enough? The Amp is a must also?
 
For DAC+AMP i considered 
 

- iBasso D-Zero High Performance DAC & Headphone Amplifier

- Topping TP30 MKII Class T Amplifier & USB DAC with Headphone Amp
- Topping D1 Mark 2 USB DAC & Headphone Amplifier
- FiiO E07K Andes USB DAC & Audio Amplifier
 
Also one more question there is a guy locally who is selling some used Sennheiser HD600 for about 164£ (negotiable) with a ruined cable. Do you guys think this is a good buy? Whats the good price for a used pair? If this is a good deal i will try to stretch my budget to get them but will not be able to buy the Amp for them right away. Do you think the amp's i listed are good enough to drive the Hd600?
 
Thank you and sorry for this huge topic

 
Hi!
 
Creative Aurvana Live! (v1) are a great sounding headphone for the money, and most reviews I've read say they are better than the Version 2 (I've never heard the v2 however.)  They are very easy to drive and don't really need an amp.
 
I bought the Jaycar's myself after reading lots of good reviews on this site, but sold them pretty quickly as I didn't like them. They are a very 'closed in' sounding headphone, and seemed a bit like listening to music in a cave.
 
Sennheiser HD 580 / 600 are one of the best headphones I've ever heard and highly recommended! They benefit from amping, but any of those you listed will work fine. They are very open though, so other people will hear what you are listening to!
 
£164 for a used HD 600 would be OK if the condition was otherwise very good. The cable can be replaced with a Sennheiser HD 650 cable for £12 / 15 euro.
 
However, if the earpads are in bad shape (e.g. very flat or a bit smelly) then replacing them is expensive: £40 / 50 euro, so I'd factor that into your price. These headphones deserve good condition earpads

 

[gradofan1]

The amps you have will drive a HD580/600, but not well enough. I know this from experience in my noob days of audiophiling. And no, your macbook will not drive a HD580 or HD600.
 
Why not a HE400 that doesn't require an amp and just got a $100 price drop? Works very well even unamped.
 
Otherwise the basic schiit magi/modi is a good starter choice for the HD580/600. Or a NuForce HDP if you want a long term investment/can afford it.
 
IMPORTANT: DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CARDAS (or equivalent) CABLE! The stock HD6xx cables are horrible compared to a cardas or moon audio cable. It's well worth the $100-150 you can find used online or in the trading forums.

 

[sinnottj]

Well, I have a HD 600 and it runs perfectly fine out of my macbook. It even runs pretty well out of a Sansa Clip!
 
It sounds better when properly amped, but they're really not *that* hard to drive.
 
Also, the stock cables are fine, as far as I can tell. I trust the engineers at Sennheiser to supply a cable that is at the very least compentent  (and, for what it's worth, I tried an upgrade cable and couldn't personally hear any difference ... you mileage may vary!)

 

[the Ortherion]

double post -.-

 

[the Ortherion]

  The amps you have will drive a HD580/600, but not well enough. I know this from experience in my noob days of audiophiling. And no, your macbook will not drive a HD580 or HD600.
 
Why not a HE400 that doesn't require an amp and just got a $100 price drop? Works very well even unamped.
 
Otherwise the basic schiit magi/modi is a good starter choice for the HD580/600. Or a NuForce HDP if you want a long term investment/can afford it.
 
IMPORTANT: DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CARDAS (or equivalent) CABLE! The stock HD6xx cables are horrible compared to a cardas or moon audio cable. It's well worth the $100-150 you can find used online or in the trading forums.

 
Hey guys, first of all thank you for your reply. The thing is, i can't afford super expensive headphones right now, so my ceiling for one could be 100euro tops. I talked to the guy who was selling the HD600 and he said that the price was not that flexible and despite thinking that its a nice price i couldn't afford them. 
So im down to either the CAL or the Jaycars or even the HD580 used, however they are pretty rare to come by on ebay. I can't seem to find the CAL v1 also but the Jaycars are pretty easily available from JAycar uk.
I've never heard the CAL, actually i've only heard the Denon 1100 and they seemed to me like i was listening music very far away. To be honest i tough that these Denon were worst then my Sennheiser's CX880 IEM. Any of these headphones that im willing to buy sound remotely like the Denons? If soo i think ill pass on them.
 

  Well, I have a HD 600 and it runs perfectly fine out of my macbook. It even runs pretty well out of a Sansa Clip!
 
It sounds better when properly amped, but they're really not *that* hard to drive.
 
Also, the stock cables are fine, as far as I can tell. I trust the engineers at Sennheiser to supply a cable that is at the very least compentent  (and, for what it's worth, I tried an upgrade cable and couldn't personally hear any difference ... you mileage may vary!)

 
I've been researching and it seems that down the road im gonna get the magi/modi stack. I don't need portability for now and it seems a great starting point for DAC + AMP.

 

[the Ortherion]

  So im down to either the CAL or the Jaycars or even the HD580 used, however they are pretty rare to come by on ebay. I can't seem to find the CAL v1 also but the Jaycars are pretty easily available from JAycar uk.
I've never heard the CAL, actually i've only heard the Denon 1100 and they seemed to me like i was listening music very far away. To be honest i tough that these Denon were worst then my Sennheiser's CX880 IEM. Any of these headphones that im willing to buy sound remotely like the Denons? If soo i think ill pass on them.
 
 
I've been researching and it seems that down the road im gonna get the magi/modi stack. I don't need portability for now and it seems a great starting point for DAC + AMP.

 
Just to give some closure on this thread. I came across some vintage Sennheiser HD560 Ovation II locally and pretty cheap. So i took the plunge. Im waiting for them.
 
I just need an amp. Right now im considering the Bravo V2 and the JDS Labs Cmoy