[FCJ]

1. I've owned the 3000s for about three weeks.

2. I use them with two different systems: Sony 775/Corda HA-2/Homegrown (JMT built). System 2: Gilmore v 1/Philips 963SA/Pink Floyd built crossfeed/Audioquest Coral/Kimber PBJ.

3. Headphones: Senn 600s/AKG K-1000s/Ety 4S/Beyer 831/931/JVC HA-3/AT 900s/Sony F1.

4. The 3Ks excel at almost everything, including incredible detail, wide soundstage, great, deep bass. I have not found them to be bright.

5. Dislikes--tough to take off, build quality is only o.k., sound is super-accurate but it takes getting used to.

6. I prefer the K-1000s (and possibly the Etys) to the 3Ks.

 

[Ph34rful]

Do you guys think the CD3Ks could be driven decently by a Grado RA-1? I am currently using the RA-1 (Outlaw ICs) with HD600s/Equinox. And I am wondering if it's worth the upgrade. (My source is M-Audio Revolution most of the time) Thanks for any input you can provide.

 

[wallijonn]

RVD,

your CD3000, your equipment and my equipment, my music, my ears: female vocal lisp on some recordings.

your CD3000, your equipment, your music, my ears: male vocals sound really nice.

i believe that my immediate response after listening to it for 60 seconds was, "I don't like it". (I believe I threw in a female CD into your equipment for my very first listen. It was probably LeeAn Rymes' "Blue".)

 

[LTUCCI1924]

HI: How does the CD3000 compare to the AT A1000?

 

[yidimsum]

1. Owned/Audition: Owned 4 months
2. System: Sony 555ES (stock) / Sugden Headmaster
3. CD3000s / All 4 iterations of HP-1s and HP-2s (with Ref. cord and without Ref. cord)
4. Likes: Good Bass, isolates outside noise, very comfortable, nice case, efficient
5. Dislikes: Not close enough to the stage, artificial soundstage, too analytical and not musical, pianos do not sound that good - a Steinway concert grand sounds like a crispy Yamaha used in a jazz setup
6. Headphones Preferred: Of all the headphones I've tried (CD3K, R-10, HD 580 w/ clou, Ety 4P, SR-200s, RS-1s and HP-1000s) I have preferred the HP-1s with standard cord and flat pads hands down. There is something natural and musical about the HP-1s. Many say that the HP-1s are neutral, to me they just let the music through. It should be noted that the synergy between the Headmaster and CD3K has been known to be bad. However, the CD3Ks still don't do it for me (comparing to HP-1s out of the headphone jack of the 555ES).

 

[geek707]

1. Owned for about 1 1/2 year.
2. Micro ZOTL, Rega Planet 2000, HomeGrown Super Silver.
3. HD600-Clou Blue, 580, 560, Beyer DT990, Sony CD1700.
4. Imaging and sound stage, overall sound.
5. Build quality. Took two pairs to get a good one. The first pair had a bad channel, started getting static in the right ear from the start.The second pair started rattling within a month of owning them. I found the pivot points of the earcups had almost a 1mm play. Took some small "o" rings to the pivots to take the space up.
6. All that said, they are the best I have owned. Clearly better than the hd600's. I have not heard any of the real high end phones (R10, W2002, Stax), and would love to, but given how much more it would cost to move up from the CD3000, I think it is a great set of phones.

 

[screwdriver]

1) owned for 3 days now

2) Gilmore V2 , Outlaw PCA IC , pioneer dv656a , sony dvp NS755v

3) Senn HD 575 , AKG K501 , Sony V6, Beyer DT770pro , ATHW1000 , Sony MDR CD3000

4) soundstage for a closed phones is huge , deep and wide
detail is very good
bass has impact to it
very balanced sound .
the packaging is great too.

5) cord ,
a lil flimsy as to durability but i am just assuming .
a lil bright on certain recordings .
looks silly when you have it on

6)i prefer the sony cd3000 compared to all the headphones i have owned . a close 2nd is the ATH W1000 . but i have not ventured into the more higher end phones such as the HP1 and 2 , R10 , Stax , AKG K1000 , etc.

 

[purk]

1) Owned for two and half months now.

2) Maxed Out Meta42 with OPA637/AD8610

3) Have: Senn HD-600 w/ Clou blue, Audio-Technica AT-100ti, Sony MDR-V6 w/ Beyer Pads, E484, E888, other highend buds, Koss KSC-35, and JVC-DA-990.
Have owned: Grado SR-80,125, 225, Senn HD-590, HD-580 (w/ clou red, and cardas), Audio-Technica A1000, Sony MDR-CD1700, Denon DH-950...the lists go on.

4) Pros: Super wide and deep soundstage, nice clarity, sweet treble, excellent imaging/seperation, good bass, nice midrange, very efficient, and sound great on most sources. The best sounds quality on my current/previous headphones by a fair margin.

5) Cons: Too big, ugly, don't have a good fit, look cheap, and expensive? Can be a little bright.

 

[radrd]

1. Auditioned for about fifteen minutes.

2. Philips DVD963SA w/stock cord, Outlaw PCA IC, Headroom Cosmic (maybe w/reference module?)

3. Headphone History: See profile, but at the time I was comparing it to my W1000.

4. The build quality seemed pretty good, the cord was almost identical to the W1000, which I like. The soundstage was very wide, wider than the W1000 I thought. The sound seemed fairly similar to the W1000, both tending towards brightness rather than darkness.

5. I didn't care for the bass of the CD3000; it seemed boomy and imprecise.

6. At the time, I preferred the W1000, but not by much.

With the right system, it seems like the CD3000 would be a great headphone, but with the Cosmic, it just didn't do anything for me. However, the audition was extremely short, so I would take my opinion with about a million grains of salt. I'd like to hear it again on my own system.

 

[bangraman]

Just a formal response here:


Owned for 2+ weeks, certain amount of break in before.

History (notable phones only): Audio-Technica ATH-W2002, ATH-W1000, ATH-A1000, ATH-A900, ATH-W100, ATH-A100Ti, ATH-EM7, ATC-H5, Beyer DT770 Pro, DT250-80, Grado RS-1, SR325, SR80, SR60, Sennheiser HD600, HD280 Pro, HD25, HD212, PXC250, PX200, Sony MDR-CD1700, 7506, 7509, V700DJ, D66 and D22 Eggo, Stax SR-001 Mk II, Technics RP-DJ1210, RP-HDA100

Please see this link for the comparison, set-up and other stuff.
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...&postid=360358

 

[tom hankins]

I own the CD-3000. I prefer it slightly over my hd600/cardas, and by a wide margin over my beyer dt770pro's. With the amps I own I get slightly nicer bass out of my HD600/cardas than the CD-3000, but not enough to make up for all the things the Cd-3000's do right. Of these three pair of headphones the sony's are the only ones that before the first cd I put in was over I was really enjoying the music and it's stayed this way with every cd since. The amps I have are a headroom MOHR/w stepped attn., a JMT built meta42, and a ASL OTL32 tube amp. My only complaint is they feel loose on my head, even though they have never moved around, and they are butt ugly. I'm going to try to do a complete rewire on them with a cardas cable.

 

[Sovkiller]

Just read my signature, the best I ever tried to the date, looking for a good amp for it.....out of my speaker amp jack the sound very good, excellent...

 

[pelikan1931]

Quote:

Originally posted by radrd 1. Auditioned for about fifteen minutes. 2. Philips DVD963SA w/stock cord, Outlaw PCA IC, Headroom Cosmic (maybe w/reference module?) 3. Headphone History: See profile, but at the time I was comparing it to my W1000. 4. The build quality seemed pretty good, the cord was almost identical to the W1000, which I like. The soundstage was very wide, wider than the W1000 I thought. The sound seemed fairly similar to the W1000, both tending towards brightness rather than darkness. 5. I didn't care for the bass of the CD3000; it seemed boomy and imprecise. 6. At the time, I preferred the W1000, but not by much. With the right system, it seems like the CD3000 would be a great headphone, but with the Cosmic, it just didn't do anything for me. However, the audition was extremely short, so I would take my opinion with about a million grains of salt. I'd like to hear it again on my own system.

I also have the above both and I agree with the observations. Some further ones to add: CD3000 is THE most comfortable phone I have tried, and on the contrary AT W1000 has a rather thin pad which makes my hear hurt! CD3000 has a very powerful yet distant bass and hence quite fat sounding. AT W1000 has a less powerful bass and hence a cleaner good. AT W1000 is also more forward balanced. The nature of sound is basically the same between these two Japanese phone. The make quality and material used by W1000 is somewhat a lot better than the Sony.