viperxp
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2014
- Posts
- 127
- Likes
- 166
Greetings,
I've been reading this forum a lot, and thought that this time I will take some pro-active measures.
I need assistance deciding what my next headphones will be.
Some history first (so that you, specialists will be able to give me a better advice).
I will write down which gear I had, and what I liked and did not like.
Sennheiser HD100 + Cowon G3 . I like the punchy sound of Sennheisers, liked that it sounded very natural, but the power capabilities of the player were pretty low.
I switched HD100 to HD100-II - and was very disappointed. While having more bass and greater build quality the sound sounded not as clear and live as it was on HD100, it felt as if I went in some club located below earth surface, without lights on. I switched to Cowon J3 player, and while it was delivering much more powerful sound, the half-touch interface was not too good for my opinion, and I also did not like the sound of it. I switched to Cowon J3 - and instantly felt why it's a premium player. The sound was much more open (after playing with sound enhancing features). I sold HD100ii and switched to Koss KSC-75, and enjoyed every single moment of the switch. The sound was much brighter, and while having much less base, the base was fast and very controllable. I am using KSC-75 ever since almost every day and like them a lot. My J3 player was lost and I bought Sandisk Sansa+. After Rockboxing the sound was just very good, and what's most interesting - the sound is good without playing with various options of equalizer - this I could not say about Cowons. I got opportunity to buy Cowon D2+, at a very good price, which I did, and sold the Sansa. While the Cowon was just super-powerful, the sound was less airy to my taste, and had less stereo separation. So it was sold, and I bought another Sansa - that I use since that day.
I bought Audio-Technica Ath-M50 - because sometimes I want to isolate myself while traveling or working, and I read a lot of great reviews of the headphones. At first I liked them a lot, but later I started to pay attention to some other things.
1. They "like" Rihanna. Really, almost every song sounds just .. extraordinary. But other music that I occasionally listen does not sound as good. Metal (Manowar, Metallica) just lack the energy that it should have. I understand that it's because of the "recessed mids" ...
2. After using the headphones for some hours - my ears really hurt. And feel sweaty.
3. I compared the sound of Ath-M50 to Sennheiser HD580 Precision (8-10 year old model). The Sennhseisers produced sound that was much more to my liking, so natural and rich, and ATH-M50 were full of bass and with less details in mids.
Some more observations (in order to assist me finding the proper headphones).
I liked the sound of Porta Pro (but KSC-75 is better for me). I did not like Beats (i heard different models) I did not like Sure QC25 because the bass was too thin. I did not like Soul SL300 because it sounded like a soap box.... I sort of liked the Aviators but the styling was weird and so was the fit ...
Reading reviews and some data on the internet I understand that Sennheiser Momentum and the new, urbanite-xl may fit me. There is also Sony MDR-1A headphones but no reviews yet...
So .... Bottom line. I need a recommendation to a closed back headphones, that will have the sound that I like, built well, be able to be powered without an amp and cost not more than .... 250$. Is it possible ? While writing this long post I thought that there is another option, to buy HD558 (cheap and being praised but open-back) and some cheap noise cancelling headphones for those flights that I have (a couple of times a year,not more).
Please assist.
I've been reading this forum a lot, and thought that this time I will take some pro-active measures.
I need assistance deciding what my next headphones will be.
Some history first (so that you, specialists will be able to give me a better advice).
I will write down which gear I had, and what I liked and did not like.
Sennheiser HD100 + Cowon G3 . I like the punchy sound of Sennheisers, liked that it sounded very natural, but the power capabilities of the player were pretty low.
I switched HD100 to HD100-II - and was very disappointed. While having more bass and greater build quality the sound sounded not as clear and live as it was on HD100, it felt as if I went in some club located below earth surface, without lights on. I switched to Cowon J3 player, and while it was delivering much more powerful sound, the half-touch interface was not too good for my opinion, and I also did not like the sound of it. I switched to Cowon J3 - and instantly felt why it's a premium player. The sound was much more open (after playing with sound enhancing features). I sold HD100ii and switched to Koss KSC-75, and enjoyed every single moment of the switch. The sound was much brighter, and while having much less base, the base was fast and very controllable. I am using KSC-75 ever since almost every day and like them a lot. My J3 player was lost and I bought Sandisk Sansa+. After Rockboxing the sound was just very good, and what's most interesting - the sound is good without playing with various options of equalizer - this I could not say about Cowons. I got opportunity to buy Cowon D2+, at a very good price, which I did, and sold the Sansa. While the Cowon was just super-powerful, the sound was less airy to my taste, and had less stereo separation. So it was sold, and I bought another Sansa - that I use since that day.
I bought Audio-Technica Ath-M50 - because sometimes I want to isolate myself while traveling or working, and I read a lot of great reviews of the headphones. At first I liked them a lot, but later I started to pay attention to some other things.
1. They "like" Rihanna. Really, almost every song sounds just .. extraordinary. But other music that I occasionally listen does not sound as good. Metal (Manowar, Metallica) just lack the energy that it should have. I understand that it's because of the "recessed mids" ...
2. After using the headphones for some hours - my ears really hurt. And feel sweaty.
3. I compared the sound of Ath-M50 to Sennheiser HD580 Precision (8-10 year old model). The Sennhseisers produced sound that was much more to my liking, so natural and rich, and ATH-M50 were full of bass and with less details in mids.
Some more observations (in order to assist me finding the proper headphones).
I liked the sound of Porta Pro (but KSC-75 is better for me). I did not like Beats (i heard different models) I did not like Sure QC25 because the bass was too thin. I did not like Soul SL300 because it sounded like a soap box.... I sort of liked the Aviators but the styling was weird and so was the fit ...
Reading reviews and some data on the internet I understand that Sennheiser Momentum and the new, urbanite-xl may fit me. There is also Sony MDR-1A headphones but no reviews yet...
So .... Bottom line. I need a recommendation to a closed back headphones, that will have the sound that I like, built well, be able to be powered without an amp and cost not more than .... 250$. Is it possible ? While writing this long post I thought that there is another option, to buy HD558 (cheap and being praised but open-back) and some cheap noise cancelling headphones for those flights that I have (a couple of times a year,not more).
Please assist.
