Just did my used JH16 Pro remolds with Fisher Hearing. I bought them used $650 and sent them off with impression the next week. According to UPS, they were delivered on May 24 but when I called, I was told that they were received on the 27th. I just received them today (July 5th), a pretty...

Anything in the Sony XB Series DT770 Pro 80 Ohm D2000 Ultrasone Pro 900 ATH M50s   Those are the most common ones you're probably going to be recommended. As for sacrificing clarity, that's just what happens when it comes bass. Maybe DT770 because they're also bright but the midrange...

Qualitywise, lossless is lossless. FLAC vs. ALAC makes no difference but some people really like to use foobar2000 for it's small footprint and it's flexibility (i.e. you can customize it). foobar2000 can also be made to play bit-perfect playback which some say sounds better than the regular...

Voted for K702, heard the Q701. It's just a K701/2 with a little bump in the bass. Why pay for something that's not the I guess you can it the "original" K70x series sound. I think the K70x is cheaper vs. the Q701 (I might be wrong) and the K702 has the detachable cable. A precious resource for...

Quote: GO HD650, it will do well on metal/rock and electronic music. Stay away from the AKG K701, it's not very exciting at all.    

Quote: DT770 is your closest bet for bass + highs not so much mids. SRH940 and HD-25 were both bass weak for it.   Bascally DT770 = super bass, recessed mids, slightly bright highs, decent isolation, comfort   HD-25 II = great isolation, small sound stage, slightly weak bass, good...

Quote: Audio quality? Not really. There's a setting switch in the back where you can put it as "calibrated" for constant volume from the DAC and bypass the volume knob or to "variable" in which you can use the knob. Supposely, analogue volume control is better because digital controls only...

Quote: 1. Yes. DACs with built-in preamps are a dime a dozen. Quality built ones not so much.   2. Depends, it's kind of like the studio monitors vs. audiophile speakers debate. There are really good audiophile speakers and there are really bad monitors, neither work by magical...

If you're not in need of portability and noise isolation, get the D2000, it's just a fun pair of headphones. The bass on them will be close to your Ultreasones than the HD-25s. The HD-25 sound stage was too small and it completely lacked any excitement in sound. It does isolate incredibly well...

Quote: I'm biased but Benchmark DAC1 USB, ignore fancy cabling and just go with any cheap USB cable. Objective or subjective, forget clean, smooth, neutral, Benchmark is just an extensively and well measured product. It'll pull a bit-perfect signal out of most programs even iTunes (they...

What's the headphone the guy was auditioning? Yeah, I get how you feel. No need to feel petty. He is the customer but you're not Wal-Mart, the customer isn't always right for you. And what exact artists was he into?

I'd say maybe in a few headphones? Personally I bought an used K702 with stock and a $150 bronze cable, never heard a lick of difference. Of course that' just one case and might not be true of all cables.

At my peak I used the K702s for maybe 2 hours at a time and have never experience pain or discomfort. Usually after a few minutes, you forget they're there. Make sure you get the K702, the detachable cable is a precious resource (not that you need to upgrade or the cable breaks easily, it's just...

Quote: Agreed. But I don't think most of the people are discrediting the OP (maybe except for the monkey balls comment. That was just funny yet unconstructive). There's more than just large sound stage in speaking of clarity. For me, I liked my IEMs over the ATH-M50s and the ATH was...

Quote: Well I said the LCD-2 and you said that it was too much of your budget. My idea was that you'd pay $900 maybe a little more for the LCD-2 and pick up a sound card that is considered a good DAC and could drive it well for $150. Tack on shipping for both you got yourself around $1200...

If you don't mind active noise cancelling, go Bose QC15.

I've never heard the LCD-2 but the general principle of diminishing returns would say it's probably not worth 2x the price.

Go AKG K702 I think the bass is only marginally stronger than the K240 with a bigger sound stage and detail.

Well you do get pay a lot less for custom work + microengineering in full-sized cans. Personally, I wasn't too amazed with the ATH-M50 straight out of an iPod and thought my SE535 sounded better. And that was an universal IEM.

Quote: The DT880 and DT990 sound signature could not be further apart. DT880 sounds just fine out of most amps I've tried it with. IDK about balanced version, never heard it.     Quote: I don't about the math but I've heard my dt880 on an STX and it certainly sounded good and...

What genres do you listen to? I've wanted them for quite a while but I'm not sure if they're engaging enough for metal. Also, if you wear them outside are they easy to carry around sans carrying bag and easy to take off/put on at a moment's notice? Do they get in the way of you moving your head...

I'd say it's pretty difficult to break your headphones unless you have a damn powerful amp and listened to them on ridiculously high levels all the time. That being said, I have read that the HD650 headband is prone to break with heavy and constant use.

Pick up a used LCD-2 Rev. 2 with a Asus Essence STX/ST. Not a top regarded amp/DAC combo but headphones do offered the most most improvement of the chain. And also the HD600 and Q701 aren't really the most engaging headphones. So neither of them would be the best of the best for metal. Never...

  Anything containing lossless files will always have an audience will to pay. I keep lossless copies of all the music I listen to. CDs might die out but soon enough I think we'll start to see more online sales of lossless or at least higher quality music files.   Quote:   Good...

]You've only heard they're expensive because that is their problem. You pay alot for the decent performance you get on them. Not all Beats are all terrible all the time. You just pay alot for the performance you do get.