[rwalkerphl]

Hi All,

I've been reading a lot on the forms and reviews, and decided to its as I am losing it a little with information overload

I'm looking to get a decent pair of over ears and an amp. I'm a musician, and record music some, but want a less flat sound than just the monitors I use. I currently use K702's or MD7506's for recording and monitoring.

With a budget of $1k, I'm not sure what to budget for each component. I have a UAD Apollo for a DAC, so I'm sorted there.

The Audeze EL-8 look interesting or possibly the HD650 maybe.

From a music perspective, pretty wide - EDM/Trance to Classical - baroque to modern, jazz - small combo to orchestra, blues and rock
So, if this is not too open a question, any recommendations on a good combo?

Thanks!
Robin.

 

[GREQ]

I would set aside more of the budget for the headphone rather than the amp since amps vary less in overall subjective performance than headphones.
 
I agree with looking at the HD650 maybe also look into:
Hifiman HE-560 (maybe too bright/flat/boring?)
Mr. Speakers Alpha Dog/Prime

 

[lugnut]

I would get a good amp that can power about everything and be done buying amps no matter what headphones I buy.  Enter the the Gustard h-10 enough quality power to take care of most cans, except maybe Hifiman he-6. Read that they powered the he-6 ok, I would have to hear that. But anyway it is a fine amp, read all about it.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/735828/gustard-h10-high-current-discrete-class-a-output-stage-headphone-amplifier
 
If you have thought about the HD650 you owe it to your self  to try out the Philips Fidelio X2 very nice open phones for around $300. Great info here. http://www.head-fi.org/t/723025/philips-fidelio-x2/4545
 
About $350 for the amp and $300 for the headphones, so well within your budget.

 

[Kozic]

I would get a good amp that can power about everything and be done buying amps no matter what headphones I buy.  Enter the the Gustard h-10 enough quality power to take care of most cans, except maybe Hifiman he-6. Read that they powered the he-6 ok, I would have to hear that. But anyway it is a fine amp, read all about it.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/735828/gustard-h10-high-current-discrete-class-a-output-stage-headphone-amplifier

If you have thought about the HD650 you owe it to your self  to try out the Philips Fidelio X2 very nice open phones for around $300. Great info here. http://www.head-fi.org/t/723025/philips-fidelio-x2/4545

About $350 for the amp and $300 for the headphones, so well within your budget.

Mass drop has the Gustard H10 for 299$ + shipping for 4 more days

 

[rwalkerphl]

Thanks all for the input. The HE-560's peaked my interest, and there was a pair in the for sale section at a price that looked good! On the amp front, I noticed the Cavalli Audio Liquid Carbon is still for sale, so I opted for one of those. It totaled up a little more than I expected, but I think I have something that will be quite special for me, and a good baseline for the future.

 

[Claritas]

Since you're looking for something "different" and what's lacking most in your current phones is bass, I suggest that you try a planar. HE400i is pretty good and it works well with many genres. The new Hifimans are also quite comfortable. Best luck!

 

[Sam Neil]

Hi All,

I've been reading a lot on the forms and reviews, and decided to its as I am losing it a little with information overload

I'm looking to get a decent pair of over ears and an amp. I'm a musician, and record music some, but want a less flat sound than just the monitors I use. I currently use K702's or MD7506's for recording and monitoring.

With a budget of $1k, I'm not sure what to budget for each component. I have a UAD Apollo for a DAC, so I'm sorted there.

The Audeze EL-8 look interesting or possibly the HD650 maybe.

From a music perspective, pretty wide - EDM/Trance to Classical - baroque to modern, jazz - small combo to orchestra, blues and rock

So, if this is not too open a question, any recommendations on a good combo?

Thanks!
Robin.

I know it's an old post but I'm sailing in the same boat now. I own a UA Apollo Quad Firewire.
 

Output Impedance

Line: 600 Ohms, Monitor: 600 Ohms, Headphones: 12 Ohms

I'm planning on Sennhiser HD800
 

1. Nominal impedance: 300 Ω

Would it work? Or I'd be stupid to make that investment thinking that I'm gonna hear some stellar sound?
I'm a music producer and also own a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50 currently. I wanna upgrade to HD800 since I started to mix my own tracks and Soundstage is my prima requisite.

Any suggestion would be deeply appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[rwalkerphl]

The HD800's are nice headphone, and the closest you will get to speakers in headphones. I used them with the UAD Apollo, and they worked fine. I'm not sure I would recommend them for sound production though. I found the K7XX work quite well with the Apollo and give you a good soundstage from a mixing perspective. I'm comparing them to mixing on Dynaudio BM5 MKII's.
 
FYI, I sold the HD800's in the end, as I didn't have a need for them between my Monitors and K7XX's
 
Regards,
Robin.

 

[Sam Neil]

Thanks for the reply. I agree when you say HD800 is the closest you can get to a pair of monitors. As I said earlier I'd be using it for mixing and mostly for mixing Orchestral Scores. But I am not sure if I would be doing justice to a

300 Ω headphone to a 12 

Ω amp of UAD Aollo. Would it be able to draw that power? Would I be able to enjoy it's full potential? Would it serve the purpose?

 

[rwalkerphl]

See here: http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/headphone-amp-impedance.html