[gushybear]

Hey there,

I'm looking for a good setup mainly for my desktop. I have a pretty eclectic collection of music, all ripped with 200+kbps VBR mp3. I'm looking for something with authoritative bass, because i do listen to some rap/hiphop, but i dont necessarily need bass that will make my eardrums bleed

. In short, clear and clean audio comes way before big bass, but at same time if i can get both, then great!

I've been looking at K701's, beyer 770's, and denon 5000/2000's. I also know that i will need an amp to drive them, i dont really want to spend SO much on the amp, but assuming you had $700 total, what would you do in my situation? I do have an X-fi audio sound card which i think would mean i just need an amp and not a DAC, which could save some $$.

Thanks for any input or any other suggestions, or if someone could help me pick a set of headphones / whether or not to get them recabled / what amp would work good w/ them ? (would the headroom micro be good? or the grado ?)

lemme know what other info you'd need, thanks again

 

[Cleardynamik]

I think you should try a few phones in a shop near you, cause then you'll set wat fits your hearing but what I can do is give you suggestion and that is, try something from Ultrasone, the phones have a good bass for your electronic music and hip hop and they are very clear too, so I think something like the recabled HIFI 780 would fit you.

But i can't help you very much with the amp choice, because all amps I tried with my phones did't improve as much as they lost the portability with it. One good amp i can suggest is the GoVibe V6 and it would fit in your budget.

About 600 for the HP and another 100 for the amp.


cheers tom

 

[LostOne.TR]

I'd probably suggest a different split of the 700. Unless it's an easy to amp phone, that doesn't benefit much from amping.

 

[Jaawa]

How would a combo of Denon AH-D2000 and Meier-Audio CORDA ARIETTA sound? Those combine to about USD 700, and they'll make an awesome pair for just what you're looking for, clear sound with authoritative bass

And no, the Denons don't need re-cabling in my opinion, in fact, I like the D2000's cable a lot.

 

[Covenant]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cleardynamik /img/forum/go_quote.gif try something from Ultrasone, the phones have a good bass for your electronic music and hip hop and they are very clear too

I agree, Ultrasones are good for a combination of clarity and hefty bass response.

I would be inclined to reccomend a Pro 750, along with a good amp/dac to drive them. Used these can be had for around $200, so you could spend the remaining money on something like a Pico or Predator with DAC.

K701 is clear, but difficult to drive and has a very polite and reticent bass, which wouldn't suit your needs. DT770 is very bassy, but also somewhat muddy and not so clear.

 

[gushybear]

okay thanks for the input so far!

so here's where i sit so far. i've heard (extensively) the pro 750's. i drove them from the 1/4" output from my old audigy 2 ZS soundcard (at the time the best sound card for a computer), and they did have exceptional bass response. I did find the mids kinda murkier. well that wouldn't be the right description, i'd say kind of muted i guess. It was a worse sounding but similar to a friend's senheiser 650's, in that it didn't feel very "bright" on the top end. I dont know if thats because they were sealed vs being open, so it felt more "closed" and "in the middle of my head", but either way i think sealed phones are the best choice for me in my apartment (i have a few roommates).

So how would the 780's compare to this or the senheiser 650's (these are two cans i've actually heard). And how would the AH-D2000's compare to the 780's, and/or is there is a big difference between these and the 5000's ?

Thanks so much for the great and helpful responses! its so nice to, even though i'm kinda a noob and cant describe things very well, get great advice without the sarcasm and snobbery that lots of places i've seen seems to have too much of. Once again let me know if i need to be more specific, but it seems i'm getting some good info with what i've told you

 

[Covenant]

I havent heard the other Ultrasones you've mentioned, but I have compared the Pro 750 to a Denon D2000.

D2000 has even more bass than Pro 750, but it is less controlled and 'rumblier', for lack of a better term. Mids and above struck me as sort of grainy and recessed however. Playing metal the D2000 is amazing - but throw acoustic/vocals at it, and it becomes decidedly mediocre, IMO.

Part of the problem might have been your soundcard. I have an Audigy 2 ZS as well, and it tends towards a harsh, cold, analytical sort of sound that doesnt help any with the mids.

Regarding the Ultrasone Vs Sennheiser debate, I wrote a review you might be interested in:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/ult...review-343241/

Hope that helps.

 

[gushybear]

also i notice that the HFI-780s are low impedance so i could theoretically get by without an amp ? maybe i could come in quite a bit under my $700 budget and still get what i'm looking for?

would you say that i'm missing out by going this route?

 

[Covenant]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gushybear /img/forum/go_quote.gif also i notice that the HFI-780s are low impedance so i could theoretically get by without an amp ? maybe i could come in quite a bit under my $700 budget and still get what i'm looking for? would you say that i'm missing out by going this route?

You'd be missing out, not so much for lack of an amp, but for lack of a good source. The Audigy would drive either the HFI-780's or Pro 750's relatively well, but as a source it leaves much to be desired.

Pro 750 sounds surprisingly good out of my iRiver E10, but the DAC used in the E10 sounds significantly smoother and warmer than my Audigy.

 

[MattyS54]

i was in a similar situation to yourself a while back. what x-fi card is it? i have the platinum version which has a front bay featuring a proper headphone socket. i'm not sure of the exact difference this makes to a normal 3.5mm jack but i'm pretty sure it gives a hell of a lot more power/signal. it also has audio creation mode and the all important BIT-MATCHED playback. this pumps out the audio signal with 0 resampling (so 44.1khz is 44.1khz and not 48khz), preserving 100% of the sound. this tightens the bass and impacts the mid/highs significantly. great if your source is high enough quality and you like the crystal, digital sound it gives.

i got the d2000 and run it straight out the headphone socket on the front bay. i listen to loads of hip-hop/pop/r&b/funk. something to bear in mind is that the d2000 will not exaggerate bass on crap recordings like cheaper/lower quality cans will. i actually didn't like this at first because a lot of my mp3s lack decent mastering and i've been used to that boomy effect from cheapy sony dj headphones.

after a while with them the d2000 is screw* awesome! you just need to give it the right quality recordings to work with and they definitely need burn-in. all my modern stuff from particular producers sounds amazing. i've never bobbed my head so much. i actually don't like bit-matched mode that much because as crisp as it is my ears aren't used to the extreme mids/highs. you also cant do any eq with it. i stick to normal resampling and made the sound a bit muddier/beef up the bass slightly because of my personal preference.

even when deliberately muddying the signal the d2000 still has waaaay more mids/highs/resolution/detail than anything i've heard before. pretty much everything sounds great but a crap recording is still a crap recording. if there's a lack of bass on the recording then you won't be feeling much bass. i'm used to a pretty big sub on my home cinema speakers so some tracks can seem a little tamed down.

i can only comment on the d2000 but i would recommend it as being easily driven (based on my unamped set-up) and having an extremely balanced sound. i always see people complaining about it having big big bass. i don't think it does but it probably has big bass compared to other cans that are considered highly balanced. its the bass impact thats the difference between these and my other cheaper sets though. sometimes i do want muddy bass with less impact and detail but for times when you want to fully appreciate the music the d2000 will give you loads to work with ;]

also they are EXTREMELY comfortable, if that counts for anything...

matt.

 

[gushybear]

cool!

i've been browsing some more, and see there's a "modded" cabled HFI-780 from ALO, which is about $600. At this point, i think this is where i'm leaning towards.

Lets pretend i got these, and wanted a decent amp/dac that wouldnt' break the bank that matched these headphones. what options do i have?

 

[Covenant]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gushybear /img/forum/go_quote.gif Lets pretend i got these, and wanted a decent amp/dac that wouldnt' break the bank that matched these headphones. what options do i have?

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f105/m...ro-amp-306883/

 

[gushybear]

thanks matty, people are posting before i even finish my replies! this place is awesome!

ya the ultrasones i know wont be as comfy, but from the comparisons i've heard, it seems the d2000's seem to kind of have that "THX/dolby" type bass to them, whereas the hfi-780's are kind of punchier/more crisp, which is more what i am leaning towards. i liked the 750 pro bass, so i thinkt he 780's will be right up my alley with the better quality throughout the range, espescially with that cable upgrade.

but as for amplification or DAC, or both, is there a $100-300 option that would give me great SQ out of my computer, even better points if its small enough/battery powered to bring on the road!

 

[gushybear]

ahh it happened again! thanks for the quick reply! reading now

 

[Ryzir]

I had about the same budget as you but wanted something a bit portable so this is what I came up with:

Denon D2000 - $204.87
Markl Mod + D5000 Cable(Custom Length)- $249.00
ibasso D2 Boa - $187.00
---------------------------------------------------
Total (all shipping included) - $640.87

I've only listened to the D2000 (unmodded) for about 20 hours. They fit my head really well and I really liked the sound I heard from them although some songs the bass was a bit "boomy". From what I've read the Markl mod should take care of this. The d2000's aren't back from being modded and I just ordered the D2 Boa so I'll know better in a few weeks if it was all worth it