cjp87
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2010
- Posts
- 28
- Likes
- 11
Hi all, this is largely a replication of a post I made earlier this year before the change in format that moved the help threads to this board. I ended up just repurchasing a set of Thinksound ms01s at that time, which are still going great for me, but I still find myself wanting a set of over-ears because, well, I'm a gadget addict.
For the longest time, I've only bought IEMs. The reason for this is that they're small, easy to carry, and tend to be the most comfortable IMO. I love the isolation that they afford, and the small drivers don't require any sort of amplification (most of the time) to get their best sound. But I also know that there's not much substitute for the price/quality ratio of over-ear headphones, and so I think I need to investigate that side of things.
I'm looking around the $150 price point, give or take. Things I would like to have are:
As good of sound quality as possible with an emphasis on "natural" balance and tone; I also like just a little warmth in the sound
Good isolation (I would likely be wearing them at the research lab at school that has very little ambient sound, and I wouldn't want to add to it)
Closed-back (to help with the isolation)
Over-ear cans, not on-ear (on-ear always hurts after awhile)
Doesn't require amplification (my source would likely be a Macbook Pro or Nexus 4)
The music types that are important to me as far as sound reproduction goes are as following (descending order):
Jazz/Instrumental
Symphonic
Classic Rock
Progressive Rock
Then a mess of eclectic stuff past that.
Some things that I've come across that piqued my interest were the Shure SRH440/840, the Beyerdynamic DT 770 (80Ω), KRK KNS8400, and the Ultrasone HFI-780. Now, that's certainly not an exhaustive list of what I'd consider, just some examples of what I've found. My biggest issue is that many of them seem to have conflicting reviews regarding sound signatures (for example, the DT 770 was described both as a great natural headphone and as "ice picks to the ears" harsh on the highs).
I'd greatly appreciate any input, thanks for reading.
For the longest time, I've only bought IEMs. The reason for this is that they're small, easy to carry, and tend to be the most comfortable IMO. I love the isolation that they afford, and the small drivers don't require any sort of amplification (most of the time) to get their best sound. But I also know that there's not much substitute for the price/quality ratio of over-ear headphones, and so I think I need to investigate that side of things.
I'm looking around the $150 price point, give or take. Things I would like to have are:
As good of sound quality as possible with an emphasis on "natural" balance and tone; I also like just a little warmth in the sound
Good isolation (I would likely be wearing them at the research lab at school that has very little ambient sound, and I wouldn't want to add to it)
Closed-back (to help with the isolation)
Over-ear cans, not on-ear (on-ear always hurts after awhile)
Doesn't require amplification (my source would likely be a Macbook Pro or Nexus 4)
The music types that are important to me as far as sound reproduction goes are as following (descending order):
Jazz/Instrumental
Symphonic
Classic Rock
Progressive Rock
Then a mess of eclectic stuff past that.
Some things that I've come across that piqued my interest were the Shure SRH440/840, the Beyerdynamic DT 770 (80Ω), KRK KNS8400, and the Ultrasone HFI-780. Now, that's certainly not an exhaustive list of what I'd consider, just some examples of what I've found. My biggest issue is that many of them seem to have conflicting reviews regarding sound signatures (for example, the DT 770 was described both as a great natural headphone and as "ice picks to the ears" harsh on the highs).
I'd greatly appreciate any input, thanks for reading.
