[AudioJ]

I'm hoping to buy a new pair of cans within the next couple days. So far I'm considering the
ATH-900's for($249.00)
ATH-900TI's for($369.00)
ATH-W1000's for($334.84)
does anyone have any recommendations about these 3 or any other cans?

Price
200-400

Music
Electronic, rap, rock, classical and everything in between.

Specifications
Edit (Will be powerd by the FiiO E5)
Edit (Hoping to have some isolation w/o any true white noise cancellation)
-used at home pulled into a computer as well as on the go(car rides, plane rides etc.)

One final Questions
Has anyone had any experience with warehouse123.com?

Thanks in advance for any advice i truly appreciate it.

 

[scytheavatar]

FWIR, all of the ATH woodies sound terrible unamped, so the W1000 might not be good for you. Between the A900 and A900 Ti I'll go for the A900 Ti, it's a nice upgrade from the A900. If you are looking for a cheap option you can consider the RX900 too. For portability the ES7 might be a better option.

 

[fjrabon]

Might look into Grado SR225i's. I think that Grados are the best upper-middle end 'phones unamped. With most other brands, I think you need an amp more than you do with the upper middle Grados.

 

[1Time]

Unamped:
I was not all that impressed with the A900, but I was impressed with the Proline 650 especially with bassy electronica. > both from a cheap sound card.

I suggest considering an Ultrasone from Northern Sound & Light. And, if using onboard sound from your PC, I suggest upgrading to a USB DAC / amp like one from HotAudio.com.

 

[fjrabon]

also, why are you not going to amp? Price or portability issues? I love my FiiOE5, its both cheap ($20) and highly portable (almost the exact same size and form factor as an iPod shuffle). I feel like to really get the most out of the headphones in the $200-$400 range, you at least need a cheap amp.

With my Denon AH D1001's, they're fantastic unamped, most times people list them in best under $150, unamped threads. But they FiiO E5 really tightens them up and makes them a lot clearer. The Grados don't benefit nearly as much from the FiiO, that is until you turn on the bass boost circuit. But they don't benefit from jsut the amp power the way the Denons do. Didn't mean to get on a tanget, but my point is twofold 1) if you're going unamped, definitely at least look at Grados. 2) Highly consider at least a small portable amp if you're going to drop up to $400 on headphones.

 

[AudioJ]

Thats a very good point the only problem with the grados is that they are open air. Since I'm hoping to use the new cans in public (at least to my nub opinion) it seems like a set of closed cans would be beneficiary.

 

[AudioJ]

As far as an amp goes I truly just don't know enough about headphones to have realized that they were that beneficiary and that a cheap amp costing $20 was even available.

 

[fjrabon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AudioJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thats a very good point the only problem with the grados is that they are open air. Since I'm hoping to use the new cans in public (at least to my nub opinion) it seems like a set of closed cans would be beneficiary.

Missed the bit about being on the go. As much as I love my Grados, I'd maybe scratch them. I really view them as a "stationary only" headphone. Also they're definitely no good for plane rides.

From what you've said, I'd look to one of the middle level Denons, with the FiiO E5.

Or, you can do what I did. Get the SR225's AND the Denon AH D1001's. Both together plus a FiiO E5 and they're still under your $400 limit. Then you have a fantastic home 'phone and a closed 'phone you'll really enjoy on its own merits. I really think you get so much bang for the buck out of an open 'phone that you might as well just get one for your home needs and then get something to at least get you by 9and the D1001 will do much more than that) for on-the-go needs.

 

[fjrabon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AudioJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif As far as an amp goes I truly just don't know enough about headphones to have realized that they were that beneficiary and that a cheap amp costing $20 was even available.

amps vary wildly, and if you had a $150 limit, I'd say go ampless at this point. But $200-$400 is a different area in headphone quality.

At that point I'd definitely say, even putting the FiiO aside, a $300 'phone + a $100 amp is usually better than a $400 'phone and no amp. But that's a really big generality.

Also, for home use, I can't agree more with the guy above who recommended the DAC/amp combos from Hotaudio.com Dave (the guy who IS hotaudio.com) is just a pleasure to deal with and he makes really great, amazingly priced products that give you what you need.

 

[AudioJ]

Thanks for the advice an amp seems to be worth buying. However would it be worth possibly investing in a decent pair of say ath-900ti's now and buying an amp a couple months down the road?
The last thing i want to be doing is buying the $400 dollar pair of headphones a couple months down the road in order to truly be able to make use of my new amp.

 

[1Time]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AudioJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for the advice an amp seems to be worth buying. However would it be worth possibly investing in a decent pair of say ath-900ti's now and buying an amp a couple months down the road? The last thing i want to be doing is buying the $400 dollar pair of headphones a couple months down the road in order to truly be able to make use of my new amp.

Good. You should be concerned. What sound card or other source equipment will you be plugging these headphones into, your PC's onboard sound?

 

[fjrabon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AudioJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for the advice an amp seems to be worth buying. However would it be worth possibly investing in a decent pair of say ath-900ti's now and buying an amp a couple months down the road? The last thing i want to be doing is buying the $400 dollar pair of headphones a couple months down the road in order to truly be able to make use of my new amp.

It really depends on what you're after and how well you know what you're after. The problem with just jumping into a $400 'phone is usually that you aren't quite sure what you're after going into it. And by buying a $400 'phone, you're going to take a major hit in reselling it, if its not what you're after, whereas you can typically sell SR80s or SR225s, and only take a marginal hit in resell value. Also, things sound different amped, and I think its good to know when you're in the $200+ range what is going to work amped well. A lot of people will buy a $400 headphone with no amp and end up preferring a $100 headphone, simply because the $100 headphone sounds better unamped.

Also, if you're thinking about the FiiO E5, a lot of people will buy it as their first amp, and then when they upgrade their home system, the FiiO just becomes their ultraportable amp, which it really excels at.

 

[AudioJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1Time /img/forum/go_quote.gif Good. You should be concerned. What sound card or other source equipment will you be plugging these headphones into, your PC's onboard sound?

Right now its just my pc's on board sound card, and an ipodr.

However the FiiO E5 sounds so tempting i might purchase one in the next couple of day.

 

[Connie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AudioJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm hoping to buy a new pair of cans within the next couple days. So far I'm considering the ATH-900's for($249.00) ATH-900TI's for($369.00) ATH-W1000's for($334.84) .

ATH-W1000 - Pirce is good!

 

[fjrabon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AudioJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif Right now its just my pc's on board sound card, and an ipodr. However the FiiO E5 sounds so tempting i might purchase one in the next couple of day.

Just be aware that about the quickest you'll be able to get the E5 is about a week to a week and a half shipped, sometimes longer. Unless you manage to find one on ebay with quick shipping, that is. However, in my experience, they tend to sell for more on ebay than you can get them from mp4nation.net.

It really is quite a wonderful device. Is it as good as the big non-portable amps? Probably not. But it gets you maybe 80-90% of the way "there" and you can clip it to your pants pocket (with your iPod in your pocket). Until I got my DAC/amp combo from hotaudio.com, my iPod + LOD + FiiO E5 sounded appreciably better than my laptop setup.