[funkmasta]

The threat title mostly says it all. I'm new to the forums here and I can't quite find anyone in the same situation as I. I listen mostly to techno/trance, but I also play a decent amount of games. I've done a lot of searching on headphonereviews.com, and the Audiotechnica ATH-A900's seem to be pretty good headphones for the price. Would these be good for trance? My budget is around $200. I'd rather not have to buy a separate headphone amp, also.. Thanks in advance guys!

 

[YW_Slayer]

Also have a look at the open A-T phones (AD-x00 series) if isolation is not a problem. I have a pair of AD500s that are superb for techno/dance and gaming.

 

[ej82m]

I had a chance to play Battlefield 2 with these cans. They sounded real good. Nice and impactful gunshots and explosions. They've got some nice bass as well, so they should do well with trance and are not at all hard to drive. Good luck with your choice.

 

[halcyon]

ATH-A900 AND trance = 12 hits (excluding this thread)
ATH-A900 AND games = hits 95 (excluding this thread)

Use the search. It _is_ your friend.

 

[funkmasta]

Okay, after doing a LOT more research, I've discovered people are saying that the Beyerdynamic DT770/990 are much more suited for trance/games. I'm leaning towards the DT770 since it's closed. Any thoughts?

 

[massappeal85]

The A900 is also closed. From what I read, it will be better then the dt770 pro/80 without an amp. The dt770 pro/80 with an amp may be better. I'm listening to Ltj Bukem Logical Progressions (not exactly trance) out of the headphone out of a sony portable cd player at this very moment with my dt770 pro/80s. I'm impressed, and this would be considerd a poor source and amp for these phones. I have to have the volume on the player at max to get these "loud". I also listened to Ferry Corsten Global Trancemissions 1 and was a little less impressed but maybe because of less break-in. If the a900s are supposed to sound better then this with no amp then I think you will be very happy.

 

[funkmasta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by massappeal85 The A900 is also closed. From what I read, it will be better then the dt770 pro/80 without an amp. The dt770 pro/80 with an amp may be better. I'm listening to Ltj Bukem Logical Progressions (not exactly trance) out of the headphone out of a sony portable cd player at this very moment with my dt770 pro/80s. I'm impressed, and this would be considerd a poor source and amp for these phones. I have to have the volume on the player at max to get these "loud". I also listened to Ferry Corsten Global Trancemissions 1 and was a little less impressed but maybe because of less break-in. If the a900s are supposed to sound better then this with no amp then I think you will be very happy.

yikes! This is news to me. It almost makes me want to buy a dedicated headphone amp, because I'm just hearing so much about how the DT770's are great for trance. Also, what is the difference between the 80 and 250 ohm versions besides their amplification requirement?

 

[snowboardaddict]

um not exactly on topic, but funkmasta, if you're on stanford campus, I have a pair of A500s that you try out if you like. they may not sound as nice as the A900s, but it may help nonetheless.

oh, and btw, I love my A500s for everything and have been using them nonstop for trance and gaming for the past few nights

 

[funkmasta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowboardaddict um not exactly on topic, but funkmasta, if you're on stanford campus, I have a pair of A500s that you try out if you like. they may not sound as nice as the A900s, but it may help nonetheless. oh, and btw, I love my A500s for everything and have been using them nonstop for trance and gaming for the past few nights

heh, i might have to take you up on that.

In the meantime, I was checking out the beyerdynamic website and apparently you can have them custom build them straight from germany for more or less the same price as you would order from anywhere else. Pretty cool.

Where can I get the 06 model 770/880/990's? Everyone seems to have the previous model....

 

[massappeal85]

"Also, what is the difference between the 80 and 250 ohm versions besides their amplification requirement?"

It seems people here think the 80 ohm has a less recessed mid-range over the 250 ohm one. I don't know if the soon to be released 250 ohm consumer version has similar improvments. Though my pair only has a few hours on it and may not be fully broken in (if you believe in that sort of thing), if the mid-range had any more recession I might not like this headphone. As I've listened it seems like the bass isn't overpowering the rest of the frequencys so much and the mid-range sounds better, though still has a dark signature, but overall is impressing me more. I think the bass is becoming less bloated. The soundstage and positioning is quite good.

 

[funkmasta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by massappeal85 "Also, what is the difference between the 80 and 250 ohm versions besides their amplification requirement?" It seems people here think the 80 ohm has a less recessed mid-range over the 250 ohm one. I don't know if the soon to be released 250 ohm consumer version has similar improvments. Though my pair only has a few hours on it and may not be fully broken in (if you believe in that sort of thing), if the mid-range had any more recession I might not like this headphone. As I've listened it seems like the bass isn't overpowering the rest of the frequencys so much and the mid-range sounds better, though still has a dark signature, but overall is impressing me more. I think the bass is becoming less bloated. The soundstage and positioning is quite good.

Hmm.... i see.

The problem now is that I can't find the new low impedence DT770's anywhere! I've only been able to locate the older 80Ω and the newer 250Ω versions... Looking at the custom build page, it seems there's two other versions rated at 32Ω and 600Ω!

If I can't find these, I'm going to have to "settle" for the ATH-A900's.

 

[dmb367]

Quote:

Originally Posted by funkmasta If I can't find these, I'm going to have to "settle" for the ATH-A900's.

Alot of cans do trance much better than DT770's, so be subjective to what you read... maybe the A900's would suit your needs best.

 

[funkmasta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmb367 Alot of cans do trance much better than DT770's, so be subjective to what you read... maybe the A900's would suit your needs best.

That's what I ended up doing. Bought the A900's from Audiocube.

 

[chrisfromalbany]

Quote:

Originally Posted by funkmasta That's what I ended up doing. Bought the A900's from Audiocube.

Like the A900 over the DT770. Find there sound to be too colored. Good choice.

 

[catscratch]

The A900 will definitely be good for trance and games, and more than that besides. It's one headphone that takes pretty much every genre in stride and gives you back good performance. I think that the DT770 is better for games, amped or unamped, and I did a bit of testing myself to check this out. The DT770 doesn't lose it's razor-sharp imaging ability unamped, but it does lose a lot of the bass, and it's tone becomes thin and even more strident that usual. The A900 doesn't image as precisely as the DT770, and isn't quite as great for competitive games - but it's still great, head and shoulders above the HD600, for instance, which doesn't image well with games at all - not because it can't, but because it's recessed treble masks footsteps and other relevent information. For music, of course, the DT770 unamped was not pleasant, though not terrible. The A900 unamped would be a much better choice there.

Anyway, the A900 is one great set of cans, and it won't disappoint. Be sure to burn them in - they won't reach anywhere near their sonic potential until you have at least 50 hours on them, possibly more. The highs are a bit steely out of the box and the bass is a bit loose. With burn-in, the highs settle down and mellow out, while the bass becomes tighter and better defined. The midrange is a little recessed, and there is an upper midrange coloration due to their closed nature, but you can't have everything, especially with a closed headphone at that price. They're still way better balanced than the DT770 and better for music overall.