[wesbed]

KAuss:

I'm with you. I'm a long-time listener to loudspeakers. I'm not yet sure that the headphone experience is for me. My ears and brain are too tuned to external speakers.

Here is my post about my first high-quality headphone purchase, the Sony CD3000s. >link<
I read so much 'good' about the CD3000, on more than one internet bulletin board, that I've been, mostly under-whelmed by the performance, so far. As my post says, to be fair to the CD3000s, I will admit that mine are not properly amp'd (yet) and I'm not accustomed the headphone style of listening.

I'm still trying to decide if I should keep the headphones, return them, or determine which headphone amplifier to purchase. I do like the headphones in that they enable me to hear certain detail that I'd never hear through external speakers. At the same time, I don't like the headphones because they make the music sound/feel small-worldish. Whereas, the loudspeakers make the same music sound/feel big-worldish. I realize this may be the difference between headphones, which are attached to your head, and loudspeakers, which are spread around the room.

From what I'd read, the CD3000s have a large soundstage. I've learned that the way jazz was recorded, even the in-stereo recorded jazz, it didn't necessarily have a large soundstage per design. The CD3000s can't make a larger soundstage than that offered by the original source tape.

In defense of the CD3000s, they sound much better, to me, with rock than with my preferred 1950s/1960s jazz. I believe, as was suggested in the thread I started, the CD3000s are very revealing of the source tape of old jazz recordings.

Good luck to you... from my experience, you need to listen to the 'phones for a period of time to see what your ears/brain decide. I'm still listening and trying to make up my mind about my purchase.

 

[Abula]

Good review,

Quote:

I'm going to get me a set of 770s next to do a comparison, but I hope the mids and highs won't be such a huge dissapointment that it takes away from the music...

The DT770 IMO have very detailed highs, sometimes they seem a little on the bright side, but depending on the music/source/amp, they can be also a little on the dark side because the bass outshines the other categories, but its something that you will only be able to decide by auditioning. I love my DT770, but they are are not used as an allround headphone, but for very spefic music/games.

If you get DT770 buy the non pro, as they are more confortable, DT770Pro can be had cheaper, but the headband is short and the clamping force is bigger than the non pro.

Another option you could try if you want, is Ultrasone HFI-700 (or HFI-650 DVD Edition), I havent heard them but according to a lot of Headfi memebers, they have very strong bass aswell.

 

[TheeeChosenOne]

Out of curiosity, has anyone read or directly compared these to the Grado 225's?.......

 

[kartik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KAuss If there is one thing I've learned from all the years I've been interested in audio is the fact that SIZE DOES MATTER!!! Just like engines, there is no replacement for displacement... For bass, you have to go big, small drivers recreating bass **cough** BOSE **cough** is just a fairy tale...

I'm not sure I agree. Have you heard Grado headphones. I've heard a variety of these and found the bass much more real than most other cans. I don't think it has that much to do with driver size.

 

[null]

Yes, quite a few debates regarding these cans indeed...

One good thread involving these two cans you can find by clicking
here.

 

[bangraman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zoot2boot its funny how many bits of 'wisdom' get propogated on headfi which don't really hold up to individual inspection.... There must be dozens of posts around with people saying that the a900 improves very little with proper amplification, or not enough to warrant the purchase of an amp. *shrug* nature of the beast i suppose

If your source, or more specifically, your headphone jack is REALLY bad then an amp will improve things. I have noticed in some budget CD players some absolutely terrible headphone sockets, in some cases even worse than discmen of the same price... collapsed staging, muffled, yuck or gritty, anaemic and infested with 'digitalis'. Similarly with older receivers and integrated amps I've tried... there's no doubting that the headphone socket on them was definitely an afterthought. Impedance mismatch? Unfortunately my pattern of ownership has favoured low-impedance phones and in each of those cases I was unable to line up a high-impedance phone to test.


The A900 (and I speak as a previous K271S / DT250-80 / DT770Pro / HFI-650 / HD25-1 / A900 / A1000 / W1000 / CD3K owner, many of them at the same time and compared directly) is not as 'scalable' as some other closed phones around this price, as given the outputs of premium sources and amplification then compared against other phones it can fall behind. However it's got a great sound balance (in a headphone sense) for all types of music, and because it can be driven from practically anything (it sounds good from even an unamped MD player) if you don't plan to upgrade significantly it's a better phone than most. The usable isolation and comfort is a big plus.


If you want large amounts of air moved in a headphone form factor, then buy the V700DJ. Otherwise get used to the less visceral but more precise nature of phones.

 

[KAuss]

argh, caught the flu and didn't catch up on the convo

Anywho, my cpu is sending out the audio signal through the onboard SPDIF... The analog signal has WAY too much distortion / noise to be properly ampped... This was unacceptable to set volume levels higher...

After switching to digital out, the noise was significantly reduced... Still being a transistor amp, you still hear some when nothing is playing (this also has to do with the amount of wires I have around the house picking up each other) Still, once you have music on, the noise is unnoticeable...

With that said, you can amp the clean signal a LOT higher and you also get a lot more signal comming from digital source...

Still generally, this just gives you more clean volume...



As for the size does matter... I don't know how many of you come from a loud speaker background... I mean after spending a few intimate days with my headphone, the sound really grew on me... However, when going back to my stereo system, it lacks the umph my speakers provide...

The advantage of headphones would be the scale... Since they are at a closer distance to your ear, and with circumaural closed headphones, you get the superb isolation which you can never achieve with say a regular bedroom... You might come close with a professional studio, but still, wearing a closed headphone in the same room would only be so much quieter...

With that said, you can achieve a higher amount of detail, but bass definition depending on scale will suffer... No matter what headphones you get, (haven't tried the 770s yet) I can almost say even with my lack of experience that once you crank up the juice on the headphones to a certian point, the mids and highs will most likely drown out the lows... Or the lows will baffle out to not make a sound yet you'll still feel the bass or vibration in this matter...

Detail is generally an audiphile's main point, you can achieve that with headphones... I am not the lucky few that can spend a few hundred grand on a tube amp and the finest crafted speakers... Also an acustically matched room to go with it... So headphones WILL have it's place in my listening rotation... However, when the time of day allows, I'll pick my speaker setup over my headphones in a heart beat no matter what amp you provide me to power my headphones...

The only reason why I would go seperate amp instead of receiver is because of the fact that 100x5 is a standard in receivers and anything over usually cost double that amount of an increase of 50 watts which isn't even noticable... I'm still tracking down some amps on ebay to complete my home system, but until I can find my whole set for cheap, I'll have to stick with my 100x5 receiver...

 

[KAuss]

I guess for me, inorder to FEEL the music, you have to actually HEAR a kick drum like a kick drum.... Or feel the bass guitar's vibrations with each stroke...

I mean it comes out clean in the headphones, but when you're playing a set of drums, and you stomp on the pedal to sound the kick drum... You certianly don't get the feel of that comming from a set of headphones... Or the way your fingers feel when you stroke through the bass guitar...

As most people mistake, not everyone perfers to be a bass head, but to anyone who has any knowledge about audio, they know that the first thing you sacrafice with headphones vs. speakers would be the bass definition... Headphones make the best monitors because you can get unrivaled detail comming out of them...

I seen on audio cubes that they have a $3299 set of Sony headphones... I'm not gonna even bother buying a set even if I had the money... Thats just rediculous LOL...

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KAuss I seen on audio cubes that they have a $3299 set of Sony headphones... I'm not gonna even bother buying a set even if I had the money... Thats just rediculous LOL...

Hey, you had me going there for a minute -- I thought AudioCubes had dropped their price on the R10!

(It's still $3499, more's the pity.)

All I can say is, don't knock the R10's until you've heard them -- after listening to Hirsch's pair, I can begin to understand the temptation to buy them. They may not sound like they're worth $3499, but they don't miss it by much. (And I think it's finally been settled that we're not going to form a Head-Fi lynch mob and hunt down EdWood, who got his pair for only $1600, the <multiple expletives deleted>!!!!!)

 

[KAuss]

I would love to agree with you, but even if I was Bill Gates rich I would never invest $3500 on a set of headphones

I would save that up for a really nice tube amp, then build off that... I mean $500 yeah, but there comes a point where 99% of human ears can't tell the difference and $3500 the only difference you'll feel is the diet your wallet is gonna take

Especially when most of us use our headphones for digital listening, such as MP3 or CDs... The source is just not important enough to put something that expensive to good use... Something like that would put too many things into the weakest link prespective...

Bring on the mob

I'll just have to find the "not willing to pay too much for some things no matter what forum" and form a mob to counter yours

I don't think I'll have much luck tho hah...

 

[wallijonn]

Why not just hook up a subwoofer if you want is to feel the lower registers? Since you set the volume levels independently the woofer volume will most likely be much lower and less likely to irritate your neighbours. I almost bought a subwoofer for $40 this weekend (for use with my K1000). Just make sure you sit right next to the sub...

 

[GanChan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallijonn Why not just hook up a subwoofer if you want is to feel the lower registers? Since you set the volume levels independently the woofer volume will most likely be much lower and less likely to irritate your neighbours. I almost bought a subwoofer for $40 this weekend (for use with my K1000). Just make sure you sit right next to the sub...

There are also those butt-shaker things, and vibrating cushions/vests/etc.

 

[KAuss]

$40 subwoofers? LOL...

I spent almost $1000 alone on the power and woofer, thats before the signal / wires / anything else LOL... The rest of my system is a bit cheaper only because my receiver sux assage... Upgrading to a NAD receiver soon, should up the music scale a bit...

I can't have my 15" going off 3AM in the morning... When I can, I DO... I don't just feel my bass, I get a full body massage...

I'm gonna buy me a NAD T752 after reading up on it... It has two sub preouts and I'm gonna have 30"s of total circut breaking fury!!