[joecrouton]

Greetings all,

After finding this site 3 years ago and buying PX-200's, PX-100's, and PortaPros, I come back longing for more. I haved used my PX-100's for thousands of hours, and still love them. They are beat to a pulp but still sound great. Its time for an upgrade. I already feel sorry for my wallet.

I am looking for some new phones for music of all genres, mostly rock though. They must also be adept at movies and games. These will be used every day and transported around quite a bit, and therefore durability/build quality is essential, but size is not an issue. These will not be used as portables. Main sources are my laptop and cd player. I do plan on getting something like a LDM+ or Total Bithead (for laptop) to complement the new phones. I generally like a fairly even sounding set, IE equally good at all frequencies. Good detail would be nice. I find the PX-100s to be lacking treble and a bit of mid range, as well as bass extension. They fairly punchy though. Budget is $200, maybe more depending...

I was thinking maybe 2005 Beyer DT -770 ? Durability?

Any and all input is greatly appreciated and taken into consideration.

 

[milesbeyondjazz]

I admit that I am biased but I think the Grado SR225 is the best $200.00 headphone around.Great for rock and alot of jazz.

 

[jpr703]

I'd agree that the Grado 225 is a great headphone, but I don't think it suits the "all around" role you're looking for. If I were you, I'd try to stretch the budget just a bit a check out the Beyerdynamic 880 or 990 at BH Photo.

 

[aaron-xp]

The AT A900 is a rather well-rounded headphone at the price point. It's closed, and these are huge. They have a good, wide soundstage, which makes them one of the recommended gaming headphones.

 

[vcoheda]

A few phones comes to mind.

1. HD580. $140 shipped from Amazon.com. My first headphone. Still provides hours of enjoyment. A little laid back. Very comfortable. Have an airy sound to them.

2. HD595. $175 shipped from Amazon.com. Could probably get these cheaper on ebay or elsewhere. A great all around phone (gaming, movies). More forward than the HD580s. Doesn't require an amp. That's a plus.

3. K501. Just got these recently ($99 shipped from zzounds.com), but they sound great right out of the box. A little bright and bass shy, but I listen to classical, so that's okay. They feel a little cheap, but look nice. And the pads can be upgraded to the K601/K701 for added bass and comfort, so I am told.

4. Grado xxx. Not familair with Grados, but I am sure there is a great model for under or around $200.

5. ATH A900. Another phone I have not heard. But am pretty sure they are popular and well liked. Someone would haved to chime in here to see if there is a better ATH recommendation. Audiocubes sells them for $169. Not sure where else to purchase them.

6. DT880 (original model). I second the opinion of these phones. No idea they could be had at such as reasonable price. ($150 shipped from B&H Photo). I love these phones. Very detailed but not bright or harsh. Comfortable as anything you have ever worn. Plus they have a nice overall design and feel to them (i.e., build quality).

Hope this helps.

 

[KT88]

AT A900! best choise around!

I have had a chance to hear the SR225, HD580, HD595, HD600, DT931, DT880, and a few more. Non were anywhere close to the A900 in terms of all-round sound. The SR-225 is good for rock, and rock only (yet have to much trebel to my ears). The HD580 are good for jazz, and jazz only (yet lack detail). HD600 same as 580. The 595 are nice for clasical music, and maybe for some types of rock (but has somewhat uneven frequency responce). The 880 are nice as all-rounders, yet has a small freq range somewhere in the trebel which ruins everything. The 931 is like the Emu 0404 soundcard. Good dynamics, strong trebel, but uneven sound without the wanted amount of detail.
The A900 are great as all-rounderes. they are not perfect obviously, they have a problem with the trebel which is not clear enoungh (blu-tak mod fixes that), and some say the mid is a bit receased (not as much as the senn's though).
To my ears the A900's are the best all-rounderes I have heard so far.

Yet, it's been a long time ago that I have realised that there is no way I can have 1 headphone and be happy with it. At the moment I have the K340 which sounds great at all types of music with my modded DarkVoice 336i. But even now, I am already thinking about the next Headphone I'll buy which will be for more bass-heavy non critical listening for these days I dont want to sit and listen to every small detail, and just want to have some good time

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif A few phones comes to mind. 1. HD580. 2. HD595. 3. K501. 4. Grado xxx. 5. ATH A900. 6. DT880 (original model).

First of all, technical point, vcoheda is referring to the DT880 2003 and not the original 1980 edition.

Next: the HD580 and K501, though amazing deals right now, would be unusual choices for a rock-heavy musical diet. The A900 is not sturdy at all. The Grados would be weak for movies and such. The HD595 is alright but beatable in its price bracket. The DT880 2003 is good but maybe too analytical for the OP's purposes. The DT770 he mentions would be too bass-heavy for the even response range he asks for. So where would that leave us?

1. Old series DT990 (pro if you have to, the others are getting scarce). Fits the bill in spades.
2. Goldring DR150. Haven't heard them myself, but it sounds like these might do the trick for you.

Or at least that's the best I can think of offhand.

 

[F107plus5]

A used set of MS2 or MS2i may cover the "all-around" range of music desired. They do most everything well short of the really big forms of classical, and organ music with the looooowest pipes.

 

[cct1]

Koss KSC 75.





Well, perhaps not, but since they're being pushed in every single thread on here the last few days, I thought I'd be the first to suggest it....

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by F107plus5 /img/forum/go_quote.gif A used set of MS2 or MS2i may cover the "all-around" range of music desired. They do most everything well short of the really big forms of classical, and organ music with the looooowest pipes.

x2, the older MS2 sells for $150-$200 range.

 

[searchenabler]

I have used a lot of headphones in my day, trying all of the popular(and high end) units for the most part, using a set of standard control recordings that I have used for evaluations for years(for the most accurate reference point for myself). I will pay almost anything, personally, for the best sounding portable solution, even if that had been the Sony MDR-R10(the size does not bother me one bit) - but that headphone did not do anything for me, and I tried it several times, for rather long sessions. At one point, I was using a modified MDR-CD3000 for portable use(excellent on pop, hard rock and electronic type musics). But within the last year, I tried the not so popular MDR-CD900ST. This is by far my favorite for portable use, and I even prefer it to almost every headphone for sound quality, regardless of cost. It is very relaxed, smooth sound, sounding a bit too rolled off in the treble. I suspect many people would find this headphone to sound too boring and non-musical, but I love it's versatility. It has a very natural sound, with no real emphasis on any particular band(except perhaps a little excessive upper mid bass), at least to my tin-plated ears. This unit even lets me enjoy classical music portable, something that the coloration of the MDR-CD3000 prevented me from achieving. As a bonus, the MDR-CD900ST is very efficient, and is built to extremely high standards so far as durability. If you prefer uncolored, and somewhat relaxed treble, the MDR-CD900ST might be your ticket. If you prefer treble enhancement, stay clear of the CD900ST. It can be easily powered from virtually any headphone output due to it's efficiency. However, if the source has a high noise floor(such as that of many built in sound chips in computers), it will be bothersome.

Chris

 

[Dimitris]

How about the HD580 from Amazon? They sell for $140 shipped. They must be the best deal you can find around the internet today.

 

[Revan Hsu]

If you like sennheiser's style,I think HD580 may fit you.

 

[joecrouton]

Well so far it seems like the Senn hd580 has been recommended numerous times along with the Beyer 880 and 990. If I could swing for any of these, including the new 2005 model byers, what would be the best? Is the sound stage of the hd580 large enough for games? How does it compare to the "legendary" dt770's? Also, which of these cans has the least sound leakage? Thanks much for the recommendations thus far.

 

[denl82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joecrouton /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well so far it seems like the Senn hd580 has been recommended numerous times along with the Beyer 880 and 990. If I could swing for any of these, including the new 2005 model byers, what would be the best? Is the sound stage of the hd580 large enough for games? How does it compare to the "legendary" dt770's? Also, which of these cans has the least sound leakage? Thanks much for the recommendations thus far.

The dt770 should have the least amount of sound leakage, at it is a closed headphone=]