[domer2004]

Catchy, stupid title huh? Well it lured you in so I guess it worked

Anyhow, my question for you all is what headphone, in a reasonable price range (excluding anything that is 1000+) would best suit a listener who a) considers himself an audiophile in taste, not knowledge b) loves bass, but only if it is super clean c) would like to listen to all of his music through these phones and have it sound excellent, which includes rap, jazz, classic rock, and contemporary artsy genres, but prefers to listen to instrumented music through them like pink floyd or rush or bela fleck and whatnot, and d) will use a little $100 Sony Discman or his dad's Denon CD player as the source unit? Also, include your recommendation for an amp for the can of your choice. Be creative and very opinionated, but keep in mind that I might like for this set up to come to fruition, and I am not interested in combing through the annals of headphone history to blow the dust off an old-ass model of Grado phones or anything else aight? Please, only equipment that can be found/obtained fairly easily. Yes, Melos SHA-1 or whatever is excluded.

If you are not offended yet. Please give me your suggestions

And remember, BE OPINIONATED!!!!!!!

Brett

 

[Gluegun]

Headphone.com says Grado RS-1's. I don't see any reason to disagree with that!

 

[Blighty]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gluegun Headphone.com says Grado RS-1's. I don't see any reason to disagree with that!

I will have to second the Grado RS-1(~$500) especially considering your preference in music. The Grado SR325(~$250) is also a good alternative for rock listeners without the added warmth of the RS series. The Audio Technica ATH-W2002($875) is also reported to be great for rock and vocals but is a little on the expensive side. The cheaper ATH-W100($345) is quite worthy for rock as well. All of these can be easily be powered by your listed sources in terms of volume if not fidelity. For best results, budget for a cheap entry to mid-level headamp if you intend to spend $1k total.

 

[phidauex]

Do you want it to be portable? Then the best answer is the Etymotic ER-4P @ 270$. BUT, if your limit is 1000$.... Then you should get a good amp too

I'd suggest the Headroom Supreme Traveler package. Its one of their package deals with the ER-4S, the Supreme amp, cables, and a nice handy bag to hold all your stuff in! Its 819$. If you want to go just over your budget (muahaha), you could get the BEST portable system in the world (at least, I don't know of anything that can compete!) the Cosmic Traveller System, same as above, but with the COSMIC portable amp. Its a portable amp, and a beefy one, but there isn't a portable amp in the world that can compete, and it beats out most home amps too! That combo package is 1059$. Don't underestimate the bags those things come with either. They are no flimsy crap-bags, they are very featured, and designed specifically for the amps. Very nice!

Do you not want portable? Well then I have to recommend the ubiquitous HD600 (before someone else does!) They aren't very expensive (in the grand scheme of things) but they take a good amp to really shine. I'm not going to get into the amps discussion for the HD600, because I haven't listened enough to really get a good idea. There are some people here who could tell you some very good amps to go with it though. One thing I know of is that meier audio sells a combo package of the HD600 and one of his Corda HA-1 headphone amps. I haven't heard the Corda myself, but its pretty highly regarded, especially at its price. The combo is 495$USD i believe. You still have some money left in your budget with that, so you'd probably want to upgrade the headphone cable. Once again, I haven't heard enough of them to really make a strong recommendation, but there are lots of reviews of them out there, and you could afford any of them with that extra 505$ of budget.

My last suggestion is to find someone with the Sony R-10s, and kill them. Actually, you don't even need to kill them, just incapacitate them long enough to get the headphones out of their possession, and into yours. Make sure they don't see your face, and don't leave any fingerprints. Oh yeah, and don't put, "TEAM SONY R-10!" in your signature the very next day.

peace,
phidauex

 

[joelongwood]

For the music you listen to, I would say either of the following might give you what you are looking for:
1) Etymotic ER4P.....for use with an amp, get the fixup adapter cable to transform it into the 4S. Contact JMT for the amp. This set-up should run you just under $400.
2) Alessandro/Grado Music Series Pro.....not only are they made of beautiful mahogany, but, to my ears at least, they are also cleaner sounding than the RS-1s, their Grado cousin. They are also smoother in the top end than the 325s. These list for $699, but you can usually find a well taken care of used pair, as I did, for under $500. I think there might be one available now in the For Sale forum, for $425 shipped.
Add to this a JMT-built CHA47 amp, and the sound will be stunning.
Well, you asked for opinions.....those are mine.

 

[bootman]

Quote:

My last suggestion is to find someone with the Sony R-10s, and kill them. Actually, you don't even need to kill them, just incapacitate them long enough to get the headphones out of their possession, and into yours. Make sure they don't see your face, and don't leave any fingerprints. Oh yeah, and don't put, "TEAM SONY R-10!" in your signature the very next day.

ROTFLMAO!!!


You can pull off the perfect crime by grabbing them from their ankles and beating the R10's off their heads.
Wear gloves and viola! the perfect crime.

Oh and as for my recommendation:
Grados seem to fit your style of music well.
If you want to budget yourself, a nice system could be the 325 with a good SS amp like the RA-1 or the Little. (which can be upgraded later after you upgrade your source if you like) You could get this combo for about $500 or less.
For $1000 the Senn 600 with clou red cables and the Home would be a killer combo. If you want to mess with tubes, something like the earmax pro or MG Head OTL with NOS tubes would give you that classic tube richness. (which you might find too loose in the bass for your taste in music)

 

[Matthew-Spaltro]

ATH W100 or W1002. One of the few wooden headphones in the world. Together with a great amp. Can't be beat.

 

[acidtripwow]

Quote:

and I am not interested in combing through the annals of headphone history to blow the dust off an old-ass model of Grado phones or anything else aight?

Then you are not interested in good sound so I would recommend the Koss Plugs. $20 at Rat Shack.

 

[The Quality Guru]

I am a big W100 supporter . . . I have the JMT CHA-47 Penguin made custom with the larger, smoother caps and silver-coated internal Belden wire, and when partnered with my W100's, the sound is very good.

Also, these headphones have been said to improve as one partners them with good amps like the Meier Corda ($320) the Earmax Pro (can be found at www.audiophileclub.com for $620 w/o shipping or voltage converter), Berning MicroZOTL ($750). There are other amps, too, but the W100's are known to excel when combined with these three amps. I have heard that someone once said that they prefered the W100 w/ Zotl or EMP to the Omega II and other very high-end cans or systems. There's no doubt that the W100 has a very transparent midrange and very great bass performance. There is a W100 being sold now in the FOR SALE FORUM, so perhaps you should check it out . . .

 

[Nezer]

So far from what I've actually heard, Sony V700DJ...

(Just kidding)

I'd have to say as far as headphones go that you can actually get, the Ety 4S and the HD600s w/ a Cardas cable is as close to perfect as can be.

If I were Bill Gates I would just have several headphones custom made for different situations but no doubt he listens to those Sonys.

 

[gaineso]

HD600's with a good amp.

Little, Little More Power, Supreme.

My HD600's sound very good from the 'phone jack of my H-K receiver. They sound very, very good from the line out of my H-K FL8300 CDP into my 2001 TAH.

They are ABSOFREAKINLUTELY AWESOME from the H-K FL8300 to the Loaner Cosmic.

With the 600's, you can just keep on upgrading the rest of your system and they'll stay right with you.

Remember, the World of Headphones Tour is using the HD600's with a special cable to demo the ULTIMATE HEADROOM HEADPHONE AMP, THE BLOCKHEAD.

Is there a better recommendation????????

 

[domer2004]

Thanks for the recommendations by everyone except for that one jack ass remark (I think everybody knows who that was). I guess I am back to my original dilemma: Grado vs. Senn vs. Ety. Frankly my only experience with ear phones has been with crappy Sony earbuds or those p.o.s. phones that came with the first generation GameBoy so I am not very thrilled about earphones. I could be very suprised though right?

In regards to the Grado recommendations, I own a pair of MS-1's by Alessandro. I used to really love them, but I feel like I fatigue easily with them. Is this a common problem with Grado, would a dedicated amp help, or do most of y'all get fatigued after listening for an hour or so?

With the Senns, I own the 570's. I know. I know. Calm down. I bought them back when I was young and foolish. Now I am older and foolish. Actually, I do like the 570's because they absolutely BUMP when listening to rap straight out of the headphone jack on my OOOOOLLLLLLDDDDD Sony Discman (too lazy to go find the model number). If the 600's have bass like the 570's or better, I am sold. I also like the fact that the 570's don't fatigue me. But they do feel a little...ummmmm...distant? I don't really feel "there" with the 570's. Again, these might be all features indigenous to the 570's which might have been part of the reason for their lackluster (understatement) reputation.

I am even less sure in the amp department. I spent 2 or 3 hours today at Headroom checking out the Headroom line of amps and looking at their insides. Is that amp **** or art? Hmmmm Anyhow, I know they are just headphone amps delivering like 1watt RMS, but they just look sooooo weak!!! Compared to my RF Power 250.2 (older 98 model), the money just doesn't translate. Anybody familiar with the Supreme, Cosmic, Home, Airhead, or Little amps please tell me how you like or dislike them.

I was really interested in the Meier-Audio products, but I was disappointed to see the AKG 1000 + dedicated amp combo gone

Also, I have some reservations about the payment methods.

I know this is a lot of new crap, but I hope y'all can help me. Thanks for the great suggestions already too!!

Brett

 

[Jeff Guidry]

You need not be concerned about Jan Meier's payment methods. Yeah, you have to jump through some hoops to get money overseas, but if you are concerned about Jan's trustworthiness in getting the money and shipping the product out, you needn't.

If you are concerned about fatigue, the Senn 600 is the headphone for you. Relaxed, easy listening.

As for your amp concerns, the very high quality parts that Headroom uses for their amps do not necessarily make the amp LOOK better or worth the extra money. As in all things hi-fi, you have to trust your ears, not your eyes.

Good luck, and for goodness sake don't think so hard about it. Just get something nice, and in your budget, and be happy forever more.

 

[gaineso]

As I stated in my earlier reply, the HD600's are probably the BREST, all around ultimate headpjone out today.

Physically very comfortable. Not the easiest to drive, forget about straight from most of todays portables without an amp, they really aren't difficult to get great sound from.

BTW, older portables sometimes will drive the 600's well. I've got a 7 year old Kenwood pcdp and an 11 year old Aiwa pacp player that sound nice. However, for portable I generally use KSC35's.

Experience with 3 Headroom amps has been very good. I bought a Total Airhead lat year and really like it. Very satisfied. Tried the Loaner Progam "Little" and was blown away. Can't imagine anything better for the price, and it's upgradeable. Just got the loaner Cosmic. WWWWOOOOWWWW.

The HD600's DO sound good from most good home equipment jacks. They really sound fabulous when powered by better dedicated amps.

As far as the puny little headphone amps, 1 watt will probably destroy most 'phones. But these little amps are built using very high quality parts, in generally small quantities with a lot of hand labor. You are generally getting what you are paying for, at least from Headroom, Meier and JMT.
Hope this helps some.

 

[Nick Dangerous]

I concur. The HD600 is the world's overall champion headphone. It may not be the best at everything under any and every possible circumstance... but as far as "overall best" goes, this is the 'phone to beat.

Did someone say W100? Eh. No. Freaking. Way. I don't get this headphone at all. It was the biggest hi-fi letdown of 2002. I unclog my nose in its direction. I polish its wooden exterior with lard before I carve my initials in it. Then, I use it as a hammer during a refridgerator restoration project. Finally, the broken bits are seperated and hurled into the fire for a 25-cent Sam's Club bulk hotdog roast....

...although the W2002 would probably fare much better.

Since the criteria is "no amp - driven by portable only", I'd recommend the Etymotics for a mental experience, or Grados for a visceral one. With amp? HD600. There's a reason why Headroom's top end products are coupled with, and only with, the HD580 and/or HD600.

(high fives Tyll)

Hey, this opinionated stuff is fun!