[Distroyed]

There have been headphones for classical music, rock music, etc etc. But what about those of us who appreciate more intricate, more intelligent (yes, I said intelligent) music, namely, electronic? What cans sound the best with the dark sonicscape of Mathias Grassow, or the psy-chill beat of Asura? Which sub-$1000 headphones brings out the beauty of electronic music?

 

[rligeti]

amped or unamped?

 

[Jodiuh]

How would a shure e3 or beyerdynamic 250-250 compare in this genre? Out of the Rio Karma or amp?

 

[dillatortilla]

Quote:

Originally posted by Distroyed ... what about those of us who appreciate more intricate, more intelligent (yes, I said intelligent) music, namely, electronic?

I can't believe what you just said, i'll pretend i never read that statement...

The CD3000 are said to be one of the best cans (if not the best) for electronic music (just read pbirkett/AdamZuf posts / reviews), you can also try the DT770.

 

[rligeti]

true but only if they are properly amped. Even though they are low impedance cans, they need a good source or will not sound as good as they possibly can. Unamped the ath-a900s (IMHO) would be a better choice. With a good amp, the cd3ks.

 

[dillatortilla]

I was assuming he could buy an amp given the price limit

 

[TimSchirmer]

For under 1k, i'd get stax SR-404's with a 313 amp. Should run you about 900$ shipped from kojj.

It is truly a wonderful headphone and the best i've heard for electronica. The 404's outperform just about any headphone out there for under 1000$ short of the Grado HP-1 (in my humble opinion) Stax just give you an entirely new level of transparency which i have yet to hear on anything dynamic.

 

[pbirkett]

Quote:

Originally posted by dillatortilla The CD3000 are said to be one of the best cans (if not the best) for electronic music (just read pbirkett/AdamZuf posts / reviews), you can also try the DT770.

Yep, CD3000s are out of this world for electronica, but as rlegeti says, you need to feed em a good signal.

 

[strohmie]

I've heard both the CD3000 and DT770, and have a strong love of electronic music...and I slightly prefer the DT770s. The CD3000s through the Perreaux have the right speed and dynamics for electronic, but the DT770s through the OTL-H supply similar characteristics (though not quite as excellent) and better bass slam and resolution.

Jodiuh, the E3c's are very good with electronic through the Nomad Zen, though there is ambient noise that can be heard through the earphones.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Though I don't listen to lots of electronica, the DT770 could give me the slam and power necessary to make me believe I was actually in a club. I can also see how the CD3000's cavernous soundstage and exaggerated sense of detail could also make the genre more interesting.

 

[minya]

Quote:

Originally posted by TimSchirmer For under 1k, i'd get stax SR-404's with a 313 amp. Should run you about 900$ shipped from kojj.

I wholly second Tim's opinion. I'm a huge electronica fan - and I'm not talking ***** dance club Paul Van Digweed trance - and Stax headphones were a revelation. Their speed and transparency lets me hear every last detail packed into the recording. BTW, they're anything but bass-anemic: their bass is powerful and ultra-deep, but it doesn't "press" against your ear like dynamic cans do.

- Chris

 

[nierika]

Quote:

Originally posted by Iron_Dreamer Though I don't listen to lots of electronica, the DT770 could give me the slam and power necessary to make me believe I was actually in a club. I can also see how the CD3000's cavernous soundstage and exaggerated sense of detail could also make the genre more interesting.

I don't think you could name the "best cans for electronic music" because I don't think there's a specific frequency response or character of a headphone that would be preferable to everyone. Someone might enjoy the DT770s for the "in the club" sound, but someone else might want something a little tamer for extended listening periods.

Also, there are just so many genres within "electronic music". I've been primarily interested in it for 5-6 years and have never heard of the 2 artists you mentioned. I'll look through someone's record box and recognize maybe 2 tracks out of 100 (and vise versa when they look through mine). There are so many styles (house, techno, tech-house, progressive, electro, acid, garage, progressive, drum n bass, psytrance, nu skool breakbeat, ultra deep, tribal, downtempo, ETC!) out there and so many different places around the world where electronic music is bring produced, it's pretty hard to pin it down.

That being said I think you would be hard pressed to find high quality headphones that didn't sound excellent playing electronic music. I've owned (or owned previously) 8 pairs of cans in the past couple years and all but 1 were very close to what I was looking for. If you read the board often, you get a good feel for which cans are highly regarded and which are not. I think it's important to focus on what kind of sound signature (deepest bass, midrange quality, rolled-off highs, sizzing detailed highs?) you prefer and what other attributes are most important to you (open, closed, canalphone, circumaural, supra-aural, difficulty to drive, comfort, etc).

 

[stuartr]

Quote:

Originally posted by TimSchirmer For under 1k, i'd get stax SR-404's with a 313 amp. Should run you about 900$ shipped from kojj. It is truly a wonderful headphone and the best i've heard for electronica. The 404's outperform just about any headphone out there for under 1000$ short of the Grado HP-1 (in my humble opinion) Stax just give you an entirely new level of transparency which i have yet to hear on anything dynamic.

What Tim said -- the 404's or the HP-1000s -- because, what music doesn't sound amazing through the HP-1000s

 

[nierika]

Quote:

Originally posted by minya I wholly second Tim's opinion. I'm a huge electronica fan - and I'm not talking ***** dance club Paul Van Digweed trance

C'mon now. Paul Van Digweed trance? It's Paul Van Dyk, and John Digweed. And the kind of stuff I have heard John Digweed play live is hardly "***** dance club trance". I learned long ago that tastes in electronic music are diverse wherever you go, and it's never beneficial to slam someone for what THEY'RE into.

Quote:

- and Stax headphones were a revelation. Their speed and transparency lets me hear every last detail packed into the recording. BTW, they're anything but bass-anemic: their bass is powerful and ultra-deep, but it doesn't "press" against your ear like dynamic cans do.

Honestly the Stax headphones have caught my eye the last few weeks (the "flavour of the month" business and I had never priced them before). The bass is the biggest sticking point to me, and I just cant understand what "bass that doesn't press against your ear" is until I hear them myself (which will probably never happen unless I buy them since I'm far away from anywhere I could audition them). The description sounds a lot like Etymotics ER-4s bass.

(edit): vBcode tags

 

[stuartr]

Well, if you were at the LA meet with Tim and I, you would have experienced the bass -- it is not visceral like the HP-1000's, but it is definitely completely defined and all there. They have more bass than the ER-4s...but the Omega II's really do take it to another level -- they probably have the tightest bass I have heard in headphones, though strangely not with the same ass-kicking-ness of the Hp-1000s and maestrobators...