[Big Daddy Cool]

hey.
I have done lot of research for gaming and horror movies, I came to conclusion, ultrasone 900 pro would be best. However, I will NOT be using any headphone amplifier and I would like to know if that would waste money? I was deciding between them and ultrasone 750, however, without amp, would that make any huge difference? If not, what phones would you suggest (max $500), which would have nice soundstage and bass and needs no amo to get good value out of it, instead of wasting all that $$$. Since many high quality phones would have same sound quality as <$300 ones without an amp. I also saw D5000 with Markyl modification for under $500, would that be best choice? Let me know thanks

 

[nullstring]

are you planning on never getting a headphone amp?

 

[Big Daddy Cool]

nope, maybe afer 6 months if ever, but basically not for long time

 

[MacedonianHero]

For the price (under $500), nothing beats the D5000s in my opinion. But you might be able to score some D7000s used for a little more (just something to think about).

 

[oqvist]

You are not wasting the money but you won´t get even near max out of the markl d5000 or Pro 900 running them underamped.

the markl D500 doesn´t offer much in term of isolation if that is important. Otherwise if you can sacrifice that criteria it´s easier to find open headphones that perform better in the lower price classes.

But well DT 770 Pro/A900 may be good enough for you? Certainly not terrible by any means and particularly the A900 do well unamped.

 

[Lanzky]

My audio-technica ESW9 run quite well without amp. I tend to use amp myself, but it isn't strictly necessary.

However if you are going to use the cans for longer periods of time and at home, I think Denon D2000 might be the ticket due to better comfort - they also perform acceptably without amping although an amp is always recommended.

 

[Necrolic]

D5000
Markl Modded D5000

The only 2 real options under $500, and both (obviously both) need an amp to perform well.

If you're dropping $500 on headphones you are going to need an amp. There's no point spending that much on headphones without paying for an amp as well. I suggest splitting your budget and getting D2000s with a decent amp. D2000s are a pretty good stock can, and have IMMENSE upgrade potential. When you've got some extra money, if you want to improve them, just get wood cups from Lawton Audio, have it markl modded (if you adore the stock sound and don't find the bass boomy at all skip markl mod), and get a recable (you can have Markl recable it with D5K/D7K cable for cheap, which are very good, or you can spring for a premium cable). This will blow your mind with an amp.

 

[pekingduck]

Perhaps a pair of used ESW10JPN? Sounds great unamped

 

[fenixdown110]

The D5000 was what I was going to recommend, but you need to really need an amp with it.

 

[oqvist]

Pro 900 Kees mod 10-20$ max
markl D5000 mode 500$ upwards or is it cheaper/more expensive by now? the markl D5000 I had retailed at 1495 but that was including jena cables and balanced.
OP is obviously budget oriented so that is almost evil canievil suggesting that. Also wood colours which doesn´t help creating good soundstaging either.. Not from the markl D5000 or DX 1000 to judge anyway. May work for music but it just get weird watching movies or playing games or such.

Pro 750 plus a pimeta amp lands under 500$ so that is always an option. Though it would have been nice with a rerelease of those using S-logic plus. May even find a 750/canamp combo under 500$. Pro 650 I have heard good news about as well for movies. Heed Canamp is really nice with soundstaging. Bigger difference then S-logic plus over S-logic. It certainly is way better then Pro 900 unamped regarding soundstage.

Though Pro 900 is a better headphone overall surely so it depends on your budget.

 

[charliex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pekingduck /img/forum/go_quote.gif Perhaps a pair of used ESW10JPN? Sounds great unamped

x2

 

[Acix]

I prefer the GMP 3.35 with the newer pads, if you like sound your balanced and uncolored. The Pro/PL 650 are nice too, but after 500 hours burn in.

 

[oqvist]

Is the gold plated even more demanding on burn in then the titanium plated ultrasones?
I wasn´t that impressed with the soundstage on the 8.35D. A bit to claustrophobic but nice cans surely.

 

[Acix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oqvist /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is the gold plated even more demanding on burn in then the titanium plated ultrasones? I wasn´t that impressed with the soundstage on the 8.35D. A bit to claustrophobic but nice cans surely.

lol, sounds like the titanium never burn.

 

[sixshades]

Hi,
I was in a similar position to you where I wanted to spend the most I could on the headphones first and then at a later date I would get an amp. After trying some Sennheiser HD600 and the Denon D5000's on a couple of hifi amps at home I realised a dedicated one would be better. I've ordered this Valve Class A Tube Headphone Amplifier preamp audio amp on eBay (end time 22-Dec-09 16:39:56 GMT) from ebay and it seems to be getting great reviews on here despite it's meagre price - it looks good too (IMO). Haven't actually got it yet so I can't comment myself. If you do go unamped then the Denon D2000 would be a much better choice as they have the same drivers and you would probably be wasting the extra nuance the D5000 offer you without amping.

In case you're interested - the Denon's were more my cup of tea than the HD600's - they had a nicer sound where I thought the Senns were a little weak on the bass.