Best headphone & amp for ambient music
May 27, 2012 at 5:06 PM Post #76 of 168
Hi,
 
Quote:
I know there is no headphone with all of my desired qualities, but I hope there are some headphones which don't add many external qualities (impurity) to the music. At least not to a large extent.

&
 
Quote:
Of course ambient music (no commercial type) is not one of those kinds of music which artists record them in great studios with expensive equipments. Most ambient albums are limited to (at most) 3000 (and some of them are even limited to 10). But still I don't think any headphone do the trick.

I'm agree with your words.
 
and don't forget to post your updated list as soon as possible. also it's beneficial to write your desired qualities with your list again. In this way, people who only see last post or last page can have a better idea of what happened at all of pages.
 
May 27, 2012 at 6:00 PM Post #77 of 168
How about Ultrasone Pro-2500?
 
May 28, 2012 at 11:03 AM Post #81 of 168
i kinda place the pro900 in the cool to neutral kind of sound sig...
i love listening to AVATAR, 2012 kind of music on this can, very spacious..very space-y.
and the bass packs a waluppp without destroying the music...
sounds good for ambient....
duggehsmile.png

 
 
 
 
May 28, 2012 at 3:42 PM Post #82 of 168
 
Quote:
Usually it's the ultrasone 2900, that get some recommendation.
For people that want nice bass like ultrasone 900, but something overall more neutral.

 

&
 
Quote:
i kinda place the pro900 in the cool to neutral kind of sound sig...
i love listening to AVATAR, 2012 kind of music on this can, very spacious..very space-y.
and the bass packs a waluppp without destroying the music...
sounds good for ambient....

Thanks. I think I prefer pro2900 over pro900 too, but I still think none of them are as good as most of recommended headphones.
 
May 28, 2012 at 5:24 PM Post #83 of 168
Quote:
Thanks. I think I prefer pro2900 over pro900 too, but I still think none of them are as good as most of recommended headphones.

Well the pro 900 are "very hyped" here, if it's you way to measure how a headphone is recommended (just see the number of post in the pro 900 aprreciation thread).
I've been reading Malveaux  posts, and it seem he ranks headphone this way : ultrasone 900 < denon 2000  to  7000 < his hifiman he500. At least as the bass lover he is.
 
May 28, 2012 at 5:24 PM Post #84 of 168
Quote:
and don't forget to post your updated list as soon as possible. also it's beneficial to write your desired qualities with your list again. In this way, people who only see last post or last page can have a better idea of what happened at all of pages.

The qualities I'm longing for are:

1.Great Soundstage (as much as it doesn't hurt naturalness of the sound)
2.Great Deep bass
3.As Detailed as possible
4.As Neutral as possible
5.As Balanced as possible
6.Great instrument separation (I don't know if its included in number 3 or not)

Important note: I really want my headphone to sound natural and without any external qualities (Impurity) addition to the music (as much as possible)
 
 

And the top choices (based on recommendations / for AMBIENT/NOISE music) are:

Hifiman HE-400 (Audio-GD NFB-12 / Fiio E17 / Fiio E10 / Little Dot MKII)
AKG Q701 (Fiio E9 / HiFiMan EF2 / Matrix M-stage / Fiio E10)
Denon D5000 (Fiio E10)
Shure SRH-1440
Sennheiser HD 600

and other recommendations (selected) are :
STAX SRS-2170
Shure SRH-1840
Denon D7000  (Fiio E9)
Koss ESP-950
Shure SRH940
 
 
Thanks in advance for any other help.
 
May 28, 2012 at 7:56 PM Post #85 of 168
Quote:
The qualities I'm longing for are:

1.Great Soundstage (as much as it doesn't hurt naturalness of the sound)
2.Great Deep bass
3.As Detailed as possible
4.As Neutral as possible
5.As Balanced as possible
6.Great instrument separation (I don't know if its included in number 3 or not)


I have the feeling to recognize the hd800 on your description, but I guess it's way over your budget.
With the hd800:
1. soundstage --> outstanding for my taste.
2.  easy to hear sub bass, just like under a microscope.(  not saying it would be involving).
3. The most detailed sennheiser headphone, and a detail champion often mentioned. The thing is that it still sound very natural.
4 & 5 (I'm not sure how neutral differ from balanced) . Well, there's some emphasis in the 5k 10k treble area, sorry,
but it still sounds pretty good (it remains easy on ear).
6. Instrumental separation: it's partly what makes the hd800 "so detailed", the phenomenal instrumental separation. Sometimes I hear flaws in recording literally "popping" in my 3D representation of sound.
 
Just below the hd800, there's the hd700, but  I  see some people unhappy with a "lesser hd800", who would have preferred something different, instead of a too obvious incentive to upgrade anyway. In direct comparison to the hd700, I  don't remind which reviewer (jude or muppetface) said that  the srh1840 was much more interesting than the hd700 (and cheaper) . I've also seen  some claim that the srh1840 could compete with top models, and as someone who really liked the srh940, I'm willing to believe it. And the srh1840 is easy to drive, and look awesome.
 
May 29, 2012 at 4:33 AM Post #86 of 168
Quote:
I have the feeling to recognize the hd800 on your description, but I guess it's way over your budget.
With the hd800:
1. soundstage --> outstanding for my taste.
2.  easy to hear sub bass, just like under a microscope.(  not saying it would be involving).
3. The most detailed sennheiser headphone, and a detail champion often mentioned. The thing is that it still sound very natural.
4 & 5 (I'm not sure how neutral differ from balanced) . Well, there's some emphasis in the 5k 10k treble area, sorry,
but it still sounds pretty good (it remains easy on ear).
6. Instrumental separation: it's partly what makes the hd800 "so detailed", the phenomenal instrumental separation. Sometimes I hear flaws in recording literally "popping" in my 3D representation of sound.
 
Just below the hd800, there's the hd700, but  I  see some people unhappy with a "lesser hd800", who would have preferred something different, instead of a too obvious incentive to upgrade anyway. In direct comparison to the hd700, I  don't remind which reviewer (jude or muppetface) said that  the srh1840 was much more interesting than the hd700 (and cheaper) . I've also seen  some claim that the srh1840 could compete with top models, and as someone who really liked the srh940, I'm willing to believe it. And the srh1840 is easy to drive, and look awesome.

Thanks.
 
HD800's are certainly great, but it's severely out of my budget.
Shure SRH-1840 seems good, but it's a little bit out of my budget & I should buy an amp too. But if its much better than my top choices, I can wait some months. Does it worth?
 
May 29, 2012 at 9:23 AM Post #87 of 168
Quote:
Thanks.
 
HD800's are certainly great, but it's severely out of my budget.
Shure SRH-1840 seems good, but it's a little bit out of my budget & I should buy an amp too. But if its much better than my top choices, I can wait some months. Does it worth?


The srh1840 doesn't require an amp, merely a  good DAC. You don't need to spend insane amount in your source to drive your headphone.
There's first the Xonar STX (most high end/audiophile soundcard in market)  that run fine every headphone I tried (including the hd800).
Then there's the very cheap FIIO E10 that Malveaux suggested , which provide a DAC + Amp at very budget price. One main problem with the fiio E10  is quality control,
you can search why some people are complaining. There's also the "Audio-GD NFB-12" that people are raving about.

Lot of people prefer to get tube amp, but they introduce change to the sound that people like . It introduce "impurities", but this is the kind of impurities that people are seeking.

Is the srh1840 a solid recommendation ? Well, when I read something like this I'm tempted to get them.  From MupettFace:
Quote:
I've spent a bit of time A/Bing the SRH1840 and HD800, and for me they had divergent enough strengths and weaknesses to make declaring any clear victor pointless despite the HD800 being slightly ahead in many technical respects (detail extraction, texturing, soundstage). The biggest factor in my favoring the SRH1840 is that I simply prefer its tonality. It has a very subtle, laid back sweetness despite being highly analytical and powerful at the same time. The HD800 burned with a bit too much energy up top for me. Also while it lacks the sense of grandeur that the HD800 carries, the tracking and imaging capabilities of the SRH1840 are indeed superb.

 
I think  you'd get more feedback on dedicated thread, because the srh1840 is relatively recent , and some people are affraid to get it, because they didn't like the previous srh940 .
Dedicated thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/583950/shure-srh1840-and-srh1440-unveiled
Also you could ask the guy mike  from headfonia, he is very nice , and will answer you if he think that the srh1840 are good for "dark ambient", or if he doesn't have something better to suggest. I know he has no clue of what is Merzbow. Just go to the Q&A section of his website: http://www.headfonia.com/q-a-2012/
 
May 29, 2012 at 1:57 PM Post #88 of 168
Quote:
Usually it's the ultrasone 2900, that get some recommendation.
For people that want nice bass like ultrasone 900, but something overall more neutral.

Yea, the Pro2900s are amazing! I don't know why, but I was trying to go lower budget.
 
May 29, 2012 at 2:02 PM Post #89 of 168
@extrabigmehdi
 
Thanks again.
 
My Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 has a good DAC and an amp that some people say it's a little be cold sounded and if you say, SRH1814 doesn't need a serious amp, I think it will be enough. But still I should do more research about this one.Because its price is close to HE-500 & also STAX SRS-2170 and it makes the choice more complicated than this.
 
 
Quote:
Also you could ask the guy mike  from headfonia, he is very nice , and will answer you if he think that the srh1840 are good for "dark ambient", or if he doesn't have something better to suggest. I know he has no clue of what is Merzbow. Just go to the Q&A section of his website: http://www.headfonia.com/q-a-2012/

Yeah, he is really nice. I'll do it.
 

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