[sphinxvc]

@Skerry2006aj
 
Do you realize all these headphones are all very amp-specific?  You cannot assume you will get the most of every phone with just any amp.  I think it would help if you stated your overall budget for the amp + DAC + headphones.  If you want to keep your HP cost around $500 then I'd choose either the Denon D2K (self MarkL mod?), HD650s, HD600s or K701s.  
 
As others have told you, the K701s are lean in the midrange and bass-impact-shy.  However, they do have good bass extension (if that matters to you).  You can also make the midrange fuller with tubes.  They are stellar with classical / acoustic / jazz music.  Less so on any other genre, including rock (far from unbearable though).
 
The HD650s are nice (w/ good bass impact) but a little muddy.  You may experience a bit of congestion if you listen to any type of classical, etc.  Also, they're a bit juicy & lush, so this can ruin things for songs or passages that are supposed to be cold.  You may find them unimpressive as many have, some people label them as boring but they're just non-offensive, almost to a fault.  Someone called them blasé recently, fitting description.  Some people claim they've been able to "fix" these issues of soundstage / muddiness with a narrow range of amps but I've never heard it.  =]
 
The HD600s are of the same family.  Same problems and strengths above apply.  Apparently they have a more reference tonal balance than the 650s though.  I've heard a pair briefly but not long enough to back that claim up.
 
Denon D2Ks are bonafide all-rounders.  I've heard two (one stock, one Lawton modified) and I definitely liked braswel's L2K better.  If you can do the MarkL mod yourself this is a good option.  I myself don't like Denons (weird treble) but plenty of people do.  Impactful bass. 
 
Also remember to take all this stuff you hear about tonal balance with a grain of salt, it depends alot on your personal HRTF.

 

[moodmoody]

The Audeze LCD-2 is the best buy for now....

 

[moodyrn]

Quote:

@Skerry2006aj
 
Do you realize all these headphones are all very amp-specific?  You cannot assume you will get the most of every phone with just any amp.
 
 
 
 
 
Exactly. I've been getting a kick out of reading many of these impressions about the flaws a lot of these headphones have. Many high-end headphones are very amp dependent, and if driven properly, most of the flaws talked about becomes non-existent. I own the he-6, d7000, stax 407, and have listened to the t1 and hd800s on many occasions. I have a different amp for each of my headphones. The most important thing to look at is how are you going to be amping them. My recommendation would be the d7000. They are a very fun can and don't require serious amplification, though they do scale well with better amps. They are very easy to drive compared to the rest of them, and even sounds decent straight out of an ipod.

 

[Dobrescu George]

my dac is cowon j3.... and for an amp, right now i am searching for one.... maybe i will get schiit lyr, if i will get an extra expensive headphone... ok... now i am considering lcd2 and denon d7000.... what is the ceapest price i can get for denon d7000 or lcd 2?.... i mean i do not really have much money, as i am trying to buy a car.... and want to get the best, at the lowest price

 

[Townyj]

I feel sorry for you mate! I would focus on getting your car over some audio gear right now! I promise you! You will get sucked into this hobby and spend well over your budget, only to realise you didnt need all that fancy stuff to actually enjoy music! Seeing as you only have a J3 as your source! You shouldnt even bother getting any of the high end fullsize headphones at all.. Having that as your source will be huge downfall imo.

 
Quote:

my dac is cowon j3.... and for an amp, right now i am searching for one.... maybe i will get schiit lyr, if i will get an extra expensive headphone... ok... now i am considering lcd2 and denon d7000.... what is the ceapest price i can get for denon d7000 or lcd 2?.... i mean i do not really have much money, as i am trying to buy a car.... and want to get the best, at the lowest price

 

 

[moodyrn]

I agree. If that's going to be your source then the denons will be the best bet. But even the denons will be serverly held back.

 

 

[Mercuttio]

It's a much better idea to buy a couple of headphones that you can return for around $300 or buy used and flip them. Feeling out what your ears actually want and finding the house sound that you're looking for is always a better idea than just going for broke with one pair. You simply won't respect what you have until you've heard what else is out there and know that your collection is tuned to your ears specifically. 

 

[Dobrescu George]

i di have an thread about amps too... this means i am not going to use j3 alone...

 

[BrucYSN]

Misconceptions:

1. No, the K-701 does not compare to the HD-650. The K-701 has a fatal flaw in the way the mids are voiced. They sound unnatural with vocals. Further, the HD-650 scales nicely with amp upgrades. Put them on a high-end amplifier and they change character. I never found similar scaling with the K-701. Some claim that you can "fix" them with a narrow range of amps, but I haven't heard it. The HD-650, on the other hand, performs well with a wide variety of amps.

2. Car audio does not equal good headphones, let alone speakers. Cars are a terrible listening environment, anyway. There's road noise, car interiors are terrible for listening (too much glass) and you have to pay attention to driving. If you want to drop mid-four figures, just get speakers.

x2
The AKG 701 is very good cans for its price, but people have been over rate it for a quite while. Many were considering to compare them to HD800 or T1( never heard T1 though), but in fact, 701 is no where near them. Not to mention the LCD-2. Compare to other big boys in its league I would say $945 is more than fair, since LCD-2 is well regarded as one of the best Dynamic phones out there among the K1000, R10. There is no magic in K701/2, it's good but not magical. Besides, the proper amp for K701 would cost you 5 times more than the HP.

There is NO way the Car audio would pull it out. Unless you sitting in some special acoustically treated car. The bass would crush the window than bounce back and forth. It's unreasonable to spent too much on car audio, especially you need to focus on the road now the music. ( although the B&W on Range OVER sounds very promising lol )


LCD-2 is not easy to drive, it's even more tricky than 701

 

[BrucYSN]

@Skerry2006aj
 
Do you realize all these headphones are all very amp-specific?  You cannot assume you will get the most of every phone with just any amp.  I think it would help if you stated your overall budget for the amp + DAC + headphones.  If you want to keep your HP cost around $500 then I'd choose either the Denon D2K (self MarkL mod?), HD650s, HD600s or K701s.  
 
As others have told you, the K701s are lean in the midrange and bass-impact-shy.  However, they do have good bass extension (if that matters to you).  You can also make the midrange fuller with tubes.  They are stellar with classical / acoustic / jazz music.  Less so on any other genre, including rock (far from unbearable though).
 
The HD650s are nice (w/ good bass impact) but a little muddy.  You may experience a bit of congestion if you listen to any type of classical, etc.  Also, they're a bit juicy & lush, so this can ruin things for songs or passages that are supposed to be cold.  You may find them unimpressive as many have, some people label them as boring but they're just non-offensive, almost to a fault.  Someone called them blasé recently, fitting description.  Some people claim they've been able to "fix" these issues of soundstage / muddiness with a narrow range of amps but I've never heard it.  =]
 
The HD600s are of the same family.  Same problems and strengths above apply.  Apparently they have a more reference tonal balance than the 650s though.  I've heard a pair briefly but not long enough to back that claim up.
 
Denon D2Ks are bonafide all-rounders.  I've heard two (one stock, one Lawton modified) and I definitely liked braswel's L2K better.  If you can do the MarkL mod yourself this is a good option.  I myself don't like Denons (weird treble) but plenty of people do.  Impactful bass. 
 
Also remember to take all this stuff you hear about tonal balance with a grain of salt, it depends alot on your personal HRTF.

Very wise advice

 

[BrucYSN]

my dac is cowon j3.... and for an amp, right now i am searching for one.... maybe i will get schiit lyr, if i will get an extra expensive headphone... ok... now i am considering lcd2 and denon d7000.... what is the ceapest price i can get for denon d7000 or lcd 2?.... i mean i do not really have much money, as i am trying to buy a car.... and want to get the best, at the lowest price

J3 is a good source but not good enough for your set up. I've I9 from Cowon and I found it terrible even unbearable. It was cold , muddy and compressed mids, weird bass , and almost no treble.... for a second I though I got a fake one until it played ape files.

Although I think OP really needs to his head straight. The way you allocating your fund is more than unfair. In my opinion, you should always start with the source. There is many budget source out there, DACmagic( $400), V-dac( $300), Pisco-dac, PS LinkIII( $700) or even one from DECware( $800). and then you need to pick up a amp that would fit you HPs that you like. Something from WOO like WA6SE( $1050) or CSP2+( $800, it's shown to pair well with LCD-2 although has some little roll off on treble. but very good with other phones. like HD650)
After the upgrade the tube you should still have at least $1k or so to spent. than you pick the headphone. In this way it would be more quality guaranteeing for you HPS.

And please don't get ahead of you head. Since it seems like you don't have a single clue what are they sound like, it would be safe to buy a used mid price hps first and invest your money on the set up. And work your way up when you can appreciate them

 

[skeptic]

Quote:

my dac is cowon j3.... and for an amp, right now i am searching for one.... maybe i will get schiit lyr, if i will get an extra expensive headphone... ok... now i am considering lcd2 and denon d7000.... what is the ceapest price i can get for denon d7000 or lcd 2?.... i mean i do not really have much money, as i am trying to buy a car.... and want to get the best, at the lowest price

As much as we all love headphones around here - my vote is that you prioritize your vehicle purchase and hold off on the headphone upgrade right now.  You indicated that you already have a pair of IE8's.  These are very nice dynamic IEM's (in my opinion), assuming you've got a good fit and the right tips.  In fact, as an owner of both the IE8's and 650's, I would say that the two share a lot of similarities in their overall sound signatures, despite the major differences in form factor. 
 
Given that you like the Senn house sound, I think you would probably enjoy the 650's quite a bit if you paired them with a decent OTL tube amp.  (Personally, I would look for a used bottlehead crack or Woo 3.)  But, this has got to be secondary to getting yourself a functional ride.  In the meanwhile - continue to enjoy those IE8's.

 

[Dobrescu George]

yes, ie8 make my life sweet, but you see, right now i have this little problem, i need something that to not enter into my ear... is not that i don;t like the music like this, but i know that listening to them like this all day long at somehow loud volumes can affect parts of my hearing.... i am looking into headphones that can do the job at least at ie8's level... until now, nothing from akg, nor sony xb700, and do really think that nor ath m50 or shure srh 840 can really shine like ie8....
 
i am looking into buying a headphone amp, but you see, i have to get a car, a house, and lots of other stuff,... is something like exactly in this moment i am looking for quality/price comparasion... even throught i have around 1000- lets say 1500$ for headphones, i have to get the most unexpensive option possible.... i mean i looked into some of them, but in my country, sennheiser is the only thing that is underpriced compared to america prices.... beyerdynamic cost about to 250 for 990 and 770 versions... and denons are like double price..... i am considering getting a denon d7000 from america..... but i would like an portable amp for any of them.... i mean it is much more nicer to have an portable..... but if you can recomend me something really cheap (under500$) i want to look into tube or ss amps....

 

[sphinxvc]

Dude, $1K phones and up deserve amplification and sources that will run you at least $2K.  Budget for the system, not just the headphones, all of it counts.  If you want to spend $1K, get a decent entry level DAC + entry level amp + HD650s / 600s or any of the other ones in their class that strikes your fancy.  If you want to spend $700-800, get one of those phones and pick up a good amp/DAC combo like Audio-GD or Nuforce offerings.  The J3 is a portable media player, it's main features are a touch screen, slim form factor and a glorified EQ, the DAC used in the J3 is for all intents and purposes, a compromise, an after thought.  You will have far more success with the Audio-GD/Nuforce amp/DAC combos.  I'm not sure how much the D2K is in your country but an Audio-GD NFB-12 + D2K is one of the cheapest entry-level setups here.
 
 

 

[brasewel]

I don't think you need to spend $2k unless you want them balanced or at their absolute best. I think for $500-$1000 you can get a decent amp and dac to run even the $1k+ headphones.