[brianknewbie]

Hello,

I am very new to the head-fi world but have jumped right in

*SR-71
*Ipod 4G
*XM MyFi (not really hifi but this is what got me started thinking about Total Airhead, Total Bithead etc)
*mini to mini BlackMax
*headphones now: ER4S (plane), HD555 (at work
*headphones to be sold probably: HD280, HD595
*headphones looking to buy: HD650 for overall listening at home, ?? for movies, MS-2 for rock

I recently bought a Yamaha VRS-7100 mostly for its low price entry point into hardware-based Dolby Headphone.

I'm now wondering what are the best headphones to use with it.

It is impressive with the HD595s but I am wondering if I can do better

Among the ones I am considering:
* just using the HD650's I will be getting anyway.

* DT880

* CD3000 has been highly praised but there seems to be a lot of concerns about its reliability, and most of the threads I found praising it seem to be older...am wondering if they have been made obsolete by the newer ones?

Any thoughts on these? What else should I be looking at?

Another consideration -- I think I have to use the headphone out on the VRS-7100 because the DH output seems to be limited to the headphone output, nothing seems to be coming out of the pre-out when I tried preout --> SR71.

Thanks in advance!

Brian

 

[cosmopragma]

The Senns are nice for DH, there's no need for another pair for that purpose.

 

[jtwn]

Hi there

I own both the CD3000 and HD600 and must say that the cd3ks are the better when it comes to DH, the restrictive soundstage of the Senns lets it down when that is exactly what DH is trying to create compared to the CD3ks. When comparing its clear which is better.

Can't comment on the beyers, but there is a thread that directly compares all these phones, in the reviews section.

About the lack of talk about the cd3ks, in my short time of being here, it seems to go in phases of liking some phone then criticising a few months down the road...sigh

hth a bit.

 

[go_vtec]

For 70mm-DTS/Digital Spectacle setting, CD3K sounds huge and awesome. However it can sound little too distant during intimate dialog for some movie.

My current favorite pair of cans for the movie is AT ATH-W1000. It has little bit narrower soundstage than CD3K, but it sounds more appropriate for late night movie watching with headphone in nearly any sound-field setting w/ Yamaha.

 

[brianknewbie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtwn Hi there I own both the CD3000 and HD600 and must say that the cd3ks are the better when it comes to DH, the restrictive soundstage of the Senns lets it down when that is exactly what DH is trying to create compared to the CD3ks. When comparing its clear which is better.

Thanks....very helpful.

At this point I think I might get CD3000 and just sell them on here if I dont like them.

 

[cozmo5050]

the DT880's are the hottest looking headphones. i had to do a double-take wheni saw them.

ok, the grado rs-1/rs-2's look cool too, but i like velour pads.


---wow....your 595's arent good enough for u?. i feel like a noob complimenting my 590's still.

 

[brianknewbie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmopragma The Senns are nice for DH, there's no need for another pair for that purpose.

thanks but "nice" is a relative term....i'm looking for the best specifically for DH. well, the best that's available for < $500

 

[cosmopragma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brianknewbie thanks but "nice" is a relative term....i'm looking for the best specifically for DH. well, the best that's available for < $500

Most of the movie soundtracks aren't audiophile anyway.
Sometimes I'm using the Stax Lambdas for DH, they are even nicer than the Senns.
Oh, wait a moment, the Lambda Systems do cost slightly more than 500.

 

[brianknewbie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by go_vtec For 70mm-DTS/Digital Spectacle setting, CD3K sounds huge and awesome. However it can sound little too distant during intimate dialog for some movie.

Interesting...I'll definitely watch for this potential problem of the dialog seeming too far away.

Quote:

My current favorite pair of cans for the movie is AT ATH-W1000. It has little bit narrower soundstage than CD3K, but it sounds more appropriate for late night movie watching with headphone in nearly any sound-field setting w/ Yamaha.

Can you clarify what you mean by "more appropriate for late night movie watching" ? Not sure what you mean here.

Thanks!

 

[go_vtec]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brianknewbie Can you clarify what you mean by "more appropriate for late night movie watching" ? Not sure what you mean here. Thanks!

Sorry, let me clarify what I said.

What I meant to say was W1000 has slightly narrower soundstage, which suits wider range of movies. Sony CD3K is a great choice for action and sci-fi movies where larger soundstage can be advantage. However it can sound little too far and distant if you were to watch drama/comedy where huge soundstage can be somewhat distracting.

Given a choice, I generally prefer watching dialog-heavy or intricate plot (=story oriented) movies at night, but reserve action or scifi movies for daytime viewing. This way, I can really focus on tinest details which I could miss during daytime noise from kid, wife and neighbors. For most of action/scifi, I wanna feel the blasts, not just hear them. Hey, that's what the subwoofers are for right? Anyways, your mileage may vary, but I found W1000 more suitable for drama/comedy/supense and it also handles action/scifi descently; CD3K does action/scifi slightly better, but slightly too echoy for drama/comedy.

 

[brianknewbie]

go_vtec, thanks for the clarification

So an update: the CD3Ks dont seem to be available ANYWHERE. So much for my idea of trying those out and returning/selling if needed.

At this point I'm going to just step back and see if my existing equipment is OK -- I'm still burning my 650s in via 24x7 music & tones

and after that I'll compare the movie-watching with those to what I have now with the 595s.

Also I'm very curious to read reviews of SA5000 as they become available. More expensive than the CD3K but much newer design obviously and perhaps some of the flaws perceived by some have been corrected.

Also, A900 seems to be recommended for movies a lot, hated by some.