[molemonpledge]

Hey, I've been looking for some decent headphones for a while. Right now I'm using ATH M50 with NuForce uDac-2 to listen to FLAC and 320 mp3s. I think they are great headphones for the price but I've been wanting to get a nicer pair of cans for a while with a much better soundstage for home use. My price range is under $300 or so, so I initially was thinking the Q701. I know the Q701 and K701/702 are pretty much the same. The price is about equal that I've found, but I'm liking the Q701 or K702 better simply for the detachable cable.
 
Anyways, I've been hearing a lot of reviews saying the bass isn't the greatest with them, which I'm a little worried about. I've never considered myself a basshead but I do like a warmer sounding pair of headphones. Many people have been saying that the AKG 70x phones are anything but warm, especially without a good amp. Keep in mind I'm using a uDac-2, and having to get another amp/dac would have to be subtracted from my already tight budget.
 
From all this, I was thinking lately that maybe I'm looking at the wrong headphones. I've heard a lot of good things about the HD 598, but they fall lower than my budget, so I was thinking I might be able to find better. I might consider the HD650 if there's a good sale, even if going a little above $300, but I'm really afraid the uDac-2 can't properly power a pair of cans like that. So what do you guys think? Am I OK with the Q701 or is there something better out there?
 
Just to note, I have a fairly eclectic taste in music, but most of the time I listen to Electronic and Rock. Thanks for any help!

 

[DVDRey]

HD650 is effectively a good choice if you want bass and warm sound. HD598 is also very good, but much more bright than hd650. However, if you listen electronic, HD650 is not a fast headphone, HD598 ll be more fast. K701/702 ll be better with electronic, but cold and not excellent with rock.lol.
HD650/K701/702 ll be hard to drive, HD598/D2000 are easy.
 
You can also try denon D2000. I find Pro2900 even better with electro/rock, but its not really a warm headphone and not necessarily at the same price.

 

[Acix]

If the rock is recorded with good sound quality/mastering the K-7XX will make you happy man.

 

[molemonpledge]

Thanks for the replies. I looked into the d2000 and they look pretty good. I see they are closed-back though so how does the soundstage hold up compared to open-back headphones?

 

[Redcarmoose]

Good call.

 

[DVDRey]

If i remember my old D2000 that ended in the trash (small extrapolation,lol), soundstage was very good for a closed, but of course, its not an open headphone.
 
HD598/k701/702 have a much larger soundstage, especially K701/702, but its not really natural with all songs.
 

 

[NinjaSquirt]

Get the Senn HD650, your genres fit, D2000 just can't compete sound stage wise.

 

[molemonpledge]

If I do get the hd650 will I need to get an amp or can I make do with just the udac-2? Also I'm pretty interested lately in the HE 300 . Does anyone know much about these?

 

[Saintly]

If vocals are at all important to you, then I would steer away from Denons.  I could not stand the recessed midrange of the Denon D2000.

 

[Aaron1006]

Quote:

If I do get the hd650 will I need to get an amp or can I make do with just the udac-2? Also I'm pretty interested lately in the HE 300 . Does anyone know much about these?

Most people would probably say no, but I don't know personally. As a cheap upgrade you could consider adding a Fiio E9 to the udac. Not much has been said about the HE300 so far, especially now that most people seem to be liking them better with a sort of unofficial revision. Some reviews and impressions can be found in this thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/564083/hifiman-he-300-coming-soon/660
Also, if you make a quick decision you can get 10% off the new price of $250 from moon-audio promo code found in the deals thread for Black Friday.
 

 

[baka1969]

No-one in this thread has mentioned the Senn HD600 yet. It's on par with the AKG K-70x and to some a better alternative. I never had an opportunity to do any extensive comparisons with the 70x and HD600 so I can't comment directly. I've owned (I think) 3 of the 70x and ony heard the HD600 for short periods of time. I liked what I heard though. It's worth looking into.

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

No-one in this thread has mentioned the Senn HD600 yet. It's on par with the AKG K-70x and to some a better alternative. I never had an opportunity to do any extensive comparisons with the 70x and HD600 so I can't comment directly. I've owned (I think) 3 of the 70x and ony heard the HD600 for short periods of time. I liked what I heard though. It's worth looking into.

I have the HD580 (HD600), HD650 and K701.
 
Vastly prefer the HD580 (HD600). It's neutral. It's detailed. Great imaging and sound stage. Wonderful bass response that is natural.
 
The K701 has an artificially (to me) large sound scape that is synthetic sounding to me, and less bass ability, also a cold sound, thin.
The HD650 is dark (not bright), laid back to the point of boring, but has good response from top to bottom, though the bass response is not what people seem to think it is (I don't consider it that bassy, just a bit more than neutral).
 
Very best,
 

 

[bigheadhifi]

hey price doesnt always justify the quality, especially between headphones that almost in the same price range... HD598 is a good headphone. If you are planning to get a proper amp in the future, then hd650 is good, but if you dont, ah-d2000 is also good.
 
or alessandro ms1i and perform ms1000 mod to increase the soundstage..
 
cheers,

 

[Rudolfs]

I would say HD 600 and also semi-open DT 880 (600 Ohm) are better, and closed D2000 are on a par. I am about to part with D2000, and the jury is still out on the others, but k701 is likely to go, too, and then maybe DT880, leaving me with HD600 (and DT 1350 on the go).
K701 are comfortable and they have wonderful soundstage, but their sound is artificial at times, and bass, while sufficient, is never really deep or impactful (it is well controled though).
EDIT: still I liked K701 considerably better than HD598 and DT 990 pro.

 

[HaVoC-28]

Quote:

I would say HD 600 and also semi-open DT 880 (600 Ohm) are better, and closed D2000 are on a par. I am about to part with D2000, and the jury is still out on the others, but k701 is likely to go, too, and then maybe DT880, leaving me with HD600 (and DT 1350 on the go).
K701 are comfortable and they have wonderful soundstage, but their sound is artificial at times, and bass, while sufficient, is never really deep or impactful (it is well controled though).
EDIT: still I liked K701 considerably better than HD598 and DT 990 pro.

HD-600 and DT-880 (600 ohm) Better than a K701/702 or Q701 ? Well for your hearing peraphs ^^ but many like me will not agree . All on par yeah , and choice will be made by personnal tastes .
 
Personnaly i am not foud of Sennheiser sound , Denon hum a Boomy bass can (not at all my taste XD) .
 
DT-880 (600 ohms) just received it today (replaced a DT-880 Pro too much clamping for me) . DT-880 600 are great , but i will not say that they sound better than my K702 . In fact in my system they sound closer to my  K702 than my DT-880 Pro sounded : a bigger soudstage , more depth ,a less congested sound , airier ,  more mediums , less proeminant highs , and less impact on bass  (not very much more impact than my K702 ...) .
 
And Why not the HE-300 ?