Cans for home listening (flac, cd, Onkyo A9010) — tried ATHM50X and disliked them

[wojtekk]

Hey guys, hello there, a newbie here

I am looking to buy a pair of headphones that would allow me to listen to music from the comfort of my sofa, in the evening, so that I don't annoy my flatmates or neighbours.

I listen to various types of music, from ECM jazz through to weird Norwegian stuff like Third and the mortal or Nils Peter Molvaer, Ulver, Dead Can Dance and Pink Floyd, lots of modern electronica, some blues... Pretty much anything. I have a Marantz CD5000 connected to my new Onkyo A9010, and I like this set up very much. When listening to flac the sound goes through Raspberry Pi with IQAudio DAC connected to the amp. Some old Kef Cresta speakers that I've had for years, very happy with these.

I am thinking of using the Onkyo with its headphone amp for now and maybe moving to a dedicated phone amp in the future (I will be setting up a different room in my flat to become my office and I'll need something there, but that's in a few months to come).

I've had ATHM50X but found them extremely uncomfortable (too tight, and I wear glasses, too). Sound-wise they were ok, though, enough bass, but I could have more scene there, I think. I am prepared to pay £100-£200, or a little bit more if I must.

I've been looking at Philips Fidelio X2, AKG702, HiFi Man H400S, SoundMagic HP200 (for some reason they appear to me aesthetically). I am not that keen on Sennheiser as I've had bad experiences with their IEM's in the past, however... No real preference here.

Cans can be closed or half-closed (half-open?), or even open, since I never listen to music extremely loudly anyway.

If possible, available in the UK with no hassle of dragging stuff from across the water.

Oh, ideally with a pretty long cable (if not, I'll buy an extension).

What'd ya recommend, please?

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Cheers,
Wojtek

 

[buke9]

You have picked a decent set to start from. The only ones I have are the HE-400S. I have heard all the others but it has been awhile. I did not like the 50X’s myself as I found the bass too flabby but that is me the rest of the signature was not too bad. The rest would be on the sound signature you want. They are all different but not too far apart. If you can spend a little more the Meze 99 Classics are worth a look as they can be eq’ed more than any headphone I have. That start at as a decent bass headphone and can go really neutral. My dap has two eq profiles and one is just for the Meze.

 

[wojtekk]

Thanks for the recommendation of Meze. Shame I can't listen to any of these in Edinburgh and will have to rely on purchasing and returning if dissatisfied... Uh.

What do you remember about these SoundMagic ones?

Any other opinions, folks?

Comfort is another thing that I am after.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I am looking to buy a pair of headphones that would allow me to listen to music from the comfort of my sofa, in the evening, so that I don't annoy my flatmates or neighbours.
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Cans can be closed or half-closed (half-open?), or even open, since I never listen to music extremely loudly anyway.

Listening with open headphones or semi-open can lead to a downward spiral on that. You don't listen loud, but that's on a closed headphone which blocks out a fair bit more noise from the other people in the same place. With open headphones you can hear more of them - even a running shower or banging keys while typing can be audible so tendency will be that you'll crank it up to compensate. Your 82dB average on a closed headphone can be 85dB or higher on an open back headphone.

I've been looking at Philips Fidelio X2, AKG702, HiFi Man H400S, SoundMagic HP200 (for some reason they appear to me aesthetically). I am not that keen on Sennheiser as I've had bad experiences with their IEM's in the past, however... No real preference here.

If you'll take a chance on an open headphone anyway I'd much rather try the HD650 or HD660S. Higher impedance so there's less risk of reducing damping factor with high output impedance outputs like on your integrated amp and CDP. You might not even need the Onkyo if listening from CDs since the Marantz has a decent headphone output. I loved my HD600 straight out of my CD60 until it stopped reading CD-Rs and can't read newer CDs with PC content at the inner rings (and then it assumes it's not an audio CD and doesn't search past that area).

The HE400S is a planar nd less affected by that, plus it has only slightly lower sensitivity than the HD650, but if you're happy with the M50's bass you'll get a lot less with the HE400S. You're probably going to get a bit less on the HD650 (barring the possibility that output impedance is cutting the bass on the M50) since an open back headphone isn't going to get the bass bouncing around inside the sealed cup on top of which you get ambient noise. They can measure close enough but when these are measured they use instruments in a sound isolated room to get an accurate reading - in practice your room isn't as quiet and you'll hear a bit of ambient noise that primarily obscures the bass. And ambient noise doesn't even have to be "noisy" - what seems like a quiet room with no distinct noise sources can still register well above 30dB.

If possible, available in the UK with no hassle of dragging stuff from across the water.
---
Cheers,
Wojtek

As a beer drinker with a teddy bear collection, I'm sorry but I just have to show people something cute that I remember when I see "UK"/Britain and "Wojtek."

 

[wojtekk]

Haha to the bear. Passing by the old fellow every day on my way to work.

I'll see if I can get my ears on to Sennheisers somewhere... They're the ones that are readily available.

This is all, after all, super-duper confusing and I have to say that I, in a way, preferred times when there was just one thing on the shelve of the little shop nearby and that's what we were getting, ha ha. The paradox of choice!

 

[wojtekk]

Crap. This stuff is pricey. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser...d=1516814697&sr=8-1&keywords=sennheiser+hd600 — £370 is a bit too much. Perhaps I should look into one of the other pairs instead... Uh.

 

[serman005]

HD650 or HE-400S--if you can afford it and don't need M50x-level bass. If you do, I would look at a B&W P7 and see if you can find one for a good price (used?). I do like the 99 Classics as well. There is a regular contributor on this board who owns an HP200 but the only SoundMAGICs I have heard are the closed HP150 and HP151. I highly recommend the HP151.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Crap. This stuff is pricey. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser...d=1516814697&sr=8-1&keywords=sennheiser+hd600 — £370 is a bit too much. Perhaps I should look into one of the other pairs instead... Uh.

if you order from the US, Massdrop has the HD58X (ie a 150ohm HD580J, which is what they rebadged as the HD600) and the HD6XX (basically the HD650) for $150 and $200 respectively. Just check in the threads for those cans how many over there ordered and had to pay import taxes.

 

[wojtekk]

Precisely, I'd rather avoid that. No worries.

I'll look into all of this after coming back from holiday, in two weeks time. Thanks, people. If you have any more recommendations, send them through, please.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Precisely, I'd rather avoid that. No worries.

You could buy a used HD650 but that's about it. You're going to have to spend £370 otherwise.

 

[wojtekk]

I feel strangely excited about B&W P7, and they are actually not that crazily expensive here in the UK. Too much choice.

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

Crap. This stuff is pricey. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser...d=1516814697&sr=8-1&keywords=sennheiser+hd600 — £370 is a bit too much. Perhaps I should look into one of the other pairs instead... Uh.

They are not £370 everywhere

They should fall into your budget at £269, and are excellent headphones, otherwise the Meze 99 Classics are also great (not so good out of the integrated amp). Being the same price, and the fact you want to use them at home out of your integrated amplifier, I would take the HD600

 

[wojtekk]

I'll see what can be done.