[mrmonday]

I love techno, deep, and minimal house but I can't be blasting my speakers all the time. I am always listening to podcasts from Adam Beyer, UMEK, Chris Liebing, John Digweed and many others; the problem is that all of my earphones don't do dance music any justice. I assume that these podcasts have pretty average audio quality but I want to get the most out of them. I was very close to picking up the dt 770 80 ohm but then the Oppo PM-3 also look amazing, and then there is AKG which has some great stuff too. Please help me choose something that will bring life to my dance music. I really want to get an amp like the Asgard 2 or Lyr 2 but a subpac S2 might be even more beneficial. I really want to keep my whole setup under $500 so if I get the P-3 I wouldn't be able to afford a decent amp. Right now I am leaning toward the dt 770 and the subpac s2. Let me know what you guys think!

 

[WraithApe]

I don't know the DT 770, but have you considered Sennheiser? HD8 DJ possibly - I also listen to a lot of techno, and I find that headphone does pretty well with it. Audio Technica's M50X is a pretty popular choice for this genre too. They're both headphones that emphasize the bass region somewhat, but not at the expense of overall clarity IMO, and that works well for electronic music. Of course the HD25, in all it's variations, is also a solid choice for electronic, but it sounds like you might be looking for an over-ear rather than on-ear.

 

[mrmonday]

  I don't know the DT 770, but have you considered Sennheiser? HD8 DJ possibly - I also listen to a lot of techno, and I find that headphone does pretty well with it. Audio Technica's M50X is a pretty popular choice for this genre too. They're both headphones that emphasize the bass region somewhat, but not at the expense of overall clarity IMO, and that works well for electronic music. Of course the HD25, in all it's variations, is also a solid choice for electronic, but it sounds like you might be looking for an over-ear rather than on-ear.

Thanks for the reply! I have looked into a few Sennheisers including the Momentum and HD600. I haven't heard anything about the HD8 DJ but I am definitely looking for a headphone geared more toward listening than DJing. Ideally $250 would be my maximum, so the DT770 Pro 80 and M50X are my primary contenders but I am still hoping that there are other closed back options in this price range. I really want something with a punchy bass and fun sound but relatively flat response. The Shure SRH1540 seems perfect but it is out of my price range unfortunately.

 

[SteveHiFi]

German Maestro 8.35D - built very strong and sound just as you require - right on budget too.

 

[WraithApe]

  Thanks for the reply! I have looked into a few Sennheisers including the Momentum and HD600. I haven't heard anything about the HD8 DJ but I am definitely looking for a headphone geared more toward listening than DJing. Ideally $250 would be my maximum, so the DT770 Pro 80 and M50X are my primary contenders but I am still hoping that there are other closed back options in this price range. I really want something with a punchy bass and fun sound but relatively flat response. The Shure SRH1540 seems perfect but it is out of my price range unfortunately.

 
That's a shame - I was really quite impressed with the SRH1540 when I demoed it myself. I would say it's worth trying the HD8 if you can find it on demo anywhere. Despite the DJ tag, I still found it to be better sounding than most other options in the same price range. For me, it does have a fairly flat response but with deep, punchy bass. Senn also have the HD6 Mix which is supposed to be geared more towards critical listening, but I prefer the HD8 myself - just more of a fun sound, especially with electronic music. 

 

[mrmonday]

  German Maestro 8.35D - built very strong and sound just as you require - right on budget too.

I have looked into these before but I forgot about them, thanks for reminding me! I am just worried that they won't be comfortable enough for all day listening. Also, what do you guys think of the soundmagic hp100 and hp150? I would prefer something that shines with an amp since although these need to be closed they don't need to be portable at all.

 

[mrmonday]

I really want the fidelio x2 but I am worried because they are open headphones. I have a roommate and I don't want to wake him up with my headphones. I have never had open headphones so I have no idea how much they leak, is it as loud as having a speaker on?

 

[WraithApe]

  I have never had open headphones so I have no idea how much they leak, is it as loud as having a speaker on?

 
Maybe a little portable speaker (e.g. X-mini). The amount open-backs leak does vary and it depends how loud your source is of course, but I've never encountered any that leak to such a level they could be used as an alternative to a speaker! It's still enough to annoy someone though, potentially. If I were your roommate it would annoy me, but then I'm probably abnormally sensitive to background noise.

 

[navii]

subpac S2? sounds like a gimmick, the oppo pm-3 seems like a winner worth sinking money into, and you wont need an amp, except its neutral sounding so it wont emphasise the bass. (maybe you can EQ the sound)
 
I also wonder what sort of noise the subpac s2 produces that your roommate might hear.
 
I personally enjoy the beyerdynamic t51p when listening to Chris Liebing's AM/FM podcasts.
 
What made you choose the oppo pm-3?

 

[mrmonday]

  subpac S2? sounds like a gimmick, the oppo pm-3 seems like a winner worth sinking money into, and you wont need an amp, except its neutral sounding so it wont emphasise the bass. (maybe you can EQ the sound)
 
I also wonder what sort of noise the subpac s2 produces that your roommate might hear.
 
I personally enjoy the beyerdynamic t51p when listening to Chris Liebing's AM/FM podcasts.
 
What made you choose the oppo pm-3?

I also thought it seemed like a gimmick until I was on the gearslutz forum with a bunch of producers who claim it is the only solution for accurately monitoring bass response. It is accurate down to something like 5hz and everyone who has used one says that it is indispensable. It is marketed more as a professional tool but I think it would be really nice with the genres I listen to. Subpac is basically silent, it is accurate with multiple high resistance transducers, but it better be for $350. I will probably buy one in the future but for now I am focusing on headphones. I liked the pm-3 because it is a planar so it should have quite a bit of extra bass detail and extension and it is the best closed planar at the moment. I really like the t51p but I prefer something around the ear; however, I have heard it is very comfortable so ill add it to my list. Its awesome that you listen to am/fm! I am very tempted by the X1 now that it is only $170, seems like the best deal on the market right now.