[Steve The Egg]

I'll be shipping off to college this fall, and I need a pair of closed headphones. No HD650's for me :/ and I'll have to leave my Grado's behind too :'( anyway I have a pair of Denon 2000's Markl modded that don't work anymore. I think they just need to be recabled. But I'm not sure (and if FallenAngel is reading this my deepest apologizes for not responding to your PM's for 5 months and if you still want to repair them/recable them I'd love that).

Anyway, I'll be using this laptop to listen: Newegg.com - ASUS N51 Series N51Vf-A1 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T9550(2.66GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory 320GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M - Laptops / Notebooks

So any recommendations on headphones or headphones/dac/amp combination

My budget is $800 and shhhh we won't tell my parents all my graduation money went towards headphones

 

[KingStyles]

How about some d7000s. There right in that price range. Also maybe some deep darth beyers, there going lately a lot less than that.

 

[tintin47]

Why no open phones at college? I use mine at school all the time. I understand wanting closed ones for when necessary but I would think that you'd be able to bust out open cans fairly often.

As far as recommendations go, I would look at getting the Denons fixed first, because they are one of the better closed phones. After that, maybe take a look at some of the higher end AT closed phones. Maybe you could wait and hope for one of the out of production AT woody closed phones, like the W11jpn, to pop up in the fs forum.

 

[ScottieB]

What kind of sound do you like? If you could bring only one pair of your opens (senns, grados etc) which would you bring?

I really like my Ultrasone H-FI 780s, but they aren't for everyone... very 'fun' headphone and work really well with movies/games as well as music. But they are not neutral in any sense...

 

[myk7000]

If you feel that isolation is important,

the ultrasone pro 900 is pretty good at isolation compared to the denons, which I feel are pretty much open headphones when it comes to isolation.

I personally love the sound of the denons but have found myself really enjoying these ultrasones alot, that's why I sold mine to fund the 900s.

Since your in college, a portable like the pico, predator, d10 work exellent with the ultrasones or denons. I feel that they are almost as competent as full sized amps with these two headphones.

 

[Steve The Egg]

@ tintin47: I'm not sure why no open phones. But it's one of those rules they have. I'll have to see how my roommate feels about them.

@ScottieB: I'd say my Grados. I just love the way they sound. I watch movies/shows a lot on my laptop but very very very rarely play games.

@myk7000 : Moderate isolation is important but sound is always more important. Out of those which one do you think sounds better?

 

[tintin47]

Rules they have?! What college are you going to that specifically bans types of headphones that very few people know about or listen to?

I guess you can always just have someone at home mail your open cans up after you test the waters with your roommate/the rules.

 

[ScottieB]

Well only being able to suggest things I've heard, I'd say have a look at the Ultrasones - they're the closest to a Grado-like sound I've heard in a closed can, and offer pretty good isolation, too. They also drive well without an amp (but improve a lot with one). I own the 780s but you should check out the whole line - you may like what you find there.

 

[Berlioz]

They actually have a rule that specifically bans open headphones? That's absolutely ridiculous.

Most people don't even know what an "open" headphone means...

And besides, there are going to be way worse noise issues than open headphones. Guys are gonna have their girlfriends over and crank up the stereo so you can't hear...yeah.

Are you totally sure that those kinds of headphones are banned, or are you just being over cautious?

 

[charliex]

No other choice - check the thread and try to get a pair of the limited Audio Technica ATH-ESW10JPN headphones - spectacular!

 

[Xan7hos]

Well, I'd suggest getting a DAC/AMP combo, your somewhat smaller options are the Head-Direct (or is it HiFi Man?) EF-2, Carat Topaz. Or if you decide portable, the iBasso D10 is a great little dac/amp.

You might also want to read up on the new Shure headphones, they're getting a lot of good reviews, and even with the aforementioned products, you'll be around half your budget.

 

[arteom]

For college I'd take a Sennheiser HD-25, portable enough to take everywhere, no amp needed, indestructible, sound quite decent. You won't have to worry about them in any sense of the word, they are very versatile.

 

[Berlioz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by arteom /img/forum/go_quote.gif For college I'd take a Sennheiser HD-25, portable enough to take everywhere, no amp needed, indestructible, sound quite decent. You won't have to worry about them in any sense of the word, they are very versatile.

That's very true. While I still don't understand why you can't have some open headphones, the HD-25's are amazing. I got to spend some time with a pair at a meet, and they were extremely crisp. The build quality is great too, and they also isolate very well. I compared them to my IEM's and I considered the HD-25's far superior in all regards.

 

[yourstruly]

Keep in mind that different open headphones have different amounts of leakage. Grados, in my experience, are the kings of sound leakage. I had a roommate with a sr60 and when he used it, everyone in our dorm could hear what kind of music he was listening to. Any other open phones should be fine, but you should test drive.

 

[ScottieB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yourstruly /img/forum/go_quote.gif Keep in mind that different open headphones have different amounts of leakage. Grados, in my experience, are the kings of sound leakage. I had a roommate with a sr60 and when he used it, everyone in our dorm could hear what kind of music he was listening to. Any other open phones should be fine, but you should test drive.

This is true, although I find my Sennheisers to be worse than my Grados. Either way, any kind of leakage in a setting where others need to study/concentrate is pretty rude, IMO.