[zambz]

Hey guys, good news!  Found a store here in Melbourne (right in the CBD which is convenient) which has the DT880, HD600 and HD650!  Assuing I rule out the AKG before listening to them (which I think I'm gonna do based on the terrible headband and lack of hard case), this store could be all I need to choose a good open can (or 2 ...) 

 
They also have the DT250 which is the main closed one I am interested in.
 
Has anyone heard the DT250s against the HM5/FA-003, SRH-940s or Sony 7506/7509?  Would you say the DT250s are the best of the bunch for a closed headphone or should I try to check out the other models mentioned too before making a choice?

 

[nikp]

Check out Addicted2Audio too! They're at Kew and have tons of headphones you can try out too. 

 

[zambz]

Quote:

Check out Addicted2Audio too! They're at Kew and have tons of headphones you can try out too. 

Thanks mate! Already emailed earlier today, just waiting to hear back, hehehe 

 
I think I may of caught headphone fever from you folks, it's very contagious.

 

[Acix]

Quote:

Thanks mate.  The UC has 24/192 kHz AD/DA that some folks compare to the high end Apogee stuff so I will likely not need to buy a dedicated AD/DA.  I have plenty more outputs (all balanced) I'm not using which I could use for phones if required.
 
So assuming a headphone amp would take balanced line ins, I could avoid the need for a dedicated DA converter.  Checking out the one you mentioned now 

 
I've been reading about a bit and found many folks mentioning that the RME stuff drives 300 ohm headphones quite easily, so I may stick with it initially.  I'll write to RME to confirm this.  Assuming I don't go for the DT880s 600 ohm (which I wasn't planning to do anyway, 250 should be ok), then all my choices are 300 ohm or less 

If there is a SPL distribution in Melbourne you can compare the UC to the Auditor, or the Phonitor just to listen and get the feel of what a pro hps amp is about.

 

[zambz]

 
Quote:

If there is a SPL distribution in Melbourne you can compare the UC to the Auditor, or the Phonitor just to listen and get the feel of what a pro hps amp is about.

Cool, will definitely check that out next me thinks.  If I only end up with one pair of opens, then I will likely look at a dedicated amp sooner, but if I do buy the HD-600s and DT880s, then I'm gonna be out of pocket a hefty $800 AU.  I spent over 1k on my tube mic so I don't think that's too unreasonable (trying to justify to self). 

 
I'm just waiting for my 30 day period to elapse on head-fi so I can put up my HD-280 pros and hopefully get some cash back to help with these purchases.
 
P.S.: Oh the SPL is only $2,099 AU, what are you doing to me mate! hehe http://www.jaben.com.au/spl-phonitor-headphone-amplifier/  Stop that at once, you'r making me drool here.

 

[Acix]

Quote:

 


Cool, will definitely check that out next me thinks.  If I only end up with one pair of opens, then I will likely look at a dedicated amp sooner, but if I do buy the HD-600s and DT880s, then I'm gonna be out of pocket a hefty $800 AU.  I spent over 1k on my tube mic so I don't think that's too unreasonable (trying to justify to self). 

 
I'm just waiting for my 30 day period to elapse on head-fi so I can put up my HD-280 pros and hopefully get some cash back to help with these purchases.
 
P.S.: Oh the SPL is only $2,099 AU, what are you doing to me mate! hehe http://www.jaben.com.au/spl-phonitor-headphone-amplifier/  Stop that at once, you'r making me drool here.

Hehehe, just to get taste of what's to come. As well to get a perspective of a pro studio monitor hps amp is. and then to compare it to the UC for future reference. I was luck to try the Phonitor back in 2007...and today I own one.   

 

[zambz]

 
Quote:

Hehehe, just to get taste of what's to come. As well to get a perspective of a pro studio monitor hps amp is. and then to compare it to the UC for future reference. I was luck to try the Phonitor back in 2007...and today I own one.   

Yeah, I know what you mean mate, definitely good to know the difference.  I must admit though that I'd likely upgrade my studio monitors before buying a $2,000 headphone amp at present since my monitors are worth that much alone 

  It certainly would be cool to see how the Fireface UC stacks up against a dedicated amp.  I'm surprised to see most amps without DACs have RCA inputs ... what the?  Why no balanced inputs? 

  The SPL does have balanced ins though, kudos SPL! 

 

[zambz]

By the way, a few little side notes about the SRH-840s for my head-fi friends.
 
Burn in really does seem to iron out the kinks in the SRH-840s.  The highs and lows are more refined now, with that shrill sound in the treble having disappeared after about 50 hours burn in (gonna keep burning to get to 100 me thinks).
 
These headphones are actually comparing favourably to my ADAM A7 monitors at the moment (which I adore more than any speaker!!), I'm starting to think I need to move my monitors wider apart (not really possible due to my 1.8m desk) to get a similar stereo space I'm feeling in the cans.  The treble and bass response just seems a little closer to accurate to my ears in the cans and I'm hearing some detail (errors) I lacked on the monitors.  In the current track I'm mixing for example, one of my trusty producer friends told me the vocals were too soft, which had never occurred to me at all on the ADAMs.  Threw on the SRH-840s and bam, indeed they were too soft, so much so that it immediately bugged me.  Adjusted the mix on the cans and sent a render back to my friend, and he said it was perfect.
 
Today, I had a listen to grabbed Sarah McLachlan - Fallen through these phones and it just blew my mind ... holy cow!
 
I'm really starting to think that I will be doing around 50% of my mixing through cans from now on, truly a much more accurate representation of many aspects of the music.  I can see what all the fuss is about and I only have $200 (AU) cans to start with.
 
 

 

[Acix]

Quote:

 


Yeah, I know what you mean mate, definitely good to know the difference.  I must admit though that I'd likely upgrade my studio monitors before buying a $2,000 headphone amp at present since my monitors are worth that much alone 

  It certainly would be cool to see how the Fireface UC stacks up against a dedicated amp.  I'm surprised to see most amps without DACs have RCA inputs ... what the?  Why no balanced inputs? 

  The SPL does have balanced ins though, kudos SPL! 

 
Yes your right, most of those RCA amps are "hifi amps" or DIY amps that are produce in China. Some of the RCA amps are better suitable for studio use, like the http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/.

 

[Acix]

Violectric is another good example for a great German built amp, that have balanced in but not balanced out...

 

 

[lejaz]

Thanks for the input on those zambz. I always wondered how they would be for music production. So the lows are fairly accurate on the Shures?.I was worried about bloated bass after seeing a frequency response graph.....don't know how accurate some of those graphs are though.
 
Quote:

By the way, a few little side notes about the SRH-840s for my head-fi friends.
 
Burn in really does seem to iron out the kinks in the SRH-840s.  The highs and lows are more refined now, with that shrill sound in the treble having disappeared after about 50 hours burn in (gonna keep burning to get to 100 me thinks).
 
These headphones are actually comparing favourably to my ADAM A7 monitors at the moment (which I adore more than any speaker!!), I'm starting to think I need to move my monitors wider apart (not really possible due to my 1.8m desk) to get a similar stereo space I'm feeling in the cans.  The treble and bass response just seems a little closer to accurate to my ears in the cans and I'm hearing some detail (errors) I lacked on the monitors.  In the current track I'm mixing for example, one of my trusty producer friends told me the vocals were too soft, which had never occurred to me at all on the ADAMs.  Threw on the SRH-840s and bam, indeed they were too soft, so much so that it immediately bugged me.  Adjusted the mix on the cans and sent a render back to my friend, and he said it was perfect.
 
Today, I had a listen to grabbed Sarah McLachlan - Fallen through these phones and it just blew my mind ... holy cow!
 
I'm really starting to think that I will be doing around 50% of my mixing through cans from now on, truly a much more accurate representation of many aspects of the music.  I can see what all the fuss is about and I only have $200 (AU) cans to start with.
 
 

 

 

[zambz]

Acix: Thanks a lot for the amp info, they look really tasty  

 
 

Thanks for the input on those zambz. I always wondered how they would be for music production. So the lows are fairly accurate on the Shures?.I was worried about bloated bass after seeing a frequency response graph.....don't know how accurate some of those graphs are though.
 


 

I'll be totally honest here, and please note that this is only my opinion.  Before buying my phones, I (like you) was carefully examining the frequency response graphs constantly.  When actually listening to the many phones I had seen the frequency response graph to in store, I realised that the graphs are really not the best indicator for headphones.  Perhaps for real speakers they would indeed be suitable, but for headphones they were mostly inaccurate.
 
e.g. @ Headroom, the graphs suggest that the M50s have less bass than the SRH-840, which is most definitely not the case.  I have a few more examples of things like that.  Some aspects are true and some simply aren't, you best let your ears decide in my honest opinion and take with you some sine wave tones in the lower end of the spectrum (20 Hz - 100 Hz) and top end (12 kHz - 20 Khz) to see the true extension of the headphones you are checking out as well.
 
Regarding bass and the discussed mid-bass bloat on the SRH-840s, I personally just don't hear it.  It's simply possible that my monitors have an even bigger mid-bass bump as the mid-bass seems a tad lean compared to my speakers.  Also to be fair, I love the 100 Hz range, it's where all the punch lies for a lot of music (especially trance).
 
Overall, I find the bass clean and relatively punchy, although not quite as perfect as the DT880s I heard the other day.  It's miles ahead compared to the bass I heard on the M50s.(in terms of clarity).
 
Hope that helps 

 

[lejaz]

Thanks...helps a lot....glad to know they sound nothing like that graph, lol! I was really puzzled by that frequency response for a studio monitor... but I had similar issues with other graphs as well. Yet, with some other phones the graphs are very close to what I'm hearing. There's got to be some serious flaw the methodology they use for measuring if they can be that far off.
 
Quote:

Acix: Thanks a lot for the amp info, they look really tasty  

 
 

I'll be totally honest here, and please note that this is only my opinion.  Before buying my phones, I (like you) was carefully examining the frequency response graphs constantly.  When actually listening to the many phones I had seen the frequency response graph to in store, I realised that the graphs are really not the best indicator for headphones.  Perhaps for real speakers they would indeed be suitable, but for headphones they were mostly inaccurate.
 
e.g. @ Headroom, the graphs suggest that the M50s have less bass than the SRH-840, which is most definitely not the case.  I have a few more examples of things like that.  Some aspects are true and some simply aren't, you best let your ears decide in my honest opinion and take with you some sine wave tones in the lower end of the spectrum (20 Hz - 100 Hz) and top end (12 kHz - 20 Khz) to see the true extension of the headphones you are checking out as well.
 
Regarding bass and the discussed mid-bass bloat on the SRH-840s, I personally just don't hear it.  It's simply possible that my monitors have an even bigger mid-bass bump as the mid-bass seems a tad lean compared to my speakers.  Also to be fair, I love the 100 Hz range, it's where all the punch lies for a lot of music (especially trance).
 
Overall, I find the bass clean and relatively punchy, although not quite as perfect as the DT880s I heard the other day.  It's miles ahead compared to the bass I heard on the M50s.(in terms of clarity).
 
Hope that helps 

 

 

[JRoMan]

This is a great thread. Just recently picked up a pair of HD580 albeit with a broken headband (as in it has no headband at the moment). I've been enjoying the Shure SRH840 for the past year and love the midrange the most.  It was my entry into real headphones, and I chose it over A-T M50 and AKG k271.
 
Anyway, an hour or two of A/B testing against the HD580 (with a makeshift headband from a donor pair of old Denons) has convinced me to sell my trusty 840s to help cover the cost of a new headband from Sennheiser. Reading through this thread has reaffirmed that I'm making the right choice! The 580s already have the HD600 grill and HD650 cables, too.
 
Sort of off-topic: I also just bought a pair of Senn HD25-1 ii for more portable use. They surprisingly sound quite similar to the SRH840 in the mids, but with a bit more bass punch and a bit more forward treble. Soundstage is no match, of course, but they isolate extremely well for a smaller on-ear. 
 

 

[lejaz]

X2 about the 580's....most awesome phones. I wouldn't be looking at the Shures if I didn't have a need for a good closed phone that's relatively easy to drive. What you write about the mids of the 840 sounds very promising. 

 
Quote:

This is a great thread. Just recently picked up a pair of HD580 albeit with a broken headband (as in it has no headband at the moment). I've been enjoying the Shure SRH840 for the past year and love the midrange the most.  It was my entry into real headphones, and I chose it over A-T M50 and AKG k271.
 
Anyway, an hour or two of A/B testing against the HD580 (with a makeshift headband from a donor pair of old Denons) has convinced me to sell my trusty 840s to help cover the cost of a new headband from Sennheiser. Reading through this thread has reaffirmed that I'm making the right choice! The 580s already have the HD600 grill and HD650 cables, too.
 
Sort of off-topic: I also just bought a pair of Senn HD25-1 ii for more portable use. They surprisingly sound quite similar to the SRH840 in the mids, but with a bit more bass punch and a bit more forward treble. Soundstage is no match, of course, but they isolate extremely well for a smaller on-ear.