Peter Pinna
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2008
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Quote:
I've never owned an Ipod. Until about 3 weeks ago, I thought that an Ipod would not have enough power to drive high end headphones. I was proven wrong. A friend of mine has an Ipod Shuffle and she let me borrow it. I connected the Pro 750's to it and was amazed at the strength of the sound. Yes, it would have been better from a dedicated amp but, at about 2/3rd of maximum volume, the Ipod shuffle was going strong playing music through the Pro 750's.
If we would have had this communication prior to that experience I would have said you need a better source than the Ipod for all high end headphones. However, given that experience I would say, that at the very least your Ipod should be enough to at least give you some idea of the sound quality of some of these headphones.
Now, I'm about to contradict myself. Some headphones, as you may know, are much more difficult to "drive" than others. If memory serves correctly, the Pro 750's are easier to drive the K 701's, as just one example.
I've never tried playing an Ipod through a DT 770. As a matter of fact, the only time I've tried to use an Ipod with a pair of high end headphones was the previously mentioned Shuffle / Pro 750 experience. I don't know this for sure, but it could simply be that the DT 770's are more difficult to drive then the HFI 450's (the ones you tried in the store) and the resulting sound from the 770's was not good because they needed more "juice" to make them sound good.
The question then becomes, how will you use these phones? Is your source going to be your Ipod, most of the time? Or, will you be using an amp of some type. Will they be mostly for portable or home use? These are only some of the factors which will affect your decision.
To achieve a better idea of how these headphones will sound, I suggest going back to the store with a CD of your favorite music. Have the attendant put the CD in one of their computer drives where the sound card is wired to a (hopefully) neutral amp. My best guess is that they will have such a "set up".
This will probably give you more answers as to which headphones require an
amp. (If the DT 770's sound much better with this "set up" you know they require an amp and the Ipod is not strong enough for them.)
I think I told you this in a previous post but in case I didn't, I have heard some favorable comments regarding the Ultrasone HFI 780's but I have not heard these headphones. You might want to do a search for those comments for another possible option.
As you know, I can give you a recommendation on the Pro 750's. I really like their sound. They require a significant amount of burn-in time and I suggest you wait to listen to them until they've gone through at least a few days of burn-in unless you want to hear the stages of improvement perhaps for a report you could write for head-fi. Be aware that the Ultrasone sound stage is not like any you've heard before and, it might be awhile before you are able to hear it fully. (See the first post in "The Sound of the Pro (Proline) 750 Headphones" in my signature area.)
They are definitely outside of your budget so you might have to wait a little while until you can afford them (if you want them).
Another option would be to buy the 770's with a good portable amp (if you want them for portable useage). But, there you also have an extra expense.
I have not heard the D2000 so I can't make any comment on it's performance.
Once again, I wish you the best in finding your headphones.
| Originally Posted by RealDealz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for that. Yeah, I'm not exactly sure how burned in the 770s I tried were but they were the store's demos - so I would think that they have at least some burn in done. In terms of the source - I dunno, I found that other phones from the same ipod were less harsh. So, unless the difference in how they react to amps makes a difference, it seems like the same source can at least show you which are more or less harsh than others. (Edit: not to mention that part of the reason I want a closed phone is for travel - in which case listening from a lesser-source like an ipod is going to be pretty important) To be quite honest, considering I've now tried the beyers, AKGs, and ultrasones (the ultras being my favorite of the three), and none of them really comes close, for me, to the sound of open phones, I'm thinking that perhaps I'm better off getting a cheap pair of closed when I absolutely need the isolation, and investing in open's. Unless I can find a nice sounding pair of closed that is =) That'd be nice, since I really enjoy the "bye-bye world" experience of closed phones. |
I've never owned an Ipod. Until about 3 weeks ago, I thought that an Ipod would not have enough power to drive high end headphones. I was proven wrong. A friend of mine has an Ipod Shuffle and she let me borrow it. I connected the Pro 750's to it and was amazed at the strength of the sound. Yes, it would have been better from a dedicated amp but, at about 2/3rd of maximum volume, the Ipod shuffle was going strong playing music through the Pro 750's.
If we would have had this communication prior to that experience I would have said you need a better source than the Ipod for all high end headphones. However, given that experience I would say, that at the very least your Ipod should be enough to at least give you some idea of the sound quality of some of these headphones.
Now, I'm about to contradict myself. Some headphones, as you may know, are much more difficult to "drive" than others. If memory serves correctly, the Pro 750's are easier to drive the K 701's, as just one example.
I've never tried playing an Ipod through a DT 770. As a matter of fact, the only time I've tried to use an Ipod with a pair of high end headphones was the previously mentioned Shuffle / Pro 750 experience. I don't know this for sure, but it could simply be that the DT 770's are more difficult to drive then the HFI 450's (the ones you tried in the store) and the resulting sound from the 770's was not good because they needed more "juice" to make them sound good.
The question then becomes, how will you use these phones? Is your source going to be your Ipod, most of the time? Or, will you be using an amp of some type. Will they be mostly for portable or home use? These are only some of the factors which will affect your decision.
To achieve a better idea of how these headphones will sound, I suggest going back to the store with a CD of your favorite music. Have the attendant put the CD in one of their computer drives where the sound card is wired to a (hopefully) neutral amp. My best guess is that they will have such a "set up".
This will probably give you more answers as to which headphones require an
amp. (If the DT 770's sound much better with this "set up" you know they require an amp and the Ipod is not strong enough for them.)
I think I told you this in a previous post but in case I didn't, I have heard some favorable comments regarding the Ultrasone HFI 780's but I have not heard these headphones. You might want to do a search for those comments for another possible option.
As you know, I can give you a recommendation on the Pro 750's. I really like their sound. They require a significant amount of burn-in time and I suggest you wait to listen to them until they've gone through at least a few days of burn-in unless you want to hear the stages of improvement perhaps for a report you could write for head-fi. Be aware that the Ultrasone sound stage is not like any you've heard before and, it might be awhile before you are able to hear it fully. (See the first post in "The Sound of the Pro (Proline) 750 Headphones" in my signature area.)
They are definitely outside of your budget so you might have to wait a little while until you can afford them (if you want them).
Another option would be to buy the 770's with a good portable amp (if you want them for portable useage). But, there you also have an extra expense.
I have not heard the D2000 so I can't make any comment on it's performance.
Once again, I wish you the best in finding your headphones.
