[r00tbeer]

Are Philips Uptowns a good buy for 60 euros or should I still go for M50's for 160 euros?

 

[hipster2010]

Quote:

I just need some lil' help before i buy my 1st decent headphone yeah coz' im using Soundmagic in-ear as of the moment..

My Top Choices are :

Superlux HD 661
Superlux HD 631
Sennheiser HD 428
Sennheiser HD 419
Sennheiser HD 205

all of 'em are not too pricey in our country except for the 661 which is much cheaper compare to my other 4 choices..
im into house musics more on hiphop rnb and a bit of a loud rocks!
 
any suggestions for better cans please'? Thanks a lot!
 
*im a commuter who doesnt like to hear noices ~

 
I haven't heard any of those headphones, but Superlux is a very good brand that makes good sounding headphones for cheap. I had the Samson SR850 (same as Superlux 668b and it was incredible for the price. I would say research the 661 a bit more cause they may be your best bet since it is cheap.

 

[Zoomer13]

What would be a nice direct upgrade from the HD555s with the soundstage mod? I like the sound, but would like more overall power
and detail. The cheaper the better, and amping is not an issue.

 

[fersman4]

I'm looking for an all-around performer which provides comfort, isolation, and immersion in public and on planes. Budget is $200. Music genre is instrumental/acoustic rock. Should I bother looking at active noise canceling? I am willing to do IEM or headphones. Also recommend whether you think an external amp is needed when driven by an iPhone 4. Thanks!
 

 

[GrahamDBraun]

Hi, I'm new to Head-Fi, and high-end audio in general. I guess you could call me a wanna-be audiophile.
Here's my current schtick:
 
I'm planning on buying my first set of expensive headphones (relative to my other purchases). I hope one of you guys can point me in the right direction. I'd like headphones that:
-Have a fairly flat frequency response, so no exaggerated Bass or anything (Sorry to dumb it down, I just want to make sure I explain myself well in case my terminology is all wrong).
 
Other things that I would like, but could do without are headphones that are:
-Portable and comfortable
-Look cool. (I'm afraid I might get shot down for this one).
 
My planned spending on the headphones was the $200 - $400 range.
 
So far, my considerations have been the:
-Denon AHD-2000s
-HiFiMan HE-300s and HE-400s
 
I'm not against a headphone amp, I'll buy one if I have to, but only a portable one.
Any help is appreciated. 

 

[KG Jag]

Quote:

I'm looking for an all-around performer which provides comfort, isolation, and immersion in public and on planes. Budget is $200. Music genre is instrumental/acoustic rock. Should I bother looking at active noise canceling? I am willing to do IEM or headphones. Also recommend whether you think an external amp is needed when driven by an iPhone 4. Thanks!
 

 
If you go with headphones, your budget is too low to consider anything good with active noise cancelling.  I would go with the Sony MDR 7510 or Sony MDR-V900HD.  They both isolate well; don't require an amp; and have a sound signature that should very well with your genre.

 

[BullHorn]

KG Jag is a familiar name... TalkBass, perhaps?
 
Anyway, I'm so lost and confused now. I'm looking at the Beyerdynamic DT770, Audio Technica ATH-M50, Audio Technica ATH-A900X and I can't decide which of these or perhaps there's something ever better under $300...

 

[orangecr]

Quote:
 

Hi guys. First post here. 
 
I am sorry to bring another grado vs alessandro question. 
 
I've had a pair of Grado SR80i for a couple of weeks and I really like them. The only complain about the SR80i's is that I find them a little harsh with some female vocals like Diana Krall, Heart, and other acoustic music that focuses on the treble or with a lot of cimbals and hi hat. Thats a little unconfortable; I dare to say it is even painful. I am using them with my iPhone 4s, and with a Nuforce Udac-2 connected to my laptop (sometimes just my laptop witout DAC/amp).
 
Question:
 
Will this improve with time (burn in)?
Should I try the Alessandro MS1? wich I understand from what I've read, that they are less harsh than the Grados.
 
Grettings from Costa Rica. (yes, that explains the English)

Quote:
 

You have described the Grado peak perfectly.  And it can be pretty annoying with female vocalists.  No amount of dac or amp swaps will remove it, you either like it and accept it or move on.  From others comments of the nuforce ,that is probably not helping much either.  Burn in time is unlikely to help.  Perhaps a better sounding dac/amp and headphone audition might be in order.

 
Thank you all for the fast replies. I am loving this comunity.
 
It's hard to audition headphones in Costa Rica. All you get is Bose, beats, and recently Sennheiser (had the HD555 for a couple of months); so my auditions are based on online reviews, and buying and selling headphones.
 
I will give the Grados some time to burn in, and I will gime me the time to get used to them.
 
I was thinking about getting a pair of ultrasone HFI 2400, or maybe something like the alessandro ms1 if I don't get used to the sr80i's. I want something similar but less harsh (if that's the correct terminology).

 

[KG Jag]

Quote:

KG Jag is a familiar name... TalkBass, perhaps?
 
Nope..but if you're into a forum or two covering historical military and strategy gaming or military and automotive die cast then maybe.
 
Anyway, I'm so lost and confused now. I'm looking at the Beyerdynamic DT770, Audio Technica ATH-M50, Audio Technica ATH-A900X and I can't decide which of these or perhaps there's something ever better under $300...
 
Take a look at the Sony MDR 7520 or MDR Z1000, which are sometime found in or close to your budget.

 

[RoughJaco]

Hi,

New to the community, and after looking around I thought I'd do the right thing and post in here rather than be a precious princess and have my own thread.
Apologies in advance for the verbose post, but I'm trying to narrow things down after being swamped with info by the intertubes, so if some good soul can read the lot, hopefully it will be with a short-list, and not 20 options

I have a modest but long running audiophile past with home systems, and played electric bass and upright bass for enough years to have a reasonably attentive ear.
I've never really gone very far into headphones realms though past the utilitarian (wi-fi SH for playing games when the miss is around, some AKG monitors for when I edit and stuff like that).

I'm in the market for some headphones to wear at work, as my old set is entirely too battered for continued use at this point.
I tried being self-sufficient, but not knowing the headphones market a fraction as well as I know home setups all I got out with is more confusion, and decent audiophile shops around here are few and far apart, so I can't really hop in the car and drive for two days just to test two or three models.

I'm after something in the 200 range, give or take 50 bucks, and while I'd rather try to stay away from amps for convenience reasons, if there's a set for 150 that really outshines all with a 100 bucks amp, I'm happy to reconsider.

I'm a huge fan of large, elongated vertical cups, preferrably felt-y, but I can cope with leather and fake leather ok. Can't really deal with tight, pressing headbands or flat hard pads.
Closed preferred, but open would be ok too, I don't work in a noisy area and I don't keep the volume to levels where bleed out would annoy my colleagues.

Comfort is of paramount importance for me, as these are headphones I'll keep on several hours a day. I can take some weight as long as the cups are big and soft and there's no pressure on my temples or around the ear.

I'd really like something warm sounding, with a preference for the lower range of mids and rich, round bass (not the head thumping beats kind though), and am willing to sacrifice the highs for it if need be.
I really detest over-present, shrill highs, and can't cope too well with them in first place.

I greatly prefer the stage to be some rows away from me. The super forward, middle-of-the-band stages turn into fatigue quickly for me.
As this is an ease of listening kinda thing, I'm more than happy to give up some separation and clarity for the above. While I'd rather not have a single muddy source between my eyes, if the stage is wide and far but a bit blurred and even occasionally muddy, I can more than cope, I understand I can't have it all for this price range.

Music I listen to is almost everything, but the most prominent genres are Jazz, prevalently fusion, hard rock, and occasionally some instrumental or chamber music. I seldom listen to large orchestrals at work.
If I can get a good mellow and warm sound for a weather report album, and have some devildriver not punch through my ears, I'll have got all I can ask for.

Thanks for making it this far, and thanks in advance for any eventual advice.
Cheers,
Rough

 

[Laerai]

Hello,
 
I am looking for a set of headphones under $100. They will be used primarily for gaming,specifically FPS (BF3, TF2, etc.) and RPGs, though occasionally I may listen to some classical or alternative rock. Ideally, I want to be able to hear footsteps as well as the general direction the opponent is coming from. Comfort is not an issue, as I rarely sit down game for more than an hour or two.
 
After doing a bit of research, I found that the Audio Technica ATH-AD700 seem to be ideal for me. However, I will be using my motherboard's onboard sound (Realtek ALC898), and I'm not sure if it will be a waste of money because I don't have a dedicated sound card. Do you think it would be a better choice to get a ~$40 sound card to use in conjunction with say the Superlux 668B? Any suggestions for other headphones/headsets? Advice is greatly appreciated, so hopefully I can get some insight into the lower end audiophile world.

 

[KG Jag]

Quote:

Quote:
 

Hi guys. First post here. 
 
I am sorry to bring another grado vs alessandro question. 
 
I've had a pair of Grado SR80i for a couple of weeks and I really like them. The only complain about the SR80i's is that I find them a little harsh with some female vocals like Diana Krall, Heart, and other acoustic music that focuses on the treble or with a lot of cimbals and hi hat. Thats a little unconfortable; I dare to say it is even painful. I am using them with my iPhone 4s, and with a Nuforce Udac-2 connected to my laptop (sometimes just my laptop witout DAC/amp).
 
Question:
 
Will this improve with time (burn in)?
Should I try the Alessandro MS1? wich I understand from what I've read, that they are less harsh than the Grados.
 
Grettings from Costa Rica. (yes, that explains the English)

 
Thank you all for the fast replies. I am loving this comunity.
 
It's hard to audition headphones in Costa Rica. All you get is Bose, beats, and recently Sennheiser (had the HD555 for a couple of months); so my auditions are based on online reviews, and buying and selling headphones.
 
I will give the Grados some time to burn in, and I will gime me the time to get used to them.
 
I was thinking about getting a pair of ultrasone HFI 2400, or maybe something like the alessandro ms1 if I don't get used to the sr80i's. I want something similar but less harsh (if that's the correct terminology).

 
Alessandros through a tube or hybrid amp is probably your best shot.

 

[Woop]

Quote:

What equipment will be powering these cans?
 
What is the format of your music and other sounds you will putting into these cans?
 
Describe the sound signature that you are seeking?
 
What music genres do you plan run through these cans?

Sorry for being vague there. An Audioengine D1.
 
302kbps and WAV. 
 
I'll admit I want something with a colored sound signature.
 
Some classical, but mostly electronic. Stuff like hard trance, psy trance,  etc.

 

[Xaverian]

Hello, 
 
I recently bought the Sennheiser HD598s after recommendations from this thread. Now, after doing some research on this site I've found that many people recommend using an amp with >2ohm output impedance to improve the bass on these cans. I'm picking up the headphones tomorrow so I haven't heard them for myself and don't know if this will be an issue or not. If this were an issue for me though, what amp would be recommended (the cheaper the better). Also I'm listening form my macbook pro and ipod nano so portability is necessary. Some that I've looked at so far:

fiio e11/ e9
JDS labs o2 (a bit too expensive)
anything cheaper that would do the trick?

Also from what I've read, an external DAC would be my next step up in sound quality. I wouldn't be buying one for another year or so unless a good deal came up, but what is a good jack-of-all trades entry level dac for my computer that would keep me satisfied for a long time and would do justice to just about any headphones. (a bit much to ask for, but otherwise my wallet would be empty from continuously buying new equipment.) Portability isn't an issue here, it would be dedicated to computer use. Price range >$200 but willing to spend absolutely no more than $300.

 

[haquocdung]

Quote:

Any recommendation for portable headphone especially for iPhone control like Beats Studio? Price range is less than $500.

Philip Fidello F1.
It's a great headphone with good bass, and still very detail.
An iphone would drive it easily.