[bixby]

Quote:

Greetings all,
 
I've got a little free cash to spend (~$200) and I'm trying to decide what would be the best path to head down.  I just recently made my first steps into higher end audio and picked up a pair of AKG K240s.  I've really enjoyed them so far (not so much their customer service but that's an entirely different story).  I also have a pair of Incipio F38s (rebranded FA-004 I believe) I use at the office for noise isolation reasons.  I have yet to commit to reripping all of my CDs at a higher quality but that's on the to-do list and doesn't really require any more money. So... I am trying to decide where the $200 could best be spent.
 
To review, I have AKG K240 and the Incipio F38s.  I tend to use the AKGs at home running straight out of my desktop computer (RealTek onboard audio) and the F38s at work out of a Macbook Pro through a FiiO E5.  I'm guessing the E5 is unnecessary and probably doesn't do much anyway other than give a small bass boost when required and also provide inline volume control.
 
 
Would these headphones benefit from a DAC/amp combo?  I've looked into the FiiO E10, the Audioengine D1, the HeadStreamer, iBasso D7, the NuForce uDAC and pretty much any other DAC/amp combo that I saw mentioned often in this price range.  Or would I be better off trying out another headphone just to get more of a feel for different sound signatures, companies, etc?  As far as music I'll listen to just about anything but I guess I tend to listen to more rock, country, and electronic than anything else.  I do game quite a bit on the home computer (mostly FPS), but so far the sound there hasn't been much of a concern.  It also seems that in that realm you're picking gaming or music but not really both (as I did look into sound cards as well.. but I figured a DAC/amp might be able to do double duty at home & the office).
 
The E10 was tempting at it's price, but I've read some thoughts that it doesn't make much noticeable difference.  My fear is that if I spent too little $$, I'll just end up spending more on something else in a short amount of time. 
 
Sometimes the internet makes it too easy to get overwhelmed with opinions and really confuse yourself!  ..and here I am asking for more.  Ha.  At least this method is a little more direct and specific.
 
TL;DR version: I've got a couple headphones, but nothing super expensive.  Wondering if there's more value in getting a DAC/amp at this point, or if I should just buy another pair of headphones and try out some more sounds.
 
Thanks so much!

Fix the source first.  Your instincts are right, the hp out of most computers is passable at best.  The first step would be a good decent dac/amp.  I did a review of the HRT on my blog (May).  I have not heard all the others you mentioned but can tell you the HRT is a good one.  Now this does not guarantee you will not be barking for something more in 6 months to a year.  You are on Headfi after all.  Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Delta9]

Guess my question got ran over by the influx of others asking questions lol oh well.

 

[bixby]

Quote:

Hi, can I get some help? Want to watch movies: Using the NFB 10.2.
 
Sennheiser HD 650
or
Beyerdynamic DT990 250ohm

flip a coin, read reviews of both.  Both are very good cans, both a bit laid back in the mids, Beyers more bass heavy so better on stuff that is blowing up I suppose.  Treble more peaked on the Beyers.

 

[bixby]

Quote:

Hello,
 
I have been lurking the Head-fi page for a few months now. So far I have purchased a pair of Shure SRH550DJ headphones and I think they sound pretty good considering I paid $100.00 for them. Only problem is that the left side of them broke where the adjustable slide meets the headphone. I repaired them but I am looking to get some new phones.

I listen to mostly EDM, such as DnB, Dubstep, Electro, Glitch, House, Trance. I also listen to lots of Reggae and early 60's, 70's 80's classic rock and metal... but not as much as the EDM and Reggae.

Some of the artists I listen to are: Bassnectar, Calyx and Teebee, ATB, Above & Beyond, Blackmill, Aphex Twin, LM1,  Tycho, Com Truise, Datsik etc.

I usually listen to my music using Windows Media Player or Winamp on my HP Pavilion DV7 w/ Beats Audio or my Creative Zen Vision M MP3 player. I do not have an amp.

So my question is this: What good on ear/over ear cans can I get for between $100-300 (really dont want to pay more than $250), that would sound good on my laptop/mp3 player without an amp. Also if someone could recommend and amp that would be cool too.
 
Thanks,
Delta9.
 

I am not the one to help with something that might match your musical tastes, but I can rec a good overall upgrade for your cans.  Try to get a listen of the Shure 840s.  Decent cans and priced under your budget.  The slight midbass bump should help with some of your stuff like Reggae and classic rock.  The mids are smooth and would help with dubstep and stuff like Skrillex.  Too bright of a can can be painful with some genres.  Hope that helps.  As for amps, a good cmoy like the jds labs would work great with both sources.  If you want to go even higher then JDS labs C421, but you probably don't need to.

 

[hipster2010]

Quote:

Greetings all,
 
I've got a little free cash to spend (~$200) and I'm trying to decide what would be the best path to head down.  I just recently made my first steps into higher end audio and picked up a pair of AKG K240s.  I've really enjoyed them so far (not so much their customer service but that's an entirely different story).  I also have a pair of Incipio F38s (rebranded FA-004 I believe) I use at the office for noise isolation reasons.  I have yet to commit to reripping all of my CDs at a higher quality but that's on the to-do list and doesn't really require any more money. So... I am trying to decide where the $200 could best be spent.
 
To review, I have AKG K240 and the Incipio F38s.  I tend to use the AKGs at home running straight out of my desktop computer (RealTek onboard audio) and the F38s at work out of a Macbook Pro through a FiiO E5.  I'm guessing the E5 is unnecessary and probably doesn't do much anyway other than give a small bass boost when required and also provide inline volume control.
 
 
Would these headphones benefit from a DAC/amp combo?  I've looked into the FiiO E10, the Audioengine D1, the HeadStreamer, iBasso D7, the NuForce uDAC and pretty much any other DAC/amp combo that I saw mentioned often in this price range.  Or would I be better off trying out another headphone just to get more of a feel for different sound signatures, companies, etc?  As far as music I'll listen to just about anything but I guess I tend to listen to more rock, country, and electronic than anything else.  I do game quite a bit on the home computer (mostly FPS), but so far the sound there hasn't been much of a concern.  It also seems that in that realm you're picking gaming or music but not really both (as I did look into sound cards as well.. but I figured a DAC/amp might be able to do double duty at home & the office).
 
The E10 was tempting at it's price, but I've read some thoughts that it doesn't make much noticeable difference.  My fear is that if I spent too little $$, I'll just end up spending more on something else in a short amount of time. 
 
Sometimes the internet makes it too easy to get overwhelmed with opinions and really confuse yourself!  ..and here I am asking for more.  Ha.  At least this method is a little more direct and specific.
 
TL;DR version: I've got a couple headphones, but nothing super expensive.  Wondering if there's more value in getting a DAC/amp at this point, or if I should just buy another pair of headphones and try out some more sounds.
 
Thanks so much!

I'll echo Bixby; the HRT Headstreamer is wonderful. I just purchased the ODAC which is another option in that range if you only want a DAC. I'll see how I like that once it arrives.

 

[Jimmy24]

Quote:

Hi, can I get some help? Want to watch movies: Using the NFB 10.2.
 
Sennheiser HD 650
or
Beyerdynamic DT990 250ohm

 
HD650s. If you like listening to music for long hours then this is the right can. Its non-fatiguing as the guy mentioned above me and its just all around a great headphone. Good for all genres.

 

[steve2151]

Quote:

 
HD650s. If you like listening to music for long hours then this is the right can. Its non-fatiguing as the guy mentioned above me and its just all around a great headphone. Good for all genres.

 
HD 650 is easier to reterminate for balanced use with the NFB-10 as well. It makes a big difference on this unit.

 

[kingduqc]

Hi, I'm currently shopping an audio setup, more precisely a pair of  headphone. My current setup is Onboard sound card, with some LogitechG35 Usb gaming headset. They are getting old, drivers pissed me off most of the time and the sound quality isn't that great. Not to mention that they started making crazy loud noise (Ear hurting pink noise). I'm not an Audio geek like most of you, read/watch a lot of reviews on headphones, amps, sound card and still trying to figure out that beautiful world of the audiophile.

So here I am to ask you on what to buy to get a good experience with headphones. My personal use of headphones is mainly to game(70% of the time) on war game like battlefield 3. I also watch a lot of tv shows like game of thrones or Dexter or the walking dead. And of course, music witch isn't specific to a style but mostly metal/rock/Alternative/heavy or death metal/punkish.

Budget would be anything from 200 to 350-400ish$ CAD, that would include an Headphone, a sound card and an amp to drive the headphone if needed. I've looked into tons of pairs, at this price point there are so many that I have a hard time deciding what to get actually. From what I've looked AKG Q701 seemed to be a good idea because they had a really good soundstage for gaming, the budget was fine and the sound quality is decent. Problem is that most reviews said the bass was a little bit lacking (disapointed because I like bass with explosions, gunfire close to me) and are hard to drive them (considering my budget, getting a good amp is kinda out of the question. My initial budget was a bit lower, but I don't want to upgrade in 3 month saying I need something a bit better. So I aimed over it a bit.

 

Any suggestions on Headphone/soundcard/amp composition, I know that some sound card have integrated amp on them like the Xonar Dgx w/e.Really need some help here. Other question, will it upgrade the sound experience alot over my old G35?

 

[Loquah]

Hello, I'll just cut to the chase.
Give me a suggestion for some good sounding, neutral, accurate, all around, open headphones for under $200 dollars. With good price to performance ratio, as well.
I have no amp, but do have an iPad 2, a four year old MacBook Pro, and some Realtek thing on my PC's motherboard.
The Sennheiser HD 558 seems good, from what I've read, but doesn't seem to be that good for the price.

I've just listed my Audio Technica AD900s for sale. They're a great option for what you're describing. Open, accurate, neutral. I've got the listed for $190 if you're interested. Normally they're $260+ . PM me if you're interested.

The AD900s are the only open cans I've tested at that sort of price (that were memorable anyway).

 

[stevenlongs]

Quote:

Hi, I'm currently shopping an audio setup, more precisely a pair of  headphone. My current setup is Onboard sound card, with some LogitechG35 Usb gaming headset. They are getting old, drivers pissed me off most of the time and the sound quality isn't that great. Not to mention that they started making crazy loud noise (Ear hurting pink noise). I'm not an Audio geek like most of you, read/watch a lot of reviews on headphones, amps, sound card and still trying to figure out that beautiful world of the audiophile.

So here I am to ask you on what to buy to get a good experience with headphones. My personal use of headphones is mainly to game(70% of the time) on war game like battlefield 3. I also watch a lot of tv shows like game of thrones or Dexter or the walking dead. And of course, music witch isn't specific to a style but mostly metal/rock/Alternative/heavy or death metal/punkish.

Budget would be anything from 200 to 350-400ish$ CAD, that would include an Headphone, a sound card and an amp to drive the headphone if needed. I've looked into tons of pairs, at this price point there are so many that I have a hard time deciding what to get actually. From what I've looked AKG Q701 seemed to be a good idea because they had a really good soundstage for gaming, the budget was fine and the sound quality is decent. Problem is that most reviews said the bass was a little bit lacking (disapointed because I like bass with explosions, gunfire close to me) and are hard to drive them (considering my budget, getting a good amp is kinda out of the question. My initial budget was a bit lower, but I don't want to upgrade in 3 month saying I need something a bit better. So I aimed over it a bit.

 

Any suggestions on Headphone/soundcard/amp composition, I know that some sound card have integrated amp on them like the Xonar Dgx w/e.Really need some help here. Other question, will it upgrade the sound experience alot over my old G35?

 
Here's a possible solution:
DT770 pro 80 ohm - 180CAD    
http://www.italmelodie.com/?section=item&itemID=3565&tn=SB0001
Audioengine D1 - 170CAD  (DAC+AMP -> plug into cpu via USB then your phones into the D1) 
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B006IPH5H2/ref=asc_df_B006IPH5H22128926?smid=A28TQCI3ZVIGOO&linkCode=asn&creative=395393&creativeASIN=B006IPH5H2&tag=shopbotca-20
 
Note the D1 has 10 ohms headphone out so rule of thumb is you want the phones to have over 8x the impedance rating of the amp's headphone out.  Seems like the D1 is 2V max out of the jack, 100mw into 30ohms and 12mw into 300ohms which should be fine for the DT770 pro 80ohms.
 
I used a quick search via shopbot.ca so maybe you can find better prices via used or trades.  Again this is just an example, if you change phones or amps there could be better pairings. Good luck!

 

[Jared94]

Best sound quality on noise canceling headphones? I want something with solid base, but I want excellent noise cancellation/isolation because I'm gonna be using them for studying in college.

 

[KG Jag]

Quote:

Best sound quality on noise canceling headphones? I want something with solid base, but I want excellent noise cancellation/isolation because I'm gonna be using them for studying in college.

 
Start here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/category/noise-canceling

 

[Loquah]

Quote:

Best sound quality on noise canceling headphones? I want something with solid base, but I want excellent noise cancellation/isolation because I'm gonna be using them for studying in college.

Also, two questions: 1.) What's your price range? 2) Would you be happy with good isolation instead of cancellation?

 

[dn7sy]

Just wanted to say thanks to Bixby and hipster for the replies  For now I've decided to explore a few more headphone options ( a used opportunity on a headphone I've really wanted arose ) and then around the holiday season I'll let myself really splurge on the DAC/amp.  Thanks again, guys!

 

[Empire1]

Best sound quality on noise canceling headphones? I want something with solid base, but I want excellent noise cancellation/isolation because I'm gonna be using them for studying in college.

If you've got the dough ($299), get the Bose QuietComfort 15. I just got them myself. They have the number one, indisputable best noise cancellation of any headphone. You can certainly feel the bass as well. If you're an audiophile, sound quality won't impress you too much in a quiet room. But in any noisy environment and these cans truly shine. Most noise is cut out. I say "most" because with NC on and no music playing, you'll still be able to hear conversations as the NC mics are designed to adjust their sound to frequencies they hear. They block out ACs and plane rumbles well since those sounds are consistent. Conversations are not, obviously. Turn up the music however, conversations can no longer be heard.
Still, the QC15s are the best NC headphones you can buy. They ate extremely comfortable and light, and come with a nice case, two cords (one with Apple controls and mic), and an airline adapter.