[KG Jag]

Quote:

Just wanted to get an affirmation before I purchase...
 
Been lurking for a bit and am finally ready to buy
 
I'm an ambient musician and I want a really high-quality reference headphone for drones and guitar and bass and samples of all kinds. I love a great soundstage.
 
Music source is my Macbook Pro laptop. Environment is my desk at home (don't care about sound leakage nor do I feel the need for a portable amp). Budget is about $750 for headphones and an amp. Comfort is desired because I often wear headphones for hours at a time.
 
It seems like there is a lot of agreement and love for the HD 650s. I was thinking to get these coupled with the Fiio E9. That would come in under budget, with some high-quality equipment.
 
Any thoughts? I am open to other suggestions if this doesn't sound right. 
 
Thank you.

Senn HD 600 or Beyer DT 880 (+/- Pro) 250 Ohms and up.  There are a number of good amps, many with a DAC, that are priced from $150 to $250 that will push either of these cans.

 

[widdyjudas]

Seeing that the Hifiman He 400 got lot of praise, especially in Envy's gaming cans thread, so I looking for it. It seems that I can get it for 360 usd.
Gaming and music (50-50) wise, I might be satisfied, but don't know about the comfort. At 440 grams, its heavy and from the design, Its much like at M50 which I hate the clamp force. I can get the velour pad for usd 5 from Hifiman China if it help the comfort. Still, I will try for it when I have the time.
Is it more worth it than hd 650 and beyer 990 pro 250 ohm?

 

[aak57]

Quote:

 
Just in case you didn't notice. The AD900 and A900X are two different phones. The first is closed; the latter open. Of course, both are worth equal consideration since you liked your AD700s. 

To be honest, I didn't even notice the D.  I read it as A900 and assumed he meant A900X.  I'll go with the A900X anyway since I'd rather have closed headphones to take to work.

 

[179831]

That's a big ouch on the Audio-Technica AD900s.  I looked up the reviews, and it seemed like exactly what I was looking for: like my AD700s, but better!  Problem is, they come with the same drawback; the headband.  Very comfy.  Also only for bald people and shut-ins.  It's like a permanent bad hair day.  That's why I'm moving on from my AD700s as it is.
 
I'll check out the 558s though; they seem nice.  The 598s seem even sexier, though... I can see how it's easy to spend too much.

 

[NujaBlessed]

Quote:

Indeed I'm going with those my self, I'm hoping to pair mine with a Hifiman HM 601 which has a warm analog presentaion which should tame a little of that brightness! 

idk how warm a hifiman hm 601 is, but ******* running it through a dark sounding dac and a warm tube amp was the only way i could tame the treble on this thing.

 

[NujaBlessed]

Quote:

Seeing that the Hifiman He 400 got lot of praise, especially in Envy's gaming cans thread, so I looking for it. It seems that I can get it for 360 usd.
Gaming and music (50-50) wise, I might be satisfied, but don't know about the comfort. At 440 grams, its heavy and from the design, Its much like at M50 which I hate the clamp force. I can get the velour pad for usd 5 from Hifiman China if it help the comfort. Still, I will try for it when I have the time.
Is it more worth it than hd 650 and beyer 990 pro 250 ohm?

 
comfort wise, the HE-400 is fine, not too good, but not bad. nice leather headband and pads but it weights quite a bot, not to mention the cable isn't the lightest either... i'm assuming you're looking to wear them for long sessions, so i would suggest auditioning them. the hd650 and dt880 are the comfort kings of your price bracket, with the dt880's more comfortable because of the superior headband and minimal clamping force.

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

idk how warm a hifiman hm 601 is, but ******* running it through a dark sounding dac and a warm tube amp was the only way i could tame the treble on this thing.

well how loud was it e.e, granted that might an an issue although I don't like CRAZY loud music and I think I can adjust to the brightness, plus once again the hm 601 is warm and if i really have some issue with it the 601 has a eq settings 
 
Also what kind of music where you listening to? 
Quote:

 
comfort wise, the HE-400 is fine, not too good, but not bad. nice leather headband and pads but it weights quite a bot, not to mention the cable isn't the lightest either... i'm assuming you're looking to wear them for long sessions, so i would suggest auditioning them. the hd650 and dt880 are the comfort kings of your price bracket, with the dt880's more comfortable because of the superior headband and minimal clamping force.

Yea the dt 880 sounds like a comfort king, I actually like the XB700 comfort as well! Trust me when it's cold some Heavy DUB Step and some xb 700's are WAY better than any ear muff <3

 

[NujaBlessed]

Quote:

Just wanted to get an affirmation before I purchase...
 
Been lurking for a bit and am finally ready to buy
 
I'm an ambient musician and I want a really high-quality reference headphone for drones and guitar and bass and samples of all kinds. I love a great soundstage.
 
Music source is my Macbook Pro laptop. Environment is my desk at home (don't care about sound leakage nor do I feel the need for a portable amp). Budget is about $750 for headphones and an amp. Comfort is desired because I often wear headphones for hours at a time.
 
It seems like there is a lot of agreement and love for the HD 650s. I was thinking to get these coupled with the Fiio E9. That would come in under budget, with some high-quality equipment.
 
Any thoughts? I am open to other suggestions if this doesn't sound right. 
 
Thank you.

 
if you want soundstage, the Q701 has an absolutely cavernous soundstage in comparison to HD650, but lacks a touch of bass quantity and has mediocre sub bass extension (rolls off at like 50hz). The hd650 is love it or hate it, personally i hate it. without proper amplification, it's disgustingly veiled sounding. It's a very dark sounding headphone with no treble sparkle and meh bass texture but above average bass quantity. however the mids are quite forward and vocals were quite nice from my memory. in the end, the headphone feels too specialized and can't tackle most genres for me because of how dark and slow paced it is, the hp absolutely cannot keep pace with genres like metal.
I might be a bit biased but, seeing as you want reference, i would point to the beyerdynamic DT880 which is very balanced and analytical sounding, it is a bright can though, and has a lot of sparkle for treble. mids aren't too forward and bass is clean, very well textured and flat. ALSO, the dt880 is the most comfortable headphone in your budget, no contest.
for the amp, i would also recommend the bottlehead crack, absolutely superb amp with great bang for the buck as well as having the capability for tube rolling. the amp is a bit warm, but delivers a clean sound and widens the soundstage.
as for the DAC, i've heard a lot about the fire phoenix and it apparently has good components while being dirt cheap at 90$.
 
tl;dr
DT880 is much more analytical sounding, balanced and energetic than the HD650 as well as having a larger soundstage and better imaging. ALSO comfort king
bottlehead crack is the premier amp for your budget and synergizes well with the DT880
DAC is not that important, but i've heard ravings about the fire phoenix on ebay

 

[NujaBlessed]

Quote:

well how loud was it e.e, granted that might an an issue although I don't like CRAZY loud music and I think I can adjust to the brightness, plus once again the hm 601 is warm and if i really have some issue with it the 601 has a eq settings 
 
Also what kind of music where you listening to? 
Yea the dt 880 sounds like a comfort king, I actually like the XB700 comfort as well! Trust me when it's cold some Heavy DUB Step and some xb 700's are WAY better than any ear muff <3

i listen mostly to 90's hip hop and 60's jazz and a bit of piano. this thread makes me sound like a dt880 fanboy (which i kind of am), but i just love this pair of headphones, when i'm too lazy to bring out the T1's, i still reach for the dt880's even though i know the T1s are superior.

 

[widdyjudas]

Quote:

 
comfort wise, the HE-400 is fine, not too good, but not bad. nice leather headband and pads but it weights quite a bot, not to mention the cable isn't the lightest either... i'm assuming you're looking to wear them for long sessions, so i would suggest auditioning them. the hd650 and dt880 are the comfort kings of your price bracket, with the dt880's more comfortable because of the superior headband and minimal clamping force.

As I said before, dt 880 is too bass less for me. So now my choices are between dt990pro 250, hd 650 or hifiman he400...
Clamp force is it hard on the 400? I find the clamp on at M50 too hard for me when brand new... Pads I hate leather, But I can buy the velour replacement for 6usd in Hifiman China region.

 

[veyrongatti]

Quote:

Hello everyone, first time poster here.
 
My Audio Technicas (ANC7b) are starting to go on me, so in anticipation of the upcoming holiday season I'm looking for a new set of cans. Based on some reasearch I'm currently wavering between two, the ATH-M50s and the HFI-780s. Here's some information about me that'll be helpful. 
 
Budget: $150 (can't go over by much, maybe ~$10 or so)
Music Genres: Primarily rock/metal and dubstep/trance/electronic
Sources: Primarily V1/V0 MP3's through my iPod and laptop
Stye: Preferably some kind of Black or silver, although I'm not totally averse to other colors.
Listening locations: A mix of school/home, so minimal leakage is relatively important. 
 
 
Any suggestions/reccommendatons are more than welcome
 
Thank you!
 
Tavel

ATH ES7? 

 

[widdyjudas]

Quote:

well how loud was it e.e, granted that might an an issue although I don't like CRAZY loud music and I think I can adjust to the brightness, plus once again the hm 601 is warm and if i really have some issue with it the 601 has a eq settings 
 
Also what kind of music where you listening to? 
Yea the dt 880 sounds like a comfort king, I actually like the XB700 comfort as well! Trust me when it's cold some Heavy DUB Step and some xb 700's are WAY better than any ear muff <3

I think the longest sesion I will get is around 2 hours for gaming. Music session is about 1-1.5 hours. No to xb 700, too much bass...

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

 
if you want soundstage, the Q701 has an absolutely cavernous soundstage in comparison to HD650, but lacks a touch of bass quantity and has mediocre sub bass extension (rolls off at like 50hz). The hd650 is love it or hate it, personally i hate it. without proper amplification, it's disgustingly veiled sounding. It's a very dark sounding headphone with no treble sparkle and meh bass texture but above average bass quantity. however the mids are quite forward and vocals were quite nice from my memory. in the end, the headphone feels too specialized and can't tackle most genres for me because of how dark and slow paced it is, the hp absolutely cannot keep pace with genres like metal.
I might be a bit biased but, seeing as you want reference, i would point to the beyerdynamic DT880 which is very balanced and analytical sounding, it is a bright can though, and has a lot of sparkle for treble. mids aren't too forward and bass is clean, very well textured and flat. ALSO, the dt880 is the most comfortable headphone in your budget, no contest.
for the amp, i would also recommend the bottlehead crack, absolutely superb amp with great bang for the buck as well as having the capability for tube rolling. the amp is a bit warm, but delivers a clean sound and widens the soundstage.
as for the DAC, i've heard a lot about the fire phoenix and it apparently has good components while being dirt cheap at 90$.
 
tl;dr
DT880 is much more analytical sounding, balanced and energetic than the HD650 as well as having a larger soundstage and better imaging. ALSO comfort king
bottlehead crack is the premier amp for your budget and synergizes well with the DT880
DAC is not that important, but i've heard ravings about the fire phoenix on ebay

I've heard some good stuff about paring a cMoy BB with the dt 880s although tubes or ofc they way to go
Quote:

i listen mostly to 90's hip hop and 60's jazz and a bit of piano. this thread makes me sound like a dt880 fanboy (which i kind of am), but i just love this pair of headphones, when i'm too lazy to bring out the T1's, i still reach for the dt880's even though i know the T1s are superior.

Man I'm gonna be a Dt 880 fan boy soon enough! So much so I'll have to get a pair of tubes maybe ;3 but I'm reather proud of my T2 portable rig! I think it will all pair together really well everythings been shippe just have to pray the dt 880s fit in my mail box >.>

 

[hipster2010]

Quote:

As I said before, dt 880 is too bass less for me. So now my choices are between dt990pro 250, hd 650 or hifiman he400...
Clamp force is it hard on the 400? I find the clamp on at M50 too hard for me when brand new... Pads I hate leather, But I can buy the velour replacement for 6usd in Hifiman China region.

Have you had a chance to listen to the DT880? I found it to be fairly balanced on bass with maybe just a tad more than neutral. If it is too bass light you are likely a basshead-light. I think you will enjoy the DT990 or HD650, though the 650 will underperform until you can purchase a better amp than the e17.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Looking to add easily transportable headphones to my collect, will be driven by Clip Zip.
Currently using Sony MDR-V6 headphones for on the move (want to get away from coiled cord), Want something that physically smaller, folding optional.
And still has a good sound.
Maybe JVC HA-S500-Z (gun metal).