[davidcotton]

Quick question, does the Sennheiser HD25-1 II have better isolation than the bw p5's?  Got the p5's but don't isolate as well.  Had been thinking of going for klipsch x10 but build quality is a little worrying.  Atm I am using a pair of modded px100s and a pair of noiseguard ear defenders, so would like something a little more practical!

Cheers.

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

Looks interesting. Some more technical details, please?

AIAIAI TMA with a Clip+ clipped to it and attached with a very short cable.
 
Basically its better to cheat because in addition to finding a headphone you think is comfortable, sounds good for your tastes, and maybe looks good if you're concerned about that a wireless headphone has to deal with batteries, receivers, a well matched and quality amp, along with things like transmission protocols.
 
I haven't really been following your discussion, but if your source is something stationary and you can't do something like the above you should look into a used wireless musicians monitor system or just buy a new one if you've got the cash.  Then you can use pretty much whatever headphones you want because you can add in a beefy portable amp if needed.

 

[simon_brown75]

Hi guys, looking for some recommendations.  I currently own AKG K240 Studios (55 ohm version) with a white noise headphone amp connected straight to my Marantz CDP (via analogue).  The amp really improves these cans btw, taming the boomy bass they have (unamped) very nicely.
 
The first thing to say - I do like the AKG sound and the wide soundstage these have, but I'm looking for maybe a bit more clarity, and well, just something better, afterall the K240s were only £75 or so.
 
My first thoughts were the K601 or K701s.  I read the K701s superwide soundstage is mainly intended for orchestral pieces, and since I mainly listen to rock/pop with a bit of classical thrown in, that seems to suggest I should probably rule them out.  The K601 are definitely still on the list though, and they seem a bargain at £120 or so, but I don't really know much about them and how they compare to what I have.
 
I've owned Grados (SR80) and Audio Technicas (ATH-AD700) and didn't get on with either, so that leaves me with Sennheiser and Beyers as alternatives to the AKGs, namely the HD598, HD600 and the DT880 Pros, which all cost around £200 (the top end of my budget) so they need to be significantly better than the K601s to be worth the extra money and they need to work well with my setup.  I've never heard any Beyers btw.  I have heard my brothers HD565 Ovations (which I believe were well rated in their day), which I like but they sound a touch mechanical to me.
 
So, open back, circumaural, musical, wide soundstage, not too hard to drive, up to £200.  Any thoughts/advice would be really awesome.
 
Cheers.

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

Hi guys, looking for some recommendations.  I currently own AKG K240 Studios (55 ohm version) with a white noise headphone amp connected straight to my Marantz CDP (via analogue).  The amp really improves these cans btw, taming the boomy bass they have (unamped) very nicely.
 
The first thing to say - I do like the AKG sound and the wide soundstage these have, but I'm looking for maybe a bit more clarity, and well, just something better, afterall the K240s were only £75 or so.
 
My first thoughts were the K601 or K701s.  I read the K701s superwide soundstage is mainly intended for orchestral pieces, and since I mainly listen to rock/pop with a bit of classical thrown in, that seems to suggest I should probably rule them out.  The K601 are definitely still on the list though, and they seem a bargain at £120 or so, but I don't really know much about them and how they compare to what I have.
 
I've owned Grados (SR80) and Audio Technicas (ATH-AD700) and didn't get on with either, so that leaves me with Sennheiser and Beyers as alternatives to the AKGs, namely the HD598, HD600 and the DT880 Pros, which all cost around £200 (the top end of my budget) so they need to be significantly better than the K601s to be worth the extra money and they need to work well with my setup.  I've never heard any Beyers btw.  I have heard my brothers HD565 Ovations (which I believe were well rated in their day), which I like but they sound a touch mechanical to me.
 
So, open back, circumaural, musical, wide soundstage, not too hard to drive, up to £200.  Any thoughts/advice would be really awesome.

I liked the K601s better than the K701s because the 601s had deeper bass and more natural treble.
 
I like the mids on the Senns I've heard (that doesn't include the 598s though) better though so you might want to look at those if the midrange is your first priority.  The HD600s and HD650s don't have especially large soundstages but I've read the HD598 is actually better in that area.
 
The DT880s have a slightly emphasized bass and treble which many people like for rock and pop but I find the mids are to cold for my tastes.  IIRC, the Beyers have a larger stage than the Senn HD6x0s.  The DT990s add even more bass and treble emphasis (I find them far to bright personally, but others love them) and an even larger soundstage.  Its fairly 3D too and not just super wide the the K701s.
 
The DT990s may be actually be just what you're looking for.

 

[NovemberZulu]

Quote:

AIAIAI TMA with a Clip+ clipped to it and attached with a very short cable.
 
Basically its better to cheat because in addition to finding a headphone you think is comfortable, sounds good for your tastes, and maybe looks good if you're concerned about that a wireless headphone has to deal with batteries, receivers, a well matched and quality amp, along with things like transmission protocols.
 
I haven't really been following your discussion, but if your source is something stationary and you can't do something like the above you should look into a used wireless musicians monitor system or just buy a new one if you've got the cash.  Then you can use pretty much whatever headphones you want because you can add in a beefy portable amp if needed.

Isn't Clip+ a MP3 player?
Battery etc. is not a problem, the choice is My source a (relatively) new gaming desktop (SB is X-fi Fatal1ty). I want something wireless with digital input and digital transmission, so I was thinking about Pioneer DIR800c, Sony DS6000 and Sony DS6500, but (a) didn't find a comparison between them (b) recently found out there are many other models,  like Philips HD1500u etc. So I am kind of confused right now.

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

Isn't Clip+ a MP3 player?
Battery etc. is not a problem, the choice is My source a (relatively) new gaming desktop (SB is X-fi Fatal1ty). I want something wireless with digital input and digital transmission, so I was thinking about Pioneer DIR800c, Sony DS6000 and Sony DS6500, but (a) didn't find a comparison between them (b) recently found out there are many other models,  like Philips HD1500u etc. So I am kind of confused right now.

Yep it is.  Like I said, I haven't been following your discussion since this thread moves so fast so I wasn't sure exactly what you wanted.
 
If you're gaming you can use this as a wireless "adapter" but since your gaming at your PC and not a console you likely want all the wires out of your way because they're annoying and not just more range without a big ass extension cable or something so it probably won't be very useful to you.
 
If that's what you're after then you probably won't find a whole lot of help around here.  Wireless 'phones are pretty much ignored here.  There's no technical reason why they can't be good but wireless 'phones are usually sold for the convenience factor and most people here are after ultimate sound quality, often at the expense of convenience, so this isn't really the target market.

 

[NovemberZulu]

Quote:

Yep it is.  Like I said, I haven't been following your discussion since this thread moves so fast so I wasn't sure exactly what you wanted.
 
If you're gaming you can use this as a wireless "adapter" but since your gaming at your PC and not a console you likely want all the wires out of your way because they're annoying and not just more range without a big ass extension cable or something so it probably won't be very useful to you.
 
If that's what you're after then you probably won't find a whole lot of help around here.  Wireless 'phones are pretty much ignored here.  There's no technical reason why they can't be good but wireless 'phones are usually sold for the convenience factor and most people here are after ultimate sound quality, often at the expense of convenience, so this isn't really the target market.

Thanks for the link, this look interesting. I am OK with wires behind my desk, so only headphones are a problem. As for convenience vs quality, the funny fact is that all the wireless phones with a digital input have Dolby decoder etc. instead of just stereo. I mean my SB/video player/whatever can process 3D sound/downmix to stereo pretty well, no need to do that at headphones level, but...

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

Thanks for the link, this look interesting. I am OK with wires behind my desk, so only headphones are a problem. As for convenience vs quality, the funny fact is that all the wireless phones with a digital input have Dolby decoder etc. instead of just stereo. I mean my SB/video player/whatever can process 3D sound/downmix to stereo pretty well, no need to do that at headphones level, but...

Your headphone and mic (if you use one) still have to connect to the receiver though.  Since you've already got a sound card that can do the virtualization and/or downmix its overkill unless you need the chat mixing feature.
 
AKIK there are no stand alone wireless audio transmitters marketed towards consumers.  Its all built in to a pair of headphones.  If I really needed something like that I'd either DIY one by gutting the receiver and amp module from a set and adding it to a better pair of headphones or look into wireless monitor sets that musicians use on stage.  Something like this.  Probably try to pick it up used though to save some money.  I've never looked into it though,  so even if you wanted to spend that kind of money I couldn't tell you which one to buy.

 

[NovemberZulu]

Quote:

Your headphone and mic (if you use one) still have to connect to the receiver though.  Since you've already got a sound card that can do the virtualization and/or downmix its overkill unless you need the chat mixing feature.
 
AKIK there are no stand alone wireless audio transmitters marketed towards consumers.  Its all built in to a pair of headphones.  If I really needed something like that I'd either DIY one by gutting the receiver and amp module from a set and adding it to a better pair of headphones or look into wireless monitor sets that musicians use on stage.  Something like this.  Probably try to pick it up used though to save some money.  I've never looked into it though,  so even if you wanted to spend that kind of money I couldn't tell you which one to buy.

The soundcard comes first in my case: fast OpenAL etc. I'll have a look at wireless monitors. Thank you for your advice!

 

[mfrancojr]

My bad, I honestly searched the first 2 pages for a thread like this.

 

[killmurer]

 
Hey head-fi ers Yet another lurker here. So after a long time I've decided to spend some money on headphones. I'm a grad student so I don't have a lot of cash to burn. But if it's worth it I'm willing to spend UPTO 200$. I don't really need a portable set up. What I can't decide right now is whether to get a good headphone close too my budget or a get a cheaper headphone + DAC/amp or get a cheaper headphone + DAC which I'm guessing would benefit my speakers too. But I'm not sure how much of an improvement AV 40s would show with a better source which is currently my laptop.
 
I don't need the headphone to be closed. I'll be listening in my own room so isolation, leakage etc is not a problem at all. Although no audiophile, I think I'm past the bass loving stage. I prefer better mids and highs.
 
SR 225i
SR 60i with DAC/AMP?
 
AKG 272 HD
AKG K271MKII
 
DT 770-PRO 250 Ohms
DT 990 PRO 250 Ohms
 
Denon D1100
 
SRH 840
 
I've only listened to HD 555. But I found it to be incredibly boring. That's why I didn't include the senns.
 
I'm particularly drawn towards the grados for obvious reasons. But I'm wondering about the difference between SR60 amped and SR225 unamped.
 
I've no clue about DAC/Amp too! FiiO e7 or X-Fi HD?
 

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

The soundcard comes first in my case: fast OpenAL etc. I'll have a look at wireless monitors. Thank you for your advice!

Your soundcard can do all its fancy effects (openAL, EAX, or whatever it is now since Vista went and ruined everything) and feed the mixamp a Dolby 5.1 signal which it can process with the Dolby Headphone algorithm.  Some people like it better than Creative's surround->headphone virtualization.
 
It doesn't replace the soundcard.  Its just an external effects processor.

 

[kextyn]

Hey guys, new here and looking for some suggestions...
 
I will mostly be using them to play games on PC, XBox 360, and PS3.  They will also see some use with movies, TV, and music (iPhone, PC).  Because of the distance between the consoles/tv and couch I would like to have some sort of wireless solution.  I'm mostly looking at the Mixamp 5.8 because it will allow me to use voice on the consoles.  I want to drive the headphones with just the Mixamp 5.8 without any additional amping because there is no easy to access power near the couch.  I'd like to keep the cans under $200 but could possibly go up to $250 if it's overwhelmingly compelling.  Most of my gaming is not competitive but I do want good positional accuracy (without giving up the RPG/movie "fun").  I was originally looking at headsets but I've shifted to using a seperate mic unless the headset mic is removeable. (the PC360 is not removeable right?)
 
I was considering the DT770 Pro 80 but the more research I do the more I wonder if that's the ideal Beyer for me.  I have no bias towards any brand at the moment.

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

Hey guys, new here and looking for some suggestions...
 

 
Read this if you haven't already

 

[linuxid10t]

This is the most amazing wireless ever, I am totally going to try this out with my iPod and HD 595s.