[Danchou]

Why is evryone ignoring my post? :'(
Quote:

Hey guys,
 
I got my ATH-M50 a week ago, upgraded from 20 € IEM. I of course love them, but i would rather like something more portable, so I was thinking on switching back to IEM or get a pair besides the M50. The ATH-M50 also drain my Galaxy S i9000 way too fast.
I don't want to lose the high quality of the M50, but i think I prefer the sound(stage) of IEM over Headphones. Important for me is, that they have a good isolation, because i will mainly listen to them in the bus. Also they should not be too analytic/sharp(RE0?) since i just wanna enjoy my music on the go. My favorite is the M3 atm, because i heard they sound really enjoyable and i LOVE the design and i get them easily in EU. If the other IEM's outperform the M3 i would rather take them though. (I listen to all kind of music!)
I thought about getting one of these:
 
| Brainwavz M3 | Brainwavz M2 | Head-Direct RE0 | Sunrise SW-Xcape |
 
Now i got two Questions:
1. Are these IEM's enough quality wise to actually replace the ATH-M50? In this case i would sell them and buy 2 IEM's instead.
2. Which IEM's should I take for unamped Galaxy S i9000?
 
Thank you in advance

 

 

[J0nny]

Hey guys, just a simple question this time round. Has anyone tried the Etymotic ER4S against the ER4P with the P-S adaptor, and do they sound different/the same compared to the ER4S?
 
J0nny.

 

[TiTaN2TeN]

Hi,
 
I've been researching on the net for about a week to find a good comfortable pair of headphones and I dont have much experience with headphones so i decided to ask on a forum. The most ive preveously paid for a pair of headphones is $15  (which are terrible)
 
I want a open back pair of headphones.
That is most importantly comfortable,
has good sound quality, (I will be mainly using the headphones for Gaming and listening to Music, music tastes: mainly Rock and D&B)
and has good build quality, i dont want them breaking on me after a few months
 
Im a student and i dont have much money. my budget is around $100usd and I dont want to pay any more than $150usd
 
Thanks for reading and I look forward to your replies.

 

[kiteki]

 
Quote:

Why is evryone ignoring my post? :'(
 

RE0
 
 
 
Quote:

Hey guys, just a simple question this time round. Has anyone tried the Etymotic ER4S against the ER4P with the P-S adaptor, and do they sound different/the same compared to the ER4S?
 
J0nny.

I bought an adaptor weeks ago from ebay, but haven't received it yet =(
 
According to Etymotic, the ER-4P with the adaptor is exactly the same as ER-4S, so buying the ER-4PT with an adatpor is your best bet, unless you're interested in the ER-4B model.
 
 
 
Quote:

Hi,
 
I've been researching on the net for about a week to find a good comfortable pair of headphones and I dont have much experience with headphones so i decided to ask on a forum. The most ive preveously paid for a pair of headphones is $15  (which are terrible)
 
I want a open back pair of headphones.
That is most importantly comfortable,
has good sound quality, (I will be mainly using the headphones for Gaming and listening to Music, music tastes: mainly Rock and D&B)
and has good build quality, i dont want them breaking on me after a few months
 
Im a student and i dont have much money. my budget is around $100usd and I dont want to pay any more than $150usd
 
Thanks for reading and I look forward to your replies.

Sony ZX700 or ATH-AD700 maybe.
 

 

[Armaegis]

Quote:

Why is evryone ignoring my post? :'(


 

I saw your post, but I don't know much about iems so I hesitate to answer. You can get a better response by asking in the portable headphones forum.
 


Quote:

Hey guys, just a simple question this time round. Has anyone tried the Etymotic ER4S against the ER4P with the P-S adaptor, and do they sound different/the same compared to the ER4S?
 
J0nny.

From what I've read, the differences, if any, are minimal. (not counting the quieter output from the 4S due to impedance)


Quote:

Hi,
 
I've been researching on the net for about a week to find a good comfortable pair of headphones and I dont have much experience with headphones so i decided to ask on a forum. The most ive preveously paid for a pair of headphones is $15  (which are terrible)
 
I want a open back pair of headphones.
That is most importantly comfortable,
has good sound quality, (I will be mainly using the headphones for Gaming and listening to Music, music tastes: mainly Rock and D&B)
and has good build quality, i dont want them breaking on me after a few months
 
Im a student and i dont have much money. my budget is around $100usd and I dont want to pay any more than $150usd
 
Thanks for reading and I look forward to your replies.

If you play a lot of FPS or games that require strong directionality, be aware that strong bass (and by related virtue, closed cans) will obscure those positional cues. Just though I'd mention that as you list D&B as a preferred genre.
 
A great budget headphone is the Sennheiser PX100-ii. Small and portable, with surprising bass quantity from a little package. You could move up to a larger Senn like the HD555 or 558, though these do not have any portability. If you have a decent powered soundcard or source, even a Fostex T20/50rp could be a good choice.
 
 

 

[Danchou]

Lol, thanks... I actually looked for a IEM forum but completely overread the tag xD

 

[yehuda]

    Quote:

Your soundcard should be fine. For headphones, how about diving right into something like the Hifiman HE-4. Orthos in my experience are just excellent all-rounders and give great presentation and staging along with fairly balanced sound. For escaping into music with dramatic moments, I feel the winged Audio Technicas do a great job of that. You can start poking around at options like the W1000x or AD2000 (a bit more expensive, but you can find them used in your price range).

 
 
Quote:

Ok, after listening to several of those, it seems like you really like the "epic bass moments", so maybe the AT's aren't for you afterall and you need something bass-heavy to deliver that orchestration in all it's glory.
 
Not sure what to recommend now, but I never heard Madonna - Rain sound so good before as on the A2000X. =) Thanks for that.

Thanks for the suggestions. I read up on the Audio Technica AD2000 and it seems they should be perfect for Joe Hisaishi's Japanese soundtracks I mentioned in the OP and pop in general. The company is Japanese so they just might have had those pieces in mind when they designed the headphones!
 
That said, the reviews say their bass is not strong enough for epic orchestral moments but since I do not listen to bass-heavy genres at all the tradeoff may be worth it. Another common criticism is they're not particularly comfortable out of the box and I'm curious if there's going to be a revised model to address that.

 

[kiteki]

 
Quote:

Hi all,
 
[size=10pt]I would like to buy full size cans to go with my Xonar Essence STX soundcard, and I'd really like to hear your thoughts.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]About me[/size]
 
[size=10pt]I've never been into high end audio and have a hard time connecting with some of the jargon around here. This is my first purchase but I'm really hoping to skip the "getting started" phase which has you constantly itching to upgrade. I'd rather skip the beginner's class, so to speak, and get today something that'll last me a while. [/size]
 
[size=10pt]I believe I'm pretty sensitive to audio quality. Even with rudimentary setups I notice a difference between lossy and lossless and appreciate the clarity gained from bypassing Microsoft's signal processing in Windows XP.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]The headphones need to be comfortable for long sessions and fit a big head. Cable needs to be long enough to reach the STX.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]Source[/size]
 
[size=10pt]For now I'll stick with the STX but I'm willing to upgrade the opamps if you recommend. I do not want to use EQ or Dolby effects. Seasonic was kind enough to send an X-series power supply my way (a model known for low ripple) and I hope the card will benefit from it (would it?) It is pretty quiet around here so open-air design is fine.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]Budget[/size]
 
[size=10pt]$500 enough?[/size]
 
[size=10pt]Past Experience[/size]
 
[size=10pt]I previously had a Creative Gigaworks T40 powered set and it was nice for the most part. The Gigaworks T20 and T40 are known to have some audiophile qualities. I thought the highs were brilliant. They were very detailed yet soft and pleasant to the ear. Vocals were free of sibilance which was a blessing because I cannot stand it. The mids were good too. Unfortunately, the bass was weak and that spoiled the experience big time. I also couldn't get a good sound stage because the speakers were not designed for a small space.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]Interestingly, volume control on the T40 speakers behaved differently from ordinary equipment. Cranking up the volume did not make the output outright loud, but instead increased the presence of individual parts of the music.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]I also briefly tested the Audioengine A5 speakers and really liked how vocals sounded lifelike. With Coldplay - Fix You I could close my eyes and imagine the band was right there in front of me. I wasn't impressed with the bass and details but maybe my source was not good enough -- a Meizu M6 MP3 player. But then again, the A5s were designed for portable players, so maybe they're forgiving by design, concealing MP3 artifacts at the cost of finer details? That wouldn't be my taste.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]Music[/size]
 
[size=10pt]Mostly accessible stuff. I listen to pop and movie soundtracks, all lossless. Movies are equally important and my favorite genres are drama, horror and Disney but not action or crime. The film audio track is typically a lossy 192 K. As for games I'm not much into competitive levels so positional accuracy doesn't matter, but I could do justice to cinematic moments from Modern Warfare 2, then I'm a happy camper. I'd also love to jump into the scenery of Bioshock.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]What's most important is that the headphones capture the atmosphere in both film and music material, essentially helping one "escape." I'd really like them deliver epic and dramatic moments with full awesomeness, but in a way which is not aggressive or unpleasantly loud.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]Some pieces, in particular, that I would love to hear "done right":[/size]
 
[size=10pt]Madonna - Rain[/size] (2:36)
[size=10pt]Dido - Life for Rent[/size]
[size=10pt]The Prince Of Egypt - Deliver Us[/size] (2:10)
[size=10pt]Gladiator - The General who Became a Slave[/size] (0:29)
[size=10pt]Lion King - Ending[/size] (4:20)
[size=10pt]Spirited Away - The Empty Restaurant[/size] (2:18)
Spirited Away - The Sixth Station (2:16)
[size=10pt]Spirited Away - Reprise[/size]
[size=10pt]Princess Mononoke - Journey to the West[/size] (1:27)
[size=10pt]Princess Mononoke - A****aka and San[/size]
[size=10pt]Phantom of the Opera - Journey to the Cemetery[/size] (esp. 2:28)
[size=10pt]Frank Klepacki - Hell March[/size][size=10pt]... quite a departure from others, yeah[/size][size=10pt].[/size]
[size=10pt]CoD - Modern Warfare 2 Mission 6[/size]
 

Quote:

Quote:

Thanks for the suggestions. I read up on the Audio Technica AD2000 and it seems they should be perfect for Joe Hisaishi's Japanese soundtracks I mentioned in the OP and pop in general. The company is Japanese so they just might have had those pieces in mind when they designed the headphones!
 
That said, the reviews say their bass is not strong enough for epic orchestral moments but since I do not listen to bass-heavy genres at all the tradeoff may be worth it. Another common criticism is they're not particularly comfortable out of the box and I'm curious if there's going to be a revised model to address that.

The trade-off is probably worth it, there's quite a few high-end headphones with "weak bass", however the bass quality is usually very very good, just not impactful enough to deliver an "epic orchestral moment", for that you might want to look into the Beyerdynamic DT 770 or an Ultrasone, with your budget there are some really good Ultrasones!
 
To describe the bass on the A2000X, I showed my friend a trance track the other day, and he was very impressed that it sounded just like at a real club, however the bass isn't hitting your ears, it's more like you can hear it coming from a distance.
 
I was set on the AD2000 myself at first, I haven't tried it so I can't speak for the comfort, I can say the A2000X is very comfortable though because it's very light (magnesium and titanium), not sure why there's complaints about the AD2000 since they look very similiar. -shrug-
 
Do not make the mistake of getting the AKG k701, it requires more amplification than your sound-card will have available and is generally a bit overrated, I think you're after a high-end Audio Technica model or a high-end Ultrasone.
 
When comparing different models, things you should look for are
 
-easy to drive yes/no (your soundcard might not be enough for some models, headphone amps are expensive)
-bass strength
-comfort
-detail retrieval
-looks
etc.
 
If you want really good detail retrieval, also consider the Shure SRH-940, cheaper than all the AT's and sounds great, if you want something really cheap just as a "test" to start you off, consider Fostex T50RP.
 
 
 

 

[yehuda]

Thanks kiteki. Let me do some more reading and see if any of the ones you mentioned are available in demo rooms locally for listening.

 

[kchapdaily]

Quote:

Thanks kiteki. Let me do some more reading and see if any of the ones you mentioned are available in demo rooms locally for listening.

where do you go to listen? i live in upstate new york and im having a hard time finding somewhere that has high end cans to listen to

 

[Armaegis]

Quote:

Do not make the mistake of getting the AKG k701, it requires more amplification than your sound-card will have available and is generally a bit overrated, I think you're after a high-end Audio Technica model or a high-end Ultrasone.
 

Doesn't the STX have a TPA6120 driving it? That's pretty beefy as far as headphone outputs go. 

 

[kiteki]

Oh ok, wellllllllll I just know the k701 needs juice to sound good and went with the assumption most sound-cards won't have enough juice, perhaps the STX does? That's cool.

 

[PleasantNoise]

Hi,
 
Looking for a pair of Headphones to replace my Samsom Sr850's
I listen to mostly Prog metal, Djent, alt rock, indie and a very small amount of Classical.
I would like a larger soundstage than the Sr850's
I like a fairly even response, dislike scooped mids, as I play guitar, so I like to really hear the guitars well.
Must be able to be driven from Mp3 player, Cdp, without an amp.
Must be circumaural (I can't stand on-ear)
Budget is £150. (If people insist on an amp to hear full SQ or properly drive them, include the amp as part of the budget)

 

[TiTaN2TeN]

Quote:

If you play a lot of FPS or games that require strong directionality, be aware that strong bass (and by related virtue, closed cans) will obscure those positional cues. Just though I'd mention that as you list D&B as a preferred genre.
 
A great budget headphone is the Sennheiser PX100-ii. Small and portable, with surprising bass quantity from a little package. You could move up to a larger Senn like the HD555 or 558, though these do not have any portability. If you have a decent powered soundcard or source, even a Fostex T20/50rp could be a good choice.
 
 

 
but cant you just change the EQ to have less bass when playing games?

 

[Atragon]

So after discovering head-fi a couple of days ago while trying to figure out what headphones/headset I want to buy and reading a few more threads than I can count, I figured that I should probably go ahead and ask for some advice.
 
I'm going to be traveling in the not-too-distant future and will be without my usual 5.1 speaker set (Logitech X-530s) and instead relying on my laptop for my gaming, music, and movie watching needs. Sufficing to say, I'm now in the market for something a bit better than its built-in speakers.
 
One challenge I'm finding is this: I'm located in Canada, and even though our dollar is high, the prices for audio equipment up here are still inflated relative to the US, but cross-border shipping is expensive, so I can't save that much by doing so.
 
I have a maximum budget of $150 (after taxes preferably, before if necessary) with which to buy:
1) Set of headphones or a headset /w mic.
2) Mic if #1 does not have it.
3) Fairly basic USB Soundcard or DAC to drive #1, preferably with Dolby Headphone or similar. (My laptop is stuck with ALC262 based onboard). I'm thinking a Xonar U3 for about $35 before tax, but am open to options
 
I'm flexible as to open or closed as I'll be using these either at home for gaming if the positional information is better than my speakers, or in a hotel room while I'm away. It'd be nice if the sound leakage were fairly low however.
 
Since I've been approaching this from a gamer's perspective, I'm eyeballing the following options:
 
1) Razer Carcharias
2) Steelseries 7H
3) Shure SRH440
 
I'm pretty sure I'm missing many more possibilities, but I'm fairly deep into information overload at this point and don't really know where to go from here. Please help.