[exsomnis]

Hey guys.  
 
I love my DT880/250s but I'd like to upgrade my home phones.  Before considering the higher end T1 / HD800 / LCD2s and the like, what would you recommend for me to audition?
 
I've tried the HD650s but they're too dark for me.  I like detail and soundstage in my music (indie/folk/jazz/classical/electronic).
 
Also, what would you recommend for closed cans to be used outside and on the go?

 

[FlobHobNob]

Quote:

I am looking for headphones for rock/metal with a budget of 180 euro. Some bands are Metallica, Iron Maiden and Megadeth. I am new in the audiophile world so it's hard to describe/decide what i want. On one hand, i think i'd like something aggressive (especially for Metallica, just listen to Master of Puppets). I know Grado is aggressive, but i want something comfortable for long sessions. I think i want something with good sound stage so i can follow every instrument and good mids for guitars and vocals. A punchy bass would be very nice too. My current setup is FLAC>Xonar DG>Sennheiser HD201 (lol). I have read up on this website and i have come to these headphones:
 
-Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro (Maybe too hard to drive? I'm planning to buy a Fiio E7 later on because i can't afford one for now)
-Sennheiser HD598 (Maybe too neutral for rock/metal? Too recessed mids? They look good though.)
-AKG K271 MKII (Removable cable, comfortable. I've heard the AKG design is kind of dated.)
 
Or maybe i shouldn't worry about my first buy because it'll be my first audiophile headphone and i probably will be happy with it. Later on, when i have more money, i'll try out the Fostex T50RP and some Grado. What do you think?
 
Some quotes from this website that i have to agree with:
 
"I think, cans for rock need to excell at midrange (since this is where the guitars and vocals reside), can be slightly mid-bass colored (bass guitar is mid-bass), have good bass extension (kick drums need to be felt), while the high frequencies might need to be recessed a little bit to avoid sounding overly harsh."
 
"There are essentially two camps on this issue.  One believes that since metal/rock can tend to be harsh and aggressive anyway, you should get a smoother, warmer, maybe more neutral can to compensate for this.  The other camp, which is the one I'm in, prefers cans that exploit the in-your-face sound to have their music sound even more powerful and intense."

You could think about getting the sennheiser hd25. It has punchy, fast bass and is actually very good for rock even though it has a smaller soundstage. I still think your best bet is a nice pair of grados though. Once you get past the intial breakthrough of them I thought they were still very comfortable. Also. when it comes to rock music no one does it like grados do.

 

[yezz12]

Quote:

You could think about getting the sennheiser hd25. It has punchy, fast bass and is actually very good for rock even though it has a smaller soundstage. I still think your best bet is a nice pair of grados though. Once you get past the intial breakthrough of them I thought they were still very comfortable. Also. when it comes to rock music no one does it like grados do.

Those are on-ear, right? I have an on-ear model once, they weren't comfortable at all. Are the hd25's comfortable? Also, out of the 3 headphones in my original post, which one would you choose and why?

 

[FlobHobNob]

Quote:

Those are on-ear, right? I have an on-ear model once, they weren't comfortable at all. Are the hd25's comfortable? Also, out of the 3 headphones in my original post, which one would you choose and why?

Out of the 3 I would go with the akg. I hear it isnt bad for rock. However, I find that the hd25 is comfortable except for the fact is has a pretty high clamping force. Also, grados are weird comfort wise, you will really have to try them out because they are on ear but they go around your whole ear.

 

[SephX]

Hi guys, new here on Head-Fi, but I have read around here before, and found that the advice given is quite useful, so today I was hoping you guys could help me with a question.
 
I've been thinking about getting a better set of cans but I can't decide between a Focal Spirit One, Audio Technica ATH-M50or a pair of Aiaiai TMA-1's, preferably one with an overall better performance, can't really give a genre as my interests change from time, but as of now I listen to Drum and Bass, acoustic and Jazz music more often. Portability does not really matter to me.
 
And after that, would any of the two headphones benefit from an Amp? I was thinking about getting one of Fiio's amps like the E17 and E09K if they could significantly increase the SQ.
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[Gr3g277]

If you got the TiHD (Titanium HD), you would not need to use an external DAC (As the TiHD's DAC is better then the E17's DAC) as you would just need to use an external headphone amplifier plugged into the TiHD's RCA output jacks.
You could use the E17's headphone amplifier feature with any sound card (like the TiHD) but as the Fiio E11 comes with a slightly better headphone amplifier, it's not really worth getting the E17.

I vote the Creative Labs X-Fi Titanium (non-HD) PCI-E sound card, CS4382 DAC chip, might be able to find a used one for a good price.
Plug the E11 into the Titanium's (non-HD) headphone jack and the AKG K271MKII into the E11.

Refurbished Titanium (non-HD) are selling in the USA for $34.99

As the Titanium (non-HD) has an optical output, down the line you can add any external (optical input) DAC you like. Or any optical DAC/headphone amplifier you like.

Thanks a lot for your help
I think I'll go with the tihd, I can find one for good price, and my z5500 will also benefit from it, if the amp section of the e17 is not better than the e11 it is not worth trying it, I will reconsider external DAC when full support for USB audio will be added in android

Thanks a lot for your help

 

[HamilcarBarca]

Quote:

Hey guys.  
 
I love my DT880/250s but I'd like to upgrade my home phones.  Before considering the higher end T1 / HD800 / LCD2s and the like, what would you recommend for me to audition?
 
I've tried the HD650s but they're too dark for me.  I like detail and soundstage in my music (indie/folk/jazz/classical/electronic).
 
Also, what would you recommend for closed cans to be used outside and on the go?

 
I've owned the DT 990 for a couple of years, and bought the T70 on Black Friday. If you love the DT 880, the T70, or T90 which wasn't on sale, would be worth trying. (The T70 is a closed model but not what I'd call a good portable pair.)

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Thanks a lot for your help
I think I'll go with the tihd, I can find one for good price, and my z5500 will also benefit from it, if the amp section of the e17 is not better than the e11 it is not worth trying it, I will reconsider external DAC when full support for USB audio will be added in android
Thanks a lot for your help

Technically you would get better audio quality for the z5500 if you used an analog (5.1, 6-channel) connection to a sound card.
So I'm assuming your ok just using the digital optical connection with the TiHD, as the TiHD has only 2-chaanel analog output

 

[MarcoGV]

Quote:

Thanks a lot for your suggestion, MarcoGV that's what I was looking for. I suspected that the Fostex may be what I'm after, and I'm curious about their sound. I've also been reading a lot about Grado's and how their entire line pretty much is small and contained soundstage. I would love to try out some Stax headphones, as I've never spent a lot of time with electrostatic headphones either. But Stax is almost certainly out of my price range, unless I could find a really nice deal used. Would you say that is fairly typical of the electrostatic sound being more contained imaging?

You are welcome!  The Stax SR-44 is an open electret model.  I think that electret headphones are no longer made.  The current wisdom is that dynamic headphones have improved to the point that they are as good or better (for the price) as electrets, while electrostatic and magnetoplanar headphones have characteristics that make them competitive with the equivalently priced dynamic headphones.  My SR-44 was bought new and given to me as a gift in 1979.  It cost about $80 then. The way electret headphones work is summarized in this Wikipedia quote: "An electret driver functions along the same electromechanical means as an electrostatic driver. However the electret driver has a permanent charge built into it, where electrostatics have the charge applied to the driver by an external generator."  Electret headphones were considered somewhat inferior to their electrostatic siblings (see http://wiki.faust3d.com/wiki/index.php?title=Electret_Driver_Principle).  This said, I think that the Stax SR-44 was a great headphone!  It was considered an "in-your-head" sounding headphone, which may be another way to say it had an intimate sound.  I do not think that this is true of electret, electrostatic and magnetoplanar headphones in general, but my experience is very limited.

 

[dxanex]

I never realized there was a difference between Electret and Electrostatic, thanks for educating me

And I suppose that's what I was trying to describe- an "inside your head" sound as opposed to an out of head, and all around you sound. I have a pair of Fischer Audio IEM's (Eterna Rev. 2) that sound very much what I'm looking for, except I'm looking for that in a full size headphone (and more refined). I'm trying to get away from IEM's because I find that they physically hurt my ear canals after a short period, and I've tried several different tips. I'd like to add that I'm extremely happy with the headphones I'm currently listening to (HD650 especially) it's just I'd like an "inside-my-head" headphone on days I feel like changing it up.

 

[Doc-holliday]

I've tried the HD650s but they're too dark for me.

Also, what would you recommend for closed cans to be used outside and on the go?

Out of curiosity what amp did you try the HD650 with?

If you are looking for detail (sorry soundstage is going to be pretty up close with on ear HPs) the DT1350 are very much worth looking into for your portable HP.

 

[datazbytes]

Hi guys,

Im wondering if Hifiman HE-400 is a decent upgrade from Denon ahd2000's, or its more of a side-grade?
I am pretty happy with the sound of Denons, but want to explore something a bit spacey.

 

[FlobHobNob]

Does anyone know what the best headphone for rock under 400 bux would be? I dont really care if it's open or closed just awesome for rock.

 

[Ren19]

Quote:

Does anyone know what the best headphone for rock under 400 bux would be? I dont really care if it's open or closed just awesome for rock.

I'm not very experienced with headphones but i've read alot those threads and the headphones that came up the most often for rock were the Grado SR60i, SR80i.... Any SRXXi type of headphones. I'm curious to see what other people has to say.
 
EDIT: These headphones are very customizable, and work well without amps apparently.

 

[FlobHobNob]

Quote:

I'm not very experienced with headphones but i've read alot those threads and the headphones that came up the most often for rock were the Grado SR60i, SR80i.... Any SRXXi type of headphones. I'm curious to see what other people has to say.

I already own a pair of grados. I was looking to buy the sr325 but I figured the extra 100 dollars might find me something better.