[cancausecancer]

To quickly summarize the pertinent info just read the bold parts. The rest of it just rhetoric or extra details.

Hi all, can someone suggest a good setup for quiet listening? I haven't used an amp yet so I don't know if having one allows you to listen to music very quietly and hear everything in the music. I hope to not need an amp.

If I need an amp, I won't need one with a DAC because I will use my Xonar d2x. My budget is $350 US prices with or without amp, at EU prices my budget is $500 (electronics cost 50% more in eastern Europe than in the US). I use AKG k 171 Studio headphones and I listen to music with the volume set between 5 and 15% (flac using ASIO) so I'm looking for something that is quiet but really sounds great. If the treble is ear piercingly high then I get a bit nauseous.

I like to listen to all music (swing, rock, rap, country) but mostly it is is jazz or other relaxing music without hard drumming and without electric guitars:
Louis Armstrong
Jelly Roll Morton
Duke Ellington
Billie Holiday
Bing Crosby
Mills Brothers

I like to watch bluray movies and play the occasional modern PC game.

I was thinking about the 701's but I heard the treble is high and bass is kinda missing and I noticed 5 people selling them in the forum so I'm thinking ppl move past them quickly. The DT880's look good but probably need an amp and a good amp would cost more than the headphones probably. I hope for closed headphones because my computer fans are very loud. I haven't tried open phones before so I don't know if they're good for my situation or not. I can't try headphones at shops here because no one stocks a lot of headphones, I called 4 places already trying to find 701s.

FAQ:

Q: Can I suggest something that costs a lot more than what you can spend?
A: You can but I can't afford to buy it

Q: Can I suggest something more expensive if its cheaper on ebay?
A: No, I don't trust ebay but amazon.co.uk is ok

Q: If you order from the US then you can have more to spend right?
A: No, the shipping and 20% vat can make it cost more (mainly the shipping)

Q: Where u at dawg?
A: Bucuresti Romania but I'm moving to Bulgaria in a week so I'll be ordering it online from there

Q: I'm going to suggest something you can't afford anyways just cause it's awesome
A: ok, as long as it doesn't require buying an amp

 

[bbophead]

You have interesting tastes in music.  Looks like you must listen to mono recordings quite a bit.
 
No suggestions, however.  I like open phones, Grado, which are easy to drive.  Yup, closed phones are the ticket with quiet listening and noisy fans.

 

[dcpoor]

stax/electrostats are my favorite for low volume listening, but most setups are unfortunately out side your budget. A used srs-2050 system can usually be had for <$500USD while a used IEM-like sr-001/mk2 system can be had for <$200USD.
 
The K701 have an adequate amount of bass for me when amped well, but they are not very good for low volume listening in my opinion.
 
Another option to look into is IEM's, ones with balanced armature drivers in particular.

 

[cancausecancer]

From what I understand, having an amp lets you hear more from your headphones that benefits from amps, but does that mean the volume needs to be higher to gain that benefit?

 

[kingtz]

Quote:

From what I understand, having an amp lets you hear more from your headphones that benefits from amps, but does that mean the volume needs to be higher to gain that benefit?

No. The thing about having an amp is that you will not have to turn up the volume to hear some of the detail that might otherwise be missing. Thus, you can appreciate much fuller sound at lower, safer volumes.
 
Generally speaking, volume is not the reason why people get amps. Even without amps, you can turn the volume up to ear shattering levels. The issue is that turning up the volume without an an amp will lead to the music distorting and sounding really bad.

 

[Phybron]

Forgive the noobishness of this suggestion (I've been away from here for a few years), but last time I was on this board looking for help I ended up buying Audio-Technica ATH A900's which I've used daily ever since. They may have been discontinued now, although I see they're still available from audiocubes.com, but they might be suitable because they're closed, have good isolation and low impedance at only 40 Ohms. I run them out of a laptop and they're fine. They are a bit below your budget so I'm not sure if there's an equivalent step up you can make, but otherwise these might be good for you.
 
They're also extremely comfortable. And very non-portable, which may or may not be an issue.

 

[Don Quichotte]

I agree on the Stax suggestion, try to listen to some at Paul Hafner and then perhaps look for a used set: http://www.highendaudio.ro/?page=contact
Te invitam sa le asculti pe ale mele dar m-am mutat din Bucuresti anul asta.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Have you thought about the Sennheiser HD-600? They're some of the best all-around headphones out there. They have earned their status as a classic.

They do benefit from an amp, though. Amps are not so much about volume as they are about control. You will appreciate one at lower volumes.

 

[Greeni]

With low level listening you want the details to be there despite not cracking up the volume.
Besides the lower model Stax, check out German Maestro 8.300D. Member Tiemen has a review on these.

 

[cancausecancer]

Have you thought about the Sennheiser HD-600? They're some of the best all-around headphones out there. They have earned their status as a classic.

The 600 look great. I'm curious about the bass though. Their freq. response looks almost the exact same as the akg 701s

I agree on the Stax suggestion, try to listen to some at Paul Hafner and then perhaps look for a used set: http://www.highendaudio.ro/?page=contact
Te invitam sa le asculti pe ale mele dar m-am mutat din Bucuresti anul asta.

Do you know the address for Paul Hafner. I'd really like to go there and try them if I can.

With low level listening you want the details to be there despite not cracking up the volume.
Besides the lower model Stax, check out German Maestro 8.300D. Member Tiemen has a review on these.

The Maestro 8.x aren't for me. I looked at the reviews but I feel there is something missing that I can't put my finger on. I looked at the stax reviews and I'd like to try the stax but I'm not so eager to wear them. If I can try them and they're great then I'll just lock my listening room door when I use them so my friends don't see me:

Forgive the noobishness of this suggestion (I've been away from here for a few years), but last time I was on this board looking for help I ended up buying Audio-Technica ATH A900's which I've used daily ever since. They may have been discontinued now, although I see they're still available from audiocubes.com, but they might be suitable because they're closed, have good isolation and low impedance at only 40 Ohms. I run them out of a laptop and they're fine. They are a bit below your budget so I'm not sure if there's an equivalent step up you can make, but otherwise these might be good for you.
 
They're also extremely comfortable. And very non-portable, which may or may not be an issue.

The Audio-Technica ATH A900's are nice but not my cup of tea. I think I'm between the 600, 650, 880, 990 and 701 and stax 404. I have to see which tickle my fancy the most. I'm leaning more towards the 600s. When I compare all the response curves (I don't have a chance to listen to anything so numbers win) the 600 has the most similarity to the HD 800 with the exception of bass.

 

[Don Quichotte]

Just don't buy without listening first, ideally at low volume level as you intend to use them and in a quiet environment (and using familiar music, and source, and cables, and for a long enough time and so on, but you can rarely have it all). Response curves mean almost nothing, believe me, oh please believe me! (am I convincing enough?

). The HD600 are too lazy sounding to me for low level listening, but perhaps it's just me.

 

[cancausecancer]

Just to close this thread off. I grabbed the HD 600s with a Pro-ject Headbox amp. They're nice headphones. I EQ the high frequencies down by 10db when I listen to music because it's a little too sharp for me. They have a nice wide sound stage and in songs I don't hear violin bow rubbing the strings clearly like I do on my AKG 171s'.