[chee006]

Hi I am back agn after a short break from this lovely audiophile world. I wanted to know which one I should get in terms of more value
as in more bang for my buck. I have a HD 558 which I really love for playing games, watching movies and listening to music but I also own the TripleFi 10 IEM which sounds really great but has the a ****ty cable which tore in less than a week though not comepletely, I then ahd to change to another cable which just recently stop working for left side of the cable so i had to sent to warranty.
 
Anyway I feel like upgrading my gear but I just dunno which one I should be upgrading my headphone or my IEM? Now I have tried the FitEar A111 and it sounds terribly amazing but the price on the other hand is pricier than the HD 650, I have tried the HD 650 which sounds amazing as well but quite different from the FitEar. I have a DX50 DAP to play my music but I do also sometimes play it with foobar on my PC.
 
I know it's dangerous but for years now I have been using my IEM while walking to college and listening to music but the things is that now I seldom do that cause i am lazy and I barely have any classes at all not to mention in two months I'll be done with college which means I have less opportunity to use my IEM. I rarely use my TripleFI when indoors because it's not that comfortable and the cables are really vulnerable when I am lying and it feels like it could just snap or tear any time. 
 
Sorry for all these information but I wanna tell you my situation and hope you can help me out in choosing which one to get and has the most value, Feel free to recommend me other headphones or IEM as well I am open to suggestions also I like a flat response sound or something that is colourful like my TripleFi but yet still has some decent sound stage and positioning to it. 
 
Thanks alot guys!

 

[b0000]

If you're gonna be using it for movies and games, full size is the way to go.
 
What's your budget and your favorite music genres? Do you want a bass heavy colored sound, a neutral sound, or a warm/smooth but still balanced sound?
 
I don't have any input on iems but the hd650 is a good choice. Its soundstage isn't the best there is though.
 
You could look into the he400. Most people like them, but there are some, including me, that are put off by its sibilant treble. So take this particular recommendation lightly.
 
If you're willing to go used, he500 is awesome. It's pretty much summit-fi in terms of sound quality. Smooth balanced sound overall. Planars ftw.

 

[chee006]

Well actually I want to get an upgrade strictly for music only since my HD 558 works marvellously for gaming and movies. I really hate heavy bass sounds.
 
I listen to psychedelic rock and classical rock like Pink Floyd or Queen. I like neutral sound but like I said before I also like good treble on it but not too much.
 
I believe the HE 400 is a little lower than my budget which is around $500 and also my local store stop taking them in cause there were a lot of problems with it, they also stop taking in all of the Hi-FI man products. what about DT 770 or 880?

 

[b0000]

The dt880 isn't that big of an upgrade from the hd558. The dt770 has big bass.
 
lower mid-fi can --> middle mid-fi can = not that big of an upgrade. 
 
I personally wouldn't do it. That said, the dt880 is pretty much the best balanced/neutral phone in its price range.
 
What i'd do is save 100 more and get a he500, it's so worth it. or buy used.
Even without an amp, it's still better than anything below it imo.
 
If you don't wanna save up or buy used, the hd600/650 is your best bet.
 
This should be an interesting read:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/634201/battle-of-the-flagships-58-headphones-compared-update-audeze-lcd-2-revision-2-6-4-13

 

[chee006]

Well like I said before my local store doesn't take in those models anymore and I want to buy something with a reliable warranty so if there is any problem I can always go back for the warranty. So the Dt880 is not much of a difference from my HD 558?
 
Also let's look into the IEMs as well, I heard they are have more money to quality ratio since I have to buy another amp for the HD 660 

 

[b0000]

Imo it's not much of an improvement. I'd like to hear what others might say about it though.
 
Unfortunately i'm not much of an iem person. So i don't really have any input towards that matter. I did do tons of iem research recently for an iem that sounded like the LCD2. I asked |joker| and he pointed me towards the Stagediver sd-2. You should visit his thread and post there. There's almost no one better that can help you out.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/multi-iem-review-311-iems-compared-hisoundaudio-ba100-added-03-06-14-p-878
 
Is ordering online is out of the question? Hifiman has tons of authorized dealers compared to other companies. Amazon is getting their stock from world wide stereo, which is an authorized dealer. There's also headamp and headroom. Though this is all assuming you live in the US. But they have tons of authorized dealers everywhere. 
http://hifiman.com/AboutUs/Dealer/
 
Sorry if seems like i'm pushing the hifimans, but when your budget is really close to getting the best value in high end, which just happens to have a well balanced sound, it'd be just wrong not to recommend it.

 

[chee006]

Thanks for the help but that's the thing I don't live in the US, I am from Malaysia, technically I cn order online but like I said warranty and logistics is gonna be cumbersome. I'll try to check out his thread 

 

[chee006]

I've decided on the HD 650 and I went to the store to try it out some more but I needed more time  to think about it first because the store had the chance to open a brand new HD 800 and let everyone try it, which i did and I was speechless.... and soon I forgot about the HD 650

 

[b0000]

Yea the hd 800 is like that. It threatens to destroy the world with its awesomeness every time i use it for games, movies, and well recorded songs. Can't beat its soundstage and imaging.

 

[chee006]

Man you're so lucky to own one, I am still a college student and the HD 800 is something I am pplanning to get before I die...

 

[b0000]

Had to work long hours in my part time job to save up for it. But yea, im lucky that my parents decided to pay for my tuition.

 

[chee006]

Haha yeah you're right but I have to bring up an old topic of the 600 and 650 which is that when I hear the 650 it felt too deep in depth and the treble was almost muffled by the warm sound or in other words I felt what everyone was calling it "veiled" Of course with the HD 800 it was more forward treble for me than anything else which I really like but the 650 doesn't provide that, do you have any other headphones that you recommend me? I like a headphone that has good soundstage and imaging but also somewhat neutral but with a bit more highs like my triple-fi.
 
I also found out that my Hi-FiMan distributor has some sort of problems with my country so none of the retailers here are getting any HIFi Man

 

[b0000]

unfortunately, the best i can recommend is the hd600 and dt880, which are considered in league with each other, though the hd600 is known to scale up more. You just gotta know what kind of sound signature you're looking for.
 
Maybe try to look for places that ship internationally?

 

[chee006]

I have tried the Dt880 myself but it sounded a little bit too much like my HD 558 but with just a better bass and little more solid overall sound, like I said before I prefer a signature which is close to the triple fi which has a brighter sound and balance with clear mids and highs but also solid bass and also I do not want have the hassle of shipping my stuff back if I were to buy it internationally. 

 

[b0000]

hmmm... philips x1 maybe?