[earthpeople]

So... I recently bought a pair of HD580s from a member here on head-fi. As soon as I put them on, I was in love. They were just so comfortable, I've never worn a pair of headphones that were so comfortable. I can wear these for hours without serious hot-ears or any discomfort.
In any case, I later hooked it up to my iPod--> Practical Devices XM4 and I thought (and still think) they sound great, but I guess the fact of the matter is that portable amps don't have the power to drive headphones like the HD580s to what they're capable of.
It seems most desktop amps are quite expensive, more than I can afford now (and for a while).

So comes the dilemma, do I sell the HD580s or not? I would hate to lose them because who knows how hard it would be to find one if/when I can afford to buy them again.
At the same time, if I can get a pair of headphones that would sound "better" with what I have, it seems a little foolish to hold onto my Senns.

Help please? Should I keep or sell the headphones? If sell, what should I get as a replacement that would work better? I listen mostly to rap, classic rock, orchestral, and jazz, with a bit of many other genres. Open or closed doesn't matter. I would like something as comfortable as my Sennheisers though, so something circumaural.
Or perhaps my equipment is fine or there's a cheap but decent desktop amp that I can buy. I don't know, which is why I'd like some opinions from more experienced people.

Thanks for reading and thanks for any advice.

 

[tehdoom]

i have both hd595's and hd600's (which i'm told are quite like 580s). since it you seem to primarily be after circumaural cans that are driven decently by a portable amp, i highly recommend you sell your 580s and pick up some hd555/595's. they're much more easily driven, and imho much less 'clampy' and more comfortable. they sound nearly as good to my ears, even doing better in some areas--portable sources definitely being one of those areas.

 

[earthpeople]

Thanks for the quick reply, tehdoom. I'll keep the 595s in mind.
However, I found something that I think may change things.

I was looking around in my basement and I found this receiver, a Technics SA-EX310. I think they make pretty good stuff right? I know they're famous for turntables. Will this be good enough to run the 580s well?

 

[jojo_b2]

Since you already have the 580 in hand. You can only know the answer if you try.

If it's already good then it should provide you enought contentment for you to start saving for another amp. =)

 

[jpancier]

I strongly recommend you hold on to them, especially if you got a good price. I absolutely love mine; I use them more than my Stax. I recommend picking up a Little Dot or something affordable, preferably tubey. It's worthwhile sinking money into a decent little amp. They stand up as a good mid fi entry. Modding them is also worth the extra money. Throw some hd 600 grills on there and they'll sing!

 

[Ham Sandwich]

By all means, try the HD580 with the Techniques receiver. Some receivers power the headphone out using opamps while other receivers use a resistor network from the power amp. The ones that use a resistor network do well with higher impedance headphones like the HD580.

You won't know till you try. The Techniques could sound better than your portable amp.

I've had my HD580 and HD600 for around 10 years. In that time I was first using them from a Pioneer A9 integrated amp. Sounded good to me back then. Then I sold the A9 and my speakers and was using various portable headphone amps for my HD580/HD600. Then recently I got an AV123 x-head (a $200 desktop headphone amp). Yeah, the x-head sounds better and better drives the HD580/HD600 than my previous amps. But I certainly wasn't suffering or feeling deprived by using my other amps. Good desktop amps are getting cheaper (Chinese manufacturing does that).

The HD580 is great for classic rock, classical (orchestral), and jazz. It will be up to you if you like them for rap.

Oh, and I hear no difference between my HD580 and my HD600. No need to bling up the HD580 with the HD600 grills. I did switch to the HD650 cable though because the HD650 cable has better fitting connectors for the ear cups. Better fitting connectors means the sound doesn't cut out occasionally due to intermittent connections.

 

[mookowz13]

Keep 'em, you can always wait to get an amp.

 

[ksu06]

KEEP KEEP KEEP! If you are into DIY, definitely build a Starving Student hybrid amp. If not, then I'm sure there is someone on the forum who would be willing to build you one (I had mine built by someone else). I mean, we are talking like $50 in parts depending on the enclosure ... definitely worth it for the HD580.

 

[earthpeople]

I have to wait for some parts to come in so I can build an RCA adapter for the receiver, but I'll try that out first.
Completely forgot about DIY amps, but I'll check those out if the receiver doesn't work well. It's not expensive at all and I could just put it together sometime over the summer.

I'll probably keep them then. Thanks everyone.

 

[QQQ]

I feel that Senn 580 are best bargain in headphone world, stick to it.

 

[gurubhai]

sell them...................to me

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gurubhai /img/forum/go_quote.gif sell them...................to me

You'll need an amp. A big expensive desktop amp.

 

[D_4_Dog]

Definately keep them. They don't suck while under-driven but when properly driven... sheer audio bliss

 

[Zombie_X]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpancier /img/forum/go_quote.gif I strongly recommend you hold on to them, especially if you got a good price. Throw some hd 600 grills on there and they'll sing!

I second this, DON'T SELL THEM! You will regret it. Also you don't need an incredibly expensive amp to drive them. I have HD600's and they sound pretty darn good out of the VHP-2 amp (which can be had for $280 used).

Also you could look into vintage tube integrated amps. I have a Fischer X-100-B and it drives them quite well indeed. The Fischer could be had for $150-$250 in decent condition (Got mine for $350 from my dad).

WARNING:
Another thing is you could do is hook them up to the speaker terminals behind the amps themselves as this gives them more juice. I run most of my headphones out of my Fischer that way, and it sounds better than a HP out. If you go this route I'd recommend testing this on a cheap headphone first, just in case your amp is too powerful as it might blow a driver(if there is too much power being pushed).

 

[elbuzzard]

C'mon, they arent THAT bad out of your ipod. right? actually for rap it probably IS bad.
HD580=anti rap cans.