[widds2v]

Read headfi a lot but just got around to making an account

Looking towards a new pair of higher-end headphones, have had Sennheiser HD212 for gaming for quite awhile, and own a pair of Shure E2s, but have never really owned a nice pair of cans (i enjoy the sound of my shures btw if that helps with knowing how my ears are, mids could be a bit better).

The reviews here are helpful, but there is a trend of the genre of music that most of the "audiophiles" here have, classical, jazz, adult contemp, etc. I on the other hand enjoy hip hop, r&b, rock, trance, etc. I've posted on sharkyforums asking advice on a good pair of cans, sub-$300, and get the HD580 recommended, with a cable upgrade (versus something like a stock HD600/650). Still looking at the A900s as well as they seem to be a "party" headphone with good bass and rich sound, but dunno. They'll be used for movies as well, and games such as UT2k4, Farcry, Sacred, etc. Source will be either my A2 NX on my laptop or my iRiver iHP-120. Will run through a pretty nice cmoy (ad823 opamp, buffered outputs, tantalum bypass caps, and whatever else zemo puts in his amps).

So, are there anyother suitable options other than the HD580 or is that the endall headphone for that sector? Thanks.

 

[go_vtec]

I would say A900 would be better suited for your all-purpose phone. Don't get me wrong, Cmoy is a nice little amp, but you will need something more powerful to rich a full potential of HD580/HD600/HD650.

However if you want something really exciting (tight bass and nice highs), Grado SR-225 or Alessandro MS-2 would be an awesome choice. These phones do sound awesome driven by Cmoy, but the comfort may be a factor (some say they can't wear them for long).

 

[widds2v]

Should of added that an upgraded amp will definatly be around the corner, the headphone purchase probably wont be until next month (bleh I say that now but you know how this works, I'll have something ordered within a matter of days), and I'll probably wait a couple weeks after that to purchase a nicer "home" amp. The cmoy will just be temporary, and will be mostly used with my iRiver + E2s.