[FoReIgnMoLe]

Hi guys,
 
I knew the day would come that I would have to register an account for this site (3 years of anonymous lurking stirred up too many questions left unanswered). I'm going to be attending college this fall as an incoming freshman, and I wanted to purchase some quality headphones before I leave home.  I mainly listen to pop, hard rock, jazz, and blues; however, I've been getting into some classical music-esque songs such as the soundtracks to Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away by Joe Hisaishi (haha any Miyazaki fans? xD)  Anyways, I'm bringing my electric guitar to college (2008 American Standard Fender Stratocaster); however, they do not allow guitar amplifiers, so I bought a Zoom G3 effects pedal for headphone use and maybe future recording.
 
I was wondering if the Sennheiser HD598 or the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pros (maybe 600?) would be good to listen to the electric guitar as well as listening to music in the mean time with a pretty nice soundstage for the classical music.  I have Sennheiser HD439's and Audio Technica CKN70 IEMs from Japan; however, whenever I listen to my guitar with them, it just seems like something is lacking.  For example, if I play the tone that Santana gets in his song Europa from my amplifier, when I hook my 439's up to the amplifier, it sounds completely different negatively (almost a muffled sound?, I don't know how to describe it but something is lacking).  When I hook up my Audio Technica CKN70s to the amplifier it doesn't have that fat sound (I know the Strat is single coil but I tried it out with a Gibson SG and I got the same impression) that I could have gotten from the amplifier.  I know that maybe headphones may not have the capabilities to get the exact tone from the amplifier; however, I was just wondering if there were any that could get close. The clean tones sound actually pretty good sometimes but the distortion tones definitely need some improving.   
 
Anyways, I tried out the Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro at Guitar Center the other day and compared them to the Shure SRH940s.  I liked the DT880s much more than the Shures due to the fact that the DT880s had a deeper bass; however, I felt that even though the DT880's highs were slightly fatiguing at times, they were pretty detailed and clear at the same time.  I did feel like the mids were getting overshadowed by the lows and highs; however, I didn't feel like it wasn't present either.  The SRH940s felt a little more detailed in the mid sections but I felt like even though there was enough bass, it wasn't as engaging as the DT880s.  I felt like the trebles and especially the mids really shined (I had an intimate time with Tswift listening her sing to me hahaha).  I loved the soundstage on the DT880s as well (probably because they're semi-open), and I felt like the Shures had a decent soundstage but not as immersive as the DT880s.  Oh yea, these were all tested on a Fiio E6 with my iPhone 5 and 320kbps mp3s (Don't worry though I listen to FLACs on my desktop at home). I'm not a very good audiophile (aspiring to be one though xD), so my impressions may not be accurate as well haha.  It was just how I felt.   
 
I haven't tried out the HD598s due to the fact that there is no one around my area who have them out to demo (damn I really miss Yodobashi in Japan T.T. Why did I leave...).  I've heard that they have a more laid back signature than the DT880s however they are still somewhat detailed?  Haha hopefully someone can articulate on that.  I will also be considering buying an Aune T1 off of eBay (I'm gonna miss my guitar tube amp at home, so at least this will bring me a little sweet memory of it xD) as my USB Amp/DAC to my MacBook Pro Retina.  
 
Sorry for the extremely long post... I didn't really expect to write this much haha.  
 
I guess tl;dr:
 
What are good headphones for listening to music (pop, hard/classic rock, blues, classical, jazz) and recording guitar at the same time for an incoming college student? Budget: ~$200 for the amp/dac and </= $350 for headphones (I really dont want to be spending more than $275 if I can help it though).  
 
THANKS!
 
PS: sorry if this was posted in the wrong forum =/ 

 

[PurpleAngel]

I own the DT880 250-Ohm and DT880 600-Ohm and the HD558s.
The HD5XX headphones might be a little "colder" sounding for listening to music.
I like my Beyers, find them great for plugging into my receiver.
 
The AKG 7XX series might be a better choice for recording, I guess as long as you can hear the bass of your recorded audio, using the AKG 7XXs, then you know there is enough bass, for other headphone to pick up.

 

[FoReIgnMoLe]

Quote:

I own the DT880 250-Ohm and DT880 600-Ohm and the HD558s.
The HD5XX headphones might be a little "colder" sounding for listening to music.
I like my Beyers, find them great for plugging into my receiver.
 
The AKG 7XX series might be a better choice for recording, I guess as long as you can hear the bass of your recorded audio, using the AKG 7XXs, then you know there is enough bass, for other headphone to pick up.

Hmm... I heard that they usually have a little less bass than usual.  Is this true? Or do you think compared to the DT880s and 598s they should be fine. 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Hmm... I heard that they usually have a little less bass than usual.  Is this true? Or do you think compared to the DT880s and 598s they should be fine. 

I've heard that the Q701 are a lighter bass sound, but people seem to like their over all sound quality.
Maybe you could test the AKGs at The Guitar Center?

 

[FoReIgnMoLe]

Hmm... to get the most realistic sound that would come out of my cabinet speaker, should i get the most neutral sounding headphones? Like when I hook up my headphones to my Zoom G3 Pedal, I want to get the closest sound to as if I were to hook up the Zoom G3 Pedal to the speaker cabinet. So, could that sound be achieved with the most neutral sounding headphones? haha sorry if that's confusing. 
 
Or would like a DT990 be a little better than the 880s? or like an HD600?