[frogx345]

Hey head-fiers,
 
I really want to upgrade to better full-size headphones. Currently I only have my HD448 which I love, but I know there are better headphones out there which can blow me away with their sound quality. For a while I was toying between the HD600 and HE-300 which both look to be pretty good headphones for the price, but then . . . the HE-400 comes out! So now I am in between 3 different headphones, all of which have kind of different sounds (from what I've read).
 
A little bit about me (in terms of music):

1. I listen to many genres (classical, acoustic, rock, metal, sweet 60's classic rock too) but my musical love lies with 70's prog rock (pink floyd, yes, genesis, king crimson, gentle giant, I could go on forever). I don't listen to today's hip-hop, rap, or boring bass-shaking songs
2. from above, I need the mids and highs to be clear and I want a solid but not very boomy, overpowering bass (that's why I chose the relatively neutral HD448)
3. I want the music to be clear and "real", almost analytical, however, the fun-sound of the HE-300 I've heard about intrigues me, any thoughts on this sound for those who have heard the HE-300?

 
If I get one of the above phones I will need an amp, which I want to be portable (fit into a big pocket with my ipod classic) if I go for long drives, flights, etc. I've been looking at the E11 and E7. Are these powerful enough to drive the headphones?
 
As for price, I am not willing to go over the $400 + shipping of the HE-400, and don't want to spend much more than $100 on a decent portable amp. If I buy the cheaper HE-300 I may be willing to go a bit more on the amp. If there are any other headphones or amps you want to suggest please feel free, but keep the price ranges in mind.
 
Thanks for reading my long, overly-descriptive post. Looking forward to your suggestions.

 

[frogx345]

I forgot to mention I was looking at the HD598 for a bit too. How does this headphone compare to the HD600? If there is much of a difference than it's probably worth it going for the 600, roughly $40 more.

 

[Llloyd]

I'd say it's worth going for the 600.  There's a difference to warrant the 40 dollars, probably more than 40 to me.

 

[jackwess]

The 598's are slightly brighter when compared to the others on the Sennheiser family. 
 
Here are other differences between them. 

 

[juantendo8]

If you have the amp for it, go for the HD600. It has a way of making anything sound right.

 

[juantendo8]

Reading your post more carefully, if you are set on sticking to a portable amp (E11 is good, powerful, and cheap), you may be better off going with the HE-400. It is much easier to drive well and is a great value although I would not recommend it over a well-driven HD600. If you could settle for an E9 (desktop amp) instead, I think the HD600 would be more impressive.

 

[Bocefuss4500]

i have a modded set of sennheiser hd-580 and use them with a  Fiio E11 amp as part of my portable set-up works great though do have to turn amp to around the 75% to 85% capacity to drive headphones to my particular desired level if i want to listen to something on the loud side ....

 

[Ypoknons]

You're sure you want to use open headphones for portable use? Mininial isolation, high sound leakage.

 

[frogx345]

well I want open headphones but I probably won't be taking them out. I will however be taking my HD448 out more often once I get the open pair, and I do not want to get two amps. I really want an amp even for everyday portable use because I have a tiny E5 now and even with that I can really notice the difference in my HD448 and my iems when compared to my bare ipod.
 
I may want to get a bigger desktop amp eventually, and it sounds like most people are recommending the HD600 so that would work out fine. I do not like to listen to music really loudly unless I have to drown out other sound. If I use the HD600 with the E11 just for now on a lower volume, will they sound alright or still have noticeably not enough power?
 
also, remember to suggest if there are any other, perhaps better, "neutral" sounding headphones in my price range of about $300-350. I liked the HD600 because they're a "classic" and from my experiences and almost all I've read, senns are really comfortable (which is very important to me) and are usually good phones for the price. And are people recommending the HD600 more because not many have heard the he300/400 yet or are the hifiman's just not very neutral sounding?

 

[frogx345]

I just read the article that jackwess linked to. It sounds like the HD600 is definitely the better choice for many things, but I am not too keen on getting the $600 amp they recommend to drive it. If an amp like the E9 will drive it suitably (on a lower volume) than I would lean much more toward the HD600 again.
 
Also from the article, it mentions the HD600's soundstage is fairly small. I do prefer a bigger soundstage, but is this article comparing the HD600's stage to just the HD598, other open headphones, or all headphones in general? Even if it is a small stage, I'm sure the other benefits more than make up for it.
 
Thanks to all for replying so fast, reading my numerous questions, and sorry for the double post.

 

[juantendo8]

The notion that you need to spend $600 to properly amp a $300 (previously less) headphone is a complete lie. The E9 will drive it just fine. There is better, but you will definitely have to pay for it. Maybe an O2 amp as an upgrade to the E9 while maintaining a budget. The O2 is a definitive bang-for-buck champion at its price point.

 

[lejaz]

Heard good things about the O2 as well....for like $125 it sounds like a great value. For your musical genres(similar to my own in many respects) I would highly recommend the hd600. I spoke to guy who has built some O2's for other folks, and he says they will drive the Senns very well. I might be able to find his email address if you PM me....not sure I still have it though. 

 

[Llloyd]

O2 + hd600 sounds like a great match to me.
 
 
also +1 to this
 

The notion that you need to spend $600 to properly amp a $300 (previously less) headphone is a complete lie. The E9 will drive it just fine. There is better, but you will definitely have to pay for it. Maybe an O2 amp as an upgrade to the E9 while maintaining a budget. The O2 is a definitive bang-for-buck champion at its price point.

 

 

 

[frogx345]

Ok, I'm pretty much set on the HD600 now.
 
As for the amp, the O2 looks great from what I've read, and I've always loved things that have supreme functionality and don't care about looks. The fact that it can be compared, perhaps be better than $1000+ amps is amazing. I do still want the E11 for more portable stuff, but I think I'll get the O2 as a desktop amp sometime in the future, bypassing the E9.
 
But back to one more question that wasn't directly answered: for the few months that I'll probably have the E11 but not the O2, will the E11 be able to drive the HD600 (on a low volume) relatively well?

 

[Ypoknons]

The designer uses the HD650, so I figure yes. The calculation formula is on Inner Fidelity; I'm sure someone could give a more proper response from experiance though.