[kilgoretrout]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shakey27 /img/forum/go_quote.gif may i ask why you are looking for a single side cable? is it for a specific purpose or just for personal preference? either way, whichever reason you stand by is cool since only you know what you like and you're going to spend big bucks for it in the end. however, i wouldn't short yourself to only single sided cable phones. the majority of headphones that will be suggested for you are double sided and are definitely worth the consideration. me personally...i would wear cans in the shape of butt cheeks with a dozen cables running out of them if they sounded like a million bucks (...my attempt at humor). also, since you are now looking to stretch your budget a bit (not a hard thing to do around here), i would seriously think about purchasing an amp to go along with your new headphones. the higher end models almost always require an amp to sound their best and to reach the level of performance that they are capable of given the amount of money that you've invested in them to begin with. i'm not one for suggesting an amp for you since i don't know enough about mating amps with headphones. the only thing i do know is that without an amp, none of the headphones that you are looking into are going to sound the way they are really intended to sound...just something to think about. best of luck with your search and hopefully others with more knowledge than myself can be of more help to you.

I don't like headphones with cables on both sides because I find it uncomfortable and annoying. If I want to lay down, I have a cable going across my face. If I want to turn around with the headphones plugged into a source, the cables cross, get tangled, and otherwise bother. If I'm on my computer and I want to type, I have cables getting in the way of my hands.

I can't see what sort of advantage might come out of having cables on both sides, but if such an advantage does exist, then it's not worth sacrificing the comfort of a single sided cable. For me, a single sided cable is incredibly irritating, and if I can avoid it at the cost of having less options, that is worth it for me. The manufacturers should change their design to fit my tastes

I've decided to build a Mini^3 amp, so I hope that it will suffice.

 

[Than]

I recommend the Ultrasone HFI-780. It seems to have everything you want: closed, single sided cable, efficient, great for rock. I can't testify to how it performs for rap, but it's a great headphone, and I'm sure will do very well. It remains my preferred headphone for at home despite the fact that I like the tonal qualities of my ESW9 better.

Just don't listen to any of Ultrasone's marketing crap. S-logic is a lie as far as I'm concerned. But that's another topic...

 

[ZMU817]

I picked up a pair of Beyer 770/600ohm on the FS forums here and a good usbdac/amp for under $300 total and am very happy with it. They are very well built, comfortable closed cans with a single cord (that's actually like the cord on landline phones...kind of a slinky, if you catch my drift, very good for not wanting it to get in the way / get tangled ).

I don't listen to much rock/rap, but the alternative rock stuff I listen to sounds very good, they are very involving (as you were wanting - immersive) 'phones.

 

[djbob]

I own both the Ad700 and K701. I really like my AD700s, but after purchasing the K701's the Ad700s don't get much use. The K701s just do everything better. Both are very comfortable and have similiar sound characteristics - light, airy, wide soundstage. If you're after really strong bass though, I'd look elsewhere. The bass is good on these, but it is not their strong suit. I do listen to rock, classic rock and alternative on both of these and am very happy with their performance.

For your budget, you could purchase the AD700s and a Mini3 (or build one) and still have a few bucks left over. It's a great combination. As I can attest, and others will tell you also, the K701s really need a higher grade amp to get the most out of them. Although they do sound pretty sweet with a Mini3.

At any rate, the K701s and a decent amp would most certainly exceed your budget, unless you could find one used at a decent price.

Good luck with your search

 

[kilgoretrout]

What is the price range for a decent amp? Can you recommend a few?