Headphone Advice?

[cspenc]

Hi, I am pretty new to high quality headphones, but lately I have been wearing a cheap pair of headphones for long time and it has been quite fatiguing on my ears: ie. they are being crunched and get real hot from the vinyl. I am a college student with a laptop and a decent quality JVC mini CD system (FS 1000). I output the soundcard using monster cable to the JVC system where I currently plug in the headphones. The sound quality seems very good at least signal quality. I am wondering what a few hundred dollars can do to that sound quality if I were to purchase something like HD580 or a AKG 401/501 and an Amp. I listen to both rock and classical stuff. I am mainly looking to upgrade the comfort but I will gladly take better sound. Also, can this system drive one of these higher quality headphones without an amp or would it be advised to get a total airhead or something in that vein?

Thanks in advance for any ideas,
Curtis

 

[Moonwalker]

Hi cspenc!

I would recommend you to buy HD580 now, because they are discontinued. This will be a dramatic jump in sound quality, when you were using poor headphones before. Next step (as soon as possible) would be some amp for the HD580. Trust me, I have HD600 and betwwen them and consumer level phones is very big difference.

Hope this helps. Moonwalker.

 

[dhwilkin]

The 580s are a good idea, but you definitely need an amp. Sound straight from the soundcard is ultimately going to be fatiguing. I would recommend contacting JMT (one of the members here) to see if he'd build you a DIY amp.

 

[ponzio]

I have the predecessor to the JVC8000 and recently made the jump to better equipment. First I bought the HD600 from Jan Meier for ~$200. This was an incredible jump from the walkman supplied phones I was using, and the JVC mini did a decent job of outputting acceptable volume levels. I then bought a Corda Amp, also from Jan Meier, for around ~$250 as a kit and heard a big difference in sound quality while still using the JVC as a CD source. I learned that my JVC mini is noisy and doesn't portray the pluck of a guitar, for example, nearly as well as the Corda.

My 2 cents

 

[Braver]

ehm dude, the hd580 ain't discontinued

just putting it friendly before M. Walker comes barging in

(haven't seen him for a while btw..)

but still, the 580 is one of the finest headphones around and goes for a sweet price. and they'll handle anything you throw at them with ease. they definatly want an amp tho. specially if its a minisystem, chances are the jack will suck (if it has enough power to begin with).

and what amp? depends on what you want. I wouldn't go too high-end cause that might make your source a pretty weak link. you could get a OBH-11 or a Corda or a nice tuber like the MG-Head or an X-Can. or contact JMT for a nice tiny portable amp.