[roncri]

Hi everyone, need some recommendations. Have really been searching around this forum for a few days and it has really helped me narrow down my choices. I'm hoping others here can help me finalize it. Here's what I have to work with and what my requirements are.

Sound is going to be coming out of my sound card. Don't have room for a CD player so I'll be listening to CD's via my computer or MP3's that have been encoded at 320kbit using the LAME encoder.

I listen to everything but Country and Opera but tend to lean towards bass heavy music like house/dance/trance.

What I'm looking for is a headphone amplifier combo that is less than $400.00 but would love to hit $300.00. I want good sound but this is going to be for work and I share an office so I want to be able to play it loud without disturbing my office mate. I also wear glasses so headphones that go around the entire ear tend to be more comfortable.

So far I've narrowed it down to either a Creek OBH-11 or a META42 made by Tangent or JMT for the amplifier matched with a pair of the Sennheiser HD280's (are these the same as the Sennheiser HD-280 Pro's?).

My questions are:

1. Will these headphones paired with an amp give me good sound, handle the bass and not piss off my office mate?
2. Are there other headphones in my price range I should be looking at?
3. Which amplifier would you pair up with these headphones?
4. Is there another headphone/amplifier combo that you would recommend that would satisfy my requirements better?[/list=1]
   
   Thanks,
   Ron

 

[DarkWolf]

I'm in a similar boat, and I'm looking at the HD590s with a Corda HA-1. But that's not what you want. I haven't heard a whole lot, but from what I've read hear it seems like a meta42 and perhaps Beyerdynmic DT770s would be good for you. Don' take it as a reccomendation, since I've heard neither, but it's something to ask about. The meta42 is quite popular and everyone talks about the bass on the 770 without saying that anything else is really lacking in any specific way, so they might be good for you. They are closed and I'm pretty sure they cover your whole ear. Have fun!

 

[lextek]

I prefer the JMT META to the Creek I had.

 

[andrzejpw]

I say Meta42 + beyer 770s. I briefly heard these phones, and I liked what I heard. Bass.

Anyway, my personal preference is HD580s from sennheisers, but you really need to be committed for the long haul with these.

 

[kelly]

ron

For the amp, if you've done much searching you've probably already seen me disparage the old Creek OBH-11 and sing praises of the META42. There's no contest here with a good source and even with a poor source, there's simply no reason to pick the OBH-11 unless you're turned off by the DIY stuff in general.

I'm working on evaluating some closed headphones. I'm not ready to post the full review yet, but I can tell you that the HD280 is not my favorite among them--in fact, it's somewhat my least favorite so far. It does a good job of isolation, though. The other closed headphones I'm looking at are the Beyerdyanmic DT250, DT770, Etymotic ER-4S, ER-4B, Sony MDR-7506 (aka V6) and Ultrasone HFI-650. If you want *TOTAL* isolation from your coworkers and don't mind ear canal phones, look into the Etymotics. The Etymotics will edge you out of your price range but they'll give you the flatest response and include the lowest lows--but they won't have much tactile bass impact if that's what you want. In that department, DT770 is king indeed and comfortable and durable as hell too. For me the DT770's bass is overpowering, though, and my favorite thus far (for all types of music) is the Ultrasone HFI-650. Check those out and maybe read my review if I haevn't bored you to tears yet and you don't buy your phones for another week or so. Until I finish my evaluation, take all of this with a grain of salt. I'm not done yet, but it's a rough idea of where I'm at.

Sorry if that came across as self-promoting.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

I have owned a Creek OBH-11 for over two years, and while I loved the sound, I also concede that it is not hard to beat the sound with something that is cheaper, or roughly the same price. I would recommend getting the META or something comprable as you'll find that you can swap out components for much better sounding ones later down the line when you have the money to do so!! This is one option I love to have for when I want it, or can afford it.