[brn80]

Well first of all... damn you all to hell for this addiction.

What started as a simple search to find headphones after moving to a non speaker friendly aparment complex turned out to be a quest for aural bliss and a big hole in my bank account

I've trawled the forums a bit here and there, and tried different phones but after getting my latest pair today, I need advice.

I started off with the PX100. It was nice and all, but it was supraaural and since I game a lot for long hours, I found I can't have it on my ears for long. I guess I have overly sensitive ears. So had to try circumaural. Tried the XD400 which were pretty good, but not as refined, ok cans if found cheap. Also the ears kind of touched the the drivers inside, but not by much, in the way the drivers were angled.

Gaming, music, best bang for the buck cans that were mentioned were the DT770-80 and the A900. Ok so I'm a big basshead, so I went for the former of the two and picked up a PA2V2. Nice cans, plenty of that low end 'thump' that's great with some electronica and rap. But after getting a CX300, and a CM7, I realized what the missing 'mids (I'm not an audiophile mind you, so my understanding and terminology is still in it's infancy) that's been talked about were. So maybe the A900, but since I may not like the whole closed can signature altogether, I went in for an AD900.

Fast forward to today where I got it in the mail. Pricejapan is great btw, they shipped it sat, and it got here on tue. Not many people have these cans on the forums it seems like. I was ecstatic , been waiting for them for a while, they definitely have the missing mids. But the bass, where is the bass. I guess I was spoiled with the DT770's bass, but after a few hours burn in, it was more apparent. But compared to the beyers right out of the box, the bass seems very 'polite' is what I can best describe it. It doesn't slam into you like the Beyer's do but it's just there. Fine I could live with that, I gathered that with some more burn in time, it would come out more. But then I realized that these cans do rest on my ears a bit

after about half an hour... they started hurting and I couldn't put them back on till I took some sort of short break.

I guess I need a headphone recommendation for an open can, that is comfy for extended periods, I can live with less bass than the beyers; actually sometimes it was bit overpowering, has decent mids and highs. I do realize that's probably umpteen threads posted about such a request, but I couldn't find ones that specifically mentioned about the pads resting on the ears. I'm hoping for something that has very minimal contact with the actual ear. I read a bit into the AKG's , the 601 and 701, a bit higher than I'd like to spend for the latter, but if it's worth it I may. Also was considering the HD600.

I realize this is a rather long post, but thank you reading so far, and I appreciate any input.

Cheers

 

[Headphony]

How about HD650's with a decent amp?

edit: If you didn't like the bass on the AD900's, you'll probably be disappointed with the AKG 601/701's too. Senns are the way to go.

 

[brn80]

I did enjoy the PX100's sound signature when I did have them. Although I've never tried any of the higher end full fized cans from Senn's line up. It's not so much the bass of the AD900 or lack thereof that I mind, although a bit more would definitely be better. It's more so the fact that the driver rests on my ears, and after a while it starts to hurt. Also, most of my music listening is done through the line out of my laptop, to a PA2V2; with 160kbps wma tracks and then gaming. So I was thinking that there's no point in spending >$400 for a can; no point in going higher if the source isn't moving up quailty.

The main issue that I want to solve is having the drivers not touch my ears. The Beyers do a good job of that but I was looking to get an open can. Some options I'm considering;

Recable the DT770: I've heard that this done wonders to the sound signature to the beyers, most notably brining out the mids and toning down that harsh high. Although it would still have that 'closed' in your head kind of sound; a woody with cover mod might fix that, but _cha ching_ not sure I can afford that right now.

SR225 with the C-pad: I've heard good things about this phone, but I've been avoiding the grado line up so far, mostly due their not being recommended for gaming and that sort. And I listen to a lot of everything, but mostly hip hop, trance, bass laden music.

Senn 580/600: I haven't tossed the 650 in there, since like I mentioned before my source isn't up to par with the headphone, but if it's better, esp i n the bass dept. I might move on up to it. My PA2V2 probably would need to be swapped out. Any recommedations on amps that work in synergy with theses Senn cans.

A900: I was originally planning to get these. Although they are closed cans, they are said to have more prominent mids; but I'm not sure if the pleather cushions put more distance between your ear and the driver or are they just like the AD series, where it's angled in, and your ears touch the driver. Could any users th t have tried both the A and AD series offer any input?

 

[Esidarap]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brn80 A900: I was originally planning to get these. Although they are closed cans, they are said to have more prominent mids; but I'm not sure if the pleather cushions put more distance between your ear and the driver or are they just like the AD series, where it's angled in, and your ears touch the driver. Could any users th t have tried both the A and AD series offer any input?

I haven't tried both A and AD series, but I can tell you that the drivers are angled and don't touch your ears on my A900s.

 

[brn80]

Thanks for the input on the A900, I should have got one of those used off the forums first before getting the AD900. Well, I guess saying angled would be inappropriate. It's more that the velour pads taper inwards, so my ears ultimately touch the driver itself. This for the most part defeats my purpose for getting a circumaural type headphone. I think I just have a wide head and big ears or something

... I guess the time is coming to go to the FS/trade forums and play musical headphones again

...... CURSE YOU HEADFI !!!!!

 

[sgrossklass]

Sounds like the AD900 would be a case for (IIRC) gerG's 'phatpads' mod.

 

[2426]

ummm........whats your source? You mentioned that the HD650 would not be up to par with your source, but you never mentioned your source.

 

[brn80]

Sorry I didn't word it right.

Right now it's Laptop line out (intel HD) -> PA2V2. Plan on picking up a TBAAM. I do game a bit, and my music listening is limited to mostly 160kbps wma.

From what I understand, you should scale your headphone purchase according to your source, with the appropriate amplification. What I was meaning to say was the 650 might a bit too much for my current setup.

 

[brn80]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgrossklass Sounds like the AD900 would be a case for (IIRC) gerG's 'phatpads' mod.

Thanks for that link sgrossklass. That's exactly what I was meaning to try at some point, but didn't quite know how to go about creating that 'gap'. I picked up some ratshack comfies earlier today, and put them inside, between the pads and the driver. It does easen up the 'poking' driver, but it still rests on the ears, and after a while creates the same problem as supraaural cans; ears starts hurting. Going to head to home depot or some hardware store now to see if I can find that tubing.

 

[Oistrakh]

get the K1000. extremely open headphones, great sound quality, amazing soundstage, etc...I recently heard them at Spearit Sound and had the best sound I've ever heard...

 

[2426]

Well you might also want to upgrade your amp. I'm not quite sure what the TBAAM is, so that might adress the amp, but if it doesn't then you could pick up the Total Bithead, which is a amp and a dac. There is a new 2006 model which is suppost to be much better. Here are some reviews for it:

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...hlight=bithead

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...hlight=bithead

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=169778 (scroll down untill you see Old Pa's post)

This is HeadRooms website http://www.headphone.com/products/he...al-bithead.php

 

[2426]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oistrakh get the K1000. extremely open headphones, great sound quality, amazing soundstage, etc...I recently heard them at Spearit Sound and had the best sound I've ever heard...

Just a touch out of his budget.

 

[brn80]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2426 Just a touch out of his budget.

Yes

... I've seen a few on the FS forums. After seeing the pics, the price being asked for a brief moment seemed okay to me.. yes where was that PM button.. then I slapped myself out of it

Thanks for the airhead links. I did contemplate getting that before, but I picked up the PA2V2. I think this new model came out recently? I remember reading a few posts speculating that it was coming out, since they had lowered prices on the older models.

The TBAAM is the turtle beach audio advantage micro. It's been recommended as a pretty good USB sound card at the lower price ranges for line out to an amp.

 

[2426]

thats a good price for that turtle beach micro. Although I'm not quite sure how the SQ is. Actually I was talking about the the HeadRoom Total Bithead, not the AirHead. The Bithead is a amp and a external soundcard. And from the above threads that I linked to you, they said that they could drive the HD580/600/650 quite well. So with the total Bithead, you would no longer need your PA2V2, which should be inferior to the amp inside the Bithead. good luck

 

[brn80]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgrossklass Sounds like the AD900 would be a case for (IIRC) gerG's 'phatpads' mod.

Really want to thank you for the tip sgrossklass. I found a dive shop that sold em for 1.99 a foot. 5 bucks investment made this 220 can usable to me now

. After some more burn in, the bass has come out a bit more. There is that 'subtle' slam but not in your face like the beyers. Not so polite anymore, I guess I'll make another post at some point on my observations vs. the beyers. I'm a bit hesitant as I've just gotten into this and not too savvy with the terminology but going from the lack of AD900 coverage on the forums, I think I'll give it a whirl later.

Thank you headfi.. no wait curse you headfi.. thus continues my jekyll and hyde relation with headfi