[AzraelDarkangel]

Now the Audio-Technica AD900X are out too. (Not to be confused with the AD900 or A900X) The AD900X may be better than both going by initial reviews. Like an improved AD900 with much better bass.

Joshua

 

[kiefchris]

I have to point out that I own the Beyerdynamic DT 880's 600 ohms and the vocals sound amazing to me. Always get the chills with these headphones.

 

[Bommie]

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The problem is that it will be difficult to find an HD650 for $300. The HD600 can be had for $300 new, and even less used, while the 598 can probably be found closer to $250 new and $200 used.

 
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HD580s used go for ~100-200 as well. Slightly less treble than the newer HD600 drivers, but essentially the same sound (after ABing). Just putting that out there 

. Been seeing them on ebay a bit more frequently. 

I think I'm going to bump my budget up to $400 since that opens a couple more options. Decisions, decisions!
 
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The Audio Technica ATH-A900X is my preferred headphone (of the 10 headphones I use) for listening to all my music files, all 20GBs of them.

Another vote for the A900X. They seem to be quite popular!
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honestly some of the best headphones for female vocals at this price range imo are grado sr325 or k701. the grados aren't that well suited for bright pop music or rap though. but they're great for rock and metal.
 
another good choice as already mentioned where the hd 600/hd 650, though they might be too expensive for you. 
 
 
if you wanted to go a little cheaper on the sennheisers you should look into the hd 558/598. haven't heard the 598 which have their own unique sound, but i heard the hd 558 a few times and i've been extremely impressed by their sound, especially at their price point.

I've heard the Grado line is great for heavier stuff, but I have too much bright pop for them to not do too well with it.
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+1 on the ATH-A900X with the O2!

I think these are in my top three considerations now after so many recommendations, along with the K1000 (if i can find a place where they sell for a reasonable price!)

 

[Bommie]

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598/600/650 "trio" ??
The 598 are unrelated to the 600/650...
Regarding the 70x cans - some claim there's *huge* differences, others that there aren't (AKG themselves are closer to the later category) - personally I find the K701 a nice headphone for all-around use, but they aren't "sweet" sounding. Not like the ESW9 or K1000. The A900X are less romantic/sweet/full-bodied than the ESW9, and lesser overall to the K1000 (the A900X and K1000 have bigger/better soundstaging than the ESW9s - accordingly). Their fit can also be temperamental. That having been said - they cost less than the ESW9 or K1000, and are not bad by any means (I'm not meaning to knock them). For the money, the A900X are a *very* good choice here. And on the upside, Magnolia will have the ESW9 and A900X side by side for comparison - so you can see which of the two you like. The K1000 are available from Audiocubes (and Audiocubes is a good dealer to work with). The K701 are available from myriad sources.

The K701 will do better for rock/metal than the K1000 or ESW9. The ESW9 will do best with female vocals specifically, the K1000 will be the best "in-between" of the three (they cost the most too).
The HD 580/600/650 are a good family to look into, the K1000 is easily described as a less-dark closed version of that family (despite being from another country, manufacturer, etc - it's kind of uncanny how they relate). I'd take the K701 over the Sennheisers for metal and rock, but the Sennheisers for pop or vocaloid.
Oh, I like Dubstep Girl's suggestion on Grados too!
Regarding the amp thing - worry about that AFTER you pick a pair of headphones, not before.

Since I'm bumping up my budget to ~$400, would the K1000 be your primary recommendation? I had my heart set on the O2/ODAC, but I haven't ordered them yet. Is there a better pair more suitable for the suggestions in this thread?
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Now the Audio-Technica AD900X are out too. (Not to be confused with the AD900 or A900X) The AD900X may be better than both going by initial reviews. Like an improved AD900 with much better bass.
Joshua

So many tiny variations in the name, yet so different ;~; I'll have to look into those as well!
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I have to point out that I own the Beyerdynamic DT 880's 600 ohms and the vocals sound amazing to me. Always get the chills with these headphones.

The DT880's look so comfortable, but some say they have recessed upper-mids, which I think translates to poorer vocals? You don't find that to be the case?

 

[Tangster]

I would also vote for the A900X. I do prefer the mids and bass on my Markl modded D2000s(which is a considerably better headphone, imo) so if you can find a good condition D2k and are willing to do a little mod work, that'd work even better.

 

[nonamodnar]

I'm not a Schiit convert but I would like to point out the recent release of Modi + Magni. A bit cheaper and more aesthetically pleasing with comparable performance to the O2/ODAC.
Impression and comparison thread here:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/642401/comparison-and-review-o2-odac-vs-magni-modi
 

 

[TwinQY]

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I'm not a Schiit convert but I would like to point out the recent release of Modi + Magni. A bit cheaper and more aesthetically pleasing with comparable performance to the O2/ODAC.
Impression and comparison thread here:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/642401/comparison-and-review-o2-odac-vs-magni-modi

 
Best review ever.
 
Personally, I find the O2/ODAC stack to look better. Me and my weird aesthetics...

 

[214324]

Quote:

Now the Audio-Technica AD900X are out too. (Not to be confused with the AD900 or A900X) The AD900X may be better than both going by initial reviews. Like an improved AD900 with much better bass.
Joshua

Dave should really add the AD900x to his list of reviews of flagship headphones. I'd be very interested to see where they would go on his list.

 

[214324]

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I think these are in my top three considerations now after so many recommendations, along with the K1000 (if i can find a place where they sell for a reasonable price!)

I can't really think of any other place other than eBay that carries the K1000 besides for AudioCubes. I'm not sure how well JVC Kenwood would handle problems you may have if you go through them instead of AudioCubes too. It's definitely a good headphone from what I've heard though.
 
If anything, if you have import the AD900x for around $300, that might be a good choice too as people have been raving about it.
 
@obob
 
You enjoying the music I've had you stumble upon? 

 

[obobskivich]

Since I'm bumping up my budget to ~$400, would the K1000 be your primary recommendation? I had my heart set on the O2/ODAC, but I haven't ordered them yet. Is there a better pair more suitable for the suggestions in this thread?
So many tiny variations in the name, yet so different ;~; I'll have to look into those as well!
The DT880's look so comfortable, but some say they have recessed upper-mids, which I think translates to poorer vocals? You don't find that to be the case?

Yeah, if you're going up to $400 the K1000 would be where I'd point you. But the A900X would be a good alternative if you want to spend about half as much, and they fit (I know it sounds like I'm bagging on them, they really don't sound bad - it's just that 3D Wing isn't perfect).

What do you have to plug into right now? The K1000 are very easily driven.

I can't really think of any other place other than eBay that carries the K1000 besides for AudioCubes. I'm not sure how well JVC Kenwood would handle problems you may have if you go through them instead of AudioCubes too. It's definitely a good headphone from what I've heard though.

If anything, if you have import the AD900x for around $300, that might be a good choice too as people have been raving about it.

@obob

You enjoying the music I've had you stumble upon? 

AC will back the warranty from Kenwood according to their policy. That having been said - we're only talking about headphones here, not something with a lot of complex moving parts and such.

 

[Bommie]

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Yeah, if you're going up to $400 the K1000 would be where I'd point you.
What do you have to plug into right now? The K1000 are very easily driven.
AC will back the warranty from Kenwood according to their policy. That having been said - we're only talking about headphones here, not something with a lot of complex moving parts and such.

 
All I currently have to plug into is my laptop, so I guess that would be the onboard audio. I wouldn't need an amp or dac? What makes some headphones harder to drive than others? What's the benefit of having them harder to drive?
One more question: did you order yours from AC?

 

[XxDobermanxX]

Female vocals? sennheiser HD 598 

 

[obobskivich]

All I currently have to plug into is my laptop, so I guess that would be the onboard audio. I wouldn't need an amp or dac? What makes some headphones harder to drive than others? What's the benefit of having them harder to drive?
One more question: did you order yours from AC?

Your onboard audio probably should work fine with the K1000 assuming it doesn't have any grounding noise or other problems (if it's clean enough with whatever knock-around headphones you already have, it should be fine with the K1000). As far as what makes a pair of headphones easier or harder to drive - it just has to do with how the actual drivers are built and mounted in the enclosure. An easy to drive headphone will be sensitive, low impedance, and stable (meaning the impedance plot looks similar to a flat line), whereas a hard to drive headphone will be insensitive and reactive (meaning the impedance has many peaks and valleys). High impedance by itself doesn't mean hard to drive, unless your source device can't swing enough voltage (this is usually only a problem with some older designs that are running >300 ohms nominal), and some of the easiest driven (and simplest) headphones in the world are actually extremely high impedance (crystal radio sets - don't worry, they're nothing you want to own - they're museum pieces now).

High sensitivity means the headphones will translate input power to acoustic output more robustly - and therefore need less input power for the same relative output.

There is no advantage whatsoever to having a hard to drive headphone - some designs (like some of the current planars) can't help being insensitive (but they're very stable and low Z - they just need a fair bit of power relative to more conventional headphones); it's just the nature of their design. Others are just the result of how their drivers are built - of course in recent years there has been created this fantastic mythos that hard to drive means high quality, and that high quality should require all sorts of expensive baubles - it's all nonsense. There are plenty of really good cans that are very easily handled by more or less any equipment, and quite honestly that's how it *should* be (you shouldn't be required to have a "headphone amplifier" just to use a pair of cans).

And yes, I ordered my K1000 from AC (and they aren't the only time I've dealt with AC). Generally I find that AC is somewhat slow to ship, somewhat slow (as in a day or two - my understanding though is that they're based in Japan, so there is a considerable time difference) to respond to emails, but very polite and straightforwards to work with, and they do seem to genuinely care about customer satisfaction. I've never had a product not arrive without communication explaining why (I once ordered something that they found out they couldn't stock after the order was in - they tried for two weeks to fulfill the order and then finally told me it wasn't going to happen, and refunded me within 48 hours). One of the few online retailers I have no qualms about recommending. I really do wish the KH-K1000 would come to the US officially though - I think they'd do well here, and it'd be nice to be able to refer people to more mainstream retailers like Amazon or Best Buy when suggesting them.

 

[Lord Voldemort]

For those genres, go with the HD598 or HD600. And between the two, I would go for the HD598 which I find superior despite the price difference. The HD650 is a bit too dark for those genres and the Grados/ AKG can be easily fatiguing unless you are willing to EQ. And if you look at people's reviews, at least half the people find the Grados/ AKG K701 uncomfortable. Personally, I was okay with them myself in comfort but everyone is different. 
 
And wow a K1000! I always wanted to hear them. But they are more like speakers than headphones no? 
 
If you go with a low impedance can, I recommend a E10 or E7/E17. If you want a badass looking setup, go for the $200 Schitt stack. 

 

[joseph69]

I can definitly tell you from experience just trading my Alessandro MS2i's for the Grado 325is that the MS2i's, male/female voices
's were beutifully alive with rich, full bodied vocal's that are amazing IMO, even nicer than the 325is that another head-fier mentioned. A they can be purchaesed for 300$U.S.
The only reason I traded was because I prefer the Grado sound signature rather than the Alessandro. IMO the Alessandro was a much warmer fuller, more balanced sound, where as the Grado attack's more.