[Suedehead]

Hello all,

I would first like to send out a warm hello to all of the members of this community. I have spent approximately two months lurking in these forums which I stumbled upon while searching for headphone reviews. I am relatively new to the world of advanced head-fi that includes headphone amps, DACS, and improved sources. In the short time that I have spent lurking, I have learned a great deal on these areas and hope to be able to contribute to the community in the future. I live in close proximity to Chicago and was excited to see that Can Jam is taking place there in 2010 and I hope to attend.

Let me give everyone a quick rundown of my listening setup that will lead me into my first question. For headphones, I have been using a set of Sennheiser HD 570s for almost twelve years and have been happy with their performance. These are powered using either my Yamaha RXV 570 receiver, Ipod classic, or the onboard soundcard on my laptop. I generally listen to CDs and 320 kbps mp3s. I am also an active drummer and play a Roland Edrum set that triggers VST samples through Superior Drummer using a laptop. My 570s are used to hear the triggered samples as I have no amplified monitors. One of the downfalls of the 570s is that the sticking noise is very loud with the open ear system. With these factors in mind, I will lead into my first question for the community.

I am now looking to replace my aging 570s with something that will give me improved sound, and almost as important, isolation from outside noise. I mention this because when I play my Edrums, the noise that is created when striking the mesh pads and cymbals is very loud when using my Sennheisers. Sometimes this “thwacking” noise can overpower the music in the phones making it necessary to increase the volume to extremely high levels. I would love a set of phones that would eliminate this stick noise. As I mentioned earlier, at this point, I will be driving a new set of cans through my receiver, Ipod, or laptop so efficiency will probably be an issue. I hope at one point in the near future to invest in a nice headphone amp.

Here is what I listen to:
-Funeral Doom Metal with classical elements such as violin, cello, and brass.
-Grinding Death Metal
-80s Brit Pop such as Morrissey and The Smiths
-Sampled drum VSTs though Superior Drummer

With the help of the conversations and reviews contained in these forums I have narrowed my choices down to the following headphones.

Sennheiser HD 280
Sennheiser HD 380 – Better sound but less noise reduction that the 280s?
AT ATH M50 – Good sound with less noise reduction?
Shure SRH840 – Noise reduction?
Vic Firth SIH1 – Best noise reduction but with the worst sound quality?

My budget has a ceiling of $300 until I finish schooling, so please use your expertise to steer me in the direction of a good set of cans. If I had to narrow the list down even more I would have to go with either the 380s, 840s, or the M50s. If you hadn’t already noticed, I am just very indecisive.

Thank you in advance for all of your recommendations and comments. I hope to be a larger part of this community in the future as I gain more knowledge and expertise. I had no idea that this type of hi-fi community existed, and I am very glad that I found it.

Matt

 

[mythless]

Both the Shure and ATH are great buys, especially around $100. Personally, never heard any of them, I would go with either these two.

 

[AmanGeorge]

The SRH840 has very good noise isolation, but I don't know that it will be enough to fully block out the "thwack" of your own drums - it's better than most closed headphones in terms of isolation, but worse then most IEMs.