Hello, new here, planning my first purchases.
May 5, 2015 at 6:08 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 15

Sianlaser

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Hello friends! Sort of new to the audio world and found your glorious website and finally decided to make an account.  I mostly enjoy listening to classical, thrash, old school punk, and different types of metal.  My plan is the get the following: Odac/o2 combo, and I think I am going to get the HE-400 and also the DT 880 250ohm.  I was going to use the DT880's for classical and also for games, and the 400's for everything else.  The other question I had was do the DT880's leak a lot of sound? They look semi-closed so I was hoping to also use those on planes etc...
 
Cant wait to sink more money than I would like to into this hobby haha.
 
-Cameron
 
May 5, 2015 at 8:24 PM Post #2 of 15
ODAC/O2 is definitely a good dac/amp combo. If you don't need it's transportability, look into the Modi 2/Magni 2. Will cost you a bit less and is a comparable setup.

If you haven't demoed this headphones yet, definitely go with your 1st choice, get used to it, and then think about your alternative choice. You may find you want something different :)

The DT880s would not be a good choice for planes. They will leak sound in and out and you will need a lot of power to drive them over the noise. It's actually better for your hearing to go with a closed headphone because it screens some of the plane noise out--so you don't have to run the music as loud.
 
May 5, 2015 at 8:30 PM Post #4 of 15
For use on planes and other applications in which you're contending with high loud ambient noises, you're going to want a good pair of closed headphones or IEMs. If you're not against sticking things inside of your ears, then good in-ear 'phones will offer the best combination of sound quality and isolation, and represent a fantastic choice for those sorts of applications.
 
May 5, 2015 at 8:52 PM Post #7 of 15
  Gotcha, I will look into some IEM's.  The only problem I seem to have is none of them stay in my ears haha.

 
That's an understandable concern. I have considerably asymmetrical ear canals, so I can only wear earphones that fit pretty deep in my ears, and have to use different sized tips for each side. Considering getting a pair of customs again in order to fix that, but I wouldn't suggest CIEMs to a user just entering the market, because they tend to be fairly expensive, require some effort to purchase and because I've heard too few of them to throw out reasonable suggestions.
 
May 6, 2015 at 4:16 AM Post #9 of 15
For classical, look for a good deal on HD600. For metal, pick up a used 80i (Grados = guitar). For aeroplanes, go with Bose NC.

PS you can also search joker's site according to your desired criteria but add 0.5 to most categories because he's more lenient about it than I would be.

Best luck! :)
 
May 6, 2015 at 10:14 AM Post #10 of 15
I'd like to echo the suggestion for HD600, but go one step further and say that they'll even do justice to some more aggressive genres like metal. They're insanely versatile.
 
May 6, 2015 at 11:13 AM Post #12 of 15
  I'd like to echo the suggestion for HD600, but go one step further and say that they'll even do justice to some more aggressive genres like metal. They're insanely versatile.

 
   
Maybe I should've gotten an HD 600 instead of an HD 650...though I do like it enough with metal too.

 
They'll need a bit of clean power to sound a bit more exciting, but more important is to bend the metal frame of the headband to loosen the clamp (too tight, or if it eventually wears down the earpads, you get bloated lows and sharp treble). Given those, they'll go toe to toe with Grados on dynamics but with a lot less of the strong L-C-R imaging (aka the too typical headphone sound - I dont even use Crossfeed on mine). Grados' Prestige series tend to make recordings with too many instruments sound like what you'd see if Charlotte from Samurai Showdown was trying to stab you in the face, everything coming from everywhere too close to your head at L-C-R and too loud. The RS-1 doesn't have as much of that problem if worn a bit forward of the earlobes (well, I wear the HD600 similarly - ear lobes pushed forward a little bit by the earpad) but they're $700.
 
Busy recordings like prog and symphonic metal, with two guitars, bass, drums, and a synth and maybe at least a string quartet; maybe also a choir.

 
May 7, 2015 at 6:17 PM Post #13 of 15
The HD 600's are 300ohm correct? And I do think I am going to get the Modi Magni instead of the o2/odac as it looks nicer to me and its cheaper (as was pointed out).  Does the Modi 2 Magni 2 go up for sale often here or would I be better off getting them brand new. 
 
May 7, 2015 at 6:22 PM Post #14 of 15
  The HD 600's are 300ohm correct? And I do think I am going to get the Modi Magni instead of the o2/odac as it looks nicer to me and its cheaper (as was pointed out).  Does the Modi 2 Magni 2 go up for sale often here or would I be better off getting them brand new. 

 
Correct.
 
I think it goes up for sale often enough. I sold my stack here. Just go to Google and type in:
site:head-fi.org "magni 2" "for sale"
and so on.
 
May 7, 2015 at 6:26 PM Post #15 of 15
I would probably buy new, because they're relatively inexpensive anyway, and that will allow you to get them replaced or serviced under warranty on the slim chance that you receive a bad unit. I haven't heard too many complaints about receiving defective items from Schiit, but I'm sure it happens every once in a while and I think the premium paid for brand new units is worth it to have that level of assurance that you'll receive what you're paying for. Buying used means that you'll only know the condition of the unit as reported and that you may have to pay to get any sort of help beyond regular customer service if something goes wrong with the amp or DAC.
 

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