[Mr Petras]

Hello everyone, as you can tell I am new around here and the audiophile headphones in general and would like some advise on some headphones. I recently had to return some Hifiman He-400i (to my sadness) to amazon after mine shipped with some sort of physical buzzing coming from the right driver and I am looking at purchasing some new ones with the refund money.
 
My budget is around 375 GBP. Currently, I have a FiiO K5 as an AMP and I am using the line out on a E12K as a DAC. I wouldn't exactly say I am a bass head but I do enjoy a strong well controlled bass as well as maintaining presence within the mids and highs (guess thats why i liked the Hifimans so much). Looking for more of a fun headphone to listen too rather than something that is going to hurt my ears with screeching highs. I was actually part of the recent Fostex THX-00 drop but unfortunately that has fallen through with the QC issues and shipping problems.

Somethings I have looked at so far.
Beyerdynamic T90
Beyerdynamic T70
Sennheiser HD650/600 (not sure which I would like more)
​Fostex TH600 (would push my budget a tad but I found some for £444 on amazon but from a new seller- seemed a little dodgy [here])
Fostex T50RP Mk 3 (however I read and heard about the K5 not being powerful enough and I do not feel like upgrading my AMP yet).
Oppo Pm-3 (really liked the sound the planar made on the He-400i).
 
Any help or advice on what to go for would be greatly appreciated as I am reasonably new to the high end audio community and I am not really sure what brands and types I should be going for.
 
Thanks for the help.

PM-3​

 

[U6astik]

Mr Petras, welcome to the audiophile society!
 
Why not to go for the 400i-s once again?
 
Other than that I would advise you to try Oppo - they are really great, although pricey. Where do you live? Is there any HiFi shop nearby?
 
The HD600/650 could be a great choice as well, although in terms of presence and mid- & high frequency cleanness any dynamic headphones would probably be beaten by planars. Some people also mention Senns have relatively small soundstage (sadly have never tried them myself).
 
I assume you don't really care if the cans are open or closed and you are not going to use them on the go, right?

 

[Mr Petras]

Thanks for the welcome!
 
I live in the UK right on the South Coast, unfortunately near where I live there is no Hifi shops that sell higher end headphones.
 
I will check out the Oppo Pm-3s. As much as I would like to go with Hifimans again the previous issue I had has put me off. And you are right I do not mind whether they are open or closed, I intend to use them just for home use as I already have some noise cancelling headphones for travelling.
 
Thanks.

 

[PinkyPowers]

Thanks for the welcome!

I live in the UK right on the South Coast, unfortunately near where I live there is no Hifi shops that sell higher end headphones.

I will check out the Oppo Pm-3s. As much as I would like to go with Hifimans again the previous issue I had has put me off. And you are right I do not mind whether they are open or closed, I intend to use them just for home use as I already have some noise cancelling headphones for travelling.

Thanks.

Open back headphones are preferred over closed back for pure sound quality. Closed back are important for certain needs, but if you have a nice quiet environment, I say always go for open-back if you can.

The HE-400 is a fine choice.

I personally feel the HD600 is one of the best headphones under a $1000, and the perfect choice for those just getting into the game. It's not bass-heavy, but is very capable of a wonderful low-end if you boost it.

 

[rnros]

The following review of the OPPO PM-3 by Bob Katz for InnerFidelity might be helpful:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/katzs-corner-episode-11-oppo-explosion#EJhQSjpWWEs4JFUp.97

Also here are my impressions of the PM-3 after using them for a week:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/760203/oppo-pm-3-portable-planar-magnetic-headphones-loaner-program/840#post_12685339

 

[Mr Petras]

Thanks for the advise everyone really like the look of the Oppo PM3 however I will check out he HD600s aswell.

 

[rnros]

  Thanks for the advise everyone really like the look of the Oppo PM3 however I will check out he HD600s aswell.

Can't go wrong with the HD600. I think they were recently below $300 ($287?) recently on Amazon.
I have 2 sets that are over 12 years old and they just keep on going! Incredible value at current prices.