Rabco
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2010
- Posts
- 19
- Likes
- 2
Like some other posts I’ve read, the current market has a myriad of choices.
My current headphones are years old Sennheiser 555’s. They were purchased partly because the Sony’s I had back then seemed harsh to me. I’m not interested in earbuds, in-ear, etc as my ear canal openings are no where near the normal range the manufacturers seem to target. And I don’t want to pay for an ear impression….I’d rather put my money in the headphones themselves. I do ok with my glasses with the HD 555’s. For mobile situations I’m fine with my wired EarPods, an auxiliary silicone “horn” to help keep them in place used with an old iPhone Special Edition that probably should have been replaced by now.
I do my serious headphone listening reasonably close to my main rig aided by a 10 foot extension with 1/4” plug. My digital front end is a 2018 mac Mini. I’ve been using lossless codecs since most people didn’t know what an mp3 was, much less FLAC etc. My dac is an MHDT Labs Canary tube dac. Preamp is a Schiit Vali +2 tube preamp/headphone amp using, thanks to a HeadFi review an electro-harmonix 6CG7 valve. I’m considering new headphones as I’m guessing current cans have probably moved on beyond my 555’s, and, I just sold some gear….there’s a smoking hole in my pocket.
An open back design would be ok with my better half ambient sound-wise. I‘m considering both open and closed designs. I like tube sound. The hip hop I listen to sounds good as the bass sounds like, well, a real bass being played, rather than jeepster over emphasized. I mainly listen to rock, folk and jazz. I also don’t care for too much high frequency sizzle….I like the high frequencies to all be there in proper balance with the mids and lows. Digital glare is not my friend.
I’m not interested in blue tooth, as I’m thinking there’s not an advantage in sound, and I’m fine with wired.
It’s not clear to me if noise cancellation offers a sound quality advantage or disadvantage.
Thanks for hanging in so far. Send your suggestions and opinions my way. Tell me why what your suggesting I purchase is good for you and you think it will be good for me. Feel free to address any misconceptions you think I may have.
My current headphones are years old Sennheiser 555’s. They were purchased partly because the Sony’s I had back then seemed harsh to me. I’m not interested in earbuds, in-ear, etc as my ear canal openings are no where near the normal range the manufacturers seem to target. And I don’t want to pay for an ear impression….I’d rather put my money in the headphones themselves. I do ok with my glasses with the HD 555’s. For mobile situations I’m fine with my wired EarPods, an auxiliary silicone “horn” to help keep them in place used with an old iPhone Special Edition that probably should have been replaced by now.
I do my serious headphone listening reasonably close to my main rig aided by a 10 foot extension with 1/4” plug. My digital front end is a 2018 mac Mini. I’ve been using lossless codecs since most people didn’t know what an mp3 was, much less FLAC etc. My dac is an MHDT Labs Canary tube dac. Preamp is a Schiit Vali +2 tube preamp/headphone amp using, thanks to a HeadFi review an electro-harmonix 6CG7 valve. I’m considering new headphones as I’m guessing current cans have probably moved on beyond my 555’s, and, I just sold some gear….there’s a smoking hole in my pocket.
An open back design would be ok with my better half ambient sound-wise. I‘m considering both open and closed designs. I like tube sound. The hip hop I listen to sounds good as the bass sounds like, well, a real bass being played, rather than jeepster over emphasized. I mainly listen to rock, folk and jazz. I also don’t care for too much high frequency sizzle….I like the high frequencies to all be there in proper balance with the mids and lows. Digital glare is not my friend.
I’m not interested in blue tooth, as I’m thinking there’s not an advantage in sound, and I’m fine with wired.
It’s not clear to me if noise cancellation offers a sound quality advantage or disadvantage.
Thanks for hanging in so far. Send your suggestions and opinions my way. Tell me why what your suggesting I purchase is good for you and you think it will be good for me. Feel free to address any misconceptions you think I may have.