[Man7rah]

As you can tell from the title, I'm new to this Hi-Fi business. I've been lurking arround the forum for about a day and I decided to emerge from the shadows and post something. I have been heavily concidering getting a pair of (for me atleast) relatively expensive cans and a portable amp and or dac aswell.For the cans I have now idea what to buy; that's where you guys come in. 
I'm looking for a pair of cans in the 500-550$ range, could go higher depending whether or not it's "super" worth it. As far as the Dac/amp goes, I have been hearing alot of good things about the TTVJ-Slim
The difficult part (atleast that's what I imagine) is to choose a pair of cans based on the fact that I listen to alot of varied music.
 
The kind of music I love:
-Allmost all types of metal.
-Alot of electronically produced music (drum & bass, electro etc.)
-Rap (preferrably not about hoes, currency or particularly fast means of transport, not that it matter when it comes to sound but..ya know.
-Some pop I guess you could call it.
 
Some bands/artists I love:
-Florence+the machine
-Ko[size=small]Яn[/size]
[size=small]-Lamb Of God[/size]
[size=small]-Aesop Rock[/size]
[size=small]-Muse[/size]
[size=small]-Kings of leon[/size]
[size=small]-Atmosphere[/size]
[size=small]-Daft Punk[/size]
[size=small]-JusTice[/size]
[size=small]-[/size] Flux pavillion      
 
Any help would be grately appriciated

 

[razminr11]

I would recommend the HiFiMAN HE-400 + Fiio E17 amp/dac (total:$540). It does very well with varied music, and is one of the best setups for that budget range. Although, before you pull the trigger on these you might want to specify what format your music is in (lossless, 256 kbps mp3, etc.). While the HE-400s have been forgiving in my experience, YMMV.
 
Good Luck! 

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
Since you said portable, I assume you need closed back headphones. If not, then I'll make a separate selection for open back headphones too.
 
Closed:
 
Denon D2000
Denon D5000
Ultrasone PRO 750
Ultrasone PRO 900
AudioTechnica A900X
AKG K550
Beyer DT770
 
Open:
 
Hifiman HE-400
Ultrasone HFI 2400
Ultrasone PRO 2500
Ultrasone PRO 2900
Sennheiser HD600
Beyer DT990
 
Portable DAC/AMP options: Fiio E7, Fiio E17, Fiio E11, uDAC-2, etc.
 
Very best,

 

[Man7rah]

Quote:

I would recommend the HiFiMAN HE-400 + Fiio E17 amp/dac (total:$540). It does very well with varied music, and is one of the best setups for that budget range. Although, before you pull the trigger on these you might want to specify what format your music is in (lossless, 256 kbps mp3, etc.). While the HE-400s have been forgiving in my experience, YMMV.
 
Good Luck! 

I try to get Flac When available but that is not always the case you know. What I meant was 500-550 dollars for the headset alone, what do you recommend within that price range? For the dac/amp I was thinking about around 300-360/70 Dollar range. Thank you so much for your help both for the last reply and in advance if you decide to take the time out of your day to reply to this one as well!

 

[temporaryname]

o2+ODAC for amp/dac. Best price performance ratio available today. Do some research on it and you'll find no downsides sound quality wise. A little chunky though.

 

[razminr11]

Quote:

I try to get Flac When available but that is not always the case you know. What I meant was 500-550 dollars for the headset alone, what do you recommend within that price range? For the dac/amp I was thinking about around 300-360/70 Dollar range. Thank you so much for your help both for the last reply and in advance if you decide to take the time out of your day to reply to this one as well!

For the headphones, I will, again, recommend the HE-400s ($400). Fantastic SQ for the price, and a VERY hard-to-beat price/performance ratio. I can't recommend any amps or dacs in your price range, as the only one I have used with the HE-400s is the Fiio E17, which is an excellent budget amp/dac combo for this pair of headphones. I would recommend waiting to see what people who are more experienced with the HE-400s have to say about what amp/dac you should get.
 
While I may not be able to recommend any amps/dacs within your price range, from reading on Head-Fi I have heard that O2+ODAC is a very good amp/dac combo, but take that with a grain of salt, as I do not know how it pairs with the HE-400s, nor have I ever had any experience with it (or any other amps or dacs besides the E17). 
 
I would also take a look at MalVeauX's recommendations.
 
Good Luck!

 

[Man7rah]

OK guys I just want to start off by saying thank you for all the help! You have been great so far.
So I had myself a bit of a think and a bit of a reflect during the last couple of days. I did a allot of research, well at least for me

(I read 40+ reviews on the different headset's you all recommended.)   
I've finally made my decision; it's going to be the Denon D5000's paired with the FiiO E17 Amp/DAC for awesome portability. I was heavily considering o2+oDAC combo but as I said, portability.
I might get that for a setup with my stationary PC to just stay at the desk at home, who knows  
Again thank you for all your help guys. I am hereby declaring my stamp of awesome and recommendations will be made towards this forum towards my friends. You guys are leaving me with a big `ol grin on my face out of appreciation for your willingness to help.
 
I have a small set of questions for you guys:
-How do you quote a specific line/sentence of a post?
-How do you make links appear as something specified by yourself (example: This(in blue text) )
-How do I go about "burning these puppies in when I get them? What volume/s to play and if different types of music matters that much when burning in. I also heard that the D5000's require a pretty substantial burn-in time (Ive heard somewhere north of 500 hours?) 
 
Oh, and there will of course be pictures of them and the FiiO when they arrive, most probably along with a profile pic of me wearing them.

 

[warrenpchi]

Seriously?  No one has said it yet?
 
Hi Man7rah!  Welcome to Head-Fi!  Sorry about your wallet...

 

[joseisanewb012]

Quote:

Seriously?  No one has said it yet?
 
Hi Man7rah!  Welcome to Head-Fi!  Sorry about your wallet...

Why do people say that? XD sorry about your wallet?

 

[warrenpchi]

Quote:

Why do people say that? XD sorry about your wallet?

 
You'll find out naturally soon enough, but in case you want some advance warning of what you're getting yourself into...  http://www.head-fi.org/search.php?search=sorry+about+your+wallet

 

[Man7rah]

well Quote:

Seriously?  No one has said it yet?
 
Hi Man7rah!  Welcome to Head-Fi!  Sorry about your wallet...

Haha I appreciate your concern and thanks anywas for the welcome ^^ I don't think I will be upgrading all that soon though because I am allready a sufferer of the well known disease amongst anyone with a technological hobby/passion upgrade-itis in the field of computers.

 

[warrenpchi]

Quote:

Haha I appreciate your concern and thanks anywas for the welcome ^^ I don't think I will be upgrading all that soon though because I am allready a sufferer of the well known disease amongst anyone with a technological hobby/passion upgrade-itis in the field of computers.

 

Even more dangerous - your immune system has already been compromised!