[natgun]

so heres the story:

i bought a pair of seen 212s over a year ago, and i did enjoy them immensely... but the highs were a bit light, and they werent particularly detailed.

i wanted to upgrade, but i was convinced i needed closed cans because my cube at work is about 5 feet from 2 other people on both sides... i didnt want to disturb anyone, and i wanted to seal out noise. my office is generally very quiet, but sometimes there can be alot of people talking at the same time.

so after carefull research i ended up with a pair of ultrasone hfi-650 DVDs (same as hfi-700). i love the sound, its very detailed without sacrificing bass.. (im a big bass-head)

unfortunately, i have a big head. and i find the clamping force from these phones to be a bit much, and i have been getting headaches from the pressure. i also find that the pleather cups are extremely hot and a bit hard on the head. now im noticing that the headband is cracking from the pressure from my huge noggin..

anyways, im looking to upgrade to the senn 580s.. it will be my first open-can audiophile grade setup.

i have a coupple of questions:

first and foremost: how much sound do these cans actually leak in and out. the noise in the office is pretty minimal, and often people play music at thier desks, very softly. personally, i listen to rock mostly and at medium-high volume.

second of all, how sturdy are these things, i really put a beating on my equipment, and i dont want to deal with another cracked headband.

the only other option ive been looking at is the beyer 770s, but ive heard some bad reviews of these.

any and all reccomendations will be greatly appreciated.

thanks.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by natgun first and foremost: how much sound do these cans actually leak in and out. the noise in the office is pretty minimal, and often people play music at thier desks, very softly. personally, i listen to rock mostly and at medium-high volume.

They leak quite a fair amount. You'd at least want to turn your music down to low-medium volume in an office setting, probably even to low. These are poor cans for a setting where you don't want to disturb anyone, and don't want to be disturbed.
Quote:

second of all, how sturdy are these things, i really put a beating on my equipment, and i dont want to deal with another cracked headband.

In my experience they're quite sturdy indeed... there's really no feeling of breakability about them at all.

 

[commando]

There's a thread around about open cans in an office not so long ago, but with search down it's hard to find

 

[Distroyed]

I dont know how loud you people listen to your music, but at normal listening volumes for me, my senn650's leak so little I doubt anyone farther than 3 feet away could hear it.

 

[lindrone]

I work in a very quiet office, with very little white noise (air conditioning, computers.. so on.. so forth) in the background, most white noise gets absorbed by the carpet (and its accompany static.. *ouch*)...

I have been criticized multiple times for using my HD590 in that office... so it's completely unusable at all, just at my normal listening level. One of my co-worker got one of the AKG open-air headphone (forgot the model #).. and it leaks significantly less, I can still hear him from 5 feet away.

All depends on how much white noise you've got going on.

 

[3lusiv3]

I tried HD 590's at work, very briefly, and they were way too open to use at work so I assume the 580's would be exactly the same. This was in an office with a lot of computer fan noise. The reason they didn't work was because I had to have them a bit loud to drown out the office noise but this meant that the headphones could be heard easily by others around me.

 

[ooheadsoo]

In my house, downstairs, with my computer fans blasting and my headphones at low volume, I can hear them leaking from upstairs, over 30 feet away. Of course, that's when it's quiet.

 

[sleepkyng]

i find that the hd600's leak a lot less than the 580's.

the 580's leaked hella (WESTCOAST!) and my roommate really hated them

but he doesn't mind the 600's.

anyone know why?

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by natgun the only other option ive been looking at is the beyer 770s, but ive heard some bad reviews of these. .

FWIW I like the sound of the HFI650DVD better than the DT770, as the latter is just too over-the-top bassy for me to listen to for very long. The Ultrasone has a nice powerful bass, but it doesn't overwhem the rest of the sound. The DT770 is much more comfortable, however.

The CD3000 could be a good pick for you, it isn't as bassy as the Ultrasone, but the bass is still pretty powerful (more impactful than H580/600). It is closed, and leaks only at extremely high volumes, but doesn't cut out much external noise. They are extremely comfortable, however they do have synthetic leather pads that do get a litte warmer than the Beyers' cool velour, however they are much cooler than the Ultrasones.

 

[lindrone]

the 580's leaked hella (WESTCOAST!) QUOTE]

OT... but I think "hella" has migrated to strictly NorCal now

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleepkyng the 580's leaked hella (WESTCOAST!) QUOTE] OT... but I think "hella" has migrated to strictly NorCal now

That's what people down here have been telling me ever sincce I got to SC

 

[GlowWorm]

I think if you keep the volume down low (people generally listen to cans too loud anyway), you should have no problem. But you probably would be better off going closed, maybe the A900?

 

[natgun]

how does the audio-technica a900 compare to the ultrasone hfi-700s? hows the bass on that a900?

 

[3lusiv3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by natgun how does the audio-technica a900 compare to the ultrasone hfi-700s? hows the bass on that a900?

A few people around head-fi seem to be worried about bass on the A500 & A900. The A500 has excellent bass. Nice, tight, controlled bass that isn't bloated in my opinion, but is really in there. The A500 sound seems to be quite balanced but the bass is a bit louder than what I would expect from a flat frequency response curve. I find this a good thing and I think a lot of people would agree. The A500 is a bargain at $100, but could be improved with more detail and a wider soundstage. Maybe the A900 provides this?

 

[Zoide]

What about trying to cover the grill with something so that the sound doesn't leak through it while you are in the office or while your roommate is trying to study/sleep?

I suppose this would degrade sound quality somewhat, but it wouldn't hurt to have this convenience when needed.

Has anyone tried to do this before?