davidhw
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2006
- Posts
- 168
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First, let me thank everyone who helped out with my previous DAC question. As I stated there, I came here a week ago to sell my headphones, not predicting that the more I read, the more it renewed my interest in the price/performance ratio of the "headphone lifestyle".
Here's my problem. I have Meniere's Disease, which, without going into all the gory details, means that I have 24/7 tinnitus, ear pain, and compromised hearing. It is in no way related to my listening habits; it's purely one of those things that some people get and it's incurable.
What this means in practical terms is that headphones (my old Senn 580s) seemed to cause my ears to hurt after only a few minutes of listening. Now, I'm not sure if that's because I didn't have an amp or any fancy equipment to drive them and thus had to have the volume higher than necessary in order to hear the nuances of my musical genre (classical, specifically chamber and solo keyboard) or not. But I'm guessing it might have been part of the reason.
So my question is, is there a headphone out there that, with modest additional equipment (say, a Micro Amp and DAC from Headroom) would be able to present very clear, hyper-detailed, breathtakingly nuanced music at a LOW volume -- my theory is that if I could keep the volume low it would (1) not cause my ears to hurt, and (2) do no further damage to my already damaged hearing. If there is such a headphone, maybe I might be able to make an educated purchase and re-enter this crazy world you all seem to inhabit.
Does this sound reasonable? Or are there no headphones that meet this criterion, even with proper amplification?
TIA.
Here's my problem. I have Meniere's Disease, which, without going into all the gory details, means that I have 24/7 tinnitus, ear pain, and compromised hearing. It is in no way related to my listening habits; it's purely one of those things that some people get and it's incurable.
What this means in practical terms is that headphones (my old Senn 580s) seemed to cause my ears to hurt after only a few minutes of listening. Now, I'm not sure if that's because I didn't have an amp or any fancy equipment to drive them and thus had to have the volume higher than necessary in order to hear the nuances of my musical genre (classical, specifically chamber and solo keyboard) or not. But I'm guessing it might have been part of the reason.
So my question is, is there a headphone out there that, with modest additional equipment (say, a Micro Amp and DAC from Headroom) would be able to present very clear, hyper-detailed, breathtakingly nuanced music at a LOW volume -- my theory is that if I could keep the volume low it would (1) not cause my ears to hurt, and (2) do no further damage to my already damaged hearing. If there is such a headphone, maybe I might be able to make an educated purchase and re-enter this crazy world you all seem to inhabit.
Does this sound reasonable? Or are there no headphones that meet this criterion, even with proper amplification?
TIA.