[sintap]

Good day everyone, thanks to this great forum I could do a lot of research to try and find some decent headphones. I would be much obliged if someone could help me make a final purchasing decision. 

 
I will be using these headphones unamped at home for music, gaming and movies. I listen to a variety of genres, but mostly breakcore/IDM (fast electronic), acoustic with vocals, various shades of rock, ambient, some classical. But gaming/movie performance is also important.
 
The important factors for me would be
- high isolation
- quite light and very comfortable for many hours of continuous use
- at least acceptable soundstage/positioning for gaming and movies
- detachable cable would be a plus
- normal bass
 
and I'm looking to spend around 130€
 
From what I've read the KRK KNS8400 seem to be my best choice in meeting all of these criteria, would that be correct? A close contender would be AKG K271, both are said to have very good isolation and comfort and quite flat natural frequency response. The AKGs are a bit more expensive here: 135€ vs. 115€
I've also looked at DT770, FA-003, Sony MDR7506, Shure SRH840 (currently on sale on Amazon.fr) but I don't think that these options are as good as the above 2.
 
Can anyone shed some light on this?

 

[Hemn]

had the 271 and got the kns8400 now
 
didnt liked the 271 for making music and listen to music. its very mid oriented
 
-  almost no bass and not enough highs and not realistic 
-  a bit heavier than 8400
+ little more isolation than 8400
 
 
the ultrsone 650, more fun sounding just like the dt770 but more highs. prever then over the dt770
 
+great bass
+great isolation
+good soundstage
- big and heavy
 
kns 8400 is the most accurat hp i ever had, love it      
you notice every little detail on these
 
+ neutral bass, mids and high 
+  a lot of details
+ very light
+ very comf
- isolation (almost semi open isolation)
 
 
if isolation is not that important i would go with kns8400
 
what hp do you had before?

 

[viralcow]

Quote:

Good day everyone, thanks to this great forum I could do a lot of research to try and find some decent headphones. I would be much obliged if someone could help me make a final purchasing decision. 

 
I will be using these headphones unamped at home for music, gaming and movies. I listen to a variety of genres, but mostly breakcore/IDM (fast electronic), acoustic with vocals, various shades of rock, ambient, some classical. But gaming/movie performance is also important.
 
The important factors for me would be
- high isolation
- quite light and very comfortable for many hours of continuous use
- at least acceptable soundstage/positioning for gaming and movies
- detachable cable would be a plus
- normal bass
 
and I'm looking to spend around 130€
 
From what I've read the KRK KNS8400 seem to be my best choice in meeting all of these criteria, would that be correct? A close contender would be AKG K271, both are said to have very good isolation and comfort and quite flat natural frequency response. The AKGs are a bit more expensive here: 135€ vs. 115€
I've also looked at DT770, FA-003, Sony MDR7506, Shure SRH840 (currently on sale on Amazon.fr) but I don't think that these options are as good as the above 2.
 
Can anyone shed some light on this?

 
I actually happen to really like the 271/272. I don't know about the pleather pads, but with the velours the isolation is decent (not amazing, either). Pretty comfortable too, in fact, probably the most comfortable closed over-ears I've used.
 
And about it having "no bass," it is a gross exaggeration. They are bass light but the bass is there, clear and audible. The lack of treble extension means it sounds a bit anemic but at the same time that makes them not fatiguing for long listening sessions.
 
I haven't used the KNS8400 so I can't compare them. Would be best if you could demo them.

 

[MrViolin]

:s dang. Was going to list a few until the good isolation came in. 
 
BUT YES. I SAW A VARIANT OF THE V6. IT HAS NOT BEEN FORSAKEN. 
 
Yes, the v6/7506 (pretty much the same stuff except gold plating, stickers). You'd have to stress to hear the differences. 
Comfy, light, isolates. By soundstage, I guess they'd be pretty good in that regard for a closed phone. 

 

[sintap]

Hey thanks for the replies. Yeah I would like to demo but I don't really have that option, however I could return any after some testing (but they wouldn't be burnt in)
For the isolation I looked at graphs on InnerFidelity and HeadRoom and they look pretty similar. According to these the KNS8400 have very good isolation.
 
http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=6&graphID[]=2901&graphID[]=2961&graphID[]=1733&graphID[]=913
 
I don't need exceptional isolation but it can get pretty noisy here, with neighbors, PC fans, refrigerator and all I have ear muffs that go from 32 (mids) to 40 dB and they are probably way more than would be needed.
The Ultrasone 650 unfortunately are out of my budget and not really available here
 
 

what hp do you had before?

These would be my first actually, right now I'm just using SoundMagic in-ears but they're falling apart after 6 months. They are also too bassy for me, I had to put the bass way down on the EQ.
 
Right now I'm tending toward the KNS8400 because I can get them for 20€ less than the AKG271 but I'd be glad to hear other opinions too.

 

[sintap]

Quote:

:s dang. Was going to list a few until the good isolation came in. 
 
BUT YES. I SAW A VARIANT OF THE V6. IT HAS NOT BEEN FORSAKEN. 
 
Yes, the v6/7506 (pretty much the same stuff except gold plating, stickers). You'd have to stress to hear the differences. 
Comfy, light, isolates. By soundstage, I guess they'd be pretty good in that regard for a closed phone. 

Yeah I've also been looking at these because they're only 2/3 of the price of the others and seem to be pretty similar but I'm not sure how they would rank up against the KRKs in terms of comfort and isolation.
 
The K217 I've read are hard to drive due to 55 Ohm impedance and only 91 dB/mW but I'm not really looking to buy an amp too.

 

[zazex]

Quote:

 
I actually happen to really like the 271/272. I don't know about the pleather pads, but with the velours the isolation is decent (not amazing, either). Pretty comfortable too, in fact, probably the most comfortable closed over-ears I've used.
 
And about it having "no bass," it is a gross exaggeration. They are bass light but the bass is there, clear and audible. The lack of treble extension means it sounds a bit anemic but at the same time that makes them not fatiguing for long listening sessions.
 
I haven't used the KNS8400 so I can't compare them. Would be best if you could demo them.

 
The 8400's and 271/2 are not that different,
but I think the 8400's are clearly the better value.
 
The 271/2's have a larger soundstage and are a bit more comfortable.
8400's don''t have a lot of bass but what it does have is very satisfying.
The 271/2's IME do have too little bass.
Also, the top end of the 8400's is bit more extended.
Isolation is similar, and build quality is similar (though
the structural design is quite different).
 
8400's are easier to drive as well.