nickharambee
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2011
- Posts
- 5
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- 0
Hi,
Though I have benefitted from the conversations I have come across on Head-Fi forums a number of times (a very valuable resource), this is the first time I have started a thread.
My situation is that I am looking for a great music listening setup for on the go, with lossless files on my iPhone. I should say at this point that my ears aren't the best (some hearing loss/tinnitus) so this should be factored in to anything I say (our ears being perhaps the most important bit of hardware in any hi-fi setup!).
I have owned a couple of hi-end Shure IEMs (E5c and SE-530) and enjoyed them a lot, but managed to trample one pair and lose the other (ouch). Perhaps for this reason I am now looking at bigger headphones, i.e. full size, but with a nod to portability. It seems to me that there was less pressure on my ears with IEMs though, and as I need to be particularly careful with my ears, perhaps I should be persisting with IEMs (do others find more pressure with over the ear headphones?)
I am looking for something solely for the road, as I prefer listening through speakers at home, so sound isolation is an important factor. Of late I have been looking at full size headphones, for the reasons mentioned above, and my initial searches around the internet narrowed it down to Sennheiser HD-25 II, B&W P5 and Shure SRH-840.
I bought the Sennheiser HD-25 II and burned in for 100 hours. Good sound isolation, but I found them generally too harsh, with not as much warmth/musicality as I would like (sorry my knowledge of the technical language needed to convey the experience is limited).
Then I demoed the B&W P5's in a store and found them to have better warmth/musicality, but to be generally a bit dull and underwhelming (and, for the money, I don't want to be underwhelmed!)
So now I am thinking of getting hold of the Shure SRH-840s, and wonder what I can expect relative to the other two headphones I have tried to date.
In trying to work out the best set up I now realise that I need to get a Line Out Cable, instead of using the headphone jack on the iPhone (the i-Basso one seems good quality, or perhaps one of the Qables iPod cables). Then I imagine that a portable headphone amp would improve matters, though this would of course depend on the combination of headphone and amp, and I am in the dark here. Size would be significant, so perhaps I would lean towards the i-Basso T3/4, but I would also consider the Pico Slim if it was worth it, or bigger portables such as the iQube or i-Basso D10/12 if there was good reason.
So, would others recommend I get the Shure SRH-840 and if so, which amp should I go for? Or are there other headphones with decent sound isolation that I should look at? Perhaps the B&W P5's would come to life with a LOC and suitable amp?
In terms of my music tastes, they are very eclectic, from reggae to folk to repetitive beats to rock, so an all round set up would be the order to the day.
Thanks in advance for any helping me on my way,
Nick
Though I have benefitted from the conversations I have come across on Head-Fi forums a number of times (a very valuable resource), this is the first time I have started a thread.
My situation is that I am looking for a great music listening setup for on the go, with lossless files on my iPhone. I should say at this point that my ears aren't the best (some hearing loss/tinnitus) so this should be factored in to anything I say (our ears being perhaps the most important bit of hardware in any hi-fi setup!).
I have owned a couple of hi-end Shure IEMs (E5c and SE-530) and enjoyed them a lot, but managed to trample one pair and lose the other (ouch). Perhaps for this reason I am now looking at bigger headphones, i.e. full size, but with a nod to portability. It seems to me that there was less pressure on my ears with IEMs though, and as I need to be particularly careful with my ears, perhaps I should be persisting with IEMs (do others find more pressure with over the ear headphones?)
I am looking for something solely for the road, as I prefer listening through speakers at home, so sound isolation is an important factor. Of late I have been looking at full size headphones, for the reasons mentioned above, and my initial searches around the internet narrowed it down to Sennheiser HD-25 II, B&W P5 and Shure SRH-840.
I bought the Sennheiser HD-25 II and burned in for 100 hours. Good sound isolation, but I found them generally too harsh, with not as much warmth/musicality as I would like (sorry my knowledge of the technical language needed to convey the experience is limited).
Then I demoed the B&W P5's in a store and found them to have better warmth/musicality, but to be generally a bit dull and underwhelming (and, for the money, I don't want to be underwhelmed!)
So now I am thinking of getting hold of the Shure SRH-840s, and wonder what I can expect relative to the other two headphones I have tried to date.
In trying to work out the best set up I now realise that I need to get a Line Out Cable, instead of using the headphone jack on the iPhone (the i-Basso one seems good quality, or perhaps one of the Qables iPod cables). Then I imagine that a portable headphone amp would improve matters, though this would of course depend on the combination of headphone and amp, and I am in the dark here. Size would be significant, so perhaps I would lean towards the i-Basso T3/4, but I would also consider the Pico Slim if it was worth it, or bigger portables such as the iQube or i-Basso D10/12 if there was good reason.
So, would others recommend I get the Shure SRH-840 and if so, which amp should I go for? Or are there other headphones with decent sound isolation that I should look at? Perhaps the B&W P5's would come to life with a LOC and suitable amp?
In terms of my music tastes, they are very eclectic, from reggae to folk to repetitive beats to rock, so an all round set up would be the order to the day.
Thanks in advance for any helping me on my way,
Nick
