[viola_jam]

I have been pouring through the full size headphone post for quite awhile now and need a little advice.

I have over 2.5 TB of live music, in SHN or Flac 16 bit/24 bit formats, all from Bands that allow live music trading, and small number of official licensed/produced live DVD's.

What bands: Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia Band, Phish, & Gov't Mule make up the largest majority of my collection. Each of these bands IMO have outstanding bass players that really approach their instrument like a lead instrument, instead of just holding down the bottom end.

I've had my Denon AH-2000's for about 2 months now, paired with the NuForce Icon HDP. So far I have been please with them, but have not fully burned in the amp portion or the AH2000's (Taking my time to burning over the course of causal listening, just been traveling too much lately to dedicate evening time).

So here's my general question: How can I get the most out my live music with headphones, without diminishing returns?

My general concern is getting a system/headphone that is too analytical, after all live music recording is prone to a number of issues: tape hiss, wind phase in outdoor recordings, digi static/pops, occasional audience clapping, etc...
 
Current Budget Around $500: besides upgrading to the Jmoney pads:
 

1. Should I do the LA 2000 Lites mod? (Jena wire is not in my budget)
2. If I go with the Markl mod any advice on type of wood?
3. A second set of cans? Any recommendations for Live music application?

 
 
I'm starting to notice a strange phenomenon with my AH-2000's, It's like when you yawn you get this little flutter in your ear. I think it's the driver fluttering/ vibrating, but it occurs regardless of volume, and some time not in bass heavy portions of the music. Any other 2000's owner get this effect? Is it the headphone or could be that the bass in the live recording was not rolled off at the lower hz's.

 

 

[hazardous]

I'm a noob but it seems to me that you would want to find a setup that has great synergy - more clarity isn't going to help if the recording quality isn't amazing. Finding a different amp that has great synergy with your current phones and using the nuforce as a DAC might be an option, or maybe trying some phones with a very in-your-face type sound like Grados would be appealing. Just my $.02.

 

[viola_jam]

Hazardous thanks for the advice. I thought about Grado's, but it seems like I recall a number of people saying that they didn't care for them with rock music. Rock as as genre leaves a huge amount up for interpretation and curious if there are others with an ear for any of the bands listed above that have a particular Headphone that they enjoy?
 
At this point I'm pretty please with the value of the HDP Dac/amp, but somewhere down the line I will up grade the amp portion.
 
Grado's vs. LA 2000 Lite Mod on a budget around $500

 

[AmanGeorge]

Quote:

Hazardous thanks for the advice. I thought about Grado's, but it seems like I recall a number of people saying that they didn't care for them with rock music. Rock as as genre leaves a huge amount up for interpretation and curious if there are others with an ear for any of the bands listed above that have a particular Headphone that they enjoy?
 
At this point I'm pretty please with the value of the HDP Dac/amp, but somewhere down the line I will up grade the amp portion.
 
Grado's vs. LA 2000 Lite Mod on a budget around $500

I think you may be misremembering what people say about Grados. They are generally said to be at their best with rock. If you're interested in trying them out, I'd definitely look into picking up a used RS-1 or RS-2 off the FS forums - these would fit nicely into your budget and shouldn't have any problems being driven by your HDP.

 

[viola_jam]

Hey thanks AmanGeorge.
 
All the post are starting run together. How's the bass response on the RS-1 or RS-2? Any bass player that plays their instrument like a lead should be heard.

 

[markkr]

I actually have my work rig specifically setup for listening to LIVE rock music...
 
NuForce uDAC $99
Little Dot I+ $138
OPA2107 opamp $15
NOS CV4014 tubes off ebay $20
BlueJeans Cable mini-RCA 1 foot $25
6' Belkin Gold Series USB cable $10
Grado 225i $200
 
TOTAL= $507
 
and sounds AWESOME for ALL of my Live music!!
 
PS: I also have RS-2's and find that they have too accurate of bass reproduction for live music, too revealing IMO.

 

[viola_jam]

Quote:

 
PS: I also have RS-2's and find that they have too accurate of bass reproduction for live music, too revealing IMO.

This is exactly the type of feedback that I was looking for. I almost listen exclusively to live performances and want to avoid the "TOO Revealing" phones. I'm still curious about the LA2000 lites mod.