[Entropism]

I'm looking to scratch the headphone itch again, and I'm having a hard time deciding on what to get.

Right now I own a few budget oriented headphones, and one "decent" pair. I have a Sivga 007 (I use this with a Vmoda mic for gaming), an ISK9000 rebrand (Akai x50 project pros), and an almost 20 year old pair of Sennheiser HD25s that are getting a bit long in the tooth.

I mainly listen to rock, punk, classic rock, some metal, but my tastes are all over the place, really. Rap and classical are in rotation as well, so I was looking for something a bit warm, but a jack-of-all-trades set of cans. Open or closed doesn't matter much, as they'll be used in my home office while at my computer, and I'm not trying to get 100% isolation. I have no problem with Chi-Fi if the quality is there. From the little research I was doing, I was looking at the following:

Senn 6xx - $200
Hifiman HE4xx - $145
Meze 99 Noir - $200
Audeze EL-8 closed (open box) - $250
Monoprice M1060c - $220
Beyer 770/880/990 - $150-200

For the DAC/amp, I was looking at the Magni/Modi or Topping D30/A30 combo that everyone seems to recommend, but I am absolutely open to suggestions.

I'm looking to spend about $500 for everything but the budget is *somewhat* flexible, if the result will be a "blow me out of the water" upgrade.

Thanks in advance!

 

[PurpleAngel]

I would say to pass on the DT770/DT880/DT990

 

[Entropism]

Any reason in particular? Or just wouldn't fit the sound I'm looking for?

 

[Raketen]

Any reason in particular? Or just wouldn't fit the sound I'm looking for?

If you really like the HD 25 which from my memory has boosted bass and can be a tad bright, beyers could be OK, but you mentioned wanting something a tad warm (880, or the higher price 1990 may be acceptable depending on what you mean).

 

[Entropism]

It's funny, I've had the HD25s for a looking time, but I wasn't thrilled when I pulled them out of the closet last week to try them out again. I'm getting old and my hearing is changing, I guess haha.

 

[Raketen]

It's funny, I've had the HD25s for a looking time, but I wasn't thrilled when I pulled them out of the closet last week to try them out again. I'm getting old and my hearing is changing, I guess haha.

I think I used HD25 exclusively for so many years they broke my ears into thinking that's how stuff should sound lol- still prefer things a tad bright, but also like having a warmer set around even if it's just some PortaPros.

Not overly familiar with any of the listed cans but 6xx/650 is probably the easy answer, and if you don't like them they are as close to a universal headphone reference point as it gets & retain decent secondhand value.

IDK if you are familiar with FR graphs, but this site has measured a bunch including HD25 which can give some idea of the difference in tonal balance from some of the models you are looking at https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/

 

[PurpleAngel]

Any reason in particular? Or just wouldn't fit the sound I'm looking for?

Because my Soundmagic HP151 closed headphones and Soundmagic HP200 open sound better (at least to me).

 

[Entropism]

Been thinking about it a bit, and I think I'm leading towards the Modi/Magni Heresy stack, mainly because I'm petty and I want the components to match visually. I keep hearing great things about the JDS Atom, but I'm willing to bet money I wouldn't be able to tell the difference in sound.

As for the headphones, I'm still a bit torn between the HD6xx and the Meze 99 Noir.

 

[stpope]

Hello,

In case you haven't seen it, I posted an in-depth comparison of 10 (11 actually) sets of headphones called "A Tale of 10 Cans" in a parallel forum; see, https://www.head-fi.org/threads/a-tale-of-10-cans.928530

stp

 

[DACampCans]

Depends on what your goals are and headphones. If you want something high power, go with one of the THX amps. anywhere between $200-400. The best one for balanced is the one from monoprice 887 bc it is the only one of the 3 main low price THX that is full, true balanced, unlike the 789 for the same price. Monoprice was released a bit later. If you're a tidal subscriber I would suggest the M500 DAC bc of its ESS9038Pro instead of one of the standard 9038s from ESS. These are all incredibly quiet devices, which is the main goal and draw for a low priced SS amp like this. Tubes are a whole different story that I would save for later. For headphones, I am all about the open back for home listening. Senn's 600 series is fabulous value. These together will run you about $900-1300 total but are some of the top contenders in this price range.

 

[Entropism]

I ended up getting the Modi/Magni 3+, along with the 6XXs. DACampcans, with all due respect, I wanted to stay under $500, and you're looking at just about double, to almost triple that amount. "Top contenders in this price range" are not even in my price range.

 

[DACampCans]

sorry, i thought you meant under 500 for each unit, not total setup.

 

[DACampCans]

I ended up getting the Modi/Magni 3+, along with the 6XXs. DACampcans, with all due respect, I wanted to stay under $500, and you're looking at just about double, to almost triple that amount. "Top contenders in this price range" are not even in my price range.

6xx was a fabulous choice! I am not a big fan of schitt personally. I think they're usually very overrated with way too high of a noise floor for the price. Luckily the magni 3+ has resolved one of the issues the brand has had with this over the past few years.