[iggy-starnuts]

Hi everyone. I'm new here, and don't know much about headphones so go easy on me! I need a good headphone for electronic music. Mostly downbeat chillout stuff and not so much techno or trance. I also listen to some classical and jazz. My friend said I should get sennheisers, but I listened to his HD-600 headphones and to be honest I didn't think they were exactly right for what I was looking for. I've seen a lot of mention of "Ultrasone" for electronic music, should I consider those? My budget is probably around $100-200, but I could probably go higher if they were absolutely way better then the lower priced ones. There seems to be so many choices, it is overwhelming. I need new earbuds, too... but that's another thread!

p.s. Oh yeah.... do I need an amp?

 

[paaj]

What didn't you like about the HD600?
What other equipment do you use?

Needing an amp depends on the chosen headphone. Every headphone will sound better with one, but some need it more than others.


Quote:

Originally Posted by iggy-starnuts /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... My budget is probably around $100-200, but I could probably go higher if they were absolutely way better then the lower priced ones. ...

this is a dangerous thing to say if you want your wallet to survive

the real awesome headphones start at about $300

 

[AmanGeorge]

You'll probably want something with good, solid bass impact (which probably means closed). Off the top of my head, the lower-end Ultrasone models, the Denon D1001 and D2000, and the Shure SRH840 should all be things you're looking at that are roughly in your price range.

 

[iggy-starnuts]

Quote:

Originally Posted by paaj /img/forum/go_quote.gif What didn't you like about the HD600? What other equipment do you use? Needing an amp depends on the chosen headphone. Every headphone will sound better with one, but some need it more than others. this is a dangerous thing to say if you want your wallet to survive the real awesome headphones start at about $300

Ok, I guess $300 would be about the limit then.

As long as I couldn't get ones that were almost as good between $100-200.

I don't know a lot of headphone lingo so I don't really know how to describe why I didn't like the sennheisers. Is "bright" the word? I guess they didn't sound bright enough, if that's the word. I'm not sure what kind of amp he had because I didn't even know about headphone amps then, to be honest.

 

[iggy-starnuts]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmanGeorge /img/forum/go_quote.gif You'll probably want something with good, solid bass impact (which probably means closed). Off the top of my head, the lower-end Ultrasone models, the Denon D1001 and D2000, and the Shure SRH840 should all be things you're looking at that are roughly in your price range.

Thanks! Those denons might be what I'm looking for.

What about Beyerdynamic? Are they good for electronic?

 

[AmanGeorge]

I think you can find decent headphones for under $300. If you're willing to spend extra money, what I'd do is tuck away a little bit of that $300 as money that you will spend trying headphones, and then try buying a few different headphones that you're interested in and selling them at a slight loss if you don't like them.

Welcome to Head-Fi by the way!

 

[Pistachio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmanGeorge /img/forum/go_quote.gif You'll probably want something with good, solid bass impact (which probably means closed). Off the top of my head, the lower-end Ultrasone models, the Denon D1001 and D2000, and the Shure SRH840 should all be things you're looking at that are roughly in your price range.

I would suggest the exact opposite. Downtempo doesn't need bass impact at all. Bass extension would be nice as alot of downtempo has deep throbbing bass, but impact is unnecessary. I would suggest something open with alot of detail, I listen to alot of downtempo and the AD900 serves me much better than anything else I have for it. The AD700 is a good choice.

 

[Benaiir]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iggy-starnuts /img/forum/go_quote.gif My friend said I should get sennheisers, but I listened to his HD-600 headphones and to be honest I didn't think they were exactly right for what I was looking for.

I think he meant HD555's or HD595. If you scout the for sale forum, I'm pretty sure there's a used 595 for 100... A steal if you ask me. I don't think they'd pair well with the bassier genres, though. Considered two headphones? Possibly used for both? I'd go with a used 595 for classic and DT770's for the rest... DT770's are a bit harder to nab for a 100/sub-100 price, but I was able to get mine for 90 shipped with the help of Live.com cashback (Renamed Bing.com, but still the same idea.)

Good luck with finding the perfect headphones... I'm gonna see if I can stop this crazy hobby @ DX1000's... Too bad those cost 679 at the cheapest.

 

[Pistachio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iggy-starnuts /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't know a lot of headphone lingo so I don't really know how to describe why I didn't like the sennheisers. Is "bright" the word? I guess they didn't sound bright enough, if that's the word. I'm not sure what kind of amp he had because I didn't even know about headphone amps then, to be honest.

Strongly suggest the open AT models. AD700/AD900. I would definitely stay away from closed cans for downtempo, they may be good for danceable electronic because of the bass impact, but they fall short on creating the atmosphere you get with open cans on downtempo and ambient.

 

[iggy-starnuts]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pistachio /img/forum/go_quote.gif Strongly suggest the open AT models. AD700/AD900. I would definitely stay away from closed cans for downtempo, they may be good for danceable electronic because of the bass impact, but they fall short on creating the atmosphere you get with open cans on downtempo and ambient.

Ok, I see what you're saying. At first I thought I would want more bass, but now I see what you mean about atmosphere.

Benaiir you mention DT770. What about these, they are like halfway in between open and closed? Would those need an amp?

 

[Pistachio]

Well depends on what sound you want really. When you said you listen to downtempo and chillout stuff and not trance and techno I assumed bass impact wasn't important. If you do want bass, then some people think the AD headphones lack in that department. It is there, it is tight and fast but there isn't a huge amount of it.

 

[iggy-starnuts]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pistachio /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well depends on what sound you want really. When you said you listen to downtempo and chillout stuff and not trance and techno I assumed bass impact wasn't important. If you do want bass, then some people think the AD headphones lack in that department. It is there, it is tight and fast but there isn't a huge amount of it.

I think too much bass makes me tired of listening. I like big and "wide open" sounds like when you're listening to speakers. Maybe I should just get speakers, lol.

 

[haloxt]

If open-back headphones is okay and you want something that is good for electronic/trance, I'd suggest trying out the Ultrasone Zino. Nobody has reviewed it yet, it just came out this month. But if it's like the predecessor iCans, in some ways it can keep a better beat than the Pro 900 because it is more open and fun sounding. If you don't need noise isolation inside and outside, it can also replace the need for earbuds. Two issues with icans (and thus probably zino), it requires 250+ hours of burn-in to begin to sound right and it doesn't scale very much at all, tried the icans with mp3 players, mid-priced gear, and pretty expensive setups and the mp3 players generally sound more natural. If you don't want to upgrade anything except headphones, I'd recommend trying out the Zino.

I hear you mention speakers

. When I listen to icans I don't care for speakers, when I listen to Pro 900 I do : (.

 

[iggy-starnuts]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haloxt /img/forum/go_quote.gif If open-back headphones is okay and you want something that is good for electronic/trance, I'd suggest trying out the Ultrasone Zino. Nobody has reviewed it yet, it just came out this month. But if it's like the predecessor iCans, in some ways it can keep a better beat than the Pro 900 because it is more open and fun sounding. If you don't need noise isolation inside and outside, it can also replace the need for earbuds. Two issues with icans (and thus probably zino), it requires 250+ hours of burn-in to begin to sound right and it doesn't scale very much at all, tried the icans with mp3 players, mid-priced gear, and pretty expensive setups and the mp3 players generally sound more natural. If you don't want to upgrade anything except headphones, I'd recommend trying out the Zino. I hear you mention speakers . When I listen to icans I don't care for speakers, when I listen to Pro 900 I do : (.

Thanks haloxt! Those Zinos do look pretty sexy.

It worries me that the iCans seem to have had mixed reviews, and that the Zinos are still pretty new.

I don't need noise isolation at all. Just looking around for the Zinos, I saw these Ultrasones and they look like they might even be better than zinos, and for less money, too:

Amazon.com: Ultrasone HFI-15G S-Logic Surround Sound Professional Headphones - Black: Electronics

I'm still reading reviews, but they seem to be well recommended. I just don't know yet for these genres. Have you heard them?

Other than those, now strongly considering ATH-AD700 and Beyerdynamic DT990.

 

[haloxt]

Never heard the HFI-15G, but I heard several people say they like it better than the icans. The icans have moderate analytical detail, and it improves just marginally and at times sound overdriven with better gear, but their strength is their open and fun sound straight out of an mp3 player. If I had to choose between Zino and HFI-15G, I'd definitely choose Zino because it has higher sensitivity than HFI-15G, if you get the HFI-15G you might be tempted to buy an amplifier too.