[headialad]

Looking for a gift for a friend...He listens mostly to classical (piano) and some jazz for hours at a time.

1. Light and comfy (obviously)
2. No IEM
3. Offers some isolation
4. Unamped
5. Up to $100
6. Single-sided and/or detachable cable a plus

My current list: HD280, SR60, AKG K240

Other alternatives? Comments on the current list? Need to decide soon to have them on time.

Thanks

 

[lucky]

Without a definition of "some isolation", you'll get a variety of responses. For example, the SR60 you mentioned offers "no" isolation, FWIR, while the HD280 is a much more closed phone.

Presuming isolation doesn't matter, the AD700 > * in your price range. :O)

 

[logwed]

yeah, a 'friend' wants these cans...

 

[headialad]

I should have wrote isolation is a plus. I don't think he really requires it but it would be nice I guess.

Personally I love my IEMs but he is very picky with putting stuff inside his ears (I tried to convince him once before).

 

[userlander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucky /img/forum/go_quote.gif Without a definition of "some isolation", you'll get a variety of responses. For example, the SR60 you mentioned offers "no" isolation, FWIR, while the HD280 is a much more closed phone. Presuming isolation doesn't matter, the AD700 > * in your price range. :O)

x2 on all of that.

Sony MDR-V6 might also not be a bad choice.

 

[fjrabon]

Audio Technica ATH AD700 and Denon AH-D1001.

 

[D-Sev]

I don't know how they would handle classical, but AH-D1001's would fit everything else to a T...except the single sided cable preference.

 

[nullstring]

Another vote for the AD700's. They are big.. and a bit ugly.. But they sound great with piano and are light and comfy.

The D1001's aren't so good for classical... otherwise they'd be perfect.


Good place to buy the AD700's:
Quote:

Originally Posted by nullstring /img/forum/go_quote.gif AD700's can be had off ebay (beachcamera authorized dealer) for $80 after live.com cashback certainly worth the $10 more. go to live.com. Search "XBOX". "Xbox - www.ebay.comLive Search cashbackLive Search cashback Buy Xbox. You may get 12% off with PayPal if eligible." It's an ad at the top. search AD700. find the one that is 89.99 from beachcamera. buy it =) $90 * .88 = ~$80.

 

[fjrabon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by D-Sev /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't know how they would handle classical, but AH-D1001's would fit everything else to a T...except the single sided cable preference.

actually missed the classical part. I'd just go with AD700's in that case.

 

[ericj]

Without some stuffing in the cups, the D1001 isn't good for anything, imho.

Once it's been damped back properly, it's pretty reasonable if you can get it cheap.

'course, I'm speaking of my own experience with the nearly identical Aurvana Live!

 

[fjrabon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif Without some stuffing in the cups, the D1001 isn't good for anything, imho. Once it's been damped back properly, it's pretty reasonable if you can get it cheap. 'course, I'm speaking of my own experience with the nearly identical Aurvana Live!

This kind of annoys me, not you in particular, but I see "Creative Aurvana = d1001" all the time and its just not true. I've tried both. They have the same drivers and that's it. The cups and earpads and the amaount of clamp are actually fairly different. These make up for a noticeably different sound. So if you're saying that the cups on the aurvana need to be stuffed to "fix" them and then extrapolating that the cups on the D1001, which are different, need to be stuffed, that's totally invalid. I could almost see saying something about the drivers, like saying that your CAL's drivers are slow and then equivocating that with the D1001, but you're equivocating something about the cups, which aren't the same.

 

[Baimi]

I wouldn't choose lower end ATH phones for classical music or tunes that emphasis instrument performance though; the sound of instruments simply don't sound "right" from ATH phones in the 100 bucks range.

I think AKG phones would do a better job.

 

[fjrabon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baimi /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wouldn't choose lower end ATH phones for classical music or tunes that emphasis instrument performance though; the sound of instruments simply don't sound "right" from ATH phones in the 100 bucks range. I think AKG phones would do a better job.

I disagree. I think the top end of a piano sounds fairly off, overemphasized, on an AKG K701. some notes on a piano just seem to jump out way more on K701s, to my ears. I also felt like K701s made strings that should sound warm sound brittle.

Of course the K701 doesn't come anywhere near his price range. If you can find K501s for sale around $100 (not unheard of) maybe go for those. I like those much better than K701s anyway.

For $100, what AKG are you recommending that's better for jazz and classical than the AD700?

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fjrabon /img/forum/go_quote.gif This kind of annoys me, not you in particular, but I see "Creative Aurvana = d1001" all the time and its just not true. I've tried both. They have the same drivers and that's it. The cups and earpads and the amaount of clamp are actually fairly different. These make up for a noticeably different sound. So if you're saying that the cups on the aurvana need to be stuffed to "fix" them and then extrapolating that the cups on the D1001, which are different, need to be stuffed, that's totally invalid. I could almost see saying something about the drivers, like saying that your CAL's drivers are slow and then equivocating that with the D1001, but you're equivocating something about the cups, which aren't the same.

Firstly, you've got it backwards. People say that the AH-D1001 benefits from "markl-type mods" and extrapolate that the CAL! should (and does) too. See this thread:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/mar...-d1000-350167/

Aside from that, just how different are they?

From the pictures, the cup shape and volume look very similar. The pads look identical.

Has anyone done a detailed, side-by-side comparison? With photos?

I've got a CAL! here and i've got pictures of a disassembled D1001, and it looks like, at the very most, the D1001 may have slightly less curvature to the cup.

The CAL! looks bigger on the outside because it has that silver ring portion and is all shiny where the D1001 is dull and has a single-piece cup, but i'd wager that if you sealed both cups and filled them with water, they'd be within a teaspoon of each other.

Looking at pictures of the inside of the cup is particularly revealing - these really are 99.999% the same thing on the inside, from everything i can see.

Even if the D1001 cups were 10% smaller, which they're not, the driver isn't just slightly underdamped - it's profoundly underdamped, and this difference would mean that while the CAL! bass is embarrassingly bad, the D1001 bas by comparison would be merely pretty bad.

I'm almost willing to mail my CAL! to another supremus with good feedback and a D1001 for detailed cup volume analysis. As for cup materials, I think you will find that they are the same.

 

[ExplosiveDuck]

I would vote against HD280. Not for sound quality reasons, but because I personally don't find them comfortable at all for long sessions. It might be because I have a pretty big head but I have a pair and when I wear them for a while it starts to feel like my head is in a vice clamp.

AD700's are supposed to be super comfortable, but they offer very very little isolation.

So I don't know what to propose you get, but I would say no to the HD280's if he's listening for hours at a time.