[Marximus]

Quote:

You mention that they weren't burned in.  You gotta think that they would improve dramatically with the proper burn in time?  At least for me, the hp100's definitley did along with the other few headphones I own. 

I'm pretty skeptical of burn-in.  If I don't like something right away, I'll probably sell it.

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

I'm pretty skeptical of burn-in.  If I don't like something right away, I'll probably sell it.

U do need to give cans time, quite literally your mind needs time to adjust to a different sound signiture. My dt 880s and w1000x sounded hellish when I bought them, after a week of listening I was able to pick out the details they had and started liking them more and more. Still I'
m still rather new to the hobby, if you've been in it long enough to know how to listen to gear then yea you might not need that time like I do 

 

[jgriffter]

I just received the HP100's yesterday and had the exact "no sound when plugging the cord in to the headphone" problem.  If I twisted the cord a bit I would get one channel but that is it.  They were new and sealed.  I looked in to the jack with a flashlight and saw a loose red wire.  Back to A*a*on they go.  I will try another pair but I hope this isn't a common fault!

 

[cocolinho]

I have MD for couple of months now and I've just received HP100.
Honnestly they are 2 very good sounding closed headphones. Both are (very) confortable.
I have to give more time to these HP100 but I think I will prefer the brighter & airier presentation of the Soundmagic.
To be confirmed though

 

[dreame77]

It sounds very interesting! 
I had Beyer DT 990Pro, Philips X1 and Denon D600 alongside with SoundMAGIC HP100, and HP100 were clear winner but had serious comfort issues. 
Now I ordered the ZMF mod of Fostex t50rp, as they arrive, I would compare them with HP100. 
 
P.S. for dac/amp I have Audinst mx2. Probably it sound great particularly with HP100...

 

[cocolinho]

HP 100 with w1000X pads are top notch comfort.

 

[dreame77]

HP 100 with w1000X pads are top notch comfort.

Unfortunately in Germany it is quite hard to get w1000x pads for greater comfort. 
Especially in the small town with no music shops except for MediaMarkt. 

 

[cocolinho]

Maybe you can look on ebay

 

[fireflyfu]

  It sounds very interesting! 
I had Beyer DT 990Pro, Philips X1 and Denon D600 alongside with SoundMAGIC HP100, and HP100 were clear winner but had serious comfort issues. 
Now I ordered the ZMF mod of Fostex t50rp, as they arrive, I would compare them with HP100. 
 
P.S. for dac/amp I have Audinst mx2. Probably it sound great particularly with HP100...

 
dreame77, can you share your thoughts about how the ZMF compared with HP100? Which one did you find has better soundstage and airiness? What about bass?

 

[dreame77]

Soundstage and airiness is much more in HP100. HP100 also have much more high notes and sibilance. According to bass, it is more sparky and more impact on HP100. 
ZMF in turn has more smooth sound from low to high. There NO sibilance. Bass do sound bold and real. 
But where ZMF shines the most -- the middle! If you fond of vocals, then you cannot go wrong with ZMF or Mad Dog. 
 
Nevertheless I prefer my HiFiman HE-400 to them. The have more details, more air, more soundstage, more high freq. The only "downside" of HE-400 is that they are large and open. 
 
BUT the phones that I like the most is Beyerdynamic T90. They are so much superb to all hp above! 
Yeah, bass impact is not so strong as with HE-400, and significantly less then in ZMF v1, but for me it was enough. 
Soundstage and clarity, airiness, details, all this order of magnitude better on T90. 
If you like vocals, it would be much better on T90 than on HE-400 due to absence of a drop after the middle freq in frequency response. 

 

[fireflyfu]

  Soundstage and airiness is much more in HP100. HP100 also have much more high notes and sibilance. According to bass, it is more sparky and more impact on HP100. 
ZMF in turn has more smooth sound from low to high. There NO sibilance. Bass do sound bold and real. 
But where ZMF shines the most -- the middle! If you fond of vocals, then you cannot go wrong with ZMF or Mad Dog. 
 

Thanks dreame77. I was going to go for the ZMF but now HP100 is back in my list as it seems to suit me better. Its a bit confusing as the ZMF is supposed to sound similar to Mad dog, and suits my tastes more than Mad Dog. And a commenter in (http://noblehifi.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/old-dog-new-pads-review.html) mentioned that the Mad Dog "blows the HP100 out of the water" in soundstage. So I had assumed the ZMF would be much airier than the HP100 as well. The others you've suggested are out of my budget