Dreeb
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2013
- Posts
- 10
- Likes
- 0
Good morning/afternoon Head-Fi peeps!
I've posted once before looking for a recommendation and ended up getting the V-MODA M-100's, which when they were working, sounded pretty good! Unfortunately, the sound keeps going out in one ear or another and I'm no longer under warranty. I've sent them in twice in less than a year, and now I'm past that 1-year mark, so looking to get some higher quality phones for all my at home needs.
I've been doing research for a couple of weeks now, but since I live somewhere that doesn't have the greatest access to any headphones other than Bose, Skullcandy or Beats, it makes it hard to know what I'm looking for. So in that respect, I'm not really sure what the definitions are of most terms thrown around here.
What I think I'm looking for:
Over-Ear phones - Definitely not looking for IEM and never really been a fan of on-ear cans either. I wear glasses at night, but as long as it's not a super tight clamp, I don't think that'll be a problem.
Extremely Comfortable headphones (minimum of 6 hours a day use)
Bass (Sub-bass?) - I was told the M-100's were great for bassheads, but I may not be a basshead then? Because I didn't really get the bass I was looking for. I never hooked it up to a DAC and amp, so maybe that's what I needed to do, but I want to get enveloped in EDM-type songs. I enjoy trance, techno, chillstep, dubstep, all that. Plus, I listen to metal, rock and classical from time to time. I don't want to hear fuzz or extreme distortion to anything else, but I'd like to feel it and get my adrenaline pumping.
Large Ear Cups - I bought the XL pads for my M-100's and while they were definitely an improvement over the stock ones, the tip of my ears or behind the ears would start hurting after a couple of hours. If worn for the entirety of my gaming session (6 - 12 hours), my ears would be sore through out the following day.
Warm Mids/Highs - Not sure if I exactly know what "warm" means, but I've had an issue in the past where some cheap headphones have piercing highs that give me a headache after 15-20 minutes. I'd like to avoid headache-enducing phones.
High Build Quality - I'm a sucker for well-built products. The M-100's seemed to be pretty solid in terms of build, but I'm not sure if it was the exposed wires or what they caused one phone or the other to go out, but since I don't know how to fix that myself, I'd prefer a set of phones that won't need repairing every 3 months or so. Also to add to this, my M-100's for the first 3-4 months were brought with me to work and taken back home every week day, but I'd always put them back in their case and wrapped up the wires correctly. After I sent them in the first time, I left them strictly at home, so the only movement they got was from the desk to my head. I don't throw or drop my headphones, so they weren't poorly taken care of.
Detachable Cable - This isn't a deal breaker necessarily, but it would be extremely helpful in case something ever happened to the wire. And if I ever had to pack it up when traveling, it always feel awkward to put it away with the cable still attached. Probably just an OCD thing, but it bugs me.
Price Range $200 to $800 - I can go up to $1k if necessary, but since I'll have to buy a DAC and amp, I'd prefer to give a little spending room for those.
------------------------------
Use:
Streaming - I'm completely redoing my setup to be usable for streaming, so instead of using headsets, I'd like a set of phones that will allow me to listen to music well, but also making vocals (from song and VOIP) come in clearly. I thought open-back cans would be bad for talking into a mic, but apparently they're preferred by some if they have other people over and they prefer the wide soundstage.
Gaming - I've been primarily playing MMO's recently, but I'll probably split up my time between FPS and MMO's once the stream dream starts. So soundstage would be important for footsteps and having a relatively clean sound. I don't need explosions or machine guns muddling all other frequencies.
Music - My preferences change daily, but I'm sure I'll primarily be listening to chillstep, dub, D&B, trance, etc. during streams. I also enjoy classical, rock, metal, rap, R&B, indie, folk and all that. Basically no country or jazz music.
------------------------------
If what I'm asking for is impossible to find (in price range or at all), please let me know. If I have to switch out my headphones depending on what I'm doing, I can look into that as well.
Some phones I've been looking at recently:
Mad Dogs, MDP, Alpha (Alpha pads for all): I've read that these are very neutral (flat?), which I don't think I'd like, because I don't want to get bored with them. But those lambskin leather pads...my god...I did notice they will fit on other phones and there's another company I could use for Denon phones apparently. I did listen to a sound demo of the Mad Dogs online (which I don't know how accurate that is), but they had a very clear, pleasant sound to them, so that's a plus I guess.
XB500, XB700, XB1000: I read these have ridiculous bass which would be great for EDM, but also read they aren't really good for anything else and seem to be hard to find since they were discontinued (at least the XB1000's were).
AH-D2000, D5000, D7000: Another read where the bass was good with these cans, but it looks like I'd have to buy used since their prices are a bit redick. Plus, I believe these are all closed, so the soundstage may not be as good?
Philips Fidelio X2: A lot of positive reviews, look comfortable, no exposed wires, all that. They seem to be compared to more neutral phones though, so I'm not sure if they'd be too flat for me or not?
HE-400, HE-400i, HE-500: A lot of people raving over these. Great price for planar magnetic phones, but also read orthodynamic may not be desired when looking for bass? But then again, I've read Audeze phones have pretty good bass. AHHHHHH, so lost.
----------------------------
I guess the biggest problems here are the lack of options nearby to test some headphones out and my lack of knowledge in the audiophile world. I'm not a huge fan of returning item after item to find what I'd like most and as long as I didn't flat out hate the phones I bought, I'd probably just keep whatever headphones I get first, so I'd prefer to get some I could enjoy for years.
Sorry for the long post, it's just been hard for me to come up with a decision, so wanted to throw this out there to see if anyone else uses phones for similar things or was ever in a similar position.
Thank you!
I've posted once before looking for a recommendation and ended up getting the V-MODA M-100's, which when they were working, sounded pretty good! Unfortunately, the sound keeps going out in one ear or another and I'm no longer under warranty. I've sent them in twice in less than a year, and now I'm past that 1-year mark, so looking to get some higher quality phones for all my at home needs.
I've been doing research for a couple of weeks now, but since I live somewhere that doesn't have the greatest access to any headphones other than Bose, Skullcandy or Beats, it makes it hard to know what I'm looking for. So in that respect, I'm not really sure what the definitions are of most terms thrown around here.
What I think I'm looking for:
Over-Ear phones - Definitely not looking for IEM and never really been a fan of on-ear cans either. I wear glasses at night, but as long as it's not a super tight clamp, I don't think that'll be a problem.
Extremely Comfortable headphones (minimum of 6 hours a day use)
Bass (Sub-bass?) - I was told the M-100's were great for bassheads, but I may not be a basshead then? Because I didn't really get the bass I was looking for. I never hooked it up to a DAC and amp, so maybe that's what I needed to do, but I want to get enveloped in EDM-type songs. I enjoy trance, techno, chillstep, dubstep, all that. Plus, I listen to metal, rock and classical from time to time. I don't want to hear fuzz or extreme distortion to anything else, but I'd like to feel it and get my adrenaline pumping.
Large Ear Cups - I bought the XL pads for my M-100's and while they were definitely an improvement over the stock ones, the tip of my ears or behind the ears would start hurting after a couple of hours. If worn for the entirety of my gaming session (6 - 12 hours), my ears would be sore through out the following day.
Warm Mids/Highs - Not sure if I exactly know what "warm" means, but I've had an issue in the past where some cheap headphones have piercing highs that give me a headache after 15-20 minutes. I'd like to avoid headache-enducing phones.
High Build Quality - I'm a sucker for well-built products. The M-100's seemed to be pretty solid in terms of build, but I'm not sure if it was the exposed wires or what they caused one phone or the other to go out, but since I don't know how to fix that myself, I'd prefer a set of phones that won't need repairing every 3 months or so. Also to add to this, my M-100's for the first 3-4 months were brought with me to work and taken back home every week day, but I'd always put them back in their case and wrapped up the wires correctly. After I sent them in the first time, I left them strictly at home, so the only movement they got was from the desk to my head. I don't throw or drop my headphones, so they weren't poorly taken care of.
Detachable Cable - This isn't a deal breaker necessarily, but it would be extremely helpful in case something ever happened to the wire. And if I ever had to pack it up when traveling, it always feel awkward to put it away with the cable still attached. Probably just an OCD thing, but it bugs me.
Price Range $200 to $800 - I can go up to $1k if necessary, but since I'll have to buy a DAC and amp, I'd prefer to give a little spending room for those.
------------------------------
Use:
Streaming - I'm completely redoing my setup to be usable for streaming, so instead of using headsets, I'd like a set of phones that will allow me to listen to music well, but also making vocals (from song and VOIP) come in clearly. I thought open-back cans would be bad for talking into a mic, but apparently they're preferred by some if they have other people over and they prefer the wide soundstage.
Gaming - I've been primarily playing MMO's recently, but I'll probably split up my time between FPS and MMO's once the stream dream starts. So soundstage would be important for footsteps and having a relatively clean sound. I don't need explosions or machine guns muddling all other frequencies.
Music - My preferences change daily, but I'm sure I'll primarily be listening to chillstep, dub, D&B, trance, etc. during streams. I also enjoy classical, rock, metal, rap, R&B, indie, folk and all that. Basically no country or jazz music.
------------------------------
If what I'm asking for is impossible to find (in price range or at all), please let me know. If I have to switch out my headphones depending on what I'm doing, I can look into that as well.
Some phones I've been looking at recently:
Mad Dogs, MDP, Alpha (Alpha pads for all): I've read that these are very neutral (flat?), which I don't think I'd like, because I don't want to get bored with them. But those lambskin leather pads...my god...I did notice they will fit on other phones and there's another company I could use for Denon phones apparently. I did listen to a sound demo of the Mad Dogs online (which I don't know how accurate that is), but they had a very clear, pleasant sound to them, so that's a plus I guess.
XB500, XB700, XB1000: I read these have ridiculous bass which would be great for EDM, but also read they aren't really good for anything else and seem to be hard to find since they were discontinued (at least the XB1000's were).
AH-D2000, D5000, D7000: Another read where the bass was good with these cans, but it looks like I'd have to buy used since their prices are a bit redick. Plus, I believe these are all closed, so the soundstage may not be as good?
Philips Fidelio X2: A lot of positive reviews, look comfortable, no exposed wires, all that. They seem to be compared to more neutral phones though, so I'm not sure if they'd be too flat for me or not?
HE-400, HE-400i, HE-500: A lot of people raving over these. Great price for planar magnetic phones, but also read orthodynamic may not be desired when looking for bass? But then again, I've read Audeze phones have pretty good bass. AHHHHHH, so lost.
----------------------------
I guess the biggest problems here are the lack of options nearby to test some headphones out and my lack of knowledge in the audiophile world. I'm not a huge fan of returning item after item to find what I'd like most and as long as I didn't flat out hate the phones I bought, I'd probably just keep whatever headphones I get first, so I'd prefer to get some I could enjoy for years.
Sorry for the long post, it's just been hard for me to come up with a decision, so wanted to throw this out there to see if anyone else uses phones for similar things or was ever in a similar position.
Thank you!
