[naurispunk]

Hi

So after my last $60 dolar headphones broke a few feeks ago after 2 months of use I started looking for something a bit more sturdy.

So I started looking at closed headphones (just my preference) that are in $200-$350 price range. I decided to buy them in my local shop that allows people to test their stuff in store (not many shops in my area do that) which is great. But that also limited my options as far as brands go.

After a bit of researching I found three pairs of headphones that seem nice and will soon be available at the store:
1) ALLEN & HEATH Xone XD-53
2) DENON DN-HP700
3) PIONEER HDJ-2000

From videos and reviews it seems that all of them sound great and can take a beating which is important. I also prefer headphones that isolate well and dont leak sound.

Unfortunately right now I have only tested Pioneer's since they are the only pair of three that is currently available at that store. And to be honest they didnt feel worth the price as far as sound goes. But then again I tried them only once. And they seem built like a tank which is really tempting. Especially after what happened with my last platicky headphones.

But here's the thing. Im not buyin them for DJing or work in studio. Im buyin them for personal use. That is to say I'll be using them with any kind of audio equipment i have at home but mostly though I'll be listening to 320kbps mp3s on my HTC Desire phone.

So Im a bit worried that I'll buy these heapdhones just to realise that my phone (although HTC has descent sound quality) just is way too weak to produce the kind of sound that would benifit from these headphones.

Should I just buy another pair of $50 crap sticks?
Or will these headphone make a difference (if yes which one of thses 3 do you prefer)?

Any opinions?

 

 

[naurispunk]

bump

 

[Digital-Pride]

Are you limiting your search to just these three or can we suggest other options for you to consider?

 

[naurispunk]

 
Quote:

Are you limiting your search to just these three or can we suggest other options for you to consider?

 

Well these are the ones appeal to me from the those that are available. I'll post some other onest that I also could get may hands on below.
 
Main thing though I wanted to know if this isnt a huge mistake. Do you think that mobile phones (specially my HTC Desire) outputs descent enough sound? 
 
 
 
-------------------------------------------
 
So I looked throught the items list. These are some of the other ones that are or could be avaliable in near future (im not sure about sennheiser's though)
 
so sony, audio tehnica
 
 
AKG K 181 DJ
Beyerdynamic DJX-1
BOSE® AE2 Audio Headphones
Sennheiser HD 25-1 II Basic Edition
Sennheiser HD 25 SP II
TECHNICS RP-DJ1210E-S
TECHNICS RP-DH1200E-S
 
some cheaper ones
IMG Stage Line MD-3000P
NUMARK PHX
Panasonic RP-DJ600E-K
RELOOP RHP-10 
RELOOP RH-3500 PRO MK2 
Roland RH-200
 
 
 
 

 

[naurispunk]

bump

 

[Digital-Pride]

Hmm, I suggest going with the either the K 181DJ or the HD 25-1.  They're both easily driven by portable sources like your cellphone and they have a clear aggressive sound signature that's quite engaging.  Also if you want to add a little extra kick to the sound, you can get Fiio's inexpensive E5 amp.  So, fear not!  With these headphones, your HTC Desire never sounded so good!

 

[naurispunk]

Quote:

Hmm, I suggest going with the either the K 181DJ or the HD 25-1.  They're both easily driven by portable sources like your cellphone and they have a clear aggressive sound signature that's quite engaging.  Also if you want to add a little extra kick to the sound, you can get Fiio's inexpensive E5 amp.  So, fear not!  With these headphones, your HTC Desire never sounded so good!

What do you mean by "They're both easily driven by portable sources like your cellphone"? Are there headphones that arent. Are those 3 that i picked examples of not easily driven
 
P.S. I figured it has something to do with the power of input from a sound device. Now if I add the E5 will that still be problem with any of the mentioned headphones above? BTW, thanks for reply.

 

[Bwqian]

Be very careful with the HTC Desire. It is a very very underpowered phone. I have the Sennheiser HD438 (32 ohm), and the max volume is pretty quiet and maybe about equivalent to 50% volume on an iPod touch. Because they're underpowered, it tends to kill the bass as well, so be careful. I just ordered a FiiO E5 to work around this problem =/

 

[Digital-Pride]

Quote:

What do you mean by "They're both easily driven by portable sources like your cellphone"? Are there headphones that arent. Are those 3 that i picked examples of not easily driven
 
P.S. I figured it has something to do with the power of input from a sound device. Now if I add the E5 will that still be problem with any of the mentioned headphones above? BTW, thanks for reply.

Many higher quality full-size headphones are inefficient in terms of power consumption, needing more power than many portable sources provide.  It's not that they won't work at all, more like they'll sound inadequate out of portable sources.  Which is why for certain headphones many suggest a headphone amp is integral to get their best sonic performance.  Now if you add the E5 into the equation you won't have to worry about not properly driving full-size headphones.

 

[iamgeekusa]

I own the HDJ-2000 headphones, and I don't DJ I use them with my ipod classic in conjuction with the fiio E7 DAC/AMP.  So far I'm very happy with them. My previous headphones were the ultimate ears super fi. 5 pro's and Able Planet's NC300b
 
The HDJ-2000's can be driven with my ipod or mobile phone alone surprisingly well. But using the Fiio E7 as a booster really makes the soundstage on the headphones pop and come to life.  They are pricy but I ordered from amazon and got them for $270  including 1 day shipping!  I had some fears that I might end up with fakes so I made sure I got them from amazon and not an amazon merchant. I held my breath as I opened them up and to my delight after a detailed inspection let it out in relief. Real and Awesome. Interestingly enough, I tried these cans out in a Sam ash music store and I liked them but wasn't wowed or anything. However I decided to buy them anyway because of the wonderful build quality and because at Sam Ash they were 350 amazon had em for 245 plus shipping. Anyway the thing is they sound way better than I remember at the store?  More clarity and less booming. I think that sam ash had them amped up too much for the store and the volume was really loud and couldn't be adjusted. Plus they had an old beatles cd as the sample and it struck me as a terrible choice for sampling headphones. don't get me wrong I like the beatles but I wanted to hear something a bit more modern in them at the time. Anyway I'm rambling, the point is the more I listen to these the more I love them. They have this amazing resolution especially in the lowend spectrum so that even when a track is mixed with rumbling bass notes they are still very neatly separated from the mids and highs without diminishing anything.  I seriously recommend a nice portable amp with these though. It need not be an expensive one. The Fiio e7 works well for me and they even recently came out with the E11 which is a pure amp and priced at a very reasonable 50-60 dollars.

 

[Rawrbington]

nvm

 

[Proglover]

Quote:

Hmm, I suggest going with the either the K 181DJ or the HD 25-1.  They're both easily driven by portable sources like your cellphone and they have a clear aggressive sound signature that's quite engaging.  Also if you want to add a little extra kick to the sound, you can get Fiio's inexpensive E5 amp.  So, fear not!  With these headphones, your HTC Desire never sounded so good!

exactly this^
within these 2, I prefer HD25's by a small amount

 

[red sky]

From what I know of mobile phones, the internal sound chips aren't the best.  Also, I would imagine that because there are so many small parts crammed in such a tiny space, the internal noise has to be terrible (like a laptop but worse).  However, there aren't fans in phones so that may or may not effect the sound.  At the same time, I'm not sure if the sound chip is capable of outputting audio at a level that sounds absolutely terrific.  From what I've read around the 'net, people with excellent headphones can tell the difference between listening on their phone compared to listening on their computer/high-end setup.

 

[dxps26]

i use the Motorola Droid/Milestone (same board-Sholes) as my DAP these days, ever since my Cowon D2 died. The SQ is not only Very Good, but using PowerAmp (from the Market) has considerably enhanced my listening. Do yourself a Favour and Disable the Stock "Audio Effects" and use the excellent Equalizer provided with PowerAmp. it uses more CPU cycles, but hey, you can play FLAC, Ogg Vorbis and AAC files as well as High-Resolution 96k files without a Hiccup. Listening is done via the AKG K420, and I can't Recommend them Enough.
 
Yes, there is No point in having some $300-500 dollar units pulling tunes from a smartphone. its just asking for trouble. Some Folk like to use their ED8's out and about, but I guess many of us will balk at the idea of using +1K cans on public transport. Get a fun pair of cans that are cheap and easy to power like Koss KSC75 / Sennheiser PX200 and the AKG, and enjoy the music. Not much is lost if you break those ( and both the AKG and Sennheiser are Very Sturdy)
if you must get some isolation, the HD25-II and the new Beyer DT1370 (is that what they're calling it??) are right as rain. Serious Listening on the go is acceptable only with High-End IEM's that will cost you north of $500 and players like Kenwood's Media Keg or some Cowon or Iriver players. iPods need not apply.

 

[NewAKGGuy]

Before you lay out the ducats, you may wish to consider:
 
1.  Budgeting for a good portable amp (though I'm not sure if the HTC has a line-out or line-out-dock for a clean signal).
2.  Inner Ear Monitors - given your desire for noise isolation, propensity not to leak sound, better quality, and portability (to reduce potential damage) IEMs might work better than full size or even portable headphones.