[Sefelt103]

Beyerdynamic DT880/early T1/DT1990, AKG701, Sennheiser HD580,700,800 and many older type headphones which tended to be less euphonic than the modern tendency.

 

[TMM]

I could not find an authoritative source of specs but it looks like the Little Dot you have is rated at 300mw into 300 ohms and 10V max. That is not enough.

300mW on HD6xx is good for over 121dB SPL. I think it'll be enough.. unless your goal is to go deaf within a day.

 

[Flex2d]

Beyerdynamic DT880/early T1/DT1990, AKG701, Sennheiser HD580,700,800 and many older type headphones which tended to be less euphonic than the modern tendency.

Ok so you would say avoid 1990pros for the musical aspect, Have you tried the HifiMan sundara?

cheers

 

[AudioPowerHead]

Before making your final decision, suggest you check out the ZMF Aeolus and its thread in Head-Fi. Highly musical and engaging headphone. YMMV, of course.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

300mW on HD6xx is good for over 121dB SPL. I think it'll be enough.. unless your goal is to go deaf within a day.

Read what I wrote and try again.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

How is 300mW into a headphone with max. power rating of 0.2W not enough. I had my Objective O2+ODAC modified because there was too much gain at 6.5X on the high gain setting and it didn't have 300mW into 300Ω. As for 'musical' headphones it's just a matter of avoiding a few specific ones. All the rest will have varying degrees of what you're after.

The intent is not to run 300 mW into the headphones. The intent is to have enough voltage on tap so that even when listening at low volumes, the amp can drive the headphones properly and deal with the spikes of power required to deal with transients in the music.

 

[megabigeye]

Ok so you would say avoid 1990pros for the musical aspect, Have you tried the HifiMan sundara?

cheers

"Musical" is such a subjective term that it's practically meaningless unless you can give (and others can agree to) a pretty specific definition... And that's not even beginning to look into the bag of worms that is preference.
I find the DT 1990 to be musical, I guess. Tubes make it even more musicaler.

We could all play a rousing game of Musical Headphones with a bunch of musical headphones while listening to musicals through our headphones. That would be the most musicalest.

Also (for what it's worth), I've always stayed away from HiFiMan because of so much talk about poor quality control. Beyers, on the other hand, are very robust and designed to have almost all parts user replaceable.

Read what I wrote and try again.

S/He said that because what you wrote is incorrect.

 

[Johnny Golden]

For musicality the Elears you mentioned would be spot on although I would recommend the Drop + Focal Elex's simply for price reasons. The low end of these headphones is phenomenal. Despite this nothing is ever subtracted from the other frequency ranges and if you get the Clears (what I'm listening on right now) or the Elex's then you should find a great midrange as well. These headphones also have the biggest dynamic range of any headphone and that really helps to create a musical sound as it more accurately reflects the expression of the music.

A lot of the other headphones people have mentioned here, while great, IMHO are more analytical (excluding the planars mentioned).

I also love the ananda's but do miss the dynamic range of the Focals.

Just ensure with any of these you have a sufficient amp.

 

[Flex2d]

"Musical" is such a subjective term that it's practically meaningless unless you can give (and others can agree to) a pretty specific definition... And that's not even beginning to look into the bag of worms that is preference.
I find the DT 1990 to be musical, I guess. Tubes make it even more musicaler.

We could all play a rousing game of Musical Headphones with a bunch of musical headphones while listening to musicals through our headphones. That would be the most musicalest.

Also (for what it's worth), I've always stayed away from HiFiMan because of so much talk about poor quality control. Beyers, on the other hand, are very robust and designed to have almost all parts user replaceable.


S/He said that because what you wrote is incorrect.

Haha yes i know what you mean, so what i am getting at with musical head phones, easy to listen to, get immersed in the music, great timbre and feel the texture of instruments. For example i had the 1770pros which were from what i found the complete opposite to the stated. Fostex 610 were quite narrow and full on. tried T60RP which i thought were very good for the money and reluctantly sent them back, they unfortunately lacked in the vocal department. just missed the upper mids for me, leaving instruments and vocals a little thin. I guess i do love my hd6XX but they for me feel like they are just lacking slightly in the highs and the lows. I am looking those cans which, when i turn on the music, i just start tapping away with my leg, A pure joy to listen to.

 

[Flex2d]

For musicality the Elears you mentioned would be spot on although I would recommend the Drop + Focal Elex's simply for price reasons. The low end of these headphones is phenomenal. Despite this nothing is ever subtracted from the other frequency ranges and if you get the Clears (what I'm listening on right now) or the Elex's then you should find a great midrange as well. These headphones also have the biggest dynamic range of any headphone and that really helps to create a musical sound as it more accurately reflects the expression of the music.

A lot of the other headphones people have mentioned here, while great, IMHO are more analytical (excluding the planars mentioned).

I also love the ananda's but do miss the dynamic range of the Focals.

Just ensure with any of these you have a sufficient amp.

Thanks, i will take a look on drop and checkout some reviews
cheers

 

[Gadril]

I think you should check out the Clear and Elex as was mentioned before here? High chance that what you want is more sub bass and better slam (as well as dynamics), which the HD6x0 is not the best at. What the HD6x0 is best for is tonality and the HD6xx/650 is the most inoffensive out of the 6x0 line. High chance you might also be missing some of the highs on the 6xx, which I also found to be a tad bit too boring compared to HD600, which has very good treble.

 

[megabigeye]

Haha yes i know what you mean, so what i am getting at with musical head phones, easy to listen to, get immersed in the music, great timbre and feel the texture of instruments. For example i had the 1770pros which were from what i found the complete opposite to the stated. Fostex 610 were quite narrow and full on. tried T60RP which i thought were very good for the money and reluctantly sent them back, they unfortunately lacked in the vocal department. just missed the upper mids for me, leaving instruments and vocals a little thin. I guess i do love my hd6XX but they for me feel like they are just lacking slightly in the highs and the lows. I am looking those cans which, when i turn on the music, i just start tapping away with my leg, A pure joy to listen to.

For my own preferences, I'd say the DT 1990 matches your description to a tee, with the possible exception of "easy to listen to," depending on the music, the amp/source, and (of course) your preferences. I find them an easier listen through tubes than through solid state.
On the other hand, if you didn't like the DT 1770, you also might not like the 1990. I haven't heard the 1770, so don't want to offer more than that.
The DT 1990 was designed as a professional analytical tool, so it sounds pretty, uh, analytical... Maybe "accurate" would be a better description? Anyway, by virtue of its analytical-ness/accuracy it also seems to fit into your definition of musical.

Almost forgot: somebody else mentioned the Quad ERA-1... Another I haven't tried, but from what I gather it sounds like an improved HD 650. Might want to look into that. That's one of the few on my list of "maybe someday" headphones.

 

[Sefelt103]

Ok so you would say avoid 1990pros for the musical aspect, Have you tried the HifiMan sundara?

cheers

I've never heard a Hifiman. Of course the upstream components will affect the 'musicality', a warm DAC or especially amplifier can make a cold headphone sound warm. So you could have warm upstream cold headphone or cold upstream and warm headphone. Both is not a good idea

 

[Flex2d]

For my own preferences, I'd say the DT 1990 matches your description to a tee, with the possible exception of "easy to listen to," depending on the music, the amp/source, and (of course) your preferences. I find them an easier listen through tubes than through solid state.
On the other hand, if you didn't like the DT 1770, you also might not like the 1990. I haven't heard the 1770, so don't want to offer more than that.
The DT 1990 was designed as a professional analytical tool, so it sounds pretty, uh, analytical... Maybe "accurate" would be a better description? Anyway, by virtue of its analytical-ness/accuracy it also seems to fit into your definition of musical.

Almost forgot: somebody else mentioned the Quad ERA-1... Another I haven't tried, but from what I gather it sounds like an improved HD 650. Might want to look into that. That's one of the few on my list of "maybe someday" headphones.

Ok so i have pulled the trigger on the 1990 pro's, kinda hoping my LDMK2 will add some warmth. If i dont get on with these then i will take a look at the Quad ERA-1 or Sundara if these fail then i might up my game to the T1.3 or the Clear and Elex .
Thanks everyone for the advise and comments, appreciated as always!

Cheers

 

[megabigeye]

Ok so i have pulled the trigger on the 1990 pro's, kinda hoping my LDMK2 will add some warmth. If i dont get on with these then i will take a look at the Quad ERA-1 or Sundara if these fail then i might up my game to the T1.3 or the Clear and Elex .
Thanks everyone for the advise and comments, appreciated as always!

Cheers

Awesome! I hope you like them as much as I do. Let us know in the DT 1990 thread.
Also, don't forget that they come with two sets of pads, so if you don't like the way it sounds out of the box ("b" pads are pre-installed), you can change it somewhat. I've never felt the need to switch from "b" (AKA balanced) pads, but a lot of people prefer the "a" (AKA, analytical) pads.