Need a portable can with soundstage

[PlanetGranite]

Greatings Head-fiers. Been lurking here for a bit, but this is my first post.

Here's my dilemma. I need some portable phones that meet the following requirements:

1. Supra-aural or earbud.
2. Great with all music genres.
3. Good sounstage (some width and depth would be nice, but seperation is most important).
4. Priced under $100.
5. Easily driven by a DAP (for now atleast, amp to come later).


I've searched around and the only portables that seem to have a soundstage are the AKG's.

Any help for this noob would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[catscratch]

Eh, the only portable that has a really good soundstage that I know of is the Stax SR-001, but that's out of the price range ($239, + $100 or so for accessories). If you can stretch the budget, these will give you the goods, and then some. If you can't though...

... Try the Beyer DT231 or the Sennheiser HD280 Pro. I don't know how portable they are, probably not very - though better than full-size, circum-aural cans - but they have a nicely even, balanced sound and should give you a pretty good soundstage. Forget canalphones at that price point - IE3, e2c/e3c or ER-6 don't have what you're looking for. Pretty good instrument separation, yes (at least on the ER-6), but they compress soundstage abominably. The ER-4P still compresses soundstage abominably, but it's excellent instrument separation and razor-sharp relative imaging make up for it - somewhat.

Another option might be the Sony D66 Eggo's, but I have no experience with them at all. They're supposed to be pretty good, easily portable, and within the budget.

 

[PlanetGranite]

Thanks for the input catscratch. I'd love to play with the Stax, but they are over my current budget. I'll look into your other suggestions though.

More suggestions anybody?

 

[Kirosia]

ksc-35 or 75. There is a soundstage, but it's smaller than most of the big boys. But there's enough there for portable use. BTW, will this be a stationary phone or a "moving" one? I find that for the latter a big soundstage may actually be a bad thing.

 

[PlanetGranite]

Wow. That was fast!

These will be used mainly for stationary listening. Hours apon hours in the schools Engineering lab, with an occasional listen while walking the campus.

Just out of curiosity, why is a big stage bad for a moving portable?

Thanks.

 

[Kirosia]

Well, this is just my experience: if you're say walking around on the streets, and your ears are trying to focus on soundstage, you may not be completely aware of your environment. I used to do this with etys. I've always figured a really good soundstage to be something meant for critical use, since you can't concentrate to the fullest while out and about. Also, if you're using an open phone, you'd want a forward sound with not too much sounstage. Otherwise some or many of the instruments would be lost in outside noise. You may end up turning up the volume to compensate, which can lead to tinnitus and such. Course YMMV

 

[els0rz]

Here's my plug for the AKG K14P earbuds ($19.99). If you want to make them suitable for all music genres. Take radio shack earbud foamies ($3.49 for a pack of four) and cut out as big of a hole in the middle. Good visceral bass, good clarity, good width and depth, and of course great separation.

 

[jesse_w]

The ER4 has a small but very precise and well separated soundstage. I imagine the ER6 is no different, perhaps some others will chime in.

jesse

 

[PlanetGranite]

Thanks for the replies everybody. I'm feverishly searching all the suggestions made so far.

Please keep 'em coming.

 

[Jonoh]

Part of what creates sound stage is sound bouncing around off the ear and, in the case of headphones, the enclosure created by the phones' ear cups or enclosure (I am sure I am not using the proper technical term here).

There needs to be some space in the enclosure for sound to bounce around to create a sense of spaciousness. Earbuds and canal phones have physics and how the brain interpretes sound working against them.

Clearly, there are some supra-aurals that have soundstage but your post makes me think you are looking for small, portable phones. The only supra-aurals that I have used that have decent soundstage and spciousness are on the larger size for portable use IMO but YMMV.

That said, I love my Etys. Zero, IMO, soundstage yet they rock.

 

[Jonoh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesse_w The ER4 has a small but very precise and well separated soundstage. I imagine the ER6 is no different, perhaps some others will chime in. jesse

Soundstage is miniscule but seperation in terms of instruments and notes is there in spades...there is just no spaciousness to the sound like in a larger phone but I do not miss them with the Etys.

I have the ER6is and can't wait to get the ER4Ps. I found that a good amp adds some energy and spciousness, though still quite small, to Ety sound. I really dig the Ety sound.

The ER6 or 6is could be had for around $100 I believe. No amp is needed but IMO, does offer some benefits.

 

[PlanetGranite]

Jonoh, thanks for the reply.

Size is not a huge issue since I will be stationary for a majority of my listening. I'm just trying to be honest with myself in that there isn't enough room in my book bag for a set of circum-aural cans. Hence the reason for the supra-aural size limit.

I'm not expecting a huge out of head stage, but what I really miss while I listen at school is the ability to close my eyes and imagine the stage in front of me. I.E., guitar1 far stage left, bassist stage left, drums stage rear center, vocal stage front center, keybord stage right, guitar2 far stage right. Etc, Etc.

 

[catscratch]

You could wear your phones around your neck, you don't have to have them stowed away in your bookbag

I used to walk around with HD590's that way, and those are pretty huge.

Maybe the Senn HD555 will do the trick. They're circum-aural, but the earcups are small, and in general they're pretty durable. On top of that, you should be able to find a pair to audition at dedicated audio/musical equipment stores. Try them out and see if they're too big for you - probably won't be. The HD280's are also circum-aural but they fold, as do the D66 Eggo's, and keeping them stowed won't be a problem at all.

 

[PDream]

Why did nobody mention the PX100 or PX200? I think they'll be great for me, and I\m quite the same. Except, I forgot what a soundstage was . Doesn't matter, either one should have a big soundstage.

 

[YamiTenshi]

I use the HD280 as portable phones and they work pretty well. They fold up and can take the beating from inside a college student's backpack.

These are my best pair of headphones (others are e2c and ksc75) so I really can't compare them to other higher models. But I find that they do have very good sound. Though I haven't listened specifically for the soundstage the instruments can be separated pretty well. I have an older Panasonic pcdp with no amp so these aren't hard to drive though I would recommend some sort of bass boast to really bring it out. And the best part you can find them for about $80.