[EagleWings]

  Fair enough but I saw a pair of HD650's going for $170 here in the past 3 weeks....

 
$170? That definitely is a good deal. I did search the FS/FT forum, but only came across used units for $300. But I did not perform a thorough search.
 
 

  I'm sorry, but using reviews and other people's comments on forums is not a very reliable way of picking a hifi purchase that will work for you.
 
If you want an advice, I'll recommend that you go listen to gear in shops, on meetings etc.
That way you'll get a much better picture of what will work for you and what won't.
You can also order stuff from shops, but then make sure you pick shops that give you the right to return the item within a certain time frame.
Then you can try it at home which is the absolutely best way of making a choice.
 
Good luck with you purchase
 
Best,
Henrik

 
Henrik,
 
Thank you for your input. I couldn't find any local stores that have headphones for demo purposes. There is a meet happening in January in Austin. I probably will get to try some nice headphones there. I am guessing that I am going to be discovering some new tastes in music/sound  as I have never had the chance to try hi-fi audio gear in the past. Currently I prefer warm headphones with a slight V-shaped sound. I am thinking after trying out some good headphones I might start preferring neutral sound. Or may be not. I just have to wait till January and see.

 

[fjrabon]

  I'm sorry, but using reviews and other people's comments on forums is not a very reliable way of picking a hifi purchase that will work for you.
 
Take the Sennheiser HD700 for instance - try reading about it online.
A lot of people absolutely hate this particular headphone, calling it overly bright.
Other people love it and hear no brightness at all, while yet others hear the brightness but think it's just a plus for them as it makes the headphone sound better in their opinion.
 
Sure enough, if you look at it's frequency curve at Headroom for instance, you'll see that the HD700 has a treble peak at 6500kHz and another shortly after 11000kHz:
 

 
 

One quick point to note, the HD700's "second peak" is at 20k, not 11k.  11k is actually a valley on the HD700.  On that graph, after 10kHz, the next line represents 20kHz, not 11kHz.  The HD700 bottoms out at 11kHz and then steadily rises in the super-ultra-high-treble, hitting its peak at the limit of human hearing at 20kHz.  
 
It's the 6.5kHz peak that cause people to say the HD700's treble is piercing, as most people can't even hear the second peak, and very little music contains those frequencies anyway.  They're essentially the presence frequencies on the very upper end of a keyboard.
 
In my experience peaks in the 3kHz to 8kHz range are what causes people to call a headphone bright.  The HD600 has a 3.5kHz peak, which is where its reputation of or being bright, yet relaxed comes from.  The HD650 has basically the same exact signature, but without the 3.5kHz peak, hence its reputation for being rich sounding.  The 1540 has a 9kHz peak, which causes its reputation for seeming very "forward and energetic" especially when combined with its bass hump.  
 
How my perception of various peaks works is:
2k peak = loud sounding
4k peak = shrill sounding
6k peak = sibilant sounding
8k peak = forward/energetic sounding
10k peak = airy sounding
 
This isn't to say how things sound universally, but to give an idea of how different frequencies can be perceived differently by a person, despite them all being in the spectrum broadly designated as "treble"
 
The problem people have on here when talking about whether a headphone is "bright" or not, is that our perception in these areas are all pretty different.  Some people say the HD600 is brighter than the HE560, I tend to think the opposite, because the HE560 actually has a mild dip at 3-5k, where the HD600 has a peak there.  The HE560 has a 10k peak, which I don't hear as bright so much as I hear as being forward and airy.  The HE560 also has virtually flat bass, which to me sounds fuller and richer than the HD600's relatively sharp bass roll off.  

 

[hbuus]

fjrabon, thanks so much for posting, I appreciate your correction about the line I thought was 11k + your more in depth explanation about frequencies afterwards. Interesting!

 

[fjrabon]

  fjrabon, thanks so much for posting, I appreciate your correction about the line I thought was 11k + your more in depth explanation about frequencies afterwards. Interesting!

no worries, and I agree that those lines can be confusing at first.  Essentially they change at every power of 10.  ie 10-100 goes in tens, 100-1000 goes in hundreds, 1000-10,000 goes in thousands, 10,000-20,000 goes in ten thousands

 

[hbuus]

Ah ok, that way. Thanks

 

[hbuus]

 
no worries, and I agree that those lines can be confusing at first.  Essentially they change at every power of 10.  ie 10-100 goes in tens, 100-1000 goes in hundreds, 1000-10,000 goes in thousands, 10,000-20,000 goes in ten thousands

Ah ok, that way. Thanks

 
 
Double post, sorry

 

[LBailey33]

Personally, I don't think you could go wrong with the HD650 suggestions. A good DAC/Amp pairing would be something like the Schiit Modi 2 with the Valhalla 2 or maybe the Bottlehead crack. 

 

[EagleWings]

Personally, I don't think you could go wrong with the HD650 suggestions. A good DAC/Amp pairing would be something like the Schiit Modi 2 with the Valhalla 2 or maybe the Bottlehead crack. 

Thanks. Yes, I've been reading very positive comments about the crack with the speedball kit. Have you tried it?

 

[fjrabon]

Thanks. Yes, I've been reading very positive comments about the crack with the speedball kit. Have you tried it?

I'd go with something more versatile like a Lyr2. The crackhead is pretty bad with any headphone below ~200 ohms.

 

[EagleWings]

I'd go with something more versatile like a Lyr2. The crackhead is pretty bad with any headphone below ~200 ohms.

Thanks. I definitely would want something that is versatile. In fact I'd like a setup that is transport friendly to a certain extent. For example, I'd like something in the size of IFI iDSD Micro or O2+ODAC. Would you know any amp and also dacs of that size? I understand that I am compromising on quality a little bit. But if I don't and the setup is so big, then I wouldn't get enough time to listen to music through the setup.

Also is an Amp/DAC device going to be good enough? I am thinking, may be I could keep it simple and just get a Amp/DAC like the iDSD micro. What are your thoughts?

 

[fjrabon]

Thanks. I definitely would want something that is versatile. In fact I'd like a setup that is transport friendly to a certain extent. For example, I'd like something in the size of IFI iDSD Micro or O2+ODAC. Would you know any amp and also dacs of that size? I understand that I am compromising on quality a little bit. But if I don't and the setup is so big, then I wouldn't get enough time to listen to music through the setup.

Also is an Amp/DAC device going to be good enough? I am thinking, may be I could keep it simple and just get a Amp/DAC like the iDSD micro. What are your thoughts?

I actually think the O2/ODAC is pretty good. I have no experience with the iDSD micro. I really love my m9XX. Chord Mojo is great.

 

[EagleWings]

I actually think the O2/ODAC is pretty good. I have no experience with the iDSD micro. I really love my m9XX. Chord Mojo is great.

 
@fjrabon , thanks for your kind help. I am planning on getting the headphones first and based on the efficiency of the headphones and my remaining budget I will probably buy one of these: O2/ODAC (low budget, high power), iDSD Micro (high budget, high power) or Mojo (high budget, low power)
 
I have been reading great things about the M9xx. Unfortunately I don't see anyone selling theirs anytime soon given that only a limited number were manufactured and who ever bought it seems to be pretty happy with it.

 

[fjrabon]

@fjrabon
 , thanks for your kind help. I am planning on getting the headphones first and based on the efficiency of the headphones and my remaining budget I will probably buy one of these: O2/ODAC (low budget, high power), iDSD Micro (high budget, high power) or Mojo (high budget, low power)

I have been reading great things about the M9xx. Unfortunately I don't see anyone selling theirs anytime soon given that only a limited number were manufactured and who ever bought it seems to be pretty happy with it.

I think one just went on sale in the FS forum here yesterday. The problem isn't so much that nobody is selling them, it's that people are almost instantly snapping them up when they are sold.

 

[EagleWings]

I think one just went on sale in the FS forum here yesterday. The problem isn't so much that nobody is selling them, it's that people are almost instantly snapping them up when they are sold.

 
I see. I will keep a look out when the time comes. 

 

[SeaWo|f]

I've heard the lcd2 described as warm. Top of your budget
, and they are a bit heavy. I have the hd650 they have a nice sound but if you want detail out of them the amp is real important. Big difference for me on them going from the elekit tu882 to the Schiit ragnarok.

Not sure how flexible your budget is but I've been following the hex thread as i will either get those or the hek and the hex has been described as warm. It's also much more reasonable weight wise than other orthos. Other plus side is they are designed to be very easy to drive