[werdnaq]

Hi, all! I've spent a few days parsing through the archives, but I was wondering if I might draw directly on your expertise.

Let me run down the characteristics I'm looking for in my new pair of cans:

1. About $100-150, could stretch to circa $175
2. Used for home and dorm room listening. "On the go" only in the sense for air trips, college library for hours-long study sessions, etc. No street use or public transit or anything (KSC-75s!)
3. I don't want to leak sound, or else I probably would have just bought MS-1s already. I need to be able to use these in a dorm room or library setting.
4. Isolation is less of a concern than leakage, but it would be nice.
5. It seems like the D1001 is great all-around, don't leak but let sound in. Should I settle for this and abandon the notion of stretching these "all-purpose" phones to airplanes, etc?
6. I'm also considering heavily the HD25-1.
7. I was previously considering the AT A700, but it seems like they are less-highly regarded than these other models?
8. Assuming I could grab the Beyerdynamic DT-770 in my price range, or stretch the budget, how do those cans compare to these others?
9. Comfort is def. an issue, since I'll be wearing these for hours of studying. I also sometimes wear reading glasses, so I'd like cans either not insanely tight or with a workaround for that.
10. I have already purchased (waiting to ship) a $40 Cmoy off eBay (solid reviews and everything), and I anticipate being able to use this wherever I'd need to use the phones. So unamped performance doesn't even really need to be considered, I guess.
11. I listen primarily to jazz, pop, and rock with some hip-hop. I want something that doesn't scrimp on the mids, I need some bass presence but I'm more interested in accuracy than boom. Basically, just the usual in terms of listening material.

Thank you SO MUCH in advance for your kind assistance.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

I have the DT-770/80 Pro's. I cannot comment on the others you have asked about since the 770's are the only real cans I have ever owned but I can tell you that the comfort is great, sound coming in is non-existent and leakage is minimal to non-existent as well. My g/f could not hear music playing from just several feet away.

 

[Argyle Shepard]

wow, you sound almost exactly like I did when I began to browse recently. I bought the 770's and immediately sold them for the Denon 1001's. Not that they're bad phones, it's that they're huge. You won't be taking these things on the go, even for flights. I'm someone who doesn't care what people think and even I was annoyed when co-workers kept mentioning how large the 770's were.

The Denon's are half the price, and while they don't have the sweet velour earpads the Denon's do, they are like 1/3 the weight and size. You can literally forget you're wearing the Denons. Another thing to consider is that down the road you can recable them and get alot of bang for your buck. My 2 cents. Of course no matter what your budget is, head-fi will make you broke. I already have a second portable pair of ESW9's and I didn't plan on getting those for another year.

 

[Taikero]

Stretch a fair bit more to about $200 and snag the Denon AH-D2000, IMO. Lots of room to grow, no amp required at first. Great starter headphone.

 

[opteronlive]

I'd recently bought an ultrasone, they're really comfy and easy to drive.

Good controlled bass and great soundstage, they're also very portable their whole collection is however very expensive if u can't find them cheaper.

 

[Tiemen]

German Maestro GMP 250 is a good closed headphone.
They are formerly known as MB Quart QP 250.

 

[idunno]

Skylab has a great comparison here:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/rev...mpared-250041/

 

[ArmAndHammer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Argyle Shepard /img/forum/go_quote.gif it's that they're huge.

That they are...lol...but for my 100% at home use that is not a concern but I can definitely how much of a pain it would be to travel with them. I guess if it were a long train, bus, or plane trip I wouldn't really care too much but for everyday travel or even short trips I would likely leave them home if I had a smaller option.

I would like to try Denon, the AH-D2000 specifically. The bad thing in my situation (I am sure lots here are in the same boat) is that I have to buy to try. Even using a place like HeadRoom that has a 30 day no questions asked return policy, paying for shipping two ways can get expensive.

 

[werdnaq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Argyle Shepard /img/forum/go_quote.gif wow, you sound almost exactly like I did when I began to browse recently. I bought the 770's and immediately sold them for the Denon 1001's. Not that they're bad phones, it's that they're huge. You won't be taking these things on the go, even for flights. I'm someone who doesn't care what people think and even I was annoyed when co-workers kept mentioning how large the 770's were. The Denon's are half the price, and while they don't have the sweet velour earpads the Denon's do, they are like 1/3 the weight and size. You can literally forget you're wearing the Denons. Another thing to consider is that down the road you can recable them and get alot of bang for your buck. My 2 cents. Of course no matter what your budget is, head-fi will make you broke. I already have a second portable pair of ESW9's and I didn't plan on getting those for another year.

Do you experience a ton of incoming sound penetrating your Denons? This is my only remaining concern with these cans. I hear they prevent leakage but don't really isolate anything. Is this a problem for you?

 

[supersleuth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by werdnaq /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you experience a ton of incoming sound penetrating your Denons? This is my only remaining concern with these cans. I hear they prevent leakage but don't really isolate anything. Is this a problem for you?

You heard right- they might as well be open as far as (lack of) isolation is concerned. (Leakage really isn't negligible either but it's at least usefulyl less than open cans.)

 

[werdnaq]

Anybody have any thoughts on the AT-A700s?

 

[compuryan]

The HD25-1 is excellent. It isolates extremely well and doesn't leak. The only thing is that it can feel a little clamping after a while. That said, the AH-D2000 is more comfortable and sounds awesome too. It doesn't isolate as well though.

 

[ph0rk]

B&H photo has the DT250 for ~$150, it varies from week to week - some other retailers come close too. Imho the DT250 isolates as well as the HD-25-1, is much more comfortable, and sounds better. The 250 ohm model has a bit more treble extension.

I wouldn't suggest the DT770 pro 80 to anyone unless they were a total basshead.

 

[werdnaq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ph0rk /img/forum/go_quote.gif B&H photo has the DT250 for ~$150, it varies from week to week - some other retailers come close too. Imho the DT250 isolates as well as the HD-25-1, is much more comfortable, and sounds better. The 250 ohm model has a bit more treble extension.

Sounds great, but I can't find them for under ~ $240 at B&H or anywhere else. This is decidedly out of my range.

 

[chillk]

ultrasone proline 650s have been awesome for me. You might be able to find them for that price if you look around and don't mind ebay.