[The Closing]

I've used a pair of Sony MDR-V700's for the past decade and they're quite literally hanging on for dear life. After at least a year of procrastination I decided it was time to go to the store and check out the selection for myself. Here's what they had to offer and my opinion based off the limited time I had:
 
Pro Beats - Holy blam Batman, talk about junk in the trunk. The bass effortlessly overpowers the mix. Funny to think the other models are supposedly even more bass centric. They were extremely uncomfortable to boot. Next. 
 
Sennheiser HD650 - As soon as I put these on it was apparent that these were not the headphones for me. It felt as if I was 20 rows back. Although they were easily the most comfortable. Next. 
 
Grado 325i - I can see where the treble on these might be a problem for some folks at times and the bass could stand to be brought up a notch or two. Otherwise it sounded crisp and has great clarity. I really wish I could hear the more balanced Alessandro M-2's in comparison. The comfort could use some work to say the least. In the end and perhaps hastily (I really despise shopping) I decided to buy the Grado's. 
 
Now for the questions to anyone who has made it this far ... Any amp recommendations or does anyone know of any simple velour type cushion mods? 
 
\m/

 

[noggleboggle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Closing /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Sennheiser HD650 - As soon as I put these on it was apparent that these were not the headphones for me. It felt as if I was 20 rows back. Next. 

 
Was it amped?

 

[The Closing]

Probably should have specified that I listened to everything through a tubed McIntosh in store. 

 

[The Closing]

So anyone have any advice? 

 

[cswann1]

Quote:

So anyone have any advice? 

 
Get to a Head-Fi meet and listen to and compare everything you can.
 
Oh, and once you find a set-up that you are happy with and feel comfortable with the money you spent on it, RUN. Run as fast as you can away from here.
 
 
I've been here for a couple of years and have a few sets of cans, a couple of sources and one amp.  I am only able to be around Head-Fi because of my Jedi-like mental discipline.

 

[olegausany]

Everything depends on setup you to drive them. A lot of people saying HD650 need an amp but i love my pair driven straight from Auzen X-Fi Prelude sound card (the one without dedicated headphone amp), while there are headphones which require dedicated amp, for example AKG K702/1 (headphones amp built-in into modern receivers, for example Denon 2310, will not do the job

 

[ssavage]

you can wash the pads a couple of times w/shampoozle

 

[WhiteCrow]

Quote:

I listened to everything through a tubed McIntosh in store.

 
Beats
-_-
 
look into the Ultrasone HFI line, save your self the money and shipping cost when the beats break.

 

[The Closing]

Quote:

Beats
-_-
 
look into the Ultrasone HFI line, save your self the money and shipping cost when the beats break.

 
Ermm, great cuz that will hardly be a problem considering I didn't even buy the Beats ... Not to mention if there's at very least one nice thing to say about the Pros, is that they're built like a tank.
 
 
-_- Reading comp ftw. 
 

 

[elnero]

Grado headphones sound can change dramatically depending on the pads used, in my experience the best sounding pads are the flat pads from Todd The Vinyl Junkie available here http://www.ttvjaudio.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9&products_id=54. These are the same as the original pads that used to ship with the HP-1's and early RS-1's among others. Initially I found these scratchy and uncomfortable but after a few days my ears got used to them.