[Ladyfingers]

For 10 years I used a Philips SHP805 with a NuForce uDAC. Pads wore out and they were cheap, so based on reading discussions here, I upgraded to an SHP9500. Amazing (the detail!), but not suitable for the office, so I got a BeyerDynamic DT770i. These are far too aggressive for my tastes, even after some modifications, so I'll be posting in the regular forums to get better advice.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  For 10 years I used a Philips SHP805 with a NuForce uDAC. Pads wore out and they were cheap, so based on reading discussions here, I upgraded to an SHP9500. Amazing (the detail!), but not suitable for the office, so I got a BeyerDynamic DT770i. These are far too aggressive for my tastes, even after some modifications, so I'll be posting in the regular forums to get better advice.

 
You can't start a thread in the other parts of the forum just yet, but in the meantime you might want to look into the Focal Spirit Classic or Sony MDR-1A.

 

[Ladyfingers]

   
You can't start a thread in the other parts of the forum just yet, but in the meantime you might want to look into the Focal Spirit Classic or Sony MDR-1A.

Thanks!
 
My taste is "detail sparkling on a deep black sea of low bass", but I'm not a basshead, if that makes sense, and too much treble drives me nuts. I'm very much for a relaxed sound.
 
The DT770 is commendably... accurate? Every recording sounds very different.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
The DT770 is commendably... accurate? Every recording sounds very different.

 

By today's standards, not really - there are a lot more headphones now that have a smoother response curve, ie, headphones that don't modify the sound of the material as much. It was great when it first came out that's for sure, considering the smoothest curve then would be the HD580, but nowadays we have:

HE400i

HE350 (slightly sharper than HD600)

LCD-2/2F/3

LCD-XC
 
 

 
My taste is "detail sparkling on a deep black sea of low bass", but I'm not a basshead, if that makes sense, and too much treble drives me nuts. I'm very much for a relaxed sound.

 

That sounds very much like the HE400i, but that's an open back headphone. Among closed headphones your best bet would be the Focal Spirit Pro or Spirit Classic. Detail can still sparkle on the Classic (and especially not on the original Spirit One) but if you just want slightly less treble (although with a little bit less relative bass response), there's the Pro.

Personally if it's on sound alone I'd gamble more on the Classic, but if you expect to move this around a bit - even around an office desk where you have tons of things that can scratch the headphone - the finish on the Pro makes it worth considering.

 

[Ladyfingers]

 

 

By today's standards, not really - there are a lot more headphones now that have a smoother response curve, ie, headphones that don't modify the sound of the material as much. It was great when it first came out that's for sure, considering the smoothest curve then would be the HD580, but nowadays we have:

HE400i

HE350 (slightly sharper than HD600)

LCD-2/2F/3

LCD-XC
 
 

 

That sounds very much like the HE400i, but that's an open back headphone. Among closed headphones your best bet would be the Focal Spirit Pro or Spirit Classic. Detail can still sparkle on the Classic (and especially not on the original Spirit One) but if you just want slightly less treble (although with a little bit less relative bass response), there's the Pro.

Personally if it's on sound alone I'd gamble more on the Classic, but if you expect to move this around a bit - even around an office desk where you have tons of things that can scratch the headphone - the finish on the Pro makes it worth considering.

 
Thank you!
 
I'm looking at the MDR1A which is at the upper end of my price range and it has the appeal of being a Sony product with better access to replacement parts and so on, and I find their stuff wonderfully durable on the whole.
 
The DT770i grows on me a little more each time I listen to it, but dear Satan is it harsh with cranked guitars. With folk and pop it's genuinely lovely, but with metal and shoegaze it's exactly the sound that makes me wear earplugs in clubs. Shrieky. That midrange squawk that kills every other sound.
 
The SHP9500 is interesting to me because the treble is what I'd normally think of as excessive but buttery smooth without any compromise in detail. I have heard backing vocals for the first time in tracks I've heard a million times. Breathy? A little thin on bass, but I can see myself using them for some albums and as a sort of party trick.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
I'm looking at the MDR1A which is at the upper end of my price range and it has the appeal of being a Sony product with better access to replacement parts and so on, and I find their stuff wonderfully durable on the whole.

 

I wouldn't bet on parts being all that accessible right away, and at least check with other people in your area. Over here the distributors of everybody but Grados just totally suck. Sennheiser has the best product parts support, and the distributor doesn't stock them and can't help on how to get them, so I ordered them through Sennheiser USA (which lists practically everything, which is how some guy made his own HE60 electrostats just by ordering the spare parts) and used my brother's CA address, otherwise they refused to sell to anyone outside their jurisdiction.

 

Sony isn't as well known  as Sennheiser for parts support (no spare parts in the website apart from camera eye cups and batteries for their cameras) and they're no better than our local Sennheiser either. When I looked up the MDR-1A I asked the sales man in Sony's own store about earpads and eartips, and he seemed like  he was surprised that people would swap out those bits rather than tossing out the whole headphone. The only thing resembling a "spare part" that was available in-store was, not surprisingly, the batteries and viewfinder eyecups for their cameras. Not surprisingly, I had an SACD player before and brought it in when it stopped reading SACDs, and they said they didn't have any lasers and can't (be bothered to) order them.

 

Now I'm not saying totally don't get them, just don't get it thinking Sony will be easy to deal with for spare parts vs, say, Focal.

 

[Monsterzero]

 

 

I wouldn't bet on parts being all that accessible right away, and at least check with other people in your area. Over here the distributors of everybody but Grados just totally suck. Sennheiser has the best product parts support, and the distributor doesn't stock them and can't help on how to get them, so I ordered them through Sennheiser USA (which lists practically everything, which is how some guy made his own HE60 electrostats just by ordering the spare parts) and used my brother's CA address, otherwise they refused to sell to anyone outside their jurisdiction.

 

Sony isn't as well known  as Sennheiser for parts support (no spare parts in the website apart from camera eye cups and batteries for their cameras) and they're no better than our local Sennheiser either. When I looked up the MDR-1A I asked the sales man in Sony's own store about earpads and eartips, and he seemed like  he was surprised that people would swap out those bits rather than tossing out the whole headphone. The only thing resembling a "spare part" that was available in-store was, not surprisingly, the batteries and viewfinder eyecups for their cameras. Not surprisingly, I had an SACD player before and brought it in when it stopped reading SACDs, and they said they didn't have any lasers and can't (be bothered to) order them.

 

Now I'm not saying totally don't get them, just don't get it thinking Sony will be easy to deal with for spare parts vs, say, Focal.

Sony has horrid customer service...absolutely the worst!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Sony has horrid customer service...absolutely the worst!

 
One reason why I didn't get an Alpha or E-Mount system. They say over here that product support was good for those (or at least better than Olympus and Panasonic), but I just said "screw that!" and went with Fuji.
 

 

[Monsterzero]

   
One reason why I didn't get an Alpha or E-Mount system. They say over here that product support was good for those (or at least better than Olympus and Panasonic), but I just said "screw that!" and went with Fuji.
 

I own a Sony HAP S1,awhile back my computer and the HAP stopped communicating,so I called Sony....all the reps I spoke to were Filipina,none of which even knew what a HAP S1 was/is....so there I am trying to teach Sony customer service about their own product

After several calls they finally connected me to male,who convinced me that doing a hard reset would fix the issue......300GBs of music wiped,all playlists,all cover art,wiped out(about a year worth of meticulous sorting).....and it didnt work!!!!

Finally a few days later my phone rang and an American tech called me and after an hour he discovered that the issue was Windows 10 changing a setting on my computer!!!!! I asked him for his direct line in case another issue arose,and he said he couldnt give it out

I then called Sony back to compliment the tech who finally helped,and to try and help others with the S1/Z1 avoid the same error of wiping the hard drive,and they refused to let me speak to a supervisor! Unreal....

So six months later my S1 is still working as intended,but all my music is still w/o cover art,or in playlists,all because Sony's incompetent customer service didnt even know their own product and advised me to nuke my player....idiots!   

 

[Monsterzero]

  For 10 years I used a Philips SHP805 with a NuForce uDAC. Pads wore out and they were cheap, so based on reading discussions here, I upgraded to an SHP9500. Amazing (the detail!), but not suitable for the office, so I got a BeyerDynamic DT770i. These are far too aggressive for my tastes, even after some modifications, so I'll be posting in the regular forums to get better advice.

Whats your budget?

 

[GearMe]

Maybe check out the Oppo-PM3, NAD-HP50...possibly the Meze 99 (haven't heard these)

 

[akg fanboy]

Can't go wrong with the b&o h6 1st gen. Plenty of bass, but not bass head levels. Great mids, an overall agreeable and pleasant sound signature, slightly laid back but still has good details 

 

[Ladyfingers]

  Whats your budget?

About $200

 

[serman005]

 
About $200

You might check out the AKG K553 Pro or the NAD HP50. One of those could meet your needs. The NAD may be just a bit over budget, but it shouldn't be terribly so. Lastly, there is always the Senn HD598CS, which has a nice soundstage and is rather comfortable. You might read about those and see what you think.

 

[Ladyfingers]

  You might check out the AKG K553 Pro or the NAD HP50. One of those could meet your needs. The NAD may be just a bit over budget, but it shouldn't be terribly so. Lastly, there is always the Senn HD598CS, which has a nice soundstage and is rather comfortable. You might read about those and see what you think.

The Sennheiser HD 598 CS looks pretty decent. These are for the office, so something I wouldn't mind losing to theft too much holds an appeal. Nothing's been stolen before, but I wouldn't like to lose some $300 cans.
 
It also meets a few criteria - good isolation, big bass and fully circumaural. Replaceable cable is nice.
Something aimed at studios in terms of durability would be a plus, as well as something from an established brand with widely-available replacement pads. I realise though that studio cans tend to emphasise unpleasantness so it can be dialled out of mixes.
 
So, to further specify:

1. Cheap-ish (<$200)
2. Very relaxed, gentle sound with very deep, rumbly but not boneheaded "thumping" bass and a bit of air in the treble. I'm very sensitive to the 3-8 kHz band and so forward-sounding phones are a no-no. I tend to get this shrieking/ringing staticky sound in my ears with forward phones. I'm a fussy baby.
3. Good isolation for the office (courtesy to co-workers)
4. Fully circumaural and comfortable
5. Replaceable cable and pads big bonus but not essential - a "commodity" product like the DT 770 would be the best if the DT 770 didn't take a cheesegrater to my eardrums every time the electric guitars kicked in.

My taste in music is very broad but in the "dark" ballpark and some of it tends to sound very large in scale, if that makes sense.
Some folk like Cohen and Vega.
Lots of older pop like Depeche Mode and The Cure.
Some classical and chamber pop like Lambchop and Tindersticks.
Heavier rock like Led Zeppelin and Soundgarden.
Shoegaze like Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine and Ride.
Some death/extreme/industrial metal like Godflesh and Jesu and very intense noise stuff like Einstürzende Neubauten and Swans which feature smashing metal and bass percussion seemingly generated by artillery.
Electronica like The Orb, Third Eye Foundation, Autechre and Aphex Twin which gets pretty harsh.