[ak_]

Quote:

You will still enjoy it unamped. The changes are not radical enough but is beneficial to the K550. Without an amp, you'll miss the mids and the highs a bit and will sound a bit slow. With an amp (depending which one), it will make the K550 sound a bit more faster, cleaner, punchier, more dynamic and will lift the mids but then, the limiting factor is still the DAC of your iPhone.

This whole audiophile headphone thing is a slippery slope... 
 
Perfection after all is a forever moving target. 
 
Thanks for your advice. I'll go check them out. 

 

[mbamg]

How do you justify to other people the fact that you have to buy a pricey amp to make your headphones sound good when you can simply buy a pair that doesn't require an amp to sound half-decent?
 
Quote:

This whole audiophile headphone thing is a slippery slope... 
 
Perfection after all is a forever moving target. 
 
Thanks for your advice. I'll go check them out. 

 
Never felt that perfection was a moving target. Just felt that the closer you got to it, the slower you progress.

 

[DarkSleip]

Quote:

You will still enjoy it unamped. The changes are not radical enough but is beneficial to the K550. Without an amp, you'll miss the mids and the highs a bit and will sound a bit slow. With an amp (depending which one), it will make the K550 sound a bit more faster, cleaner, punchier, more dynamic and will lift the mids but then, the limiting factor is still the DAC of your iPhone.

Sorry, but the iPhone DAC/AMP is audibly transparent according to the thresholds of distortion audibility under -80 dB below 10khz (treble) and -40 dB above 10khz

 

[macrocheesium]

Quote:

 
Crap!
 
Any other recommendations? 

 
Fischer FA-003/Brainwavz HF5. I just got my HF5s and I think they're great (that's coming from an Ultrasone user, too!). Not exactly portable because of size, but they come with a short cable and the soundstage you get as a result is really impressive for a closed can.
 
Also consider the Shure SHR840 and SRH940.

 

[CashNotCredit]

Quote:

 
Fischer FA-003/Brainwavz HF5. I just got my HF5s and I think they're great (that's coming from an Ultrasone user, too!). Not exactly portable because of size, but they come with a short cable and the soundstage you get as a result is really impressive for a closed can.
 
Also consider the Shure SHR840 and SRH940.

If you want to go HM5/FA-003, get the Jaycar Pro Monitor Headphones. All 3 are identical, but theJaycar is 1/2 the price (but doesn't have the short cable).

 

[macrocheesium]

Quote:

If you want to go HM5/FA-003, get the Jaycar Pro Monitor Headphones. All 3 are identical, but theJaycar is 1/2 the price (but doesn't have the short cable).

 
ANOTHER one? Wow. There was a fourth one that I didn't even mention, can't remember what it's called.

 

[CashNotCredit]

Quote:

 
ANOTHER one? Wow. There was a fourth one that I didn't even mention, can't remember what it's called.

Lindy Premium Hi-Fi? Studiospares M1000? (all of which are Yoga CD-880)

 

[dannyd123]

Quote:

 
Crap!
 
Any other recommendations? 

audio technica ath a900x

 

[macrocheesium]

Quote:

Lindy Premium Hi-Fi? Studiospares M1000? (all of which are Yoga CD-880)

 
Lindy, that was it.

 

[earIEMusik]

After my friend had listened contently for a whole hour, he came to claim "It's like watching the best HD T.V, it's all just so clear". Was pretty impressed with this analogy. Thought it related quite well, and i had just never thought of it in such a way.

 

[streetdragon]

today a friend of mine stated his solo is better than the HD800 hs has at home, i died on the inside almost completely. snatched and then checked his phone only to find 128 and 196 kbps files from itunes. i let him hear my hd558 that i was having with me, he said my unammped hd558 was better because than his hd800+amp simply because i have proper 320 kbps files....

 

[Mr Newyear]

Today my friend's parents bought him beats studios for his birthday. As I realize the mediocrity of the beats, I choked out a "yup" when his parents asked me if I liked the booming bass on the headphones. I felt bad lying to them, but I didn't want to rain on their $300 purchase :/

 

[streetdragon]

poor son.... he has to pay the price of bad sound for the parent's inexperience and poor parents wasting their hard earned money on beats for their son just because ads say they're the best

 

[pichu]

so sad..............lol all the kids at my school have beats or apple earbuds.. I get the weirdest looks with my Ultrasone 580's! They probably think Im wearing some cheap ass headphones becuase they arent beats. If pros were the main headphones.. I'd have $700 headphones

 

[ZetsuBozu0012]

Quote:

today a friend of mine stated his solo is better than the HD800 hs has at home, i died on the inside almost completely. snatched and then checked his phone only to find 128 and 196 kbps files from itunes. i let him hear my hd558 that i was having with me, he said my unammped hd558 was better because than his hd800+amp simply because i have proper 320 kbps files....

 
Um, then didn't he ask to try listening to your 320 rips with his Solos? That would have been the logical thing to do, had he been truly confident in his cans' superiority.
 
P.S.
You could always ask to buy his HD800+amp (what amp was it, again?) combo, since he didn't care much for them. Of course, you'd be getting them at a discounted price, since they're second-hand items