[nadn1]

Originally Posted by nadn1

hi there im looking to buy 2 headphones (open and closed) within the $300-400 range each. One for home and the other for portability.
I will be mainly using them with my laptop and iphone 5 (with bit rate of 320 on almost most of the music) and i plan to buy a dac/amp in the future but not now.

While i am fairly new to the hifi and can consider myself to be a bit of a noob, i have been snopping around the hifi forums about headphones for the last 3 months, although it wasnt until yesterday that i bothered to sign up. My exposure to good quality audiogears are quite limited, (ue 400, cx 300 ii) for iems and denon hd1100, senn hd 202.

I listen to mainly all kind of rock and metal music starting from the alternative (radiohead, alter bridge, foo fighters, soad) to the progressive (porcupine tree/anathema)to the psychedelic(pink floyd, mars volta, tool, apc, at the drive in) to the metal core(underoath, killswitch engage, all that remains, as i lay dying) to heavy and thrash metal (iron maiden, pantera, led zeppelin, megadeth, slayer) to the death melodic (in flames, bodom, at the gates, insomnium,dark tranquility) to the death progressive (opeth my fav band, dan swano, edge of society, ) to the folk/doom metal (ulver, agalloch, in extremo, saltatio mortis, eluveitei,empyrium, katatonia, paradise lost, my dying bride) , celtic metal (cruachan, primordial) and some post metal bands such as alcest, les discrets and some fusion bands such as dead can dance .

i know the range of music is quite large and it is nt possible to cover them all, but as long as the headphone does some justice to the fast paced riffs and to the melody it should be fine. please bear in mind that i live in australia (im going to update my profile very soon) and the retail price of headphones and for that matter any electronics is out of the world even though the aussie dollar is stronger than the us now.

I know grados are universally referred here for rock musics, but how abt metals? how abt the denon hd 2000 and the dt 770-880-990 series?

thanks for taking time to read my 1st post. Cheers mate

ps: i love my denon hd 1100 and i got it at a killer deal too. £40 from uk and had my frnd ship it to aus for another £10. i am absolutely loving it :d

 

[nadn1]

a little help here please

 

[YtseJamer]

The Grado SR225i are very good with Progressive Metal.

 

[nadn1]

The Grado SR225i are very good with Progressive Metal.

thanks man. how about the he-400/500 and the hd 600?? they have got very good reviews around this forum. btw what is your audio setup if you dont mind me asking?

 

[eucariote]

Straight out your phone or computer SR225 will be hard to beat.  I prefer HE-500 to Grados or HD600 in sound quality imo, but you'd need some amplification.  HD600 are great but they have a very gentle sound that is not be best match with metal.

 

[nadn1]

Straight out your phone or computer SR225 will be hard to beat.  I prefer HE-500 to Grados or HD600 in sound quality imo, but you'd need some amplification.  HD600 are great but they have a very gentle sound that is not be best match with metal.

thanks eucariote. Well the hifiman he 500 can wait till i finish my uni and get a decent job to begin with. Im just looking for a headphone to take a step into the audiophile world for now. How would you rate he-500 for listening to metal? and btw i am getting some contrasting reviews here. Some people are claiming that the grados are not suitable for music due to their harshness and they prefer the neutrality of the hd 600 (which i can get for $290 in australia). I can get the sr 225i's for $180 and that for australia is a good deal as there is only distributer in australia and they list the headphone at $225.

on hifiman he-500, what amplifier do you use with this? also is a dac that essential for driving this headph?

Thanks

 

[eucariote]

Quote:

thanks eucariote. Well the hifiman he 500 can wait till i finish my uni and get a decent job to begin with. Im just looking for a headphone to take a step into the audiophile world for now. How would you rate he-500 for listening to metal? and btw i am getting some contrasting reviews here. Some people are claiming that the grados are not suitable for music due to their harshness and they prefer the neutrality of the hd 600 (which i can get for $290 in australia). I can get the sr 225i's for $180 and that for australia is a good deal as there is only distributer in australia and they list the headphone at $225.

on hifiman he-500, what amplifier do you use with this? also is a dac that essential for driving this headph?

Thanks

 
The Grado vs. Senn debate is probably the oldest and most polarizing one at head-fi.  It's really a matter of taste and music preferences imo.  It is fair to say that SR225 are far more aggressive and emphasize the crunch and sizzle of guitar, while HD600 have a  much more gentle presentation.  SR225 are bright and I resorted to putting flat pads on them which cut the treble but I personally enjoy them more than the Senns for rock (sorry don't listen to metal very much).  And they don't need an amp, though I've found that the very inexpensive udac has a warm sound that further softens the Grado signature.  You may consider buying used SR60 used to see how you like the Grado sound, selling them and making an informed investment in a more expensive headphone.   HD600 are wonderful tho and I prefer those with non-guitar music.
 
I had HE-500 with the loaner program and played them out a Lavry DA11 dac/amp.  There are probably better and much more inexpensive amp options.  Dacs do improve the sound with good quality recordings but have dramatically diminishing returns (if any) above the $100 price point imo.

 

[YtseJamer]

Quote:

thanks man. how about the he-400/500 and the hd 600?? they have got very good reviews around this forum. btw what is your audio setup if you dont mind me asking?

 
I have the Audeze LCD-3 and the Mjolnir.

 

[nadn1]

just ordered grado sr225i for 180. btw i see that the dt 770-80 ohms are for 170 in amazon. damn! i hate this forum. makes me want to buy everything

 

[jdaclutch]

dt770 80 is only 150 on ebay from a authorized reseller if you are thinking about them, go with that route. As far as Senn goes, I just picked up some senn amperior, they are pretty good with the music that I listen to,which are very similar to your( alternative, rock, punk. such as there for tomorrow, escape the fate, silverstein, sum41 etc). but be aware that these are portable cans, not full-size, and they are closed.

 

[nadn1]

ya i know but some people (esp those in usa) might prefer the amazon return policy. and cobrasonics charge 25 for shipping to aus. Thats 3 dollars cheaper than amazon

 

[nadn1]

btw how much did you get the amperior for? im hearing nothing but great reviews about the amperiors. but to be honest i would rather go for the dt 770-32 ohms for that money.

 

[jdaclutch]

btw how much did you get the amperior for? im hearing nothing but great reviews about the amperiors. but to be honest i would rather go for the dt 770-32 ohms for that money.

I got them for $350 through amazon. Go with whatever your heart tell you to. It's funny how I'm on the plane right now and the dude next to me talking about his Dre solo headphones and saying how good they are....i can't help myself not to laugh at his face. Haha.