Over Ear quality sound and comfort

[groucho69]

I've been looking for a new set of cans that will give me great quality sound and be comfortable to wear. Going back and forth with these:

PSB M4U1
HIFIMAN HE400I
Beyerdynamic DT-880 600
Beyerdynamic DT990 600

Appreciate any insight and recommendations.

 

[cossix]

I wouldn't pair those 600 ohm beyers with the A1 or A3 honestly, I vote 400i

 

[groucho69]

I wouldn't pair those 600 ohm beyers with the A1 or A3 honestly, I vote 400i

Actually I have an Optoma NuForce uDAC5 coming that I was planning to use with the new cans. Does that affect your recommendation?

 

[cossix]

Actually I have an Optoma NuForce uDAC5 coming that I was planning to use with the new cans. Does that affect your recommendation?

It's not the DAC that is the potential bottleneck, but those two amps. They're mobile amps and not very strong, especially for such a high impedance headphone

 

[groucho69]

It's not the DAC that is the potential bottleneck, but those two amps. They're mobile amps and not very strong, especially for such a high impedance headphone

It will be Foobar (PC) to DAC to headphone. I did read some say that the 600 work fine this way but maybe I should consider the 250 ohm?

 

[cossix]

It will be Foobar (PC) to DAC to headphone. I did read some say that the 600 work fine this way but maybe I should consider the 250 ohm?

I would 100% advise against running a 600-ohm headphone straight out of a PC with no amp at all. They won't sound nearly as good as they should and it would probably be a waste of money. You'll likely notice a severe lack of dynamics and they probably won't get loud enough. Even a 250-ohm headphone is pushing it. I'd recommend looking at the HE400S if you don't have an amp. Consider looking at headphones with either high sensitivity, or low impedance. Those will be easier to drive from a PC and will sound a lot better than a 600-ohm headphone with no amp. High impedance doesn't mean its better than a low impedance headphone, just as a side note. For example, the LCD2 is 70 ohms and destroys the HD650 (300 ohms) in sound quality.

 

[groucho69]

So maybe shop for a decent desktop amp on 11/11? Why 400S vs 400I?