[mythless]

Not to hijack, but what amps would sound nice with the YH-100? This thread caught my eye, since my father is a huge Classical music lover and once (in his youth) a head-fier. Thought a nice amp(or dac)/headphone set up would be nice as a present.

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aristos_achaion /img/forum/go_quote.gif Really? Maybe this has to do with Ludo's dampening (I'm a total ortho noob), but my YH-1's just seem way, way too warm for early music...they're great for jazz vocals, maybe (maybe!) for Lasso or Dunstaple they'd work, but for Palestrina or Josquin they'd just feel a bit off.

Yes, they need to be damped to tame the midbass hump. Once the hump is tamed, the mids shine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mythless /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not to hijack, but what amps would sound nice with the YH-100? This thread caught my eye, since my father is a huge Classical music lover and once (in his youth) a head-fier. Thought a nice amp(or dac)/headphone set up would be nice as a present.

The more power they can get the better they like it. The max power they can take is 10W as opposed to most other headphones that are in the mW range. Some people run them off of the speaker output of their speaker amps. I typical use vintage integrated amps, which is probably the least expensive. For a lot of vintage amps, the headphone out is taken directly off of the speaker output with a resistor network to limit the output.

The Starving Student works well and is an inexpensive DIY option.
Here's a good article on DIY options.

Amplifiers for use with orthodynamic headphones - Wikiphonia

 

[aristos_achaion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dRummie /img/forum/go_quote.gif Aristos: ars subtilior is a particular favourite. How anyone could lump anything of Johannes Ciconia with say, the 1812 overture is beyond me

Amen. I'm sure they sound a bit alike if you're not used to acoustic art music, but a lot of "classical" recommendations seem to proceed from the assumption "pre-1900 music is boring". Sometimes you just don't want a tame presentation, you know?
Quote:

Yes, I'm asking because I'm seeking to replace my AD700's. I'll be keeping them until I've modded my ipod and used them with a decent amp, so I can be sure I've given them a fair try, but so far they're just not sitting with me. They sound thin, lack detail, and while their sound sig is certainly better for orchestral works than the Grados, every time I put on the Technicas I experience disappointment at the sound overall. It's like I'm not hearing the music I know is there. Though apparently I'm all but alone on this, judging from the response they get on this forum.

That might just be FOTM response...given that the AD700 is reasonably priced, a lot of newbies probably get that as their first "real" 'phones and give it rave reviews b/c it sounds miles better than their former stock earbuds. Also, they get a disproportionately good response from gamers, who like the cheap price for a large soundstage.

IIRC (it's been a while since I tried out an audio-technica 'phone), the HD600/HD580 will be in the same vein as the audio-technicas, but fuller and sweeter.
Quote:

It's curious you should mention using Grados I've been thinking just along those lines. I haven't had the time to try it out seriously yet, but am planning to soon. I haven't done a lot of listening with different headphones, but my albeit uneducated guess is that I would enjoy the powerful, intimate presentation they offer with certain works. It seems to be right in line with how I imagine they should sound, provided you're not in a cathedral (and with ars subtilior you're definitely not). For sacred, I agree, a different recipe is in order.

I do find that a certain setup is needed for the Grados...a good source & amp can make the difference between amazingly involving and unlistenably harsh. I also driver-modded them, as you can see in my sig. That said, I think they'd work great for Ars Subtilior.

Hmm...given the Ars Subtilior thing, maybe Stax or orthos really are in order, given that those 'phones are best known for their speed. Especially the 'stats. Yeah, vintage Stax might be in your future.
Quote:

As for the Stax set-up, while the invitation to heaven is indeed a tempting one, it'll be some time before I'm able to swing that kind of budget. Out of curiosity, do you mention the Sigma Pros in comparison (and as superior) to the Lambdas, or just on their own?

FWIR, (and I absolutely shouldn't be talking on this!) the Lambdas and the Sigmas used the same drivers, but while the Lambdas angled the drivers only slightly (and look like a normal set of headphones), the Sigmas put them at a more extreme angle, so you hear a huge soundstage in front of your head. Hence the "clock radios on the side of your head" look.

 

[AdamWysokinski]

Headphones for chamber and vocal music with good quality : price ratio? Easy, K701 with some decent SS amp. I love the way chamber music sounds with my inexpensive, yet very satisfying system.

 

[dRummie]

Yes, I've wondered whether I'd like my AD700's more had I not gotten the Grados at the same time. And I'm definitely excited for when I can get the 225's into a better set-up (currently Clip+CMoy

).

There's quite a wealth of disagreement over the different AKG's! Deciding on one will be a tough job. Adam, curious, why do you say SS? I've heard good things about 70x + tubes.

 

[kool bubba ice]

For a no frills mid range/vocals I'd suggest the DT48/K1000 for dynamics.. Very truth telling and un altered.

 

[AdamWysokinski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dRummie /img/forum/go_quote.gif Adam, curious, why do you say SS? I've heard good things about 70x + tubes.

K70x need a lot of current and most of popular OTL amps cannot feed them properly, which results in thin sound and weak bass. With a good (strong) SS amp the sound is completely opposite - with full body and great bass.

 

[dRummie]

kool bubba ice - I remember looking into the DT48 when choosing my first set, but something steered me away, though at the moment the reason isn't coming to me. I might give them another pass over when I'm shopping again (can't be too far off

)

Adam - thanks for the clarification. I'll take this into account when planning my next build.

Thought I'd update:
I recently acquired a pair of YH-100's, which were sold to me with the caveat: "Don't expect them to sound good until you get them a good amp". Sound advice, but while my SSMH is still in the works, I thought I'd give them a try through the HP jack on the dock from my powered PC speakers. To give a general idea, this thing has ample power to drive the Yammies to full volume, but I think that's where its merits as an amp end. However, even with this, the Yammis sound pretty darn good! Yes, there's congestion, and I think I'll need to play with the damping, as the sound is a bit dark, but already I can see (hear?) glimpses of the right sort of sound.
The main merit of these that I can hear now is the separation of vocal timbre: in polyphonic works from the Codex Specialnik (performed by the Hilliard ensemble), the voices do not blend into a single vocal behemoth! They're not as separate as I'd like, but it's encouraging that, given the source, I'm able to hear even this.
So, I think I'll say for now that the recommendation seems to have been spot-on, and I'm a hopeful (if not yet fully happy) camper. Once the SSMH is done, I'll post more detailed impressions.

Aristos: I did try the 225's with the same set-up for comparison, and the main problem is the upper frequency boost, which pushes everything else into the background. I've heard that this improves greatly with good amplification, so I'll hold off saying anything more until I can provide that. For now my verdict is that without a decent amp, the 225's aren't suitable even for energetic small-scale works.

 

[Acix]

Try the K-701/2, or the K-271MKll.

 

[dRummie]

Thanks, Acix, AKG's are some of the phones I'll be looking into for my next moment of weakness