Heya,
I've played around and finally figured out a good resting place for me and my full-size portable setup. I use this daily pretty much when ever I go some where, even if it's just to the grocery store, campus, or just out to the bistro. I can't wear IEM's, they just bother my ears too much sadly. I don't like on-ears, as they are just annoying to me comfort wise. I like big headphones. I've always enjoyed how they look, how they feel. Style is also important, when it comes to big headphones. I've gone through quite a few headphones (sigh) looking for a sound and feel coupled with a build quality and isolation that would work as a full size portable. I've kayaked in Denon D5000's. But end of the day, the headphone that had all the qualities and look that I wanted, were the Beyer DT770 Premiums. I love the style of them, retro, but metro. Great passive isolation. Lots of room for tinkering which I've done too.
Headphone:
Beyer DT770 Premium
Mods:
I had it custom re-cabled by Brian over at BTG Audio. It has a locking detachable mini-XLR connection (like AKG) with a 4 foot braided sheathed cable that terminates to 3.5mm. I also have another 3 foot extension for home use when needed of the same cable type, as I got it as one big thing so they would match.
The pads are T70 pads, the micro-fiber, not the standard DT series pads. The T70 micro-fiber pads isolate
significantly more and have a nice feel to them, the grip of non-slippery fabric, but not the plastic feel of pleather/leather, and not the couch-cushion feel of velour. I actually got the T70's to be a portable, but the sound was not to my liking. So I went for a premium DT770 since they look virtually the same, and stole the micro-fiber pads. Looks and feels like the T70 (I love how it looks), but has the sound of the warmer DT770 which I prefer in every way.
Source:
Sansa Fuze with 32gig MicroSD with all FLAC loaded.
LOD cable of course.
Fiio E11 amplifier.
I have the two units held together with velcro tape, I prefer this to fooling with rubber bands and the like. Holds like a champ.
Pictures:
And here's how I look as I walk around with them, getting weird stares from the Monster / iBud kids:
Very best,