Recomendations For My 1st Audiophile Cans
Nov 29, 2008 at 9:12 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 10

sirmasterboy

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First of all, I'm looking to spend around $200 for my first pair of audiophile headphones.

I've always been an avid music lover, I've played the trombone for almost 10 years now and listen to a very wide variety of music. My main source for audio is my Desktop PC which has an X-Fi in it and I use Winamp with the ASIO plug-in.

For the last 4 or so years, my main headphones have been the dreaded Bose TriPort headphones which were a gift. I know they are crap, am at these forums am I not? :p

Anyways, I feel that I have gotten too used to them and don't want to have trouble adjusting to REAL headphones. I know that for true sound you need to go open air. I am a little bit afraid of the other drawbacks of open phones but I am open to go ahead and get a pair.

At this point I would like to get a set that do not need to be amped, however, would I be better off plugging them into my X-Fi via analog? Or going digital from my X-Fi to my Logitech Z-5500 and using that to amp my headphones when I use them. That is essentially amping them isn't it?

The 3 pairs that I have found to be options from browsing around these forums are the HD595, the AD-700, and AD-900. I am leaning toward getting a great condition used pair of AD-900's for $175. I am however, afraid of the "weak bass" that I have heard mentioned several times around these forums. I like to listen to rock music that really punches and also listen to my share of trance/techno so strong bass is somewhat important to me. I do also enjoy crisp highs, and mids are what are the least important to me from what I know.

What recommendations or info can any of you gurus of sound give to an audiophile newcomer?

In short, I want an overall well-rounded headphone that will blow my old crappy Bose TriPorts out of the water in every aspect.
 
Nov 29, 2008 at 4:49 PM Post #2 of 10
The AD900 is the best of those 3 headphones. Even the AD700 beats the HD595 in some aspects. The HD595 might have a bit more bass impact than the other 2 but not much. The AD700 would have the least. The AD900 is the best open pair of headphones in that price range in my opinion. You could always equalize the bass if it is too little. You could also look into the Grado 225 but they wont be as balanced sounding as the other 3 nor as good for multiple music genres.

If you want closed look into the Beyerdynamic DT250.
 
Nov 29, 2008 at 5:01 PM Post #3 of 10
I found the hd555 to be enjoyable with all kinds of music/movies etc, but a little boring as it did not really have that rocky punch. Have not heard the AT's though they are often recommended as alternatives to hd555/595

about using x-fi or z5500, both use an amp, or there is no sound. see which one you like best. z5500 is probably more conveniently placed on your desktop...
 
Nov 29, 2008 at 6:33 PM Post #4 of 10
$200 will get you a used Sennheiser HD-600. If you put the Triport on eBay, you could probably get a pair new, which run around $300. Run a few searches on the HD-600 here; you'll see how much they're appreciated here and used as sort of a benchmark for other headphones. They're great with everything I've thrown at them, too. They do like to have an amp, but you can get away with using a receiver.
 
Nov 30, 2008 at 4:16 AM Post #5 of 10
Audio Technica's we're most first entry levels (if you don't count SR60's), and I've been hooked since. I had the A900's which I've held onto for as long as possible, and just recently decided to sell them for an system upgrade.
Very good soundstage, low impedence, and source forgiving. Used them with my ipod happily for quite some time.
 
Nov 30, 2008 at 5:34 PM Post #6 of 10
Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif
If you put the Triport on eBay, you could probably get a pair new, which run around $300.


that's a very good way to go, way better than hd595, imho. if you don't have an amp/receiver hanging around, you can find cheap ones in local secondhand shops maybe, or get a simple c-moy/LittleDot something
they really are headphones to keep, unlike hd595 (or hd555 in my case which sounded very similar to me)
 
Nov 30, 2008 at 5:41 PM Post #7 of 10
x3 for being patient and going for the hd600. Before I discovered head-fi, I bought a pair of 595s a year ago. They're great, but they're not the type of cans that you can just be "happy" with. After a couple months I found myself wanting an upgrade and I wished I had just sprung for the extra $100 to begin with.

Plus, the 600s scale really nicely with amplification so you can upgrade in the future.
 
Nov 30, 2008 at 11:13 PM Post #8 of 10
Thanks for all the input guys, I have decided to go with the HD600 and plan on getting an iBasso D2 Boa amp for them for my first setup. I think it will be a huge step forward but I am excited about it and ready for it.
 
Nov 30, 2008 at 11:23 PM Post #9 of 10
Quote:

Originally Posted by sirmasterboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Thanks for all the input guys, I have decided to go with the HD600 and plan on getting an iBasso D2 Boa amp for them for my first setup. I think it will be a huge step forward but I am excited about it and ready for it.


why don't you buy full size amp instead of ibasso d2?
 
Nov 30, 2008 at 11:54 PM Post #10 of 10
Well, what full size amps can you recommend for under $200. For $187 I heard the iBasso D2 Boa is a great value and I liked the idea of its portability. Will a $200 full-size desktop amp be considerably better than the iBasso D2 Boa? And if so, which ones should I consider?
 

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