[insanefred]

Hi all, I'm looking for recommendations for a pair of closed supra-aural headphones. 10 hours a day of data input is soul-destroying without music, and being forced to listen to your colleagues whistling all day is driving me nuts!
They would be being used with a Panasonic CDP and possibly a Creek headphone amp at a later date. I'm using Sennheiser HD 580s at the moment, and while they are nice and comfy, they tend to let the sound in and out. Comfort is a big factor, anything that sits on the ear hurts, and earbuds are right out!
TIA!
Andrew

 

[Neruda]

so you mean circumaural headphones, as in surrounding the ear.

 

[blr]

Beyerdynamic DT 250.
These are almost as comfy as HD 580, almost because they are closed and physically it is impossible to keep your ears cooled.
They're easily powered and sound great on top of that. ( well not as good as HD 580 but they're closed and for closed cans they're great).
Alternatively you can get some Sony V 6 and buy the Beyerdynamics velvet pads to improve comfort. IMO, however, the Beyers are better sounding by far.

 

[Duncan]

I'm going to London in a few hours... so, I might look out for some of those BeyerDynamic 'phones... or... even try and get my hands on another pair of CD1700s

Should I look out for the 250, 770, or 990s would you think... to have the same kind of sound as the Grados I have? that way, I could have high impedance (suitable for tube amp) and... sound I like... double win?!?!

 

[chych]

Why dismiss the 831 or 931, duncan?

 

[Duncan]

They're open yeah?

The one problem that I have with my Senns and Grados is... that they're open... I use them in my room, whilst using my computer, and with traffic going by outside... so, it'd be nice to go back to a pair of closed cans

 

[blr]

831s are closed and if you have an amp they're the best closed phones I've ever heard ( haven't heard these R10s though)

 

[chych]

Apparantely they are the best closed full sized headphones, when you consider noise leakage... (R10 does leak)... etys though...

And the Beyer 990 is open, duncan.

 

[blr]

Well, chych in fact if you consider sound leakage they're not the best. Due to their huge earcups/drivers they leak sound. DT 250 are much better in this respect.
Had to adit this my english writing is terrible at this time of the night

 

[Duncan]

Oopsey Daisy..

Thanks for pointing that out Cych

 

[Neruda]

You might also want to consider the Denon ADH-950. It's gotten pretty good reviews, although it definitely won't sound as good as the 580 that you're used to.

What price range are you considering, out of curiosity?

 

[beowulf]

You want the Sony MDR-CD3000. Of course people might notice you're not exactly wearing the smallest headphones around.

 

[Hamsta]

Quote:

Originally posted by Duncan I'm going to London in a few hours... so, I might look out for some of those BeyerDynamic 'phones... or... even try and get my hands on another pair of CD1700s

Duncan - didn't I warn you about trading away your SONY's?

Insanefred - The CD1700's are not particularly "external-noise-attenuating" for closed 'phones (although still better than open ones) which probably explains their relatively "open" sound. Having said that, I have them for noise attenuation and back-ground tunes while I'm studying and am quite happy with the degree of block-out.

Isn't MarkR17 still selling his DT-831's? You might want to give that a go. I'm very tempted, but I'm trying to limit myself to a "needs" basis at the moment, and another pair of closed 'phones is not a big "need", no matter how much I may want 'em.

Hamsta

 

[insanefred]

Many thanks for the recommendations everyone.
Neruda - yes, I meant circumaural. Doh! Do you see know how mind-numbing my job is ?

Thanks
Andrew

 

[lini]

insanefred: I second the beyerdynamic recommendation.

And maybe I can staighten this out: There's the DT250 (professional series; in both 80 and - preferably! - 250 Ohm versions), and the open equivalent is the DT531 (hifi-series; 250 Ohm only). Then there are the DT770 Pro and its open equivalent DT990 Pro - both have 250 Ohm in recent versions and are listed in both the professional- and the hifi-series. And then there are the DT831 (closed) and DT931 (open) in the hifi-series, both having 250 Ohm.

I've got the DT531 myself and I'm very fond of it, so you might like the DT250/250, too. And I've also got a Panasonic portable cdp: It works with the DT531 - not too loud, but fairly well. If you add an amp later on, you'll probably notice a general improvement in sound quality, especially in control. It's not too much, but it's nice.

In addition, I've got the firm believe, that as soon as Tomcat reads the thread, you'll get a recommendation for the DT770 Pro.

Or maybe I haven't paid attention, and the DT770 Pro needs too much power for a portable - hmmm, not sure about that... (Bad boy, Manfred!

)

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini