[bowei006]

Hello, I have recently gone into the audiophile field. I've been in this little beginners audio phile trance for a while now and am thinking of going deeper. To start out with I got brand new music and deleted all my MP3's. I got FLAC's and encoded them into ALAC so i can put it on my ipod.(on average the tracks are 900kbps+ w/ 16bit dynamic range and a 44.1KHz sample rate) (yes i know. the dreads of portability) I also got an FiiO E5 and the FiiO L9 Line out dock. and i use my SHURE SRH 440 Now I have researched new headphones and amplifiers. I have recently started hearing about the Fostex T50RPS's from 2002. Are they any good?(unmodded since i can't do it) What about the ATH M50's? Sennheisers?AKG's? Just like when i bought my Shure's i was looking for a fantastic price to performance ratio. whicha fter reviews. the SRH 440's have shined on the top of that list. Head-fi's headphone list also feature them as the best starting pick. Plus they wre $70 after tax while the ATH M50's that i also researched would've cost $180 after everything. Now then. what headphones would you recommend?

I like Rock, Rap, Hip hop, pop, and nowadays some techno..For bands. I'm a main stream dude. Pendulum, Rise against, Linkin Park, Skillet, 3 doors down, daughtry,  eminem, kenye, rhiana, kid cudi, lil wayne, drake, lady gaga.

And next for an Amplifier. I already know that my E5 won't do for anything over $100. Would the FiiO E7 be good? I heard the DAC on it won't work with the ipod, and should be just used with the computer? i really don't even know how the E7 plugs into anything at all. and for a desktop amp i have seen the E9 to be a good viable choice. are there other amplifiers both desktop and semi-portable(like the E7) that i should also know about? Are my tracks high quality enough? For the best possible sound do i need to use a desktop amp? or the E7 with an DAC??? So many questions. I hope you guys can help me

 

[smilence]

M50 is fine but I guess a DAC with headphone amp will be appropriate for your need.And use it with the computer instead of ipod.

 

[bowei006]

So that means a E7 would be suitable by itself? From the Head-fi E7 review it seems that the DAC is and will be really good to use with the E9 and on a computer. But...then would the E9 be better with the E7 as a combo deal!?! Plus it also states that the E5 is an absolutley fanastic amplifier with supremem bang for the buck anybody else with other headphones?

 

[macrocheesium]

Take a look at the Ultrasone HFI-580. Great for rock and amazing for hip-hop/pop/techno. They don't even need to be amped.

 

[bowei006]

The Ultrasone's look promising. How does it compare to the highly if not the most popular and well known ATH M50's? It has a more streamlined shape than the SRH 440's and the ATH M50's.

 

[macrocheesium]

Do a search for a comparison review against the two, there are plenty on the forum. I did a ton of research trying to decide which one, and I ultimately decided that the Ultrasones were best for me. I do personally think that the Ultrasones are a better headphone.

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

The Ultrasone's look promising. How does it compare to the highly if not the most popular and well known ATH M50's? It has a more streamlined shape than the SRH 440's and the ATH M50's.

HFI 580 > M50.
 
Ignore the M50's unless you simply like how they look better.
 
That said, I like the Panasonic RP-HTF600 over the HFI580 and M50. But that's just me.
 
I think ultimately you would do well with a BeyerDynamic DT770 PRO on an E7.
 
Very best,
 

 

[erod]

Denon AH-D1100 will serve you well.

Comfortable, no need for amp, portable, great bass and soundstage.