Fulch36
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2013
- Posts
- 16
- Likes
- 15
I haven't been round these parts in a few years but unfortunately for me: my venerable Philips Fidelio X1's have died. The left driver appears to be faulty (they've always had a channel balance issue since the day I got them so maybe this isn't the biggest surprise!) and so I have passed them, and the Graham Slee Solo I was driving them with, on to a friend who likes to try and fix electricals as a hobby.
I am now in desperate need of a replacement as I'm having to use my IEM's when I work and I'm not enjoying the experience. On the plus side my new job means a bigger budget of around £1000 for the headphones themselves and a suitable amp (I'll be using my Creative Titanium HD as a DAC/DSP).
Music tastes are fairly varied but mainly consist of: Indie, Rock, Folk, Country, Acoustic and the odd bit of Electronic. Previous headphones I've owned would be Sennheiser HD598, Sennheiser PC360, Beyerdynamic DT990 and of course the Fidelio X1's - despite what this string of ownership might imply I am incredibly sensitive to treble! I found both of the Senn's to be very fatiguing and could only manage an hour or so of continuous use even though I found them very comfortable to wear, I even find myself able to detect the squeal of things like switch mode power supplies (wallwart's) if there are any in the room!
Not fully understanding this at the time I went from the 598 to the DT990 to get a more lively and energetic signature (ie more bass) and still found that I could only listen to them for short periods of time but that they were more engaging for a wider variety of music. I then moved to the X1 and was far happier: with some source material I could still end up wincing at times but it was a rarity and they sounded great to me. I did miss the mid-presence of the 598 for anything acoustic though.
So: I'm after an open headphone (haven't tried anything closed in years and don't need the sealing), mid-sized soundstage, without a lot of treble, mids that are forward but I'd still like a fair amount of bass presence (slightly less than the X1 maybe?). Preferably with velour pads - I had an old set of closed 'phones that sounded great but had pleather pads and these used to leave me feeling nauseous with how hot they made my head, possibly this wouldn't be as bad on an open headphone though?
Options I've found on my own: Audeze LCD-2, Hifiman HE-500 and HE-400i.
Any suggestions or feedback would be very much appreciated!
I am now in desperate need of a replacement as I'm having to use my IEM's when I work and I'm not enjoying the experience. On the plus side my new job means a bigger budget of around £1000 for the headphones themselves and a suitable amp (I'll be using my Creative Titanium HD as a DAC/DSP).
Music tastes are fairly varied but mainly consist of: Indie, Rock, Folk, Country, Acoustic and the odd bit of Electronic. Previous headphones I've owned would be Sennheiser HD598, Sennheiser PC360, Beyerdynamic DT990 and of course the Fidelio X1's - despite what this string of ownership might imply I am incredibly sensitive to treble! I found both of the Senn's to be very fatiguing and could only manage an hour or so of continuous use even though I found them very comfortable to wear, I even find myself able to detect the squeal of things like switch mode power supplies (wallwart's) if there are any in the room!
Not fully understanding this at the time I went from the 598 to the DT990 to get a more lively and energetic signature (ie more bass) and still found that I could only listen to them for short periods of time but that they were more engaging for a wider variety of music. I then moved to the X1 and was far happier: with some source material I could still end up wincing at times but it was a rarity and they sounded great to me. I did miss the mid-presence of the 598 for anything acoustic though.
So: I'm after an open headphone (haven't tried anything closed in years and don't need the sealing), mid-sized soundstage, without a lot of treble, mids that are forward but I'd still like a fair amount of bass presence (slightly less than the X1 maybe?). Preferably with velour pads - I had an old set of closed 'phones that sounded great but had pleather pads and these used to leave me feeling nauseous with how hot they made my head, possibly this wouldn't be as bad on an open headphone though?
Options I've found on my own: Audeze LCD-2, Hifiman HE-500 and HE-400i.
Any suggestions or feedback would be very much appreciated!