[JamesMcProgger]

Those CAL! looks even more bang for the buck without the isolation in consideration.
 

 

[JamesMcProgger]

btw, you were so totally accurate about the AE-RP21, every little aspect, ive been wearing them for 1.5 hours now and i can feel the clamping force, the bass is delicious, i love  my music like this. only thing they are missing is a suiting carrying case. love them, will be my most used portable can from now on. thanks.

 

 

[ljokerl]

Added the Ultrasone HFI-450 a.k.a. Yamaha RH10MS
 
Quote:

Those CAL! looks even more bang for the buck without the isolation in consideration.

Yes, of course, though to be fair they slide past the ESW9 and other high-end cans mostly by being very comfortable. Hopefully noone wants to take comfort out of the equation though 

 
Quote:

btw, you were so totally accurate about the AE-RP21, every little aspect, ive been wearing them for 1.5 hours now and i can feel the clamping force, the bass is delicious, i love  my music like this. only thing they are missing is a suiting carrying case. love them, will be my most used portable can from now on. thanks.

 

Sounds like a good buy. If you love bass and can stand the fit they really are great value for money 

 

[Armaegis]

Quote:

Quote:

Would it be possible to generate a table without the isolation column? I'm curious how that would shuffle the rankings as not everybody needs the isolation.

 
I think it's exactly what you would expect - poorly isolating headphones do relatively better and highly isolating ones do relatively worse.

 
Thanks Joker. That's pretty much what I was expecting, but it's useful to see the relative rankings based on your scoring system. Please consider adding this to your summary on the first page.

 

[ljokerl]

Quote:

Thanks Joker. That's pretty much what I was expecting, but it's useful to see the relative rankings based on your scoring system. Please consider adding this to your summary on the first page.

I think having two nearly-identical charts in the OP would be slightly excessive but I can add a link to this post or simply to the re-calculated chart. I guess this thread has sort of outgrown its original scope anyway.

 

[Armaegis]

Or spoiler the second chart (though I'm not sure if you can spoiler images...?)

 

[JxK]

Quote:

Yes, of course, though to be fair they slide past the ESW9 and other high-end cans mostly by being very comfortable. Hopefully noone wants to take comfort out of the equation though 

Absolutely not! Props for giving comfort the ranking it deserves. I'm glad that there's at least one other member on this site who prefers enjoying their music without having their ears squished or getting a headache in of the process.

 

[ljokerl]

Quote:

Or spoiler the second chart (though I'm not sure if you can spoiler images...?)

That's a good idea - seems to work fine with my browser. Guess I'll add a new chart to the OP one of these days 

. I've also been asked a couple of times to do an alphabetically-ordered chart for the in-ear thread so maybe I'll get around to that as well (though that's quite a bit more involved seeing as how the in-ear chart is split into two)
 

 

[Armaegis]

Quote:

Absolutely not! Props for giving comfort the ranking it deserves. I'm glad that there's at least one other member on this site who prefers enjoying their music without having their ears squished or getting a headache in of the process.

In some/many cases, I would consider comfort to rank even higher than sound quality. Chasing hifi has rapidly diminishing returns, and I can be happy with my mid fi gear. Heck, I'm perfectly happy with a lot of entry level stuff. Sure, I could nitpick about details or resolution, but at the end of the day I can still enjoy the tunes and relax.
 
What I can't deal with though is discomfort, because it becomes a constant detractor from the music.

 

[ljokerl]

Added Koss Pro DJ100 

 

[tdockweiler]

Excellent review of the DJ100. Basically spot on in every way and I honestly don't think there is anything I don't agree with.
I've been raving about them since day one, so it's good that someone else got a chance to review them.
 
I stopped suggesting them so much due to how difficult they are to drive and how picky they can be with amps.
I'm also one that absolutely refuses to use them un-amped. After being out for many months, it's such a shame that not many people have heard them.
 
For female vocals, they're my favorite along with my AKG k601. They're especially good for any kind of pop music, especially Jpop, even Cantopop!
I love them for "Imogen Heap" and "Chara". Hopefully Best Buy has another sale on them for $50. That's a steal really.

 

[nonsupremous]

Yep couldn't agree more.  They are good headphones, but if you picked them up and used them without an amp, you're probably going to return them.  When I saw the specs on them I brought them home and plugged them straight into my mp3 player and almost threw them in the trash.  I was thoroughly confused.  Once amped though, they really deliver some balanced sound.
 
It's woth noting that they have a stereo/mono switch under the right earcup.  It's a very interesting feature.  Not something I would ever personally use, but woth noting anyway. 

 

[nonsupremous]

I am intrigued by the Numark reveiw from Monday.  Looks like an interesting headphone.  I am still caught up in my Zino's at the moment.  There is something about those cans that has really hit a sweet spot for me.  Haven't used another headphone for nearly 2 months. 
 
Have been looking at the ESW9A for a very long time.  Now a decision.  The HFI780, ESW9A or the Numark?  May have to wait until I've burned myself out on the Zino

 

[JamesMcProgger]

I dont know how i feel about the Koss Dj100, i like Koss, only disappoint Ive had with them is my QZ99 and because i didnt read the reviews...they do isolate tho.
i dont like to carry around an Amp, i have one in my desktop, but then why would i use portable cans in my desktop? for that i have others.
 
I liked the description in the review but i dont want to use a portable amp, but then I'll be missing a lot of their potential, so i guess they are not for me. great review.
 
Lots of comparisons with the HP700 huh? i guess is coming soon.

 

[ljokerl]

Quote:

Excellent review of the DJ100. Basically spot on in every way and I honestly don't think there is anything I don't agree with.
I've been raving about them since day one, so it's good that someone else got a chance to review them.
 
I stopped suggesting them so much due to how difficult they are to drive and how picky they can be with amps.
I'm also one that absolutely refuses to use them un-amped. After being out for many months, it's such a shame that not many people have heard them.
 
For female vocals, they're my favorite along with my AKG k601. They're especially good for any kind of pop music, especially Jpop, even Cantopop!
I love them for "Imogen Heap" and "Chara". Hopefully Best Buy has another sale on them for $50. That's a steal really.

Thanks, and thanks for the chance to try them. The portable headphone thread has so far been much pricier than the IEM one for me since I've had to buy almost every headphone here

.
 
Quote:

It's woth noting that they have a stereo/mono switch under the right earcup.  It's a very interesting feature.  Not something I would ever personally use, but woth noting anyway. 

Yep, perhaps I should make a note of it. I tried to think of an application for it in a consumer setting and couldn't (unless maybe someone had hearing loss in one ear). The AKG K181DJ has such a switch as well. 
 
Quote:

I am intrigued by the Numark reveiw from Monday.  Looks like an interesting headphone.  I am still caught up in my Zino's at the moment.  There is something about those cans that has really hit a sweet spot for me.  Haven't used another headphone for nearly 2 months. 
 
Have been looking at the ESW9A for a very long time.  Now a decision.  The HFI780, ESW9A or the Numark?  May have to wait until I've burned myself out on the Zino

I've read some stories about  the Numarks having poor driver matching but my pair was balanced perfectly as far as I could tell. I've seen them pop up on ebay and amazon for $60-70 for an open box pair which is a great deal. If you're in no rush perhaps you can just keep an eye out on them. 
 
Interestingly, Numark used to sell two different versions - the regular ones with the detachable cables in 3.5 and 6.3mm flavors and a hard-cabled USB version. However, they seem to have consolidated the two a couple of months ago so now they are advertised as "analog and USB". I think they just include a spare cable with a small DAC on it but I'm not sure.
 
Quote:

I dont know how i feel about the Koss Dj100, i like Koss, only disappoint Ive had with them is my QZ99 and because i didnt read the reviews...they do isolate tho.
i dont like to carry around an Amp, i have one in my desktop, but then why would i use portable cans in my desktop? for that i have others.
 
I liked the description in the review but i dont want to use a portable amp, but then I'll be missing a lot of their potential, so i guess they are not for me. great review.
 
Lots of comparisons with the HP700 huh? i guess is coming soon.

Yep, HP700 coming very soon