Inkmo
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2005
- Posts
- 1,118
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- 11
So now that I have a job and a little bit of money, I've been thinking about getting a truly nice portable set up. I've been thinking about new mp3 players, possibly amps (just a little!), and I guess new portables, too. Most of my portables have died one way or another, believe it or not. Both my KSC75 and my Audio Technica SJ5 developed shorts in one of their channels. My HD201's cable is going south. I actually plan to get all of these recabled or replaced at some point in the future.
Something that is further complicating things is that I want to buy a couple of pairs of non-portable headphones. One is a pair of relatively new 595s that have been offered to me through a friend for about $150 (which I think is supposed to be a pretty decent price for those). Then, there's the 770s dropping in price on amazon. I've always been curious about those and might have to jump in. I always thought they might be fun headphones for an afternoon at the coffee shop, but I doubt they're portable. Can anyone dissuade me from these decisions? Should I shoot for both? All three? One over the other?
Anyways, onto the portables. I'm sort of a closed circumaural enthusiast, so this complicates everything. I got a pair of Etys plugs for concerts and don't mind them enough that I could consider the ER-6i, but I've never really been enamored of canalphones. Anyways, some stuff I was thinking about:
Audio Technica M50 - Headroom apparently loved these things. I have a pair of AD900s that I already love, so this could either be a good or bad reason to get more into the audio technica sound. How does this compare to some of the other expensive Audio Technica portables?
That new Denon Portable. I forget which one I've heard that one of those new Denon portables is truly exceptional
JVC HARX700 - Is that what it's called? I've seen on other forums that it is like a tiny A900. That's a lot considering it goes for about $35 most places. I haven't found one for sale, though. Is this thing portable?
Panasonic RP-HTX7 - What was the verdict on that one? I remember people got kinda excited about them, but then I didn't hear much else. At least they're beautiful. I never got one, but I noticed today that they carry a red one at target, and well, my torch was relit.
Beyerdynamic DT250 - I've always heard these are really nice, but I'm sort of confused by the different resistance configurations....
Beyerdynamic DT770 (2005 consumer) - I list this because it's so cheap. It's really bulky, but it might be good for maybe, travel...? I dunno. not so much "walking around" portable as "going and sitting places outside the house" portable. What is your experience to this extent.
Equation RP-21 - I guess I pretty much gotta mention it. I loved the RP-15 while I had it, and the HP3700 is even a pretty fine can for just 30 bucks. However, I've had four pairs of Equation cans and two have had slight channel imbalances (like, very close to my JND limen for dB, but still over). I'm sure it was just my bad luck, and maybe going to a more expensive headphone will ensure I won't have problems like that (it seems I get channel imbalances in more than half my <$50 cans, so maybe it's unfair to single the equations out. My marshmallows had the same problem, and one channel in my HD201s takes a noticeable dip at 5kHz that the other doesn't)
Of course, there are some of the old standards like the Sony MDR-V6 and Sennheiser HD280 (which I liked the one time I listened to it), but It seems these are sorta old hat. Does the list above eclipse these?
Is there anything else I should consider?
I'm kinda thinking I might jump at those two non portables, and just wait a little longer for the rest. That Beyer deal is good. I'm just too afraid that I'll find I don't Actually need all of those non-portables. So confused.
Something that is further complicating things is that I want to buy a couple of pairs of non-portable headphones. One is a pair of relatively new 595s that have been offered to me through a friend for about $150 (which I think is supposed to be a pretty decent price for those). Then, there's the 770s dropping in price on amazon. I've always been curious about those and might have to jump in. I always thought they might be fun headphones for an afternoon at the coffee shop, but I doubt they're portable. Can anyone dissuade me from these decisions? Should I shoot for both? All three? One over the other?
Anyways, onto the portables. I'm sort of a closed circumaural enthusiast, so this complicates everything. I got a pair of Etys plugs for concerts and don't mind them enough that I could consider the ER-6i, but I've never really been enamored of canalphones. Anyways, some stuff I was thinking about:
Audio Technica M50 - Headroom apparently loved these things. I have a pair of AD900s that I already love, so this could either be a good or bad reason to get more into the audio technica sound. How does this compare to some of the other expensive Audio Technica portables?
That new Denon Portable. I forget which one I've heard that one of those new Denon portables is truly exceptional
JVC HARX700 - Is that what it's called? I've seen on other forums that it is like a tiny A900. That's a lot considering it goes for about $35 most places. I haven't found one for sale, though. Is this thing portable?
Panasonic RP-HTX7 - What was the verdict on that one? I remember people got kinda excited about them, but then I didn't hear much else. At least they're beautiful. I never got one, but I noticed today that they carry a red one at target, and well, my torch was relit.
Beyerdynamic DT250 - I've always heard these are really nice, but I'm sort of confused by the different resistance configurations....
Beyerdynamic DT770 (2005 consumer) - I list this because it's so cheap. It's really bulky, but it might be good for maybe, travel...? I dunno. not so much "walking around" portable as "going and sitting places outside the house" portable. What is your experience to this extent.
Equation RP-21 - I guess I pretty much gotta mention it. I loved the RP-15 while I had it, and the HP3700 is even a pretty fine can for just 30 bucks. However, I've had four pairs of Equation cans and two have had slight channel imbalances (like, very close to my JND limen for dB, but still over). I'm sure it was just my bad luck, and maybe going to a more expensive headphone will ensure I won't have problems like that (it seems I get channel imbalances in more than half my <$50 cans, so maybe it's unfair to single the equations out. My marshmallows had the same problem, and one channel in my HD201s takes a noticeable dip at 5kHz that the other doesn't)
Of course, there are some of the old standards like the Sony MDR-V6 and Sennheiser HD280 (which I liked the one time I listened to it), but It seems these are sorta old hat. Does the list above eclipse these?
Is there anything else I should consider?
I'm kinda thinking I might jump at those two non portables, and just wait a little longer for the rest. That Beyer deal is good. I'm just too afraid that I'll find I don't Actually need all of those non-portables. So confused.