[Iskra]

Hi, I'll start off with a short intro. They call me Jay and last time I checked I was still under 40, thank god. Love videogames and movies, very preferably in my own couch - with headphones!
 
Okay, getting down to biz. I'm thinking about buying:
Cambridge DAC-magic Plus (as DAC + AMP)
Cambridge BT-100 Bluetooth-dongle (for streming music, mostly Spotify)
 
I wanna use the set-up for Video games (PS4), TV (IPTV, via fibre) and streaming music. The PS4 and TV demands atleast two Optical-in on the DAC and AFAIK there are no other Amp that can stream music wirelessly.
 
Then I'm looking for a pair of headphones. I'm using the Sennheiser HD598 right now and I'm not impressed by it. I think it lacks basically everything. The sound just feels... thin. Not enough bass for those bass heavy hiphop and reggae music, and lacking at the highs aswell, IMO. The mids I suppose if fairly good, but there are only mids, in my ear.
 
I'm wishing for a headphone with tight, prominent bass. I don't mind the warmer, slighty bass-heavy - I actually prefer it. I'm very sensetive when it comes to sharp or loud highs.
 
I'm fairly limited to the Swedish market, but if I find something somewhere else I might try it.
 
Budget for everything - around US 1000. Thats about 10.000 Swedish. I'm thinking about spending about 5-600 dollars on the headphones alone..
 
Been looking on the Audio Technica W1000X and Philips Fidelio X2.
 
Thanks and have a gooood weekend!

 

[obobskivich]

Haven't heard the Philips, the W1000X are certainly in that "warmer, slightly bass-heavy" category though. With reggae or hip-hop they do very well imho. I'd also look at Ultrasone (PRO2900 and PRO900 in specific), if you want something punchier. Both will do well for gaming in terms of positional audio and presentation.

I'm not familiar with the Cambridge, but there are plenty of inexpensive Bluetooth receiver devices out there that you could connect to wide variety of amplifiers or other components. I'm assuming you already have a Bluetooth source (like a smartphone) but you can get inexpensive transmitters too.

 

[Iskra]

Haven't heard the Philips, the W1000X are certainly in that "warmer, slightly bass-heavy" category though. With reggae or hip-hop they do very well imho. I'd also look at Ultrasone (PRO2900 and PRO900 in specific), if you want something punchier. Both will do well for gaming in terms of positional audio and presentation.

I'm not familiar with the Cambridge, but there are plenty of inexpensive Bluetooth receiver devices out there that you could connect to wide variety of amplifiers or other components. I'm assuming you already have a Bluetooth source (like a smartphone) but you can get inexpensive transmitters too.

THank you for your fast answer. Been looking in at the Ultrasone PRO900 and they seem, after reading some reviews, like the top is very sharp, that of which stings like needles in my sensetive ears. I don't know how the W1000X's are like in that regard though, nor the PRO2900. I think the Cambridge AMP/DAC is abit of the brighter side.
 
Hm, I don't know anything about connecting such devices together. I'm fairly new to headphones and the analog world. I've been mostly into digital, like home theatre and the likes. My wish is to get the analog experience but with some digital perks, so to speak.

 

[obobskivich]

THank you for your fast answer. Been looking in at the Ultrasone PRO900 and they seem, after reading some reviews, like the top is very sharp, that of which stings like needles in my sensetive ears. I don't know how the W1000X's are like in that regard though, nor the PRO2900. I think the Cambridge AMP/DAC is abit of the brighter side.

PRO900 aren't really harsh - they're bright and lean towards the cold side, but they aren't harsh or abusive unless the material is just junk (you aren't listening to 64k mp3s or net radio from the 1990s are you?). PRO2900 are similar, with less bass. W1000X are warmer, slower, and have colored mids. You do have to remember, however, that Ultrasone headphones with S-LOGIC will have very polarizing reviews, and Ultrasone's research has estimated that something like 20-30% of the general population is more or less incompatible with S-LOGIC. This doesn't mean I'd shy away from them - try them from somewhere with a return policy, and if they don't work for you, send them back and try something else.


Differences between DACs are extremely small from one to the next, and differences between amps tend to be both small and headphone/speaker dependent because you're not just dealing with "how does the amp sound" but also "how does it interact with X load." So something like the Sennheisers are a lot more reactive, and will be more "amp dependent" because of that.

Hm, I don't know anything about connecting such devices together. I'm fairly new to headphones and the analog world. I've been mostly into digital, like home theatre and the likes. My wish is to get the analog experience but with some digital perks, so to speak.

What do you mean by "the analog experience" or "the analog world"? Everything you've discussed this far, in terms of sourcing, is purely digital. Unless you want to get into FM, tape, vinyl, etc you're dealing with digital sources, and D/A conversion is necessary because amplifiers and headphones require an analog signal. The Cambridge isn't exclusive for Bluetooth connectivity - there are many devices that will accomplish that, as well as devices that can stream on their own vs being a digital sink from a transport. You really have a superfluity of options when it comes to digital sources these days.

 

[Iskra]

PRO900 aren't really harsh - they're bright and lean towards the cold side, but they aren't harsh or abusive unless the material is just junk (you aren't listening to 64k mp3s or net radio from the 1990s are you?). PRO2900 are similar, with less bass. W1000X are warmer, slower, and have colored mids. You do have to remember, however, that Ultrasone headphones with S-LOGIC will have very polarizing reviews, and Ultrasone's research has estimated that something like 20-30% of the general population is more or less incompatible with S-LOGIC. This doesn't mean I'd shy away from them - try them from somewhere with a return policy, and if they don't work for you, send them back and try something else.

What do you mean by "the analog experience" or "the analog world"? Everything you've discussed this far, in terms of sourcing, is purely digital. Unless you want to get into FM, tape, vinyl, etc you're dealing with digital sources, and D/A conversion is necessary because amplifiers and headphones require an analog signal. The Cambridge isn't exclusive for Bluetooth connectivity - there are many devices that will accomplish that, as well as devices that can stream on their own vs being a digital sink from a transport. You really have a superfluity of options when it comes to digital sources these days.

 
Right now I'm leaning towards the W1000X to be honest. The Ultrasone with the S-LOGIC isn't that appealing. Not that I don't appreciate your tips, I just think the W1000X will work better for me. But as you said, I'm gonna order from somewhere that has a return policy so that I can try them out for myself. And really, the W1000X just looks so good aswell. I know that doesn't reflect the sound, but I just can't help myself!
 
How does the HiFiMan fare against these other headphones?
 
And yes, I'm so green in this area that I don't really know of what I speak, hehe. I however found a nice looking NAD D3020. Built in BT-streaming is very appealing and from what I've read, the NAD should be slightly better as a headphone amp rather than the Cambridge one. And it's cheaper counting in the dongles etc.
 
But I've been looking some on TEACs amps, the newer line with the AI101 and AI301. You know anything about them?

 

[obobskivich]

Right now I'm leaning towards the W1000X to be honest. The Ultrasone with the S-LOGIC isn't that appealing. Not that I don't appreciate your tips, I just think the W1000X will work better for me. But as you said, I'm gonna order from somewhere that has a return policy so that I can try them out for myself. And really, the W1000X just looks so good aswell. I know that doesn't reflect the sound, but I just can't help myself!

Completely not audio related: yes the W1000X look absolutely gorgeous, and the PRO2900 and PRO900 don't hold a candle to them aesthetically.

Audio related: the W1000X are no slouches when it comes to soundstage and presentation, and while S-LOGIC is very clever, it doesn't give the Ultrasones a head-and-shoulders advantage over W1000X or other cans for soundstaging. It's just another way to get at good imaging (I think technically one could argue that Ultrasone is able to do it with shallower cups and smaller drivers, but we're talking about full-size cans here, so who cares ).

Since you want something that leans towards warmth, the W1000X will also probably line up better with that too. The Ultrasones are on the cooler side of things (probably one of the few modern headphones that can be described as such, but I wouldn't go so far as to call them out and out cold).

How does the HiFiMan fare against these other headphones?

No idea; I've avoided PMs largely because of their weight. They have some new models out that are no heavier than the W1000X or similar, but I haven't heard them either.

And yes, I'm so green in this area that I don't really know of what I speak, hehe. I however found a nice looking NAD [COLOR=222222]D3020. Built in BT-streaming is very appealing and from what I've read, the NAD should be slightly better as a headphone amp rather than the Cambridge one. And it's cheaper counting in the dongles etc.[/COLOR]

I've looked at those NADs (there's a whole series of amps that the 3020 comes out of) before in the past, but didn't end up buying. They do look very nice.

[COLOR=222222]But I've been looking some on TEACs amps, the newer line with the AI101 and AI301. You know anything about them?[/COLOR]

No. I have the older H01 (not the A01 with the Class D amps), and its fantastic (I'm actually listening thru it right now). If you don't need the speaker amp component, you can drop the AI series and look at the UD series instead. AFAIK they don't have direct analog inputs though (mine does not, I don't know if that's true of all UD amplifiers), but you can likely find a streaming transport with digital output.

Note that I'm not saying there's anything "bad" about the Cambridge - I have no experience with it either way - just that it isn't the only option for what you want to do.

 

[inthere]

I have the ATH-W1000Z, I don't believe they're available yet in Europe but i may be wrong. They are the successor to the W-1000X which I sold. I also had the HD598, which i just plain broke the headband. 
 
 If you think the HD598 is thin, the W1000X is even thinner. The W-1000Z has more bass than the 1000X, but it's still not a lot of bass. 
 
 If you want an all around full thick sound, get the Audioquest Nighthawk. Superior clarity and very nice soundstage, it's a semi open design but still the soundstage is better than the 598. 
Audio quest is a company based in the Netherlands, so I'm sure they're available in Sweden. Should be great with the Cambridge. It's $598 in America.
 
  Mr. Speakers Alpha Dog ($499 US) also full thick sound with great soundstage and clarity, but can be slightly hard to drive, the Cambridge should be fine for it but I'm not 100% sure. 

 

[Iskra]

There seems to me that the X1999W i divided in two camps. One that states its abit om the bass heavy souns and on camp that think its to weak. I'll kist have to listen to it myself I suppoer, but I ahve high hopes for the W1000X.
 
Ended up buying the NAD och AT W1000X. Lets see how they fair.!

 

[obobskivich]

There seems to me that the X1999W i divided in two camps. One that states its abit om the bass heavy souns and on camp that think its to weak. [

Apparently so. Never would associate the word "thin" with W1000X.

 

[Iskra]

I actually ended up with the NAD and X1000W.
 
Thank you for all your help and inputs on the matter!

 

[lazerbeam]

Look forward to hearing how the Nad performs.

I know im late to throw in my 2 cents but I would add that BT wasn't necessary in your application since you'd be using PS4. I run spotify through my ps3 and all you need is a basic dac/amp through the optical and you'd be fine. I control spotify via my phone but it plays through my receiver and speakers (psb sister Co to Nad so I am a fan of your selection)

 

[obobskivich]

Look forward to hearing how the Nad performs.

I know im late to throw in my 2 cents but I would add that BT wasn't necessary in your application since you'd be using PS4. I run spotify through my ps3 and all you need is a basic dac/amp through the optical and you'd be fine. I control spotify via my phone but it plays through my receiver and speakers (psb sister Co to Nad so I am a fan of your selection)

Didn't even think about using the PS4 to stream...d'oh! My Xbox 360 does the same thing...:rolleyes:

 

[Iskra]

Its true what yiouäre saying, but it seems tii advanced form me. I like the plug n play ability-ish more, if you can call it that. I've had some bad experience with streaming to PS3/4 in the past, with audio loss etc

 

[obobskivich]

Its true what yiouäre saying, but it seems tii advanced form me. I like the plug n play ability-ish more, if you can call it that. I've had some bad experience with streaming to PS3/4 in the past, with audio loss etc

And I'll be the first to admit: I have no idea about that, or how you'd go about setting it up on a PS4, as I don't have a PS4. But in theory, on paper, etc it should work with a modern game console. If it were me, I'd at least spend 5 minutes trying to make it go, and if it isn't intuitive or working ideally, then I'd dump it and find a separate component.

 

[inthere]

Apparently so. Never would associate the word "thin" with W1000X.

 
 Thin in the highs compared to the HD598. I mentioned it because he thought the HD598 sounded thin, which I personally don't. W1000x has more bass and a lot more clarity than the 598, so he may like them. Looking forward to his report.