mbritt
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2005
- Posts
- 211
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- 259
I am thinking about taking my musical listening up a few notches and would like some advice. First, let me tell you that I listen to everything from Johnny Cash to Nine Inch Nails. I find myself listening to James Blunt and Ray Lamontagne a lot lately as well as Tom Petty but I also like the Gorillaz and quite a few "down tempo" artists like Portishead (I warned you I am all over place musically).
My main music listening is from Apple Loss-less encoded songs through the airport express via optical out to my home stereo (Axiom Speakers). I also have Swan's multimedia speakers for my desktop. The have an amazing soundstage (I hope that is the word I am looking for). I can close my eyes and I swear the singer is directly in front of me (not to the sides where the speakers are) and each background singer and instrument is coming from a different location. I want that same experience with my new headphone system. BTW, my current headphones are Grado SR60's and also the ER6i's for sound isolation on airplanes. Both have nice sounds but they seem to place everything inside my head. I use these phones mostly with my 60Gb iPod Video or laptop.
Another issue I would like to address is listening fatigue (still not sure of proper audiophile terminology). On a lot of home systems or listening in the car I get annoyed at shrill highs. Examples include the high harmonica notes from Blues Travelers, guitar licks from White Stripes and especially the crescendo towards the end of Johnny Cash's cover of Hurt (this taxes a lot of speakers as well). Portishead can also sound shrill on some systems.
I went back to the shop where I bought my Grado's and auditioned the 225 and 325i. I am really a sucker for the retro design especially the aluminum on the 325i's. Everyone talks about how good the 225's are but I thought they sounded really shrill and made me wince during the Hurt crescendo. I tried the 325i's and thought they were very listen-able and exposed more of the nuance than I get out of my 60's but there still doesn't seem to be the soundstage I am after. I realize that my experience is exactly opposite of everyone posting on all the headphone forums where they think the 325i's are too harsh and the 225's are smoother. Oh well.
After a lot of reading and research I am leaning towards the following choices:
HD595 - good impact and exciting with a large soundstage and a little more base, easy to drive without being amped. Also great price point for me
HD650 - mellows out the shrill highs and exposes every nuance in the mids. Maybe lacks some of the base and soundstage - top of budget and not good for laptop or iPod without amp
AKG 701 - Seems to merge the best of both Senn's with a higher price. Worried about the fatigue caused by bright or shrill notes. Seems to be OK without amp - also at top of price range
DT880 - Stacks up pretty well in areas that are important but I am worried about fatigue. Might be too shrill. Not sure about un-amped.
AKG K271S - almost an afterthought but I really like the retro look and the idea of closed headphone for some situations.
Also under consideration is the Desktop Millet Hybrid Amp. I like the idea of keeping all the clarity and warming up or neutralizing some of the shrillness from the highs. I plan on purchasing it later as an upgrade path to one of the above headphones so that I don't give my wife a heart attack or have to sleep on the couch for several months (ah but it would be in sweet sweet musical isolation - almost worth it).
There you have it. Since I can't audition all of these headphones at once, even in Los Angeles, I will need to rely on help from those of you with experience.
thanks
My main music listening is from Apple Loss-less encoded songs through the airport express via optical out to my home stereo (Axiom Speakers). I also have Swan's multimedia speakers for my desktop. The have an amazing soundstage (I hope that is the word I am looking for). I can close my eyes and I swear the singer is directly in front of me (not to the sides where the speakers are) and each background singer and instrument is coming from a different location. I want that same experience with my new headphone system. BTW, my current headphones are Grado SR60's and also the ER6i's for sound isolation on airplanes. Both have nice sounds but they seem to place everything inside my head. I use these phones mostly with my 60Gb iPod Video or laptop.
Another issue I would like to address is listening fatigue (still not sure of proper audiophile terminology). On a lot of home systems or listening in the car I get annoyed at shrill highs. Examples include the high harmonica notes from Blues Travelers, guitar licks from White Stripes and especially the crescendo towards the end of Johnny Cash's cover of Hurt (this taxes a lot of speakers as well). Portishead can also sound shrill on some systems.
I went back to the shop where I bought my Grado's and auditioned the 225 and 325i. I am really a sucker for the retro design especially the aluminum on the 325i's. Everyone talks about how good the 225's are but I thought they sounded really shrill and made me wince during the Hurt crescendo. I tried the 325i's and thought they were very listen-able and exposed more of the nuance than I get out of my 60's but there still doesn't seem to be the soundstage I am after. I realize that my experience is exactly opposite of everyone posting on all the headphone forums where they think the 325i's are too harsh and the 225's are smoother. Oh well.
After a lot of reading and research I am leaning towards the following choices:
HD595 - good impact and exciting with a large soundstage and a little more base, easy to drive without being amped. Also great price point for me
HD650 - mellows out the shrill highs and exposes every nuance in the mids. Maybe lacks some of the base and soundstage - top of budget and not good for laptop or iPod without amp
AKG 701 - Seems to merge the best of both Senn's with a higher price. Worried about the fatigue caused by bright or shrill notes. Seems to be OK without amp - also at top of price range
DT880 - Stacks up pretty well in areas that are important but I am worried about fatigue. Might be too shrill. Not sure about un-amped.
AKG K271S - almost an afterthought but I really like the retro look and the idea of closed headphone for some situations.
Also under consideration is the Desktop Millet Hybrid Amp. I like the idea of keeping all the clarity and warming up or neutralizing some of the shrillness from the highs. I plan on purchasing it later as an upgrade path to one of the above headphones so that I don't give my wife a heart attack or have to sleep on the couch for several months (ah but it would be in sweet sweet musical isolation - almost worth it).
There you have it. Since I can't audition all of these headphones at once, even in Los Angeles, I will need to rely on help from those of you with experience.
thanks