[mau5fan]

Alright guys, Im fresh meat to these forums. However, i do have a list of requirements which these three headphones meet: They must be closed (im in a dorm room), they must be good with house and dance music (good bass), and they dont have to be portable (i have earbuds for that). In a previous thread i have managed to narrow my choices down to these three headphones, now i want to hear what you guys have to say. The situation will be as thus: music is downloaded from itunes as 192 kbps files, then may be routed through a Maverick TubeMagic D1 Dac amp and then into the phones. Since my music is of such a low quality, then I may not get the D1 since i dont want my music to be revealed as garbage, in which case i will need the best un-amped headphone choice. So, i need your audiophile expertise to help me choose the right phones. Please include detailed personal experience and references/links to reviews if you can, thank you.
 

 

[s1rrah]

From what I've read and considering your musical preferences, you'll most likely enjoy the DT770's the most (for reasons of bass); that said, I consider the Shure 840's fantastic headphones but they lean a bit more towards the "accurate" side of things with nice and tight bass but also, bass that's well balanced with the rest of the frequency range ( that is, it is not exaggerated in any regard but mostly reflective of the way any given track was recorded). I personally enjoy the Shure sound (both their IEM's and the 840's) but I'm also a long time producer/writer/player of live music and have always been more infatuated with accuracy/neutrality more so that coloration.
 
Hope you get some more comments cause I really don't know too much about the cans other than the 840's ...
 
Best.
 

 

[blueyan]

If you planning to get an amp , you better go with the DT770 .The 780s can be driven without amp. You can get either Dt770 or 780s , but not the 840s !
840s are mid oriented cans and are not made for house and dance music . I got the SRH840 and mainly use them for vocal listening . I tried to listen house , pop ,and electronica with 840s before.
The bass of 840s are insuficient and sound boring  for playing bass oriented genres . The M50s did impressed me for playing bass oriented genres , but I'll keep the 840s for vocal.So now I'm saving up to get the pro 900s.

 

[mau5fan]

If i was to get the Pro 900's, then would i need a dac amp that is more powerful than the maverick D1?

 

[blueyan]

Pro900s are efficient headphone so you don't need amp that badly , but an amp will always help. Some people thinks Pro900s bass are overwhelming and recessed mids ,  but you can fix these issues with an amp. I'm taiwanese , based
on what I've researched in taiwan forum , for the best bang of buck they recommend DR.DAC2 to pair with the Pro900 , and if you still find out the mid are too recessed , then you are adviced to upgrade the cable to oyaide HPC-62 .
But some people found out HPC-62 will tame down the bass a lot .

 

[Eric_C]

How about an alternative: the Sennheiser IE8?
 
It's a pair of in-ears that has adjustable bass levels (and thus can get quite bassy), it won't leak sound of course, and is ridiculously efficient so you won't have dire need of an amp. That way, you could just get the IE8 and a cheaper DAC (e.g.: uDAC), and you'd get to bring the IE8 with you everywhere.
 
I don't know what the exact prices are where you live, but on average, this kind of setup should be well under US$600.

 

[mau5fan]

I still want to go with headphones ( sorry, there's just something inexplicably cool about them). However i have realized one thing. All my music are mp3's downloaded off of itunes,reripping them to a better format wont improve the quality. So i dont want to get good headphones and a dac amp and still hear trash because of the poor music quality. Do i get the best headphones that can be powered by my laptop with out a dac amp (like the maverick D1), and if so, then which would be the best? Im guessing the ones with the lowest impeadence would be the best choice, unless someone (probably) knows something that i dont?

 

[clou91]

Quote:

Pro900s are efficient headphone so you don't need amp that badly , but an amp will always help. Some people thinks Pro900s bass are overwhelming and recessed mids ,  but you can fix these issues with an amp. I'm taiwanese , based
on what I've researched in taiwan forum , for the best bang of buck they recommend DR.DAC2 to pair with the Pro900 , and if you still find out the mid are too recessed , then you are adviced to upgrade the cable to oyaide HPC-62 .
But some people found out HPC-62 will tame down the bass a lot .

Or he could just Kees' mod the 900s for much less

 

[mau5fan]

Quote:

Or he could just Kees' mod the 900s for much less

What is that?

 

[clou91]

Do a search and you should find instruction from Kees. It's a simple mod involving felt chair feet and a thin sheet of cotton. It removes the bass bloat and evens out the sound sig making the 900s into a very good headphone. Shouldn't cost more than a few bucks.

 

[ardgedee]

I've had 840s for about a month now. Something I don't see many people pointing out is that they need some break-in. I'm getting more bass now - direct out of the computer - than when they were new. I'm finding them good as workplace headphones but they don't really rock out. Haven't plugged them into a dedicated headphone amp yet to see if that improves things, but will be trying them this weekend with a Leckerton UHA-6S.

 

[mau5fan]

The Ultrasone 780 has 35 ohm's as compared to the Shure 840's 44 ohm's. How much of a difference will this difference make when being driven by my laptop. If assuming that the lowest impeadance would equal the best sound, I would be led to assume that the 780's are the right choice. How much difference can 9 ohm's make? Would the Shures (or Beyers) be better regardless of the ohm's.

 

[tdockweiler]

Whatever you do don't get the DT-770 32 ohm without an amp. Despite the lower OHM rating I've found it hard to drive.
 
You should look into the Shure SRH-750DJ. A lot of people on here love it for bass heavy electronic music.
 
SRH-840 is only good for specific types of electronic music. I definitely do not find it bass light in any way.

 

[clou91]

Quote:

The Ultrasone 780 has 35 ohm's as compared to the Shure 840's 44 ohm's. How much of a difference will this difference make when being driven by my laptop. If assuming that the lowest impeadance would equal the best sound, I would be led to assume that the 780's are the right choice. How much difference can 9 ohm's make? Would the Shures (or Beyers) be better regardless of the ohm's.

Despite their low ohm rating, the 780s need a good amp. Otherwise, they sound harsh and fatiguing.

 

[mau5fan]

So, if I was to get an amp (like the Maverick D1), and either the Shures or the Ultrasones, would the amp verifibly reveal that my music is a low bit rate (mp3) and make it sound like garbage?