[blazingazn]

awesome they are selling them at London Drugs in Vancouver!
 
i'm gonna grab a pair.

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

awesome they are selling them at London Drugs in Vancouver!
 
i'm gonna grab a pair.

Wow!  840's at a drug store?  When you guys say Universal health care, you ain't joking.  

 

[Armaegis]

London Drugs isn't really a drug store... more like a walmart.

 

[au5t3n5]

Quote:

Save your money. Headfi is a silly and dangerous place and you should really run away while you still have some common sense left.
 
Tossing caution to the wind though, consider the iBasso D4.

thats what im using the fill the gap between my mac and 840s. its simple delightlyful.

 

[chipwelder]

Hi am a total Headphone Noob. Didn't like the sound over hi-fi. just not enveloping enough.
 
But got the SRH 840's with 100USD off on amazon, as I wanted something to track stereo recordings with... have not tried it yet, my recording laptop shed it's MOBO...

Thus far listened to some of my reference cd's on the desktop, (Realtek HD soundcard - goes loud enough, controls well enough, sound is a bit so-so..) also some 320kbps on the Archos 405 and it sounded nice, bass was less, volume less, sound so-so... and some LP's through my baby focusrite audio interface - luckily it can save settings to hardware - which I did before mobo died, and they sound very natural, but beware of the woolly bass on some LP's it'll just get worse. I can't here the diffs between cd and 320kbps mp3 on the desktop soundcard... and on the hi-fi it is usually fairly clear with my music, so take everything with a bit of salt untill I got the dac linked to the focusrite, or headphone amp...
 
I dislike:
1. the comfy settings are too loose-fitting can't move around.
2. I can see that I'm going to be spending more money on this headpone thingy... maybe better portable player, USB dac's... amp not for volume, but more definition...
3. The sound is a little fatiqueing at the moment - haven't heard headphones that aren't  - Senn px100, px40, igrado, ancient Sony mdr-v100 - well they aren't too fatiqueing, but they aren't nice at all... maybe it'll get better.
 
I like:
1. sound is nice and laid back, I can play softer and still work.
2. I can play a bit louder and listen into the music, picked up some Turntable set-up issues that is not so audible in main rig... also musical detail. I am not too fussy with the tt - it just sounds nice... I prefer the analog sound, even though techically it is behind my dvdp and DAC.
3. Isolates good enough I think.
4. Don't find the bass too much, mostly because it doesn't have the issues surrounding too much bass, so it is just a flavour difference, it doesn't stuff up the rest of the sound, that too much bass often does. It's almost like good bass from hifi speakers set up just right the room augments a little, but doesn't muddy it up. Some low-level pink noise killed the fudge in the bass after an hour or two... Kudos to burnin wave generator, must say I didn't play it louder than I could comfortably endure for a few minutes.
5. do get good ambient cues from the music, I don't get a soundstage from headphones as my one ear is a bit weaker above 3kHz than the other, the wife is impressed, and says it actually stages, just behind her...
6. Sound Gels on good recordings, so does not on bad ones... Analog is cool
 
Have listened to:
LP
Ashkenazy rachmaninov 2 klavierkoncerto
Oscar Peterson - My favourite instrument 2
Charlie Byrd - can't remember LP live in las vegas???
The modern jazz quartet  featuring Laurida de almeida, sucky recording, on the hi-fi it sounds good enough.
 
Digital
Sketches of standards domnerus and gustafson - Sounds good prefer my hi-fi still - just for spaciousness etc. Detail on my hi-fi is about the same, but headphones project the details a bit more forward.
Diana krall stepping out,
These: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/recording/1.html convinced me one day I should follow my dream of doing live stereo recording.
Peter Malick trio featuring Norah Jones... sucky recording, but sounds fair enough on the hifi, courtesy of added room acoustics
 
So actually thanks for all the reviews and helping me out about what to buy...
I was actually fed-up with all the tech things in headphones, as it seems good sounding phones can measure quite bad... In the end I took the phones that would work for tracking and had relatively low distortion as the FR your ear/brain gets used to... My choices on amazon were the sennheiser hd 555, 595 BD DT 660-990, AT AD1001 and etymotic ER4s... the ety's were my almost choice as they have a good rep and good FR, just very poor distortion... and it didn't look like 200USD on special is a bargain with them... I like the philosophy, but those distortion figures scared me a bit.
 
Long first post but hope it helps someone.
 
Oh yes compressed music especially bass sucks big time. - I find that a pro... allison Krauss and Robert Plant raising sand, acceptable on hi-fi, the headphones NOT!
 
Update... it is true they do get smoother with play-time, who'da thunk that?! The wife can't keep away from them though... she also commented on sound improvements, she only listens a little every day or two...
The person who said the PX100 beats this one out... you lucky fish, no need to spend any money on audio type nonsense, keep spending on the weed though...

 

[game_fanatic]

Hey guys, I'm hoping you can help me out with a headphone amp/DAC question! 
 
I recently purchased these 'cans, and I'm looking at getting a headphone amp to really take advantage of the quality. The only thing I'm confused on is whether or not to get a dedicated headphone amp + dedicated DAC, or have a amp/DAC combo. I'll be listening to my music through my MacBook, so I imagine a DAC is definitely a priority, but I'm unsure whether I need a dedicated one or not. I know there are lots of options out there from iBasso, Headroom, LittleDot, Fiio, and Firestone to name a few, but I think before I start looking at specific amps I need to figure out what I need. I won't be spending a whole lot, maybe $300 total, so the question is, should I be looking at a $300 amp/DAC, or a $150 amp and a $150 DAC? Thanks for the help guys!

 

[au5t3n5]

im using an ibasso d4, which is a combo, for my 840s. you can get a d4/12 for ~200 or a d6 for ~300. topkits can be added as well for ~60. just a thought.
 

 

[game_fanatic]

Quote:

im using an ibasso d4, which is a combo, for my 840s. you can get a d4/12 for ~200 or a d6 for ~300. topkits can be added as well for ~60. just a thought.
 

Thanks for the recommendations, the iBasso units seem quite well-reviewed.! I guess a sub-question would be, what are the pros/cons of having two separate units versus having an all-in-one unit? 

 

[Armaegis]

Although the 840 doesn't really *need* an amp. It sounds plenty good being driven from an onboard sound card, and macbooks are generally clean sources.
 
If you do get one, I suggest a combination dac/amp, then decide whether you want one that can serve as a standalone amp (for use with ipod etc) or if it has to be plugged in.
 
plugged in: HotAudio (many), Nuforce uDac
battery: iBasso, FiiO, Leckerton
 
Yet another consideration is if you want to use the macbook's optical or not. If yes, then your choices are either the iBasso D10/D12 or Lecketon UHA-6S (there might be others, but I can't recall at the moment). edit: and the Linearossa W3

 

[au5t3n5]

portability. i have a macbook too, like armaegis says, it is a pretty clean source. since i am in college, i like to take my d4 and my cans to the library and jam out. also, portability means i can take my d4 on long car rides if need be. 2 units though, you can have more options. if i didnt get the d4 for portability, i would have looked into the udac2+little dot series. i already have the d4, and just picked up westone 4's so my wallet should not be so tempted.
 
Quote:

Thanks for the recommendations, the iBasso units seem quite well-reviewed.! I guess a sub-question would be, what are the pros/cons of having two separate units versus having an all-in-one unit? 

 
 

 

[game_fanatic]

Thanks for the recommendations, guys! I think I'll lean towards a dedicated amp/DAC combo until I either upgrade my 'cans or become much more dedicated to computer audio! In terms of the best possible sound, would it be preferable to get the D10/D12 and connect my Macbook via optical out to the amp, then plug my phones into the amp? Or would getting the D4 and connecting it via USB yield the same/similar results? Thanks again!

 

[eucariote]

Quote:

Thanks for the recommendations, guys! I think I'll lean towards a dedicated amp/DAC combo until I either upgrade my 'cans or become much more dedicated to computer audio! In terms of the best possible sound, would it be preferable to get the D10/D12 and connect my Macbook via optical out to the amp, then plug my phones into the amp? Or would getting the D4 and connecting it via USB yield the same/similar results? Thanks again!

I liked them with a D10, but they improved noticeably with a full-sized amp.  For that reason, I'd guess that a D4 would work better since it delivers considerably more current than a D10.  When you decide to sacrifice your wallet at the altar of the headphone gods, get a dac with an optical in and a separate amp.  Until then use a D4, rejoice and stay away from this site. 

 

[game_fanatic]

Quote:

I liked them with a D10, but they improved noticeably with a full-sized amp.  For that reason, I'd guess that a D4 would work better since it delivers considerably more current than a D10.  When you decide to sacrifice your wallet at the altar of the headphone gods, get a dac with an optical in and a separate amp.  Until then use a D4, rejoice and stay away from this site. 

Wow, the D4 would work better than the D10? Seems like a no-brainer to get the D4, as it is cheaper than the D10 as well. Does anyone have any other recommendations? I've also had my eye on the Fubar III DAC/Headphone Amp, nuForce Icon u-Dac2, and the cheaper Fiio E7. I'm personally leaning towards the Fubar amp as the shipping from a Canadian dealer is extremely reasonable, but if the iBasso D4 is worth the extra $$ it might be the winner in this slugfest. Thanks again guys, I think I'm closing to finally making a purchase!
 

 

[Armaegis]

My vote still goes to the D10/12 or the Leckerton UHA-6S so you can use the optical out. They give you more than enough power (I used to pair my 840 with the D10 and it was plenty) and if nothing else it frees up a USB port. I believe the optical can also handle higher bitrate files than the usb (although I don't know what the mac's optical out is capable of).

 

[game_fanatic]

Quote:

My vote still goes to the D10/12 or the Leckerton UHA-6S so you can use the optical out. They give you more than enough power (I used to pair my 840 with the D10 and it was plenty) and if nothing else it frees up a USB port. I believe the optical can also handle higher bitrate files than the usb (although I don't know what the mac's optical out is capable of).

Yeah now that you mention the USB port I might go towards something with an optical out. Only having two USB ports on the Macbook can be quite irritating. So I would be looking at getting this cable; http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10229&cs_id=1022902&p_id=1556&seq=1&format=2#description
 
Connect the small end into my Macbook, the larger end into the DAC/Amp, and my headphone jack into the headphone input on the DAC/Amp, and that's all she wrote, eh?