[Roasty]

hi everyone, hope u guys can help me out a bit..

i've got about US$400-500 (and a bit more possibly after my birthday next month) to spend on a pair of headphones and a decent amp.

currently using philips HP890 and a prodigy 7.1LT, only playing FLAC format songs. no amp at present, but ordered a cmoy off ivan castano and waiting for it to arrive. btw i'm in Malaysia so probably wont be able to get Grado phones.

the cmoy i ordered was just for the heck of it. looking for something a bit more decent. headphones needs to be circumaural and comfy. not really worried about noise leakage.

emu0404 is going to be ordered soon (not included in my budget, as will be paid for by dad)

any suggestions?

 

[Emon]

PIMETA and any of the highest end cans offered by various companies? E.g. HD650, Beyerdynamic DTwhatever. Maybe even a Gilmore amp or something, although I haven't looked at those much so take that with a grain of salt.

Edit: Erm, forgot the PPA. Probably a hell of a lot cheaper than a Gilmore design.

 

[jpr703]

Gilmore Lite and Grado 225s. Grado 325i's if you can up your budget a bit.

 

[gordolindsay]

Well there are definately many options at that price point. I have the Beyer DT880s and they are a wonderful headphone at ~$250. You'll also hear alot of praise for the Senn hd650 and probably the AKG k501. All are very good and you'll probably want to do you're research on some models to find what your sonic preference is based on what kind of music you like. You might want to state that so it will be easier for us to lead you to what cans would be best.

If you go with any of the above three, you will definately need to get a powerful amp. I'm no expert in this field so I'll leave that up to all the other amp wizards here

 

[Roasty]

thanks guys. one thing though, it is pretty hard for me to get a good deal on audio equipment as the community of audiophiles here is really small. so if i get anything, it will pretty much be quite close to retail prices here

i gotta skip the grados for a few reasons. one, i cant get them here. two, they are supraaural and i've got ears that stick out sideways > pain.. and three, the designs are really old skool.. heh one mans spam is another mans ham.

heres an idea of what headphones cost here.. HD650 us$380, HD595 $225.

what kind of music do i like? well honestly, it used to be a lot of techno and dance but ever since i got my aego2 and hp890 i've gotten rid of all that and started to enjoy music with good vocals, i like clear highs and a nice sounding mellow bass, and i am getting into orchestra music (cant believe i just said that lols). enya, norah jones, michael buble, classical music. i occasionaly flip on some michael jackson, and country like kenny chesney.

 

[fr4c]

based on your musical preferences, i think you'll enjoy the HD650's a lot. you may go over your budget a little bit depending on the amp you get. also will you be strictly using this setup out of your Prodigy or are you planning to use them with other sources?

 

[Buffalo Bill]

 

[catscratch]

If you hadn't forked out cash for the amp already, I would say that you should look at some Stax systems, as the amp is included in their price, and they offer better bang for the buck IMO then similar dynamic systems + amp. But, there are plenty of very good dynamic phones that you can look at.

The HD650 is a good idea, though you should know that it is pretty dark and laid-back sounding. It does, however, have excellent bass and soundstage, and will be pretty good for both techno and classical music. It needs a whole lot of power, and I don't know if a Cmoy is up to spec.

Try the Beyerdynamic DT880. It has a very open and clear sound, and will do very nicely with some of the more open, airy stuff. It should have enough bass for techno, though it won't blow your mind. You can also look at the AKG K501, which also has a very open, delicate sound.

Another option that you can consider is the AKG-K1000 and the Sonic Impact T-amp. Check out how much the K1000 costs where you're at - the T-amp should cost you all of $35

This is a really, really high-end setup, as the T-amp has a very nice synergy with the K1000 and may outperform amps costing thousands of dollars. The K1000 will be expensive, $800 or so most likely, but it's worth the extra dent in your budget. The Cmoy you can use with a portable for extra quality.

I'm all about electrostats, and the Stax SRS-3030 system may be on your list of things to consider, if once again you can a) stretch the budget and b) find it at a reasonable price. It will offer you a clear, transparent, and detailed sound that you won't find in dynamics at that price point, though at the cost of some impact and bass quantity.

There really are a lot of ideas. These are just a few of the many viable alternatives you can look at.

 

[Roasty]

fr4c : the prodigy is going to be out of the picture and replaced by an emu0404..

catscratch : yeah im currently leaning towards the HD650 but they phones alone make up most of my budget. it costs RM2k here which comes up to US$500. the AKG501 is really hard to get here in this part of the world for some reason or another. my friend told me that he found the 501 pretty much bassless. akg1000? now thats really out of my budget..

i was thinking of hd580 plus a headroom total airhead. is that a good combo? i'd have to order the headroom from the US though.

the cmoy will be paired up with a portable cd player and probably px100 once stocks get in.