[shnitz]

I was personally disappointed with the low range Sennheiser (only tried 201 and 202), but you may have better luck with the 203.  Last month, the HD238 were on sale for $40, you would have been happy with those, I think, if they sound anything like the HD428.  Go with the portapro if you want supraaural.  Basically, do you want portable or not?  The JVC and Superlux aren't very much fun to carry around.  If you're around the house, then go big.
 
To Ishcabible: Well, those Beyer DT880 I used are $180 headphones.  Sennheiser HD25 are $180 headphones.  So, to start with, $180 headphones sound something like those.  $180 headphones sound like a competent engineer put $180 worth of design and materials into them to make them perform so that someone with an audio background/training is not let down by them.  If you tape $100 bills on the Portapros, and they magically change the acoustics, then yes, you would have $230 headphones.  Do they sound and feel like HD650's or K701's with those $100 bills taped on?  Then, enjoy.

 

[Ishcabible]

Quote:

 
 
To Ishcabible: Well, those Beyer DT880 I used are $180 headphones.  Sennheiser HD25 are $180 headphones.  So, to start with, $180 headphones sound something like those.  $180 headphones sound like a competent engineer put $180 worth of design and materials into them to make them perform so that someone with an audio background/training is not let down by them.  If you tape $100 bills on the Portapros, and they magically change the acoustics, then yes, you would have $230 headphones.  Do they sound and feel like HD650's or K701's with those $100 bills taped on?  Then, enjoy.

Sigh. Again, do you have a PERFECT seal, never mind I don't want to hijack and I'm in a crappy mood I don't feel like getting banned for raging. But if you want to play the retail game, HD25s are $300 and the DT880s are $350.
 
Anyways, the HARX700 do have a lot more modding potential than the Portapros, so take that into consideration.

 

[stevenswall]

You could do some buying to make the choice... Wait till you have $70 in capital, and purchase both. Compare them head to head, and return the unfavorable. The world of headphone shopping acclimated me to making frequent returns... just try it, you'll like it!

 

[winma]

My vote goes for the JVC's. I do like the sound signature they have, for the price is good. 

 

[trancetunes]

Quote:

You could do some buying to make the choice... Wait till you have $70 in capital, and purchase both. Compare them head to head, and return the unfavorable. The world of headphone shopping acclimated me to making frequent returns... just try it, you'll like it!

I don't know if you saw this thread from the begining, but I am going to try getting this as a birthday gift, so I won't have $70.  I am basically trying to keep it as close to $30, but with shipping and tax included I don't mind a max of $40.
 

 
Quote:

 
Anyways, the HARX700 do have a lot more modding potential than the Portapros, so take that into consideration.

I definitely am not into this enough to do any modding haha   With that being said, and looking at the specs I pasted, would you say the JVC is better overall?  The JVC have a slightly larger frequency range, but the PortaPro have a higher impedance.   I will be using them on my desktop PC so I am not sure if I really need the higher impedance??  I think it's better to go for the higher range provided by JVC HARX700 right?  Let me know what you think if you can.

 

[winma]

Quote:

 I think it's better to go for the higher range provided by JVC HARX700 right?  Let me know what you think if you can.

They sound good even with onboard soundcards, they are easy to drive. Dont require real amplification. 

 

[skozsert]

I have both the pro 700s and the hd681s.  I'd go for the pro 700s if there is a reputable seller still around, otherwise the hd681s sound amazing for the price.  There are a couple of long threads about them on rg http://rockgrotto.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=review&action=display&thread=4559 and http://rockgrotto.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=review&action=display&thread=4769 .  Those should give you a good idea of the sound signature and what to expect in comfort/build quality.  Both hps are easily driven so there shouldn't be any immediate need for an amp.

 

[Ishcabible]

Quote:

I definitely am not into this enough to do any modding haha   With that being said, and looking at the specs I pasted, would you say the JVC is better overall?  The JVC have a slightly larger frequency range, but the PortaPro have a higher impedance.   I will be using them on my desktop PC so I am not sure if I really need the higher impedance??  I think it's better to go for the higher range provided by JVC HARX700 right?  Let me know what you think if you can.

Psh, it's just putting some tack on the cups and stuff! Specs mean nothing. Take a look at Skullcandy's specs. They don't look too bad but they sound like crap. 
 
And for impedance, this explains it better than I ever could:
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by atothex

Hey boomana, if you're still updating, maybe you can help clear up some of the common misinformation going around. I can't really think of too much at the moment, but when I keep seeing people telling others that certain headphones don't need amps because their impedance is low, that just kills me. I saw a post by Cool_Torpedo in Currawong's blog that explained things pretty well:

OK, here we go, since I can't find the thread nor the reply, I'll try to explain a bit -again- how the impedance/sensitivity thing goes.

Headphones' drivers are transducers that convert AC electricity into sound. Dynamic drivers, the most common ones, use a coil -wounded wire around a hollow cylinder- into a magnetical field provided by a magnet, to convert the AC voltage into movement which is transferred to a membrane. The membrane's movement is transferred to the air particles in front of your ear. For the frequency characteristics of that vibration, and its pressure level, your brain interprets it as sound.

The voice coil of the driver has an impedance, which is the opposition it presents to the AC source (the amp or any headphone out) to the free flow of electrons thru it. The lower that impedance, the more freely the electrons travel and the closer is the scenario to a short-circuit. This means that your source of electricity needs to pump more current intensity to correctly drive the transducer. So you can take two conclussions from this:
- What makes the AC to drive any coil is its voltage. The minute variations of voltage follow the signal originally recorded.
- The current intensity is important to keep the coil excited, and you need more current intensity the lower is the impedance. There's a relation between the current voltage and the intensity which is the power measured in watts. Power is the product of the voltage and the intensity: P=V*I. This is why amps are rated for their power output and not only for their voltage capabilites.

Up to this moment there's no relation between the impedance and how loud the transducer will sound. However there's a parameter named sensitivity which tells you how loud will a transducer "sound" for a given amount of power you're feeding it. The sensitivity is rated in dB/mW for headphones, so a pair of phones delivering a SPL of 100dB/mW are more sensitive (can sound louder) than a pair rated at 90dB/mW.

So the easy or hard to drive a pair of phones is, depends on both parameters, the sensitivity and the impedance. The worst case would be a pair of phones of very low sensitivity and also a very low impedance. Why? because they'll be asking to the source more watts to sound equally loud as a more sensitive pair, and an important part of that power will be asked in the form of current intensity, which is something that most portable players, headphone outs in receivers and players, etc. aren't designed to deliver. This is the case of cans like AKG 701 or Denon D5000.
If your cans are low impedance but are very sensitive (the case of Grados and most IEMs) then despite their asking more current from the source, they still manage to sound very loud because they need very little power to do so.

Most people tend to think that low impedance equals to louder sound, but this is plainly wrong. It all depends on the sensitivity and how much power the cans need to give a high SPL. Also take into account that not all manufacturers offer their sensitivity values and not all them do in dB/mW but do in dB/mV. It's not much of a problem, you just need to convert the mV in mW knowing the phones impedance.

Rgrds

Torpedo, if you see this, I'm assuming it's OK for me to repost. If not, my apologies.

 

[trancetunes]

Quote:

I have both the pro 700s and the hd681s.  I'd go for the pro 700s if there is a reputable seller still around, otherwise the hd681s sound amazing for the price.  There are a couple of long threads about them on rg http://rockgrotto.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=review&action=display&thread=4559 and http://rockgrotto.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=review&action=display&thread=4769 .  Those should give you a good idea of the sound signature and what to expect in comfort/build quality.  Both hps are easily driven so there shouldn't be any immediate need for an amp.

I am interested in the HD681's as well, but I can't find anywhere that sells the 681b!  There are three different kinds of 681's and apparently the B model is for more bass
 
Even if I got the standard on I suppose that would be pretty good...AHH this is so hard =/
 
EDIT:  It seems that the HD681 is just out of my budget... So I'm taking that choice out.
 
Koss PortaPro, JVC HARX700...WHAT TO DO?!  =X   I think I am leaning towards the JVC, but I really don't know why?  I think only because I like the idea that it will cover more of my ear.  Lol I know that might sound ridiculous to many of you.

 

[Bilavideo]

It's like you're asking us to point out the skinniest girl at fat camp.

 

[gbaby779]

right now on amazon.com you can get the sennheiser hd 428s refurbished for 19 bucks.

 

[discoscience]

I think more recommendations are the last thing you need at this point.  It's thirty bucks.  This is your first headphone.    Just flip a coin and buy either the PortaPros or the JVCs.  Either way you'll end up with both the longer you visit these forums.  
 
Actually, I'm certain you will have both one day.  It is inevitable haha.  Don't sweat it!
 
 
 

 

[Goku]

Koss PP is avaliable locally. Go check em out

 

[MBM85]

I would just go for the JVC's. The PortaPros will always be around, but the JVC's could go out of production or become harder to find.

 

[Goku]

True true.