[Novaldex]

Hello there, first post on head-fi ( although i'm reading the forum for a little while now ).

As the title says, i was wondering what would be the best cans to couple with an essence stx, but avoiding overkill. I don't see any point buying headphones that are worth half a kidney if my soundcard doesn't get the best of it. I don't really have a budget limit. Yet i don't see the point of buying extremely expensive headphones only to say that i do. Meaning i could be perfectly happy with some nice sounding 200€ cans, or could go to more, if they justify their price. I currently own some dt770/80 whitch are exellent for what i'm doing ( games, movies ... ), but i feel i could have better sound without changing the sound card. They'd have to do only music ( mostly rock ) since i'm probably going to keep the beyers for movies and gaming.
Keep in mind that i'm not located in US, meaning i'd have to sell my mother to buy some grados. Then again, i could grab beyers or sennheisers for pretty cheap.
And please, let the stx/internal sound card hatred out of this thread, it works exellent for the mid-fier that i am.

That's about it, what do you think ?

 

[taso89]

Forget the Essence bashing, the Essence beats dedicated DAC's in its price range (Zero w/ Earth HDAM for one).

For headphones, you can really go as low or as high as you'd like and the Essence doesn't disappoint. Denon D2000's have fantastic synergy with this card (they control the bass very well, amazing detail and harmonics across the board). I'll report on how Senn HD600's sound cause I have them coming in, in a day or two.

 

[Bojamijams]

Err well.. the D2000 doesn't have great synergy with everyone... for me, it made the highs very harsh .. this phenomenon dissapeared when I plugged the D2000 into my technics receiver

However I have also heard from people who did the Essence -> D2000 and have had no issues with harsh highs (obviously taso89 is one of them) so its a user by user basis.. however.. myself and at least one more person reported the harsh highs (unlistenable after 15 mins) so its not a 'for sure' great fit

 

[Novaldex]

Any more advices ?

 

[m0ofassa]

allessandro ms1.

 

[AmanGeorge]

What's wrong with the Beyers you have? They're good mid-fi phones already - are there certain characteristics that you want other phones to complement?

 

[Novaldex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmanGeorge /img/forum/go_quote.gif are there certain characteristics that you want other phones to complement?

I think i could use some more detail, and a better midrange as well. I love the beyers, don't get me wrong, but good god, they can be pretty fatiguing sometimes. Closed cans would be a plus as well, since i'm essentially using headphones in order not to disturb anyone, but mostly not to be disturbed by anyone. But i've got a prety paradoxal feeling, i could either buy something like dt880/hd650 which would probably exellent but may not be THAAAT much of an upgrade, or really but some high end headphone, but taking the risk of hardly exploiting them fully, considering the fact that i only have an essence.

 

[AmanGeorge]

I've never listened to Audio Technicas, but FWIR they have some reasonably-priced closed headphones with good detail and midrange - hopefully others can comment more knowledgeably.

 

[Acix]

You can try the K701 or the RS-1.

 

[Brando]

I've read only good things about the Beyer dynamic DT-150.

 

[Vandal]

I vote for either Grado or Audio Technica.

SR 225i - Grado
A900, A900Ti, AD2000 - AT

 

[Novaldex]

Quote:

You can try the K701 or the RS-1.

As i stated before, as much as i'd like a grado, that's not an option, since they're sold at grotesque prices ( 700/800€ ) in France.
Concerning the k701, FWIR it may not have enough bass. I want less bass, but i still want some

. Plus i'm not sure it's the best choice for rock, am i wrong ?

Quote:

I've read only good things about the Beyer dynamic DT-150.

Well, this looks a lot like my dt770. I'd like something really different.

Quote:

I vote for either Grado or Audio Technica. SR 225i - Grado A900, A900Ti, AD2000 - AT

Well, audio technicas seem to appear pretty often, i'll look into these.

 

[thebathingape]

I have tested the Essence STX with DT770-80, Beyer DT-150/250, AKG 601, Sennheiser HD650 and it worked great with all of them.

 

[paaj]

Look at Alessandro for reasonably prices 'grados' shipped free worldwide. The MS Pro is great and costs $700(€550) shipped. (RS1 is ~ €830 here)
If that is too much, the MS2i is a lot cheaper.

 

[Novaldex]

Quote:

I have tested the Essence STX with DT770-80, Beyer DT-150/250, AKG 601, Sennheiser HD650 and it worked great with all of them.

That's good to know, thanks. Were you near to the max in order to have a decent volume ?

Quote:

Look at Alessandro for reasonably prices 'grados' shipped free worldwide. The MS Pro is great and costs $700(€550) shipped. (RS1 is ~ €830 here) If that is too much, the MS2i is a lot cheaper.

I thought of that, but as far as i know allessandro have an endless delivery time. I don't want to wait a month

I could also buy a grado hf1 for 250€, do you guys think it's worth it ? Aren't those supposed to have 225 drivers ?