[Marleybob217]

Closed headphones are so important, they give the user freedom to listen to music whenever, wherever.
While open headphones are superior sonically, they are most unpractical when used in public for obvious reasons.
 
 
 
I would like to dedicate this thread for users to nominate their favorite closed headphone.
 
Tell us why you think your choice is the best, please give arguments holding in account: 
 
*Sound Quality
 
*Flexibility in account to genres
 
*Isolation/leakage
 
*Portability/drivability
 
*Comfort
 
*Durability
 
*Price performance ratio
 
*Last And least: Looks
 
 
Pretty pictures are ofcourse most welcome.
(IEM's are welcome too!)
 
 
I'll start.
 
I have owned the DT770 pro 80 ohm, HD25-1 II, Shure SRH840 and the shure SE425.
I have sold, or returned all these headphones and I currently own the German Maestro GMP 8.35D.
 
Pics or it didn't happen?
 
Ok.
 
This is the German Maestro with the oval ear pads.
 

 

 
 
*Sound Quality
 
Balanced, immersive, detailed and musical.
 
I'd say the GMP 8.35D sounds like the SRH840, with more PRaT. I actually never AB-ed them so I can't say things like the GMP has 3.456% more detail than the SRH840 and such. 
Compaired to the HD25-1 II the GMP 8.35D is better in every aspect (IMO) bass extends lower, highs are not shrill, and mids are smoother and more musical. The GMP 8.35D also has a (much) better soundstage and offers more detail, while maintaining a more balanced sound.
These headphones actually sound suspiciously much like my mackie mr8 mkII studio monitors. The GMP 8.35D can reveal some sibilance with the oval ear pads, but I solved this by adding two layers of cotton in front of the driver. They take away the edge of the sibilance but do not make the headphones sound muddy in any way.
I actually am really sensitive to sibilance, but with the mod I think they offer just enough sibilance when the track is obviously sibilant.
 
*Flexibility in account to genres
A lot of closed headphones are really good with a certain genre, unless you only listen to one genre this is not very practical.
The GMP 8.35D performs with every genre, period.
 
*Isolation/leakage
The GMP 8.35D has the best isolation of all closed headphones I have ever had on or over my ears. The IEMs from shure offered more isolation but these are considerably less comfortable.
They also leak less sound than the HD25-1 II which says quite something.
 
*Portability/drivability
They are 35 ohm, and sound really good straight out of the iphone 3gs. I have bought the hisaundaudio rocoo p for a bit more PRaT, but this really is not necessary. After some experience with these headphones I have noticed these sound just ok through my iPhone or my laptop. They scale up quite a bit when hooked to my fiio e9, I have to check if they still scale up from the fiio e7 to the e9 though.
I actually ordered the hisoundaudio roocoo p for these headphones!
 
*Comfort
They are very comfortable considering these have quite some clamping force. Only after a couple of hours of wearing it becomes slightly bothersome (and I have a wide head). With it's clamping force they won't fall of quickly, this is something I really hated about the SRH840 they were so awkward I had to return them!
 
*Durability
You might have seen these headphones in stores where they sell cds, and these headphones are used by a huge quantity of people so they must be durable.
There are literally videos of sailes men walking over it, they have some sort of light metal bendy headband.
 
 

 
The HD25-1 II are supposed to be quite durable, but I thought they felt pretty flimsy. The earcups are attached pretty loosely to the headband. All the parts of the HD25-1 are replacable, but these parts are really frakking expensive. Might as well buy a new one considering all the other parts will probably die soon too.
 
 
*Price performance ratio
I got the GMP 8.35D for 180 euros, this is with the oval ear pads (19 euros).
The HD-25-1 is sold for about 150 euros, but offer less in my opinion.
The shure SRH840 is priced at about the same as the HD25-1 II, while they offer good sound quality the headband is so awkward and it just looked so ridiculous on my head, that I wouldn't take them outside.
 
*Last And least: Looks
I think they look minimalistic and rugged. And they look cool on my head.
They don't look fancy or expensive or extraordinary, but they do perform in those ways.
 
 
 
Contenders
 
Logitech UE 6000 & 9000
GMP 8.35D
AKG K550
Fostex T50rp/Thunderpants 
Sony MDR-Z1000
 
Way expensive:
Ultrasone Signature Pro
Fostex TH-900
 
Audio-Technica ATH-W3000ANV

 

[machoboy]

You just had to post this, huh?
 
I love the sound of my 840s but I agree they look pretty dorky when worn. For their pure versatility across all genres, I would nominate them as the "Greatest" I have heard.
 
These on the other hand, look awesome (I know some people disagree, but I like the plain industrial look) and supposedly sound like a better Shure 840? Better how?
 
Worth $100 more?.... Hmmm

 

[Marleybob217]

Quote:

You just had to post this, huh?
 
I love the sound of my 840s but I agree they look pretty dorky when worn. For their pure versatility across all genres, I would nominate them as the "Greatest" I have heard.
 
These on the other hand, look awesome (I know some people disagree, but I like the plain industrial look) and supposedly sound like a better Shure 840? Better how?
 
Worth $100 more?.... Hmmm

Well they are not 100 dollars more, especially not in europe, they are actually about the same price here!
 
The GMP 8.35D is always compaired to the SRH940, the GMP should have a bit more bass, and a bit less treble.
But I really can't remember much difference between these and the SRH840s. The gmp has more PRaT for sure and a bigger soundstage with the oval pads, but that's all I can remember.
The sound of the SRH840 is excellent in my opinion, but they were a really bad fit for my skull

 

[lejaz]

"The GMP 8.35D is always compaired to the SRH940, the GMP should have a bit more bass, and a bit less treble." 
If true, that does indeed sound like an awesome phone. 

 

[machoboy]

That does sound nice, but the SRH840 is about $150 in the US. The GMP 85.3D is about $250.

 

[Marleybob217]

Quote:

That does sound nice, but the SRH840 is about $150 in the US. The GMP 85.3D is about $250.

It probably helps that I live in Europe! 
But even for that price I would prefer the GMP 8.35D, I need to use it for practicing drums and the SRH840 literally fell of my head.
 
It even fell of my head when I would bend over slightly.

 

[FrankCooter]

Interesting thread.
 
My nominee is the JVC DX-1000. Superb looks, comfort, and build quality. Goes very low in the bass. Excellent detail, resolution, and sound stage for a closed headphone. Presentation is sort of like a Grado on steroids. Has a slight phasey/echoey effect that some find objectionable. Works great for live rock recordings.
 

 

[aamefford]

Quote:

Interesting thread.
 
My nominee is the JVC DX-1000. Superb looks, comfort, and build quality. Goes very low in the bass. Excellent detail, resolution, and sound stage for a closed headphone. Presentation is sort of like a Grado on steroids. Has a slight phasey/echoey effect that some find objectionable. Works great for live rock recordings.
 

I actually heard your pair at a Bay Area meet 2 or 3 years ago.  I had just gotten a pair of D7000's, and it was fun to compare them.  The isolation and comfort of the DX-1000 was excellent, and the soundstage was quite large.  The phased / echoey effect was a bit off-putting for me, but wouldn't be for everyone.  A really nice and quite beautiful headphone.
 
My Nominee is the D7000.  For me, the best closed headphone I have heard (arguably closed - they leak sound both ways like a sieve).  The bass is deep and controlled, the treble just short of bright and with a tiny touch of sparkle.  The mids are ever so slightly recessed (my only real complaint with the sound) and they are a warmish, luscious sounding headphone.  They are especially excellent with female vocals and acoustic music.  They are really good with small classical, but start to get overcrowded with full orchestra classic.  For my tastes and music, just wonderful.  A tad fragile though.

 

[Marleybob217]

Thanks all for replying!
 
These headphones are definitely interesting, unfortunately they are way out of my and most peoples budget!
 
Also considering the leakage of the Denon, I would not see them as practical closed headphones, but more as an alternative to open headphones.
 
How would the Denons hold against an open headphone in the same price class?
 
I never knew JVC made headphones!

 

[Marleybob217]

Quote:

"The GMP 8.35D is always compaired to the SRH940, the GMP should have a bit more bass, and a bit less treble." 
If true, that does indeed sound like an awesome phone. 

I've read it in a couple reviews, but I can't find them anymore!
 
Headfonia calls the SRH940 detail monsters, I mean the gmp 8.35D has a lot of detail (especially with the oval pads) but it's not much more than the SRH840 in my memory.
 
Then again, the SRH940 goes for about 240 euros in europe, considering it has an awkward headband that renders it useless a tiny bit of extra detail isn't worth it for me.
 
In a home environment SRH940 would be great! But it's not an allrounder imo.
 
EDIT: I replaced the two coton layers in front of the driver with a single layer of really thin paper. This still smooths out the sound but lets through more detail.
You know what, they are detail monsters, it's insane, I'm hearing more on the gmp 8.35s than on my mackie mr8 mkII. I'm hearing more than I heard on my HD650s. 

 

[Marleybob217]

http://www.headfonia.com/beyer-custom-one-pro-definition-of-cool/
 
This looks like a pretty good candidate, sounds like a less sibilant version of the DT770 pro 80 ohm, but with levers that control the amount of bass!
 
They do have thin mids though!

 

[zazex]

For the past several months, I've been really enjoying my Sony MDR Z1000's -
especially after I replaced the stock cable.
 
Although they list for $499., I found mine for $325 or so from a thoroughly
legitimate dealer and do see them advertised in that range. 
 
I like them significantly more than other closed headphones I've owned,
including the Shure 940, Shure 840, AKG K 550, Beyer DT 770,
Senn HD 25 1 ii, Ultrasone HFI 780, AT ATH A900, ATH M50's, and others as well.

 

[Marleybob217]

Quote:

For the past several months, I've been really enjoying my Sony MDR Z1000's -
especially after I replaced the stock cable.
 
Although they list for $499., I found mine for $325 or so from a thoroughly
legitimate dealer and do see them advertised in that range. 
 
I like them significantly more than other closed headphones I've owned,
including the Shure 940, Shure 840, AKG K 550, Beyer DT 770,
Senn HD 25 1 ii, Ultrasone HFI 780, AT ATH A900, ATH M50's, and others as well.

Wow cool! I'd say this is a really good candidate, they are quite a bit pricey but for some people it's worth the price.
It's weird because sonys barely come up in audiophile comparisons.
 
What is it about these headphones that makes you enjoy them so much? 
 
What is the balance, soundstage, detail and sibilance like on these headphones?
 
Thanks!

 

[zazex]

Quote:

Wow cool! I'd say this is a really good candidate, they are quite a bit pricey but for some people it's worth the price.
It's weird because sonys barely come up in audiophile comparisons.
 
What is it about these headphones that makes you enjoy them so much? 
 
What is the balance, soundstage, detail and sibilance like on these headphones?
 
Thanks!

 
Rich, vivid, congruent
highly detailed
no sibilance issues
full and satisfying bass
extended treble without any tizziness or harshness
very comfortable with excellent isolation
 
they did improve when I replaced the stock cable
with one by Audioquest - don't recall which one
at the moment, sorry (so many cables...)
But even with the stock cable, I really liked them
from the very first listen.

 

[obobskivich]

I don't know if I would say "greatest" but the Kenwood KH-K1000 certainly deserve mention - they do nothing at all wrong, and are quite sweet sounding through the midrange. None of the harsh treble clash associated with modern headphones, nor any of the bass tubby wubby that you get with a lot of modern closed cans. And they isolate reasonably well, despite having a very good soundstage. Really not much to complain about apart from weight (390g - they are very comfortable though, just heavy). I've honestly yet to find a "better" closed headphone, although I've found a few that address my complaint about the weight.