[Toothless]

  Hi everyone.
Sorry if I seem spammy all around the forum but every year I kinda research headphones and buy another one... And I guess its that time of the year again
 
My last years purchase Brainwavz HM5 (most expensive I had yet. Also had CAL) are pretty fantastic. Build quality is top notch and comfort too. I have plenty of those pleather memory foam pads. Thicker too... I have like 3 pairs total now. This is the best thing.
 
but I found them lacking in fun (not enough bass, punch) and kinda tiring. Not that they are uncomfortable but getting very hot(claustrophobic too) and I avoid wearing them until its late night and not warm middle of the day anymore... Now also, I don't need isolation anymore. Don't have a roommate anymore and can do whatever I want.
 
Been looking at some most recommended models.
Koss portapro seems to be bassy and put on the head and forget but Idk.. they look like they would crush in my hand and I don't think bass is possible without.. They said CAL is bassy too and it wasn't when I had it.
 
Other highly praised recommendation is pro80... Now I've heard its bass and not bassy depending on source. Price is ok since I am looking for below 100$ headphone. But the cable is super too long(ooops, checked that. Cable is actually pretty good with pro80.. not sure where I got the coiled from), some say headband is too short and it would seem like sweaty hot tiresome headphone. Not something to replace(or rather add, I am not selling) hm5 with. btw. Which pro80 is the best ? pro80 or cloud ? or gemini...
 
So I guess I could look at open hedaphones. How is 2050 ? is it bassy at all ? What if I would use it with pleather hm5 pads ? The price is very good
Also I am open to other recommendations. Takstar or not
edit: I have e10k and 100$ to spend max. thanks

At 100$ I think you will have plenty of over-ear options (from what I read this is probably what' you're after). The Sennheiser 558 is a very good headphone, albeit too laid back for my taste. The ATH M40x is another great contender, I even enjoy its sound more than its bigger brother M50x. The AKG K553 (an additional 19$ on top of your budget limit) pops up every once in a while on Massdrop. I've not personally listened to it but it gets heavily praised. If you're willing to stick with the Takstar, I suggest you buy a Kingston HyperX Cloud core. They are, imho, better built than the Pro80, with paracord cable (The Pro80 straight cable feels quite flimsy to me, worse than the HI 2050's), softer earpads, an additional mic for chatting, and probably comes with a longer warranty. Not to mention it looks prettier too. There are offers from Grado (Sr80e), Superlux (hd 681 EVO) and Somic (MH 463) too, very good headphones for the price.
The 2050 is mid bassy, but to my ears it doesn't get low enough, there's almost no ''oohm" i.e no sub bass with the stock velour pads. I sold it and bought a Kingston Hyper Cloud. When I tried the velour pads on the Cloud I get similar experience as the 2050: less bass and more treble, almost unlistenable with treble heavy songs. But it sounds just right once I put the pleather pads back on. So to conclude, I think the HM5 pads would be a good replacement for the HI2050 pads.

 

[HiCZoK]

  At 100$ I think you will have plenty of over-ear options (from what I read this is probably what' you're after). The Sennheiser 558 is a very good headphone, albeit too laid back for my taste. The ATH M40x is another great contender, I even enjoy its sound more than its bigger brother M50x. The AKG K553 (an additional 19$ on top of your budget limit) pops up every once in a while on Massdrop. I've not personally listened to it but it gets heavily praised. If you're willing to stick with the Takstar, I suggest you buy a Kingston HyperX Cloud core. They are, imho, better built than the Pro80, with paracord cable (The Pro80 straight cable feels quite flimsy to me, worse than the HI 2050's), softer earpads, an additional mic for chatting, and probably comes with a longer warranty. Not to mention it looks prettier too. There are offers from Grado (Sr80e), Superlux (hd 681 EVO) and Somic (MH 463) too, very good headphones for the price.
The 2050 is mid bassy, but to my ears it doesn't get low enough, there's almost no ''oohm" i.e no sub bass with the stock velour pads. I sold it and bought a Kingston Hyper Cloud. When I tried the velour pads on the Cloud I get similar experience as the 2050: less bass and more treble, almost unlistenable with treble heavy songs. But it sounds just right once I put the pleather pads back on. So to conclude, I think the HM5 pads would be a good replacement for the HI2050 pads.

The 558 looks good but the price here(poland) is insane for it. Senns are super overpriced here and 558 is about 200$ which is crazy. 598 is only little bit more expensive...
 
Pro80 is almost exactly 100$(clouds are the same) and hi2050 is about 55$. Given I already have handful of hm5 pads, I wonder how 2050 would sound with those.
The ath m40x is in also about 100$. Never actually heard of those. Everyone talks about m50 and those always seemed overrated for me. The looks are so so but ok. It's a closed headphone tho. As I've said Iam sure if I want another closed pair, unless that is the best way to get more bass than I have with HM5.
I just want something less tiring and with more bass.
As for the AKG - I've tried them numerous times and don't like them. They always sound so empty and don't seal at all. The build quality is always astonishing tho
 
@Me x3
Thanks for examples. Yamaha looks interesting. Will look into it.

 

[peter123]

The 558 looks good but the price here(poland) is insane for it. Senns are super overpriced here and 558 is about 200$ which is crazy. 598 is only little bit more expensive...

Pro80 is almost exactly 100$(clouds are the same) and hi2050 is about 55$. Given I already have handful of hm5 pads, I wonder how 2050 would sound with those.
The ath m40x is in also about 100$. Never actually heard of those. Everyone talks about m50 and those always seemed overrated for me. The looks are so so but ok. It's a closed headphone tho. As I've said Iam sure if I want another closed pair, unless that is the best way to get more bass than I have with HM5.
I just want something less tiring and with more bass.
As for the AKG - I've tried them numerous times and don't like them. They always sound so empty and don't seal at all. The build quality is always astonishing tho

@Me x3

Thanks for examples. Yamaha looks interesting. Will look into it.

I've got the HM5 and the Pro80 and I feel the same way as you about the HM5 (great sounding but occasionally a bit boring). The Pro80 does not feel this way to me so I think they're great compliment to each other.

I'm not at home right now since I'm visiting lovely Krakow (small world ) but I can do a bit of a/b to highlight diffences and similarities when I'm back home later this week if you'd like.

Is it an option for you to buy from Aliexpress? €100 is a high price for them. I'm not saying they're not worth it but rather that you should be able to find them cheaper.

 

[HiCZoK]

I've got the HM5 and the Pro80 and I feel the same way as you about the HM5 (great sounding but occasionally a bit boring). The Pro80 does not feel this way to me so I think they're great compliment to each other.

I'm not at home right now since I'm visiting lovely Krakow (small world

) but I can do a bit of a/b to highlight diffences and similarities when I'm back home later this week if you'd like.

Is it an option for you to buy from Aliexpress? €100 is a high price for them. I'm not saying they're not worth it but rather that you should be able to find them cheaper.

Thanks
I will wait for a comparison when You get back.
Which one do YOu use more often and so on. Does it rattle and how low it goes. IMO HM5 is a perfect headphone. It reproduces the sound super accurate but as we've already established. It can get boring, too analytical and maybe not always too fun. And I am founding it a bit harsh because of that. Especially in games. I still like it tho. Headphone like that feels essential in every collection.
 
not 100 euro but 100$ Almost. Something like 90ish $ with free delivery from Mp3store Poland.

 

[Tic-Tac]

It looks like I am in the same train for FUN headphones like you HiCZok Been looking for immersive experience in movies, music and gaming for a while now and still nothing. There are a few that pops in like :
 
Hyperx Cloud II - Really would like to know HOW is that sub-bass and bass and are they lush sounding headphones with full and warm reproduction.
 
Audio-Technica ATH-M50X - Sound pretty harsh with pronounced highs and that harsh tight bass but mids are weak
 
Beyerdynamic DT-770 - I've had a pleasure to listen 250Ohm version and to me they are not very FUN, immersive, there is no that KICK. They sound pretty dry and analytical (as it is supposed to be I guess)
 
Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro - Well, those seem like an excellent choice but that damn cord is pretty short, are they ever thought that someone will used them as a PC set of headphones???
 
Creative Aurvana Live - Supposedly sound great BUT very low build quality
 
 
Now if there is something maybe like Cloud II's lush sound and punchy bass but with removable cable that would be freaking great and I would be set for a long time...

 

[HiCZoK]

  It looks like I am in the same train for FUN headphones like you HiCZok Been looking for immersive experience in movies, music and gaming for a while now and still nothing. There are a few that pops in like :
 
Hyperx Cloud II - Really would like to know HOW is that sub-bass and bass and are they lush sounding headphones with full and warm reproduction.
 
Audio-Technica ATH-M50X - Sound pretty harsh with pronounced highs and that harsh tight bass but mids are weak
 
Beyerdynamic DT-770 - I've had a pleasure to listen 250Ohm version and to me they are not very FUN, immersive, there is no that KICK. They sound pretty dry and analytical (as it is supposed to be I guess)
 
Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro - Well, those seem like an excellent choice but that damn cord is pretty short, are they ever thought that someone will used them as a PC set of headphones???
 
Creative Aurvana Live - Supposedly sound great BUT very low build quality
 
 
Now if there is something maybe like Cloud II's lush sound and punchy bass but with removable cable that would be freaking great and I would be set for a long time...

Don't even bother with CAL. I had them before brainwavz hm5... and they sound almost exactly the same with hm5 just having wider separation, better isolation and build quality. No rattle to them at all. Don't understand where all the recommendations for CAL as bassy comes from... And that was on fiio e10k. I mean it sounded proper but nothing fancy. No rumble at slightest. Even worst gaming headphones I had had more rumble to them. My fav were creative fatality MK2. Those would shake like crazy but the sound was pretty muddy other than that.
 
I would almost go for pro80 but I am still not sure how it sounds with fiio e10k (bass boost option on). I do my testing for bass on few tracks, one of them being DeadMau5 Cephei . My gaming headphones would jump on my ears (like fatality mk2 or creative sigma). Brainwavz hm5 and CAL would not move at all. Sounds boring. Actually CAL was a bit more musical than hm5.. HM5 is now as I see it a stricktly monitor studio noise isolating headphone
I am also not sure how warm sweaty pro80 is. Especially with hm5 headphones. Thats why I am considering open headphone... but I hate velour pads... so that would mean hi2050 with pleather hm5 pads(stock not thick). but some say it sounds horrible this way
 
edit: Removable cable can be easily modded into every headphone. Just do the superlux solution, Cut the cord 5cm from the cup and install this http://www.dnd.hu/uploads/termek_pic/Jack_d_35_stereo_alj.jpg
edit2: I always tended to have bad luck and headphones with cable coming only from one cup presented unevennes in 2 channels. thats not a problem with CAL and Hm5

 

[Toothless]

FYI, the HI 2050 with velour pads is just as sweaty as the Pro80 with pleather pads. Even worse, they can cause itching on the ears. 
As for how the Pro80 sounds, I'm nitpicking here but with EDM, I always have to boost the bass around the 100 Hz region about 8dbs for it to sound 'right' (I kinda like the Beats Solo 2 bass but loathe its mid and treble reproduction). Equalizing is tricky though, because the bass has a tendency to bleed into the mids. Below are my current HyperX Cloud bass boost equalization using Equalizer APO.

The Pro80/Kingston HyperX Cloud seem to have a quality control issue with channel balance. My broken Pro80 had a severe bass imbalance around 50-100 Hz where the left channel rumbles like crazy but the right channel is like standing still. The Cloud I which I am using now also has a mild imbalance also. I've lurked around the web and found 1 or 2 complaints from HyperX Cloud users stating the same issue. Most of the time it can go unnoticed though, I only detected that when I played this particular song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k45mIvHYDiU , at around 1:20 mins onward. My other headphones do not present that imbalance.

 

[HiCZoK]

Thanks for the info.
That makes me not want either pro80 or hi2050. I know winter is coming (lol) and now I will be able to wear my hm5 again but summer time was a no go for brainwavz. So I don't want another hot headphone... and that imbalance You are talking about... yuck... I prefer to even avoid chance of that happening.
So... Not sure what I am left with now. Maybe portapro... need to give it a listen somewhere. headphones world is so difficult. it's like You can't have everything You want. No matter what money You can throw at it, something is always lacking. I just want fun shaking sound and comfort... but without being super hot. And last year I totally wanted something super isolating... Guess experience changes tastes
 
edit: Btw. Is there a way to eq bass for hm5 (or any headphone) for the whole system ? That is not only in winamp for music but for movies and games too ?

 

[Toothless]

Is there a way to eq for the whole system?

Equalizer APO which I mention above does that. It puts the equalization on top of Windows DirectSound thus affects all the sound coming from the computer headphone out. I couldn't get it to affect USB Dac or Wasapa/Asio plugins though. That contradicts my Schiit Modi as well as your Fiio E10k.

 

[DangerClose]

  Equalizer APO which I mention above does that. It puts the equalization on top of Windows DirectSound thus affects all the sound coming from the computer headphone out. I couldn't get it to affect USB Dac or Wasapa/Asio plugins though. That contradicts my Schiit Modi as well as your Fiio E10k.

It works on my USB DAC.  There might have been a little trick to it.

 

[Roderick]

I do my testing for bass on few tracks, one of them being DeadMau5 Cephei . My gaming headphones would jump on my ears (like fatality mk2 or creative sigma). Brainwavz hm5 and CAL would not move at all. Sounds boring.

You are obviously a basshead. http://www.head-fi.org/t/716711/the-hardest-hitting-headphones-are-the-extreme-bass-club/4785#post_11968512 You could ask for recommendations there. Pro80 is not what you want. Neither is porta pro even though it is definately on the bassy side. Unfortunately bass often goes with good seal wich means sweatines, if it is very hot. I hope that you find what you are looking for but unfortunately these are propably your best options.
 
A) Iem's
B) Stop sweating

 

[HiCZoK]

i've tried there. They couldn't help me
Their headphones are either too expensive or too ugly.

Well as for me being a basshead ? Maybe. I do enjoy that thump and rumble. It's fantastic. But I also care for low noise floor and very clear audio

 

[Toothless]

  i've tried there. They couldn't help me
Their headphones are either too expensive or too ugly.

Well as for me being a basshead ? Maybe. I do enjoy that thump and rumble. It's fantastic. But I also care for low noise floor and very clear audio

Then how about the Takstar HD5500 or HD6000? They are advertised as DJ gears. I've briefly tried the HD6000 and it sounds bassier than the Pro80, while still maintains a quite acceptable, albeit smaller, soundstage. It seems to be very sweaty too however, even more so than the Pro80 because of the smaller earpads and stronger clamping force. 

 

[Hal Rockwell]

Then how about the Takstar HD5500 or HD6000? They are advertised as DJ gears. I've briefly tried the HD6000 and it sounds bassier than the Pro80, while still maintains a quite acceptable, albeit smaller, soundstage. It seems to be very sweaty too however, even more so than the Pro80 because of the smaller earpads and stronger clamping force. 

You can replace the ear pads on the HD6000 with Urbanite XL pads. They fit the Takstars like a glove. It will tighten up the bass a little bit and prevent your ears from sweating. And they look awesome with their Matte texture.

The HD5500 were too bassy and warm for me. Pad rolling wasn't doing much good either.

 

[Gr33nL34f]

i couldnt imagine more bass than what my pro 80's have, it's just the right amount imo.