[Ypoknons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eobet /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've looked at the Denon AH-D5000, but then I'm spending £200 more than I expected (TWICE the price of the Triple.fi) plus another £100 for the Nuforce uDAC, which I'm currently hovering with my cursor of the click to purchase button...

I don't exactly love my D5000's, I do find the bass overwhelming. As for the uDAC, T.R.A.N.C.E. has a point that an amp might not fix all your woes, but it seems to me your uDac would be a better triple.fi companion than Ultra 900.

 

[Scrivs]

I can highly recommend you the HFI 780s, I seriously love them and they sound teriffic even playing straight from my pc.
As you said they are not super comfortable but defenitely not uncomfortable.

 

[Mochan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by morphon /img/forum/go_quote.gif Letting my AudioTechnica ATH-AD700's burn in a bit, but they are settling in well. Their sound is similar to the TF10 except for the bass. It is improving during burnin, but while I listen to it I'm boosting 70hz and lower by 2db. Sounds pretty balanced so far. Will update with further impressions as well....

I will agree with this one. AD700 is the closest circumaural I've heard to resemble the TF10. Mind you I'm not all that well-"travelled" in the Audiophile world so that doesn't mean much, I'm sure there's something out there that is closer to the sound of the TF10.

But yeah TF10 has more bass impact compared to Air. I attribute this more to the nature of IEM vs. Open Can. In return Air has more spacious soundstage in comparison to the TF10. And TF10 is more detailed in general. But the two are pretty close in sound signature.

The Air though is totally not portable. It's the biggest can I have and it doesn't fold at all.

 

[Mochan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eobet /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, as I said, it's lucky that I actually like bass, because then I can use these phones for "sound therapy"... sort of, massaging my ears after getting them kicked around by the Triple.fi... What bothers me even more than the weak mids right now though, is that almost no vocal tune I listen to have clear "ssss" and "sch" sounds. It's like a 50s radio or something, which I cannot believe is acceptable in what's considered a "pro" piece of equipment. Also, I'm using my Mac Mini to listen now, and it's actually noticeably better than the Macbook Pro, but still far, far from the Triple.fi. I've looked at the Denon AH-D5000, but then I'm spending £200 more than I expected (TWICE the price of the Triple.fi) plus another £100 for the Nuforce uDAC, which I'm currently hovering with my cursor of the click to purchase button... EDIT: In the thread about Kee's mod, it says "Highs are smooth. Less prone to sibilance and less metalic. Still very much present." ...I don't have any cotton or screwdrivers right now, though...

I've found that big head phones that are poorly driven are more susceptible to sibilance attacks. My Beyer DT770 suffers sibilance problems if I try to drive it through a portable amp, and it's worse if you drive it straight from an iPhone or laptop (I have the 250 ohm and it just needs a desktop amp).

 

[eobet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mochan /img/forum/go_quote.gif I will agree with this one. AD700 is the closest circumaural I've heard to resemble the TF10.

Audio Technica have confusing model naming. AD700 is different than A700, I guess, because A700 is half the price of the Ultraone cans and even below the Triple.fi.

But the site I bought the Pro 900 from (iheadphones.co.uk) doesn't even have the AD700... they have a pair of AD900, though.

EDIT: A quick search later and three threads on this forum claims that the AD900 has more detail than the AD700, which makes me seriously begin to doubt anyone who claims that the AD700 is anywhere near the Triple.fi...

So far, I haven't found any comparisons between the AD900 and the Pro 900. Will keep looking.

EDIT 2: Several posts say that AD900 doesn't have that much bass. Now, the only saving grace for the Pro 900 is the ridiculus amounts of bass, because that makes them "fun". So, if the AD900 won't be near my Triple.fi experience, I may end up even more disappointed than I am now...

At this point, I don't think I dare to switch. Let's hope the uDAC can fix the situation.

EDIT 3: Holy ****, a guy who upgraded from a pair of AD900 to the Pro 900, and claims that they are more detailed and that my treble issues can be fixed with Kee's mod:

Ultrasone Pro900 mini-review + lulz - Audio - Desktops

He listens to death metal, though, so that's quite a dent in his credibility...

 

[morphon]

The TF10 has a single BA driver for mids and treble and double BA drivers in each ear for the bass. It should not be surprising that some headphones will out-do the TF10 in the detail department.

So far the AD700, as it has burned in, presents more bass than straight out of the box, great comfort, soundstage, etc...

It has mids that are more forward than the TF10, but the TF10 has _slightly_ recessed mids, so that is a virtue. Highs are more sparkly, but not as smooth as the TF10, which is nearly sibilance-free. My amp tames that a bit, but out of an Fuze it is a _little_ harsh in comparison to the TF10.

With a +2db boost to 70hz and below, it gives the same amount of bass as the TF10, but the experience of the bass is just so different between a sealed-back IEM and open circumaural cans. This is as close to polar opposite as one might expect.

Anyway, the AD700 with my amp and DAC combination is similar enough to the TF10 driven by my Sansa Fuze that I can switch from one to the other without spending the first few tracks letting my ears adjust. Direct comparisons are really hard since the TF10 with its low impedance and internal crossover does not sound good out of my amp and the Fuze sounds harsh through the AD700. Given how completely different the driver technology is as well as the mechanical coupling of the driver to the eardrum, that is pretty much all I was hoping for.

and

 

[eobet]

Ok, I just don't understand this.

You're saying that a four year old pair of £99 headphones (AD700) will beat out a less than two year old pair of £300 headphones (PRO900) even if I add a DAC/amp for £100 (NuForce uDAC)?

 

[morphon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eobet /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ok, I just don't understand this. You're saying that a pair of £99 headphones (AD700) will beat out a pair of £300 headphones (PRO900) even if I add a DAC/amp for £100 (NuForce uDAC)?

I couldn't tell if this was addressed to me, but I'll respond in case it was.

I am not saying anything about the Ultrasone PRO900. I've never heard them. I've also never heard the NuForce uDAC. I'm also not much of a bass-head, so I went with a set of open cans but it sounds like you will need closed cans to get the bass pressure (the impact).

I'm just posting my experience since we seemed to be in a similar situation - trying to find some circumaural cans to supplement the TF10 which is our primary set of headphones. Given my sources, amplification and music, the AD700 is close enough to be able to switch to them and back to the TF10 with minimal sonic disorientation.

For all I know, the PRO900 is superior in every respect to the AD700. I'm just relating my experiences for whatever they're worth.

 

[eobet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by morphon /img/forum/go_quote.gif I couldn't tell if this was addressed to me, but I'll respond in case it was.

It was, and thank you for your opinion.

It just baffles me, since apparently we both are used to the TF10, and you seem very satisfied with the AD700 (again £99), while I am extremely disappointed with my Pro 900 (freakin £300).

That, coupled with this thread and the one I posted earlier makes me really confused.

EDIT: Just found this... which suddenly lends a lot of credibility to what you are saying... Dave Rat - Roadies in the Midst - Entries from Tuesday, December 22. 2009

 

[sokolov91]

I think the Pro 750 would have been a much better match for the TripleFi 10 for what its worth. I own both and I find them very similar, although different. Try the Kees mod before downgrading your headphone.

AD700 is basslight from what I remember reading and would not sound similar. My W1000X are my first and only audio technica headphone, and any less bass than this would leave a triplefi 10 user missing it. Besides the W1000X being an amazingly high end headphone they have much more bass than the other audio technicas from what I have read, and sound incredible to boot. But, for the price, get a pro 750 best match you can make IMO.

I use my triplefi 10 with a Corda headsix portable amp and they leave me more than satisfied on the road and even at home if I am too lazy to get my main rig going.

Which tips are you using? Maybe if you switched you could use them for longer? If you got some quality amplification like the new Corda Stepdance and some new tips you can handle better, you might find you don't even need headphones!

 

[tdockweiler]

I've been looking for a pair of over the headphones also that sound similar to the Triple Fi 10.

The AKG 701 and Beyer Dynamic DT-990 to my ears don't even sound even near as good to my ears. I actually sold both after buying the Triple Fi 10's. I also had some Sennheiser HD-650's, but immediately disliked them.

A few weeks ago I bought the Shure SRH-840. They sound pretty close to me to the Triple Fi 10, but maybe my ears are not as good as everyone elses. The SRH-840 seems to have a bit more bass, maybe like 2-5% more, but it's not excessive bass. Just about right to me.

I doubt i'll find anything better then the SRH-840 for under $200, but i'm definitely looking at all these suggestions.

Does anyone else think the SRH-840 and the Triple Fi 10 sound similar?

I also just bought the Creative Aurvana Live (similar to the Denon 10001) and the Shure 840's are much, much better, but I should have expected that. I'll use the CAL for exercise I guess since the Shure falls off my head easily.

 

[eobet]

A new contender... SRH-840 is also mentioned in that last link I posted... but here on the forums, there seems to be a strong debate wether the SRH-840 is better than Denon D2000 or not ,especially when it comes to comfort (which was an important criteria for me) and when you venture into that territory, there's a lot of people proclaiming the D5000 because it has better midrange (and TF10 has extremely clear midrange) and then people say that if you want more detail (and I think the TF10 is extremely detailed as well), you end up in D7000 territory...

I'm not sure my wallet wants to go there...

EDIT: JESUS H CHRIST! The 840 thread is over a hundred pages long! Flavor of the year???

EDIT 2: Holy smoke... this guy dares to compare the D7000 to the 840!

EDIT 3: Almost made me forget this whole thread with a D7000 comparison to the Pro 900, which is what made me buy the Pro 900 in the first place. Back to confusion it is, I guess.

EDIT 4: Another reference of mine, a post comparing D5000 to Pro 900, which also convinced me to choose the latter (regrettably as it turned out).

Sorry that I'm not managing to dig up more 840 references, but as with the AD700... I just can't believe they have comparable detail to something which costs twice as much...

 

[Lex2]

Not to diverge too much but I do find the Grado SR225i to be somewhat "similar" to my Triple Fi 10 Pros.

 

[eobet]

Ack... some people here claim that Grado have no bass (and that the 325i has too harsh treble), and others say that the D2000 has too much bass and muddle mids (like the Pro 900 then). Is there nothing in between?

Or would that actually be the Shure SRH840?

(Reference for myself: Posts claiming that full size phones including D2000 have smoother treble than the Triple.fi... interesting.)

 

[morphon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eobet /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ack... some people here claim that Grado has no bass, and others say that the D2000 has too much bass. Is there nothing in between? Or would that actually be the Shure SRH840? (Reference for myself: Posts claiming that full size phones including D2000 have smoother treble than the Triple.fi... interesting.)

Eobet, I wonder if we are running up against the limits of subjective perception here. IEMs are just so different from circumaurals. Even if they were both single-driver dynamic headphones. Add in that the TF10 has three balanced armature drivers and an internal crossover, and that their sound is incredibly dependent on fit (not just bad or good fit, but angle, depth, and rotation too).

I think your best bet is to try to audition some 'phones before you buy. I think, like the difference between headphones and speakers in general, the experience of listening to IEM's and cans are so different that there probably isn't ONE SINGLE CLOSEST counterpart. I think you should look for something that doesn't screw up the stuff the TF10 does well that you care about. That's going to be different for different folks.

Also, btw, the Shure SRH-840 was what I was going to buy if I didn't like the ATH-AD700's for whatever reason. I think I just was lucky.