[GeorgeGoodman]

Oh, so you're the person I saw in Montreal when I was in Canada walking on the street with Grados. I have never seen that done before or since. They actually looked pretty good. 
 
But seriously, it sounds like you might like some Ultrasones. The open ones are known for having a pretty good soundstage and good treble and bass. Look at the HFI-2400, the Pro 2500 and others. Also, the Beyer DT990 600 ohm is not bad. You could get an amp later and just enjoy the phones without an amp for a while.

 

[hkmix]

Quote:

Oh, so you're the person I saw in Montreal when I was in Canada walking on the street with Grados. I have never seen that done before or since. They actually looked pretty good. 
 
But seriously, it sounds like you might like some Ultrasones. The open ones are known for having a pretty good soundstage and good treble and bass. Look at the HFI-2400, the Pro 2500 and others. Also, the Beyer DT990 600 ohm is not bad. You could get an amp later and just enjoy the phones without an amp for a while.

Would the Clip+ be able to drive it? My 32 ohm SR60i already requires a pretty high volume (-25 db), is the 600 even going to be drivable?

 

[olegausany]

I have no problems driving DT 990 Pro 250 OHM straight from my Auzen Prelude X-fi sound card and i also are most easiest to drive among all others while all those others have much lower impedance and some of then more sensitive plus those others even much more expensive can't yet beat DT 990 Pro for me who has great mids and highs and thight well controlled punchy bass.
I want to try DT 880 250 Ohm and ATH-A900 to complete my investigation. By the way, is any sound quality difference between DT 880 Pro 250 Ohm and DT 880 Premium 250 Ohm?

 

[GeorgeGoodman]

I think the Clip+ would be able to drive it to an OK level. It won't be getting the potential out of the headphones, but I think it will enjoyable enough. Look at the Ultrasones too. The ones I mentioned are low impedance (around 32 ohms).
Quote:

Quote:

Oh, so you're the person I saw in Montreal when I was in Canada walking on the street with Grados. I have never seen that done before or since. They actually looked pretty good. 
 
But seriously, it sounds like you might like some Ultrasones. The open ones are known for having a pretty good soundstage and good treble and bass. Look at the HFI-2400, the Pro 2500 and others. Also, the Beyer DT990 600 ohm is not bad. You could get an amp later and just enjoy the phones without an amp for a while.

Would the Clip+ be able to drive it? My 32 ohm SR60i already requires a pretty high volume (-25 db), is the 600 even going to be drivable?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

 
Quote:

I'm just a noob in the audio world, but here's something I can tell you from being on this forum and researching headphones heavily for the past month, people's opinions on this board and about audio in general vary a lot and the opinions are drastically different even for the same questions. One person will say it will sound terrible with an E7 while someone else will say it sounds fine without one. Same thing for headphones. People are biased towards whatever setup they have so if they have a certain headphone, they will trash the competition or recommend their own products over others even if the other audio gear is actually better for the buyer. I'm not saying Mad Lust Envy is crazy in this case, but when he says the DT990s won't sound good at all without dropping $200, that is pushing it. In short there is a lot of craziness in this forum.
 
To answer your question, the DT990s will still sound very good without an amp, but with proper amping, it'll sound that much better. I keep hearing the E7/E9 combo is good so maybe you get the E7 now and save up for a E9 somewhere down the road?
 
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That sounds like the 990s to me. The E7 would not be enough to drive them, but the E9 definitely would be. E7/E9 for $200 and pretty much covers all your bases. Portable amp, dac, and desktop amp. The E7 is unnecessary if you already have a good soundcard or have an LOD for your sources (like I have Sansa Fuze with LOD that I can hook up to the E9's line in).
 
 
If  you can't afford an amp after the 990s, I wouldn't advise it as they definitely need amping to get anywhere near good.

The E7 can't drive the 250 ohm?

 

Umm, I'm not saying to drop $200 to get them to sound good. If he has a decent soundcard, he wouldn't even have to pass $130 (E9). The few people who have compared the E9 to amps costing  more than 3 times the price have been stunned at the fact that the E9 is STRONGER than those amps, while maintaining clarity and performance that they offer.
 
I have listened to my DT990/600 unamped, amped by the lowly E5, E7, and E9. To say they sound great with anything less than the E9 is a stretch. They are certainly listenable, but their strengths are masked by the lack of juice necessary to bring it out. I have to max out the E7 to get it to 'slightly less than average volume". This method can be enjoyed if you want to listen to it softly, but it lacks a ton of the detail and authority the 990 is capable of. You can certainly use Bass Boost 3 with the E7 and get it louder, but it will also alter the sound signature to something more boomy, bloated, and too smooth for my taste.
 
Like I mentioned before, I was very anti-amp and enjoyed all my headphones with the E5 at the most (I still love my E5). But until you've heard what a truly powerful amp can do, you really haven't heard anything yet. I would honestly splurge on the E9 before I even got into the 250-600ohm Beyers.
 
The E7 is certainly good enough to make the 32ohm Beyers and 770 Pro 80 ohm very enjoyable. And yes, even the 32ohm DT770/880/990 benefit from amping. It's honestly about as hard to drive as the 250ohm. I had the 32ohm DT880, and it sounded pretty weak off my Sansa Fuze and Netbook. The E7 helped it quite a bit.

 

[hkmix]

Quote:

Umm, I'm not saying to drop $200 to get them to sound good. If he has a decent soundcard, he wouldn't even have to pass $130 (E9). The few people who have compared the E9 to amps costing  more than 3 times the price have been stunned at the fact that the E9 is STRONGER than those amps, while maintaining clarity and performance that they offer.  
I have listened to my DT990/600 unamped, amped by the lowly E5, E7, and E9. To say they sound great with anything less than the E9 is a stretch. They are certainly listenable, but their strengths are masked by the lack of juice necessary to bring it out. I have to max out the E7 to get it to 'slightly less than average volume". This method can be enjoyed if you want to listen to it softly, but it lacks a ton of the detail and authority the 990 is capable of. You can certainly use Bass Boost 3 with the E7 and get it louder, but it will also alter the sound signature to something more boomy, bloated, and too smooth for my taste.
 
Like I mentioned before, I was very anti-amp and enjoyed all my headphones with the E5 at the most (I still love my E5). But until you've heard what a truly powerful amp can do, you really haven't heard anything yet. I would honestly splurge on the E9 before I even got into the 250-600ohm Beyers.
 
The E7 is certainly good enough to make the 32ohm Beyers and 770 Pro 80 ohm very enjoyable. And yes, even the 32ohm DT770/880/990 benefit from amping. It's honestly about as hard to drive as the 250ohm. I had the 32ohm DT880, and it sounded pretty weak off my Sansa Fuze and Netbook. The E7 helped it quite a bit.

Thanks for this, it's pretty useful. So if I get the 32 ohm versions, I can run with just the E7's? I've been looking for a decent DAC for my laptop, so the E7 would've been a nice combo. Is there something kind of portable that works like the E9's that isn't too expensive?

 

[VulgarDisplay]

People seem to think that a lower ohm headphone is easier to drive.  Most of the time that is not the case.  Low ohm headphones can still require a dedicated amp to reach their full potential.  

 

[olegausany]

Quote:

People seem to think that a lower ohm headphone is easier to drive.  Most of the time that is not the case.  Low ohm headphones can still require a dedicated amp to reach their full potential.  

It's true i found this after trying a lot of different headphones

 

[hkmix]

Quote:

People seem to think that a lower ohm headphone is easier to drive.  Most of the time that is not the case.  Low ohm headphones can still require a dedicated amp to reach their full potential.  

I fully understand this. That's why I was considering the 32 ohm versions with the E7, which would be useful since it doubles as a DAC.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I said it because the e7 will leave even the 32ohm dt770's will most likely be power starved from the e7 alone.  

 

[hkmix]

Quote:

I said it because the e7 will leave even the 32ohm dt770's will most likely be power starved from the e7 alone.  

Fair enough. I realized that my G330 USB audio adapter does a fine job as a DAC, provided I EQ it so its emphasized lows and highs are equalized. Is there a good cheap portable amp with good affinity for the 990/600 or the 880/250 that you can recommend (key words: good cheap)?

 

[GeorgeGoodman]

Some high voltage Cmoy. look on Ebay for 9 or 18 volts.

 

[hkmix]

 (Quote:

Some high voltage Cmoy. look on Ebay for 9 or 18 volts.

This look fine?
 
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Biosciencegeek-Headphone-Amplifier-cMOY-Premium-Amp-/140485973902?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20b59dd78e
 
Looks credible, has a review here on HF, and decent ratings (after some search). Apparently these will also drive the 600 ohm ones pretty well? At least, would it drive the 600 or 32 better than the FiiO E7? (If it'll drive the 32 ohm, I'm guessing it'll roughly adequately drive the 250?)
 
I think my choices are down to either 990/600 or 880/32 or 250, depending on what can be driven by the E7/cMoy.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

If you like the SR60i but want a bit more soundstage buy the bowl pads (a.k.a. L-Cush pads).  They're $20 USD, not sure what they go for up in Canada.  I've got the bowl pads for my SR60.
 
The stock pads on the SR60i are the comfies (S-Cush).  The bowl pads are what come stock on the SR225i, SR325is, RS2, and RS1 and Alessandro MS2.
 
You get a little bit more soundstage with the bowls.  The comfies give a more two blobs of sound around the ears and those two blobs don't quite manage to meet and merge in the middle.  The bowls expand the soundstage and allow the sound to meet and merge in the middle (the middle being the middle of your head).
 
So spend $20 USD on the bowls and spend the rest on something that is not Grado.  You've got the SR60i for your Grado fix.  It'll cover that need nicely.  No need to move up the Grado line.  It'd be better to buy an additional headphone that is able to compliment the SR60i that you've got.

 

[Currawong]

Allow me to throw in the Shure SH-440 and 840. Unlike most of what I've tried in their price range, they were actually quite enjoyable for me out of an iPod.