leokennis
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2004
- Posts
- 141
- Likes
- 10
Hi fellow Head-Fi'ers!
I am currently a happy and satisfied user of the Ultrasone HFI-780. I use these 60% for portable on-the-go use (commute, walks etc.) and 40% for home listening. I listen to a lot of genres, but mostly acoustic folk (Bob Dylan, Sufjan Stevens), pop music (Broken Bells, Mat Kearney, Ivy, Feist, Jason Mraz) and trip-hop (Bonobo, Cinematic Orchestra, Morcheeba).
Although I love the HFI-780, as a real Head-Fi'er I'm always looking for an upgrade. Because of this, the Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro 80 Ohm caught my eye. Currently though, I'm not yet sure they will be a good upgrade. That is where I need your help! My requirements for the headphones are as follows:
- I will be running these from my iPod classic most of the time; they should achieve good sound and volume from this source. For home use they will be amped from a Vivid V1 USB DAC/Amp.
- I like bass in my music but I strongly prefer punchy sub-bass to more "flobby an deep" bass. For example I used to own the Denon AH-D2000 but their bass wasn't attractive to me at all, it had a lot of noise but no shape to it.
- One of the reasons I'm upgrading is because the HFI-780 has almost no soundstage; some soundstage would be greatly preferable for me (but my upgrade must be a closed can, see below).
- Sound leakage has to be virtually non-existent.
- Outside sound blocking is a big plus; my HFI-780's preform great in this regard.
- A short cable is also a big plus (or like the HFI-780, a short cable that can be extended).
So these are the thing I am looking for in a new pair of headphones. Will the Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro 80 Ohm bring me this, or won't they? And if not, what are some other headphones I should consider?
Your help and replies will be greatly appreciated
For reference, I owned these full size cans:
- Sennheiser HD485 - Super comfortable, a bit lacking in detail.
- Audio-Technica ATH-M50 - Strangely I found them lacking in bass, especially unamped.
- Denon AH-D200 - Way too boring sound for me, especially unamped.
- Ultrasone HFI-780 - Actually a great pair of cans I am super happy with, but narrow soundstage and mids could be better.
My only-portable cans have been:
- Sennheiser PX100 - Great value but ultimately too small to bring the sound I want.
- Audio-Technica ATH-FC700 - Great portability but too plastic-y and ultimately too small sound.
- Audio-Technica ATH-ES7 - Great headphones, but the cable was very prone to tangling so a pain to deal with.
- Sennheiser HD238 - Great sound, but open cans so leaked to much sound.
- AKG K518 - My current portable headphones, great bass and sound blocking, comfort could be better.