Upgrading my headphones

[Differential]

Hi!
 
I'm looking to update my current headphones which are the Superlux HD330's with Beyerdynamic velour pads. I've used them for a while but I'd like to get a better experience if possible.
 
I would want a good pair of headphones which are comfortable to wear even long times. I can order from Thomann if necessary. I currently do not have any kind of an amplifier except for the output of my Superlux E205U USB microphone headphone jack (which is noticeably louder than the output of my motherboard, is it some kind of an amp?). Anyways, my HD330's (2x150Ohms) have been fine with it.
 
I'd also appreciate if the headphone had a detachable cable. I wear eyeglasses so I don't want anything that isn't a good fit. Open back or closed back, it doesn't matter to me as long as the sound is good, but I'd like to try closed backs if they're not lacking too much! I don't want on-ear headphones, so over-ear is a must!
 
I listen to all kinds of music, so being able to perform in different conditions is a must. I listen mainly to rap/hiphop, rock and metalcore(ish), but also to the likes of acoustic pop and folk. I also watch videos and play games regularly.
 
I've been looking at the Audio-Technica ATH-M40x. Are they good sound- and comfort-wise? I've heard that they're better than the M50xses.
 
What kind of options do I have? What do you recommend?
 
Thanks a lot.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

What is your budget?

 

[Differential]

What is your budget?

Preferably under 200 euros at max.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Preferably under 200 euros at max.

 

Apart from the Brainwavz HM5, Philips SHP9500, and Grado SR225 I'd be more inclined to just save that money until you have at least another $100 before looking around for an upgrade. Anything you can get for $200 or less new won't be that much better from a technical standpoint (including SR225), or would leave out a lot of your other requirements like detachable cables (HM5, SHP9500; SR225 is also on-ear).

 

Also what exactly do you want to improve on from the HD330? Everything you've been specific about are ergonomic issues, but not really anything on the sound apart from "better." If you save up a bit and get the HE400i for example (which was on sale for $250, not sure if it still is) it's a better headphone from a technical standpoint, but you'd probably not like how the upper bass impact has been toned down from the peaky response on the HD330.

 

[Differential]

 

Also what exactly do you want to improve on from the HD330?

I think when listening to acoustic and metal music with clean instruments for longer periods of time the HD330's tend to make my ears a bit fatigued. I'm not sure if it's the headphones or not, but that's just my general feeling.
 
Also I think the sound is lacking a bit from the absolute highs. I just feel it lacks the slightest cut from the highest of highs. Like a Mozart composition without the highest note. (Not the greatest of symbolic explanation ever given, but the best that I could come up with!) You just feel something is missing.
 
HD330's cable is something I personally don't like. But one great thing is that it doesn't produce any interfering sounds to the headphone itself if it, for example, gets hit by my hand.
 
What comes to bass - it's not everything, I understand that. I like that the headphones have some kick in the bass, but it shouldn't be so that it makes the sound muffled or just completely run over by the bass. I like to hear the aspects of the song without losing the feeling of enjoyment.
 
I got interested in the 

Philips SHP9500. They're not terribly expensive (though I understand that being an audiophile is not necessarily an easy hobby), they look great and have been praised around the Net. Where can I get them? I live in Finland (Europe), and by quickly Googling them they seem to be sold in the U.S. and some shady stores in Europe, not available locally. Thomann has been great, sadly I can't get them from here and besides Thomann I've never ever ordered something from abroad. I just fear that I get something made on Monday and the warranty return gets a whole lot more complicated.
 
And how about the Audio-Technicas (HM50x, HM40x)? Are they good? I don't like earbuds which go into my ear sealing them. The cable makes sounds to the ear and I can hear my heartbeat. Would that feeling change with over-ear headphones, even though they're closed?
 
Thanks!

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

In that price range there is the AKG k553, but I don't know if it would work well with glasses, and I don't know if it is really an upgrade over what you have now.

 

[serman005]

In that price range there is the AKG k553, but I don't know if it would work well with glasses, and I don't know if it is really an upgrade over what you have now.

For open there is the HD 598 as well. It is a very nice headphone for the money. It (the SE version) is currently 159.53 euros on amazon.de. I am pretty sure they ship to Scandinavia.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
And how about the Audio-Technicas (HM50x, HM40x)? Are they good?

 
They're good but since you already have the Superlux they aren't that much better technically. You might as well save your money and pour it into something that will be a bigger jump in performance over the HD330.
 
 

 
I don't like earbuds which go into my ear sealing them. The cable makes sounds to the ear and I can hear my heartbeat. Would that feeling change with over-ear headphones, even though they're closed?

 

The cable sound is microphonics. If the cables aren't good they'll be prone to it, otherwise, the key really is for the cable to not move. I have a relatively cheap IEM that has a thick but still microphonic cable and I got a mic cable that didn't improve on that. By contrast I had a Shure before and now an Aurisonics ASG-1.3 and the cable barely has any microphonics (apart from harder taps on the cable), and if I wear them properly - cable loops above ear lobes, slider tight to the back of my head - I don't hear any mircrophonics at all.

 

As for making you more sensitive to other sounds, IEMs do have a tendency to enhance your own body's sound (or make it worse - like without a mic you only hear your voice reverberating in your throat, not as it goes out into the room), but if you can already hear a hard heart pounding, you might want to check if you should be on telmisartan and clopidogrel. I only hear my heart when I'm working out, or that one time I ran out of my meds and totally forgot to replenish (I had other things on my mind as well), and my BP shot up (that I made ramen with more fatty pork bits than bony bits just made that worse).

 

As for closed headphones, it would have to be a totally quiet room for the headphone to block out enough ambient noise to hear that. Technically speaking you do hear some of your own heart beating, except there's usually a lot of ambient noise around so your brain just ignores it; IEMs block out a lot of ambient noise and you're hearing your heart from the other side, ie, as it echoes inside your body cavity up into your head cavity. If you went into the world's quietest room (in the engineering lab of the University of Alabama I think) you'd hear your own heartbeat without any headphones or IEMs on. Closed headphones though won't even come close to the isolation of IEMs.
 

 
I got interested in the 

Philips SHP9500. They're not terribly expensive (though I understand that being an audiophile is not necessarily an easy hobby), they look great and have been praised around the Net. Where can I get them? I live in Finland (Europe), and by quickly Googling them they seem to be sold in the U.S. and some shady stores in Europe, not available locally. Thomann has been great, sadly I can't get them from here and besides Thomann I've never ever ordered something from abroad. I just fear that I get something made on Monday and the warranty return gets a whole lot more complicated.

 

Check Amazon sites in the EU.
 

  I think when listening to acoustic and metal music with clean instruments for longer periods of time the HD330's tend to make my ears a bit fatigued. I'm not sure if it's the headphones or not, but that's just my general feeling.

 

The HD330 has several peaks in the midrange all the way to the treble. Add to that how the drivers are positioned smack over the ear canal unlike those with angled pads or at least bigger interior pad openings and that just makes it worse as your ears perceive cymbals for example to be crashing right by your ears. That's how my HD330 is when my soundcard isn't using surround simulation, although I keep that running all the time since I use these for my gaming rig. By comparison my HD600 with angled HM5 earpads have the cymbals outside of and away from my head.
 
 

 
Also I think the sound is lacking a bit from the absolute highs. I just feel it lacks the slightest cut from the highest of highs. Like a Mozart composition without the highest note. (Not the greatest of symbolic explanation ever given, but the best that I could come up with!) You just feel something is missing.

 

That's due to two things. First, they do roll off earlier just past 10000hz; second is how the peaks heading up to that is just making it worse by making those ranges louder and making what it is already weak at even less audible.
 

 
What comes to bass - it's not everything, I understand that. I like that the headphones have some kick in the bass, but it shouldn't be so that it makes the sound muffled or just completely run over by the bass. I like to hear the aspects of the song without losing the feeling of enjoyment.

 

The thing is though many people tend to like as much "kick" as Grado and Superlux, and then when listening to a headphone that is more balanced in that area - like the HE400i - it will seem like it has no kick to it at all. The reality though is that the earlier nose dive in the bass coupled with the high peak is what obscures the low bass response, even if the boosted response doesn't extend far up the upper bass region enough to totally make a lot of other notes muddy.

 

----

 

In any case given these you should take a look at the HE400S, HE400i, HD600, HD650, K702 and K712. Just note that you'd also need to save up for an amp for these, including the HE400S, unless you can check and make sure the Superlux USB unit you're using now has a very low output impedance (I wouldn't assume by default since their headphones are more around 150ohms).

 

 

[buke9]

For the money HE-400S is a very good headphone easy to drive but like said earlier prefers a bit of power to get the most out of it.

 

[Differential]

 

Just note that you'd also need to save up for an amp for these, including the HE400S, unless you can check and make sure the Superlux USB unit you're using now has a very low output impedance (I wouldn't assume by default since their headphones are more around 150ohms).

 

Thanks for the informative and really helpful reply! It gets me speechless that there are helpful people like you. Thanks!
 
What kind of amp do you recommend?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
What kind of amp do you recommend?

 

Something like the Schiit Fulla2 at least, or the Meier Corda Rock (but this one has no DAC built in), but overall that depends on whether you'd want the amp to be somewhat future proof in case you get anything harder to drive later on.