[MaloS]

[size=large]Synopsis.:[/size]

This thread is introduced as a simplified information source for new users, as looking for answers is becoming more and more difficult despite the helpfulness of the search functions. I am hoping this community will help me so we can create a decent list of popular easy to acquire headphone/amp pairs. This is MEANT to be a community effort.

This is organized in two sections, home and portable combos. The price limit is $750 for the whole combo, and it does not factor in the source used in any way. The price is chosen in order to reasonably cover amps up to home offerings from likes of Little Dot and HeadAmp, and a good headphone that is more than satisfactory, with upgrade potential in the future (like Denon D2000 or Sennheiser HD600). The price is also chosen to give enough space to produce setups that can be considered not compromised (in a sense, realistic entry to leave to hi-fi), and cover a broad range of brands. Shipping costs are not considered in the price because of great variation depending on the user location.

Below is a guideline with beginning outline, which I will update as we go.
I will start with a headphone, and try to have two amps for each headphone, one tube and one solid state, both commercial (for ease of acquisition), and a small discussion about the merits of each combo, maybe links to retailers and rough price estimates.

So here it is:

[size=large]I. Home Setups[/size]

AKG K701

AKG K271s

Beyerdynamic DT770

Beyerdynamic DT880

Beyerdynamic DT990

Denon AH-D2000

Sennheiser HD595

Sennheiser HD600 [$300]
This headphone is known for a more relaxed sound of Sennheiser, tending
towards a neutral response but with a mildly boosted mid-bass, relaxed
treble, and a fairly large sound stage. Excellent choice for classical and jazz
listeners.
[size=xx-small]Important specs:
- 300 ohm impedance
- Open, dynamic drivers.
- Circum-aural.[/size]
HeadAmp Gilmore Lite [$399 @ HeadAmp]
[size=xx-small] - Solidstate.[/size]
- The amp is capable of getting better control of the somewhat slow
nature of HD600, helping tighten up the bass and assisting with detail
retrieval.

Stax SR-003
- In this price range it can only be used with its paired amp SRM-252a,
available in the SRS-005II combo.

Stax SR-202
- In this price range it can only be used with its paired amp SRM-252a,
available in the SRS-2050II combo.

Ultrasone HFI780

Ultrasone Proline 750

Ultrasone Proline 2500


[size=large]II. Portable Setups[/size]

(insert ideas here, I am not familiar with current state of portable equipment).

 

[antonyfirst]

Portables:

Kenwood players have weak output and are overpriced. Sony players sound decent but have still week output. The JVC XA-HD500 is low capacity hard disk, sounds as good as a Kenwood (and almost identical sound signature, only slight differences) and costs less. If you want more inputs about portables, you should dig in my DAP comparison and Bangraman's comparo among the Vibez, Sony A808 and Cowon D2.

The 4th iMod is slighly better than the mentioned players, as far as details retrieval goes, but not wider soundstage than either the Kenwood or JVC. The iMod though offers lots of power, and that's good for any kind of full size headphones, or high impedance earphones/IEMs. It's amp dependant. The best match I found is the Headsix which is warmish/on the lush side, not harsh. Though it's not very powerful, I suspect it has lower gain than the XXS. Battery life on the Headsix is 60 hours or more with a single 9V battery.

As a portable amp, the Minibox E+ is nice but the stock opamp it uses, the AD8610, is a bit brash in the upper midrange and I don't like it with rock. According to MrArroyo, rolling opamps and using the AD797 makes a lot of difference, as it's mellower and very, very detailed. I haven't tried the combo though. The E+ is more powerful than the Headsix, and has a cool battery life of 60 hours.

The iBasso P2 sounds good but it's warmer than the other two, a bit big and I could use more battery life than its rated 10 hours. It has a nice three position bass boost though.

 

[breakfastchef]

HOME SETUP: Sennheiser HD595 headphones and a Little Dot MKII tube headphone amplifier. Total cost new around $425USD. Amplifier has enough power to support higher impedance headphones and the option to try several different power and driver tubes allows the user to find the perfect sound signature for them.

 

[Dobro]

Thanks for starting this up MaloS, it is an excellent idea.

My contribution is:
Senn HD580/600 with Gilmore Lite. Very nice synergy. The GLite has enough power to get the bass under control and adds a bit of speed.

 

[antonyfirst]

IEMs & Earphones:

-Triple.fi 10 Pro: the seal is hard to reach with provided biflanges, but comfortable with Comply T400 tips. They have a removable cable, which I hate because I never know if I'm going to lose the earpieces.
The cable is a nightmare, very stiff, but can be replaced with Westone ES cable, but the pins have to be trimmed slightly.
Sound: the bass is full, midbassy, but not overwhelming. Clean, detailed, but not as deep as Etymotic with Ety black foamies. The midrange is clear and, provided you use foamies, not recessed as was commonly thought one year ago (when the Triple.fi weren't much known). Highs are overall nice. They are not as sharp as Etymotic, rather gentle, like if they were constellating the soundstage space with the top of your fingers. Very nice sensation. Still there is some lower treble harshness with some rock, that doesn't make them a perfect match for a bright amp (at least not the Minibox E+). They should be a great match with the SR-71 and Predator.

-Head-Direct RE1: they don't sound good with foam tis, the sound gets too muffled. The nozzle is the same diameter as the Triple.fi. They use great and soft biflanges provided by head direct, that are very comfortable. They have some deep bass, and are sligtly more midbassy than the Triple.fi. This is achieved by suppressing the lower treble. Cymbal crashes are very gentle and recessed, and sibilance is never a problem, even with the worst recording. Still, they lack treble energy and lately I have found myself turning up the volume to hear more highs. With foam tips, vocals can sound chesty. Biflanges represent upper midrange and lower treble better. Soundstage is very big. The smoothest headphone I know, and good for 60's rock, but leaves something wanting for hifi reproduction.

-Super.fi 5 Pro with Westone ES recable and 40 ohm added impedance (with Shure volume attenuator). All these mods tame the bass, which is not overpowering anymore, and the treble spike at ~7 kHmz, which is responsible of sibilance. Treble is not as extended as Triple.fi. Soundstage is BIG. They are very sensitive to hiss and volume increase. The overall sound is very close to that of the Triple.fi. Adding impedance to the Super.fi recesses the upper midrange and makes vocals a bit darker, taming sibilance at the same time. Same comfort problems as the Triple.fi.

-Etymotic ER4P: Tight bass, very deep, no hints of midbass bloat. They would be perfect if they lacked the midrange and treble spikes. These are responsible for the increased detail retrieval (making the songs sound differently from what they were intended to), but the sound becomes very sharp and each hint of "s" "ch" "sh" becomes a pain to hear. The ER4S are even worse in this regard. The ER4P have a sort of "laser" feeling when listening to them, like if all kinds of special effects were turned on. I like the tightness, the imaging, but not the sharpness. Overall sound presentation, tilted to treble, is kind of sickening.

-Yuin OK1: the OK1 sound like if we removed the nasty spikes from the ER4P. Precise imaging, tight, detailed bass, a bit forward upper midrange and extended treble. Very good instrument separation, big soundstage (a bit smaller than PK1 though). Songs sound right and uncolored. They need very powerful amplification, and more than the PK1. Some people might like tube amps with them, to add a touch of warmth that in my opinion would make them perfect. I like them and the Triple.fi best among earphones/IEMs.
I think the Headsix is a good match sound-signature wise, but I could use more power from the amp. A 2Move would be a better match, and I'd be happy to see how the Lisa III would perform with the OK1.

-Yuin PK1: bigger soundstage than the OK1, but they have a midbass hump that takes away from the perceived instrument sepatation. Midrange is a bit forward. They give a gradoish colour to the songs, with the same sense of "effortlessness", but they are more neutral than Grado SR-60 (the SR-60 might sound like plastic sometimes). Very good for rock.

More to come...

 

[MaloS]

Oh, also, it may be useful to have links to reviews in this thread. I am going to search for some as time goes on, but please feel free to add links to posts/threads that are particularly on topic and informative. This way I can provide simple information here, but the additional information will be easily available.

The list of headphones for the Home setups I put up is nowhere near exhaustive, I just took a jab at what I see as most popular, so please add more if I missed something.

 

[antonyfirst]

You can find lots of links to my and other's reviews in my signature.

 

[user18]

I think it would be helpful to also list combos to avoid. I found the Ultrasone Proline 750 terrible when paired with CKIII. It brings out the sibilance and metallic highs; unlistenable.

 

[jh4db536]

I know this is over the price limit, but it deserves to be on here

HD650 + Benchmark DAC1

HD650:
Same specs as the HD600, but Much more difficult to drive in reality.

Mids overall more pronounced than 600/580
Bass more pronounced than 600/580 (flabby until balanced)
More refined higher resolution than 600/580
In general more laidback, warm, and liquid than 600/580
Average Soundstage unless balanced, airy+rich opposed to dry

DAC1 (solid state):
Balanced Source
Supposedly immune to jitter
Strong Internal Amp/2 Outputs
Inputs - USB (opt $)/Coaxial&AES&Optical SPDIF
Outputs - XLR, RCA, 1/4" x2
Very wide soundstage
Brightness: 7.5/10 corrects the 650's darkness IMO (5 being neutral)
Mids pronounced - adds more to the 650's beautiful mids
Highs - does it more perfectly than anything ive heard so far. It has the sparkle the 650's lack without being harsh.
Bass - on the lean side, but tightens things up. the HD650 has too much anyway, so this is perfect. Internal amp is does NOT fully to control the 650's bass, but it gets it 75% right i'd say. It takes a true balanced amp to control the 650's bass.

Overall, i think this is the best starter combo with the 650 if you can afford it. Either the USB or non usb version of the DAC1. If i could do everything again, it would be DAC1 + 650 until i can afford a GSX, b22, apache, or B52

 

[Kilane]

If you're starting with the Ultrasone 750's I can't recommend a better sub 200$ (maybe more shipped, not a whole lot) amp than the Original Master. Seems to even out some of the deficiencies of the phone in mids, excellent clarity, very low noise floor. Oh and monster bass.