[Justice Strike]

so I went to a real hifi shop and started listening to some head phones. They had the sennheiser hd800 and 650 (and 600) hanging. The hd800 sounded sublime, good precision good sound. Then I listened to the hd650. It sounded blurry wooly and not really all that well. This was on several amps. In fact the sound was so bad even the mdr-sa1000 had more precision (although the sound was not that nice).

anyway, i'm back to square one. I'm obviously not going tobuy the hd800. It simply isn't going to work as a headphone for my abroad (which means laptop as source and no amp or a portable amp.

so, back to square one. I'm still considering the mdr-sa5000/3000 are there other headphones i can consider?

 

[3602]

Hmm...without a proper amp, these rather high-*END* headphones sure won't sound that good with just a computer. I say get a good amp first. Check out HeadRoom Micro amp.
On the other hand, the 650 might be defects. Blurry, wooly is surely not 650.

 

[Justice Strike]

getting an amp is one way of going... but getting a good external dac with amp or perhaps a good soundcard could be possibly a better way of getting good audio.

to give a sense... I'm going to stay in Asia for a year (atleast that's the plan). I won't have access to any equipment other then i take with me.

 

[BobMajor]

I'd get a Pico DAC/Amp or Preditator and some good ear buds. Depending on your budget Etymotic ER4 or one of the Shure canal phones.

 

[Justice Strike]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobMajor /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd get a Pico DAC/Amp or Preditator and some good ear buds. Depending on your budget Etymotic ER4 or one of the Shure canal phones.

I have sleek audio iem. I want a headphone as it gives me just more detail. And quite frankly, i don't always want to have something stuck in my ear.

 

[BobMajor]

Unfortunately, there's no way around convenience while traveling and having something sticking in your ear. The really good headphones aren't small enough to carry conveniently (but I shouldn't talk since I carried my Sony SA5000 with me on some trips). But regarding sound quality, the top of the line IEMs give sound quality on a par with the best headphones. the JH-13 pro in many ways rivals the HD800 and electrostatic headphones.

 

[Justice Strike]

let me put it this way. I need to carry the stuff to asia where i will be staying in an appartment for a year. I can carry some stuff. It just can't be a complete stereo setup.

and i'm not paying 400 dollars for an amp while the sony's are only rated at 70 ohm. Basically if it isn't sounding correctly i think i should do something at the source rather then patching things up with an amp. (or am i saying something ridiculous?)

 

[BobMajor]

The Pico and the Predator are both excellent DACs (sources) and amplifiers in one very small box.
One of the benefits of these units is that they operate on battery (for the amp). This is a great help since it eliminates the problems with dirty power found in any city.
With regard to IEMs, these can be quite useful when living in relatively crowded environments. Many cities in Asia will be quite noisy due to the concentration of people. IEMs will block out extraneous noise and make the music listening more enjoyable.

 

[ipumuk]

sennheiser, akg and beyerdynamic headphones benefit a lot from an amp.

ultrasones are pretty frugal.

also audiotechnicas are considered to run well unamped. I never owned one though.

I recommend emailing their support and check for a store where you can test them. bring your notebook along and listen to the headphones with your system. then buy the ones you like best.

 

[userlander]

Get MS-1s, great detail, and you can run them unamped, or with a portable dac/amp for added SQ and a little extra boost.

 

[baka1969]

The Nuforce Icon Mobile is a decent little amp/dac that's cheap and REALLY small and thin. Smaller and thinner than an iPod Classic. Strapped together it'll slip even into a jeans pocket.

 

[darlim]

Form ur description, the HD650 don sound like it at all. Cabling.. choice of amps all work to get great music out of it. AGree it might be a defective set? Or the setup in theshop does not give it justice. Its requires pampering to coax its best out of them

IF you wan detail phones without amping, Grados are your best bet. I recommend SR225i or MS2i and they are really great cans.

 

[feifan]

If the HD650 sounds veiled to you (it does to me, too) and you're looking for detail, try the K701. But you'll need an amp. Many are small enough for travel.

 

[Justice Strike]

Quote:

Originally Posted by baka1969 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Nuforce Icon Mobile is a decent little amp/dac that's cheap and REALLY small and thin. Smaller and thinner than an iPod Classic. Strapped together it'll slip even into a jeans pocket.

is it any good with a mdr-sa3000/5000?

 

[Justice Strike]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ipumuk /img/forum/go_quote.gif sennheiser, akg and beyerdynamic headphones benefit a lot from an amp. ultrasones are pretty frugal. also audiotechnicas are considered to run well unamped. I never owned one though. I recommend emailing their support and check for a store where you can test them. bring your notebook along and listen to the headphones with your system. then buy the ones you like best.

that's probably the best soution... but the problem is, the notebook i'm going to bring to asia is one i still have to buy. The one i have at the moment has really crappy sound.

I could buy a usb dac or a ec soundcard... but that really is going to limit my choice when i buy a notebook so i really want to leave that till last.