What are the fussiest headphones you know of?

[Duncan]

My vote, until I hear otherwise is the Philips HN110...

Supposed to be good for portable use, but sound real funny out of the ipod (unnaturally grey sounding - even with the NC switched on)... BUT, when put through the headphone jack of my CD850 (haven't tried amped yet, thats something for another day) the sound becomes much more normalised - but the most strange part is that the noise cancelling normally boosts the volume when used with the ipod, but does nothing with the Philips CD player (other than distort when you drive them to harder levels than the AAA battery can handle)...

...Strange...

Are there any other 'phones (apart from the obvious, like trying to drive AKG1000s through a euro crippled PCDP for example) that are fussy beyond belief, and really should have it stamped on the packaging in really big letters "Only for use on...."

 

[Jahn]

The level of frustration we all felt in our first two Qualia Mini-meets in NYC was palapable. We...couldn't...get...upstream...compatibility! Even now tons of folks are still trying to fine tune a rig to a Qualia in vain...

A more modest finicky feast was the K501. Yes, it's driven easier than its big brother the K1000, but it still takes a little oomph to get it going. And if it doesn't like something in the signal chain, it lets you know. It will take away its bass and slap you on the wrists. It will make your Solo sound like a scooped out loaf of bread. It can be an ornery beast, or refuse to budge, like my dog on a rainy day walk outside. But you CAN get synergy with it, and when you do, I admit it can be very pleasant.

 

[Kameleon]

For a can that's sold in retail outlets for normal people like Richer Sounds, they really should give you advance warning on the HD570, as it's surprisingly tough to drive well. I think the listed impedance is only 64 ohms or so, just goes to show you can't always trust that

 

[catscratch]

Stax SR-001, definitely. Wrong interconnect = no treble. Batteries in amp low = no treble. Didn't warm up amp = no treble, no deep bass. Wrong position = no deep bass, ears go OUCH. Headband = hurt, no headband = can't stay in place. Oops, did you encode in non-lossless? AhahahahHHAHAHAHAHA (no quality). 320k is passable, 192 isn't (no soundstage). And does your player's EQ distort? Awww... bad for you, then.

I would have given up on the damn things a long time ago, but when you actually do get them to work, they sound so beautiful... I've never seen another portable that doesn't require you to make sonic compromises. Of course, you have to compromise in everything else...

 

[philodox]

The K340 is quite fussy... it needs power and a lot of it. It also doesnt care much for low end sources.

 

[450]

Quote:

Strange Combo That Works: Philips CD850 (headphone output) -> Philips HN110

Funny sig Duncan

!

 

[Kirosia]

dt880. Underpowered it sounds like shi - at, especially from a portable. (although the d211 made sound pretty okay) It took tubes and a decent source to show me what they were capable of.

Dt880 <3 tubes, but no likey the sub-par porta.

least fussy: ksc & rs1. Pretty much ran out of anything (that doesn't suck outright) with good results, but scale nicely when making love to some high class debutantes.

 

[gpalmer]

I'll nominate the W2002's. Great cans, lot of work to get right and when they go wrong it's usually very wrong...

 

[jjcha]

When I saw the topic, I immediately thought of the obvious - the K 1000. It's not just an amplification thing either - I've never had cans that sound so good or bad with different sources. These are changes that have far less of an impact on my other phones.

It certainly is rewarding though. Get these right and I can see retiring from head-fi altogether.

Best regards,

-Jason

 

[GoRedwings19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjcha When I saw the topic, I immediately thought of the obvious - the K 1000. It's not just an amplification thing either - I've never had cans that sound so good or bad with different sources. These are changes that have far less of an impact on my other phones. It certainly is rewarding though. Get these right and I can see retiring from head-fi altogether. Best regards, -Jason

I hope you get it right so you can give me those w10vtg's for a start.

At the moment the sony MDr-r10's I have never liked it in my setup. Although judginf from Gpalmers post the w2002's could be closer or ahead.

 

[Wmcmanus]

From what I've read I'd say the Qualia 010.

Fom what I've experienced I'd say the Grado PS-1. The bass is wonderful with the right source, amp, 'wires' AND music. But if you don't have any one of thse elements right, the bass can be overpowering. Never bloated or in any way unclear, but it can draw too much attention to itself relative to the mids and highs - and even when you think you have it right, it can start driving you nuts again just because you put in a new CD. The PS-1's are crazy finicky, IMO.

 

[GoRedwings19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus From what I've read I'd say the Qualia 010. Fom what I've experienced I'd say the Grado PS-1. The bass is wonderful with the right source, amp, 'wires' AND music. But if you don't have any one of thse elements right, the bass can be overpowering. Never bloated or in any way unclear, but it can draw too much attention to itself relative to the mids and highs - and even when you think you have it right, it can start driving you nuts again just because you put in a new CD. The PS-1's are crazy finicky, IMO.

Thanks Wayne you just reminded me. Until i got a recent addition I didn't like the Ps-1's in my setup either as well. I was about to sell them off. But then I got an old friend of an amp back and they helped.

Actually come to think of it, I just think high end phones and me don't mix! I don't even know why I try them out as I don't seem to "gel" with them as much as headphones lower down the range. The only exception to this rule is the he60's.

Took me a while to adjust to electrostat sound but I liked it straight away. I remember because the PS-1's were sitting in a box unopened for some time.

 

[PsychoZX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoRedwings19 I hope you get it right so you can give me those w10vtg's for a start. At the moment the sony MDr-r10's I have never liked it in my setup. Although judginf from Gpalmers post the w2002's could be closer or ahead.

R10s? Really? I thought the r-10s sounded miles ahead of any dynamic headphones i've heard even out of my modest setup.

 

[PsychoZX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus From what I've read I'd say the Qualia 010. Fom what I've experienced I'd say the Grado PS-1. The bass is wonderful with the right source, amp, 'wires' AND music. But if you don't have any one of thse elements right, the bass can be overpowering. Never bloated or in any way unclear, but it can draw too much attention to itself relative to the mids and highs - and even when you think you have it right, it can start driving you nuts again just because you put in a new CD. The PS-1's are crazy finicky, IMO.

That might explain why I didn't care for them at the FL meet.

 

[GoRedwings19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PsychoZX R10s? Really? I thought the r-10s sounded miles ahead of any dynamic headphones i've heard even out of my modest setup.

Unfortunately I don't "get" it and I will probably won't either. For some reason which I cannot explain nor do I understand, I find the sound fatigues me.

You probably think "are you nuts"? But seriously, Any longer than 10-15 mins I find it hurts my ears. I am not talking about comfort. Yes they are detailed but it is this amount of detail, like the sound of violins which hurt my ears.

I already sold off one pair. I have just got a tube amp and hopefully that will take the edge off it for me, if not, bye bye r-10 No.2

Funnily enough the Qualia's which I am lending which most people criticise I can listen to it no problem. While the highs are a bit much for my tastes, I can listen to it.

I want to give it a re-test and this time I will swap out some interconnects for a different set and change my amp over for a more lushy slushy sounding one and see what happens.

I don't regret buying them as it is experience. But I know the R-10's at least the way my ears hear them are not for me.

Sometimes when I read impressions and posts about the R-10's i often wonder why I don't hear the things the headfiers say they are.

I read that are warm sounding, I find them (although I do not know why) bright.

They have good bass, I find they have detailed bass given their bass impact. But most phones with this amount of bass impact will have this control. Ramp the bass impact up to the levels of the Ps-1 and will it still show the same detail and tightness? who knows? I find them to have less than ideal bass impact for me.

But then again I can handle Ps-1+flats and think that' still not enough for Rock.