[Tropics]

I am looking for a pair of headphones that I will use for listening to music at work, and then possibly using them for TV and movies at home as well.
 
Musical tastes are all over the place a list of "some f the stuff I listen to probably works best.
 
OMD
The Box
Beach Boys
Simple Minds
Hugh Masakela
Bob Marley
50's and 60's doo wop
Buddy Holly
Some celtic
Fleetwood Mac
The Killers
Alot of 80's stuff
Paul Simon
 
 
I am probably more about accurate disctinct sound recreation then pumping base, I want to hear each individual key stroke on the piano intro to "All the Way from Memphis" by Mott the Hopple, the sounds and echoes of "Hurdy Gurdy" by Donovan being clear and distinct and meshing as they are supposed to. Favorite AC/DC song is "Long Way to the Top if you Want to Rock and Roll" and I want the sounds from each bagpipe to be distinguishable.
 
What phones would make this stuff sound best? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHny1UyjXQU 
 
I am also looking for phones that have a good sense of "ambient" sound, some phones I have used make it very clear that the sound is making a beeline from speakers on the sides of your head into your ears, you can be watching a music video, but it is clear while watching the image of the person singing that the sound is not coming from the direction of the screen at all. Some phones I have used mask this impression and make the sound seem more ambient.
 
I am guessing I would probably go for closed design as the deadening of ambient sounds is important.
 
I tried out some Bose QC15 and they were actually fairly impressive but I have a very limited knowledge and on reading this board I am sure alot of my thoughts on the Bose are simply the "have not actually tried better" syndrome. I did like the sound deadening properties, the absolute silence they created left one needing less volume to pick out distinct bits of the sound. That said, I am not sure if the actual noise canceling of the phones were the key, or simply the closed phones and their sound deadening principle as a pair of ear muffs would do.
 
Portability is not a huge concern for me, I will not be using these on a bus or the like.
 
I "might" go above $200 if there is a pair that would truly excel at what I want.
 
Thanks for any recommendations offered.

 

[Tropics]

Anyone? I have looked at some of the other threads of people asking for headphones in this price range but their musical tastes and what they are looking for are not similar at all and according to those threads and responses, that matters.

 

[saffron]

sennheiser hd 25-1 ii, try that

 

[TMRaven]

whoa whoa whoa, chill out a bit on the hd-25-1 ii recommendations.  

 

[n-phect]

i reccomend
 
ultrasone hifi 650
 
sennheiser hd595

 

[Tropics]

Thanks for the replies.
 
I have come across a used set of AKG K702 for $180, being sold by some guy who works in a radio station so I am hoping they are not too trashed. I am probably going to check them out.
 
I don't really know what "soundstage" means, but I am guessing it is that thing I mentioned in the first post about the music not being from the sides and instead seemingly to be multi-directional?
 
For AKG K702 how would they compare to a set of Beyerdynamic 880? I tried some 880's and was reasonably impressed with their definition on cymbals. Lower end Grado's I tried that were $120 did not impress me at all in clarity and the lower end ~$200 Beyerdynamics were also pretty obviously less distinct on those types of sounds. One thing I did not like much about the BD 880's was the fabric ear covers and a complete lack of isolation.
 
Would a AKG K702 pretty much require an amp to get their true sound? Or would the difference between plugging them straight into a computer and an amp be a small difference?
 
Also, last but not least, how much sound leaking would take place with AKG K702's? I am looking to use them in an office cubicle, noone right beside me, as long as with normal volume (I don't blast music) they are not heard past 5 feet+ through a cubicle wall I would be ok.
 
And used K702'S for $180 in Canada, a fair deal?
 
Thanks for the help.

 

[sidel]

Quote:

 
Would a AKG K702 pretty much require an amp to get their true sound? Or would the difference between plugging them straight into a computer and an amp be a small difference?
 
Also, last but not least, how much sound leaking would take place with AKG K702's? I am looking to use them in an office cubicle, noone right beside me, as long as with normal volume (I don't blast music) they are not heard past 5 feet+ through a cubicle wall I would be ok.
 
And used K702'S for $180 in Canada, a fair deal?
 
Thanks for the help.

Going off K701s because I haven't heard the 702s, and I believe they're nearly identical.
They're ridiculously spacious,  but more analytical.  If what you're listening to has some flaws you're definitely going to be made aware of them. It's not a pair of cans that will get you pumped or excited,  but they are immersive in a sort of polite way. (if you can make sense of that)
 
$180 is definitely reasonable.  You will, however,  be needing an amp.

 

[2enty3]

K702's for 180 are a pretty good deal, but they are definitely not suited for you. the K702 are open so there's gonna be quite the amount of sound leakage, this is coming from the K701, which is near identical to the 702 in design.
 
And amping is for the best with the 702's as well as the fact that the 880's most probably have a ton more bass than the K702.
Just a heads up though, i have never heard an 880 before, so I could be wrong.
 

 

[Tropics]

Hmm, ya I was not disapointed in the amount of bass in the 880's, it was plenty, but if the 702's have "way" less bass it might be starting to get a little serious.
 
I love the things I have read about the soundstage being huge and multidirectional, but I am not sure the so called "cold" sound will be right, I like finite detail and being able to pick out details in the sounds, but I don't want the music to become entirely bland.
 
I want to pick up all the details in a song like "Graceland" by Paul Simon. That song has alot of details going on all at the same time, I want to hear it all and I want it all to be very clear. It still has to be rich though.
 
How much sound leakage are you talking about? I have read that the 702's seal alot better then the 880's do and was hoping that might make them a little bit more isolated since at least sound wont leak in through the sides and will only come in through the back.


 
 

 

[crinacle]

Another vote for the Ultrasone HFI-680. If not, Shures may also work.

 

[Tropics]

Welp, I went and checked out the AKG K702s today, after about 20 seconds of listening to them I was sold. All the stories I heard about them being weak on the bass and flat were set aside in an instant. The guy who sold them to me worked for a rado station and I am pretty sure they are well burned in, perhaps the new phones really are alot different. These things blew the DT880's I tried out in a store out of the water and those things were being run off a multi-$1000 stereo amp. There is virtually no sound leak at the volume I listen at and they seem to isolate alot better then the DT 880's which had pretty bad fabric cups that did not seal around the ear well.
 
So a followup, when I bought the things the guy had a Pa2v2 that gave them decent volume, they ran "ok" on my iphone without any amplification. But my computer at work has crap onboard sound coming off the motherboard and the phones while they actually still sound decent are clearly not getting what they want to fully perform.
 
I am thinking about getting an amp, I don't need it to be self powered/portable for the bus and such as the pa2v2 seemed to be, I want to get something that will plug into an outlet, but not overly huge so I can take it to and from work, basically if it is 3 or 4 pounds and less then the size of a shoe box that is perfect. I want to get something that works well with these phones, accentuates it's strengths, and I am hoping to find something on the cheaper side of things, nowhere over the $300 mark and if I can get that down considerably all the better.
 
Any recommendations on an amp in the sub-$300 that would work well with these things and give me at least 95% of their peak abilities?
 
Plus, is a DAC a huge upgrade in sound? One thing I noticed on using these things is alot of the songs have alot of awesome stuff going on I never really knew was there, but also that my MP3's are often times garbage, if there is a flaw in the source these phones let you know about it. Thinking about downloading a slew of flac files to replace my MP3s and I want to see how good these headphones can sound when everything is right.
 
Thanks