[Guest5]

Hello everyone.
This forums provided me with much information... thank you all.
I need your advise for purchasing the headphones I choosed.
I live in Russia, here are the headphones I need to choose from:

Sennheiser HD600- $240
SONY CD3000- $350
Etymotic er4p+cable to make them "s"- $360

What are the best in terms of naturallness, soundstage, bass, mids, highs etc?
For me the etys are kind of "wonder phones" as I've read about them alot, so I vote for them more. SONYs are better than hd600s I know that but are they better than etymotic er4s?

What would you choose if you where me?

The best phones I've heard where porta pros right from my portable and I was amazed at how they sounded(before that using SONY MDR 848 earbuds). Currently waiting for an amp purchase, around $500. So the sound should be pretty good from whatever cans/earplugs I buy. The question is what to buy, SONY CD3000 or etymotic er4p+"s" transform cable.

So come on, you're very welcome with your sugestions.

P.S. CD3000 are not expensive, right?

 

[MusicLover]

What kind of music do you listen to and what kind of characteristics do you want in the headphones? Also, none of those headphones are better than the other, just different. You definitely shouldn't rule out the HD600 (my favorite). It is great for classical.

 

[usc goose]

welcome to to head fi, sorry about the wallet. (standard greeting around here)

if you don't yet have a dedicated amp i don't think getting the hd600 or cd3000 are a good idea. what's your source? the only one of the 3 that i have heard is the hd600 which i really like but it's also really source /amp dependent.

 

[Guest5]

2MusicLover:
I like all kind of music... but not so much rock and rock'n roll type of music. Love classic and pop. What do you mean by characterisitics? Can you explain me a bit?

Hi, usc goose.
I don't have an amp yet but I will buy a portable Hi-End DAC+amp soon for my new phones. Are the CD3000 so big? Anyway I don't plan walking outside listening to music. The thing is the DAC in that amp should be better than any preamp/line out of any-any portable cdp, the sound should be very on the level... as the DAC+amp product uses high quality componenets, and it's not overpriced. So the source is not a factor... it just has to have an optical out which it has(panasonic sl-ct 790).

 

[usc goose]

i've never seen them in person but yeah the cd3000 are supposed to be pretty big. and i guess if you are planning to buy a dedicated amp soon then it kind of depends also whether you want closed headphones (doesn't let sound in or out like the cd3000) or open (lets sounds in and out like the hd600). also the er-4p/s is really super isolating so it can get annoying you can't hear anything happening around you.

 

[Uncledan]

Is this mean you want a home system?!?!? If it is true, why you buy portable Hi-End DAC?

 

[mjg]

I have both the cd3000s and the er4s. Both very different types of phones.

The er4s get real uncomfortable after awhile, they cancel out annoying people from your focus, and they are a special type of thing that you may like in addition to having big phones like cd3000s. Actually, i had the er4s for 2 years before i ever had a regular set like the cd3000 I got this summer. That said I lived with just those, and I don't know how i did it... I hardly use them now that i have the cd3000, and I would only wear the er4s if I wanted to blockout almost all noise completly, sometimes I even wore them without music playing when people around me were being annoying.

THose are small differences, the sonic differences is another story. The ER4S will never sound like the big phones, they sound thinner and don't have the same kind of bass... They are very accurate and have alot of clarity, but will be annoying with the maintenance involved (if that bothers you), and it's a pain if you want to get up taking them out of your ears every time.

I enjoy having both, and I would say get regular phones first, then get the er4s for portable use, or for the occasion when you want to tune out from people.

 

[Guest5]

2Uncledan
It's because where I live almost no one knows the headphone amps exist at all, it would be expensive for me to import a Gilmore V2, for example. the DAC+amp that is almost ready for release should be better than the meta42(and that is just an amp).

I can buy a reciever but I don't intend to buy speakers for it I want to buy headphones plus from what I know the headphone out on those average recievers are not so good.
There are some Hi-fi headphone amps but they cost very much, the cheepiest I saw was the C.E.C. hd51 for $500. There are STAX for over $2000.

 

[Guest5]

I don't care for sound isolation. I want the most neutral sound out of these phones, hd600 is the most inferior of the three(I've read some reviews and made proper conclusion), and I, again, will have some trouble getting replacement cables like CARDAS for them to sound better.

I guess the cans have a more full sound due to their size right? The etymotics er4s sound clear but more tiny.
I noticed a thing when I heard porta pros... the sound became more rich and wide that I hardly manged myself from not getting up and dance. And I kept hearing new nuances in the music, I felt like... very damn interessting, with the etys it must go further. The sound was good but the music was in my head all the time... and that goes to my source to blame too. Now with these Hi-Fi phones and that amp I wrote which will have some kind of expensive chip that nullfies the effect of the "sound in the head" , don't know much about that but it like opens the soundstage, I guess that Hi-end DAC (comon, really!?) will rule with the soundstage. I cant wait any longer and I still haven't decided yet what headphones to buy. Maybe I'll go for SONY CD3000. Do you think they Sound at how much they Cost(to be precise $350

) ?

 

[Uncledan]

Would you answer the following question, so it will be easiler for us to help you:
1) you will use your headphone at home or outside?!?!
2) does size of headphone matter?
3) what kind of amp you plan to buy?
4) you said you plan to spend $500 on amp, does it include the price of your portable Hi-end DAC?

(at this point, I still don't know why you need a portable Hi-end DAC. You said it is expansive to import an amp, then it should cost you the same to import the portable DAC?!?!)

 

[Guest5]

Quote:

Originally posted by Uncledan Would you answer the following question, so it will be easiler for us to help you: 1) you will use your headphone at home or outside?!?! 2) does size of headphone matter? 3) what kind of amp you plan to buy? 4) you said you plan to spend $500 on amp, does it include the price of your portable Hi-end DAC? (at this point, I still don't know why you need a portable Hi-end DAC. You said it is expansive to import an amp, then it should cost you the same to import the portable DAC?!?!)

1. Most at home in silence
2. as a matter of comfort I would go for big phones not earplugs.
3. DAC+amp, portable, belorussian made(no need for any import as it will be on sale on russian inet-shop PLEER.RU when it's released).
4. It will cost most likely around $400. And it's a DAC+amp all put together in one portable case, it's not separate.

I sould have told you earlier that the dac-amp is not an import, sorry for the little confusion

.

I saw in the amp forum a same dac-amp named Sostenuto 1, identical technologicaly wise.
I don't want it to be portable but there are no choices, as I said the DAC should be better than any line out from portable cdp or average stationary Hi-Fi cdp. Plus the amp itself will be pretty good too.

 

[Guest5]

Hi.
I've decided to buy the etys er4p plus adapter, soon will be getting them.

I found an interessting portable player SONY d-e905. It is a good player but how will I use thw headphone jack with er4s? I mean if I plug the etys in the hp jack then how will I plug the remote after that? I didn't see if the remote itself has a hp jack...

BTW the pcdp costs $100 and the seller said it's not used much.
Should I get it? Are here anyone who tried the etys er4s with this cd player? How does it sound... ?

 

[Duncan]

Hiya...

Yes, the E905 is a good cd player, and will work well with the Etymotics... bringing you a very crisp, and clean top end... very different to todays mass market junk...

...There is an adapter for the remote that costs $15 from Audiocubes... PC-M1PS or something like that, i'll try to dig out the link if that is helpful for you

...although, if you intend to use it with your PDAC... look elsewhere, the E905 doesn't have a digital output... for that you'd need to look at one of todays more modern players...

Hope it helps

 

[john_jcb]

When faced with the same dilemma I went down a different route, I got all 3 of them.

Based on many hours of listening and taking versatility into account I think the Etys are the way to go. They offer great sound both at home and on the road and the isolation is for me anyway one of the big selling points.

I use the Etys at home when I want to get away otherwise they are in my travel bag. I split my listening time between the Senn's and Sony's. I like having a pair of both high and low impedance headphones for evaluating amplifiers.

 

[ph0rk]

your toe-tapping when listening to the porta pros might have something to do with their low end emphasis; make sure the cans you get to replace them have enough to satisfy.