[holygrail]

Hi, occasional lurker checking in for the first time here! 
 
I'm looking for suggestions for my next pair of headphones. I listen mainly to hard rock, power pop and some electronica.
 
To give you an idea of where I am so far I have
 
Grados sr60 and sr225 - love them. The best I have for rock music. In your face, loud and opinionated. The sr225 is also oddly enough great for playing my keyboards
 
AT m50 - I like the bass and they do sound good for electronic and modern pop stuff but the hissing is awful with guitar heavy music. Maybe not properly broken in yet? (I only have a few hours on them)
 
AKG K240 - good-but-not-great all around, very comfortable, my goto for movies/games/computer stuff
 
 
And I have a Sony UDA-1 dac/amp for powering things up.
 
I'm looking at something that sounds at least as good as the grados, with good bass. Slight preference for closed although right now I'm looking at the beyerdynamic dt-990 600ohm with lust, will my amp power that fine by the way? Budget not a problem within reason (sub $1000?)
 
Other options? 

 

[KG Jag]

You'll have to tell us what your amp's headphone section is able to drive.
 
The SR 325 has more bass.
 
The planar HE 500, which are being closed out, delivers quality and extended bass, but you will probably have to get a headphone amp powerful enough to properly drive it.

 

[holygrail]

Thanks for the suggestions!
 
Quote:

  You'll have to tell us what your amp's headphone section is able to drive.
 

 
That's actually one of my doubts. Without trying it, is there a way to tell? For example, would my UDA-1 be able to drive the DT990 600ohm? Would it drive the HE-500?

 

[KG Jag]

  Thanks for the suggestions!
 
Quote:

  You'll have to tell us what your amp's headphone section is able to drive.
 

 
That's actually one of my doubts. Without trying it, is there a way to tell? For example, would my UDA-1 be able to drive the DT990 600ohm? Would it drive the HE-500?

I'll bet not--in both cases.
 
Get the amp specs.
 
Check your manual.
 
Ask Sony customer service

 

[holygrail]

 
I'll bet not--in both cases.
 
Get the amp specs.
 
Check your manual.
 
Ask Sony customer service

 
Sure, but what part of the spec should I look at and compare it to what? Is there a way to tell just looking at the specs? I'm afraid I'm not very knowledgable on this yet, if there's some reference I can read it would be great.
 
Manual is here https://docs.sony.com/release/UDA1_refguide_EN_FR.pdf
 
Is this useful data?
 
Rated Power Output
20 W + 20 W (4 ohms, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, THD 10%)
 
Output section
PHONES
17 mW + 17 mW (8 ohms, THD 1%)
55 mW + 55 mW (32 ohms, THD 1%)
170 mW + 170 mW (300 ohms, THD 1%)

 

[holygrail]

 
I'll bet not--in both cases.
 
Get the amp specs.
 
Check your manual.
 
Ask Sony customer service

 
My response with the link to the manual got stuck in moderation. I suppose link will appear when it gets approved.
What should I be looking at in the specs and what should I compare it to in the headphones spec to figure out driveability? If there's soemthing I can read on the matter it would be great. 
 
So far I found this in the manual
 
Rated Power Output
20 W + 20 W (4 ohms, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, THD 10%)
 
PHONES
17 mW + 17 mW (8 ohms, THD 1%)
55 mW + 55 mW (32 ohms, THD 1%)
170 mW + 170 mW (300 ohms, THD 1%)

 

[KG Jag]

That's not enough information.  See:
 
http://www.headphone-amplifier.com/calculator.htm
 
It appears to be a very weak amp--much weaker than the least powerful amp in the Schiit line--see:
 
http://schiit.com/products/vali

 

[holygrail]

  That's not enough information.  See:
 
http://www.headphone-amplifier.com/calculator.htm
 
It appears to be a very weak amp--much weaker than the least powerful amp in the Schiit line--see:
 
http://schiit.com/products/vali

 
Ok, great thanks very much. I will play with that calculator.

Seems the amp might be a bit weak for the 600ohm version. Now that I re-read the headfi review it was tested with low impedance cans, 300ohms at most. In that case I should probably be looking at most at the 250ohm version from beyerdynamic (or adquire a new amp and use the uda-1 as DAC only).
 
With that in mind, are there any other recomendations? 

 

[KG Jag]

Assuming that your amp can properly power them, check out the 250 Ohm version of the DT 880.  See:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/634201/battle-of-the-flagships-58-headphones-compared-update-audeze-lcd-2-revision-2-6-4-13#user_DT880
 
There are many other excellent cans under $1,000, but you will almost certainly need a more powerful amp--unless you stick with Grado, Alessandro or a can like the closed Sony MDR 7520.  See:
 
http://www.soundandvision.com/content/sony-mdr-7520-headphone
 
Or maybe the closed Fostex TH600.