[Gurb]

Hi everyone,
 
I'm new on this forum and I'm here for some advice. Though I enjoy my music, I'm not that much of an audiophile. My cheap-ass Philips SHP8500's gave me all the "oh my goodness, I'm hearing things I never heard before" moments I could wish for. So why am I here? Well, a friend of mine is an audiophile, but for various reasons he doesn't have the money to back his love for music up with the proper gear to listen to it. So I figured that for his birthday I'd get some friends together to buy him a decent pair of headphones.
 
It's hard enough to find one you like for yourself, but for someone else it's even harder. Our heads are nowhere near the same size or shape, so comfort-wise it's hit or miss. But I did come up with a couple of important features:
 
- Within the budget: 85 euro
- Full size, circum-aural (he's got physically sensitive and weird shaped ears)
- With a cable (no wireless cans)
- As neutral as possible because of the way he listens to music (anything bass heavy goes right out the window)
 
For him a five second, hardly audible, but technically hard to play bit of music can make a ten minute song worth listening to. He listens to Raul Midon, Steve Vai, Heather Nova, Kodo (traditional Japanese drums), Stanley Clarke, Victor Wooten and lots of stuff I've never heard of. He'll enjoy some AC/DC etc. at times, but he won't mind playing those on an average-everyday set of whatevers.
 
Another friend of mine really knows what he's talking about and he told me not to look at anything other than AKG or Sennheiser. With the budget in mind that took me to only one option: Sennheiser HD518's. But with me, not willing to limit myself too easily to just one option, it didn't take long before I was looking at other options too. So, here's my short list with my thoughts about them:
 
- Sennheiser HD518 (seems a solid choice, but the jack alone is bigger than anything he's going to plug it into and I heard it's not that great on un-amped 3.5mm sources)
- Beyerdynamic DTX910 (I hear a lot of good things about Beyerdynamic, but I can't find a single decent review of these. Freaks me out a bit...)
- Pioneer SE-A1000 (not specifically designed for music, but with an impressive frequency range. But again, not designed with music in mind.)
 
I depend on the internet for ordering the headphones because where I'm from it's easier to find gold in your back yard than a shop that sells decent headphones. At the moment I'm leaning toward the HD518's, but I wanted to get some advice from people who actually know what they are talking about. Any advice, including other options, would be immensely appreciated.
 
Thanks for reading this short novel and thanks in advance for replies!
 
All the best,
 Gerben


 

 

[Digital-Pride]

I would lean more toward the Sennheisers as I've read some very positive things about the HD518.  To get around the large default plug of the HD518, you can get a short stereo to mini adapter cable like the one pictured here.  I'm too sure about the two options.

 

[LegendaryLvl1]

 
Quote:

It's hard enough to find one you like for yourself, but for someone else it's even harder It's hard enough to find one you like for yourself, but for someone else it's even harder
 

Really?... Must be a kind and loving friend. If it was me I'd get him anything.
 
"For him a five second, hardly audible, but technically hard to play bit of music can make a ten minute song worth listening to."
 
Man you have a really deep understanding of your friend I'm jealous. How did you guys get so close? Are you married?
 
Another friend of mine really knows what he's talking about and he told me not to look at anything other than AKG or Sennheiser
> Really knows what he's talking about
>Only look at AKG or Sennheiser
>Really knows what he's talking about
>What he's talking about
>Talking about
>Talking.
 
He listens to Raul Midon, Steve Vai, Heather Nova, Kodo (traditional Japanese drums), Stanley Clarke, Victor Wooten and lots of stuff I've never heard of. He'll enjoy some AC/DC etc
 
So from the previous post I gather that he likes the analytical side of music. If so, I would recommend the sennheisers.

 

[Gurb]

Quote:

 
Man you have a really deep understanding of your friend I'm jealous. How did you guys get so close? Are you married?
 

Nah, we're not married, but yeah, we're pretty close. I am Dutch, so we are very relaxed about these things. Thanks for the advice, the Sennheisers are starting to secure their top spot on the list.

 

[Gurb]

I just placed an order for the HD 518's. I didn't see an option to delete the thread, so thanks for the advice and we'll leave it at that.
 
Thanks again,
 Gerben

 

[Digital-Pride]

I've just received the HD518 yesterday myself and it's a rather nice upgrade over the HD515.  Enjoy your new headphones!