[mahrous]

Hi guys
 
First post for me here. Need help with replacing my B&W P5 that finally kicked the bucket after 7 years of solid service!
 
Background:
I live in Egypt at the moment and have no access to trying any headphones before buying them. I will order online and have them shipped to friends who are visiting Egypt soon.
I owned the P5 for 7 years and absolutely loved them. Compared them to the 'standard' headphones you would find at Apple stores, Marshall Major, and a host of other entry level/mid level headphones and my P5 always came on top without second thoughts.
 
I listen through my iPhone. I listen at home, at the office, and on my travels. I will invest in DAC/Amp combo - need advice for this as well.
I play bass guitar and upright bass and I typically listen to/value music that is driven by bass players. I listen to lots of progressive rock, jazz, funk, motown, RnB, hard/glam rock and all their fusion genres; Dream Theater, Yes, Riverside, Pain of Salvation, Motown, Dave Brubeck, Camel, Bootsy Collins, Tower of Power, Snarky Puppy, Jaco Pastorius/Weather Report ... to name a not so few bands and I'm a sucker for vintage tones a lot more than modern sounding ones.
 
Purchase requirements:
In total, I'm not ready to pay over $600 easily. I can stretch budget to nail something substantially better, but yeah.
Closed back. Passive sound isolation.
Portability is not high on my list. Wireless would be cool but not on the expense of sound quality.
I doubt I will buy a portable DAP, AMP or DAC ... I don't enjoy walking around with lots of gadgets. But I'm looking at buying a desktop set within the above mentioned budget.
Ultimately, I was automatically going for the P7 Wireless to stick to the sound signature I'm familiar and happy with. But thinking back, I would like to step up to something more 'mature', natural and expansive. Don't get me wrong, I would love to own another B&W because they are so damn exciting to listen to ... so I'm hoping I'd find something as exciting but with more versatility if that's the word to use.
I listen for several hours nonstop (in the engineering/design business) and I prefer to be completely isolated and immersed in my music/sound.
 
 
So pretty much I have access to any pair of headphones since I'm ordering online without testing. I've been reading these forums and lots of other reviews and compiled a list of phones that I like but not 100% sure if they will satisfy my bass 'needs'. I'd hate to buy new phones that are a step down to the P5 in that department or are less exciting.
List:
Denon AH-MM400
Beyerdynamic T70p
Oppo PM3
B&W P7
AT ATH-A1000z W1000z and SR9
B&O H6 and H7
Audeze Sine
Final Audio ... Hope Pandora? Sonorous?
AKG K55x
Sennheiser - not sure which model I tried, but their sound left a little bass to be desired compared to my P5
 
Obviously my budget isn't so big, I see Schiit over some interesting solutions at very decent prices ... especially that I'm a sucker for tube amplification (my bass guitar amp is tubed). So need a pair of headphones that will mate well with Schiit. Also need help picking the right set from them or alternatives.
 
Thanks!

 

[Slashfury99]

The Audeze Sine is one of my favorite on-ear headphone, especially for my iPhone 7. The Sine's bass is extremely pleasing, impactful and clean. Mids are lush and vocals have a powerful presence in them. Trebles are a bit too reserved in my opinion, but at least there's no sibilance. Did I mention the Sine provides a lightning cable that has a DAC/Amp installed? A great improvement for iPhone 7/7S users, cuts down the cumbersome adaptor.

As for the Sennheiser, could it have been the Momentum On-Ears?

 

[mahrous]

I'm not sure which Sennheiser model it was. It was a local shop in Egypt and I doubt they had anything close to top of the line.

 

[Slashfury99]

Well, since you do not like it as much as the P5, I'm guessing that it doesn't matter anyway.

 

[mahrous]

That I cannot be sure of. But even during my music recording days, Sennheiser to me, were more synonymous with hifi sound rather than warm/vintage tones.
I'm still open to Sennheiser suggestions if you see they fit the bill from my description.

 

[Slashfury99]

The Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 (Over-Ear) sounds relatively less bassy, and more balanced. They are also much cheaper than the Sine, which makes for a better value imo.

 

[mahrous]

Bump

Help please!

 

[serman005]

Bump

Help please!

You might look into the NAD HP50. It is remarkably neutral and really, really nice.

 

[mahrous]

Hi
 
So after plenty of reading and studying, I'm following this trajectory with my purchase:
I'm looking at shelling out more money on sourcing my music, and signal processing than pushing the budget into the headphones themselves.
 
I don't listen to much music while moving (only in my car), and will be listening to music at home and in my office. I'm sure I can survive with my iPhone in flights once or twice a year.
 
I read a bunch of good things about Schiit. I also see HiFiMan offering a DAC/Amp tubed for decent money.
How important is it to run a DAC? How important is it to run an amp for a low impedance headphone? I'm still far from deciding what to get and my budget for the entire purchase (DAC, ano and headphones) shouldn't exceed $1000, how much should I appropriate to each item?
 
Thanks!

 

[FumblingFoo]

Well, assuming you go for the P5 S2's @ 300 dollars, that leaves about $700 left over. I kinda wish you had a little more leeway in your budget for an amp, but I recommend investing more in a DAC as that's what feeds the amp. My bifrost uber sounds about as good as my v850, so I'd recommend the bifrost or bifrost multibit at $400 or $600 if you can afford it for the DAC. I'd be careful going below spec on the ohms of an amp, that might throw a protection circuit or just not work (might not know what I'm talking about on that point, but better safe than sorry). Thankfully schiit has you covered both for the ohms and the tubes with the schiit vali @ $170.

 

[mahrous]

I'm looking at the Meze 99 Classics (will stretch budget) or the AT ATH-M50x (within budget) or the NAD HP50. I think I would like something more refined than the B&W P5 (and I read the S2 is a step down from the legacy model). I still want a fun set of headphones that will excite the bassist in me and satisfy all them genres/bands I mentioned in the first post here.

 

[buke9]

Hi

So after plenty of reading and studying, I'm following this trajectory with my purchase:
I'm looking at shelling out more money on sourcing my music, and signal processing than pushing the budget into the headphones themselves.

I don't listen to much music while moving (only in my car), and will be listening to music at home and in my office. I'm sure I can survive with my iPhone in flights once or twice a year.

I read a bunch of good things about Schiit. I also see HiFiMan offering a DAC/Amp tubed for decent money.

How important is it to run a DAC? How important is it to run an amp for a low impedance headphone? I'm still far from deciding what to get and my budget for the entire purchase (DAC, ano and headphones) shouldn't exceed $1000, how much should I appropriate to each item?

Thanks!

Most of your allotment should go to the headphones then amp and then dac. As a bassist you would love the Th-x00's but you would have to wait for Massdrop or buy used.