yet another headphone reccomendation thread

[Red Maw]

So far I've looked at:

Sennheiser HD 25/Sennheiser HD 25-1 II/Sennheiser HD 25 Dynamic Compact Professional Monitoring (not sure what the difference is between them lol)
Sony MDR-V6
Audio Technica ATH-A700
Sennheiser 212 Pro


Based off what I've read I'm leaning towards the HD 25's or the A700, but I'm not sure which one to get or even if I should be looking at a different headphones. Portability isn't an issue (will never be moved from my desk lol) and will be used for everything, music (all kinds), games movies etc. Any advice and suggestions are appreciated.

TIA,

redmaw

[Musho]

Why not go with the AD700? They are the openair version of the A700, which should sound quite a bit better. Do note they won't be ideal in noisy environments, and you must remember you won't be able to use them in places like libraries as it will be easy for other people to hear your music :p: Anyway, I just ordered an Auzentech Forte and a AD700. I got the Forte today. The AD700 should arrive tomorrow. I will be able to tell you how they sound by then. :up:

[Knight203]

I cannot recommend the BeyerDynamic DT770/pro headphones enough! They are amazing for games/movies and very good for music as well, in the price range they are hard to beat. It is personal preference so if you have some way of listening any of these headphones before you buy I suggest you do so.

[Mescalamba]

ATH are good..

BeyerDynamic.. hm DT770 are surely good, little bit to overbassed, but as Koss, some ppl like it. :)

Im sticking with Senns at least at this price level.. but I would probably give ATH a try.

[Knight203]

Yeah they are bassy but for movies and games its awesome :up:

[Donnie27]

So far I've looked at:

Sennheiser HD 25/Sennheiser HD 25-1 II/Sennheiser HD 25 Dynamic Compact Professional Monitoring (not sure what the difference is between them lol)
Sony MDR-V6
Audio Technica ATH-A700
Sennheiser 212 Pro


Based off what I've read I'm leaning towards the HD 25's or the A700, but I'm not sure which one to get or even if I should be looking at a different headphones. Portability isn't an issue (will never be moved from my desk lol) and will be used for everything, music (all kinds), games movies etc. Any advice and suggestions are appreciated.

TIA,

redmaw

I 2nd the DT 770 Pro's 80 ohm model. Nothing is better than testing for yourself. Do the tests music or movies you like. DT 770 seem to please a larger crowd! I took my own CD to the Guitar Center to test the DT-770's and it didn't matter if it was Creed, Too Short or Chopin, they handled everything thrown at them. Yes there are many better can out there but it will be hard to beat them for the $154 I paid for mine from an EBay wholesaler. New, not used or refurbed!

The funny thing is that one guy complained that DT 770 was mostly mid bass LOL!

[wiretap]

Yup.. I have the DT770's (80ohm) as well. Super comfortable. They sound good for multi-use situations where you might want to game, watch movies, listen to music, etc. Just make sure you setup your equalizer accordingly to get the best sound out of them. They can be overpowering in the bass department for certain types of music.

[Knight203]

Also of note the DT770's are closed, so if you are in a noisy area or have a loud computer (like me) these will be much better than an open headphone. They are pretty nice for noise canceling, I took mine on a 3 hour flight and it was pretty hard to hear the plane noise or other passengers. I even had a flight attendant who had to tap me in order for me to realize she was there. Got mine off ebay for 160$ great deal.

[Red Maw]

Wow thanks for all the replies, although I ordered a AKG K 702 (I know different price range than what I originally posted) yesterday XD

It seems the DT770 is fairly popular here, and my main hesitation on the AKG's was the fact they're open back so I'll take a look at the DT770 if I don't like the 702's. I've never had an open back 'phone before so I'm not sure how much outside sound comes in and how much "inside" sound goes out. The real difficulty in this decision was that I couldn't find a single store in my area (I'm sure some exist, just I'm not aware of them) that had any of the 'phones I was considering so all I could do was read about them :(.

[zanzabar]

ATH are good..

BeyerDynamic.. hm DT770 are surely good, little bit to overbassed, but as Koss, some ppl like it. :)

Im sticking with Senns at least at this price level.. but I would probably give ATH a try.

im not sure on that, back before i got the beyers i always had to use an equalizer but not with the beyers (i have the 770 pro 80 ohm) i dont use one anymore. i guess that dose mean that they have more bass but it feels more like they have less mids. that said they are alot more than the audio technicas now and those would be my pick in that price range

when u double post u can go to edit then delete and wipe out the second post

[Donnie27]

im not sure on that, back before i got the beyers i always had to use an equalizer but not with the beyers (i have the 770 pro 80 ohm) i dont use one anymore. i guess that dose mean that they have more bass but it feels more like they have less mids. that said they are alot more than the audio technicas now and those would be my pick in that price range

when u double post u can go to edit then delete and wipe out the second post

Same here for mine. But also keep in mind that many folks suffer from hearing loss and are unaware or don't know it. One loud music lover tested his and found that he couldn't hear anything above 12kHz. Nowhere near the 20K limit. Hell, I barely made it to 16Khz myself! SO much for the 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz (20 kHz) hearing LOL! Shocking thing is that I try to take care of my hearing so I don't need double 24's Subs or 1000 watt horns LOL! Mine is more of an age thing (53) not abuse.

[Red Maw]

My hearing is pretty good, 20kHz is pretty easy to hear and take good care of it.

I've been using the AKG K 702s for a an hour or two now and I'm fairly pleased. They lack a bit in the bass but not enough to bother me. My only real complaint is that they are not that comfortable to wear with glasses (common problem with over ear 'phones) and that they are bit too tight, something a bit of stretching might fix. I've also noticed that with open back 'phones I tend to use more volume than usual to drown out the outside noise.


when u double post u can go to edit then delete and wipe out the second post

Thanks, didn't notice that option. Most places don't let you delete posts.

[Donnie27]

My hearing is pretty good, 20kHz is pretty easy to hear and take good care of it.

I've been using the AKG K 702s for a an hour or two now and I'm fairly pleased. They lack a bit in the bass but not enough to bother me. My only real complaint is that they are not that comfortable to wear with glasses (common problem with over ear 'phones) and that they are bit too tight, something a bit of stretching might fix. I've also noticed that with open back 'phones I tend to use more volume than usual to drown out the outside noise.



Thanks, didn't notice that option. Most places don't let you delete posts.

That depends on what's making the 20Hz sound and the listening environment for me. In perfect conditions, I can hear 20Hz as well. But try the test with other sounds? Beside that there are many real world 20Hz sounds that needs to be reproduced.

I like the AKG's but I missed that Bass. Yes, I still like 701 and 702 AKG cans but for Music more than for Games.

[Red Maw]

Music is what they're for, if I'm lucky I have time to game for 1 or 2 hours a week but that's slowly going away too lol.

I am slightly regretting getting open back 'phones though as I can now hear some noises from my computer that I couldn't with my old closed back ones; plus I'm adding 6 1850 rpm fans the rad in a few weeks lol.

[lkiller123]

Note that if you ordered a K702, you WILL need an amp along with it. The K702 imfamous for being power-hungry, you will need lots of power to drive it.

[Red Maw]

Yeah I got one at the same time; one of the reasons I couldn't afford more expensive headphones.

[aztec]

^ I have K701's. Give the 702's plenty of time for break-in and the bass will get better. Trust me on this. :yepp:

[crackhead2k]

I personally like the Sennheiser brand and they sound great, maybe borrow and have a listen?

[Donnie27]

I personally like the Sennheiser brand and they sound great, maybe borrow and have a listen?

Not all Sennheisers sound great and the $99 280 Pro are a good examply Sucky Cans. They must have made then for Voice only since any bass tends to make distort horribly!

[aztec]

Ya, you can't just pick by brand alone. Every brand has their better designs at a price point and their not-so-great ones compared to others at the same price.

I had a pair of Senn HD600's and they sounded good except a bit "soft" or too smooth. Good for classical and jazz stuff but they were not the best rockers or gamers.

[Donnie27]

Ya, you can't just pick by brand alone. Every brand has their better designs at a price point and their not-so-great ones compared to others at the same price.

I had a pair of Senn HD600's and they sounded good except a bit "soft" or too smooth. Good for classical and jazz stuff but they were not the best rockers or gamers.

Absolutely true! No two sets of ears can be pleased the same way because no two people experience sound the same. No my opinion, that's fact. What I was talking about though is that the Senn 280 Pro handle less bass than some $39 I've listened to. Not perceived Bass, Bass that distorts the drive from even classical music. I think the cut off for other Senn cans are at around the HD570 or lower.

Yes, I got to hear the HD600 and they seemed Dark. For noobs that's the Opposite of Bright! Grados 225 seemed Bright for example. But I like Dark sounding cans better than Bright (many seem too harsh to me).

That out of the way, cans that tend to please me are the ones with great sound stage or imaging. I really wished my old Philips 890's weren't frakkin' heavy! They would be WONDERFUL for gaming otherwise.

Last but not, wayyyyyyyy too many times the Source Material is overlooked. Great sounds or sound effects can make the crappiest cans perform be just like the links to Holophonic.

http://weblog.404creative.com/2007/06/03/auditory-illusions-holophonic-recordings/

It's what my buds and I use for not only cans but speakers (fronts or mains) are well.

[aztec]

Yes...dark, laid-back, smooth were the HD600's. I don't like an overly bright sound but I do want to know what's going on in the upper octaves more than some cans/speakers will provide w/o too much EQ'ing. Perhaps the 600's were better for brighter digital sources than the way I played them most often - through a VPI/Well Tempered/Van den Hul vinyl > Audible Illusions tube pre-amp > EarMax tube can amp. But then, they still didn't do it for me coming off a C.E.C. TL-1x transport > Pass Labs D1 DAC combo. :shrug:

Well it depended on the recording of course.

Would be nice to have more can-specific, binaural type recordings. :yepp:

[Donnie27]

Yes...dark, laid-back, smooth were the HD600's. I don't like an overly bright sound but I do want to know what's going on in the upper octaves more than some cans/speakers will provide w/o too much EQ'ing. Perhaps the 600's were better for brighter digital sources than the way I played them most often - through a VPI/Well Tempered/Van den Hul vinyl > Audible Illusions tube pre-amp > EarMax tube can amp. But then, they still didn't do it for me coming off a C.E.C. TL-1x transport > Pass Labs D1 DAC combo. :shrug:

Well it depended on the recording of course.

Would be nice to have more can-specific, binaural type recordings. :yepp:

All I can say is Absolutely!

[Bobsama]

What do you want? Open or closed cans? If I had $200-300, there are precisely 3 headphone models I'd consider. First, AKG K702's. Second, Beyer DT-880's. And third, Beyer DT-770's. All very strong contenders (the AKG's are a bit leaner in bass and VERY unforgiving) but all require a decent headphone amplifier.