Headphones

[GTSRboy]

these

They ROCK....Bose replaced them for FREE...TWICE!! [they got broken twice for various reasons.] .... $150...well worth it.

[autobot]

I'm runnin a set of Sennhiezer HD485. They are comfy for HOURS of gaming. Pop on a little Zalman clip-on mic and you've got all "gaming headsets" beat!

[Jamesrt2004]

bose are overpriced >_<

but sens cx500's + hd600's

[Knight203]

anyone tried Beyerdynamic ?

Ive got the BeyerDynamic DT770pro/80ohm and I love the hell out of them. I have at least 10,000 hours on them...and they are still amazing.

[faster3200]

Sony MDR-V6

They saved me from my Bose QC3

I might be going for some Audiotechnica AD700s though.

[exemay]

They ROCK....Bose replaced them for FREE...TWICE!! [they got broken twice for various reasons.] .... $150...well worth it.

Indeed, bose are an amazing company, they replaced my QC3's when they went wrong, i took them into the store, no questions asked they replaced them! really are an excellent company

bose are overpriced >_<

but sens cx500's + hd600's

You get what you pay for.... there are some amazing low end headphones, I had a pair of £32 in ear skull candy headphones that where amazing, but i still love my QC3's

Sony MDR-V6

They saved me from my Bose QC3

I might be going for some Audiotechnica AD700s though.

what do u mean saved you from the bose QC3's? didnt you like em :P:?

[faster3200]

what do u mean saved you from the bose QC3's? didnt you like em :P:?

Not at all. I have owned Triports, QC2s, QC3s, and various Bose speaker systems since I get them for free.

Everyone of them sounds like absolute crap compared to an alternative half their MSRP. The Triports should really be priced around $30 for how they sound. I don't know exactly why but every Bose headset I have ever owned makes everything sound sort of "unreal" or exaggerated like they applied some sort of crazy EQ to it. Nothing really sounds like it should, which imo is the opposite goal.
I guess I could understand liking them if you used them with onboard sound or an ipod without an amp since those already sound pretty poor and some exaggeration might help.


My MDR-V6 I actually found in my closet. I had used them for guitar recording and to plug into my amp so as not to annoy the sleeping people when I practiced. They are pretty old (nicked from a recording studio in the '80s by my step-dad) which is why I might replace them. They sound pretty good considering their current price point.

[Jamesrt2004]

Not at all. I have owned Triports, QC2s, QC3s, and various Bose speaker systems since I get them for free.

Everyone of them sounds like absolute crap compared to an alternative half their MSRP. The Triports should really be priced around $30 for how they sound. I don't know exactly why but every Bose headset I have ever owned makes everything sound sort of "unreal" or exaggerated like they applied some sort of crazy EQ to it. Nothing really sounds like it should, which imo is the opposite goal.
I guess I could understand liking them if you used them with onboard sound or an ipod without an amp since those already sound pretty poor and some exaggeration might help.


My MDR-V6 I actually found in my closet. I had used them for guitar recording and to plug into my amp so as not to annoy the sleeping people when I practiced. They are pretty old (nicked from a recording studio in the '80s by my step-dad) which is why I might replace them. They sound pretty good considering their current price point.

+1 this is what i mean by they are overpriced there CC is good but a lot of the time it still doesn't justify their pricce tag (go to head-fi to see some real hate towards them lol)

[Newblar]

ive got some HD280s that i bought about 2 years ago, and im running foobar with wasapi on my onboard realtek 'HD'
im waiting out until asus essence st is out, and saving up for some ad700s
might end up getting a minimax if i can afford it, but id likely have to spend some more on HD600's if i do

[AndrewZorn]

over the last year (a shame) ive had:

icemat siberia, then just decided to get:
senn hd555, still have them didnt even receive them before i changed my mind and got:
denon d1001, these are now for sale because i just ordered:
audio-technica ath-m50

[3Z3VH]

Shure SE530 in-ear monitors.

A bit pricey, but worth every penny !

[Jochenp]

a BIT pricey
Sony MDR-XD300 for me, they look insane, but they are really comfortable and great for DJ-use

[Xel'Naga]

sys: laptop running xp+foobar or fedora11+audacious
head: AKG K701
amp: LittleDot MK II
dac: Behringer U Control UCA202
Next update: Musical Fidelity V-DAC and new tubes

[faster3200]

head: AKG K701

Those must be good. I have seen a ton of those and the K240s on people in audio.

[GTSRboy]

sys: laptop running xp+foobar or fedora11+audacious
head: AKG K701
amp: LittleDot MK II
dac: Behringer U Control UCA202
Next update: Musical Fidelity V-DAC and new tubes

How are the K701's? Are they spectacular and worth the high price? Ive been 'eyeing' them

[Xel'Naga]

How are the K701's? Are they spectacular and worth the high price? Ive been 'eyeing' them

It's a love it or hate it headphone. You should really listen to them before you buy. I personally love it but there are a few things you should know.

1. Low sensitivity. If you listen at high volume, make sure you have a powerful amp. 150mW is enough for me and I like my music to be loud.
2. Pretty amp dependant. First of all, without an amp they will have no bass. With one, the bass is just nice. If you like very loud bass go for something else.
Even without this issue, they need a decent amp to shine.
3. Very big sound-stage. It's quite weird for a headphone. Some love it, some hate it. Test the headphones before you spend the money.

Excellent for classical, jazz and generally slow stuff. NOT a headbanger's phone.

[diredesire]

Sennheiser HD595 - I use this as an "all around" phone. I like them because they're aggressive for senns, easy to drive, and are comfortable

Audio Technica A500s - Bassy/Gaming/Movies phones, although I don't really use them all that much. I actually don't know where the heck they are, now that I think about it...

Grado SR-60 - too good of a deal to pass up, I will probably mod them in the future. For the price, these are so. killer.

Alessandro MS-1: Similar to the Grado SR-80s, except a little more smooth/mellow. Takes the edge off. I don't like the comfort level for these and the SR-60s, really hard to get comfy without excessive modding. Maybe I'll mod the SR-60 drivers into a senn type headband... hmmm...

Etymotic ER6i - I use them to block out conversations at work, although they're a little TOO good at isolation. I'll have awkward situations all the time when someone is talking to me, and I just can't hear them.

[3Z3VH]

Looks like Shure also just released a line of Headphones. Has anyone heard them ? I would be interested in knowing what they thought.

[Xel'Naga]

Quick compilation of opinions from this thread:
SRH840 impression
The lower-end models seems to have similar characteristics and value when compared with other similarly priced headphones




Quote:
Originally Posted by swbf2cheater View Post
840 for mp3 player w/ amp or w/out still sounds nice, home computer use, cdplayer/stereo

650 for audiophile stereo and rig up with excellent amp, gaming

650 wins for true sound, 840 wins for rocking out



Quote:
Originally Posted by koven View Post
srh840 only wins if u compare them unamped

my 580 scales like crazy with source/amp.. every upgrade i do i can just hear them getting better

the srh840, not so much... dont think they benefit from amping as much
These are very good answers. The HD650 will sound awful from an iPod; the 840 do pretty well from an iPod. The 650's with a nice tube amp are awesome; the 840's aren't really tube-amp friendly. And the 840's sound pretty open for closed cans, but the 650's image better.

Of course, the 840's are half the price...



I heard the 840 this morning. It was NOT new out of the box.

Honestly, I didn't like it all that much. Yes, it had a smooth sound, but I thought it sounded slightly muffled. I actually thought it was too smooth.

I didn't like the bass presentation, but I couldn't put my finger on what exactly bothered me about it. Maybe I'm just used to to semi-open headphones. The 840 most definitely sound like closed headphones.

I'm glad I got to try them before buying as I was seriously considering buying a pair. They are definitely off my "to-buy" list now.

Sorry I can't give a more detailed description, but I had a limited time with them and was not able to compare them to other headphones.

I definitely prefer the Denon line, and the ATH-AD900, to the Shure 840.


Just a quick note thanking this thread for directing me to the 840s. After burn, I love 'em. Sound VERY similar to my se530s, just a bit more substantial. FWIW, I am running them off of my sr-71a. Here is a quick pic I grabbed:



Here are some thoughts after almost two straight days of burn-in:

wearability - these feel like large pillows. I have a rather narrow, pointy head, and the single bump problem on my AKG 701 was a concern after some reports in this thread. But, I've flattened the headband a bit and they are really easy to wear. They do slip, though, with lots of head movement. And, I'm pretty sure they look dopey on me. I don't care.

Isolation - very good, but not like an IEM. My gf has already noticed how she can call my name from upstairs and I won't hear her. Thanks, shure.

Build quality - excellent, except for the cord. They just feel very durable, very business-like. But, the cord is a problem, not so much because of the coil ( though I'd prefer without ) but because the jack into the headphone is HUGE and not at all what I am looking for into an iPhone or my Macbook. I like the locking feature but I had that it's proprietary. My #1 wish for these phones is that Shure will make a locking mini to 2.5 adapter, and allow us to replace the cord easily.

Sound Q - really coming into its own. At first listen, impressions were really positive, except for some really woolly, distorted bass. For ex, on "Song for Charley" off of Nick Cave's OST to "The Assassination of Jesse James...." I heard some distortion on low notes in the right driver that had me thinking i'd need to return them. I tried, but could not replicate the buzzing in any of my other headphones ( none high end at all ). Now, however, that distortion has disappeared, and the bass is starting to tighten up. Songs with a big, snappy drum ( say, Ants Marching by DMB ) are a real pleasure.

I've also been impressed with the dynamics. I've been burning in with my entire music collection, but also Pandora set to classical. Although not a high-end source by any stretch, some of the Pandora tracks have had such swings that I've been really, really moved. Very cool.

Clarity, however, is not up to the same level as my 701s. Looking back ( mine were lost in a move ) the 701 really didn't smear ANYTHING that you sent its way. A really beautiful, "dont know what you got til its gone" type of presentation. Now, that said, I dont think these are muddy at all - just not up to the high level of the 701s in that regard. Also, with the 701s, I would use the tone controls on my vintage Marantz integrated to apply some tube-like bass boost, but nothing of that sort is necessary. In fact, Im not sure these are a great match for tubes or warm electronics. They already have enough bass to make me happy without EQ.

I'm skeptical of major differences between amps, but so far these seem relatively easy to drive. I usually listen to them at less than three clicks on my Macbook and its loud enough. And, as they've burned it, I haven't heard any distortion when I really crank them.

[ripken204]

Sennheiser HD595, they are pretty good.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

SO what are the next best things to BD dt770's that I can get at guitar center?

[diredesire]

Sennheiser HD595, they are pretty good.

What kind of source are you driving them with? They can be pretty darn good when amped

[gurusan]

Sennheiser HD 580s driven by amb labs mini3 or starving student millet hybrid, external DIY dac

[ripken204]

What kind of source are you driving them with? They can be pretty darn good when amped

just an auzentech x-fi prelude

[RAW-Raptor22]

I'm runnin a set of Sennhiezer HD485. They are comfy for HOURS of gaming. Pop on a little Zalman clip-on mic and you've got all "gaming headsets" beat!

Whats the difference between those and the 465s?