Need Comfortable headphones

[Arkangyl]

Running Grado SR-60 right now off a Xonar Essence STX, sound very nice but with the way they bleed noise, if anyone's in the room I might as well be using speakers.

I've been looking at:
- Audio Technica AD700 and A700
- Sennheiser 555 and 595
- Beyerdynamics 770 Pro-80
- Denon D1000

*budget is $200 hard max, $100-120 would be ideal

As best I can tell, all those phones would be very good. I get the Beyers are more 'boomy' than the others, etc... Usage would be the norm, rock music, games, and some movie watching.

Biggest concerns:
- comfort for 5+ hours of wearing them
- noise bleed

So XS audiophiles, any advice?

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Beyer DT-770 pro's


/Thread

[YukonTrooper]

I have a pair of Audio Technica ATH-AD900's, Denon D2000's, Sennheisher HD650's and Grado SR225's.

Right away I can tell you the ATH-AD700's won't be a good fit for you, as they use an open-air design and leak sound. That's unfortunate, though, because they are very, very comfortable and have a nicely balanced sound-signature. I know this because the ATH-AD900 uses the same design and shares a similar sound-signature.

The D2000's are my favorite all around can. They do everything well and are very comfortable. While not quite as light as the ATH-AD900's, they have a superb fit around the ear and nice cushioning. I believe the D1000's are very similar in design. Although they are closed, they do still leak sound a bit, but nothing to worry about in my opinion.

The Sennheiser cans won't be good for you at all. They are open, require quality amplification and only really sound good with certain music (classical, ambient, orchestra, etc.). Also, they clamp your head like a vice-grip! I even broke the original headband trying to loosen them forcefully, when I should have just loosened them gradually by wearing them on a stack of books or something. Once loosened, though, they are comfortable enough, but not as much as the ATH-AD900's and D2000's.

The SR225's are much like your SR60's, just with some added bass. I like them for some rock, but there are much better options for gaming, movie watching and listening to a broader range of music. Obviously you know as well as I do that they're not overly comfortable.

The DT-770's are good for movie watching and gaming, but I find them rather dull for rock, metal, etc.. They have very strong bass if that's your thing, but it's overdone in my opinion, and the mid-range is lacking, which is where all those vocals and heavy guitar riffs lie.

Of all those, the D2000's would be my choice for your needs, as they're solid all-around performers, are easily driven, very comfortable and have a closed design, even if they're not air-tight. I'm not sure what pricing is like on them currently, but if you don't mind buying used, the Head-Fi community is a great place to pick up cans. You can buy like-new headphones at amazing prices.

Cheers.

[Knight203]

Beyer DT-770 pro's


/Thread

+1
I love these phones great for movies, games and most music. As said before the mids a a little dull but over all the headphones are great.

[Arkangyl]

You guys who have the 770's and are voting for them, how comfortable are they? I've heard they have a similar vice-grip on your head, is that true?

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

They are snug on your head (a good thing IMO) but they barely touch your ears if at all, making them incredibly comfortable

I have a 7 - 5/8 hat size so I would say I am a decent judge of the grip.... I wouldnt call it a vice grip by any means

[Arkangyl]

lol, only 7 1/4 (maybe 3/8) here, I think the Beyer's are probably going to win. Really do want to try the AT 700's though, just don't want to spend the money and have them be marginally better than the Grados with the same leaking :-\

[MattiasNYC]

Another vote for the Beyerdynamics here....

[SoulsCollective]

If you like the Audio Technica ATH -style phones, simply go for the closed model instead: the ATH-A700s. Open cans will sound better and give better soundstage and positional audio, but the closed ones aren't that much worse and are supremely comfortable.

[$SOLID$ Necro]

Hey man..long time no see!

[Donnie27]

Running Grado SR-60 right now off a Xonar Essence STX, sound very nice but with the way they bleed noise, if anyone's in the room I might as well be using speakers.

I've been looking at:
- Audio Technica AD700 and A700
- Sennheiser 555 and 595
- Beyerdynamics 770 Pro-80
- Denon D1000

*budget is $200 hard max, $100-120 would be ideal

As best I can tell, all those phones would be very good. I get the Beyers are more 'boomy' than the others, etc... Usage would be the norm, rock music, games, and some movie watching.

Biggest concerns:
- comfort for 5+ hours of wearing them
- noise bleed

So XS audiophiles, any advice?

Of the ones you listed and the prices given, I'd go with the DT 770 Pro 80's.

If you really love music, turn it down. You can't regain hearing once you loose it.

[Arkangyl]

Hey man..long time no see!

Haha, how goes it SOLID?


Anyways, I'm still waffling on this one, been too busy to make a choice and order something.

At the moment I'm back on my SR-60's from the Koss SB-40's, the sound is sooooo much better (finally don't need the hardcore noise cancellation anymore) so I might try the Audiotechnica's over the Beyers first since soundstage seems very important for games. Plus some people seem to say the Beyer's aren't that great for everything

[Noisy]

AKG K280 is pretty good and comfy

[momomo6789]

beyers if you want bass in your music.

[Arkangyl]

I finally did it!

Bought myself the Beyer 770 Pro 80's yesterday at a local guitarcenter. At the moment they have about 2 hours of use so far more break-in is needed, however:
- coming from Koss SB40's for 'closed' phones, these sound so, so, so much better
- yes, the bass is nice, honestly I had to crank the volume some to get there, but honestly at lower volumes I'd expect most phones to sound similar
- put on Sin City in HD, WOW, what a difference! it was a mistake to use some basic avi as an early test
- I don't know if I'm making myself hear stuff, but they sound better now than they did just 2 hours ago
- they are much, much lighter and far more comfortable than I ever expected! Coming from those foam Grados pads, WOW! The suede cushions make me happy :-P
- another small thing, but the single cord (as opposed to the 'Y') is nice to have, I realize that this is something I could easily wire myself on any cans, but still
- I'm not as utterly blow away as I had hyped myself up to be, mostly though I think it's because the Grado SR-60's are pretty good for music, the Beyers sound much fuller in movies, games are next on the list :-)

Overall, I kind of wish they were $150, I think that's about where I value them relative to everything else. However I am very happy with them and they sure as hell are NOT going back! Hopefully a bit more break-in will smooth things out.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Glad your happy with them mate

[jason str]

Usually i just throw on some music and let the headphones run overnight or more for break in.

Its hard to beat the Grado's for music but they do lack somewhat in the bass department if that is what you are into.

[defect9]

more break in will definitely make the midrange a bit nicer, and bring out a touch of the high end. won't be world-changing though.

wait, you paid more than $150 for your 770's? *goes and checks the usual places* damn, price went up a bit since I bought mine last year.

[SoulsCollective]

Meh, I'm yet to be convinced "burn-in" actually works. I've tried this with two of my friends' purchases now - once on a set of the 770s, once on a set of ATH-AD900s - and each time, listening over time when they tell me their phones have "burnt in", I have yet to hear any difference in presentation or quality over the phones when first bought. I certainly didn't notice any change in either my ATH-AD1000s or Alessandro MS-1s.

I think it's more to do with your ear having time to pick up on the subtle sound differences from your old phones, and bringing the different characteristics to your attention slowly over time. I don't mean to sound like I'm self-aggrandizing here, but as I'm a musician, have been playing since a very early age and do a lot of orchestral and small group work, I'm probably slightly better than average at discerning sound quality differences sooner - thus not experiencing "burn in".

[Donnie27]

Meh, I'm yet to be convinced "burn-in" actually works. I've tried this with two of my friends' purchases now - once on a set of the 770s, once on a set of ATH-AD900s - and each time, listening over time when they tell me their phones have "burnt in", I have yet to hear any difference in presentation or quality over the phones when first bought. I certainly didn't notice any change in either my ATH-AD1000s or Alessandro MS-1s.

I think it's more to do with your ear having time to pick up on the subtle sound differences from your old phones, and bringing the different characteristics to your attention slowly over time. I don't mean to sound like I'm self-aggrandizing here, but as I'm a musician, have been playing since a very early age and do a lot of orchestral and small group work, I'm probably slightly better than average at discerning sound quality differences sooner - thus not experiencing "burn in".

It seemed to me that it was just a matter of the user adjusting to the cans more than the can's drivers changing.

I play Bass guitar, drum a little, play Tuba and Baritone. A lot of the high end equipment I've listened to sounded, get ready for this, NOTHING like instruments I've listened to since the 5th grade. But head-phi say otherwise I must be wrong LOL!

Overall, I kind of wish they were $150, I think that's about where I value them relative to everything else. However I am very happy with them and they sure as hell are NOT going back! Hopefully a bit more break-in will smooth things out.

Sure these might not be the best cans (opinions vary) or have the best price but they do please more ears than many others in that price range. I have NO problems with their middle or highs that I hear fairly well. As I told one other expert here, Grados sound too Hot (Harsh IMHO) and I didn't like what little sound stage they had. My old Open Philips HPM Cans were killed and dissed at Head-Fi as bad, sucks and slow drivers. I've yet to hear anything come close to them for Games! I paid 70 euros when the exchange rate was .96 Euro to the Dollar (2002 I think) for them. The only draw back was they weigh a Tons and gets too heavy far too quickly to be comfortable!

I wished you had said something about buying these cans. I paid a little over $150 for mine. I was on the way to buying a set of AKG 701's when a similar offer was made to me.

EBay

Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 Studio Headphones New DT770

Starting bid: US $135.00 or Buy It Now Price: US $149.00,
Shipping: $12.00Standard Flat Rate

I made a $140 bid/offer plus shipping (don't remember the actual price). Many places sell these for $169 and I almost got our Local Guitar Center (LR AR) to sell me a set for $175, but the then added tax and that broke the deal!

A bud got a set of these for $220 with free shipping. That's why I asked the other HP guys here why 250ohm? He uses an Old school Pioneer that powers any cans without help. Headphone out has become the only reason I keep the Harmon Kardon 730, my new Harmon Kardon's (AV-247) headphone out sucks.

[Machinus]

What are the best closed-back phones for BIG ears?

[Donnie27]

What are the best closed-back phones for BIG ears?

Are the 770 Pro 80's too small for ya?