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$500 cans on, this is how you dream right - Official Headphone Thread

1stStrike said:
Glad the the 650's work better for you, though. Enjoy :)
oh, I don't know if they will or not. I'm just going to listen to them exclusively for the next few days to see how I feel about the sound after my ears adjust to them. going from the D2k/7k treble and detail to these is a big change and will take a few days for me to be able to give a meaningful opinion on them for what they are. they deserve a good evaluation. I can't give it without getting used to them.

it's just that the transition time sucks.
 
NEOPARADIGM said:
Yeah, so I have these on the way:

31Ai3O2jEUL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


Sennheiser HD 202

Delivered, wearing as I type ...

Sound is decent enough, but goddamn:

1) The cord is like 30 feet long. I bought these for my iPod. lol ...
2) My ears just barely fit inside the cones, and I have very average-to-small ears. Big-eared people could not wear these.

Like I said though, as a $30 stopgap, they're decent. They're definitely loud and have bass comparable to (if not better than) the Bose I'd been using.

8/10 (price heavily influencing this score, for the record).
 

Blackface

Banned
My brother is looking for a good set of headphones for $125 CDN or less. He thinks BEATS are the best headphones money can possibly buy.

Anyone have suggestions?
 

HiResDes

Member
Blackface said:
My brother is looking for a good set of headphones for $125 CDN or less. He thinks BEATS are the best headphones money can possibly buy.

Anyone have suggestions?

Any of the headphones in the OP in the lower-mid range are pretty much gonna beat out the Beats.
 

outsidah

Member
outsidah said:
Ok GAF need help. Started doing some PC gaming again and need some headphones and a mic. I would also like to use these for music at home/work. I want to keep it at about $100 or so. I see great things about the HD-555's which I'll need to buy a separate mic for.

Is there anything with a mic around the $100 range you all would recommend more? I would love to buy something in person at Best Buy this weekend since I have a GC, but I doubt they have these there.

halp!

Anything advice?
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Zefah said:
So, I bought these early last year: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BS4YAM/?tag=neogaf0e-20

The sound seems decent enough, but I think the USB amp that comes with it is just a piece of shit. At lower volumes there is terrible distortion and sound artifacts that can become extremely distracting. Also, the thing will freak out sometimes and let off an extremely high-pitched noise until I turn off the amp and turn it back on again.

I'm looking to get a replacement. I intend to use headphones mostly for gaming on my PC or listening to music. What is the best option in the $50 - $100 range (preferably available on Amazon w/ Prime shipping option)?


The ones I bought are supposedly 5.1 surround sound, but I either couldn't get that to work, or my ears just can't really tell the different, so I'd be just fine with some stereo headphones.

Thanks in advance for any good advice!

Just quoting my post from yesterday to try and get some help!
 

arena08

Member
So my HD555's have developed a hiss in the left ear and it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to repair them so it's time for an upgrade. These were my first pair of decent cans and I loved them, very sad to retire them.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what to get? I'm looking at spending around £150-200, maybe with some room for manoeuvre on the higher end of that. Would it be worth getting an amp too? I usually listen through my PC or my phone, I assume I would notice a difference with an amp attached to the phone, I wouldn't like to have to plug it in to the wall use it though.

My 555's were so very very comfortable to the extent that I didn't even notice they were on sometimes. Maybe I should upgrade to the 595s, or is there something better out there for that price?
 

Eric WK

Member
Denon AH-D5000 vs. Sennheiser HD 650

Anybody have any thoughts in particular if I'm looking at upgrading from my HD555s to one of those two headphones? Anything else in the price range I should be considering? As some background, I'll be using them with an Astro Gaming wired mixamp for the foreseeable future, with an eye towards buying an E7+E9 combo sometime down the road.
 

Totakeke

Member
Eric WK said:
Denon AH-D5000 vs. Sennheiser HD 650

Anybody have any thoughts in particular if I'm looking at upgrading from my HD555s to one of those two headphones? Anything else in the price range I should be considering? As some background, I'll be using them with an Astro Gaming wired mixamp for the foreseeable future, with an eye towards buying an E7+E9 combo sometime down the road.

Buy cheaper headphones and a desktop dac/amp instead if you have a limited budget. Full-sized headphones shouldn't really be paired with portable sources or amps. Nothing stopping you from doing that of course, but it's not optimal.
 

Ashhong

Member
So I was listening to the Sunshine score with my M50s today...and I was literally scared for a second. The music has sound effects from the climax of the movie, and it made me feel like I was actually in the movie or something. Fucking awesome.
 
^ Glad you're happy with them. They're the only cans that I've ever bought and didn't feel a need to look around to see if something in the price range was better or not. <3
Eric WK said:
Denon AH-D5000 vs. Sennheiser HD 650

Anybody have any thoughts in particular if I'm looking at upgrading from my HD555s to one of those two headphones? Anything else in the price range I should be considering? As some background, I'll be using them with an Astro Gaming wired mixamp for the foreseeable future, with an eye towards buying an E7+E9 combo sometime down the road.
Ask me again in 4 days time.

I have the 650's now and re-bought the 5000s.

I actually expect that the 5000's will sound better (better highs), but may have more boomier bass and slightly less present mids which may be unappealing. I think I'm being a little OCD, but yea...the D7k's, 5k's, 2k's, and 650's will all be rotating around my ears as I decide what to do. Should be fun.
 

swoon

Member
Eric WK said:
Denon AH-D5000 vs. Sennheiser HD 650

Anybody have any thoughts in particular if I'm looking at upgrading from my HD555s to one of those two headphones? Anything else in the price range I should be considering? As some background, I'll be using them with an Astro Gaming wired mixamp for the foreseeable future, with an eye towards buying an E7+E9 combo sometime down the road.

650 might need more power than that combo, they can sound dark and small without a powerful amp. d5000 have a very bright sound paired with this uncontrolled gross bas that doesn't have any detail, they don't really scale with amps.
 
outsidah said:
halp!

Anything advice?

There's plenty of awesome phones available in the $100 range. Whether any of those include phones that have mic options I don't know. I tend to be wary of anything that adds more circuitry beyond the left and right audio channels though, whether that be an inline mic or noise cancellation circuitry. I just feel like that sort of stuff might have an impact on the sound. Anyway, the last time I was at Best Buy, a cursory glance around showed that their earphone selection had exploded (naturally due to the success enjoyed by smartphones and mp3 players), but I didn't really notice many full sized headphones really. You may want to try the ship to store option on their site so you can apply the gift cards.

As far as what's good that I saw while there? For the money, I'd probably pick up a pair of Klipsch S4s. I believe they're $75. I had the chance to audition a pair of Klipsch X10s for a two week period, and the Klipsch house sound is excellent. Very smooth mids, non fatiguing highs and great bass. The S4 is highly regarded as well, and looks to be very well built. I should mention that its only caveat is the highs can be fatiguing on the S4, but is purported to be tamed with burn-in and a tip swap. All in all, it's a phone with no real outstanding weakness, I don't think you'll be disappointed at all.
 

HiResDes

Member
joesmokey said:
My stand came, what do you guys think of the setup?
http://i.imgur.com/QqmL4.jpg/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/60N4l.jpg/img]
And of course, still connected to my amp:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/7Ai78.jpg/img][/QUOTE]
Nice, what else do you what me to say? I think you know it's nice.
 
that "stand" rocks.

swoon said:
650 might need more power than that combo, they can sound dark and small without a powerful amp. d5000 have a very bright sound paired with this uncontrolled gross bas that doesn't have any detail, they don't really scale with amps.
nah. E9 is fine with the 650.

I'm using it right now. Only turning it up half way to get a ton of sound.
 
The stand viewed from its profile reminds me of a globe lol. It's a cool stand though!

I was testing out amping my DDM's a second ago and then decided to bust out the SA5ks, so I'm listening to my SA5K's right now. I forgot how amazingly transparent, and headbobbingly awesome these motherfuckers can sound. Still waiting for the damned RE262's to get here. Once I get those in I'll let you borrow my DDM's HiRes, and I'll get around to letting you audition the 262's after I've had some time with them.
 
Getting ready to upgrade.

AKG 702 or Sennheiser HD 650.

I have used the HD 280pro and the HD 595 before and have been very happy with both, so I'm thinking of just sticking with Sennheiser. But have read that there are plenty of people who prefer the AKG.
 

Totakeke

Member
Winged Creature said:
Getting ready to upgrade.

AKG 702 or Sennheiser HD 650.

I have used the HD 280pro and the HD 595 before and have been very happy with both, so I'm thinking of just sticking with Sennheiser. But have read that there are plenty of people who prefer the AKG.

Headphones, especially those in the same range, are less about specs and more about what you prefer. HD650 has a pretty distinctive sound.
 
swoon said:
650 might need more power than that combo, they can sound dark and small without a powerful amp. d5000 have a very bright sound paired with this uncontrolled gross bas that doesn't have any detail, they don't really scale with amps.
sorry to quote you again, but you know what? the HD 650's are just kinda dark.
screenshot20110116at114.png


I'm not usually a fan of these graphs, but this sums up how they sound exactly. No, they don't sound bass-heavy per se...but they way they sound is dark just like the frequency response graph suggests they are. Treble *is* rolled off/muted. I can hear that obvious downward slope from low to high Especially when you transition from a heavily-detailed/bright Denon can. It's neither good nor bad, it's just what it is. the cans are dark. If your amp is showing them as anything but dark, it's because the amp is changing the sound.

That being said, if you're running out of a computer, it doesn't matter much because you can EQ the 5k range and the 16k range by 1db and solve a lot of the muffling if you don't like it. For me, that tweak makes them sound just right.
 

swoon

Member
Dreams-Visions said:
sorry to quote you again, but you know what? the HD 650's are just kinda dark.
screenshot20110116at114.png


I'm not usually a fan of these graphs, but this sums up how they sound exactly. No, they don't sound bass-heavy per se...but they way they sound is dark just like the frequency response graph suggests they are. Treble *is* rolled off/muted. I can hear that obvious downward slope from low to high Especially when you transition from a heavily-detailed/bright Denon can. It's neither good nor bad, it's just what it is. the cans are dark. If your amp is showing them as anything but dark, it's because the amp is changing the sound.

That being said, if you're running out of a computer, it doesn't matter much because you can EQ the 5k range and the 16k range by 1db and solve a lot of the muffling if you don't like it. For me, that tweak makes them sound just right.

i wouldn't call the denon heavily detail it has a small soundstage and trouble with instrument seperation, it also has severe etch in the upper range.

i think the darkness is more about the comparison than the can, the 650 is an obviously darker can, but it is more balance sounding with a powerful amp. i don't really want to get into talking about the filo amps because i don't really like criticizing people's purchases, but if you are using software eq you having bigger problems to worry about.
 
swoon said:
i wouldn't call the denon heavily detail it has a small soundstage and trouble with instrument seperation, it also has severe etch in the upper range.

i think the darkness is more about the comparison than the can, the 650 is an obviously darker can, but it is more balance sounding with a powerful amp. i don't really want to get into talking about the filo amps because i don't really like criticizing people's purchases, but if you are using software eq you having bigger problems to worry about.
I hear you and I agree with that etch.

and you'd be surprised with regard to the software eq. Audio Hijack Pro (Mac) really works well.
 

swoon

Member
Dreams-Visions said:
I hear you and I agree with that etch.

and you'd be surprised with regard to the software eq. Audio Hijack Pro (Mac) really works well.


i wouldn't and i've heard amarra.
 

joesmokey

Member
HiResDes said:
Nice, what else do you what me to say? I think you know it's nice.
Heh sorry, didn't mean to sound like an ass if I did. Never used a stand before, but I think it looks pretty good. Much better than having the cans lay on the desk or something.
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
lol I just used the headroom frequency response graphs to compare the Grado 325is I'm thinking of buying to Sennheiser 555s which I have, and the difference between the two directly correlates to what I'm doing with my EQ settings. Also, looking at the impedance I see confirmation on the annoying messy bass with the 555s. I guess the 325is are the right choice for me.
 

rykomatsu

Member
Need some recommendations...

I'm thinking of picking up a pair of headphones since IEMs cut out too much noise at work so I don't hear anyone asking for me when they come to my desk...currently using UE TripleFi 10 Pros.

I have had a bit of a problem with headphones for a while since my ears stick out quite a bit...the top of my ears generally become painful in about an hour. That said, I'm looking for something that's full ear and has a bit of depth in the cup. The AKG K702 seems like it's relatively deep so using that as a starting point.

So...basically looking for (in order):
Full Ear w/ deep(er) cup
Open Back
High quality reproduction of mids and highs
Willing to sacrifice some bass reproduction...

Budget is around $2~300 w/o amp...
 

Totakeke

Member
rykomatsu said:
Need some recommendations...

I'm thinking of picking up a pair of headphones since IEMs cut out too much noise at work so I don't hear anyone asking for me when they come to my desk...currently using UE TripleFi 10 Pros.

I have had a bit of a problem with headphones for a while since my ears stick out quite a bit...the top of my ears generally become painful in about an hour. That said, I'm looking for something that's full ear and has a bit of depth in the cup. The AKG K702 seems like it's relatively deep so using that as a starting point.

So...basically looking for (in order):
Full Ear w/ deep(er) cup
Open Back
High quality reproduction of mids and highs
Willing to sacrifice some bass reproduction...

Budget is around $2~300 w/o amp...

Beyerdynamic DT880 has amazing highs and pretty good mids, and for that you sacrifice some bass. Sounds like the thing you want. It's available on Amazon for 250, but DT990 which has a more balanced sound, is only 180 on Amazon which is a steal. You'll still need an amp eventually, though I'm not sure how you are going to get K702 for 2-300 without amp anyway.
 

outsidah

Member
Would you guys recommend the M50's over the HD555's for gaming as well? The M50's seem to be more of what I want for music than the HD555's.
 

Alucrid

Banned
outsidah said:
Would you guys recommend the M50's over the HD555's for gaming as well? The M50's seem to be more of what I want for music than the HD555's.

Well..I like them because when I need to use headphones that means I'm trying to be quiet. So closed (M50) > open (555s).
 

MrBig

Member
outsidah said:
Would you guys recommend the M50's over the HD555's for gaming as well? The M50's seem to be more of what I want for music than the HD555's.
I haven't tried the 555's, but the bass in the M50's makes games so much more intense when amped.
 

Totakeke

Member
outsidah said:
Would you guys recommend the M50's over the HD555's for gaming as well? The M50's seem to be more of what I want for music than the HD555's.

The best reason to get HD555/595 is for its lush mids that are great for female vocals. But I'd say it's more of a open vs closed headphones between those two.
 

HiResDes

Member
joesmokey said:
Heh sorry, didn't mean to sound like an ass if I did. Never used a stand before, but I think it looks pretty good. Much better than having the cans lay on the desk or something.
Naw don't mind me, unless I'm recommending something everything I say is me being facetious.
 

HiResDes

Member
Antiochus said:
In which particular order? On another aspect, I will be listening from my HP laptop. Would that be a significant factor?
Not really, but eventually you're gonna want to get some sort of DAC to go along with them. They are really good and quite solidly built. Honestly maybe I'd start with the JVC's first if you don't have a DAC of any kind.
 
So my Nixon earbuds broke (again), so I am going to go a different route this time.

I would like to get earbuds again, since the majority of the time that I use them I only want the sound in one ear (working)... The rest of the time I am Snowboarding, and I feel like headphones+helmet wouldn't work to well.

So I checked Amazon with a price figure in mind (nothing more than 60$) - and came up with the following. Any suggestions?

J2 Earbuds
417OOhE1gwL._AA300_.jpg



Sennheiser CX300-B In-Ear Stereo Headphone

41ZOfA3WNIL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


JBuds J3 Micro Atomic In-Ear Earphones with Travel Case
41QjxAye4ML._AA300_.jpg



----

I have literally never heard of any of those earbuds, but they were all ranked the highest on Amazon (I assume that has to mean something good).

Any advice would be appreciated.
 

HiResDes

Member
While the J2's aren't bad at all, there is better stuff in the OP IMO. For $60 you can cop some Brainwavz M2's (if you like bass) or some Head-Direct RE-0's if you're not a basshead.
 
Hey fam, I'm considering upgrading my amp solution.

After about 8 hours, I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed by the options. Solid States, Tubes, Hybrids, all kinds of sizes, shapes and hues. It's a lot to take in. What I'd like to have is something that's relatively compact (smaller than a normal rack/shelf design) that can fit on my computer desktop. Maybe 1' wide or so? Computers will be the primary source via USB and/or optical. As such, I need a DAC and an Amp. I'm not really sure if I should go with a DAC/Amp combo setup or 2 individual components (the latter of which which I'd do if it's simply the best way to go, though I'd probably prefer a combo). I don't mind stacking, so long as they don't take up a lot of desktop space. I'm looking to stay under $700USD.

Here's what I'm looking at:

Combo stuff
NuForce Icon HDP
AudioGD NFB-10WM
AudioGD NFB-12
AudioGD FUN
Headroom Desktop DAC/Amp
???


Separate components
DACs
AudioGD NFB-3 DAC
AudioGD NFB-2 DAC
Headroom Micro DAC
Maverick TubeMagic D1 (is a combo system, but would need an amp)
Little Dot DAC II
Matrix Mini-i

Amps
Headroom Micro Amp
AudioGC C-2 Amp
AudioGD C-2SA Amp
Schiit Lyr Hybrid Amp
Schiit Valhalla Tube Amp
Musical Paradise 301 Tube Amp
Audiotaylor Jade Tube Amp
Little Dot MK VII+ Amp
Little Dot MK IV Tube Amp

I'm looking to improve the sound of: D7000, HD650 and D5000.

Much like the difficulty of finding the right headphones, these items can't be found at a local store. Consequently, it becomes impossible to figure out which will work best for me. It's like trying to decide which new car to buy without being able to walk around it, sit on it, feel the console, hear the engine or feel the ride. It almost begins to feel unfair to even ask someone to do that. That's how I feel about cans and amps generally these days. I hate trying things and sending them back, but I feel I have no choices in the matter. If anyone has experience comparing these kinds of items or owns one or more of them, your thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Lastly, I've read conflicting commentary that any of these will provide a * significantly* better sound than my E7/E9 combo. Enhanced in some ways, I expect. But not a day and night difference. I hope that's not the case, but if that's the case, I'll be happy for someone to pull my coat tails and not have me spending hundreds more chasing after something that may not be there.

Again, any insight at all will be greatly appreciated.
 
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