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

A

andylsun

Member
Just bought an Audio Quest Dragonfly USB DAC to use with my various Sennheiser headphones (HD-595, HD-25-I). They are on discount at best buy for $134

The analogue output on my Macbook Pro is complete junk, with noise and buzzing. The Dragonfly is a huge improvement. I was worried that it wouldn't be loud enough, but it's plenty good enough for the HD-595's. I'd previously tried a HRT headstreamer and that device couldn't get the volume I wanted.
 
P

Phat Michael

Banned
After a short listen, I really prefer the sound of the audeze to the HD800s. Much warmer and a really full sound. The bass and drums are nicer as well. Two very completely different sounds for sure..

hd800s are much lighter and more comfortable though.
 
N

NotBacon

Member
So what is all this balanced audio junk? A quick skim on technical docs say I need balanced inputs and outputs to utilize a balanced cable, what does this mean? I'm using HE-400 + FiiO e11k + FiiO X1 right now.

Better yet, would I even notice a difference?

Phat Michael said:
After a short listen, I really prefer the sound of the audeze to the HD800s. Much warmer and a really full sound. The bass and drums are nicer as well. Two very completely different sounds for sure..

hd800s are much lighter and more comfortable though.
Click to expand...

Obviously take them both apart and make some Audeze HD800s to get the best of both worlds.

And yes, planar magnetic is the tits.
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
bedlamite said:
The Xiaomi Pistons are my default recommendation for cheap-as-shit earbuds that still sound good. They definitely have a U-shaped sound signature, but for 10-20 bucks these things simply have no equal when you factor in sound and build quality.
Click to expand...

Are these the same version Pistons you're talking about?

I may buy one, just to compare it to the 300h.
 
U

Uni on Everything!

Member
Has anyone ever bought from Massdrop before? The CEntrance one I got in ended on the 10th and still has not shipped yet... is this normal?

Also the Sennheiser HD650s I got from Adorama got lost in shipping for a few days so I don't have those yet either.

At this rate I'll be lucky if I get them before the end of the year :(
 
A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
K.Jack said:
Are these the same version Pistons you're talking about?

I may buy one, just to compare it to the 300h.
Click to expand...

Probably, but beware of fakes though. Tons of them floating around.

Also got mine today. Definitely a V shaped sound, bass is boomy as earphones of this price range is wont to have, but it's not too bad with decent detail too and good sub-bass extension. A little congested but the separation is good enough with pretty good details. Overall really impressed with it especially at the price range, and that's not even factoring the packaging and build quality, which are really good (though I still need more time to judge the long time durability obviously). Definitely competes with the $100< earphones that I've had before.
 
H

HiResDes

Member
NotBacon said:
So what is all this balanced audio junk? A quick skim on technical docs say I need balanced inputs and outputs to utilize a balanced cable, what does this mean? I'm using HE-400 + FiiO e11k + FiiO X1 right now.

Better yet, would I even notice a difference?



Obviously take them both apart and make some Audeze HD800s to get the best of both worlds.

And yes, planar magnetic is the tits.
Click to expand...
Don't worry about it. After countless hours of research I've found it doesn't even matter with most headphone setups.
 
P

Phat Michael

Banned
NotBacon said:
So what is all this balanced audio junk? A quick skim on technical docs say I need balanced inputs and outputs to utilize a balanced cable, what does this mean? I'm using HE-400 + FiiO e11k + FiiO X1 right now.

Better yet, would I even notice a difference?



Obviously take them both apart and make some Audeze HD800s to get the best of both worlds.

And yes, planar magnetic is the tits.
Click to expand...

I won't get into the scientific, but I used both last night on the audeze. To get to the volume I wanted on single ended, the volume was at 3 o'clock. With balanced, 11 o'clock.

I could play music much louder with the balanced cable. On the oppo amp, it says 4x the Power and 2x the voltage can run through the balanced output rather than the single ended.

For those saying it makes no difference, they most likely haven't heard both back to back with their own ears and have read something in an article. I listen to the same song on he same amp back to back last night as the audeze comes with both cables out of the box.

You don't need it unless you have a decent set of headphones though. A good balanced cable costs anything from $250 and $400 beyond.

Balanced inputs / outputs are much larger than your standard 3.5mm or 6.5mm or whatever they are. Not many headphone amps have the input.
 
A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
neojubei said:
Anyone know of any good bluetooth over the ear headphones. I'm trying to fight the urge to buy beats
Click to expand...

That's a weird either or. :p

For Bluetooth you can have a look at the Sony mdr1bt or the sennheiser mm 450. Haven't had any experience with them but they are well regarded.
 
U

Union Carbine

Member
Phat Michael said:
IOn the oppo amp, it says 4x the Power and 2x the voltage can run through the balanced output rather than the single ended.
Click to expand...
I think that's a property of the Oppo rather than a property of balanced connections generally (though I definitely could be wrong there). According to Oppo's website, the unbalanced connection runs through the same balanced circuitry up until the output jack:
Oppo said:
For digital audio, the signal runs in balanced mode all the way from the DAC to the output jacks. Balanced analog input is kept intact, and single-ended input is converted to balanced at the input buffer. All single-ended outputs are derived from the balanced signal as well.
Click to expand...
So other than the power/voltage difference, the unbalanced jack is getting all the benefits of the balanced connection. I don't think anyone questions the advantages balanced connections have, it's more that those advantages don't enter into most consumer setups. I'd love to be able to do some double-blind A/B/X tests to be proven wrong though! ;)
 
T

threetri333

Banned
If anyone wants JDS Labs O2 + ODAC combo with AC adapter, let me know. I don't have a desktop or laptop to hook it up, so I'm letting it go. LF $225.

HD 600 sounds pretty good by itself! Makes me appreciate Classical music.
 
P

Phat Michael

Banned
Union Carbine said:
I think that's a property of the Oppo rather than a property of balanced connections generally (though I definitely could be wrong there). According to Oppo's website, the unbalanced connection runs through the same balanced circuitry up until the output jack: So other than the power/voltage difference, the unbalanced jack is getting all the benefits of the balanced connection. I don't think anyone questions the advantages balanced connections have, it's more that those advantages don't enter into most consumer setups. I'd love to be able to do some double-blind A/B/X tests to be proven wrong though! ;)
Click to expand...
As I said... The main difference to me was having more power driving the headphones so I needed less dB to reach the same volume that I wanted to listen to. Meaning I can listen to the tracks louder if I wanted to.

I've done no research on why one is better, mine is purely listening to the difference.

When you look at reviews of most amps with the balanced input they do say that when they switch there is a noticeable difference so you should use it where possible.
 
T

Tommy DJ

Member
Phat Michael said:
I won't get into the scientific, but I used both last night on the audeze. To get to the volume I wanted on single ended, the volume was at 3 o'clock. With balanced, 11 o'clock.

I could play music much louder with the balanced cable. On the oppo amp, it says 4x the Power and 2x the voltage can run through the balanced output rather than the single ended.

For those saying it makes no difference, they most likely haven't heard both back to back with their own ears and have read something in an article. I listen to the same song on he same amp back to back last night as the audeze comes with both cables out of the box.
Click to expand...

That has nothing to do with the balanced connection (i.e. differential signaling). That has to do with the fact its a bridged amplifier.
 
P

Phat Michael

Banned
Tommy DJ said:
That has nothing to do with the balanced connection (i.e. differential signaling). That has to do with the fact its a bridged amplifier.
Click to expand...

ah fair enough - im just saying the cable makes a difference and there was a noticeable increase in the output ( dont know much about the science of it at all)
 
M

march carax

Member
Need some advice guys!

I have the v-moda m80, which I am very happy with, but I am looking to buy some better and sexier ones, as my headphones have already 3 years.

If possible I want recommendation for something portable, over the ear and closed, although I am open to suggestions for less portable and open headphones.
I mostly listen to electronic (Vitalic, Justice, Amon Tobin, Daft Punk to tell some of my favorites) and Hip Hop (mostly instrumental and electronic).

I have been looking to Sennheiser HD 600 and AKG Q701 which I find sexy as hell, but seem like they would leak a lot of sound. Are those good headphones? What other options would you recommend?

Budget: under 300

Thanks!
 
T

terrible

Banned
march carax said:
Need some advice guys!

I have the v-moda m80, which I am very happy with, but I am looking to buy some better and sexier ones, as my headphones have already 3 years.

If possible I want recommendation for something portable, over the ear and closed, although I am open to suggestions for less portable and open headphones.
I mostly listen to electronic (Vitalic, Justice, Amon Tobin, Daft Punk to tell some of my favorites) and Hip Hop (mostly instrumental and electronic).

I have been looking to Sennheiser HD 600 and AKG Q701 which I find sexy as hell, but seem like they would leak a lot of sound. Are those good headphones? What other options would you recommend?

Budget: under 300

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Both of those are more intended for home use. I have seen someone with HD600s in public but it seems like a bad idea to me. You'd need a good portable amp and you'd hear everything that was going on around you too.
 
F

FoxSpirit

Junior Member
Phat Michael said:
ah fair enough - im just saying the cable makes a difference and there was a noticeable increase in the output ( dont know much about the science of it at all)
Click to expand...
Of course, that's due to the fact they have a fully balanced amp. If you terminate a balanced connection into unbalanced you loose output voltage so you loose loudness. But to compensate you simply have to turn up the volume knob. And you have to do it precisely because even a 2dB higher loudness will sound better.

Oh yeah, that phenomenon also started started the loudness war, mortal enemy of audiophiles *sigh*
 
H

HiResDes

Member
march carax said:
Need some advice guys!

I have the v-moda m80, which I am very happy with, but I am looking to buy some better and sexier ones, as my headphones have already 3 years.

If possible I want recommendation for something portable, over the ear and closed, although I am open to suggestions for less portable and open headphones.
I mostly listen to electronic (Vitalic, Justice, Amon Tobin, Daft Punk to tell some of my favorites) and Hip Hop (mostly instrumental and electronic).

I have been looking to Sennheiser HD 600 and AKG Q701 which I find sexy as hell, but seem like they would leak a lot of sound. Are those good headphones? What other options would you recommend?

Budget: under 300

Thanks!
Click to expand...
If you're listening to mostly electronic and hip-hop you don't need anything too analytical or overly detailed like the two aforementioned headphones. I'd suggest the V-Moda M100, Sony MDR-1, ADL H118, or Soundmagic HP150.
 
C

Crisco

Banned
Q701s are weird. When I first got them I felt the bass was pretty lacking, but after a couple years not only do I find them sufficient for EDM and hip hop, other setups just seem too bass heavy. I don't think it's the phones breaking in, I just think my ears got used to more subtle bass response after years of blowing my head off with car and HT subs.
 
I

imek

Member
neojubei said:
Anyone know of any good bluetooth over the ear headphones. I'm trying to fight the urge to buy beats
Click to expand...

I'm running the Sony MDR1BT-MK2 and am pretty happy with them overall (taking into account the wireless nature of them). They're not as comfortable as my wired AD900s or DT770 Pros, but I think that's a bit of a tall order to compare to.

The overall sound to me is more of bass, leaning towards the DT770s, but not as strong.

The range of the bluetooth is pretty good (10+ metres and only stops when going through a wall really).
 
B

BHK3

Banned
Any deals on some good headphones going on? My Sony MDR-XB 500's are starting to fall apart after about 3-4 years of daily use and I wanna get an extra pair to either replace or just cycle.
 
A

Arzehn

Member
Got some new headphones, but the volume is too loud when plugged into the PC. 10% Windows volume is like the maximum I want it. I'm worried about damaging my ears if I accidentally set the volume to 80-100%. Is there something like a volume scaler or volume limiter that anyone can recommend?

Mixer looks like this too, grey bar is always maxing. Not sure if normal.
bIWIXSU.png
 
C

Chance Hale

Member
Bought a pair of returned he 560s on ebay for $670 so I'm really excited to try them out. The selLer had 21000 positive feedback so I imagine I have very little reason to worry
 
N

nekroseven

Member
Currently have an O2/ODAC. Please recomend several popular or proven amps or amp/DAC $300-500 that would be an improvement in sq. Solid state or tube is fine. Cans I may get in the future are hd600, q701 or an entry level planar. I've looked at schiit, audio-gd and matrix branded products but was wondering if there are better alternatives in this price range.
 
Dice

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
Arzehn said:
Got some new headphones, but the volume is too loud when plugged into the PC. 10% Windows volume is like the maximum I want it. I'm worried about damaging my ears I accidentally set the volume to 80-100%. Is there something like a volume scaler or volume limiter that anyone can recommend?

Mixer looks like this too, grey bar is always maxing. Not sure if normal.
Click to expand...
I've never seen that grey bar fill, but there is a green bar for my DAC in the playback devices that seems to max pretty easily. It is probably representative of the recording rather than a hardware limit on volume, so will look like it is maxing all the time due to the loudness wars. As for finding some way to limit it... I have no idea. I plug into an amp, so I just turn the knob to where it needs to be to have windows settings comfortable.
 
F

FoxSpirit

Junior Member
Got Sony MDR-10RC recently. At the current price those are so worth the money.
Only slightly bass heavy, good speed and spaciality, only slight driver ringing in the low highs-high mids which I only notice occasionally as very slight grain.

Otherwise, they have a great and listenable signature and actually sound very fine and detailed. Light, sturdy, small, foldable, comfortable this should make everyone shortlist if you are looking to spend $130/€100.

If anything, some people feel the clamp is too light but personally, I spend 5 seconds properly seating them and never had a problem.

I came across them when I gave the AKG Y-50 a turn. Bass monster, rolled off highs, larger acoustic stuff is barely listenable thanks to slowness and unstable forming soundstage. Orchestra started big movement, sound collapsed.
Those were made for EDM alright. But at the pricepoint WhatHiFi's product of the year? This completely unbalanced phone? WTH.

Merry Christmas, everyone :)
 
O

opticalmace

Member
Arzehn said:
Got some new headphones, but the volume is too loud when plugged into the PC. 10% Windows volume is like the maximum I want it. I'm worried about damaging my ears I accidentally set the volume to 80-100%. Is there something like a volume scaler or volume limiter that anyone can recommend?

Mixer looks like this too, grey bar is always maxing. Not sure if normal.
bIWIXSU.png
Click to expand...

Maybe something like this? http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=108&cp_id=10823&cs_id=1082703&p_id=7116&seq=1&format=2

Though that one is a 2-way splitter, you just need an in-line volume control.
 
F

FoxSpirit

Junior Member
Phat Michael said:
ok got the Audeze's in running on Balanced wires.

Immediate difference: with the single ended sennheisers - i would have to have the amp in high gain at 3 oclock. With the Audeze's running balanced i have the volume knob at 11 o'clock for the same volume output. (-14db)

Also, the bass is a lot stronger and it feels a lot warmer than the Sennheisers...but these are all initial impressions.

HD800s are much more comfortable however, and weigh a LOT less. the lambskin cups are very nice..but the unit itself is quite heavy as compared to the HD800s.
Click to expand...
Hmm, try to give the AKG K-812 a whirl if you can. More natural timbre than the 800, much lighter than the Audeze.
 
P

Phat Michael

Banned
just got given a mint condition Sony XA7ES CD Transport for Xmas which is amazing. going to hook this up to my Amp/DAC by balanced XLR Interconnects.

Got the CH 800 S cable for the HD 800s...

everything coming together nicely - it will be great to have a proper CD player to use with my setup.
 
P

Phat Michael

Banned
FoxSpirit said:
Hmm, try to give the AKG K-812 a whirl if you can. More natural timbre than the 800, much lighter than the Audeze.
Click to expand...

very hard for me to track down headphones to just listen to here. I pretty much have to buy them - and with the HD800s and the LCD3 i dont think ill get any more.

Id love to hear them for a few days though for sure.
 
A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Y'know, after having mainly aggressive or "lean" cans like the Sennheiser HD25 and the AKG K551 as my mainstays, having the warmer and bassier v-moda m80 is pretty fun, though I still think the AKG K551s are better in presentation overall.

Reading impressions and some people think that the m80s aren't bassy enough though? Crazy.
 
V

Valkerionseven

Member
Asked for a pair of headphones this xmas just because I wanted something for my fighting games. Curious to see what I got.

If dad bought it, it will be super high quality. If mom bought it... it could be w/e the person at the store recommended (guah beats by dre nooo~ thought they were super uncomfortable)
 
W

WolfForager

Member
Hi guys!

In the market for a new pair of headphones at the moment. I've been using fairly basic Sony in-ear headphones for years now but they're on their way out and am looking to upgrade to some over-ear headphones.

I listen to a fairly broad range of music from Indie/Alternative to Rock and Dance/EDM to Pop.

It would be mostly for my commute to work and such but I also listen to music at home from time to time.

My budget is maxed at &#8364;200, preferably around &#8364;150-175. I was looking at the Seinhessier 598s but I've heard they're more intended for home use as opposed to commutes. Would they're be anything similar to these that may be more suitable for myself?

Thanks!
 
S

super-famicom

Member
WolfForager said:
Hi guys!

In the market for a new pair of headphones at the moment. I've been using fairly basic Sony in-ear headphones for years now but they're on their way out and am looking to upgrade to some over-ear headphones.

I listen to a fairly broad range of music from Indie/Alternative to Rock and Dance/EDM to Pop.

It would be mostly for my commute to work and such but I also listen to music at home from time to time.

My budget is maxed at €200, preferably around €150-175. I was looking at the Seinhessier 598s but I've heard they're more intended for home use as opposed to commutes. Would they're be anything similar to these that may be more suitable for myself?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Try looking into the Sennheiser Momentum, VModa XS, or Brainwavz HM9.
 
thebigmanjosh

thebigmanjosh

Member
Just got a pair of HD598s for Christmas. I've had them plugged into my Pioneer 1020 all day listening to my collection of FLAC files. Abbey Road never sounded so good
 
F

Fjordson

Member
WolfForager said:
Hi guys!

In the market for a new pair of headphones at the moment. I've been using fairly basic Sony in-ear headphones for years now but they're on their way out and am looking to upgrade to some over-ear headphones.

I listen to a fairly broad range of music from Indie/Alternative to Rock and Dance/EDM to Pop.

It would be mostly for my commute to work and such but I also listen to music at home from time to time.

My budget is maxed at €200, preferably around €150-175. I was looking at the Seinhessier 598s but I've heard they're more intended for home use as opposed to commutes. Would they're be anything similar to these that may be more suitable for myself?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Eh, really not ideal for portable use. The plug is bulky, the cord is super long and they leak sound all over the place because of their open design. Great set for home use, but not when you're out and about imo. The ones super-famicon mentioned would work out better I think.


Caboose said:
How is the Senn HD 598 for gaming and movies? Presumably they have a nice soundstage so that's a pro for gaming, right?
Click to expand...
Excellent for both.
 
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