Nero's Neptune
Member
Thanks for the info! Kinda hoping to see some sales when tax time rolls around. Buying used wouldn't be the worst thing ever, though. Head-fi'ers usually take damn good care of their headphones.
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The Official Headphone Thread 2.5: We're Making WAVs and Catching FLAC
- Thread starter HiResDes
- Start date
Thanks for the info! Kinda hoping to see some sales when tax time rolls around. Buying used wouldn't be the worst thing ever, though. Head-fi'ers usually take damn good care of their headphones.
SolarMystic
Member
Unless your buying a used mahagony for $300, just go with the Teaks. Better wood quality (and variety), detachable cables, all for $500. You don't even have to wait until they drop again, just send them an email.
Just don't use PayPal gift and you should be fine, even if a problem does arise. Only buy from sellers who have been a member for awhile and has good feedback.
I've had around 30 transactions take place on HF this year, and only one was a scammer. Smelled fishy from the start though so nothing came of it and the user was banned. Common sense goes a long way in buying/selling.
That's the nice thing about the fostex drivers though. So many companies have taken the basic design and tweaked it that there are a lot of good and interesting options.
Myself, I would love to be able to plug in a pair of TH900's to my HP-A4BL someday, just because I think the marriage would be a very good one.
Nero's Neptune
Member
Yeah, most of my headphone purchases have been off head-fi, including my Beyer T5Ps. Haven't been burned yet, but I usually not only research who I'm buying from, but I see who else they've dealt with and send out some messages to them.
Thanks for the recommendations! The Focal Utopia is on the way. Still doing my research on Stax's lineup though. I already have the HD800s but I'll take a look at DNA amps to replace my aging Predator.
SolarMystic
Member
Even for the Utopia, take a look at DNA if your looking at getting some serious quality amps. The Stratus (or if your rolling in cash, the Stellaris) would both be good amps for the Utopia IMO, though do try and listen or get feedback from others who have had more extensive exposure to them. The Sonett 1 & 2 probably not so much. Too high of an output impedance for the Utopia. Plus they are discontinued and can only (rarely) be found used.
Green Card
Member
I bought the Sennheiser HD600 from amazon UK a couple days ago for $220 shipped (first pair of real headphones) and an amp/dac. I was looking for a comfortable all around pair of headphones to use for movies and games, etc. I listen to mostly Nine Inch Nails, instrumentals, and electronic. I never really crank up the music fwiw. For gaming I would use my headphones for games that rely on audio (mostly horror I'd imagine) rather than fps/rpg. Were these a good set for me or am I better off with something else?
Counter question: What led you to the HD600? What random amp and DAC did you buy?
Surely these weren't random purchases.
Green Card
Member
The HD600s are reviewed very favorably and $220 is the lowest it has even been (HD6XX was $200 but that is the 650). It was neutral and not knowing anything about what that really means I figured it'd be a safe place to start. I also read it was very accurate so I liked that. The amp/dac I bought was the monoprice one. It has great connectivity.
That's probably the most sound and well thought out foray into headphones ever I started out with Audio Technica M40s back in the day, the old version was giant cold and a bit shrill sounding I listened to them recently and yeah pretty much a dogshit headphone.
I think the 400i might have been a good pick for you though personally considering the electronic love - https://www.razordogaudio.com/produ...nt=927422797&gclid=CJXi7rK_n9ECFYNGXgodiHkEqQ
I think the 400i might have been a good pick for you though personally considering the electronic love - https://www.razordogaudio.com/produ...nt=927422797&gclid=CJXi7rK_n9ECFYNGXgodiHkEqQ
Green Card
Member
Well I've bought shitty skullcandy headphones in the past but the first pair of headphones I bought after doing any research were HD681 Evos. I didn't want to spend too much money. They seem pretty good for the ~$45 I spent.
Edit: I saw 400i the other day with a dac/amp for $249/259. If I saw those first I may have just bought them - not too late though. I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to get $220 back for my 600s if I went that route.
Wish Donald North still sold the Sonnett, seeing it was a really neat amp for not too much money. His latest offerings are just way too expensive.
SolarMystic
Member
I think he's been floating the idea around for something akin to a mini Stratus or an upgraded Sonett. Whatever it is, if it hits the Sonett price range I'll be buying one immediately. My Sonett is the best I have ever heard my 800 and 650 with.
opticalmace
Member
Find a local hifi shop and test it out maybe?
I think that's a fairly smart purchase. For gaming you definitely want an open back design (which those are) which is superior for sound stage. With a big sound stage you get more of a sense of space in the audio and can better tell which direction a sound is coming from and how far away it might be.
Obviously good game audio design matters a lot (look at Overwatch with Dolby Atmos - it's divine with a good pair of open back headphones) but with the HD600's you at least have the right equipment in place.
Save up money and get something better, the 650s deserve something better.
Xander51
Member
Sorry but it's now impossible to go back. The only way out is a clean break. I'm only half-joking.
Chittagong
Gold Member
I started with a Fiio E17 pretty much exactly two years ago and ever since things have escalated pretty rapidly through a Magni/Modi stack to a BifrostMB/Asgard stack to a Schiit Ragnarok and Schiit Yggdrasil stack... Run while you can
That's what's up. I've already been thinking "hm, I wonder if I should get a multibit DAC and balanced amp for no particular reason".
For what it's worth, I hear amazing things about the Yggrdrasil. My only problem with it and the Rag are the physical size of the units themselves. I would need to build or buy a separate shelf just to hold them!
That being said, I wouldn't be surprised to find a Yggy in my setup someday. The SQ of an amazing Mutlibit DAC is just too tempting to ignore.
Oh snap, new Massdrop email. Grace Design m9xx is up again! Limited to 248 units. Pretty sexy for an all in one unit at $500. https://www.massdrop.com/buy/grace-design-x-massdrop-m9xx-dac-amp?referer=N2E4A6
I have stepped into the audophile world of the first time this Xmas by geting myself a decent set of headphones and a DAC/AMP.
Headphones: AKG K702
DAC/AMP: Creative E5
I know this the beginning end of the audiophile world, but wow what a huge step up from what I had before. The DAC/AMP really is what made the difference. Hell even my car listening experience improved by adding the damn thing between the phone and my car.
I have also found myself on a crazed spree of acquiring as muich flac music of the stuff I listen to. The files get disturbingly large as well.
All in all, this is one of the happiest purchases I have made.
Headphones: AKG K702
DAC/AMP: Creative E5
I know this the beginning end of the audiophile world, but wow what a huge step up from what I had before. The DAC/AMP really is what made the difference. Hell even my car listening experience improved by adding the damn thing between the phone and my car.
I have also found myself on a crazed spree of acquiring as muich flac music of the stuff I listen to. The files get disturbingly large as well.
All in all, this is one of the happiest purchases I have made.
Upgraditis only happens when you get caught up by the hype or don't really understand why you should upgrade. That's how people end up buying useless audio hardware or the mid-fi purgatory where you end up with a dozen pairs of AKG/Beyerdynamic/Chi-Fi/Hifiman garbage from Massdrop.
Yeah I want to avoid mid-fi purgatory. The Grace Design M9xx is a sexy little dac/amp but it isn't a large enough upgrade over the Fostex unit I just purchased to justify the expense. The smart thing at this point would be for me to save up for an actual multibit dac with the amp of my choice while eventually adding a pair of flagship HP's. This will take some time but should be worth the wait.
Until then the MA900 / 99 Classics combo with the Fostex dac/amp is already a big jump over where I was just a month or so ago and I've gotten several multi hour listening sessions under my belt over this long Holiday weekend. My audio life is pretty good at this point.
SolarMystic
Member
I wouldn't bother with the m9xx these days. Kind of obsolete with the Jotunheim + DAC module at the same price.
So true.
People need to understand why the FOTM head-fi crowd is not where you go for buying guidance. Those people have lost the plot completely, and mainly just buy the new stuff so they can feel like they're a part of a community. The majority of these people don't even know what they are hearing, and just nod along to whatever hype the topic creator regurgitates.
Like those who blind buy whatever Monoprice puts out. I forget that guy's username, but he was posting a new "giant killer" every week.
While I agree with the sentiment, the problem is that most people don't have the ability or resources to know what they're upgrading for. Unless you've had a better system or know what a good audio rig can sound like, you really don't know why exactly you're upgrading your system other than a vague belief that it will sound better.
Chittagong
Gold Member
I think it's a symptom of the difficulty of teaching people what good audio sounds like, and what to listen for.
There are some obvious things that are quite easy to recognise even for beginners such as bass slam and soundstage. Those were certainly the things that stood out to me when I got my first pair of good headphones (Fostex TH-600s).
But when you get to things like the impact of a good DAC, it becomes much harder to explain what you are looking for. How do you tell someone what to listen for in 'separation' or 'clarify'? How do you describe what to listen for in 'too laid back mids' or 'U shaped sound'? I guess one short hand could be fatigue, whether the sound becomes jarring. Or how 'full' it sounds. But overall, it's hard to talk about sound.
Someone should do a book about it, really.
There are some obvious things that are quite easy to recognise even for beginners such as bass slam and soundstage. Those were certainly the things that stood out to me when I got my first pair of good headphones (Fostex TH-600s).
But when you get to things like the impact of a good DAC, it becomes much harder to explain what you are looking for. How do you tell someone what to listen for in 'separation' or 'clarify'? How do you describe what to listen for in 'too laid back mids' or 'U shaped sound'? I guess one short hand could be fatigue, whether the sound becomes jarring. Or how 'full' it sounds. But overall, it's hard to talk about sound.
Someone should do a book about it, really.
NingenJanai
Member
An audiobook
lol
Chittagong
Gold Member
An audiobook
In DSD format
SolarMystic
Member
Besides my Sonett, my DAC changes have been more noticeable than my amp changes.
My experience has been headphones>DAC>amp. I don't even put cables in the equation. Although I do have a new digital converter so I can ditch USB.
Interesting. What DAC's have you tried and which ones have you liked and kept?
Sennheiser HD25 light, recommendable? I used to own a HD25-1 II and loved it so much until it got stolen.
Maybe anything comparable under $150? Looking for small non-open headphones. I like good bass and midbass but not too much. HD25-1 II and my current HD555 sound signatures is what I'm looking for.
Maybe anything comparable under $150? Looking for small non-open headphones. I like good bass and midbass but not too much. HD25-1 II and my current HD555 sound signatures is what I'm looking for.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
For anyone looking for a good dap, the shanling M1 is on sale at massdrop.
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/shanling-m1/talk
Well, I've only heard that it's good, but the form factor alone is highly appealing to me. Gonna grab it, and free shipping doesn't hurt.
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/shanling-m1/talk
Well, I've only heard that it's good, but the form factor alone is highly appealing to me. Gonna grab it, and free shipping doesn't hurt.
Pretty crazy specs for something that's only 2 ounces and slightly over 4 square inches.