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Really Good Headphones

johnfromnorwich

even my wife noticed the dif..
So how far can one go? I've had some HD600s for a few years and I now have a very decent headphone amp too (or so I'm told). Since I currently have no access to decent speakers*, I've been pretty much on phones full time. They sound OK, fairly detailed, but bass extension is a bit limited. Am I asking too much? What can a really good 'phone do?



*ESL 63 > Fostex 6301B? Everyone's wife in the next room ought to notice that difference
 
Cool website

I have some Beyerdynamic T1's which are just stunning and very very comfortable, I found them much more comfortable than the Sennheisers and have happily worn them for 7 hour sessions.

Personally I would try a variety of headphones for comfort first, and then from your preferred list select the sound you prefer. No point in having expensive headphones that don't suit your head, you just won't use them, or find them very irritating. I borrowed several pairs of headphones from my dealer before settling on my preferred choice.
 
Cool website

Personally I would try a variety of headphones for comfort first, and then from your preferred list select the sound you prefer. No point in having expensive headphones that don't suit your head, you just won't use them, or find them very irritating. I borrowed several pairs of headphones from my dealer before settling on my preferred choice.

All good advice. I find too loud bass on 'phones gives me earache. I also had high end phones that I couldn't wear for more than an hour, and even then spent all my time adjusting the fit. It's taken me most of this year and a fair amount of trial and error, and cash, to finally arrive at a set up I am very happy with.
 
No mention of Stax?

That said, I couldn't really use them as my Hi-Fi is in the same room as the telly which 'er indoors' watches incessantly. The Stax's sound fab but leak far too much noise, both in and out.
For a long time I used Sennheiser HD25s, which are closed back, but avoided the above issues without sacrificing too much fidelity.
Then... I dug out an old pair of semi open JVC HA-D600s, which are superb. Must be getting on 30 years old!

Mull
 
No mention of Stax?

That said, I couldn't really use them as my Hi-Fi is in the same room as the telly which 'er indoors' watches incessantly. The Stax's sound fab but leak far too much noise, both in and out.
For a long time I used Sennheiser HD25s, which are closed back, but avoided the above issues without sacrificing too much fidelity.
Then... I dug out an old pair of semi open JVC HA-D600s, which are superb. Must be getting on 30 years old!

Mull

Leakage wouldn't be a concern. We don't have a TV and I'm really only thinking out loud here but I was actually f*****' cheeky tonight listening to Kraftwerk on the cans whilst she got the same over the crappy speakers. I'm not sure who'll be gladder when the ESLs come back from Quad tbh... However, it's nice to be able to listen late and loud. My main concern with Stax was the heavy cabling though. Issue?
 
John,

The HD800s do justice to the 32-foot pipe on a big organ.

(Somehow, this has come across rather poorly.)

Joe
 
I use Grado sr 125's they have a great open sound and are now getting some serious use since i bought my Arcam rpac for my laptop!!!
 
The HiFiMan headphones (esp HE-5LE, HE-500 & HE-6) also deserve mention here. Some of these however need some serious amplification (HE-6 in particular).

Great stuff. I love my HE-5LEs with a Little Dot VI balanced tube amp.
 
I love the ATH M50's. I also loved the Ultrasone signature pro. Good bass on both. Both closed back though (which i need) and both easy to drive
 
the Aude'ze LC2 would be my top of the line now - I don't like the somewhat revealing HF on the HD800 ... I quite like my HD650 with silver cables.... at my bedside I tend to listen to Bayer's 770 since they are closed cans and quite comfortable to wear...

my preference on the above is for warm, great mids, good bass and not to bright/revealing top end.... I pair all my cans with tube amps also .... Wooaudio WA2, WA6 and govibe portatube +
 
HD800 is the way to go as a very worthwhile upgrade from 600's , completely "different" sound , but still in the Senheisser mould...800's need a bit of welly when driving em. The bass is different to the 600's , more extension , more "truthful" , less of the disco boom. You might not like the new bass as it doesn't overemphasize anything and just gives you what is on the recording..
 
HD800 is the way to go as a very worthwhile upgrade from 600's , completely "different" sound , but still in the Senheisser mould...800's need a bit of welly when driving em. The bass is different to the 600's , more extension , more "truthful" , less of the disco boom. You might not like the new bass as it doesn't overemphasize anything and just gives you what is on the recording..

If it's accurate, I'll like it. For speakers I run ESL63s and Tannoy Monitor Golds in infinite baffle cabs. No boom around these parts! I'm also a bass player so I'm very picky about how realistic the low end feels. I can't remember what I paid for the 600s but the price differential would need to mean a very significant improvement. It looks like there's a few options around that price too - the Lawton's mentioned by Teddy look to be modded Denons. I had no idea Denon made expensive cans but I'd be interested in hearing a pair purely in the grounds that I've never heard 'high end' closed back cans before.
 
Those 800s are great - much, much better than 650s or 600s. That said, they do sound quite different (as Rodney Gold said). They are, to date, the best headphones I've owned and second only to the Orpheus in terms of the best I've heard. Some might argue that HD800s on the end of an überamp might actually outperform the Orpheus.

All that said, if you're looking at spending this sort of money, you ought also to check out some Stax as an alternative approach and sound.
 


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