The headphones thread! [Sorry about your wallet]

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › The headphones thread! [Sorry about your wallet]

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#710768 1-Nov-2012 23:27

networkn:
NZTECHFREAKTECHFREAK. techfreak: No experience with Shure headphones myself sorry.

Pulled the trigger on some Ultrasone Signature Pros tonight, will be interested to see how they fare in my high-end closed cans shootout.

HE-6 might be next month.

Let me know when they arrive, then I can come and visit :)

May I be nosy and ask where you source your cans?

Various places. Got a couple from Trademe, some from EBay, some from Addicted to Audio in Melbourne (top notch outfit, can't wait to visit their store next time I'm there and audition a bunch of stuff). The Ebay ones were actually Razordog and Sonic Electronics selling via EBay.

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#710793 2-Nov-2012 06:52

I had Shure in ear phones for a bit, but I returned them. I forget why but I just didn't like them. They didn't do headphones back then, just in ear.

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#710860 2-Nov-2012 10:05

Music like Celine Dion, Josh Groban, etc if I was looking to find a headphone to best suit those artists, would I be looking for better mids or highs or lows?

Anyone know who the distributor of Shure is in NZ? The reviews for it speak pretty highly and compare it well against the HD700, but yah at $650NZD if I buy second hand, it's a challenge, though they amplify easily, more so than the HD650. So torn. Also I find it a little frustrating that so many reviews contradict each other, makes it very hard to make a proper decision.

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#711095 2-Nov-2012 18:55

networkn: I've found another contender, anyone have any experience with the Shure 1840's?

Have you considered the SRH1440's? I picked mine up a couple of months ago from the rock shop for $540 cash after I talked them down from $599, comes with a 2 year warranty and to answer your question the rock shop are an authorized shure distributor.
I suggest the 1440 because from what I've read on many different sites they sound virtually identical to the 1840's aside from having slightly less bass and a slightly forward sounding midrange. Although the 1840's are the more refined of the two, most people who've heard both prefer the 1440's as the more 'lively and energetic' headphone. Unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to compare with the HD650 so again I'm only going off what other people who say the 650 has better bass low down however it sounds as if the shure 1440/1840 is a bit ahead on midrange and treble detail, i believe this is known as a 'darker' sound.

I personally feel the Shure SRH1440 are a very good all round headphone that sound particularly awesome with metal, rock, vocals, acoustic, jazz, classical etc. My one and only complaint is that they don't really cut the mustard when it comes to genres such as dubstep or hip-hop (that I don't really listen to that much) that focus on that big low end bass sound.

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#711099 2-Nov-2012 19:16

I have hd600 and low bass is awesome ... Can get skull rocking by listening to dark knight sound track ... So I imagine the 650 is as low bass capable if not better.

Please note the flat characteristic of the native driver gives you low quantity but high quality, I have to eq to bring the bass volume up but in terms of capability under 30Hz is no issue, not sure how low down low it goes however

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#711367 3-Nov-2012 13:50

I just bought a pair of Sennheiser MM-550X this week and thought I'd share my thoughts.

One of my intended purposes is to use these as a bluetooth headset for my iPhone for phone calls and listening to talk radio on the bus going to and from work. I'm pleased to report that pairing was a piece of cake, the bluetooth connection is reliable, the call quality is good, the passive noise isolation is effective, and Noisegard 2.0 is slightly better than my old PXC-250 although it still doesn't work miracles.

When plugged into my Macbook Pro using the supplied audio cable the performance is excellent. I have always loved the even tonal balance of Sennheiser headphones which really emphasises vocals, and the MM-550X definitely delivers on this. Musical instruments sound crisp and detailed, so there's certainly nothing to complain about here. I'm not fond of the SRS feature as it colours the music too much, but I suspect it's probably designed more for movies.

The big letdown is the performance of the bluetooth APT-X feature. This supposedly allows a bluetooth connection to carry hifi quality audio if the source device supports it, but although my late model Macbook pro supposedly supports APT-X I have found that the audio sounds a bit shaky with random static noise popping up from time to time like an AM radio in a thunderstorm. It's not really bad by any means, but there is a striking improvement in sound quality when using the cable. Unfortunately I can't find any way to confirm for sure that my Macbook Pro is indeed connecting over APT-X so it's not possible to determine whether the problem is due to APT-X failing to deliver on its promises, or whether it's simply not working at all. I'm going to try and do a bit more research on this.

I should also point out that it's awkward juggling the headphones between different bluetooth sources. iOS doesn't allow a bluetooth device to be disconnected without 'forgetting' (i.e. unpairing) the device. This means that if I want to strike a bluetooth connection between the MM-550X and my Macbook Pro then I need to switch off bluetooth on my iPhone in order to prevent the headset connecting to the iPhone preferentially. Of course the blame for this probably lies with Apple more so than Sennheiser, but it's something that iOS users should be wary of.

For my purposes I'm happy with the product, but it's important to acknowledge that the MM-550X commands a hefty price premium for its bluetooth functionality, and limitations in this area should make some potential buyers think twice.

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#711372 3-Nov-2012 13:56

I wouldn't recommend the Senn BT headphones due to the cost, but certainly if you need the functionality they could be worth it.

I use the HS3000 Apt-X bluetooth receiver from Samsung, pretty cheap and the Apt-X works well there. You can use whichever headphones you want with the HS3000, or connect to a stereo etc via 3.5-3.5mm cable, which makes them a lot more versatile. For the price of their BT headphones with Apt-X you could get something like their HD600/650 and the HS3000 to use with them.

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#711395 3-Nov-2012 15:10

NZtechfreak: I wouldn't recommend the Senn BT headphones due to the cost, but certainly if you need the functionality they could be worth it.

I guess it all comes down to cost and benefit for the individual. I have to admit to gritting my teeth a bit when I hit the 'buy now' button, but I will be using these frequently over a number of years and I have a major bugbear with cable snagging so ultimately I will get good value out of them. It's a shame Sennheiser don't appear to make anything in the sub $500 bracket with both both noise cancelling and an inline microphone, though, despite their enormous range of different models.

Going back to the APT-X issue, I've looked into it and it turns out that APT-X was actually not enabled on the connection with my Macbook Pro. Fortunately I have now got it working thanks to the thread linked below and the sound quality is now better, but the crackling persists. I think I'll probably still stick to using the cable on odd occasions when I want to use these to listen to music.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3891328?start=0&tstart=0

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#711396 3-Nov-2012 15:11

alasta:
NZtechfreak: I wouldn't recommend the Senn BT headphones due to the cost, but certainly if you need the functionality they could be worth it.

I guess it all comes down to cost and benefit for the individual. I have to admit to gritting my teeth a bit when I hit the 'buy now' button, but I will be using these frequently over a number of years and I have a major bugbear with cable snagging so ultimately I will get good value out of them. It's a shame Sennheiser don't appear to make anything in the sub $500 bracket with both both noise cancelling and an inline microphone, though, despite their enormous range of different models.

Going back to the APT-X issue, I've looked into it and it turns out that APT-X was actually not enabled on the connection with my Macbook Pro. Fortunately I have now got it working thanks to the thread linked below and the sound quality is now better, but the crackling persists. I think I'll probably still stick to using the cable on odd occasions when I want to use these to listen to music.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3891328?start=0&tstart=0

Strange, I get no crackling whatsoever using the HS3000 with an Apt-X capable playback device.

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#712805 6-Nov-2012 12:08

Hi There!

Thought I'd update you. I went and had a listen to the HD650's and I am completely sold. They were connected to an expensive headphone amp, well out of my budget, but I think I'll get these and then decide if an AMP is required at a later stage.

I have listened, like a lot of people, to my favourite cd's hundreds of times, and I have a pretty kickass home theatre/hifi setup with big speakers, but I've never heard the detail I heard from that CD yesterday.

I also listened to the 598 and the 800 and the 598 was excellent, but for me, not as detailed as the 650's. They didn't have the 600's I'd love to hear those. The 800 was a massive disappointment. The clarify was there, but they had no presence. When I was listening to the 650's my whole head was full of sound, whereas listening to the HD800's sounded like listening to the same music from a distance. Not sure if perhaps it lacked bass or something. Was connected to the same amp.

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#712913 6-Nov-2012 14:12

networkn: Hi There!

Thought I'd update you. I went and had a listen to the HD650's and I am completely sold. They were connected to an expensive headphone amp, well out of my budget, but I think I'll get these and then decide if an AMP is required at a later stage.

I have listened, like a lot of people, to my favourite cd's hundreds of times, and I have a pretty kickass home theatre/hifi setup with big speakers, but I've never heard the detail I heard from that CD yesterday.

I also listened to the 598 and the 800 and the 598 was excellent, but for me, not as detailed as the 650's. They didn't have the 600's I'd love to hear those. The 800 was a massive disappointment. The clarify was there, but they had no presence. When I was listening to the 650's my whole head was full of sound, whereas listening to the HD800's sounded like listening to the same music from a distance. Not sure if perhaps it lacked bass or something. Was connected to the same amp.

A friend of mine was up from Wellington over the weekend, he is used to listening from a very good stereo setup too and couldn't believe how much new detail he was hearing in tracks he'd listened to hundreds of time before when he was listening from my GS1000i. Although headphones can be very expensive , I think you do have to spend megabucks on stereos to get the same kind of sound.

Not too surprised to hear your thoughts on the HD800 to be honest. They are amongst the fussiest headphones to amp, so right off the bat there may have been an issue with how they were bring driven (even though that amp was expensive). Not only that they are extremely unforgiving of music that is not very well produced, and again that may have had a bearing. They are known to have the largest soundstage of any headphone out there, which may have been why you found them a bit distant sounding. Finally, dspite being technically one of the finest headphones ever produced, many people find them lacking in musicality/euphonality. Sounds like you're in that camp.

Glad to hear you liked the HD650, sounds like you're sold on those and now just looking for the right deal to come along. When you do get some I'd actually be interested to hear them myself, since they are a headphone I have not had any chance to spend time with. You could bring them round to my place and see whether they sound improved enough from my headphone amps to warrant you getting one yourself at some stage.

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#712917 6-Nov-2012 14:18

NZTF: That sounds good. I sold my HD555's as well to my father in law so I am going to grab those back and do some comparison as people have said the 555's sound nice AMP'd.

I have the SR1840 waiting to arrive shortly at rockshop but considering the price difference I'd be surprised if I liked them enough.

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#713073 6-Nov-2012 18:11

networkn: Hi There!

Thought I'd update you. I went and had a listen to the HD650's and I am completely sold. They were connected to an expensive headphone amp, well out of my budget, but I think I'll get these and then decide if an AMP is required at a later stage.

I have listened, like a lot of people, to my favourite cd's hundreds of times, and I have a pretty kickass home theatre/hifi setup with big speakers, but I've never heard the detail I heard from that CD yesterday.

I also listened to the 598 and the 800 and the 598 was excellent, but for me, not as detailed as the 650's. They didn't have the 600's I'd love to hear those. The 800 was a massive disappointment. The clarify was there, but they had no presence. When I was listening to the 650's my whole head was full of sound, whereas listening to the HD800's sounded like listening to the same music from a distance. Not sure if perhaps it lacked bass or something. Was connected to the same amp.

ahh didn't i tell you! welcome to the senn 6+ camp! i want to compare with a 650 when burnt in ... are you guys in auckland/dunedin?

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#713079 6-Nov-2012 18:27

I am in Auckland. I think I will press the button tonight on a second hand pair a year old barely used in Australia for $250AUD. I wanted new or refurb as I tend to be a little icky on the idea of second hand goods with material that absorb sweat etc, but I think at the end of the day, I'll just do some research on cleaning them.

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#713088 6-Nov-2012 18:59

You can buy new pads for headphones. Try ebay.

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