The headphones thread! [Sorry about your wallet]

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#709487 30-Oct-2012 21:24

5.1 and 7.1 headphones are a marketing thing IMHO. There's only two speakers.

If you want something truely amazing you'll probably want to spend more like $1K, with a DAC and amp. At US$350 you'll get really nice headphones, but the source is starting to get important at that level.

I still rate the Audio Technica A900, and if you're in Wellington you're welcome to listen to mine, plus the LCD2. Sony have some decent enough headphones in this price range I think, but they also have some naff ones. Sennheiser 650 perhaps, but they may be out of your price range, they need an amp and the bass is good but not great. Beyerdynamic make some pretty nice headphones too.

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#709500 30-Oct-2012 21:44

Funny, I came into this thread specifically to ask if anyone in Wellington hat the Audeze LCD2's I could listen too as I was considering buying some. I've been tossing up between those or the Ultrasone PRO 900's given I listen to a lot of dubstep in between Metal/Rock..

Where are you based timmmay?

I'm keen to listen to them through my Objective DAC/AMP

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#709508 30-Oct-2012 21:57

timmmay: 5.1 and 7.1 headphones are a marketing thing IMHO. There's only two speakers.

If you want something truely amazing you'll probably want to spend more like $1K, with a DAC and amp. At US$350 you'll get really nice headphones, but the source is starting to get important at that level.

I still rate the Audio Technica A900, and if you're in Wellington you're welcome to listen to mine, plus the LCD2. Sony have some decent enough headphones in this price range I think, but they also have some naff ones. Sennheiser 650 perhaps, but they may be out of your price range, they need an amp and the bass is good but not great. Beyerdynamic make some pretty nice headphones too.

The HD650 is what I want if I could have anything right now, though I understand they need an AMP to shine which I certainly couldn't justify if I stretched the budget (Which I shouldn't). The LCD's are $1000?

Have you heard the HD598's and are you able to compare those to the A900? I can get a pair of Ultrasone 900's close to budget but I have heard they excel in base, which I don't listen to. One of the bits of music I consider to be reference is "Josh Grobans - You are Loved", and "Celine Dion - It's all coming back to me now".

I have the Asus STX Sound Card which I am told is pretty good for driving headphones. I am having some trouble with the setup of the software, every setting changes the sound on my headphones so it's hard to find the "true" sound.

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#709546 30-Oct-2012 23:10

@networkn: I think you'd find straight from the STX that the 650 would sound very good, be a noticeable upgrade over your previous headphones, and still offer the possibility of scaling up to sound better with better gear later.

Just to be clear, is your budget $350, or $350+$110 (from sale of present headphones)?

defnz: Funny, I came into this thread specifically to ask if anyone in Wellington hat the Audeze LCD2's I could listen too as I was considering buying some. I've been tossing up between those or the Ultrasone PRO 900's given I listen to a lot of dubstep in between Metal/Rock..

Where are you based timmmay?

I'm keen to listen to them through my Objective DAC/AMP

Interesting conversation about the LCD-2 in relation to rock and metal been taking place at Head-Fi the last few days. Some basically love the LCD-2 for everything and recommend it for these genres also, but equally there are others (like me) who feel fairly strongly that the LCD-2s are not the one for metal especially, and rock to a lesser degree.

What other headphones have you got, or had a chance to listen to? If the LCD-2 are the first you've listened to of that kind of quality you will likely be blown away, and want to jump on them straight away, but that isn't to say they are the best for your needs (something like the HE-6 would possibly be more your speed).

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#709558 30-Oct-2012 23:32

Dont need amp for hd650. It will work ... And beat the rest of the field just like that ... Good dac Amp will make it even better but i dont know how much better than your sound card as dac amp

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#709559 30-Oct-2012 23:35

joker97: Dont need amp for hd650. It will work ... And beat the rest of the field just like that ... Good dac Amp will make it even better but i dont know how much better than your sound card as dac amp

I get you like Sennheiser, but honestly I start to wonder how balanced some of your comments are at times :/

:)

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#709565 30-Oct-2012 23:53

NZtechfreak: @networkn: I think you'd find straight from the STX that the 650 would sound very good, be a noticeable upgrade over your previous headphones, and still offer the possibility of scaling up to sound better with better gear later.

Just to be clear, is your budget $350, or $350+$110 (from sale of present headphones)?

Hi There!

Wife said 350USD, so about $425 Kiwi, which I can't see me getting a HD650 for unfortunately. I did just find a thread a year old on head-fi saying some people had found them for $350 ish, but nothing recently.

I just saw your comment to Jokerz about Sen and wondered what else you would buy if you had the cash for the HD650's

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#709574 31-Oct-2012 00:14

networkn: Hi There!

Wife said 350USD, so about $425 Kiwi, which I can't see me getting a HD650 for unfortunately. I did just find a thread a year old on head-fi saying some people had found them for $350 ish, but nothing recently.

I just saw your comment to Jokerz about Sen and wondered what else you would buy if you had the cash for the HD650's

I would look online for some HD650s and see - they may not be that out of reach after all (lots on Head-Fi second hand for about $300USD):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sennheiser-HD-650-Over-the-Head-Headphones-/280991627344?pt=US_Headphones&hash=item416c67f850

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sennheiser-HD-650-Over-the-Head-Wired-Headphones-/350630318973?pt=US_Headphones&hash=item51a332137d

http://www.head-fi.org/search.php?containingforum%5B%5D=6550&output=all&search=hd650&action=disp

http://www.head-fi.org/t/633958/minty-hd650s-with-original-cord

Sennheiser get up to some shenanigans with their pricing too - to be an authorised seller (they are only warrantied from authorised sellers) you have to agree to stick to Sennheisers dictated price. That's why some things like the HD25-1 II sell for around $250USD but ~$500NZD. Some sellers will sell at reduced prices places like Ebay, including authorised ones at times, so worth keeping an eye out.

In relation to Sennheiser Vs other brands - I'm just saying there are a lot of other good headphones in that price range and I wouldn't prematurely set your sights on Sennheiser to the exclusion of all else.

A few other good ones to think about, that are also in your price range:

AKG K550
Beyerdynamic DT770
Shure SRH940

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#709575 31-Oct-2012 00:27

Thanks so much, I looked at the K550 seemed interesting. I'm gonna do some reading. I realized I bought my RS170's from a guy in the USA who sells Sens and he was excellent price and service wise so I pinged him and I'll see what I can find.

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#709629 31-Oct-2012 07:27

Sorry I was referring to the fact that Mr network was worried that a senn 650 can't be driven without an amp. My comment referred to the fact that they are just as detailed without an amp and he need not worry about amping for now. The beat the others I was referring to the ones below its class, not the ones on par or above that you have just suggested.

Shopbot.com.au has 650s around au350 which around us650. I have experience with accessory jack not the others.

I have heard good things about the others which I have not managed to AB due to their non existence in remote south island

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#709636 31-Oct-2012 07:38

defnz: Funny, I came into this thread specifically to ask if anyone in Wellington hat the Audeze LCD2's I could listen too as I was considering buying some. I've been tossing up between those or the Ultrasone PRO 900's given I listen to a lot of dubstep in between Metal/Rock..

Where are you based timmmay?

I'm keen to listen to them through my Objective DAC/AMP

You're welcome to have a listen. Send me a message with your name and phone number and I'll give you a call later today.

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#709637 31-Oct-2012 07:40

joker97: Sorry I was referring to the fact that Mr network was worried that a senn 650 can't be driven without an amp. My comment referred to the fact that they are just as detailed without an amp and he need not worry about amping for now. The beat the others I was referring to the ones below its class, not the ones on par or above that you have just suggested.

Shopbot.com.au has 650s around au350 which around us650. I have experience with accessory jack not the others.

I have heard good things about the others which I have not managed to AB due to their non existence in remote south island

Ah, I see, thanks for the clarification.

Even here in Auckland only Computer Lounge really has any headphones to audition (Grados and some Audio Technicas mostly). That's why I want to organise a meet!

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#709638 31-Oct-2012 07:41

joker97: Sorry I was referring to the fact that Mr network was worried that a senn 650 can't be driven without an amp. My comment referred to the fact that they are just as detailed without an amp and he need not worry about amping for now. The beat the others I was referring to the ones below its class, not the ones on par or above that you have just suggested.

Shopbot.com.au has 650s around au350 which around us650. I have experience with accessory jack not the others.

I have heard good things about the others which I have not managed to AB due to their non existence in remote south island

AU$350 is US$362. I didn't try the 650s without an amp, but I can ask a friend who has them how they are direct.

The HD600 are probably a good option too. The HD598s are worth considering. Unfortunately I haven't heard them, I have few reviews of them (I'm working on a new website to increase the number of reviews), and Sennheiser is one of the manufacturers that doesn't like to send headphones for review.

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#709653 31-Oct-2012 08:23

My HD650 sounds reasonably well when connected to an ordinary Intel HDA output on modern motherboards. But depending on the volume used, sometimes the bass can sound distorted, like clipped/saturated output. If you do notice distortion, turn the volume down is probably the only thing you can do without a headphone amp.

On the other note, NwAvGuy's Objective2 amp (mentioned a few times here already) gives many professional amps a run for its money. NwAvGuy's benchmarks shows that it's as good as his US$2000 amp. It's an open source design, so you are welcome to build one yourself. But if you care about build quality and not confident about building one yourself, you can buy a pre-built O2 amp from JDS Labs for US$144.

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#709656 31-Oct-2012 08:35

siyuan: My HD650 sounds reasonably well when connected to an ordinary Intel HDA output on modern motherboards. But depending on the volume used, sometimes the bass can sound distorted, like clipped/saturated output. If you do notice distortion, turn the volume down is probably the only thing you can do without a headphone amp.

On the other note, NwAvGuy's Objective2 amp (mentioned a few times here already) gives many professional amps a run for its money. NwAvGuy's benchmarks shows that it's as good as his US$2000 amp. It's an open source design, so you are welcome to build one yourself. But if you care about build quality and not confident about building one yourself, you can buy a pre-built O2 amp from JDS Labs for US$144.

Networkn's ASUS STX card will be a lot better than the Intel one, I don't think he has anything to worry about there.

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