Headphone Thread.

[jonnybastard]

I can't comment on either of those, but the Alessandro's MS-2 (Grado's basically) I used to have weren't all that comfy for long sessions.  I've got a pair of Audio Technica AD700's that have had very little use sitting here gathering dust if you're interested, you won't need an amp to drive them either. (http://headphones.com.au/psingle?productID=178)
Send me a PM if you're keen

[PixelVandalism]

koss ksc35 or sportapros if they still make them. no amp.

if you go grado you you need to do sr80s at a minimum. the sr60s are muddy and bleh

My friend has some Koss portapros,
and I can not wear them,
they sound good, but they just fall off my head..
The cheapest I can find the sr80's in Australia is $140,
and that's putting me over budget with an amp.

Edit*
I don't think I will, one of my friends might though,
Not sure yet, thanks for the offer.

[Maarten]

Im not a headphone guy.... im one of those iem dudes Shure SE530`s on a Meier audio Corda 2 move as DAC and/or amp and when i want to be even more isolated from my environment ill put one of these over my iems;

[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ] 43894[/ATTACH]

No, don't laugh.... i know it looks silly but it just gives me such a nice listening experience.....

[mkawa]

try ksc35 then. also sennheiser hd202. the last classic under 70$ is sony mdr-v6/7506. i wouldn't spend more than 50 on a first pair.

[PixelVandalism]

Head-fi are no help whatsoever, I think I'm just gonna buy the K240's.
I'll get an amp/dac later.

[sth]

try ksc35 then. also sennheiser hd202. the last classic under 70$ is sony mdr-v6/7506. i wouldn't spend more than 50 on a first pair.

My first pair... I don't recommend them. Too harsh.

[ironman31]

What would you recommend as a first pair of decent headphones?
These, or these.
They're both the same price for me to get them.
Not sure what amp I'm going to get to drive them yet either.

I can't recommend because I've never tried the Akg's. Any flat pad Grados are terribly uncomfortable after 2 hours. But I also wouldn't recommend replacing the pads on the sr60's, they sound overly bright and the bass drops out for the most part.

[alaricljs]

(Attachment Link) 43894[/ATTACH]

While amusing it makes some sense.  Those are actually much nicer looking than the ones I've got for outdoor work.  On the other hand my Sony MDR-NC50's do a reasonable job but certain tools are too much for them.

[feckn_eejit]

.

[verbel]

Is there such a thing as decent wireless headphones? I currently use a set of sennheiser hd 555's and I really like them. I would really like to have something of the same quality that is wireless.

[ironman31]

sennheiser has some good wirless aparently

[J-P]

[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ] 44072[/ATTACH] I can recommend these cans. Beyerdynamic DT1350's - I have yet to hear any wireless headphones that I'd recommend, though the AKG HEARO 999 Audiosphere II's are touted as the bestest (and currently discontinued).... drool

[guilleguillaume]

Today I received a Sieveking Omega with Zebrano finish as my headphone stand and it's just amazing.

I got myself a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 990 Edition (250ohm) and a Nuforce Icon HDP for computer use. Was lucky enough to find the HDP for 320€ while the normal price here is like 450€ and more.

[guilleguillaume]

I've bought a pair of Beyerdynamic DT990 Edition Headphones (250ohm) and a Nuforce Icon HDP. It should arrive this week or next. I found a really nice deal for the Nuforce Icon HDP paying for it the same price as USA MSRP price while here the standarad price is like 600 USD. I'm quite excited, I know it's not the best gear around here but I think it will suit my needs.

Also today I received a Sieveking Omega with Zembrano finish. Nice German made headphone stand, it's amazing.

[PixelVandalism]

I've bought a pair of Beyerdynamic DT990 Edition Headphones (250ohm) and a Nuforce Icon HDP. It should arrive this week or next. I found a really nice deal for the Nuforce Icon HDP paying for it the same price as USA MSRP price while here the standarad price is like 600 USD. I'm quite excited, I know it's not the best gear around here but I think it will suit my needs.

Also today I received a Sieveking Omega with Zembrano finish. Nice German made headphone stand, it's amazing.

Aren't those stands upwards of $100?

Last night I bought my AKG K240's
I can't wait to get them, after I get back from my holiday.

[guilleguillaume]

Aren't those stands upwards of $100?

Last night I bought my AKG K240's
I can't wait to get them, after I get back from my holiday.

I sold some old spare hardware items then I purchased it for 99€.

[PixelVandalism]

I sold some old spare hardware items then I purchased it for 99€.

That's a fair bit of money.
I love the aesthetics of the HDP, I'm probably going to get a uDAC-2 for the looks, among other reasons.

[ironman31]

Im still on the search for a nice wide  brim headphone stand for the LCDs

[guilleguillaume]

Here is a picture:



At home they're quite happy because I didn't spend the money in keyboards :party:

[sth]

Here is a picture:

Show Image

At home they're quite happy because I didn't spend the money in keyboards :party:

How do you like the HD25s? Is the addias version based off the HD25 or the lower-bracket version? I'm thinking about getting some new closed-back cans that I can use at work (I don't think my coworkers want to hear what I listen to through the outside of my Grados :P)

[ekw808]

The headphones I use daily with my computer are HD555's modded, and I have been using a pair of Monster pro gold turbines for my ipod, but I recently RMA'd those and they said that model was currently not in stock so I opted for the miles davis trumpets instead. Pretty stoked about seeing what the difference is between the gold and the trumpets are =).

[Maarten]

Interesting idea!  Might to try that with my UE 10vi despite the fact that I'd feel like a complete berk walking around with ear protectors on and little wires coming out of them...

Oh just do it! Peltor now also makes the Optime III in neck-version;

[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ] 45196[/ATTACH]

Still looks geeky, but not as geeky as the full over-your-head version :clap2:

[guilleguillaume]

How do you like the HD25s? Is the addias version based off the HD25 or the lower-bracket version? I'm thinking about getting some new closed-back cans that I can use at work (I don't think my coworkers want to hear what I listen to through the outside of my Grados )

I actually like them for electronic music and some rock and I've been palying with them a lot of months for now but after trying my new Beyerdynamic DT990 Edition I can say that they're not the best for all kind of enviroment. I will be using them while attending LAN parties because being closed headphones and as portable headset because they have short cable. By the way they improved with the Nuforce Icon HDP quite a bit and the soundstage appeared to be way better than before.The thing is that they sound like everything is too close to you and the bass sounds very strong but not disturbing.

Pics of the new Beyerdynamic and the PC setup:

[jwaz]

Just re-cabled my Grado SR-80i's... Second time soldering and it was pretty sloppy work but they still sound good. Probably need something other than an Altoid box C-Moy for an amp...

[sth]

Nice! Where'd you get the yellow pads?

[roaduck]

I don't listen on headphones much but when I do I use two discrete systems.

As my Sugden A21a and VTL Ultimate valve preamplifier have no headphone sockets I have a Musical Fidelity X-Cans class "A" valve headphone amplifier going to a pair of Sennheiser HD 600's.For the PC I have a separate headphone amp, a QED MB45 powering Sennheiser HD 250's.

[jwaz]

Nice! Where'd you get the yellow pads?

They're Sennheiser 414 pads.

http://www.amazon.com/Replacement-Cushions-Sennheiser-SRI-Series-headphones/dp/B002B4OEZ0

Just caught this ebay auction lookin up a link, they come quarter moddded and in a multitude of colors:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TANGERINE-Sennheiser-HD414-Pads-Grado-Alessandro-replacement-SR60-SR80-SR325-RS1-/120884472201?pt=Other_MP3_Player_Accessories&hash=item1c2546a989#ht_500wt_1361

[laffindude]

I have an AKG K550 incoming. I haven't really liked any AKG since K501, so this ought to be interesting. I want a cheap sealed can on my desk for those noisy times of the day.

[jonnybastard]

Bought an external DAC during the week, decided on a Cambridge DacMagic Plus as it was one of the few that has all the features I was looking for and didn't cost upwards of 1k.  Previously I was using an ASUS Xonar HDAV Deluxe sound card which was reputed to have a pretty decent DAC on it already, so I was a bit hesitant going in but all that doubt went out the window after about 5 minutes of listening, daaaaaamn this thing is nice, everything just sounds so much cleaner with a lot more detail, very happy with the purchase.  
Also picked up a pair of Beyer DT770pro's a couple of weeks back as a fun pair of cans for doof doof etc, I love my DT880's but being fairly neutral they can be a bit boring for real high impact music, the 770's are the complete opposite haha they pack so much bass, the high's are a little harsh for metal but I love them for electronica and hiphop etc.

Pic of new setup, PC  ->  DacMagic+  ->  Matrix M-Stage  ->  Beyerdynamics DT880 & DT770pro's.



One of my favorite features which didn't seem to be present on a lot of other DAC's I looked at was that it has a digital out pass through, which I run to my Yamaha receiver for when I'm using my real speakers, which is most of the time.  That meant I was able to ditch the sound card from my PC altogether which neatened it up a wee bit more as the ASUS card required an ugly molex cable that I was unable to hide  Could have just used the onboard optical/coax on my motherboard for the digital out but that would mean changing the audio output in windows each time that I swap between cans or speakers, a pretty minor thing but it's way more convenient the way I've got it setup now.

[Mysteric]

Any ideas for a cheap amp/DAC for the DT770 Pro 80s?

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

My friend has some Koss portapros,
and I can not wear them,
they sound good, but they just fall off my head..
The cheapest I can find the sr80's in Australia is $140,
and that's putting me over budget with an amp.

Edit*
I don't think I will, one of my friends might though,
Not sure yet, thanks for the offer.

In order to really benefit from having an amp you need to be spending in a certain bracket. $140 is maybe up there for you but in audiophile dollars it's barely entry level. The SR80's are a great headphone by themselves, my advice is get them and screw the amp for the time being.

That's a fair bit of money.
I love the aesthetics of the HDP, I'm probably going to get a uDAC-2 for the looks, among other reasons.

For the money a uDAC is going to cost, you can really do a lot better. The technology the uDAC is built on is fairly old, and depending on where you ask NuForce have a reputation among audiophiles for being overpriced and mediocre. Yes, they look like military hardware, but if looks were the most important consideration when buying audio gear we'd all be rocking Skull Candy or V-Moda.

Aren't those stands upwards of $100?

I saw a Sieve on display in a home audio store near where I live. It's nice to look at, and on first inspection I thought it had come from Ikea; I was gobsmacked to turn it over and see the $175 price tag. For $30 or even $50 I might have gone for it, but $175? That's a rip-off. The wood grain and build quality are both good, but not outstanding. A quick search of Etsy yielded a much more compelling design – for $28:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/67310735/vinyl-record-headphone-stand

Whatever the build quality is like, the least I can say for the vinyl stand is that each one is a unique piece, not some mass-produced factory made commodity.

[kidchunks]

Pic of new setup, PC  ->  DacMagic+  ->  Matrix M-Stage  ->  Beyerdynamics DT880 & DT770pro's.

Glad to see another M-Stage user. I received mine a week ago and love it. Pairing it with a gamma1 lite (until my HRT Streamer ii arrives) and a pair of DT770 pros. Did the gain dip switches confuse you first time around? lol

[hamza_tm]

Sennheiser PC360s through an Auzentech Forte

Went through CAL!'s, Samson SR850, DT770, DT880 premiums to finally get here!

[jonnybastard]

Did the gain dip switches confuse you first time around? lol

You mean by reading them backwards? Maybe..  Such a bargain amp hey, I was set on buying a Talisman T-33h when I walked in the shop but walked out with a Matrix that was $500 cheaper lol, my ears seriously struggled to find much difference between them.

Any ideas for a cheap amp/DAC for the DT770 Pro 80s?

The Matrix Cube seems to be reasonably well regarded as a cheap all-in-one, they've also just released an updated version of the M-Stage with a built in usb DAC that might be worth looking into, being that it's priced only ~$50 more than the regular amp version I wouldn't expect anything magical as far as the DAC goes but at least you would then have a decent amp and can look at upgrading your DAC down the track if it doesn't suit your needs.

[augusto2112]

Never heard about DAC/amps before, and just googled them. Should I bother buying one? Do they improve the sound quality by much?

[sth]

Never heard about DAC/amps before, and just googled them. Should I bother buying one? Do they improve the sound quality by much?

No people just spend thousands of dollars on them because when you lick them they taste like sour patch kids.

Srsly, of course they improve sound quality, by leaps and bounds. As with anything there are diminishing returns. If you're not willing to invest at least a couple hundred dollars, buy some HD280s or Grado SR 80i cans and skip the amp.

[augusto2112]

No people just spend thousands of dollars on them because when you lick them they taste like sour patch kids.

Srsly, of course they improve sound quality, by leaps and bounds. As with anything there are diminishing returns. If you're not willing to invest at least a couple hundred dollars, buy some HD280s or Grado SR 80i cans and skip the amp.

I have a DT770 Pro already. The question was if they improved sound quality significantly or just by a bit... Judging by your comment they help a lot right? I'll see if I find a cheap one for me.

[Ragnorock]

Like he said, cheap DACs aren't worth it. If you're looking for recommendations, I will go ahead and recommend the Bifrost by Schiit.

[kidchunks]

I'll see if I find a cheap one for me.

You can check out JDS Labs for the cmoybb. John is pretty cool and he'll answer any questions you have. You tell him what headphones you're using and he'll build the amp to specification.

[augusto2112]

Like he said, cheap DACs aren't worth it. If you're looking for recommendations, I will go ahead and recommend the Bifrost by Schiit.

Looked it up, and I guess I'll have to do without DACs for a while...

PS: nice signature

[sth]

Like he said, cheap DACs aren't worth it. If you're looking for recommendations, I will go ahead and recommend the Bifrost by Schiit.

Do you have any for/against opionion on the Valhalla? I'm really not interested in going down the high-end loudspeaker route and it's a full $100 cheaper than the bifrost DAC.

[jwaz]

I got one of those Altoids C-Moy amps from an eBay seller about a year ago. I guess I'm supposed to be using a DAC on my pc though? Using it to power 80i's...

[mkawa]

the amb gamma1 kit is probably the best cheap usb dac. the aliendac and its clones are not bad either

[jwaz]

So the point of a DAC is better (curious how?) conversion of digital signal vs something like the Wasapi plugin w/ CMOY amp?

I guess DAC is like an external sound card just for the headphones?

congrats on 1k post mkawa

[laffindude]

Digital to analog conversion is not 100% accurate. The way they reconstruct the analog signal can color sound. Most thing already have DAC in it already. Even the cheapest soundcard has a DAC, since you can just plug your headphones with analog connections right up to it. WASAPI is still in the digital domain. All it does is bypass alot of the audio stack to reduce latency, and less things messing with the still digital signal. DAC only affect the digital to analog part, then sends the signal to be amplified (pre-amp), then on to power amp, which could be internal or connected externally via transports.
DAC COULD be a soundcard. Like those USB connected one that actually do act like a soundcard. However DAC is not necessarily a soundcard, like those you connect via toslink, which still require a soundcard present. You could connect your DVD or SACD player, for example, directly to the toslink of the DAC to bypass the digital analog conversion inside the player. Even home appliances doesn't always have the best DAC implementation. DAC is one of those things that isn't too easy to hear the difference. It is mainly small detail and the way it color (or not color) the sound. Law of deminishing return hits pretty fast. Though, I do remember the days we had to spent $1-2k+ on a good DAC that sound as good as today's $3-500 DACs.

PS, I purposely left out the physicals like design, construction and components or the software part like sampling rate of the DAC. Those certainly influence how the DAC sounds. There is a lot of audiophile voodoo here. Read as much into them as you want to.

[ironman31]

PS, I purposely left out the physicals like design, construction and components or the software part like sampling rate of the DAC. Those certainly influence how the DAC sounds. There is a lot of audiophile voodoo here. Read as much into them as you want to.

Not sure if id call this voodoo as much as just better engineering to handle noise and higher bitrate files.

[laffindude]

Sure if you're talking about the tangibles.
Better engineered parts don't always sound better.

[Hoff]

Hello,

I am looking to buy the Sennheiser PC 360's and was wondering whether anyone had a smililar issue.

I have just bought a Mechanical Keyboard (Flico Mastertouch 2) with Brown switches. These aren't the quitest keyboards in the world as most of you know and sets off the voice activation for me in Mumble or TS a lot of the time, which isn't great for peole i am playing with.

With these more expensive headsets will this problem be errased?

Thanks,

Hoff.

[kidchunks]

Finally received my hrt streamer ii.

Semi portable setup now consist of a m-stage, external usb, dac and headphones..LOL

Definitely a step up from my gamma1 lite. Not sure if I want to keep it though. The clicks and pops are present even with a powered hub. Even did the firmware update. May try some different USB cables.

Shame, cause I'm really digging the sound.

May have to jump on a bitfrost if I can't get these pop and click issues resolved.

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Never heard about DAC/amps before, and just googled them. Should I bother buying one? Do they improve the sound quality by much?

That depends on what your current setup is like. What kind of headphones do you own, what are they connected to and how are they connected? If it's a computer or MP3 player, what's the bitrate of the audio you're listening to?

A DAC and an amp perform 2 different tasks, although these are often combined within the same product; a DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) functions much like your computer's sound card, while an amplifier provides additional power to your headphones. Most/all headphones will benefit from a better source (i.e. DAC), while not all benefit in the same way – or to the same degree – from amplification. You don't need to spend thousands of dollars on a DAC/amp to get great results, however as a general rule if your headphones are audiophile grade ($500+), you can reasonably expect to spend at least as much money again on a DAC/amp.