Unfortunately looking for excellent headphones

[SpatiallyAware]

I've recently moved into an apartment and have realized that my S8 audioengine subwoofer is unusable here.

As a matter of fact, even my A5's can't really be turned up as loud as I'd like. It's a really nice place (or looks and costs like it) but the walls and floors are extremely thin. I'm looking for a place to buy over the next year but for now I'm going to have to "fit in"


What are my options headphone-wise? I tend to like a good bit of bass, although I'm not sure how much I can get out of headphones.

I had a pair of sennheiser's I liked a lot.. HD570, I think... But I'd like something with a bit more oomph bass-wise, and I'm willing to buy an amp if needed.



Thanks all!

 

[Anubis]

how much are you willing to spend?

 

[f4phantom2500]

I've recently moved into an apartment and have realized that my S8 audioengine subwoofer is unusable here.

As a matter of fact, even my A5's can't really be turned up as loud as I'd like. It's a really nice place (or looks and costs like it) but the walls and floors are extremely thin. I'm looking for a place to buy over the next year but for now I'm going to have to "fit in"


What are my options headphone-wise? I tend to like a good bit of bass, although I'm not sure how much I can get out of headphones.

I had a pair of sennheiser's I liked a lot.. HD570, I think... But I'd like something with a bit more oomph bass-wise, and I'm willing to buy an amp if needed.



Thanks all!

www.head-fi.org

all the information you could ever want on headphones. if you like the general sennheiser sound it might be a good idea to look through the rest of their lineup, they make some of the best headphones available today (as well as arguably the best).

right now senn's flagship is the hd 800. they're supposed to be completely ridiculous...they should be for the $1400 asking price...plus amp. as anubis said it really depends on how much cash you're willing to drop. the hd 600 go for $320 new on amazon, and the hd 650 are 350...read some reviews and see what headphones are being described as a sound that you think you'd like. you may find your cup of tea from another brand.

 

[MJinZ]

I can't stand over the hear phones where it covers my whole ears - instant headache- so I can't help you there.

I like Etymotics.

 

[moonboy403]

If you've got the money and isolation and portability is under the slightest of consideration, get yourself the JH13s which are custom in ear monitor that I consider as one of the best headphone ever. Best of all, you can use it out of your mp3 player and still get superb sound that the Audioengine setups can only dream of.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I'm not really set on price. I'll be using them a lot, and I've found that headphones tend to have good resale so I don't mind spending a little bit. $1400 is a bit much, but the HD600/650 + amp is in my price range.

Portability is of no concern, and I'm fine with over the ear headphones. Open or closed is fine, I'm guessing I'll go with closed for more bass?

Any thoughts on amp?

 

[moonboy403]

So what's your exact budget?

Also, it is of my opinion that you ALWAYS go for the best headphone you can with your initial budget and not worry about the amp and dac.

 

[Ika]

I would suggest an HD650 plus a decent amp (something from Audio-gd, or a DIY Millett, or a Schiit Asgard... there are lots of choices), as well as an inexpensive DAC if necessary depending on your source. Or you can go with a beyer DT880 600ohm, which is every bit as good as the HD650, just a different presentation.

 

[Chronoshock]

I was in the same position a couple of years ago and I went with an HD650 + Little Dot amp (MK IV).
I got in on the 35% Bing CB for ebay when I bought my amp so I got a fantastic deal.
There are a lot of fans of LD over at head-fi, check out the reviews.

 

[mshan]

Head-Fi is probably your best resource for very specific, detailed info on any particular headphones you are interested in.

Quick survey can be found here: http://www.headphone.com/selection-guide/

 

[darkswordsman17]

Yeah, Head-Fi would be one of the best resources. Do you happen to have any idea what type of sound you like? What are your uses?

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I really don't have any sort of set budget for this...


Primarily music, lots of rock and hip-hop. I prefer 'accurate' mids and highs with a good bit of bass.



I'm familiar with head-fi, I feel like I'll get a more well-rounded and realistic answer around here vs fanboy type answers. Right now it's looking like HD650's though primarily based on their reputation

 

[mshan]

You should check out Head-Fi and see if there is a meet somewhere near you where you can hear lots of headphones for yourself.

I personally don't view Sennheiser as great rock and roll headphones (seem to have a more laid back character).

Grado SR-225 (I forgot if Head-Fi recommended Gilmore headphone amp with them) as great rock and roll headphones. Maybe Audio Technica too.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I don't want to get too in depth or wordy, so I'll just break it down into some headphones I think you should check out:

Sennheiser - HD650 and HD600. The HD800 are good, but they seem to be love/hate, and with their price, and the fact that they don't particularly excel at the two genres you listed, I don't think they'd be a good fit.

Denon - D2000/5000/7000. All are similar and more or less based on the same design. Have been compared to the HD650 sound wise but also have their own unique sound. I've heard the D2000 and its very good. My recommendation would be one of the Denon models. You could try the D2000 for fairly cheap, and if you like them a lot you could sell them and move up to the D7000s

Audio-Technica - W1000X, AD2000, maybe the A1000X/A2000X (not a lot of feedback on the latter two, the W1000X is fairly new but already pretty well liked, and the AD2000 should be good for the two genres you listed). I'm a big W5000 fan myself, but they have a lot of quirks, and unless modded aren't great sounding for the two genres you listed (they're like the HD800).

AKG - I don't know that they have any that fit really well for what you're looking for either, and many of their better headphones are in production. I thought they were supposed to have a new flagship this year, but I think its gotten pushed to next year.

Beyerdynamic - DT770/880/990. All 3 are roughly HD650 level. They also have the T1 and I believe should have another high end (like the HD800, means $1400) headphone very soon (based on the T1).

Ultrasone - a bit more polarizing (love/hate responses) than other brands. HFI-780 and Pro-900 for midrange (well I think the 900 is more upper midrange, like $400-500 range). Also have the Edition 8 in the high end, and will have an Edition 10 very soon (even higher high end, possibly $2000-3000 range).

JVC - Victor 700 and 1000 I think are the models. No personal experience and not a ton of people that have them, but most who do like them quite a bit.

Stax - no particular models, but you probably want to go higher end to get the best. That or vintage. Also keep in mind that they're electrostatic so they'll need energizer (special amp).

There's a ton of others I know I'm forgetting (there's a couple of new headphones that are popular and would be more comparable to Stax, one is I think Audeze LCD-2, and the other is Head-Direct EF-5?), but this will be a good starting point.

Oh, on the portable end, I'd say check out Audio-Technicas mid/upper-mid ESW9, ESW10, and ES10. There's so many IEMs to go into that I can't even begin to cover it (and feedback is all over the place). I will single out the Westone ES3X and Jerry Harvey Audio customs.

 

[darkswordsman17]

You should check out Head-Fi and see if there is a meet somewhere near you where you can hear lots of headphones for yourself.

I personally don't view Sennheiser as great rock and roll headphones (seem to have a more laid back character).

Grado SR-225 (I forgot if Head-Fi recommended Gilmore headphone amp with them) as great rock and roll headphones. Maybe Audio Technica too.

Great recommendation. If at all possible, I'd say try before you buy, but unfortunately many of the better ones you don't really have the option to.

The problem with Grado is they wouldn't be very good for hip hop. I think the Sennheisers would be better rock headphones than the Grados would be for hip hop. Not saying the HD650s are hip-hop monsters either, but they're better all arounders. Grado has quite a range of headphones though, and some people really like them so they're worth looking into at least.

Actually though, that brings up a decent point. You might consider two different headphones to work as complements.

 

[mmntech]

Grados seem to get little love here but they're definitely worth looking in to. You can spend $80 right up to $1700 on but all are pretty impressive. Good bass with very clear audio reproduction. Definitely made for audiophiles. Very well made too.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss....72_147&fsc=-1

 

[Anubis]

Grados seem to get little love here but they're definitely worth looking in to. You can spend $80 right up to $1700 on but all are pretty impressive. Good bass with very clear audio reproduction. Definitely made for audiophiles. Very well made too.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss....72_147&fsc=-1

people have a real love/hate relationship with grados here. I love mine. If the Op wants to look into them the 225s or the 325s both with amps is prob where he should look, unless he wants to spend a small fortune

 

[JAG87]

Just one word of advice OP. With all respect to Denons, don't buy closed if you want to have them on your head for long sessions.

They get a lot more stuffy than open headphones.

 

[Ika]

I really don't have any sort of set budget for this...
Primarily music, lots of rock and hip-hop. I prefer 'accurate' mids and highs with a good bit of bass.
I'm familiar with head-fi, I feel like I'll get a more well-rounded and realistic answer around here vs fanboy type answers. Right now it's looking like HD650's though primarily based on their reputation

The problem with asking for headphone recommendations (on Head-Fi, or here, or anywhere really) is that people will just recommend either what they have or what they want to buy. Without being able to hear the higher-end sets for yourself (i.e. a good music store, if you have one nearby, or a Head-Fi meet) it's very difficult to know what you want except through trial and error. What a lot of people do is go through most of the major manufacturer's low end sets, see which house sound they like, then upgrade through that line.

For example, I have- SR60s, JVC HA-RX700, Ultrasone Pro 650s, Koss KSC75s; have had - Sennheiser HD201, AKG K81DJ; and have heard - AudioTechnica AD700s, Beyer DT880s (old version), AKG K501s, Sennheiser HD580s.

Out of all of these, I find that my favorite house sound is somewhere between AD700s and SR60s - so I know that when I upgrade, I want to look for headphones that are described in nearly the same way as these headphones are. Unfortunately this is not an easy task - there's really not a whole lot of compromise in the $200-300 range for me... hopefully you have better luck if you decide to go down this path.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I love my Audio Technica AD700's. Combined with my xfi prelude and some tweaking of the equalizer I love their sound. A lot of people complained that their bass is somewhat lacking, but I find it to be adequate. They can be had for 80 bucks also, so if you don't like the sound they don't set you back a ton.

They are extremely comfortable by the way.

 

[f4phantom2500]

I love my Audio Technica AD700's. Combined with my xfi prelude and some tweaking of the equalizer I love their sound. A lot of people complained that their bass is somewhat lacking, but I find it to be adequate. They can be had for 80 bucks also, so if you don't like the sound they don't set you back a ton.

They are extremely comfortable by the way.

while i agree that the ad700 do a fine job representing bass relative to the rest of the spectrum, i really don't think they provide the kind of bass that the OP is looking for, especially for hip hop...but they are quite comfortable.

OP, as stated really the only way to know for sure what you want is to try to listen to a bunch of different headphones...which is the tricky part...oh also don't really pay heed to the open/closed thing, when considering high end headphones it doesn't really matter too much; look at the whole package that a set of headphones offers, and not just a certain aspect. if i'm not mistaken, headroom (www.headphone.com) has something like a 2 week or 30 day satisfaction guarantee, so if you eventually decide you don't like the sound of your headphones, you can send them back...then again you'll pay more for headphones there than you would on amazon or through the fs/ft forum at head-fi.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Just one word of advice OP. With all respect to Denons, don't buy closed if you want to have them on your head for long sessions.

They get a lot more stuffy than open headphones.

I've personally never had an issue with it and I listen primarily to closed headphones (and the open headphones I've used for long periods were every bit as problematic in that area for me), and taking short breaks is a good idea for your ears any way.

Sorry, didn't mean to be so...not sure what word I'm trying to use, but it is something to consider, but its something that I've never had an issue with (and I've had very long listening sessions with lots of closed headphones including the Denons). Environment and the person I think are bigger factors than the headphones as far as it being an issue. It is true some headphones are worse than others, but I think the Denons were some of the better ones in that respect myself. The only ones I've ever had a real issue with were the HD280s (really closed, poor earpad materials and clamping force made them uncomfortable after about an hour).

I love my Audio Technica AD700's. Combined with my xfi prelude and some tweaking of the equalizer I love their sound. A lot of people complained that their bass is somewhat lacking, but I find it to be adequate. They can be had for 80 bucks also, so if you don't like the sound they don't set you back a ton.

They are extremely comfortable by the way.

The AD700s are ok, but I don't think they're terribly great at the two genres he listed, personally. The A700 or A900s would be better, and I feel the D2000s would be better than both of them.

while i agree that the ad700 do a fine job representing bass relative to the rest of the spectrum, i really don't think they provide the kind of bass that the OP is looking for, especially for hip hop...but they are quite comfortable.

OP, as stated really the only way to know for sure what you want is to try to listen to a bunch of different headphones...which is the tricky part...oh also don't really pay heed to the open/closed thing, when considering high end headphones it doesn't really matter too much; look at the whole package that a set of headphones offers, and not just a certain aspect. if i'm not mistaken, headroom (www.headphone.com) has something like a 2 week or 30 day satisfaction guarantee, so if you eventually decide you don't like the sound of your headphones, you can send them back...then again you'll pay more for headphones there than you would on amazon or through the fs/ft forum at head-fi.

Yeah, that's the problem, the bass will never really be anything more than adequate, and plenty of times will leave you wanting (its not even just the quantity, the AD700 bass lacks much real texture compared to higher end headphones). The A700s would be better, but while they have more quantity, the quality is still short of better headphones.

Yeah, Headroom is good (although they might not remain so, they've had some changes in upper management, but until there's something to really be cause for concern from them they deserve to be considered).

Amazon is also a decent place, but the problem is, Amazon itself doesn't always offer great pricing, and so you need to be sure if you're actually buying it from them or one of the other places. Plenty of the stores that have a good presence on Amazon (Beach Camera, J&R, can't remember the others) also sometimes have good deals, although I don't know about their return policies. Some people are lucky and have Guitar Centers or Musican's Friend stores near them that carry some pretty good headphones. Seems their trial (demo pairs in the stores themselves) and return policies are pretty hit and miss (some people they opened new boxes for them to try out in the store, and then others were told they couldn't even return the headphones at all), so be sure to ask about their policies beforehand.

 

[Ika]

While we're on the subject of buying, J&R and B&H Photo Video both generally have very good online prices. B&H in particular has an awesome store in NYC, if you're in the area. My friend said he just went and tried out AKG K701s, Grado PS1000s, and Senn HD800s. You cannot believe how jealous I am.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Thanks all for your fantastic replies. I'm planning on looking over everything tonight and deciding what to do.. I believe I have a guitar center near me, but I'm really not picky enough to want to demo all of these beforehand - I'm comfortable going with a reputable brand/model and trusting the reviews..

I'll keep everyone posted with what I end up ordering

 

[Ika]

Thanks all for your fantastic replies. I'm planning on looking over everything tonight and deciding what to do.. I believe I have a guitar center near me, but I'm really not picky enough to want to demo all of these beforehand - I'm comfortable going with a reputable brand/model and trusting the reviews..

I'll keep everyone posted with what I end up ordering

Guitar Center may or may not have a decent selection of headphones. Mine only has a few headphones worth listening to - AudioTechnica M50s, Shure SRH-840s, and Beyer DT770 Pro 32ohms. They generally only carry monitoring/studio phones, and those generally aren't too suited to casual listening. However, the former two are considered excellent budget headphones, so if you have to listen to anything at Guitar Center, try those two, then move from there.