Suggestions for headphone system

[rupakb24]

I have this feeling that i might get a bashing for opening up this thread.Still i am going forward with it. Will be long post.
Initially with a budget of max 1.5k, i started to scour the net for best possible headphone (closed-back ones because of close proximity to a sleeping hypersensitive 15month son at night). I came across this beautiful site and that's where i made the mistake (sort of). After going through the huge cache of info, i started to ridicule my initial budget. Then i started to toy with the idea of having 2 pairs of headphones- one closed and the other open and ever so slightly the budget went from 1.5k to 10k for a pair. And slowly, the idea of an amp started to infect me- a 10k pair of hp will me more rewarding if i can use with an amp, what say?!!

The main problem of sorting out the different headphones is that I am not in a position to audition them individually. therefore i'll be solely depending upon your advice.
So here are the queries before i increase the upper limit:
Open cans: Grados- 80i, 125i, MS1 (alessandro)-will 125i justify the higher price against the other two?
Senn- 595,598
AKG- am not sure about the models since i'm ignorant about the price
Audio techincas - not sure
Any other options?
Closed cans(my primary requirement): AudioTechnica- M50,A700
Denon: AD1000, 2000(fantasizing)
Shure:SRH840
Bayerdynamic: DT770, 880 (low impedence ones)
Again any other options?
I would love if the headphones have detachable cable, jack adapters, replaceable pads.
Hoping for some fix here.

Get drown in music
Regards,

 

[Bluu]

I own a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50 Studio Monitor headphones and I can strongly recommend them for all sorts of music. At their price point (~150USD) they are far and gone one of the best pair of cans you buy. You can obviously read a lot of reviews on Head-fi and other websites. A major plus point is that these HPs almost never need an amplifier. Sonic gains, if any, are almost negligible.

The bass reproduction is tight and tactile. No boom and no bottoming out either. For rock type of music, the mids are solid as a rock. In keeping with the rest, the highs are also excellently reproduced.

Some of your requirements such as detachable cables etc are not available on this model but I would say it is a small price to pay for the quality of these cans. Also, there almost no sound leakage. I work is a very quiet studio and have confirmed with my co-workers that they cannot hear anything even when the HPs are turned up to dangerous levels.

A friend who uses Bose headphones in the same price range hates his HPs after listening to the M50s and I have received many congratulations for owning an enviable pair of headphones.

All said and done, I cannot help you source these since mine were sourced from the US direct but I would blindly and strongly recommend Audio Technica.

 

[no1lives4ever]

My brother uses a pair of Bayer Dynamic DT770 Pro 80 ohms as his primary studio monitors and when he lost one pair, he immediately bought a second one to replace them. These headphones have excellent clear sound with accurate bass. If you like bass heavy music, then very seriously consider these. They are constructed such that you can fully dismantle the headphones to replace any parts. My brother's first pair suffered a lot of abuse and were still in very good condition when he lost them. I have used these on a number occasions and besides sounding great they are very comfortable to wear too. You can spend hours with these on w/o any comfort issues. I would highly recommend these.

I do not know if these are available in India. My brother bought both of his from outside India.

-- no1lives4ever

 

[esanthosh]

I don't know much about headphones.

I have AD700, which is light on bass, but has a wide sound stage. It's the open version of A700. There's also AD900, which is supposed to be better. From whatever I've read, M50 seems like a great choice. There's also M35 - Audio Technica ATH-M35 review

I also have the Alessandro MS1i. Grado sound is something you either love or hate. They have a small sound stage and is aggressive in presentation (singer might be face to face with you, protect against spitting). Great for Rock. Higher end Grados should be more refined versions.

You can get all Audio Technica stuff from PristineNote : Pristine Note, The Voice of Sound!. It may be a bit costly compared to US eBay prices, but you get local warranty and don't have to deal with customs duty (unless somebody can get them for you).

 

[cruise_1982]

I tried AT M50, A700 and finally picked up Shure SRH840. Shure SRH840 are more neutral and transparent, I found the colouring to be very less. The Highs and mids are spot on, while Bass does not sound artificial. M50 is a good headphone too, but a little coloured and more "fun" type of headphones. The Shures does not need an amplifier, they can be easily driven by any mp3 players/laptops. I picked mine from Amazon when I was in US a few months back.

The Shures have detachable cables and comes with a replacement pad. Shure has introduced the next model Shure SRH-940 which comes with Velour earpads. They come with a carrying case, replacement earpads and two sets of cables (coil and straight)

 

[sups]

The Shures does not need an amplifier, they can be easily driven by any mp3 players/laptops. I picked mine from Amazon when I was in US a few months back.

I have very little knowledge about head phones. So, have a few noob questions.

1. Do you mean that Shure has an built-in amp since it can be driven by a laptop directly?

2. Can you please tell me if AD700 can be used directly from laptops, or do we need an amp in between?

3. If we hear music directly from laptop through head phones, is it necessary to have a good sound card in the laptop?

 

[rupakb24]

@bluu: it was M50 which made me increase my budget. it's been in my sight from the beginning.Fixed cable means i won't be able to extend it for movie viewing
@no1lives4ever:Too much bass is a let down; I need a balanced hp. These cans are available in india i believe- i've seen them ebay.in.
@esanthosh: isn't the ms1 warmer than the grado? wht abt grado 125i? AD900 i believe will be out of my scale. Yes i was aiming for Pristine Note for audio technica. I am yet to contact the owner. Having said that i would still love own a grado.
@cruise: it's shure840 who's to be blamed for all these confusion. it's almost perfect for me. But as against AT M50, shure840s aren't much raved about in the net. there has to be a reason for it.
Nobody has mentioned the denons. why?
@sups: no headphone has an amp inside it. the resistance of the headphones dictate the usage of an amp. Hps with low resistance can be driven with the power of the laptop. But then an amp always help. Gurus correct me if I am wrong

 

[no1lives4ever]

I have very little knowledge about head phones. So, have a few noob questions.

1. Do you mean that Shure has an built-in amp since it can be driven by a laptop directly?

2. Can you please tell me if AD700 can be used directly from laptops, or do we need an amp in between?

3. If we hear music directly from laptop through head phones, is it necessary to have a good sound card in the laptop?

Almost all laptops have a "headphone" output. This output is designed to be connected to a headphone. The laptop will of course need to have a built in headphone amp to drive this "headphone" output

This headphone output on a laptop is powered by the built in DAC and headphone amp, which in most laptops are of the cheapest variety that will get the job done.

But it does seem that modern laptops with so called HD audio seem to have reasonably good quality DAC & headphone amps. I used to have a Sony Vaio Z,which i used as a source to audition HT setups via the HDMI output. But in a few places,I did use the headphone out along with a 2 channel amp to audition main speakers and for the speakers I was auditioning (approx 20-40k FS towers), I found that the laptop's headphone output was good enough to audition speakers. They might not be good for critical listening, but they are not very bad on modern laptops.

To answer your original query, you can connect a pair of high quality headphones to the headphone out of a laptop and enjoy anything between acceptable quality music to such bad quality music that you will want a sound card upgrade immediately.All this depends on the quality of the headphones that you are using and also your laptop and its internal DAC + headphone amp circuit.

You can always use an external dac with a built in headphone amp to drive a pair of high quality headphones. If you are going in for some cheap external DAC, then do audition the setup and do a A/B test with the built in headphone output and make sure that you are happy with the quality improvement when an external DAC is used.

-- no1lives4ever

 

[cruise_1982]

I have very little knowledge about head phones. So, have a few noob questions.

1. Do you mean that Shure has an built-in amp since it can be driven by a laptop directly?

2. Can you please tell me if AD700 can be used directly from laptops, or do we need an amp in between?

3. If we hear music directly from laptop through head phones, is it necessary to have a good sound card in the laptop?

I am sure the above post by no1lives4ever answers all of your questions.

@bluu: it was M50 which made me increase my budget. it's been in my sight from the beginning.Fixed cable means i won't be able to extend it for movie viewing

Not really true, you can buy an extension cable which has a 3.5 mm female jack at one end and a 3.5mm male jack at the other end.

@cruise: it's shure840 who's to be blamed for all these confusion. it's almost perfect for me. But as against AT M50, shure840s aren't much raved about in the net. there has to be a reason for it.

I would say cost and the bassy character definitely favours the M50. Shure is expensive and is more inclined towards critical listening and monitoring than to making your music sound more sweeter. Even in a a group of audio enthusiasts, the number of people who love boosted Bass is more than the number of people who like the Bass as recorded. So it depends on your personal taste for Music.

 

[rupakb24]

Not really true, you can buy an extension cable which has a 3.5 mm female jack at one end and a 3.5mm male jack at the other end.

And this extension cable is easily available and reasonably priced?

I listen to all kinds of music except for rap. I love to hear the slide of the fingers over the guitar strings and the instruments playing faintly at the back in an orchestra. Being a lover of instrumental music, I need a headphone which can separate the instruments nicely and reproduce correctly. So I believe the 840 will suffice. But then 840 since it's closed can, I will have to use it to watch movies primarily. The open can will have to be used for music then. I hope one can doesn't eclipse the other.
Regards,

 

[spirovious]

I am using AT-M50 & to me they are good for money.I will not say them very best as I find sometimes midrange little dull with some tracks.ie with some tracks(FLAC)vocals are not very clean.I use it with xonar D2X & this could also be the reason.This soundcard is designed for movies.Perhaps a headphone amp/better DAC can improve further.I havent use it with different source so cant comment.The rest of sound is very good.
I feel sennheiser HP delivers sound more freely/easily.
My votes- 8/10

 

[vivek.saikia]

I tried AT M50, A700 and finally picked up Shure SRH840. Shure SRH840 are more neutral and transparent, I found the colouring to be very less. The Highs and mids are spot on, while Bass does not sound artificial. M50 is a good headphone too, but a little coloured and more "fun" type of headphones. The Shures does not need an amplifier, they can be easily driven by any mp3 players/laptops. I picked mine from Amazon when I was in US a few months back.

The Shures have detachable cables and comes with a replacement pad. Shure has introduced the next model Shure SRH-940 which comes with Velour earpads. They come with a carrying case, replacement earpads and two sets of cables (coil and straight)

I had a close encounter with the shures once and I never looked back at them again!
I had a Shure e2C earphone for a short duration, which I had bought from amazon.uk. The earphone totally failed to impress me, so much that I returned it to Shure.com thinking of it as a defective unit. The sound was totally lifeless. The bass was not well defined, the midrange was weak and not distinctive and the highs were drastically rolled off and to top it off microphonics really ruined the entire experience. It was kind enough for shure.com to replace the earphones with a Shure SE115. This was some improvement on the midrange front but the tightness of the bass was still missing. So, overall it was a dissapointment too. I still have the shure SE115 with me lying somewhere I even care to bother, as I have happily substituted it by my Koss Porta Pro headphones. Got it for about 2500/- INR and believe me I don't think these headphones can be replaced anytime soon...Real value for money and to back it off lies the 30 years old legacy. It may look quite old school but it can surely beat the hell out of the freshers! (Koss PortaPro Reviews) :clapping::clapping:

 

[sups]

I still have the shure SE115 with me lying somewhere I even care to bother, as I have happily substituted it by my Koss Porta Pro headphones. Got it for about 2500/- INR and believe me I don't think these headphones can be replaced anytime soon...Real value for money and to back it off lies the 30 years old legacy. It may look quite old school but it can surely beat the hell out of the freshers! (Koss PortaPro Reviews) :clapping::clapping:

Are you referring to this:
KOSS PORTAPRO PORTABLE STEREOPHONE [Protapro] - Rs.2,945.00 : Pristine Note, The Voice of Sound!

It available in this website for Rs. 2945/-. In amazon its only $28.27
Amazon.com: Koss PortaPro Headphones with Case: Electronics

Looking into the hassles of getting it from US, I think I will get it from India. How is the sound cancellation by the way?

Planning to for Asus Xonar STX card in my laptop after some time and if needed.

 

[longshanks]

Out of what the OP has listed i suggest the below two:

If you want to buy closed can then Denon: AD2000

If you want to buy semi open cans then Bayerdynamic: DT880.

Others you have mentioned in the list don't compare to these two IMO.

 

[vivek.saikia]

Are you referring to this:
KOSS PORTAPRO PORTABLE STEREOPHONE [Protapro] - Rs.2,945.00 : Pristine Note, The Voice of Sound!

It available in this website for Rs. 2945/-. In amazon its only $28.27
Amazon.com: Koss PortaPro Headphones with Case: Electronics

Looking into the hassles of getting it from US, I think I will get it from India. How is the sound cancellation by the way?

Planning to for Asus Xonar STX card in my laptop after some time and if needed.

I got it from Australia and the damage was 2500/- INR equivalent. But I have seen these headphones in iStore (Apple showroom) in India as well (@~3k).
These headphones doesn't have active noise cancellation but cut out the surrounding noise decently (but not 100%, being open can design).

 

[sups]

I got it from Australia and the damage was 2500/- INR equivalent. But I have seen these headphones in iStore (Apple showroom) in India as well (@~3k).
These headphones doesn't have active noise cancellation but cut out the surrounding noise decently (but not 100%, being open can design).

Thanks Vivek for refering to this head phone.

Any experience of quality, durability of wireless head phones?

 

[vivek.saikia]

Thanks Vivek for refering to this head phone.

Any experience of quality, durability of wireless head phones?

Had heard certain wireless headphones when the technology was still evolving and was utterly turned down by the SQ. Never looked up to a wireless headphone again.

 

[rupakb24]

I feel sennheiser HP delivers sound more freely/easily.
My votes- 8/10

what sennheiser Hp should i be looking for in close cans?
@vivek: I am looking for headphones and not earphones. i had a pair of earphones from sony ericsson- though the sound was good it was uncomfortable. I am not sure about Shure- either earphones or headphones
@rajapraveen: both of the headphones are beyond my budget. I must agree that they are really good going by their reviews. Also DT880 has a higher impedence so i guess i have to buy an amp along with it.
What about open cans?

 

[vivek.saikia]

what sennheiser Hp should i be looking for in close cans?
@vivek: I am looking for headphones and not earphones. i had a pair of earphones from sony ericsson- though the sound was good it was uncomfortable. I am not sure about Shure- either earphones or headphones

Rupak, The Koss porta pro is a headphone, though not a closed can design.

 

[spirovious]

what sennheiser Hp should i be looking for in close cans?

Well not the better one,but I compared HD202,PX80,way away from AT-M50.With HD202, I removed earpads & it sounded better with controled Bass(than original design which sounds boomy).
I still feel sennheiser handles sound better(even though its entry level HP).
Some one has already posted how sennheiser low priced headphones can be changed into betterone-
http://www.hifivision.com/audio-video-accessories/14518-does-mod-work-senn-hd555-hd-595-a.html