General Headphone Advice

Do you want harder bass thump than your 650 or do you want a more open wider soundstage?

 

Well I am not expecting huge sound stage out of the THX00 just wanted to know if it is at least decent. Bass is welcomed but how does the THX00 perform in other areas besides bass.

 

Any sbaf schlong award winner is expected to perform well in all aspects without much if any modding. While the th-x00s are not as pleasant as the 650s, they put out some really nice mids and treble. By decent, i mean relatively clear, well balanced and not peaky. You can check purrin's impressions of them in the dedicated measurement thread.

 

I second that. Although I ultimately ended up preferring my modded HD650 over TH-X00, the TH-X00 did impress me at first sight with superior clarity. In fact I would place the TH-X00 over HD800(S) in terms of clean, grain-free sound. For long listening sessions though, I'm one of the minority who found the TH-X00 to be bright and fatiguing.

 

I wonder if I had a X00 with some variation. I didn't like it at all and the guy I sold it to said it was "boomier than he remembered" [he had a pair previously]. Or maybe it just doesn't appeal to me. The 650m blows it out of the water IMO. But the way you describe it... bright, fatiguing, superior clarity? I can't relate to that.

 

I really enjoy the Th-x00. While they do sound boomy at times. They are a fun sounding headphone to just rock out with.

 

I think the HE-560 with Focuspad-A earpads are the perfect complement to an HD6x0. Compared with the HD6x0s, the HE-560 are faster, have greater clarity, more extended (and IMO higher quality) bass, and wider sound stage. Razordogaudio sells them "open box" for $629: http://www.razordogaudio.com/products/hifiman-he-560-full-size-planar-driver-headphones-open-box.

I'd imagine your Torpedo III will sound great with HE-560.

 

450.00 for the 560 is a steal

 

A planar would be a great compliment to the HD650m. Although, I'm not sure how the 560 would work with the Torpedo. I'll let others chime in if they've heard that combo.

What I meant by compliment was that the TH-X00 would give you more bass and highs than the more mid focused HD650. The TH-X00 is definitely bass tilted but VERY tastefully done. It gives great slam but can show restraint if the music calls for that. Soundstage and depth aren't as good as the HD650m but most headphones aren't, especially from a tube amp. If you want more bass and treble than the HD650 has to offer for a more exciting listen, get the TH-X00. Just make sure that the amp you pair it with has low output impedance or it might come off as mushy and boomy.

 

Looking for recommendations for driving my headphones in my bedroom. I had though about a desktop setup but decided for the purposes I have in mind I would be better off running music off of my Iphone or pad into either a Chord Mojo or Oppo HA-2.

I like the build and finish of the Oppo HA-2 and the price is nice. Also, while it is primarily meant for in-home use I can imagine taking the quite thin HA-2 with me outside while I would likely only use the Mojo at home. However, I have not heard the Mojo except very briefly so do not know if there is enough SQ improvement to justify the price difference.

I am also open to other recommendations.

 

@Colgin

Curveball. Buy easier to drive headphones or in-ears for the bedroom instead, the apple products actually have pretty decent sound quality for casual listening. The Shure 535's are nice. But even the humble 215's will do too.

 

Thanks, but I want to use my HD-600 and Oppo PM-2 in that room. PM-2 doesn't require additional amplification but IMO benefits from it. And the Senn needs it for sure.

 

Throw a Vali 2 on the nightstand? Not really transportable but...

 

Can double as a night light too!

 

Look into the LH Gov2 and use the balanced out. The 600 will really benefit from it.

 

hm~ any headphone recommendations for for older music? i love my hd650 / hd580 but i found that when playing old records that were mastered for speakers, the smaller soundstage really doesnt work well. (i'm talking about 60's and pre-60s jazz and blues / soul. ) I'm thinking maybe the Sony MA900s for that bigger soundstage?

 

@Noodlz

Hmm... headphones with really big soundstage... a few that come to mind:

Senn HD800 (can be modded and is pretty affordable second hand these days)

Senn HD800S

AKG K1000 (Second hand only, can be hard to find sometimes)

There is also a .vst plugin called dolby headphone which gives you a really big soundstage, some like and some don't. But it could be interesting for you to try. If you're using foobar2000 it works fine with that for instance.

 

@TwoEars ok cool thanks for the advice~ Usd to have an hd800 been debating whether or not to buy it again now that theres all these mods for it. Gonna try out the dolby surround vst too

 

Go vintage AKG. Think K500/501 and you will get that open sound with great highs. Trade off is that the low end rolls off...

 

Might try the AKG 501. Said to be very bass light, but one of the widest soundstages for a headphone under a grand.